what do you think about this system?

[skull]

My uncle wants me to build him a computer. He is a slight gamer and uses AutoCAD a lot. He wants to upgrade his old P2 233 and wants to keep it around $300. Right now he has 96MB SDRAM I'm not sure if it is PC-100 or not if its not I will probably just run it at 66mhz bus since he doesn't have the money to upgrade that. Is there a better 2d card around the 100 range with good 3d? Maybe I should just get him a voodoo 3. One thing I'm not sure about is the H/S? He does not want to overclock and I want something that will be easy to put on.

MicroStar K7T $113
AMD Duron 600mhz $45
Guillemot Geforce 2 MX $114
ENLIGHT mid tower case $29
Antec PP-303X power supply $35

 

[SickBeast]

it sounds good, but for CAD the most important thing is lots of ram...i would add put at least 128mb in that pc, if not 256. also i would get the asus a7v motherboard so he can run at 900mhz. plus, i hope he has a large monitor. what's he using cad for?

 

[4824guy]

Looks good to me, but try and get 128 of ram. THe MX video card over the V3 is a wise choice at this moment.

 

[Eli]

His Uncle isn't going to want to Overclock.. The system looks great. I'd get at least 128mb of ram, as others have said.

 

[skull]

I already tried to convince him to overclock but he doesn't want to. Right now he is in school to learn autoCAD so he has to have a computer to do all the projects. $300 is all he can come up with...he got back surgery a year ago and has been out of work ever since and his wife is expecting a baby in a week or 2. Is the MX better for autoCAD then? What about a cooler?

 

[SickBeast]

the mx is great for cad and all the 3d programs that go along with it. as for a cooler, seeing as he's on a budget you could get the new "revised" golden orb, or else just use the stock hsf that comes with the cpu since he's not overclocking.

 

[skull]

I was going to get an oem. Where can I get the cheapest retail?

 

[SickBeast]

just shop around dude....www.pricewatch.com, check your local newspapers, etc. you can find good deals on the forums here too in the buy/sell

 

[skull]

I checked pricewatch and the cheapest retail there is is $83. Is that right? Is a sparkle FSP-250-61GT 250W a good power supply? He wants something quieter than mine(i have the antec)is it loud?

 

[SickBeast]

$83 sounds about right
i hear amd is gonna drop their prices soon tho so you might want to wait a bit, they're *supposed* to be dropping quite a lot. as for the power supply, power supplies don't make any noise, it's the fan they have inside that does. i don't know if that helps...anyways, happy thanksgiving (if you're in canada like me