which one is better for me

[lawrencetsao]

I wanna buy a motherboard, AMD cpu, and VGA card
my budget is about $250-$300, can someone tell me which choice is
better for me?
thanks a lot

 

[mechBgon]

Originally posted by: lawrencetsao

I wanna buy a motherboard, AMD cpu, and VGA card
my budget is about $250-$300, can someone tell me which choice is
better for me?
thanks a lot

Sure, what's it going to get used for, what type of programs? Office use, student use, light 3D gaming like HalfLife, heavy 3D gaming like Doom III...? Also, do you have RAM that you'll want to re-use (if so, what type, PC133, or PC2100, or etc), or does the price need to cover the new RAM too?

Welcome to the Forums

 

[nick1985]

mechbon will take good care of you.

 

[lawrencetsao]

thanks your reply first.
This computer is for MY Friend playing 3d game-lineage2,
he already has two pc-2700 256MB ram. so 250-300 is only for
buying motherboard, AMD cpu, and VGA card.
thanks

 

[mechBgon]

Ok, hmmm... looking at info on that game, I see it's an online RPG/strategy game. I'm not sure how much video-card firepower is needed for that type of game but I'm guessing something mid-range would do the job.

How about...

$55 Shuttle AN35N Ultra motherboard (cheap + good reputation + overclockable)
$92 retail-boxed AthlonXP 2500+ (comes with heatsink/fan like all retail-boxed ones, made for PC2700 RAM)
$102 Sapphire Radeon 9600 256MB video card

and that leaves a little room in case a new power supply is needed (the Shuttle's going to need a PSU that has a ATX12V cable, for one thing, and you don't want to tempt fate with a generic PSU). By the way, if you need a new PSU, make it a quality brand like Antec, Enermax or Fortron, not a cheapie like PowMax or a full-on generic. Quality really can make or break 'em.

Other ways you could upgrade further with the leftover funds:

• move up to a fancier motherboard like an Abit NF7-S, which adds hardware-accelerated audio and Firewire
• or get more RAM
• or move up in the video-card world (the $200 Radeon9800Pro 128MB cards with 256-bit memory would be nice), or go up another couple notches to an AthlonXP 2800+
• or pick up an aftermarket sound card (I heard some good remarks about this one, only $25, particularly for music/movies)

Hope that helps some

 

[lawrencetsao]

this sounds good!!

how about if i buy Abit NF7-S, AMD Athlon XP 2600+, and Sapphire Radeon 9600 256MB video card .

 

[Manzelle]

Here is what I would do...


EPoX 8RDA3+ Rev. 3.2 - $81
Athlon XP-M 2400+ 45w - $77.99
Powercolor ATI 9600 Pro EZ 256MB - $125.99
TR2TT CPU Cooler by Thermaltake - 15.98

That comes to $301 but those prices include shipping and handling...