$2000 TO build a New Box (Athlon) Best components?

[starvey]

So,

The Guv-ment Cheeses have blessed me with a tax return of roughly $2k. I can't complain.

So It's upgrading time. I'm looking to get a rather nifty box.. I'm going with an Athlon (Oh, the "dark side" after so many years of Intel Loyalty..). So far, my shopping list is looking rahter like this, any comments? Better Brands? Good monitor recommendations?


-ABIT KT7-RAID Mobo
-Athlon 1.2Ghz (133 Bus? 266? Does it really matter for mostly Q3/Perl Programming?)
-512Meg Cas2 SDRAM (Cas2 necessary? Which brand? Want to get 2-256Meg sticks)
-Nvidia Gerfoce2 GTS Card w/ 64 megs (Won't wait for GF3..)
-SB Live X-gamer 5.1
-19" Monitor (Prefer Trinitron/Diamondtron Tube, Whos best? Sony? NEC? Mitsubishi?)
-IBM 75GXP 40-ish Gig HD (Used to work for IBM, still love their drives..)
-Some crappy CDrom drive
-No DVD (Its not "here" Yet, waiting for cheap DVDR)
-Case? (Probably a Nice Enlight-esque Mid-Full-Tower)
-Big IBM Clickey Keyboard
-Logitech Trackman Marble Wheel (My anti Carpal-Tunnel Pointer / Q3 Rat of choice)


Keep in mind, That I'll Be running FreeBSD/Linux as the primary OS on this, with a Win98/XP (when it comes out) partition.

All this will replace my "aging" P3-800-512Meg-GeforceDDR setup. (Now that box will be delagated to the Girlfriend, who "suffers" on a p2-400/256Meg with a TNT2, and her box will become the Lan-mp3/quake 3 server of love, on my newly installed 768K SDSL line..)

 

[nippyjun]

I'd wait for the GF3, it's only a few weeks away at the most. I'd also get a DDR mobo and DDR ram. PC2100 is cheap now. I'd also consider a 21 inch monitor if possible.

 

[starvey]

Nah, I'll stick with a Geforce2... I know I'll upgrade the card, once the newest revision/flavour of the GF3 comes out.. (GTS, or Ultra, whatever they call it..).

As far as monitors go... I've got a Sun Ultra 20 Workstation at work, with a 19" Sun/Sony Trinitron monitor on it, next to that is a Dell Gx110 desktop, with a Dell/Sony 21" Monitor. Honestly, I don't get much more out of staring at the 21" mon (Its bigger, but as far as eye-strain/pleasure goes, it does nothing..), so to keep costs semi-down, I'm gonna go with the 19"....

 

[KameLeon]

For $2000, You could probably squeeze in a Geforce2 Ultra. For a monitor, Get the Sony G400 or the Mitsubish pro 900u.

 

[Super6]

I just built a system with the Iwill KK266 and it's one sweet MB....check out the RAID version.

Super6

 

[DigitlDrug]

-ABIT KT7-RAID Mobo

If you can get the 266bus CPU's that are coming out - go for it, the performance increase is definitely there. As for mobo - you could go a 266bus DDR set or a 266bus PC133 set, the difference isn't all that great, but when it comes to Quake3, and the upcoming Doom sequal I wouldn't mess around. (Not to mention crucial just released thier 2100DDR chips and prics aren't bad at all) These games are definitely bandwidth dependant. So, if you go DDR - stay away from that Ali chipset - the mem controler isn't all that mature (as the review men prove), and money would be better spent on a AMD760 board, or the upcoming via version. As for makers, I have had problems with I-will boards and know others who share in my experiences. I would say Abit or Asus as a rule - for best all round boards

If you can't get you hands on one of those very fine 266bus chips, then the Asus A7V (my current board) or the Abit version are exellent boards!

-Athlon 1.2Ghz (133 Bus? 266? Does it really matter for mostly Q3/Perl Programming?)

-512Meg Cas2 SDRAM (Cas2 necessary? Which brand? Want to get 2-256Meg sticks)
This shouldn't even be a question (J/K) Really though cas3, especially in quake, can put a hurt on the system by a few to 5%. Might as well get a 1.1 and just put the saved dough to cas2. No sense in crippling such a great chip. Of course, cas2 does not apply to 2100DDR mem, but just stick to the rule - when in doubt - go with the faster choice.

-Nvidia Gerfoce2 GTS Card w/ 64 megs (Won't wait for GF3..)
GF2 Pro - I agree with Anands recomendation on this one - speed is right between the standard and ultra, and the money difference is well worth it. Of course, with the 3 on the horizen, prices may drop a bit making the Ultra a better buy.

-SB Live X-gamer 5.1
Good choice, but if your not using the 5.1 feature, an SBLive x-gamer (old non 5.1 version), or even a Value edition - if you can stand to not have gold plated connectors and the massive software suite

-19" Monitor (Prefer Trinitron/Diamondtron Tube, Whos best? Sony? NEC? Mitsubishi?)
hmmm - can't comment, but have heard great things about mitsubishi and saw some terrible things from a great number of repackaged Dell Sony Trinitrons. As for the technology, all my roomates agree, once you go trinitron you can never go back - so be aware

-IBM 75GXP 40-ish Gig HD (Used to work for IBM, still love their drives..)
Great choice!!!

-Some crappy CDrom drive
grrr - this my friend breeds headaches - believe me I know. If you want to go cheep, but can stomach a little extra for quality (well worth the effort). Go for a teac or a sony (sony generally does great audio extraction for a standard cd-rom). Name brands tend to vibrate alot more, and many can't extract audio properly - I just got a cheap ($300 - for parents I swear!) comp-crap that would extract crappy audio complete with popping and a garbbled bass/treble ratio.

-No DVD (Its not "here" Yet, waiting for cheap DVDR)
All the more reason to not bother with a 5.1 card (unless its a future path kind o thing)

-Case? (Probably a Nice Enlight-esque Mid-Full-Tower)
Got the enlight - like it much, but I am entrigued by the new antec cases - there was a review on another site - I think linked by anandtech a few days ago

-Big IBM Clickey Keyboard
Love those things!

-Logitech Trackman Marble Wheel (My anti Carpal-Tunnel Pointer / Q3 Rat of choice)


Well, that about does it, have fun and good luck!

 

[Stealth1024]

Antec SX830 or SX840 would make a great case.

 

[DealBabe]

Get a sblive plat, Gigabyte 7dxc, 256Meg ddr crucial mem pc1600, geforce 2 gts ultra, Athlon 1.2, plextor 12/10/32, antec 300w case, 19" monitor (hitachi).. and you will rock on...

basically my system..=)

 

[BadBrain]

I would definitely get a CD-RW, like a 12X10X32 Plextor drive.

They're great for backing up data. So if you plan to really mess around with your new toy, like overclocking or flashing BIOS, you know that even if things go terribly wrong you've got all your work/personal stuff safe and sound on a couple of CDs

 

[K_Factor]

double post

 

[K_Factor]

starvey,

I just went through this exercise a little bit ago, and here is what I came up with:

athlon 1200Mhz 266 $239 www.tcwo.com
Deskstar 75GXP 45 GB $157 www.tcwo.com
MSI GF2 GTS $145 www.newegg.com
IWill KK266 $131 www.newegg.com
2*256 MB crucial CL2 $187 www.crucial.com

Falling computer prices are great!!!

 

[nippyjun]

You can pick up a geforce ultra for $310 from gammaguns on the for sale boards.

 

[Hyudra]

Nice, I made a $2,000 computer for a friend, but it has no monitor, but then again you can modify what I put into it.

mwave.com
mouse: intellimouse explorer
ethernet card: linksys lne100tx
sound card: SB live! plat.
floppy: Sony 1.44mb
cpu: t-bird 1GHz
graphics card: Leadtek geforce 2 pro 64 mb
dvd: pioneer 16x dvd (slot loading, real cool)

plycon.com
thermal grease: arctic silver II
heatsink: alpha pal6035

essencom.com
hard drive: ibm 45GB 75GXP
motherboard: Abit KT7-A Raid

crucial.com
ram: 2 256 MB CAS-2 ram chips

outpost.com
speakers: klipsch v.2 400

ucdweb.com
case: lian li pc-60
ps: enermax 330watt

$1934

Now with a little modification, you can get it the way you want it
Also this stuff should be a little cheaper now, all this probably cost a little over $1800 now.

Only thing thats missing is the monitor and keyboard. $50 for a good keyboard.. if you plan to get this you should add it on at mwave.com to save shipping, and monitor, probably a Sony trinitron. I like flat screens so actually I recommend a triniton.

 

[Gunther]

A sony 19" will take a huge chunk out of your $2k and might force you to not get some of the more expensive stuff. But if you spend more that $2k I am sure that you can get everything and be a very happy person

 

[LuNoTiCK]

How about getting the samsung 900NF, I hear that they are good monitors, and go with the B t-bird chips, they overclock better than the C versions do I hear, and besides it's cheaper at the same price, just lower the multiplier and raise the bus.

 

[MegalodoN]

Do you guys really think the DDR RAM is worth the money?

I mean, in theory it sounds good but all of the benchies I've seen don't really show me enough to warrent spending twice as much on the RAM, Mobo, etc....

 

[Dulanic]

<< I mean, in theory it sounds good but all of the benchies I've seen don't really show me enough to warrent spending twice as much on the RAM, Mobo, etc.... >>



The mobo is more expensive.. but Crucial sells PC2100 128MB for $60

 

[MegalodoN]

That's a great price. Everywhere Else I've seen it, it's been going for about a buck a meg. Thanks for the info.

--M