Building new system

[clange50]

Hopefully another newb thread today wont drive anyone to suicide.

I looked through the guide and lined up what would appear to be a decent system. I'm looking for something mid range, around $600 or so. Well, i was thinking less, but 600 would work. I dont need anything crazy, and money is tight. Really, anything i get will blow away my garage sale special p3 933 thats pretty much dead. Upgrades arent really a concern, since by that time i'd need an upgrade i'll hopefully have a job making some decent money. Anyway, heres what i got from the guide.


AMD Athlon 64 2800+, 512KB L2 Cache, 64-bit Processor - Retail
GIGABYTE "GA-K8NS" NVIDIA nForce3 250 Chipset Motherboard For AMD Socket 754 CPU -RETAIL
Corsair Value Select (Dual Pack) 184 Pin 512MBx2 DDR PC-3200 - OEM
Samsung 160GB 7200RPM Hard Drive, Model SP1614N, OEM Drive Only
SAPPHIRE ATI RADEON 9800 PRO Video Card, 128MB DDR, 256-Bit, DVI/TV-Out, 8X AGP, Model "100556L" -RETAIL Lite Box
ANTEC Black Performance Series II Mini Tower Case with 350W Power Supply, Model "SX635BII" - Retail

$615.67 + shipping

I'll toss a cheap black floppy in there at some point. I dont need an OS, monitor, etc. I already have a nec 3500a.

So, how does this look? I doubled the ram, and bumped the hard drive up. I already have a 200gig for storage, but for $10 for 40gigs, why not. I also changed the case to the black one, since thats what i'd been planning on, hence getting a black 3500a. The case is a little more, and i noticed it only has one fan. Should i add another one to the front? Can you think of anything else i would need to build this?

Lastly, i dont know much about video cards. The last time i was here looking at building a system (which never happened) the 9800pro was a top of the line card (unless you spent 3-4 hundered bucks). I noticed in the guide, someone mentioned the 6600gt. Its like 15-20 bucks more. Opinions?

Thanks all.

 

[clange50]

160gb seagate

That would make it $570 or so.

 

[ribbon13]

Do you game? My suggestions.

$50 Antec SLK3000B
$61 XClio 450BL

$95 MSI RS480M2-IL
$146 AMD ADA3000BIBOX
$104 G.skill F1-3200PHU2-1GBZX

 

[clange50]

Originally posted by: ribbon13
Do you game? My suggestions.

$50 Antec SLK3000B
$61 XClio 450BL

$95 MSI RS480M2-IL
$146 AMD ADA3000BIBOX
$104 G.skill F1-3200PHU2-1GBZX

I used to, until my computer wouldnt run anything. I doubt i'd get back into it much, but the ability to run a decent game or two would be nice.

 

[clange50]

bump

Could anyone elaborate on the above suggestions?

 

[leedog2007]

Go for a sk939 nforce 4 mobo with a 6600gt, and a 3000+. PS. what are you going to be doing with it?

 

[clange50]

Originally posted by: leedog2007
Go for a sk939 nforce 4 mobo with a 6600gt, and a 3000+. PS. what are you going to be doing with it?

Just random stuff. In reality, as far as i was concerned, the only shortcomings of the 933 were 1) when it would slow to crawl because of 256mb ram, 2) choppy video every once in awhile, and 3) it wouldnt run any new games. Now, i dont play many games, but thats probably due to the fact that my computer/s wouldnt run anything new.

In short, i'm not looking for anything special. I dont even know enough about the latest games to know what i'd like to play. If i can get something that will play newer games for $600 or so, then thats what i'm looking for. If it starts getting up around 7 or 8 hundred, thats out of my price range.

 

[w00t]

video cards:
6600gt
6800 unlock and get 16 pipelines oc a little and u got a gt

i would go with the 6800 i am looking into it myself so i would like some info on the 6800 vanilla or w/e.

 

[imported_g33k]

Do you play on overclocking? Your original setup looks good for $600. I would consider getting a 6600gt as it beats or ties with the 9800 pro depending on the game. In other words 6600gt is a better card for roughly the same price. Obviously a skt939 would be better than an a 2800+ but I dunno if you can get one for less than $600 without sacrificing in other important areas.

 

[clange50]

Originally posted by: g33k
Do you play on overclocking?

Nope, no overclocking.

 

[clange50]

I missed the boat on the seagate drive.

What do you think about this 160GB western digital? Its $60 after rebates.

 

[Ike0069]

WD is fine.

Sonta case (comes with good PSU) $100
Chaintech VNF4U $100
Retail A64 3200+ $150
512 MB Value RAM $50
6600 PCI-e $125
160 GB WD HD $60

Total ~$635 Shipped
Should play even the newest games on medium settings.

Note on the Sonata: (Newegg frequently has it for ~ $100 with Free Shipping)

 

[clange50]

Originally posted by: Ike0069
WD is fine.

Sonta case (comes with good PSU) $100
Chaintech VNF4U $100
Retail A64 3200+ $150
512 MB Value RAM $50
6600 PCI-e $125
160 GB WD HD $60

Total ~$635 Shipped
Should play even the newest games on medium settings.

Note on the Sonata: (Newegg frequently has it for ~ $100 with Free Shipping)

Hmm, this thread is all over the place lol.

So you're talking less ram and video card, and move up to 939.

The 3200+ is $190 for retail though. The 3000+ is $146.

Would this be 'better' in the long run? Plays enough stuff now, and i could toss in a better vid card later?

 

[clange50]

Ok, chiefvalue has the sonata for $89 ($98 shipped). Its got a 380w psu.

Any other opinions on the other stuff? I dont know anything about PCI-e, or cards for it. The socket 939 stuff sounds like it could be worth it in the long run. If a cheaper vid card would run stuff for a year or so, and let me have better upgrade options later, thats probably the way i'd want to go.

There have been a couple motherboards suggested for the 3000+, any thoughts on those?

Thanks.

 

[clange50]

bump

 

[Ike0069]

Yea sorry, I meant to put 3000+.

I think the Sonata is going to be the best bet to get a good case/PSU. Hard to beat $100 for that combo.
As for going S939, that is going to be the general consensus here. S754 is still good, but with S939 (CPU and MB) prices where they are, you don't save that much.
Don't worry about whether a card is AGP or PCI-e for review performance purposes as they both will be the same. The advantage of buying a PCI-e MB now is that in the future if you just want to upgrade the VC, PCI-e cards will be readily available, where AGP may not even be produced in the next generation of cards. Besides, a 6600 is about the same as a 9800 pro for less money. Als0 the 6600 easily OC's (OC'ing a nVidia VC is extremely simple using cool bits), and could reach 6600 GT speeds which is better than a 9800 pro.
And finally about the RAM, 512 MB is enough to run everything just fine, but yes, 1 GB is better. You can always get 512 now, and add another 512 stick later. Just trying to keep the total close to $600.

Edit: I just realized that my previous total was really $585. You can get 1GB of RAM for $90. That would make the total $625. Or you could stay with 512 and get a 6600 GT for about $50-60 more, which would still be < $650.

 

[clange50]

Thanks for the info. Any suggestions on which 6600 to go with?

Edit: I just realized that my previous total was really $585. You can get 1GB of RAM for $90. That would make the total $625. Or you could stay with 512 and get a 6600 GT for about $50-60 more, which would still be < $650.

Well if a 6600 and 512mb of ram will run current stuff relatively well, then $585 sounds good to me. I can add ram or get a new vid card later when i have more cash laying around.

 

[imported_X]

512MB is pushing it...I would get a gig if I were you.

 

[clange50]

Ok.

AMD Athlon 64 3000+, 512KB L2 Cache, Socket 939 64-bit Processor - Retail $146

CHAINTECH NVIDIA nForce4 Ultra AMD Socket 939 CPU, Model "VNF4/Ultra" -RETAIL $89

CORSAIR ValueSelect 1GB (2 x 512MB) DDR400(PC3200) Model VS1GBKIT400 $86.90

CHAINTECH nVIDIA GeForce 6600 Video Card, 128MB DDR, 128-Bit, DVI/TV-Out, PCI-Express, Model "SE6600/128" -RETAIL $119

Antec Life Style SONATA ATX Mid Tower Computer Case 380W Power Supply $98

160GB western digital $60

Thats $599 plus some shipping on the newegg stuff.

 

[imported_X]

:thumbsup:

 

[Ike0069]

Originally posted by: clange50
Ok.

AMD Athlon 64 3000+, 512KB L2 Cache, Socket 939 64-bit Processor - Retail $146

CHAINTECH NVIDIA nForce4 Ultra AMD Socket 939 CPU, Model "VNF4/Ultra" -RETAIL $89

CORSAIR ValueSelect 1GB (2 x 512MB) DDR400(PC3200) Model VS1GBKIT400 $86.90

CHAINTECH nVIDIA GeForce 6600 Video Card, 128MB DDR, 128-Bit, DVI/TV-Out, PCI-Express, Model "SE6600/128" -RETAIL $119

Antec Life Style SONATA ATX Mid Tower Computer Case 380W Power Supply $98

160GB western digital $60


Thats $599 plus some shipping on the newegg stuff.

Very nice.

 

[clange50]

Ok guys, i got the CPU, motherboard, ram, vid card, and hard drive ready to go. I held off getting a case and floppy drive because i didnt have enough in my account, deposits hadnt gone through yet. May have lucked out, because i think i like this case better. It has a new 24 pin PSU also.

Before i place this last order, should i get anything else? Any fans or anything? It comes with a 120mm fan, and places for 1 92mm fan over the cpu, 1 80mm fan over the vid card, and 2 80mm fans in front. If i should add any, suggestions as to which kind of fan to get would be appreciated.

Thanks again for all the info.