Building Rig

[Jdinh04]

I am building a rig for a friend of mine, and I want your guys opinion on the specs of it. He doesn't game alot just something that he can use frequently and smoothly. Price range is about $400-$550 ...

Motherboard - EPoX EP-8RDA3+PRO Socket A (Socket 462)
Processor - Can't find one on newegg, please help.
Video Card - DIAMOND Stealth S85AGP Radeon 9250 128MB DDR AGP 4X/8X
Hard Drive - Western Digital Caviar WD400BB 40GB 7200 RPM
DVD ROM - LITE-ON Black 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-ROM
CD Burner - LITE-ON Black 16X DVD-ROM 52X CD-R 32X CD-RW 52X CD-ROM
Heat Sink - Antec 77052 Ball Cooling Fan/Heatsink
Case - Antec Solution SLK3000-B Black
Memory - CORSAIR ValueSelect 512MB 184-Pin DDR SDRAM Unbuffered DDR 400 (PC 3200)
Monitor - Hyvision MV178 Black 17" 8ms LCD

Please let me know what you think and what you would substitute.

Total - $514.24 (w/o shipping or cpu processor)

 

[Cinna696]

All this stuff is from newegg, it lacks a dedicated video card but the platform will be much smoother for everyday usage than the Socket A which is pretty dead. Although Socket 754 is sopose to be on the way out in a year or two it is more updated and has more cpus available. Also your Case doesn't come with a power supply

ASUS Vintage-AE1 AMD Socket 754 AMD Athlon 64 / Sempron SiS 760 Barebone
$125.00
LITE-ON Black ATAPI / E-IDE DVD Burner Model SHM-160P6S
$39.99
Western Digital Caviar SE WD800JB 80GB 7200 RPM IDE Ultra ATA100 Hard Drive
$53.00
Hyvision MV178 Black 17" 8ms LCD Monitor
$192.99
CORSAIR ValueSelect 512MB 184-Pin DDR SDRAM DDR 400 (PC 3200) Unbuffered System Memory Model VS512MB400
$37.50
AMD Sempron 64 2800+ Palermo 800MHz FSB Socket 754 Processor Model SDA2800BXBOX
$75.00

Total :$523.98

Lacking a dedicated video card will certainly hurt his gaming in this system. The barebone case/mb/psu combo saves cash but a 9200 wouldn't be great either, all depends on the game. I notice you have two burners, one for dvd one for cd, i chose a drive that does both, however you may have done that because he wants to copy cds, but again to save cash you could teach him how to create an image on his hd of the cd and then burning that onto a clean cd.

I could be wrong but socket 754 would be a better choice IMO

 

[Jdinh04]

He doesn't game much, just Poker.

 

[Cinna696]

well poker won't use a video card, but socket 754 would be a much better choice, smoother and more reliable and you'll have more options in teh future if he wants to add anything

 

[Jdinh04]

Oh you can substitute the dvd burner for a cd burner ... he just wants a dvd rom and a cd burner.

 

[Cinna696]

there are drives that do both, like the one i listed earlier

LITE-ON Black ATAPI / E-IDE DVD Burner Model SHM-160P6S
$39.99
specs
LITE-ON Black 16X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 8X DVD+R DL 16X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 24X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2M Cache ATAPI / E-IDE DVD Burner - OEM

 

[alimoalem]

y do u have 2 drives? you can get a pci-e mobo with a built in 6100 (it's like $70 bucks i believe) with a 3000+ venice. that's about $200 for the cpu/mobo. a dvd burner is $40. corsair value ram (2x512) should be about $75-80. keep the hard drive for about $50. $70 for case/psu. that's a total of $440. i don't know how much monitors are but i know 19" CRTs (used) are available for $50 so i'm sure you can get a 17" one for at most $50. that's a total of $490. you can spend any extra cash on fans/heatsink

 

[Jdinh04]

I believe he wants a LCD.

 

[halw]

Go for good CRT used or not. Cheaper with better resolution than most LCD's.

 

[Jdinh04]

I will talk to him about it, but I really think he wants an LCD flatscreen. He really doesn't liek CRT's taking up a lot of space.

 

[Cinna696]

just looking at newegg, a 17" crt will run you atleast 100$ and the resolution will still only be 1280x1024, same as on the lcd until you get over 120$ where its 1600x1200. Going 939 is a problem because the 3000 Venice has been going up in price and isn't even available at some places anymore. Choosing a CRT over an LCD will allow you to change teh system to a:

3000 Venice
(2x512mb) 1gb memory PC3200
WD 80gb hd
Lite on DVD-Burner
17" CRT
Asus A8N-VM (onboard video 6100 chipset)
Antec SLK1650B (Has a 350W PSU)

Total is still about 550 not including shipping
Personnaly i have not used a crt in over 5 years, the LCD is just a better choice as it saves so much space, a 17" lcd is in fact a 17" viewable area, where as some CRTS 17" isn't refering to the viewable area (may have changed that since I last bothered to compare the two)

 

[Rockhound1]

Do you have a Fry's in your local area? If not, Outpost.com often runs motherboard/processor combos for not much $$. Right before Christmas, they were running an ECS motherboard (socket 754) and a Sempron 3100+ for $80 or $90. They often run these combos every week (some better than others). You can save your friend a good bit of money by going this route. These are not cutting edge hardware by any means, but they will serve your friend's needs and then some.

 

[Jdinh04]

No Frys or Outpost ... again, its not about the resolution it is about the space. Standard 1024x768 will be suffice.

 

[Cinna696]

the 17" lcd you chose is 1280x1024, the socket 754 setup i posted earlier was with that 17" lcd

anyway any decisions on what road your going down?

 

[Jdinh04]

Not yet, he is in vegas right now. When he gets back I'll talk to him more about it.

 

[Rockhound1]

Originally posted by: Jdinh04
No Frys or Outpost ... again, its not about the resolution it is about the space. Standard 1024x768 will be suffice.

I think you are confused. I suggested ordering a motherboard/processor combo (on special) from Outpost if you do not have a local Fry's. These combos are typically less expensive and have newer technology than purchasing separately a Socket A motherboard and some processor as you stated in your initial post. Socket 754 is a generation ahead of Socket A. Last week they were running a Sempron/ECS combo for about $90. This week they are running a Celeron/ECS combo for $90. This Friday, they will likely be running another Sempron/ECS motherboard deal.

I am not sure what your "resolution" response has to do with my post, so I can only assume it was directed at another post.

 

[Rockhound1]

Originally posted by: Cinna696
the 17" lcd you chose is 1280x1024, the socket 754 setup i posted earlier was with that 17" lcd

anyway any decisions on what road your going down?

The native resolution on ALL 17" LCD monitors that I know about is 1280 x 1024. So, if your friend is set on a resolution of 1024 x 768, then I suggest you look at a CRT monitor. Or, your friend can run the 17" LCD in non-native and it will look crappy.