How much money in the PC buget will reflect how much and how good of a PC you can get. You also didn't state if your building your own or buying one built already. EIther way, I think $600 will get you a nice PC, without monitor. I suggest you do some shopping at places like buy.com, insight, brands4less, and other places to get a better idea of what PC's are going for.
I think my parents will give me atleast 1200 and if I'm lucky, up to 2000 to get everything (computer, Montier, printer, etc) I Might be able to cut out the printer because I'm going to a school that has a network in the dorms and network printers
I would like to build it (that way I might be able to OC it)
Whats the best chip to OC? I don't really like the AMD stuff because it doesn't have SSE, and I've heard you have to open up the chip case and plug something into the ship to OC, theres no way I'll do that.
I was looking at one of the PIII in the 600 -700 range with 100FSB, so I can up that (with PC133 ram) and it should be enough that I can leave it at that and still have decent game performance if I get a bad chip
I was also thinking about the GeForce MX, but the only place I can find is one that will let you pre-order (from a company I've never heard of)
The P3-700e cB0 stepping is supposed to hit 933 MHz easily. GeForce2 MX is a good choice, but you might want to consider the GTS if you have the extra money.
P3-700e should cost about 220 $US right now. A good mobo costs between 120 and 150 $US.
Extra things I recommend:
TV tuner card (If your video card doen't have one)
CD-RW
DVD-ROM
40 GB+ 7200 RPM HDD (about 220 $US for a Maxtor)
First off AMD rules. Now that that is out of the way,you don't HAVE TO take the Athlon apart,you can just get more than 100MHz as opposed to about 100MHz just ocing via the fsb. If you want a decent computyer for a GOOD PRICE THAN YOU Had better start liking AMD. Unless you like wasting your money say like buying a P3 700MHz for about $150.00 more then the same rated speed Athlon and Athlon is faster in most real world tests.
On the cd/dvd stuff, will a decent MX card support hardware decoding of DVD, and trying to save money, do you have any idea if those DVD?CDRW combos are worth the money (less performance in most execpt RW for half the money)
TO the Athlon guy, my dad doesn't trust AMD (don't flame me for that) so I almost have to go with Intel and it comes down to SSE verses 3dNow. I don't know much about 3d now, but I know SSE has more apps than just games, like a program I'm working on now, if I ever get around to learning asm I can speed it up a whole bunch, but I can't test if the SSE code works if I'm running on an Athlon
On the cd/dvd stuff, will a decent MX card support hardware decoding of DVD, and trying to save money, do you have any idea if those DVD?CDRW combos are worth the money (less performance in most execpt RW for half the money)
TO the Athlon guy, my dad doesn't trust AMD (don't flame me for that) so I almost have to go with Intel and it comes down to SSE verses 3dNow. I don't know much about 3d now, but I know SSE has more apps than just games, like a program I'm working on now, if I ever get around to learning asm I can speed it up a whole bunch, but I can't test if the SSE code works if I'm running on an Athlon
It amazes me what you consider "cheap" PC. I saw the thread title and was ready to suggest a S370 celeron on a I810 board, a complete pc under $300 without monitor. Then I saw your price range, *gasp! you can get a screamer for $1200!!
Get the Samsung 955DF 19" monitor from Onvia thru pointclick, a flat screen 19 in monitor by a reputable brand for ~$260 after rebates, as long as you dont plan on using it at 1600x1200.
Are you going to be using photoshop? If the answer is 'no' then SSE really doesn't mean crap to you.
Very few 'real world' apps use SSE. Tell you Dad to look at the reviews of a Duron VS a Celeron. It will take a celeron 850 to beat a Duron 700. Not too shabby for a $80 CPU huh?
That's not what I'd call cheap I built a killer system for about $1800 total using parts from compucheap.com and buy.com
I went overkill on a few things, too
PIII 700 FC-PGA cBO oc to 933 or more
Alpha FC-PGA HEAtsink/Fan
ASus CUBX
GeForce MX overclocked to 205/200
SB LIVE VALUE
SMC 10/100 NIC PCI
IBM 75GXP 30GB HD
DVD or CD-ROM
InWin Full Tower Case ($82 shipped egghead)
Here goes a price list I made for another tread. It was a AMD non OC so I will replace CPU and motherboard. That system for the old thread was around $1200 price goal. I will list many options as I did for the other guy.
Here goes a price list! I worked hard on it so I hope it helps!
I have order form Buy.com but have not YET(maybe soon) ordered for the other two.
Big thing like cases and monitors usually ship by them selves so it does not matter were you buy them. You will not save on shipping much on the cases and monitor, but ordering other things together helps a lot.
Case:
Here is were you can buy a case and CONFIGURE it!!!!!! These are just some examples.
In-Win S500 with AMD approved 250Watt Power Supple $61
Have a look at In-Win cases here! http://www.in-win.com I like In-Win cases.
Fong Kai FK-603 with AMD approved 250Watt Power Supple $69
SB860B "Hydraulic" black with AMD approved 250Watt Power Supple $72
V-Tech Model Leopard 738F color case with AMD approved 250Watt PS $57-60 http://www.directron.com/cases---case-fans-atx-cases.html
ALL-IN-ONE Drive (DVD/CD-RW)
Toshiba $270 http://www.thechipmerchant.com/37135-0.html
They do not the best in performance. They are cheaper than a dedicated drive for each function, but not by that much. A DVD drive and CD-RW drive would be better.
Oh ya! Radeon looks like a good alternative to the G-force2 GTX for 1024x768 32bit and higher gaming. The performace is not an issue. The features should make the choise here. ATI has good DVD in hardware and I/O. The 2d of all G-force and G-force2 have been hightly flamed. The ATI should make most if not all happy with 2D quality.
A long time! It took me about took me about 5 hours in total. I had to search, find, compare service, compare over all price for each retailer. Then it came to copy and pasting links, but it was well worth it. It was about as good of a bargain hunt I would do for myself.
Thanks for the applause!
I forgot to mention that I have used http://www.thechipmerchant.com.
I was happy with their service. They are good for many things except RAM with was generic.
This site uses cookies to help personalise content, tailor your experience and to keep you logged in if you register.
By continuing to use this site, you are consenting to our use of cookies.