Help me build a pc!

[jsbush]

I've been really busy the past few months and really havn't had time to keep up with the latest hardware. So I don't know whats good or not anymore. I'm starting to slowly research parts as I will be buying it in january some time.

My budget is the lowest possible and I'm looking at AMD, intel is to expensive. Defnitly no more then $800 USD.

Heres what it must have, 19" monitor, good sound card, good video card (but nothing out of the ordinary).

I've already got a 40gig hard drive. Speakers, a mouse, and a keyboard.


I was thinking of a samsung 955DF for a monitor. My prioraty is a good monitor. The pc can always be upgraded later.


I will be using this computer for pretty much everthing. Gaming, internet, word processing, etc.

 

[DT4K]

Epox 8RDA+ (nForce 2 with onboard LAN and audio) - $128
Athlon XP 2100+ Retail - $104
Corsair XMS PC-3200 256MB times 2 - $206
GeForce 4 Ti 4200 - $150 (look at reviews for different brands)
OR
Gainward GeForce 3 Ti 200 Golden Sample - $90 (easily clocks to Ti500 levels)
OR
Radeon 8500 LE - $80
Samsung 955DF - $222 + $25 shipping

All these prices are from Newegg. I think everything but the monitor has free shipping.
Did I miss anything?
With the Ti 4200 it comes to just over $800. If you go with the Ti 200 or the Radeon, it is a little under $800.
You could also save about $50 by getting an XP 1600 or 1700 instead. With an nForce 2 mobo, you'll be able to upgrade to an XP 2800+ or higher when the prices come down sometime next year.

You say Intel is too expensive. That is true in the XP 1600+ or 1700+ range, but once you go to faster cpu's Intel is not really much more expensive. If you are into overclocking, you can get a P4 1.6A for around $130 and many of them will go to 2.4 Ghz. If not, a P4 2.2 or 2.4 is still less than $200, so you may want to look into it. If you do, get a mobo with the i845PE chipset and that same Corsair RAM.

 

[xSauronx]

i have an epox, diff model, but its a good board, several reccomendations around here for them

the radeon 8500le is a nice card, got one, and you can oc them with powerstrip to retail speeds ive read
but if you got the 2100+ as suggested, the 4200 may be a better idea if you can get the money, i woulda gotten the gf4 4200 myself, but i was on a limited budget as well (see my box, about 700 bucks)

edit:

in hot deals
gf3 ti200 for 57 bucks

no reason to pass that up if you can get it

 

[jsbush]

Thanks the combo with the geforce seems good. I'll do some research and read reviews.


Any sugestions on the monitor? And a good sound card. The AC97' on the epox is definitly not what I'm looking for. I'm considering getting the Z560 speakers, so I want a good sound card.

 

[hdeck]

sound card - turtle beach santa cruz

 

[Sid59]

Originally posted by: hdeck
sound card - turtle beach santa cruz

ATI RADEON 8500 128 MB

guess you can spend 200 bucks on that much RAM .. i wouldn't if i weren't overclocking and i'd spend it towards another hard drive or save that money toward a dvd-rw/+RW in a few months.

 

[gibbsman]

NEWEGG RULEZ!!!


Sorry, I had to make a plug for them!

 

[RTCarbon]

I have a Samsung SyncMaster 950p.... nothing but visual goodness. Its Discontinued. I think Smasung makes good moitors... 3 of my buds have Sungs and are very happy.

PS: Thought I might push monitor calibration on you.... So once you get Calibrate your monitor.

 

[DT4K]

Originally posted by: Sid59

Originally posted by: hdeck
sound card - turtle beach santa cruz

ATI RADEON 8500 128 MB

guess you can spend 200 bucks on that much RAM .. i wouldn't if i weren't overclocking and i'd spend it towards another hard drive or save that money toward a dvd-rw/+RW in a few months.

Are you suggesting he only get 256MB Ram? Or just cheaper RAM?
If he is using Win XP, it's worth getting 512. And by getting the PC 3200, it will last through future upgrades and it's not much more expensive.

Almost everyone that has a Turtle Beach Santa Cruz seems to be very happy with it. They all talk about the great drivers and lack of compatibility problems.

 

[ahyel]

Samsung 955DF is a good buy. Excellent display quality at affordable price.

 

[Sid59]

Originally posted by: Shanti

Originally posted by: Sid59

Originally posted by: hdeck
sound card - turtle beach santa cruz

ATI RADEON 8500 128 MB

guess you can spend 200 bucks on that much RAM .. i wouldn't if i weren't overclocking and i'd spend it towards another hard drive or save that money toward a dvd-rw/+RW in a few months.

Are you suggesting he only get 256MB Ram? Or just cheaper RAM?
If he is using Win XP, it's worth getting 512. And by getting the PC 3200, it will last through future upgrades and it's not much more expensive.

Almost everyone that has a Turtle Beach Santa Cruz seems to be very happy with it. They all talk about the great drivers and lack of compatibility problems.

I don't really thing he'd need Corsair Ram. Great if you're gonna OC and want top of the line stuff. He can go with a solid micron or samsung for cheaper?

I agree, 512 is what most people should carry.

 

[optimistic]

NVIDIA NFORCE 2 System: Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!
$104.5 EPOX EP-8RDA+

$60 AMD ATHLON XP 1700+ 1.47GHZ RETAIL wait for next generation AMD chip?
$105 2x 256MB PC2700 DDR Memory
or
$100.5 AMD ATHLON XP 2100+ 1.73GHZ RETAIL
$52.5 1x 256MB PC2700 DDR Memory upgrade to 512MB later?

$100 MSI GeForce 4 Ti4200 dual head @ on sale occasionally at Fry's
$66 Black LiteOn 48/24/48 CDRW
$70 Black CHIEFTEC Chasis (Mini-Mid Tower) BLACK Model DH-01B 0W FREE shipping on all CHIEFTEC/ ANTEC Cases
$13 Black Floppy
Your monitor... No personal experience with this, but on paper looks superior to the Samsung 955DF with the about the same price tag.
$249 VIEWSONIC 19" P95F+B (BLACK) Manufacturer's SPECS
________________
$767.5 w/o shipping or $755 w/ XP 2100+ /256MB RAM


$25 Matching Black Chieftec Wireless Keyboard and Mouse Combo

If you want to stick with beige, the system will be about $20 cheaper. (Begie Liteon 48/24/48 $50, Beige Floppy $10)

 

[PliotronX]

There is no need for the Santa Cruz with the onboard sound of most Nforce2 boards, save the cash and put it towards a better monitor or something

 

[CaptnKirk]

Optomistics parts list is very good, but I would suggest 2 changes (one is an option he listed):

1) Video card = ATI Radeon 9000, not too many cards can match its capabilities.

2) With the performance that the EPoX EP8-RDA+ offers, you can get the XP1700+ T'Bred to
perform as if it is an XP2600+, so use the cash difference to get more memory.
NewEgg/Crucial, PC2700 - DDR333
*WORD TO THE WISE: Don't buy bargain RAM, you will regret it. Crucial or Samsung (Corsair XMS, but expensive and it's really Samsung)

 

[optimistic]

There seems to be a deal on 256MB of PNY PC2700 at Best Buy $39 No rebate. Possible $19.

 

[DT4K]

Originally posted by: Sid59

I don't really thing he'd need Corsair Ram. Great if you're gonna OC and want top of the line stuff. He can go with a solid micron or samsung for cheaper?

I agree, 512 is what most people should carry.

True. If not OC'ing you will do fine with cheaper RAM, sometimes even if you are. I've got some PC 2100 PNY w/ Samsung chips running at 150 fsb without a problem. And it was pretty cheap. But another advantage of going with good PC 3200 is you are more likely to be able to use it with your next mobo upgrade. But who knows, maybe RAM will be cheap again by then.

 

[Telsari]

Hmm...

CPU: Athlon XP 1700+ $48 @ compuplus.com
Mobo: Gigabyte 7AVXP (KT 400) $91 @ googlegear.com
RAM: Crucial PC 2700 DDR 256 MB $69 @ crucial.com
Video Card: Crucial Radeon 8500 LE $105 @ crucial.com

Not the best specs, but good and cheap! Crucials' stuff comes with LIFETIME warranty.

 

[CaptnKirk]

Good to see DDR prices coming back down, the PC2700 DDR333 @ 512MB has dropped over $ 55 in two weeks,
from $196.39 to $140.39 - that's $ 56. If this keeps up I'll be able to afford another stick again.

 

[jsbush]

Thanks for the sugestions so far, i'm going with:

EPOX EP-8RDA+ mainboard
XP 1800+ or 2100+ not decided yet.
256 megs of ram for now, don't know which kind and specs yet. I will probably want to overclock later on.
ATI Radeon 9000 (whats the difference between the pro version?)
Antec case black, I'm looking for one with a door (SX1040B, or something smaller if they make them)
Lite-on 48x burner.

Undecided on the monitor, either Samsung 955DF - Black, Viewsonic P95F+B - Black, or Nec MultiSync FE991SB 19" - Black (?)... not sure which to get.

Sound card i will use the one on the mainboard.

Thanks.

 

[HouRman]

If you're undecided on a monitor, may I suggest getting a factory direct monitor such as a Cornerstone. They supply monitors for buisness level applications for designers and graphics. They have a good comparison chart there so you can see the price performance ratio of different monitors.

Cornerstone

Their customer service is top notch with a 5 year warranty and their monitors are very easy on the eyes. I find it nicer than most aperture grille type monitors not to mention the image is crisper. I got myself the 19" P1460 model for about $460 which has stats like 1600x1200 @ 85hz with a .22 horiz dot pitch. (Another plus is it doesn't have those thin horizontal black lines running across the screen.)

 

[Ralidan]

I would strongly suggest getting at least 512 RAM.. check pricewatch prices, you can get Samsung for ~$63 a stick shipped for 256.. its worth the cash to plug in 2 sticks of it on that Nforce board (even though they say with AMD that using the accelerated ram feature doesn't help much) but i would still say its worth the $$ for the extra ram.. i have had 256 PC2700 Sammy in mine for about 3-4 months, and i got aother 512 on the way, casue i KNOW i'll need it.... think about it


-Ralidan

 

[clarkmo]

ATI Radeon 9000 (whats the difference between the pro version?)

Do a search at Amazon for "Radeon 9000 Atlantis 128mb DDR". It's 92.99 and free shipping.
Home page. The pro is clocked at 275/250 and non pro at 250/200. I'd wager it's overclockable though. At amazon there are some coupons floating around that may help.

 

[CaptnKirk]

CLUES TO MEMORY HERE
Hard to beat the Crucial or Samsung (True)

 

[jsbush]

Samsung seems good. But what speed should I get? Also I'll only get one stick of 256 for now and wait for the memory prices to go down a bit and buy another one.

Anysugestions on the Samsung, ViewSonic, and Nec monitors?

 

[CaptnKirk]

Since the RAM is backwards compatible you should get PC2700 it will play up to DDR333 and overclock to about 395.
Samsung is good, I only buy Crucial but it's your coin flip.

Monitor wise both the NEC and Samsung get high ratings for the LCD's - not the Viewsonic,
but for a CRT the Viewsonic is outstanding. I had to make a final choice between a Viewsonid CRT
and a NEC LCD. $ 200 19" Veiwsonic Vs. a $ 650 17" NEC - NEC won, but barely,
hard decision to choke on the $ 450 difference. (I don't regret it, beautiful display)