I won one of those AMD XP/Mobo combos...I need advice on rest of the system

[hobbnet]

Hey there,
I got one of those AMD combos from the online contest... A friend of mine got one too and he actually doesn't like it compared to his already existing system...I think it is because he has some components that are seriously bottle necking the XP and mobo and I really don't want this to happen to me!

Anyways I'll tell you what I got with my old system now and how much money I am looking to spend and I am hoping you can tell me where my money would be best spent.

Ok, current system:
700 celeron with:
192mb pc 100 ram
20gb 5200rpm HD
Voodoo 3 16mb PCI video card
A small Dell Case

I am only looking to spend $200 to upgrade my system and I would like to do some gaming (need to get my system running the new everquest expansion well)

So, what I am thinking is that I am going to have to use my old 5,200 RPM HD

I think I am going to try and find 512mb of cheap DDR ram (~$90, which leaves me $110 in the budget)

So please give me suggestions on a case and video card or anything else and suggestions as to where I should buy them...

Thanks a million!

(sorry the budget is so constraining but I'm broke as a joke)

 

[BrunoPuntzJones]

<< A friend of mine got one too and he actually doesn't like it >>

you're friend is a fruit, have him send it my way

what o/s are you running? imo, id get 256megs of ddr (50$) and spend the other ~150$ on a geforce3 ti200.

you may run into a problem with the dell case. it may be propritary (sp) and the mobo physically will not fit (not sure if this is even a problem anymore, may be regular atx for all i know), or the power supply may be too small (200w for example when you need ~300w).

that's for serious gaming if you just want moderate you could spend about 80$ on a card (gf2 gts in fs/ft), 256 ddr (50$) and have 70$ left to spend on a h/d or whatever you want (sound card if needed, stuff like that). if it were me i wouldnt hesitate to grab the gf3 ti200 , i play games all day.

 

[AGodspeed]

First off, I don't think you'll be able to find decent quality 512MB sticks of DDR RAM for $90, but for about $55 you can get 256MB of RAM, which is just fine for gaming.

Go here and you'll be able to pick up a Leadtek GeForce3 Ti200 for $178 shipped. It has some of the best 2D image quality out on the market in addition to being super fast for the type of gaming you're going to be playing.

Btw, since you won an XP processor, you're going need more than $200 to get RAM, video card, and a motherboard. Here's what I suggest you do:

$178 GeF3 Ti200 (or $70 GeF2 GTS-V from the same place as the link above).
$55 256 MB Crucial DDR RAM at Crucial.com
$87 Shuttle AK31A Motherboard from Newegg.com

Total = $320 (or only $212 if you get the GeF2, however I suggest the Ti200 because it will last longer for your gaming needs, and you'll end up saving money most likely).

Good luck!

EDIT: Bruno, are you reading my mind or what lol.

 

[Generalen]

Congrats!!

You want a videocard for gaming right? then my suggestion would be a ATI RADEON LE 32MB DDR NO TV-OUT VIDEO CARD - OEM 4X AGP $62.00 and for a case you can grab a ENLIGHT EN-72370X3C4 MEDIUM ATX TOWER CASE with 300w powersupply $47.00 all prices is on www.Newegg.com

 

[RedShirt]

This is what I'd do if I were in your shoes

CRUCIAL 256 MB DDR RAM: $54 I'd get another 256 later, hopefully RAM falls back down in price after the holidays.

Rest is from newegg, above was from crucial.com

ENLIGHT EN-72370X3C4 MEDIUM ATX TOWER CASE 300W $47
ATI RADEON LE 32MB DDR NO TV-OUT VIDEO CARD - OEM $62 Use the registry hack or bios trick, or whatever to get this to regular Radeon DDR Quality

The case is probably necessasary for the 300W power supply. The Videocard could be better, but you are limited by your budget.

See what others thing too, this comes out to be 163 before shipping and would probably come out to be around 180 or so leaving you 20 to spend on whatever else you needed.

 

[BrunoPuntzJones]

<< : Bruno, are you reading my mind or what lol >>






<< Btw, since you won an XP processor >>

from what i could gather, he won a "combo", which i assume means a motherboard and processor. i could be wrong though. if you didnt get a mobo id agree with agodspeed and recommend the ak31 or the ecs k75s (about 65$).

Generalen said the card i was thinking about but i couldnt come up with it. that card would be great for gaming as long as you arent wanting to push 1600x1200x32 @FSAA

ati's answer to the gts if i remember right. my uncle has one and it's great, especially for the price.

 

[RedShirt]

Holy cow Generalen...... I didn't see your post before I started typing and we reccomend the exact same thing! LOL.

 

[hobbnet]

Thanks for your suggestions guys...Now for some straighteninng...

Ok, I know I need more than 256mb RAM....that is a must basically...Don't know if you are familiar with Everquest but this new expansion is a resource hog and 512mb is the minimum I want for it and that probably wont be enough to show all of the new character models, lol. I am also prolly gonna be playing a lot of counterstrike and urban terror.

I already have a motherboard because I won an XP processor and a Mobo

As for the RAM price check out this GA post:
http://www.gotapex.com/forums/showthread.php?s=c955081f66d0d9919ca41b7a3fb5cce8&threadid=35671
(I gotta jump on this though)

What type of case should I buy if I need one? I know NOTHING about cases and power supplies.

Is it really worth it to pay twice as much for a GF3 as opposed to a GF2? I mean is the performance twice as good? I was thinking the GF3 may be a little overpriced since it is the newest but maybe its just priced that high because it is that much better.

Oh, and I am running Windows 2000

thanks again! keep it coming!

 

[hobbnet]

crap so many posts while i was replying lol...anandtech newbie here =P

 

[RedShirt]

I would go with the Radeon LE and use the hack to get it to have full fledged Radeon DDR abilities. This is probably your best bet for a budget videocard at the moment.

I heard about that Everquest 512 MB thing, that is insane.

 

[hobbnet]

Is it easy to use the hack? I have never really tweaked hardware before....I usually just pop it in and cross my fingers...hehe

 

[BrunoPuntzJones]

<< Is it easy to use the hack? I have never really tweaked hardware before....I usually just pop it in and cross my fingers...hehe >>

yup, just a registry entry i think. lemme see what i can find.

 

[hobbnet]

thank you

 

[BrunoPuntzJones]

TADA!
just a registry hack. you can o/c it and get it up to the regular radeon ddr board. definately a great bang for the buck.

so looks like you're doing:
62$ vid card
47$ case
60$~ on memory (assuming you can do the best buy thing)

leaves you 30$ for a soundcard or nic or whatever else you may need. you should find a decent hd deal for probably around 50-60$ eventually, just keep checking hot deals and im sure something will come up.

 

[RedShirt]

Actually, after the shipping, you'll probably be at almost 200... Especially with the weight of a case.

 

[BrunoPuntzJones]

<< Actually, after the shipping, you'll probably be at almost 200... Especially with the weight of a case. >>

forgot about that, you're right. the case will be about 15$, and the vid card probably 7$ or so (from newegg).

 

[hobbnet]

So these Radeon LE video cards are better than the:
$52 - GeForce2 MX400 64MB
$54 - GeForce2 MX400 32MB
$41 - GeForce2 MX200 64MB
$36 - GeForce2 MX200 32MB
$62 - GeForce2 GTS 32MB

as listed on pricewatch?

thanks for all your help, this is great!