IS this a decent system?

[ctalgo]

I'm just looking for a new toy that I can upgrade as deals come. I wanted to spend less then 500 and this is about 450 shipped. Any suggestions on the setup below?



BLACK EVERCASE ATX MID

MAXTOR 40GB 7200RPM

KINGSTON KVR266X64C25/128 128MB DDR (I can wait to buy more when it gets cheap again)

ECS SiS745 Chipset ATX Motherboard Model K7S6A

AMD 1700

VISIONTEK Xtasy 5632

BLACK ORtek MCK-800 Multimedia Keyboard

Aceex V.92 Full Duplex FaxModem



Thanks,
ctalgo

ps- this is my second post in about the last 3 years

 

[mchammer187]

if i were u i'd go with a pentium 4 1.6A + asus P4B266C

should cost a few dollars more (60-80 i'd say) but it would be a huge improvement

also you get a heatsink included when u buy a 1.6A which will allow you to overclock very nicely so that might offset some of the cost difference

 

[Om]

That's not bad. You might want to think about doing a little research on RAM prices, doesn't look like they are going to do anything but keep going up so if you can find a good buy you might want to get more RAM now.

 

[ctalgo]

mchamber-
you think it would be better to get the p4 1.6 or $60-80 worth of additional ram?

I just read some review and the p4b266c didnt get great reviews, i think ill stay with athlon.

I have never bought generic RAM but it is so damn cheap I might. Has anyone had good results with it? I would imagine that it is kind of hit or miss.

So.. 512 generic or 256 kingston? the generic is 50 bux more.

ctalgo

 

[Cygni]

I would stick with the Athlon 100%. Theres still not enough reasons to make the switch to P4 in my mind. I also wouldnt go the ASUS route as, to me, the price/performance isnt as good as many other boards on the market.

The only things i would change on your setup would be a switch to the ECS K7VTA3 KT266A board as it should be a little faster and a little more stable. Also, i would DEFFINITLY go the OEM RAM route. Ive always gone OEM on my RAM, and have never come across a stick that didnt perform as advertised. OEM memory typically wont OC as well... but ECS boards have almost no OC'ing options anyway, so thats not a very big deal.

 

[tenoc]

Hope you're getting at least a 300W ps with that case. The K7S5A will appreciate it!

Hmmm. No CD-ROM or even a floppy. Not going to load anything, eh!

 

[Zukatah]

A P4 1.6a would indeed be nice. For the price/performance ratio for the Asus boards, think of 1.6@2.4, I think it's still a pretty good price/performance ratio

Also consider getting at least a 300watts PSU...

 

[ctalgo]

there is a 300w ps

 

[Cygni]

Asus boards dont like Generic RAM, forgot to mention that. Ive built computers (at work... we only use ASUS boards for our comps based on the fact that we get them for DIRT cheap) based on the A7M266 -AMD 760, P4S333 -SiS 645, A7A133 -ALiMAGiK, A7V266 -KT266A, and most recently a A7N266-C -nForce and all have lackluster performance with the OEM ram i use for testing (Nanya chips on the PC2100 and Hyundai chips on the PC133). For example, the PC2100 w/ramsinks will reach PC2400 fine on my Abit KR7A-133 at home, but wont even come close to that on the A7V266 at work.

On the other hand, they ARE pretty reliable OC'ers if your using the good stuff... like Crucial or Corsair. So if you DO end up going the P4 + ASUS route, get namebrand RAM... but i still dont recommend ASUS or P4 if your going for budget ;]

 

[Challenger]

<< I just read some review and the p4b266c didnt get great reviews >>




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