Newbie needs final advice before ordering

[innocentbastard]

I am right now running an old P3 500 and I am definitely ready for an upgrade. A friend will be building it for me. I have slowly picked up parts from various deals so here is what I already have on hand....

Antec Plus 1080AMG w/ true power 430
Maxtor 160gb ultra w/8mb cache and ata133 card
Maxtor 80gb w/2mb cache
Lite-on 16x DVD-Rom
Lite-on Cdrw 32x12x40
Microsoft Internet Keyboard
Microsoft Intellimouse Explorer
Viewsonic 21" P815
Microsoft Xp Pro

Here is where I am stuck. This pc will be primarily for games and maybe the occasional movie. I may attempt some simple overclocks now or down the road, again mind you I am coming from a P3 500. I have about 800 to spend on the CPU, mobo, and Memory.
Intel P4 2.4c Retail or Oem and 3rd party heatsink? If 3rd party which one?
Mobo I don't know the more I read, the more confused I become
Memory depends on the mobo but at least 512 pc3200 and up

Probably go with the Sb Audigy 2 unless someone suggests otherwise
Video card maybe a 128mb Ti4200 again unless someone suggests otherwise
Floppy drive any particular brand?

Any help would be appreciated because I am definitely tired of this pc and I really want to get a new one.

 

[CTho9305]

This might help you pick what speed gives you the bang for the buck you want. It is using data from pricewatch yesterday.

 

[Harabecw]

I'm guessing budget isn't extreme, so here goes.
1. do you really need both the DVD-ROM and CD-RW?
2. do you really need both HD's? (I suppose so if you have broadband
3. stick with the retail HSF until you're into some serious overclocking.
4. I'd suggest a nice little Springdale(Intel 865 chipset).
5. go with either a Radeon 9500/9600 Pro, or if you can find a 9700 non-pro for cheap (somewhere near $200).

 

[gf4200isdabest]

Do not, i repeat DO NOT, waste time on a 3rd party HSF. It is a complete waste of moeny and the extra cooling is more of a gimmick than anything else. It will not increase your OC by a noticeable amount and will not help your system unless you have a heat problem in your computer room. I'd say save money on CPU, MB, and RAM and get a better video card. I currently have a 2.26GHZ p4 with a gf4 4400 that i bought a year ago. It would be pathetic if some games run faster on my system then they did on your system that you're buying now. Don't be skimpy on the video card. Get an ATI 9700 or 9800. you'll be happy you did when hl2 and doom3 come out. You can save some money by getting 2 WD 80GB 8mb cache HD's over your current setup. I play a lot of games on my pc and I have a good deal of movies (about 20) and yet I still manage with 160GB's. While some people need 240Gb's of space, you do not sound like that kind of person. You also don't need a SB2 Audigy because you're not buying top of the line speakers. If you're spending 150+ on your speaker setup, i would say that you should give the sb2 serious consideration despite its price. However, if you are not gonna have expensive speakers then you're wasting your time. Get a Turtle Beach Santa Cruz and you will get the EXACT SAME sound quality on almost all speaker setups. By saving on your HD ($50) CPU ($75), sound card ($50) and RAM/MB ($50) (1024 pc3000 would be a good choice); you will have enough cash (extra $225) to get a kickass video card which will allow you to run ALL your games faster now and in the future. If this system is primarily for gaming, listen to my advice and thank me later.

 

[innocentbastard]

Originally posted by: Harabecw
I'm guessing budget isn't extreme, so here goes.
1. do you really need both the DVD-ROM and CD-RW?
2. do you really need both HD's? (I suppose so if you have broadband
3. stick with the retail HSF until you're into some serious overclocking.
4. I'd suggest a nice little Springdale(Intel 865 chipset).
5. go with either a Radeon 9500/9600 Pro, or if you can find a 9700 non-pro for cheap (somewhere near $200).

no budget isn't extreme I have about 800 or so set aside for the cpu, motherboard and memory.
1. I already have both from previous deals so they aren't costing me anything now.
2. Same thing and I do have broadband.
3. ok
4. Any particular board?

Originally posted by: gf4200isdabest
Do not, i repeat DO NOT, waste time on a 3rd party HSF. It is a complete waste of moeny and the extra cooling is more of a gimmick than anything else. It will not increase your OC by a noticeable amount and will not help your system unless you have a heat problem in your computer room. I'd say save money on CPU, MB, and RAM and get a better video card. I currently have a 2.26GHZ p4 with a gf4 4400 that i bought a year ago. It would be pathetic if some games run faster on my system then they did on your system that you're buying now. Don't be skimpy on the video card. Get an ATI 9700 or 9800. you'll be happy you did when hl2 and doom3 come out. You can save some money by getting 2 WD 80GB 8mb cache HD's over your current setup. I play a lot of games on my pc and I have a good deal of movies (about 20) and yet I still manage with 160GB's. While some people need 240Gb's of space, you do not sound like that kind of person. You also don't need a SB2 Audigy because you're not buying top of the line speakers. If you're spending 150+ on your speaker setup, i would say that you should give the sb2 serious consideration despite its price. However, if you are not gonna have expensive speakers then you're wasting your time. Get a Turtle Beach Santa Cruz and you will get the EXACT SAME sound quality on almost all speaker setups. By saving on your HD ($50) CPU ($75), sound card ($50) and RAM/MB ($50) (1024 pc3000 would be a good choice); you will have enough cash (extra $225) to get a kickass video card which will allow you to run ALL your games faster now and in the future. If this system is primarily for gaming, listen to my advice and thank me later.

As far as the Hd's I already have them so they aren't even calculated in my budget. As I mentioned above I have about 800.00 or so set aside just for the cpu motherboard and memory. The Video card I am skimping on for now since my birthday is in August and I can hit the parents up for a better card then. Also with the Soundcard I am using giftcards to CC to bring the price down to close if not equal to the Turtle Beach. As far as speaker setup I will be upgrading those in the future, but I am holding off for now.

Does anyone have any advice which motherboard and memory to go with?

 

[Harabecw]

The Abit IS7 (pick one of the 3, heh) looks really nice and is what I'm getting.
you should visit the Motherboards section for more info on that

 

[1sikbITCH]

gf4200isdabest is right about the videocard. Get the best one you can. If you skimp on the video card, it won't really matter what else you get.