Suggestions on this system please!

[snoopdoug1]

Ok guys, I plan on building my first computer and here is the hardware:

Soyo Dragon+ MB - $300 w/ the 1700 athlon
Athlon xp 1700 or 1600
Barracuda IV 40GB - $92
Lite-on 24x10x40 - $82
GAINWARD/CARDEXPERT GEFORCE2 Ti450, GOLDEN SAMPLE, TV 64MB W/ TV-OUT DDR 4.5ns -$109
On-board sound
On-board LAN
2x 256 mb Crucial 2100 ddr ram - $145
ENLIGHT EN-7237AZ MEDIUM TOWER P4 CASE - OEM with 340Watts Power Supply, AMD and Intel P4 Approved - from newegg -$60+$19 shipping
maybe get the ENHANCE ENP-0735 P4 350 WATT P/S ($35)and just a different case... not sure yet.
generic floppy -free
generic 12x cd drive - free
possibly zip 250 drive - about $60

I'm just curious as to how any of you experts think this system will work. I'm not sure if I'm going to try to overclock it yet(since it's my first system). I may try in the future though. I heard the Dragon+ isn't that bad at overclocking because you can change the stuff in the BIOS. Anyways, I would appreciate suggestions, or changes anyone would make to this system. Like I said, it's my first, and I would like it to go smoothly! I plan on ordering pieces for it soon! Most of the stuff will come from newegg.com, so if you know any better prices, then I'd also appreciate that too!

Any help is appreciated! Thanks in advance!
-Doug

 

[scoobydooby]

You need to tell us what you're going to use it for. If it's for gaming then I would say that it sucks since you paired a geforce2 and a 1700+. You need a better video card to keep up with your procesor if it's for games. If it's not going to be a gaming machine then I guess it looks fine. Hope that helps.
Scoob

 

[swifty3]

Looks like a nice system. I would get 2 hard drives, either from IBM or Maxtor, rather than the barracuda. A little cheaper and faster. Either 2 40gigs or a 20g and a 40g. depends on your storage needs, but u should ALWAYS have back up redundancy. I would also go for a gig of ram. U can get a %15 discount from crucial with free shipping right now, and 2 512mb sticks will cost $320. The juice is loose! Have fun with it!

 

[Barnaby W. Füi]

it all looks nice, if you're fps-crazy you might get a better vid card but i agree w/ the barracuda, they are quiet as a mofo and perform good too

good luck

 

[Bovinicus]

If you're into gaming, then you may as well get a slower CPU and faster video card. If you aren't, then you can get a slow CPU and slower video card. Unless you are into CPU intensive things such as video encoding, image editing, etc. I completely disagree with swifty. 1GB of memory is completely useless to most people. 512MB is overkill for most. As well, backup and redundancy is uesless unless you keep files on your computer that cannot be replaced if lost. I don't, so it doesn't matter. Also, the Seagate drive is slightly slower, but only at the beginning of the media, and only by negligible amount. Seagate makes very reliable harddrives. The Baracude IVs are also extremely quiet.

 

[snoopdoug1]

THanks for the suggestions guys! I will do some gaming, but is the geforce3 card really worth it right now? I know that it's better overall, but is it necessary. I know the prices will go down when the geforce4 comes out, but I dont' know

So you think the processor is too fast for the rest of the computer? Should I not bother with the 1700 if I'm going to go with the geforce2 ti450? I suppose I could save a little money going with the 1500. I don't really think I can afford to make this a TOP OF THE LINE system... so would bringing the processor down a little bit not hurt the system too much?

Thanks again for all of the suggestions!
-Doug

 

[NeonFlak]

If your doing gaming I would get an Radeon 8500. I would also throw that barracude IV out and grab a maxtor d740x, since your buying a mobo with on-board raid might as well use it and buy two d740x's well your at it. Enlight cases and their powersupplies are pretty dang good. If you want to get a different case go ahead, but don't skimp on the powersupply.

 

[VBboy]

That's a pretty sad CPU/Videocard combination. Get at least GF3-Ti200, or GF3-Ti500 if you want to maximize the CPU's abilities. Gainward GF3-Ti200 overclocks beyond the Ti500 speeds - check out Newegg.com and comments people made on that card.

 

[scoobydooby]

I would say you should punch in the numbers of that system and then try to shave a few bucks by getting cheaper components so you can get a geforce3 ti 200. The Gainward is only $170. That'd be a big waste of power with a geforce2. You get get a maxtor or WD hdd, I think they're cheaper. You could get a 1500+ and maybe 256 or 384 mb ram. Or maybe get a MSI Pro2 to match the pretty red Gainward like I did I can tell you that it makes for a very pretty computer...if only I could organize all those cables........
Scoob

 

[MaryJo]

Bovinicus:
"1GB of memory is completely useless to most people. 512MB is overkill for most."

Is this true for graphics intensive games? My BF plays Flight Sim games with very large graphics scenery files and he "insists" they need more than 512mb (he currently has 512mb pc133 cas2 Crucial) I've always heard the more ram the better but I also believe for most people 512mb is almost overkill. And what about the MB/OS factor, do they have problems utilizing the higher amounts? I have no idea on that one, just curious if anyone knows.

I'd appreciate any input!

MaryJo

 

[snoopdoug1]

Ok, so say we throw the gainward geforce3 ti200, that was mentioned for 170 bucks at newegg.com.

If I leave everything else the same, but maybe instead get a case I found in hot deals from Sam's club... the power supply is AMD recommended up to 1900 xp.

This would save me about 20 bucks on the case...

How does it look now ? Incase you forgot... here it is:

Soyo Dragon+ MB - $300 w/ the 1700 athlon
Athlon xp 1700
Barracuda IV 40GB - $92
Lite-on 24x10x40 - $82
GAINWARD/CARDEXPERT GEFORCE2 Ti200 -$170
On-board sound
On-board LAN
2x 256 mb Crucial 2100 ddr ram - $145
Stratitec® CPUBuilders ATX Medium Tower w/ approved xp 1900 psu -$40+shipping
generic floppy -free
generic 12x cd drive - free

So lets say that brings us up to about $850 bucks. Do you guys think that it is worth it? Will the geforce3 make that much of a difference?

Thanks again guys! I'm a newbie!
-Doug

 

[scoobydooby]

Well this is just my opinion of course but personally I would spring for a more expensive case. I recently got a Antec SX635 case that comes with a 350 watt antec psu and I think it's awesome. If you think about how long a case will last I think it's reasonable to spend a little more on it than some of the other parts that will be "slow" in 6 months. That's just my opinion though...
Scoob