***UPDATED*** budget college comp ($1500) - FULL SPECS NOW!

[Alex]

EDIT:
OK, SO AFTER MANY HOURS OF MIXING AND MATCHING PARTS I'VE FINALLY REACHED A SOLUTION!

processor 129 Athlon XP 1900+ 1.6ghz OEM
mobo 64 ECS K7VTA3 (KT266A)
ram 125 Corsair 512mb PC2100 Value Select
hd 120 Western Digital Caviar Special Edition 80GB
vidcard 153 Gainward Geforce4 Ti4200 (3.5ns) 64mb
soundcard 60 SoundBlaster Audigy OEM
speakers 57 Logitech Z540 5 piece system
monitor 182 Samsung SyncMaster 950B 19"
cd-rw 84 TEAC 40x/10x/48x IDE OEM
fan 9 Thermaltake Smart Case Fan
heatsink 26 ThermalRight AX7 (heatsink only)
ps 49 Enermax 350W
case 155 Lian-Li PC-61+USB AL Case
nic 9 D-Link DFE-530TX+

total (US$) 1,222.00

these prices are all from newegg btw... theres no floppy cuz i wont use one and no mouse or keyboard cuz im using my old ones. All bases are covered AFAIK.
no i didnt forget a DVD drive and its only like $40 but i realised that I prolly wont use it all that much... in fact i didnt even want a CDRW cuz i wasnt sure just how often id use it for it to be worth it...

 

[Electric Amish]

$1500 a "budget" system??

You could get 2 relatively top of the line systems for that!

amish

 

[gregor7777]

For $1500 I think I could build something to take you to the moon.

 

[Alex]

maybe i should clarify:
it is not a 'budget' system... i have a $1500 budget. i know that it can get me a really sweet system but my original project was $2000 ..

so, any feedback on my quandry?

 

[Pheran]

A Radeon 8500 on a $1500 gaming system? Are you insane man? Get a GeForce 4 Ti4400 or something!

On the DVD-ROM vs. CD-R issue: if you only want one drive, get yourself a Toshiba SD-R1202 combo DVD/CD-R drive. Only $93 from Newegg.

 

[Electric Amish]

You pretty much have everything covered.

The only reason I'd put in a DVD is for a college dorm situation where you don't have room for a real TV/DVD player setup.

amish

 

[herbage11]

I did not spend too much over $1500 a few weeks ago and bought:

P4 1.6a @ 2.2
Asus P4s533
512 mb of True Samsung pc2700
Ti4200 64mb Gainward
Lite-on DVD and CRDW
Logitech Z560 speakers
Santa Cruz Turtle beach sound card
Chietec case w/ 420 watt ps
40 gig Maxtor L series 7200rpm HD
Windows XP home

I love it. Also bought a Sony G400 which pushed over $1500. I would not change anything if I were to build it again today on my budget. To have a computer running over 2 gig rock solid stability and temps under 40 w/ stock cooling cannot go wrong.
Good luck,
herb

Edit: forgot to mention I bought nearly all of it from Newegg. can't go wrong there no matter what parts you decide on

 

[human2k]

How about an Athlon?

LiLian PC7 Chassis
Antec TruPower 430W
Epox KT333 Board
Athlon XP 2100+
Alpha PAL8045T + Vantec Stealth 80MM Fan
Mushkin PC3000 512MB RAM
Abit GeForce 4 TI 4400 TV-OUT
SoundBlaster Audigy OEM
Logitech 560Z Speakers
Lite-On 48x12x48 CAV CD-RW
Pioneer 16xDVD-ROM
WD 80GB SE 8MB HD

$1339.........just add tax and s/h

 

[SXMP]

I totally agree, ditch the Radeon. Grab yourself a Geforce 4 TI 4600. Be happy. Live well.

 

[MrBond]

Ditch the Audigy for a Santa Cruz. MUCH better driver support.

But if that's not important to you, the audigy should be fine

 

[murphy55d]

Good setup human2k posted... you've got $ to spare then. I agree with the others tho... why the Radeon?

 

[Alex]

Originally posted by: human2k
How about an Athlon?

LiLian PC7 Chassis
Antec TruPower 430W
Epox KT333 Board
Athlon XP 2100+
Alpha PAL8045T + Vantec Stealth 80MM Fan
Mushkin PC3000 512MB RAM
Abit GeForce 4 TI 4400 TV-OUT
SoundBlaster Audigy OEM
Logitech 560Z Speakers
Lite-On 48x12x48 CAV CD-RW
Pioneer 16xDVD-ROM
WD 80GB SE 8MB HD

$1339.........just add tax and s/h

yeah but no monitor... add $300 for a decent one and thats way over what i can spend...

i wont change my mind about audigy at all but am open to suggestions about radeon...
im an ATI guy and really the only GF4 worth buying IMO is the 4600 and its way to expensive IMO... the 4200 doesnt outperform the radeon does it?

 

[Alex]

actually, looking at the prices the ti4200 may well be an option, which is better performance wise?

 

[murphy55d]

Originally posted by: franguinho
actually, looking at the prices the ti4200 may well be an option, which is better performance wise?

go with the Gainward one(golden sample)... overclocks to at least 4400 speeds.

 

[Alex]

Originally posted by: Pheran
On the DVD-ROM vs. CD-R issue: if you only want one drive, get yourself a Toshiba SD-R1202 combo DVD/CD-R drive. Only $93 from Newegg.

its an option... ill go check it out!

 

[Lichee]

you want benchies?

straight from anandtech.

what you also could do is get somethign cheap now and when the R300 come out, you could splurge on that. that is an option if u are an ATI fanboy.

 

[OneOfTheseDays]

wait up, $1500 is plenty of cash (even for a whole system Plus monitor). Let me suggest you an alternate system (one that will be real quiet and kick ass).

CPU - P4 Northwood 1.6A = $135
MB- Asus P4S533 = $105
RAM- 512 or 256 TRUE SAMSUNG PC2700 Ram = $120
HD- Seagate Barracuda ATA-IV 60GB or 80GB = $100
Video Card- Either GF3 ti 200 or GF4 ti 200 = $95 or $160
Dvd Drive - you can pick pretty much any company but i suggest toshiba or pioneer = $50 or less
SoundCard = SBLIVE Audigy OEM $65

$620 with GF3 ti 200 or $685 with GF4 ti 200
And you still got plenty of cash for a nice case, monitor, power supply , fans, games and software and anything else you might need.

 

[RustyNale]

Dudes, check out the locked thread at the top of this forum, Audigy for only $55

 

[human2k]

ok.............enuf! DUDE your getting a dell!

 

[mangled]

Originally posted by: franguinho

Originally posted by: human2k
How about an Athlon?

LiLian PC7 Chassis
Antec TruPower 430W
Epox KT333 Board
Athlon XP 2100+
Alpha PAL8045T + Vantec Stealth 80MM Fan
Mushkin PC3000 512MB RAM
Abit GeForce 4 TI 4400 TV-OUT
SoundBlaster Audigy OEM
Logitech 560Z Speakers
Lite-On 48x12x48 CAV CD-RW
Pioneer 16xDVD-ROM
WD 80GB SE 8MB HD

$1339.........just add tax and s/h

yeah but no monitor... add $300 for a decent one and thats way over what i can spend...

i wont change my mind about audigy at all but am open to suggestions about radeon...
im an ATI guy and really the only GF4 worth buying IMO is the 4600 and its way to expensive IMO... the 4200 doesnt outperform the radeon does it?

$300 for a monitor?

There's a Samsung 19" .22mm dot pitch CRT at
newegg.com for $182. Plenty of others in the range as well. Just what exactly do you need for $300 in college?

 

[Alex]

i suppose i might be gettin too picky... i read that the only 19" samsung thats worth it is the 900NF...

i guess itll be wise to save here and get a better video card, say...

 

[ksdavis]

A question for you: If you're going to college, have you considered the benefits of a laptop?

I'll be the first to admit, you're not going to be doing much gaming on it; but laptops are really becoming the standard for college computing, especially at selective colleges. (At Harvard, 60% of students own laptops, including 70% of the class of '05). In particular, many campuses are moving forward with 802.11b wireless projects in libraries, classrooms, and often dormitories. It's very handy to be able to take your work with you to class and the library.

Of course, I know you're probably putting a priority on gaming so I will just make mention that you should consider your dorm/roommate situation, if appropriate. If you're planning to overclock, be sure to get quiet fans, etc., unless you know your roomie is going to be a gamer.

 

[Alex]

Originally posted by: ksdavis
A question for you: If you're going to college, have you considered the benefits of a laptop?

I'll be the first to admit, you're not going to be doing much gaming on it; but laptops are really becoming the standard for college computing, especially at selective colleges. (At Harvard, 60% of students own laptops, including 70% of the class of '05). In particular, many campuses are moving forward with 802.11b wireless projects in libraries, classrooms, and often dormitories. It's very handy to be able to take your work with you to class and the library.

Of course, I know you're probably putting a priority on gaming so I will just make mention that you should consider your dorm/roommate situation, if appropriate. If you're planning to overclock, be sure to get quiet fans, etc., unless you know your roomie is going to be a gamer.

ive really considered a laptop but i cant give up on the gaming
im gonna prolly get the rig i mentioned but with more cooling n all...

 

[Transistor]

Hitachi makes good inexpensive 19" monitors. The CM715 is good. Samsung does as well. I've got the 955DF and I like it. I used a CTX 19" montor and it worked good also. You can get a $300 dollar monitor, but you will have to cut back on some of the other parts and that would be bad. I would go with a $200 dollar monitor so that you can have a good PC for under $1500. Brand names like Sony and Creative Labs are not everything. You are paying a lot for the names. You are going to have to get some parts that are good, but not big expensive brand names. That's how you will build a poweful PC for under $1500.

 

[mchammer187]

I still would consider a northwood especially if ur dorm does not have A/C

I had a roomate that insisted on running his comp 24/7 with a Sunon 125mmx38mm High Speed fan, a delta fan and several other case fans

the 125 mm almost drew an AMP

needless to say it was very annoying even in the daytime but sleeping with that wind tunnel on was horrible

Northwood will run a lot cooler and require a lot less cooling and it will throttle down if it ever gets too hot

if your dorms are like ours they stay at 85-90 degrees min till november and it starts right back in April

also consider an LCD because 19" monitors generate a ton of heat in an already hot room its just like a heater

if you have A/C its not really an issue but regardless be considerate with the fans