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$2000 Build List...

J

jwill

2[H]4U
Joined
Jun 4, 2003
Messages
2,102
so my friend gave me a $2000 USD build limit for a new system. he'll be doing video editing and some gaming. he requested a quiet dual TFT setup, VIVO (video in, video out), and this specific case (for now, until i can persuade him to something better/quieter).

i decided to go with an overclocked amd system since the dual TFTs would take a large chunk out of the money limit. the CPU will be overclocked hopefully to 2500-2700+MHz with a good speed FSB (230-250+).

i noticed the case comes with a power supply but i wanted to have a reliable PSU i would be comfortable giving away an overclocked system to someone less computer enthusiastic. also the PSU fans can be speed controlled which is good for quiet computing. i dont trust no-name PSUs to be stable and accurate in overclocked rigs.

let me know what you think of my choices and your opinions on any changes/additions needed. thanks guys.
_____

here is the list i came up with...
http://secure.newegg.com/app/WishR.asp?ID=705325
_____

ASPIRE (Turbo Case) X-Pider Black ATX Mid-Tower Case with 420W Power Supply, Model "ATXA2XPW/420" -RETAIL
$86.00

DFI "NFII ULTRA INFINITY" -RETAIL
$98.00

ASUS nVIDIA GeForce FX5900 Video Card, 128MB DDR, 256-bit, DVI/VIVO, 8X AGP, Model "V9950TVD" -RETAIL
$267.00

Antec 550 Watt Power Supply With 2 Fans 5.25 Control Panel, Model "TRUE CONTROL 550W" -RETAIL
$101.00

AMD Mobile Athlon XP 2500+, 266 FSB, 512K Cache - OEM
$94.00

Kingston HyperX Series 184 Pin 512MB DDR PC-3700
$120.00 x 2 = $240.00

SAMSUNG 160GB 7200RPM IDE Hard Drive, Model SP1604N, OEM Drive Only
$92

BenQ FP767-v2 (Black/Silver) 17" LCD Monitor w/ Speakers -RETAIL
$414.00 x 2 = $828.00

ZALMAN CNPS7000A-AlCu Aluminum + Copper CPU Cooler for AMD XP Socket 462/ 754 and Intel Socket 478 -RETAIL
$36.05
_______
Subtotal » $1927.05

edit: edited spacing.
 
first of all, for video editing he's gonna want a gig of RAM at least.

Second, I suggest you get a 350W power supply or so, it'll be enough power and save you some money. And, if you're going to be getting a seperate power supply, why get a case that comes with one?

Actually, I suggest you just get an Antec case WITH psu, like this one for $70 shipped. That takes $140 off your budget right there. Spend it on more RAM, and a better hard drive. Stick to Maxtor, Seagate, WD...and I actually suggest you try getting a hard drive at a B&M store, since they usually have specials going on. Check the Hot Deals forum, you can usually get a good drive for $.50/gig, something you can't do at Newegg.

You can get a Radeon 9600XT with VIVO for $180 or so. Frees up some money for other parts of the system.

I can't comment on the quality of those LCDs because I don't know, I'm sure someone else can tell you if they're good or bad.
 
Two things that I would change..

1) Antec True550 watt is a overkill, a True 430 costs $25 less and would provide plenty of power for that system. Rig #1 in my sig uses less than 200 watts DC from a True 430.

2) Get a NEC 2500 DVD burner, it costs $10 more but that is offset if you change the PSU. It has outstanding media capability and is a well regarded drive.

Other than that it looks nice :)
 
thanks alot guys for the comments, im glad i posted for you advice.

changes include quiet antec sonata case which comes with a truepower 380w. added another dimm of 512 for a total of 1536MB ram. probably went overkill on the video card but it totals pretty close to my limit.

the hard drive was suggested from silentpcreview (here= http://www.silentpcreview.com/article29-page1.html) to be a very quiet drive with the "Fluid Dynamic Bearing Spindle Motor Technology".

i chose the lite-on over the nec which were suggested to me only because the cd-r/w speeds were better.

i know an intel system would do better for video editing but the nforce2/mobile amd performace potential is a hard deal to beat.

again if you see anything you would do different post it and let me know. thanks again guys.


alright here's the [h]ard|revised setup...
http://secure.newegg.com/app/WishR.asp?ID=705403

____

ANTEC Life Style Series Black Case With 380W Power Supply, Model "SONATA"
$90.00

DFI nForce2 Ultra 400 Chipset Motherboard for AMD Socket A CPU, Model "NFII ULTRA INFINITY" -RETAIL
$98.00

ASUS ATI RADEON 9800PRO Video Card, 256MB DDR, 256-bit, DVI/VIVO, 8X AGP -RETAIL
$355.00

AMD Mobile Athlon XP 2400+, 266FSB, 512K Cache - OEM
$78.00

Kingston HyperX Series 184 Pin 512MB DDR PC-3700
$120.00 x 3 = $360.00

SAMSUNG 160GB 7200RPM IDE Hard Drive, Model SP1604N, OEM Drive Only
$92.00

BenQ FP767-v2 (Black/Silver) 17" LCD Monitor w/ Speakers -RETAIL
$414.00 x 2 = $828.00

Lite-On Black 8X DVD+/-RW Drive, Model SOHW-812S, OEM
$103.00

ZALMAN CNPS7000A-AlCu Aluminum + Copper CPU Cooler for AMD XP Socket 462/ 754 and Intel Socket 478 -RETAIL
$36.05
_______
Subtotal » $ 2,040.05

__

about the TFT display...

this is the TFT he chose...
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=24-014-040&depa=0

the one i chose...
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=24-014-048&depa=0

major differences...

my choice ($414 shipped)...
Contrast Ratio: 500 : 1
Response Time: 16 ms
Speakers: Yes

his choice ($399 shipped)...
Contrast Ratio: 450:1
Response Time: 25 ms
Speakers: No

i would say the extra $15 is worth the improved display, dont you agree? would you be able to tell the difference when say gaming?
 
i know an intel system would do better for video editing but the nforce2/mobile amd performace potential is a hard deal to beat.
Click to expand...

Not if your doing video editing. If he was just gaming yea. But not video editing. Even a 2.6c stock with Hyper Threading will be faster then the overclocked 2400+ M in encodeing. With a $2,000 budget you need to be thinking about a 2.8c or 3.0c with Hyper Threading. If you will look at the benchmarks out on the XP mobiles you will see that even at 2.4-2.5Ghz they dont beat a 3.0c stock even in gaming which would be one of its strongest areas of performance.

You need to talk him out of that dual LCD setup. He doesn't need it. He needs a Pentium 4 for encodeing alot more then he needs dual LCD's. Tell him the importance of the Pentium 4 if he's going to be doing video editing and talk him into a large CRT. I prefer those nice Viewsonic 22" CRT's over an LCD any day. LCD you have to worry about stuck pixels and poor response times for gaming.

Since being a hardcore gamer doesn't seem to be his intentions loose the expensive 9800 pro. Get a 9600XT or 5900XT. There is even a new AIW 9600XT. More then fast enough for the normal gamer.

Lose the PC3700 RAM. It has Hynix chips and will have poor timings. Not to mention look at the price. Get the best memory which is Mushkin and just get him PC3200. Mushkin PC3200 lvl 1 would be my choice.

And this is just a preferential suggestion but i would get the Antec 1080 w/ Antec True Power 430w PSU. I think its nicer then the Sonata.
 
Originally posted by burningrave101
Not if your doing video editing. If he was just gaming yea. But not video editing. Even a 2.6c stock with Hyper Threading will be faster then the overclocked 2400+ M in encodeing. With a $2,000 budget you need to be thinking about a 2.8c or 3.0c with Hyper Threading. If you will look at the benchmarks out a mobile at 2.4Ghz, which the average OC is 2.4-2.5Ghz stable, rarely beats a 3.0c stock.

You need to talk him out of that dual LCD setup. He doesn't need it. He needs a Pentium 4 for encodeing alot more then he needs dual LCD's. Tell him the importance of the Pentium 4 if he's going to be doing video editing and talk him into a large CRT. I prefer those nice Viewsonic 22" CRT's over an LCD any day. LCD you have to worry about stuck pixels and poor response times for gaming.

Since being a hardcore gamer doesn't seem to be his intentions loose the expensive 9800 pro. Get a 9600XT or 5900XT. There is even a new AIW 9600XT. More then fast enough for the normal gamer.

Lose the PC3700 RAM. It has Hynix chips and will have poor timings. Not to mention look at the price. Get the best memory which is Mushkin and just get him PC3200. Mushkin PC3200 lvl 1 would be my choice.

And this is just a preferential suggestion but i would get the Antec 1080 w/ Antec True Power 430w PSU. I think its nicer then the Sonata.
Click to expand...

This man speaks truth.
 
I agree in everything he said, even though I hate Intel with a passion. =).

Also, I would suggest:

Geil Golden Dragon PC3200 ram (very nice with a very nice price... prices did just go up though)

Radeon 9800pro 128mb (not 256) to save about 100 bucks. Or even the 9600XT like he said. I personally wouldnt touch Nvidia with someone elses 10 foot pole.

I suggest dual CRTs also, unless he is set on LCDs.
Maybe one 17inch+ LCD and one 21inch+ CRT

I love my Geil and my 9800PRO!
 
Not if your doing video editing. If he was just gaming yea. But not video editing. Even a 2.6c stock with Hyper Threading will be faster then the overclocked 2400+ M in encodeing. With a $2,000 budget you need to be thinking about a 2.8c or 3.0c with Hyper Threading. If you will look at the benchmarks out on the XP mobiles you will see that even at 2.4-2.5Ghz they dont beat a 3.0c stock even in gaming which would be one of its strongest areas of performance.
Click to expand...
I would seriously take this into consideration. The system you have set up is a very good system, but your bud is trusting you with his money to hook him up with the best he can get suitable for HIS needs. That would be a P4C. I wish I still had the benchmarks that I saw a while ago comparing two equally clocked AMD and P4 processors in video editing. The P4 with hyperthreading stomped it COLD man. Just listen to the other people on the board.

I agree with the changes made except I would subtract 1 chip of RAM to make it 1 gig, subtract the Nforce2, subtract the AMD chip, and downgrade the video card to 128 giving you $396. And then make a new board and chip combo with that money. Examples below.

P4C 3.0 - $227,
P4C 2.8 - $186

Abit IS7 - $98
Asus P4P800-E - $123

Of course those are just examples. You can play around with the board models and such to find a perfect match for the budget if you must.

In fact, with $396 for a chip and board. Do the 2.8C and one of these boards and you're golden.

Abit IC7-MAX3 - $193
or
Asus P4C800-E Deluxe $179

Also, if he was willing to go with CRT's you could save a TON of cash and use it to add a Killer RAID-0 setup with twin 74 gig Raptors for your boot and work area drive, and then use the 160gig to store the files on once the work is complete.
 
Originally posted by Tengis
Radeon 9800pro 128mb (not 256) to save about 100 bucks. Or even the 9600XT like he said. I personally wouldnt touch Nvidia with someone elses 10 foot pole.
Click to expand...

Why not dude? nVidia has some great cards people arne't giving enough credit to. An overclocked 5900XT walks all over anything ATI has less then a 9800 pro and it will even beat a 9800 pro stock if you overclock it high enough. The 5900XT will run with a faster core speed then the 5950 and the 5950 competes against the 9800XT. The RAM wont run quite as fast but fast enough. For less then $200, and the fact the nVidia software bundles own ATI's (my Gigabyte 5900XT came with 3 full version games and other software) i see no reason not to want one. nVidia's drivers also have the most features out of any other driver set. Yes the ATI cards have a little better image quality but i've used both and i really dont see a difference at all and usually the nVidia cards get higher FPS.

I think its more a matter of loyalty to one side or the other and until recently nVidia pretty much ruled the graphics card world. Over the last couple of years ATI is just now stepping up to actually compete.
 
what kinda video editing? dvd, divx, avi, what? 1 gig of ram would be nice but it really depends on what kinda video editing... 512 mb would good enough... i do dvd encode/decode with my mushkin pc3500 512mb (dual channel 2x 256mb)
 
I would ditch the 160GB drive and go for a Seagate 120GB drive and with the leftover money up the ram to 1GB.
 
Originally posted by xplosivex
I would ditch the 160GB drive and go for a Seagate 120GB drive and with the leftover money up the ram to 1GB.
Click to expand...

its always nice to have bigger space if you are doing the video editing... but maybe thats just me... :D
 
If someone else said this I'm sorry but If I was going to be doing video editing I'd want at least 19" monitors. 17's just wouldn't have the screen realestate that I would want. Of course price woudl factor in. I would convince him to spend more money to get a larger monitors.

James
 
Originally posted by matoch
If someone else said this I'm sorry but If I was going to be doing video editing I'd want at least 19" monitors. 17's just wouldn't have the screen realestate that I would want. Of course price woudl factor in. I would convince him to spend more money to get a larger monitors.

James
Click to expand...

i agree! i do v.e. on my 17" samsung LCD... and i wish i had 19" or bigger monitor...
 
Originally posted by matoch
If someone else said this I'm sorry but If I was going to be doing video editing I'd want at least 19" monitors. 17's just wouldn't have the screen realestate that I would want. Of course price woudl factor in. I would convince him to spend more money to get a larger monitors.

James
Click to expand...
dual 17's is nothing to scoff at.

As the owner of a 21" monitor, I can tell you that if you're trying to work in two or more windows at the same time it gets awfully crowded, awfully fast. It would actually be easier to use dual 15"s, with one window in each monitor.

Of course, once you load up a game or a movie, you start to see why 21"s rock:D
 
Originally posted by jkbear11
i agree! i do v.e. on my 17" samsung LCD... and i wish i had 19" or bigger monitor...
Click to expand...

Yup, a large 22" NEC or Viewsonic CRT would be a wise investement. You wouldn't have to get another new monitor for quite a while and 22" is HUGE :).
 
Originally posted by jagec
dual 17's is nothing to scoff at.

As the owner of a 21" monitor, I can tell you that if you're trying to work in two or more windows at the same time it gets awfully crowded, awfully fast. It would actually be easier to use dual 15"s, with one window in each monitor.

Of course, once you load up a game or a movie, you start to see why 21"s rock:D
Click to expand...

I run Dual 19's at 1600x1200 and when I start programing or when I decide to play around with Video editing stuff I find I still want more room.

The 17's probably wont' go any higher than 1280x1024. I just don't think someone doing any real video editing would be happy with that. Of course this is only my opinion.

If I had the cash I'd be buying a 23" Cinema Display. But since I can't afford that I'm sticking with my 19's.

James
 
For video editing, DEFINITELY go Intel.

And actually, I'd recommend an FX5900 series card as well; nView's better than Hydravision, and if you're shuffling windows, it can be nice.

On the monitors: if you can convince him to, have him get a pair of nice 19" CRTs (P95F+, anyone? :D) and spend the difference on a nice table to put them on. ;)

The rest of the stuff looks OK, aside from overkill on the PSU and a ricey case. Look into an Antec PLUS 1080.

Lessee...

Antec PLUS 1080: $120
Nice mobo: $150
Retail P4: $200
2x 512MB PC3200: $160?
FX5900XT: $200
2x P95f+: $600
WD Raptor: $130
Seagate 160GB w/ 8MB cache: $130
CD-RW/DVD-ROM: $60
DVD+/-RW: $120
Logitech MX Duo: $80
Audigy 2 ZS: $80

...little over $2000 (Newegg prices), but I say it'd be worth it.
 
Originally posted by jagec
he needs VIVO.
Click to expand...

I would just grab one of the Leadtek TV cards. Im sure it would be better then anything built onto a video card from nVidia or ATi. And that way if he decides to upgrade the video card in the near future it wont have to be another one with TiVo.
 
I've seen a LOT of DV people who are actually just using firewire to pull video from digital camcorders and such.

Still, a decent capture card is only $50, and it's one less thing that has to be on the next graphics card.
 
thank you guys again. this has giving me much to think about and a good amount to go over with my friend.

so since an intel setup will do so much better for the applications my friend will do here is the new list. mind you this is without a case, psu and display which i will have to go over more with him again.

http://secure.newegg.com/app/WishR.asp?ID=705672

ive even been thinking about suggesting a shuttle barebone like this one, which seems like a pretty good deal. i think hes going to use this as a htpc (home theatre pc) aswell...
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=56-101-417&depa=1
 
Ever think of refurbs? I just got my seagate 120gb 8mb cache P-ATA hdd from the egg yesterday, the only problem with it was that it wasn't formatted and still had XP on it :p but for $65, DEFINATELY a steal.

edit: need sleep, can't type
 
Since hes doing video encoding I'd recommend a nice WD Raptor for quicker performance, along with a large storage drive. Like everyone else said, I'd go with a 3.0C. =) And to whoever mentioned a 22" NEC, I'd say go for it ;) But the price is a bit high.
 
for video editing or gaming would you see a performance gain with 256MB built into the video card rather then 128MB?

because this 5900xt with vivo....
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=14-170-048&depa=1

has better gaming performance then this 9600xt...
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=14-123-132&depa=1

according to this comparison at legion hardware...
http://www.legionhardware.com/html/doc.php?id=295

i know the card on my list has 256MB and the card in the comparison 128MB. where would you see a performance gain?

edit: cpu change on hardware list to p4 3.0c (almost half price of 3.4c)...
http://secure.newegg.com/app/WishR.asp?ID=705997
 
ok so the 74G raptors being at 10000 rpm with a 4.5ms seek time vs 8.9ms with the quiet samsung 160G. then accessing and saving times will be decreased with the improved seek time noticably?

this has me undecided now, whether to get a single 74G raptor or two and/or the 160G samsung since i wanted him not to have to worry about hard drive space.
 
For the HD, if you want, get a Raptor 73 GB and a WD 250 GB SATA drive. If he is video editing, he obviously needs space.

This next part is coming from a person who isn't buying a processor just because it has an Intel or an AMD sticker included. If you have a $2000 budget and are doing video editing, I will laugh myself to death if you get a Mobile 2500+ over an Intel with Hyperthreading. :p

Use that money right.
 
And actually, I'd recommend an FX5900 series card as well; nView's better than Hydravision, and if you're shuffling windows, it can be nice.
Click to expand...

I do have to agree that nView (Nvidia) is VERY nice for shuffling windows around, using multiple monitors, and desktops. I'm not much of a video card guru yet, so I can't tell ya if the 128-256 change would make a difference for video editing. Though if you ask me, I don't think that it would. Your major performance gains with the jump to 256 would be in the gaming area where large graphics and such are an issue? You'll see a better performance gain in video editing with large fast ram, a fast processor, and fast hard drives. Good plan going intel by the way. ;)

With that being said.

Get a single raptor for the boot and work area drive. Performance will be SIGNIFICANTLY better, especially with video. Then get a large 160+ drive for storage. Make sure it has an 8mb buffer though. I noticed the drive you had picked out has a 2mb buffer. The extra little bit of money for an 8mb buffer is well worth it.

It's much better to have two drives. One for all the files and one for the OS and work area. That way if he needs to format and reinstall the OS for any reason at all, he can do it in a JIFFY because all his important files will be on the 160+ storage drive.

If you notice that you are running tight on money, I would just cut that 3.4C down to the 3.0C. That will save you 200 bucks right there! That could be your raptor drive. Then just overclock the 3.0 to 3.4 if you like which is a very modest overclock for that chip, and you won't even need to change your cooling setup.

Your gig of RAM is very good, but I would also at least get PC3200.
 
Originally posted by Noah
This next part is coming from a person who isn't buying a processor just because it has an Intel or an AMD sticker included. If you have a $2000 budget and are doing video editing, I will laugh myself to death if you get a Mobile 2500+ over an Intel with Hyperthreading. :p

Use that money right.
Click to expand...
IF the guy insists on dual LCD's, it's more like a $1200 budget:(

But yes, Intel is still manageable under those circumstances, and better for video editing.
 
so true jagec. these dual TFT are killing the budget for the acual computer. although they are pretty nice to have over big CRTs they do cost alot.

changes to the list include WD Quiet Drive 250GB, WD Raptor 74GB 10,000RPM SATA (both 8MB cache), Albatron FX5900XT w/VIVO (better performance then 9600xt for $5 more),

id like to have the raptor for a working area drive and the WD quiet drive for a storage drive. also would like another GIG of the same RAM. do you think the extra GIG of ram would give a noticable difference or would it be overkill? these extras would be nice to have but with the dual TFTs put me a good amount over budget. ill see if he wants to spend the extra or not on the TFTs after i talk to him about this.

by the way the memory on the list will be overclocking to at least 200MHz 5-2-2-2 if anyone is wondering why id run at 166MHz.

alright so heres the list as it stand today, over budget...
http://secure.newegg.com/app/WishR.asp?ID=706192

now for quiet i also wanted to get an AcoustiPack™ Antec Sonata...
http://store.yahoo.com/siliconacoustics/acousticpack-antec-sonata.html

and a couple sets of Fan Isolators for the 120mm fan and PSU...
http://www.siliconacoustics.com/fanisolators1.html

which will cost another $95-100 shipped.

i was thinking also of doing a couple mods like Douglas Bailey at silentpcreview did to his sonata...
http://forums.silentpcreview.com/viewtopic.php?t=10084

thank you all again for the guidance.
 
Why is he so insistent on having dual TFT's? A couple of Dual CRT's would be just as nice and better for image quality. Is it space or bling-bling he is looking for?
 
Originally posted by Spinal
Why is he so insistent on having dual TFT's? A couple of Dual CRT's would be just as nice and better for image quality. Is it space or bling-bling he is looking for?
Click to expand...
he not being so insistant, i havent been able to talk to him a second time about the TFTs. when he first saw my dual NEC 17s he liked how you can spread out your work. also he told me with the TFTs hes noticed the gap in between the displays can be much less seeming like one monitor instead of two. so its probably a combination of desktop space, footprint, and bling effect.
 
Nice setup, but I have a few issues:

  • The RAM. Why are you getting him PC2700? He is going to be extremely bottlenecked. Get Corsair XMS PC3200 for the better speeds/latencies. He will notice the difference.
  • You don't need to quiet the Sonata anymore than it already is. All you are doing is bottlenecking airflow.
  • Wait a day until the MSI GeForceFX 5900XT. We used them at work, they are amazing. Don't get Albatron crap.

http://secure.newegg.com/app/WishHistoryReview.asp?position=HISTORY&submit=VIEW&ID=706227

There is the wish list I recommend (it's yours with the changes I recommended).
 
If he's doing video editing, CRT's would probably be a better choice for color reproduction. This is coming from an LCD owner.

I would go P4 3.0C and overclock it to 3.76. Get an IC7 to go along with it ;) .
 
thanks for that list Noah.

if you read the last review for the ram i chose, biohazard states hes running the RAM at 400MHz with 2-2-2-5 on an Abit IC7. i believe i will have the same success. i mean its mushkin level two. if i am succesful reaching 200MHz, the price difference between the same amount of what you suggested between the mushkin is pretty large, around $120.

as for the acoustic pack i dont believe it will hinder air flow significantly other then those blocks they demonstrate putting into empty hard drive bays. the difference in airflow might even be the same with those mods i linked to and the blocks into the empty 3.5 bays.

i will definetely change to the video card that you suggested. although i havent had any experience with albatron i would trust MSI first. im also undecided of downgrading the video card all together since hes not going to be gaming most of the time. that fx5900xt is a pretty nice card though.

jagec... software is not to be included in this budget and he already has all the peripherals, minus nice monitors.

ill try to persaude him if he has the space to get large CRT monitors instead, he might even increase the budget if he wants the TFTs bad enough.

its funny how im treating this build like my own. even though thats how anyone should treat a build. ill be sad when its put together and done and have to give it away. :p

edit: StrongBadia ill be aiming for 3750 like you said, 250x15 with the memory at 200MHz 5:4.
 
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