ATI Card... Need help

[Stefan]

Alright, my budget's REALLY low. (Hopefully under 600-700 range...)
So far, this is what the computer looks like. (All In CDN funds.)
$69 18" Aqua Black/Silver Case w/Blue Beam Transparent Side Panel 4xFan 350W P4 PS USB 2.0
$79 Western Digital WD800JB 80.0GB 8MB IDE
$119 Asus A7N8X-E Deluxe nForce2 Chipset 5PCI/1AGP8x/3DDR w/Sound GB Lan SATA Raid USB 2.0 Socket A & ATA-133
$105 512MB PC3200 400Mhz 184pin DDR (Kingston KVR400X64C3A/512)
$145 AMD® Athlon™XP Barton 2600+(1.91GHz) w/333Mhz FSB 512K Box
$118 NEC ND-2510A 8X4X12 BEIGE DUAL LAYER DVD+-RW OEM W/ SOFTWARE
$37 LiteOn 52x32x52 IDE int CD Writer Retail Box
And for a video card:
$62 ATI Radeon 9200SE 128MB DDR AGP8x w/TV OEM
$65 ATI Radeon 9250 128MB DDR AGP8x w/TV OEM
$83 ATI Radeon 9550SE 128MB DDR AGP8X w/TV & DVI-I OEM
$119 ATI Radeon 9550 256MB DDR AGP8X w/TV & DVI-I OEM
$95 ATI Radeon X300SE 128MB DDR PCI-Express w/TV Sapphire
One of these 5. Which is best for it's price?
Maybe even an x600 if I can fit it in the budget...
Feel free to give suggestions on any hardware, especially video cards.
If you feel one peice of hardware isn't good, lay it on me, help me build a computer!

 

[Tordek]

first of all, tell us what you plan to use the computer for.

 

[Stefan]

Basic use, games, nothing special.

 

[Tordek]

Then that processor, along with the motherboard wont do, at all....

And dont get me started with your vid card selections, if you are on such a cash restraint i suggest to just wait it out for a while and earn more so you can get a system that will last... The components you wrote off just dont cut it anymore...

http://www.hardocp.com/article.html?art=Njcz

http://www.hardocp.com/article.html?art=NjU5

This helpful links from [H] should give you a good idea of what you need to be looking at.

 

[lithium726]

$105 512MB PC3200 400Mhz 184pin DDR (Kingston KVR400X64C3A/512)
$145 AMD® Athlon™XP Barton 2600+(1.91GHz) w/333Mhz FSB 512K Box
$118 NEC ND-2510A 8X4X12 BEIGE DUAL LAYER DVD+-RW OEM W/ SOFTWARE

those prices sound really wrong... a stick of DDR can be had for 70 bucks, a mobile barton can be had for 70 bucks, and a NEC 16x DL drive can be had for about 65 bucks, all that from newegg..

edit: i know for a fact that RAM isnt comptable with that board, ive had that exact setup, and the ram does NOT like the board, my stick is currently in RMA for a refund with kingston

 

[robo22]

i don't know where you are getting these prices, but they seem kinda high to me. You can get a barton 2700+ for 100, the western digital 80g for a bit over 50 bucks, and a nec 3500A DL dvd burner for 65 from newegg. With the money you saved on those items, you can probably get a 9800pro.

 

[shade]

let me guess ur one of the best buy's "valued customers"(j/k, hehe just had to say that). ur prices are wrong. i think ur shoppin at the wrong places. newegg has decent prices.

 

[Stefan]

I don't mean to be an asshole, because I know you're all here to help.
But NOT READING MY POST, and NOT ANSWERING doesn't help.
You seem to have read everything except for the "IN CANADIAN FUNDS"
Yes, CDN is short for Canadian.
Anyways, it's not for me, it's for a birthday, and christmas present to my brother, he needs a computer, his just broke down. He goes to College, and it's required.
When I said gaming, I didn't mean Half-Life 2. For god sakes, just a normal computer.
Well then, you'll have to excuse me, I'm in a bad mood, but let's do this again, shall we?
Refer to FIRST post. If you'd like to participate, look at the video cards provided, and help.
THANK YOU.
I am not ordering off of New Egg, the prices will even out to the exact same thing with shipping, and what not, but HA HA.

 

[joecuddles]

Rofl. I read through those responses thinking the EXACT same thing. "Didn't they read?".

Go with the 9550, x300/x600 are PCI-E only and you need one of the newer Intel boards for that. 9550 is for you

 

[lithium726]

edit: i know for a fact that RAM isnt comptable with that board, ive had that exact setup, and the ram does NOT like the board, my stick is currently in RMA for a refund with kingston

this still stands.

 

[gordon151]

Try to find a good deal on a retail Athlon64 2800+ and get one of the cheaper S754 motherboards you can find (I've seen really good ones a lot cheaper than that asus board you pointed out). It might come out to roughly the same price (plus or minus a few dollars) and be a much better buy. Also you require a pci-e motherboard to purchase a pci-express video card so if it says "PCI-Express", dont buy! Try to get either a cheap 128-bit memory bus 9550 or 9600 (preferably the 9600 if you can get them for roughly the same price). They are the best value right now for low budget buyers.

 

[heero884]

Alright, my budget's REALLY low. (Hopefully under 600-700 range...)
So far, this is what the computer looks like. (All In CDN funds.)
$69 18" Aqua Black/Silver Case w/Blue Beam Transparent Side Panel 4xFan 350W P4 PS USB 2.0
$79 Western Digital WD800JB 80.0GB 8MB IDE
$119 Asus A7N8X-E Deluxe nForce2 Chipset 5PCI/1AGP8x/3DDR w/Sound GB Lan SATA Raid USB 2.0 Socket A & ATA-133
$105 512MB PC3200 400Mhz 184pin DDR (Kingston KVR400X64C3A/512)
$145 AMD® Athlon™XP Barton 2600+(1.91GHz) w/333Mhz FSB 512K Box
$118 NEC ND-2510A 8X4X12 BEIGE DUAL LAYER DVD+-RW OEM W/ SOFTWARE
$37 LiteOn 52x32x52 IDE int CD Writer Retail Box
And for a video card:
$62 ATI Radeon 9200SE 128MB DDR AGP8x w/TV OEM
$65 ATI Radeon 9250 128MB DDR AGP8x w/TV OEM
$83 ATI Radeon 9550SE 128MB DDR AGP8X w/TV & DVI-I OEM
$119 ATI Radeon 9550 256MB DDR AGP8X w/TV & DVI-I OEM
$95 ATI Radeon X300SE 128MB DDR PCI-Express w/TV Sapphire
One of these 5. Which is best for it's price?
Maybe even an x600 if I can fit it in the budget...
Feel free to give suggestions on any hardware, especially video cards.
If you feel one peice of hardware isn't good, lay it on me, help me build a computer!

right off the bat i know you wont be getting a x300se to connect to a a7n8x-e because pci express and agp are different "animals" unless of course you meant a 9600se which is what the x300se really is. same with the x600, as it is the pci express version of the radeon9600. if i were given the choice of video cards between those 5 i would get the 9550 256MB if budget allows. at the minimum i would get the 9550SE between those 5 because i have read that longhorn will require dx9 and to be on the safe side i would go with a dx9 card. if the 9550SE is still too expensive i would recommend the fx5200 over the r92xx as it is approximately $50 american.

also i would not trust the powersupply that comes with that case as cheap cases usually come with flaky power supplies. also the 2600+ barton isnt much compared to whats out there. i dont know how much these prices convert to in american but i recommend a amd athlon xp mobile processor as those are a great bang for the buck.

 

[joecuddles]

x300/x600 are PCI-E only and you need one of the newer Intel boards for that. 9550 is for you

Few posts down....

Also you require a pci-e motherboard to purchase a pci-express video card so if it says "PCI-Express", dont buy!

Next post...

you wont be getting a x300se to connect to a a7n8x-e because pci express and agp are different "animals" unless of course you meant a 9600se which is what the x300se really is. same with the x600, as it is the pci express version of the radeon9600

Seems there's some sort of anti-reading disorder going around the forums

 

[starhawk]

i have noticed a similar phenomenon. i believe it is aggrivated by an aphasia virus that has been codenamed "halflife2fever" by the government.

 

[gordon151]

Seems there's some sort of anti-reading disorder going around the forums

Combined with the rampant cases of "I like to point out pointless things that really shouldn't bother me".

 

[heero884]

Seems there's some sort of anti-reading disorder going around the forums

no i read what was said earlier but i thought i would go into the matter into more detail as its not completely true that the x300/x600 cards are pci-e only, they are simply rehashes of existing radeon video cards. did you read me saying that? i dont think you said that and i thought the original poster might like to know and lets not flame people shall we?

 

[Tordek]

Feel free to give suggestions on any hardware, especially video cards.

You said any... And we pointed out how your list just sucked. Sorry if it hurt your feelings, but the list, still sucks...

If you like your brother at all, then i still suggest you try get more money for the computer...
That thing you are building will be just paperweight even for "basic gaming" in a few months.

 

[InorganicMatter]

Hey Stefan, what all does your brother need? All I see listed in the list is the actual computer. Does he need a monitor, keyboard, mouse, printer, etc?

 

[mulpsmebeauty]

As above - if your brother's PC broke down, do you really need to invest in a new case? I've currently got a load of good stuff in a crappy old case which saved me a few quid for now. Is there no old CD writer you can salvage from the old one? I'm guessing not, but that's all I can do with the info at hand.

What about the DVD Writer? Is it essential? It's one of the most expensive things on your list. I can't see college use requiring him to write 6.5Gb to disc that often - will a CD writer not suffice, allowing you to upgrade the rest of the components you suggest? If you buy a crap video card and processor, when they become redundant, you're probably going to lose a lot of money flogging them to get newer stuff, but buying better now might be a wiser option.

 

[InorganicMatter]

Anyways, it's not for me, it's for a birthday, and christmas present to my brother, he needs a computer, his just broke down.

Well first, see if you can fix it by replacing a part or two. And if that fails...

You said that his "broke down". If so, then his Case/PSU/HD/Optical Drive should still be good, all that needs replacing are the core components. You sould just consider following this guide. You said you had $600-700 CND, and $600 CND --> $500 US. Just enough for you to get the stuff in that guide.

 

[CastleBravo]

First, I agree with scrounging parts off the old PC. That may save you enough cash to upgrade something else.

Second, don't go cheap on the power supply. That system won't need a huge one, just a good brand name >300W. A PSU goes bad, it can take everything else with it.

Third, Radeon 9600 Pros seem to go for very cheap if you shop around (<US$100), so you should be able to find a good deal on those. And it would be a BIG improvement over anything on your list.

Fourth, with a 333 MHz FSB, getting PC3200 DDR400 is pointless and a waste of money, unless you want to overclock the snot out of it. If not, just get PC2700 DDR333.

 

[Stefan]

You said any... And we pointed out how your list just sucked. Sorry if it hurt your feelings, but the list, still sucks...

If you like your brother at all, then i still suggest you try get more money for the computer...
That thing you are building will be just paperweight even for "basic gaming" in a few months.

A) He wants a DVD burner.
B) I'm not going to scrounge up his 6 year old parts, that are worth no more than 10 dollars. A 500 MHZ pentium 3 would be useless, and there's a good chance the motherboard wont fit in his tower, so why not get a new one.
C) I'm not buying it, my parents are, I'm building it, and they're not going to "save up" more money for him, when it's not necassary.
D) It didn't hurt my feelings, but why the fuck would we spend more money on him than necassary? He's too busy to play Half-Life 2, and high end games, so we're not going to buy him the best video card. He told me specifically "All I want to play is my friends mod (A UT2k3 Mod), you have no idea what you're talking about, and so far all your posts have been useless to me.
I appreciate everyone elses support, but building the new computer idea is sticking, we're not going to replace a few parts, rather, everything. Like I said before, NOTHING on his computer is worth saving.
I'll look into that other mobo, if I cant use the kingston ram, which ram should I get?
Oh, and, $102 512MB PC2700 333Mhz 184pin DDR (Kingston KVR333X64C25/512) , will this do?
Before the "You're getting ripped off with those prices" comes again, remember... CANADIAN funds.

 

[Stefan]

As for the S754, which brand is that, asus?
Cause I couldn't find it on www.ncix.com or www.a-power.com
two local CANADIAN stores.
Perhaps you could help?

 

[lithium726]

i do believe that kingston support said that the pc2700 would work on your board, as they offered me that when i called in for an RMA. i took the refund because i run at over 200mhz

 

[Stefan]

Oh, I also need a mobo that will handle two hard drives...
They will, right?

 

[FlamingTeddiz]

stefan if you want to get him a decent computer just go to your local computer dealer. I dont know if there is a staples, bestbuy, circut city or any other store that carries electronics. and just pick up a 500 computer, does he need a monitor too? if so there probably are some good gateway or dell computer avalible in a package. unless you know pretty much what ur doing or if ur brother knows how to build a computer i wouldnt recomend starting off by ur self.

 

[Stefan]

Well I built my own computer, and I'm going to build his.
I know how to build computer's, I just don't research every part.
Like I said, if you want to help, just answer the questions If not, don't worry about me, I've built many of computers before.

 

[lithium726]

any mobo will support 4 EIDE devices, and that particular Asus NF2 board also supports two SATA drives.

 

[Stefan]

As for the S754 MOBO, which brand is that, asus???

 

[Stefan]

So you suggest one of these: (Which one?)
$125 Asus K8V S754 VIA K8T800 Chipset 1AGP8x/5PCI/3DDR, w/Sound Gigabit Lan SATA Raid USB 2.0 ATA-133
$112 Asus K8V-X S754 VIA K8T800 Chipset 1AGP8x/5PCI/3DDR, w/Sound Gigabit Lan SATA USB 2.0 ATA-133
$113 Asus K8N S754 nForce3 250Gb Chipset 1AGP8x/5PCI/3DDR, w/Sound Lan SATA-Raid USB 2.0 ATA-133
Over this:
$119 Asus A7N8X-E Deluxe nForce2 Chipset 5PCI/1AGP8x/3DDR w/Sound GB Lan SATA Raid USB 2.0 Socket A & ATA-133 ?

 

[starhawk]

if i'm reading the earlier posts right... it's the cheapest dang one they've got.

just one thing: unless you are getting a mobile cpu, do NOT get a microatx board (this is only true for amd cpu's) because it doesn't support any fsb speeds higher than the default (lowest) programmed into the chip. for a barton core athlonxp, that's 1ghz.

there are a few matx boards out there that are exceptions to this rule... but they are few and far between.

 

[lithium726]

just one thing: unless you are getting a mobile cpu, do NOT get a microatx board (this is only true for amd cpu's) because it doesn't support any fsb speeds higher than the default (lowest) programmed into the chip. for a barton core athlonxp, that's 1ghz.

there are a few matx boards out there that are exceptions to this rule... but they are few and far between.

that doesnt make any damn sence, at all. if a motherboard is BARTON READY, it will support the 333fsb(and in most cases, the 400), and i cant imagne why this would be different for microATX boards

case and point: http://www.newegg.com/app/viewProductDesc.asp?description=13-152-024&depa=1

edit: the A7N8X-E Dlx isnt even a MicroATX Board! why are you talking about microatx boards??

 

[starhawk]

it just so happens that that exact board you posted is one of those exceptions.

if you guys don't mind waiting a half hour or so, i'll dig up the quote from six weeks back.

 

[lithium726]

So you suggest one of these: (Which one?)
$125 Asus K8V S754 VIA K8T800 Chipset 1AGP8x/5PCI/3DDR, w/Sound Gigabit Lan SATA Raid USB 2.0 ATA-133
$112 Asus K8V-X S754 VIA K8T800 Chipset 1AGP8x/5PCI/3DDR, w/Sound Gigabit Lan SATA USB 2.0 ATA-133
$113 Asus K8N S754 nForce3 250Gb Chipset 1AGP8x/5PCI/3DDR, w/Sound Lan SATA-Raid USB 2.0 ATA-133
Over this:
$119 Asus A7N8X-E Deluxe nForce2 Chipset 5PCI/1AGP8x/3DDR w/Sound GB Lan SATA Raid USB 2.0 Socket A & ATA-133 ?

that one. im partial to nvidia over via

ive had some bad exieriences with VIA

 

[lithium726]

it just so happens that that exact board you posted is one of those exceptions.

if you guys don't mind waiting a half hour or so, i'll dig up the quote from six weeks back.

riddle me this, why the hell would a board with an nf2 ultra only support a 100(200 effective) FSB? that sounds like board/bios problem that is isolated to a specific product, not something that is true of all microATX boards.

since he isnt even considering! a microATX board, what does it matter, and what point did your post have?

 

[starhawk]

anything before... erm, i think it was revision 7.2... lemme go dig up that thread and the posts in it...

 

[lithium726]

anything before... erm, i think it was revision 7.2... lemme go dig up that thread and the posts in it...

so if there is a problem with a board before XX revision with supported FSB speeds, why are you saying that every sktA microATX board wont run his proc at the rated speed?

edit: according to the newegg reviews, everyone who has a barton in that board is running it great, and one guy has his fsb at 215(430 effective)mhz.

 

[gordon151]

As for the S754, which brand is that, asus?
Cause I couldn't find it on www.ncix.com or www.a-power.com
two local CANADIAN stores.
Perhaps you could help?

What's with all the asus fanb0ys i'm seeing lately :/. Anyway, I think you'd be good with something other than asus, like MSI. I liked this on that a-power site, $97 MSI K8T NEO-FSR(MS-6702-020) K8T800 Chipset 800Mhz FSB 1AGP8x/5PCI/3DDR W/Sound GB-Lan SATA Raid ATA-133. Coupled with this, $165 AMD® Athlon™ 64 2800+ w/800Mhz FSB 512K Box, and the vid I saw on that ncix site, SAPPHIRE RADEON 9600 128MB AGP8X VGA DVI TV OUT OEM VIDEO CARD $126.50, you could have a nice setup for not much more than you were quoting originally for that axp rig. The mainboard lithium726 pointed out though would be a much better buy though as the nf3 250gb chipsets are pretty good.

 

[shade]

sorry there i didn't see the CANADIAN dollars. i wouldn't go with the FX line if i were u. if he does basic gaming maybe a 9600 pro or 9500 pro will do him just fine for that game and for future games he might want to play, he can play them at prolly the lowest settings but for any games now that just didn't come out. it should be able to handle them fine. yea, try to get a quality psu becuz we don't want anything gettin taken down along with ur psu if it dies. o yea if u plan on gettin ram that is ddr 2700, be on the look out. i've seen 3200 ram go for the same price as the 2700.

 

[Tordek]

you have no idea what you're talking about, and so far all your posts have been useless to me.
.

ok... if you want to throw money away, be my guest.