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help request - wanting to build a new pc

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elphyne

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Jan 28, 2005
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Looking into getting a better system for myself, either by making or buying, whichever gets me the best deal in the long run. Current system is being handed down to my husband, so i'll need everything new. Looking at a budget of maybe $2000 or less for a decent system for playing games online and off and using programs like 3D Max and poser, and watching movies. This is the first time i've tried to look into building, and am trying my best to figure out what stuff is good, and what stuff to avoid... any suggestions are welcome...

I have no plans to overclock, but i'd like to try to get the best system available in my budget geared primarily for games.
I was thinking of getting a cpu/motherboard/fan "tested" combo from http://www.monarchcomputer.com since they're suppose to offer a 3 yr warranty with those for some extra money. are they a reliable company? or is the warranty not worth it? I've been reading so many horror stories about things not working properly i figured at least the warranty would give me some peace of mind. I was also looking at http://www.zipzoomfly.com and http://www.newegg.com for prices. anyways, here's what i've pieced together so far

"tested combo from Monarch" Mobo: Gigabyte GA-K8NS Ultra-939 , PSU: Athlon 64 3500 (939) or Athlon 64 3800 (939) , Heatsink Fan: Thermaltake Venus 7+, the thermal grease and 3 yr warranty +free farcry and HL2 = (depending on CPU $459 or $769 shipped
Corsair Value Select 184 Pin 1GB (512MBx2) DDR = $147 shipped
eVGA GeForce 6800 GT 256MB AGP = $377 shipped
Western Digital 200GB SATA 7200 = $125 shipped
Lite-On 16X DVD-ROM = $31 shipped
Sony 16x dvd+/-RW = $69 shipped
Windows XP = $75 shipped

Case, PSU, and monitor i was still trying to decide on. I'd like a case thats a little nicer to look at then the plain off-white or black rectangle cases, but i don't want something flimsy. and i've read enough to know standard case PSU's arent good enough.. but i dont want to spend a fortune so suggestions for either are welcome. also i'm looking for a decent flat CRT monitor 19" or so, i currently have a 17" Gateway Diamondtrom, but my husband's hoping he'll get to have that one for himself, and i'd like something a little bigger.. unless there's not much noticable difference between a 17" & 19"

Did i forget any vital parts for the system? is the thermal grease really needed in the combo set? would the set be ok? or am i better off buying the items seperate?

Oh yes, was planning to get SB audigy 2, but i'm not sure if there's any noticable difference in the different versions and would like advice on a decent set of low price pc speakers, preferably with plugs for headphones and mic, as well as volume control on the speakers themselves, space is kind of limited for speakers, i've been using 2.1's, but most of the 2.1's i see out there now for a reasonable price are eye sores - but the sound card, speakers, mouse and keyboard can all be gotten at a later time, so no need to factor those in to the "under $2000" price range

Of the items i listed, are there any extra things i need to get to be able to make it work in the system, i thought a couple were listed as OEM's, and i'm not really sure what generally comes standard with the "retail" versions that these OEM's don't have..

Anyways, any help or advice you can give would be appreciated.

Elphyne
 
Well it all looks like a good start to me. If games (and cost) are priority, you'll be wanting to stick with AMD as you've currently selected. With CPU pricing, there seems to be a sweet spot on the pricing curve, at which point you are paying the best price/performance ratio, yet without getting the lowest-end stuff. I would say that the 3500+ is positioned right on that pricing curve where the performance returns decrease sharply with the amount spent. I'm saying the 3500+ is the better bet if that wasn't clear :D

As for the package you're buying from Monarch, are you getting the retail components or OEM ones? Anything OEM will have NOTHING apart from what you've ordered in a box. A graphics card will have no leads, manual or driver discs. A processor will have no heat sink or fan I believe. If you are getting a retail CPU, it will have a heat sink and fan that will be more than adequate for standard operation, though reading what you say it looks like Monarch supply and guarantee a third-party CPU cooler, so you should be ok.

Other thoughts - the 74Gb Western Digital Raptor absolutely flies and if you could use one of these for booting and games, and the 200Gb for storage, you'll have a better system.

For PSUs - the Power Supply part of this forum has a stickied post with a few suggestions and links that should match your budget. Don't skimp on this component, however boring they are when spending money!

Cases - check out Thermaltake, Lian Li, Silverstone for some ideas. Lian-Li in particular seem to have a good reputation for quality. At a price, but a nice case will always look good even after you've upgraded the internal bits several times.

Graphics cards - look out for the X800 XL. Currently only PCI-e, but maybe coming to AGP very soon. It's meant to be priced at $299 and offers about the same performance as the 6800GT. If you want to buy NOW though, the GT is still the best choice for the price.
 
In terms of cases and power supplies, Antec is very good on a reasonable budget. You can pay anywhere from $40-$120 or so for one and the psu's they come with are high quality. Everything else looks good to me, personally.
 
I'd recommend an Antec True430 PS. 75 bucks from newegg.

Personally, I went rediculous and spent $240 on a PC Power and Cooling PS because they are rated THE best for clean, strong power, as most PS's on the market are rated at very low unrealistic temps, and their outputs are signifigantly less that they claim. May or may not make a diff, but I also got the PCP one because it has 2 separate 6 pin molex connectors for SLI when I upgrade in the future. And will handle a good H20 system with no prob.
 
Lian Li's cost a bit too much i think. also if possible i'd like to find a case that has the front usb ports near the top rather then floor level. i need something sturdy and stable, so when its sitting on my floor my largest cat won't knock it over the first time he tries to jump on it :rolleyes:

any more suggestions? i dont really care what its made out of, since it'll only be sitting on my bedroom floor and i have no plans of dragging it around anywhere else, so weight isnt too much of an issue, except perhaps how much more they'll charge for s&h

and any suggestions for monitors? or are crt's all pretty much the same quality?

still looking into the psu - i'll probably go for the Fortron 530 or Sparkle 530w since those ones seemed to be highest recommended for the under $100 price range

Elphyne
 
The Antec P160 has the USB and power button @ the top ... it's an aluminum case too ...

If this is your first build, I suggest getting somebody to help you put everything together ... it is easy to do, but easier still to miss something and ruin the machine ...
 
done some more thinking on it, and think i'll try for a pci-e mobo & vid card, and since the athlon 64 3800 has come down in price, my aim is to manage to try to fit that into my budget

is the MSI Neo4 platinum a good mobo?

i'm still trying to decide on the case and the psu - my original plan was to get a
ANTEC 1000AMG - $89.99 shipped
and a FSP Group FSP530 - $81.70 shipped - but a friend told me their friends 1000AMG tends to overheat

are there any other cases in the same price range or less that would keep things cooler better, or any cases with good PSU's for $170 or so? my friend suggested to me the ANTEC Lanboy - but its made of aluminum, and i've heard they tend to rattle more then steel ones.. is this true?


after having looked at the monitors avail locally, which consists of the shadowmask crt monitors and lcd monitors.. the shadowmasks seemed to have a diamond shape pattern on the screen that bugged me - so i think i'm going to try to go for an
NEC MultiSync FE991SB - $288.10 shipped which i believe has a diamondtron aperture grille - anyone know if this would be at least as good as my gateway vx720? which i believe uses the grille as well

sorry if i'm asking questions everyone else asks, unfortunately i dont have any friends that really know much about computers, and since this would be my first time trying to build, i want to make sure at least all the parts i'm getting are good

Elphyne
 
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