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How does this look for a $2300 computer?

M

mpeg4v3

Gawd
Joined
Sep 14, 2001
Messages
644
A friend is paying myself and another friend $100 each to make him a computer. So, the $2500 he has, minus the $200 for myself and my friend, leaves $2300. I've been surfing Newegg and this is the parts list I came up with:

AMD Athlon 64 3400+
Asus K8V SE Deluxe
Asus 802.11b wi-fi mobo adapter (why the hell not eh)
ATI Radeon x800 Pro (when they come back in stock on Tuesday)
Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS Gamer
2x Corsair XMS PC-3200 1gb sticks (yes, a whopping 2gb of ram)
WD Raptor 36gb SATA drive (system drive)
Seagate 160gb 7200rpm SATA drive (everything else)
Cooler Master Centurion CAC-T05-UW (his personal choice)
Lite-On Black SOHC-5232K
Sony Black 1.44mb Floppy Drive (incase it's ever needed)
Antec True550 (if it comes back in stock, if not the one right below that)

Total is around $2100, which with tax and shipping should come out to just about $2250 or so.
Does anyone have any alternate recommendations for a system? I was first going to go with an Athlon FX-based system, but the motherboard I wanted for that went out of stock, along with the fact 1gb of registered ram is extremely expensive, and it also seems the 3400+'s preform pretty damned well compared to the FX's, so this seemed like a good alternative. Plus, it allowed me to bump the ram up to 2gb, which should last the entire life span of this computer.
No overclocking will be done, so the default HSF should be fine, right? Or do you guys recommend that I buy a different HSF anyway, just incase? And if so, what one? I'm not really sure on Socket 754 HSF's.
 
Looks good except I'd go with a WD drive instead of seagate. I just got a 250GB WD SE SATA and it's one hell of a fast 7200rpm drive and plenty of space. I would also consider something other than an antec PSU, they are only offering a 1 year warranty these days so they must not think very highly of their own workmanship. I'd go with another name brand that is offering a 3-5 year warranty, someone who has more confidence in their products. Ofcourse people will disagree but whatever. Good luck.
 
actually, the seagates are the only ones with native sata support, instead of just a sata bridge...

if your going for fucking 2gb of ram... why dont you get 2 raptors, and put them in raid zero, or get 2 72gb ones even... obviously money isnt that much of an option.....


wait... doesnt athlon 64 need ECC ram..
 
no, it was the fx that uses registered ram.. my bad.. looks like a killer system, for gaming and for the wallet..
 
i'd go less ram (maybe only a gig) and go more x800xt.

that or no wireless. but that's just me.
 
Seriously, screw the 2 gigs, DDR will be out by the end of next year anways. Get an X800XTPE or 6800U instead.
 
Vagrant Zero said:
Seriously, screw the 2 gigs, DDR will be out by the end of next year anways. Get an X800XTPE or 6800U instead.
Click to expand...
:rolleyes: And the those cards are both still going to be king then?
 
mpeg4v3 said:
AMD Athlon 64 3400+
Asus K8V SE Deluxe
Click to expand...
As early as Tuesday, there will be a new flagship Athlon 64 clocked at 2.4 GHz--the 3700+/3800+. That will probably change your decision. If that doesn't, the launch of Socket 939 that day will. It will be the socket for performance Athlon 64 platforms for the indeterminate future.
Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS Gamer
Click to expand...
If you're going to get an Audigy 2 ZS, at least get the standard package with no extra bullshit. It's reasonably priced, and has the same features, too.
2x Corsair XMS PC-3200 1gb sticks (yes, a whopping 2gb of ram)
Click to expand...
Corsair XMS is a pretty expensive route to 2 GB. Perhaps you should investigate some other options, especially if overclocking isn't a factor in the choice?
No overclocking will be done, so the default HSF should be fine, right? Or do you guys recommend that I buy a different HSF anyway, just incase? And if so, what one? I'm not really sure on Socket 754 HSF's.
Click to expand...
You don't need another heatsink/fan unit, since you're neither overclocking nor pursuing the quietest PC possible.
 
xonik said:
As early as Tuesday, there will be a new flagship Athlon 64 clocked at 2.4 GHz--the 3700+/3800+. That will probably change your decision. If that doesn't, the launch of Socket 939 that day will. It will be the socket for performance Athlon 64 platforms for the indeterminate future.If you're going to get an Audigy 2 ZS, at least get the standard package with no extra bullshit. It's reasonably priced, and has the same features, too.Corsair XMS is a pretty expensive route to 2 GB. Perhaps you should investigate some other options, especially if overclocking isn't a factor in the choice?You don't need another heatsink/fan unit, since you're neither overclocking nor pursuing the quietest PC possible.
Click to expand...

The thing is, this system HAS to be bought on Tuesday. Unless a supply of all of these new parts will be available on Tuesday on the egg, I can't get them. That goes for the new Socket 939 parts, as well as the x800XT. The guy who I'm putting this together for has to buy it on Tuesday for his own reasons so that it can arrive and be assembled over the following weekend. Trust me, I'd much rather drop the extra gig and put in an XT or a 3700+, and that was my original plan, but when he told me he had to have it soon, I had to change things around.
 
mpeg4v3 said:
The thing is, this system HAS to be bought on Tuesday. Unless a supply of all of these new parts will be available on Tuesday on the egg, I can't get them. That goes for the new Socket 939 parts, as well as the x800XT. The guy who I'm putting this together for has to buy it on Tuesday for his own reasons so that it can arrive and be assembled over the following weekend. Trust me, I'd much rather drop the extra gig and put in an XT or a 3700+, and that was my original plan, but when he told me he had to have it soon, I had to change things around.
Click to expand...
I guess we'll find out then. Just don't discount the possibility. I have no accurate knowledge of the availability of the new parts, or lack thereof.
 
Vertigo Acid said:
:rolleyes: And the those cards are both still going to be king then?
Click to expand...

still more useful than 2 gig of ram...

and for the computar builder.... did the guy not want/need speakers?
 
Are you guys not reading this guy's other posts? He said it HAS to be order no later than Tuesday.

About the Wifi card, the mobo if bought Retail package rather than OEM, comes with the Wifi card bundled.

Personally, I would drop to 1GB PC3200 HyperX, and change to a 74GB Raptor and a 250GB WD 8mb 7200RPM IDE HD. On anything less than the Raptorsm I haven't seen a difference in SATA and IDE drives, other than the cleaner cables :). And a regular OEM Audigy 2ZS will be fine, don't bother with the Gamer edition unless you like paying more for the 2-3 $10 bargin bin games it comes with.
 
With all of the top of the line parts I would get rid of that seagate drive and pick up another 36 GB raptor or upgrade both of the SATA drives to the 76GB Raptors. Then setup a RAID 0 array.

My friend did this, he installed Windows XP in about 4 minutes and now boots to desktop in about 8 seconds. crazy fast...
 
blackrino9 said:
With all of the top of the line parts I would get rid of that seagate drive and pick up another 36 GB raptor or upgrade both of the SATA drives to the 76GB Raptors. Then setup a RAID 0 array.

My friend did this, he installed Windows XP in about 4 minutes and now boots to desktop in about 8 seconds. crazy fast...
Click to expand...
So what happens when one drive fails? 100% of his data is lost, unless he backs up his stuff. What you're suggesting is a bad investment, both in terms of storage per dollar, and in terms of data risk. He's paying a high price for storage, when a small 10k RPM drive will suffice for OS/applications, accompanied by a large, slower hard drive for general storage.
 
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