Operation: Sister's Computer

N

Nightrain

Limp Gawd
Joined
Aug 7, 2004
Messages
346
I'm going to build my sister a computer and I want the [H]ard community to be a part of helping me choose the parts (like always.) My sister was going to get a laptop but has finally given me the go ahead to compile a list of parts of a computer I would build her. This computer will be used mainly for regular use (internet, school work, music, movies, etc) but will be occasionally be used for games. Yes a girl who enjoys games. Who'd thunk it? However she doesn't care about eye candy and high resolutions. But anyway she has a budget of $700 (including monitor) the case should be black.

I have two lists already compiled (one Intel and one AMD), but I'd like to see what you guys come up with and then compare it to my lists. All help is appreciated. Thanks! :)
 
I'm tired so I'm just goona say a Intel 3.2C, cheap fast with hyperthreading. Great for desktop usage. Generic ram and respectable 128 video card. 9800 Pros are cheap.
 
I always tell my friends that ask for help that I have made up my own general rule of thumb. If you want to spend less than $750, get a Compaq or Dell. If they want to break the $1000 mark then I can probably save them $100 or more depending on how high they want to go.

With a home build you have to add in +/- $100 for Windows, $100 for a monitor, $50 to $100 for keyboard, mouse, speakers. There's $300 gone before you even think about case components. If you have a few older parts (mobo, vid card, proc) to donate to the build then maybe you could make it cost effective.

As an example, I dont think you could build a system with these specs....
http://www.shopping.hp.com/webapp/shopping/cto/computer_customize_components.do
http://www1.us.dell.com/content/pro...&cs=19&l=en&s=dhs&~ck=mn&~tab=specstab#tabtop
for less than the advertised price.

EDIT: OK, you might want to pop an extra stick of RAM in the Dell.
 
You could build the actual system for a little over $300, monitor = $100 and factor in the cost of XP if you wanted to go Socket A Sempron with a MSI K7N2GM2-LSR (I just did so with my girlfriend's computer, runs great!) And on top, you get an onboard GeForce 4 MX which is perfect for Half-Life, Counter-Strike, and many older games, and if she needs more power the MSI K7N2GM2-LSR also has an AGP port for a video card.

Link to motherboard:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813130477
 
upriverpaddler said:
I always tell my friends that ask for help that I have made up my own general rule of thumb. If you want to spend less than $750, get a Compaq or Dell. If they want to break the $1000 mark then I can probably save them $100 or more depending on how high they want to go.

With a home build you have to add in +/- $100 for Windows, $100 for a monitor, $50 to $100 for keyboard, mouse, speakers. There's $300 gone before you even think about case components. If you have a few older parts (mobo, vid card, proc) to donate to the build then maybe you could make it cost effective.

As an example, I dont think you could build a system with these specs....
http://www.shopping.hp.com/webapp/shopping/cto/computer_customize_components.do
http://www1.us.dell.com/content/pro...&cs=19&l=en&s=dhs&~ck=mn&~tab=specstab#tabtop
for less than the advertised price.

EDIT: OK, you might want to pop an extra stick of RAM in the Dell.
Click to expand...


Lies:
Linkworld A312-C2211-P4 Black Metal ATX Mini Tower Computer Case 300W Power Supply - Retail
Western Digital Caviar WD800BB 80GB 7200 RPM IDE Ultra ATA100 Hard Drive - OEM
ViewEra V141-B Black 14" 23ms LCD Monitor - Retail
TOSHIBA Black IDE DVD-ROM Drive Model sd-m2012c - OEM
KEYBOARD-2000 KB-558BB/P Black PS/2 Wired Standard Keyboard Mouse Included - Retail
PC CHIPS M-957G Socket T (LGA 775) VIA PM800 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
WINTEC 256MB 184-Pin DDR SDRAM DDR 400 (PC 3200) Unbuffered System Memory Model 35135588-P - Retail
intel Pentium 4 520 Prescott 800MHz FSB LGA 775 Processor Model BX80547PG2800E - Retail
Microsoft Windows XP HOME Edition With Service Pack 2 - OEM

Total: $600.92

And that's just for dell quality components
:cool:
 
Here are some different combos you could use depending on how much you want to spend:
Duron 1.8 GHz & 9600 Pro (best budget combo in my opinion) $123 US total
Athlon XP 2700+ & 6600 GT (better performance, a little more future proof) $225 US total
(or, 9800 Pro for Canadians who are looking for a cheaper price)
Athlon 64 2800+ & 6800 non-GT (best overall for price) $309 US total
Athlon 64 3400+ & 6800 GT (the Newcastle one that runs at 2.4 GHz) (the best high performance for the price in my opinion) $463 US total

Of course, these are all socket A or socket 754 suggestions for people who aren't worried about upgrading to dual core next month.

If I wanted dual core, I'd wait until next month when they come out with an AMD dual core for $345 US. Come to think of it, if you spent $130 US now on a CPU only to spend $200 US later on a dual core when they get that cheap, you may as well buy one next month when they come out with that cheaper dual core if you have the money.

Here are links for the...
Duron 1.8 GHz $42
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819104160

Athlon XP 2700+ $81
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819103341

Athlon 64 2800+ $120 (CPU and heatsink)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819103485

Athlon 64 3400+ $178
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819103488

Gigabyte 9600 Pro $81
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814125169

eVGA 6600 GT $144 with rebate
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814102286

eVGA 6800 $189 (the more silent one is $8 more)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814130202

AOpen 6800 GT $285
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814135154

Yeah, that's kind of a strange situtation if you were in Canada. It's tough to make a choice if you're bargain hunting in Canada since the 9800 Pro can be found online for $164 CDN at canadacomputers.com or $189 at tigerdirect.ca And the 6600 GTs are all like over $200 CDN (last time I checked).

When I checked out the price of the brand name ATI (Sapphire was cheaper but I saw some negative comments), it was $139 US on newegg so I figured 6600 GT at $144 is better (beats 9800 Pro on some benchmarks, sometimes by a mile).

The Duron 1.8 GHz & 9600 Pro is an incredible deal at $123 US. That Duron is really an Athlon 2200+ with less cache. And I read it performs between an Athlon 2100+ and a 2200+. Not bad at all. I have a Duron 1.8 GHz and Ti4200. I can play demos of Doom3, Half Life 2, Far Cry etc and can play retail verion of UT2004 with acceptable frames rates in Deathmatch with low settings (can't tell much of a difference at low settings anyway). The 9600 Pro should do everything better as well (than the Ti4200). So, it should be able to at least play BF2 at minimal settings and is compatible with Directx 9.

I’ve looked at many benchmarks for CPUs and GPUs. The important thing I should add is for anyone wanting to play UT2007, I would strongly recommend the $225 US combo I listed there (minimum, the $309 combo would be better). But the cheaper $123 combo should play everything currently out even if you have to set some games at medium or low settings.
 
ScHpAnKy said:
Lies:
Linkworld A312-C2211-P4 Black Metal ATX Mini Tower Computer Case 300W Power Supply - Retail
Western Digital Caviar WD800BB 80GB 7200 RPM IDE Ultra ATA100 Hard Drive - OEM
ViewEra V141-B Black 14" 23ms LCD Monitor - Retail
TOSHIBA Black IDE DVD-ROM Drive Model sd-m2012c - OEM
KEYBOARD-2000 KB-558BB/P Black PS/2 Wired Standard Keyboard Mouse Included - Retail
PC CHIPS M-957G Socket T (LGA 775) VIA PM800 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
WINTEC 256MB 184-Pin DDR SDRAM DDR 400 (PC 3200) Unbuffered System Memory Model 35135588-P - Retail
intel Pentium 4 520 Prescott 800MHz FSB LGA 775 Processor Model BX80547PG2800E - Retail
Microsoft Windows XP HOME Edition With Service Pack 2 - OEM

Total: $600.92

And that's just for dell quality components
:cool:
Click to expand...

A 14" monitor and 256mb of RAM? What games will run on XP with 256mb or RAM? And an 80gb hard drive was huge in 2000.
 
upriverpaddler said:
A 14" monitor and 256mb of RAM? What games will run on XP with 256mb or RAM? And an 80gb hard drive was huge in 2000.
Click to expand...

Well, he did say that he was going for "Dell Quality." Regarding the HDD, I know a lot of people that can't fill 20GB, let alone 80GB. I know that I require a lot more space that I currently have available, but I'm an anonaly for a home user.
 
another case.... please..... that case is fugly. At least find a cheap one that looks decent :) everything else looks good
 
forumposter32 said:
I read Dells have proprietary connectors. no upgrades :mad:

That's why I learned how to build a computer.
Click to expand...

Which ones have those? Admittedly the last big dell purchase that was made at work was a couple years ago (2003), but everything, at least on a quick visual inspection, appeared to have "regular" connectors. Moreover, the old dells that I used to maintain (old celeron 400 boxes) had regular parts, and no proprietary connectors. I'm not saying you're wrong, just wondering which models have proprietary connectors.
 
bk12321 said:
another case.... please..... that case is fugly. At least find a cheap one that looks decent :) everything else looks good
Click to expand...

She liked the case, and it is only $20. The reviewers seem to like it. If you want to recommend another case over that, by all means...
 
forumposter32 said:
I read Dells have proprietary connectors. no upgrades :mad:

That's why I learned how to build a computer.
Click to expand...

Propietary ATX... I (I'm sure I'm not the only one) coined it DTX.
 
DamienThorn said:
Which ones have those? Admittedly the last big dell purchase that was made at work was a couple years ago (2003), but everything, at least on a quick visual inspection, appeared to have "regular" connectors. Moreover, the old dells that I used to maintain (old celeron 400 boxes) had regular parts, and no proprietary connectors. I'm not saying you're wrong, just wondering which models have proprietary connectors.
Click to expand...

Well, my parents have a Dimension 3000 and it came with a measly 256MB of RAM, so I got them a 512MB stick and put it in. While I was doing so, I noticed that the power connection to the motherboard was very proprietary. It was kind of like an old AT 2-part power cord, but in a different shape. And it was all one piece. Weird. It had molex connectors for the optical and disk drives, but the power connection was weird.

I wonder if it would be possible to splice a standard ATX motherboard connector onto that... hmm...
 
Nightrain said:
Here is the list I compiled. I appreciate all the help. :)

AMD system
Click to expand...

Please put another 512mb of RAM into that system. For another 40 bucks, that's a necessary upgrade.

Also, don't get that 9600xt. I got one of those with 256mb DDR and it came clocked slow, and would not reach 9600XT speeds comfortably on the RAM side. Go with a regular 128mb version. Also, consider that a 9800pro is $120. If you want to sink another $40-70 into this system, it will be considerably better.

Edit: I looked some more for you, and you can get an X700pro for about $120, as long as you get a PCI-E board, which will work for you. So if you have the money.. ;)
 
NickN said:
Well, my parents have a Dimension 3000 and it came with a measly 256MB of RAM, so I got them a 512MB stick and put it in. While I was doing so, I noticed that the power connection to the motherboard was very proprietary. It was kind of like an old AT 2-part power cord, but in a different shape. And it was all one piece. Weird. It had molex connectors for the optical and disk drives, but the power connection was weird.

I wonder if it would be possible to splice a standard ATX motherboard connector onto that... hmm...
Click to expand...

Interesting. I know that on some of their older machines (I'm talking the celeron 400 days) that they were picky about RAM timings; both sticks of RAM had to have the exact same timings, or they were prone to memory problems. Didn't know about the proprietary mobo connectors. I'll have to take a closer look at some of the new dells that we got to see if they have weird connectors too.

 
Nightrain said:
Iwill be used mainly for regular use (internet, school work, music, movies, etc) but will be occasionally be used for games. Yes a girl who enjoys games. Who'd thunk it? However she doesn't care about eye candy and high resolutions. But anyway she has a budget of $700 (including monitor) the case should be black.

I have two lists already compiled (one Intel and one AMD), but I'd like to see what you guys come up with and then compare it to my lists. All help is appreciated. Thanks! :)
Click to expand...
yeah. My sister playes games, but mainly the sims2. My grandma tries to play doom3, but she isnt very good at it.

6 months ago, my system cost me $740.00

Athlon 3000+
1Gig mushkin ram
Geforce 6600GT PCI-E
Gigabyte rocket cooler
Gigabyte GAK8NF-9 Mainboard (Nforce4, PCI-E)
300W Sparkple PSU
Raidmax case
DVD-ROM drive
48X Cdrom drive
15" Nokia monitor
Wireless keyboard & Mouse

This system gags on battefield 2 with the graphics cranked up all the way, runs smooth and fast on "medium". Gags and Lags a little in a little on farcry at max graphics, but it does good on medium.

I woudlnt recommend going with less than 1 gig of ram. The Sims 2 really sucks it up. Battlefield uses about 2.4 Gigs of pagefile, and almost all of my 1gb of DDR400.

You can go cheaper on the videocard, and the cpu cooler, but not much else if it needs to play games.
 
I actually have a better idea: I'm going to be dropping my 9800 PRO when/if the 7800GT AGP comes out. So my sister can save money on the video card and put it towards the other components. I'll configure it a tad to fit this. Aren't I a nice brother? :D
 
I think you can get good quality power supplies for less than that.
And the Sempron 3000+ is a poor choice. It doesn’t compare to the Sempron 3100+ or the Athlon 64 2800+. The Athlon 64 2800+ gets 3 fps more on a benchmark that I saw than the Sempron 3100+. The retail one (with heatsink) is only $115 US. So, less $ on PSU and more $ on CPU in my opinion.

Wait, I just noticed you want to spend $235 US on a monitor. I’ll try to do my best. Here it goes...
leaves $465

Biostar mobo $52
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813138236

Duron 1.8 GHz $42 (don’t worry, it’s an Athlon 2200+ with less cache, it’s fast enough)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819104160

Cooler Master heatsink $6 (I have a Cooler Master hsf in my HP)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16835103160

vid card 6600 GT $137 with rebate
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814135160

Enermax 370 watt psu $44
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817103444

NEC ND3520 dvd $38
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16827152039

Altec Lansing speakers $12
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16836113159

Logitech mouse $6 (you can get a combo special, a Logitech keyboard is only $2 instead of $7 for a total of $8)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16826104181


And the rest could be what you already put on your list. RAM $41, HD $62, case $20.

That would give you total of $697

I would warn you that I’ve read that SATA hard drives are not for the first time builder. If that was your case, I’d get a PATA WD Caviar 80 GB HD for $56. There isn't that much of a speed difference. You can google if you want. Some people don't bother with SATA unless they want a Raptor HD.
 
forumposter32 said:
.
Click to expand...

First time builder? Pfft. This is *counts fingers* fourth. That doesn't even include all the installs/fixing I have done. IMO I prefer SATA over IDE because of the ease of install, and the wires a lot more managable.

I like your list however the Duron seems to be underpowered. Wouldn't it be wiser to go with something else?
 
On your wishlist, you got the case that already has 350 watt powersupply and an extra 400w powersupply...imo scrap the extra powersupply and get some more ram...or something

edit* also she can buy the rig from my sig and then all you need is moniter, keyboard and mouse :), runs bf2 great on medium settings.
 
bostesseger69 said:
On your wishlist, you got the case that already has 350 watt powersupply and an extra 400w powersupply...imo scrap the extra powersupply and get some more ram...or something
Click to expand...

I'm not going to gamble with a powersupply. Especially one that comes with a $20 case. :p

Also I dropped the Fortron, and chose an XCLIO, a much less known name but the reviews I have read seem to like it.
 
Note: Before anyone BASHES my choice of a Duron 1.8 GHz, let me say a few things about it. First, I read a message from gamer saying the performance was between an Athlon XP 2100+ and Athlon XP 2200+. Second, I have a Duron 1.8 GHz and a Ti4200 and I can run demos of Half Life 2, Doom3, Far Cry, Halo etc. I also run the full version of UT2004 at reasonable frame rates on Deathmatch.

I was chatting with people on the Atari forums who kept on insisting that a GPU upgrade was worthless because UT2004 depended heavilly on the CPU. So, they recommended a CPU upgrade to people who asked for advice. I went to the tom's hardware web site to look at benchmarks. Here it is...
http://www.graphics.tomshardware.com/graphic/20041004/vga_charts-08.html
There, you see same CPU, the Ti4200 is at 24 fps while the 9800 Pro is at 40 fps.
Now, the 6600 GT is not on that benchmark but it does beat the crap out of the 9800 Pro on certain benchmarks like here...
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/video/display/2004-27gpu2_3.html

So, that's why I would insist on that kind of a set up. Regular Windows operations will operate fine on that Duron 1.8 GHz. Plus, I chose a Biostar mobo with a nForce chipset so you can overclock it. Some people overclock that Duron to 2.4 GHz or higher.

Here's a list of benchmarks if you want to see them:
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/video/display/2004-27gpu2.html

\EDIT: Oops, I just realized I did something peculiar. I wrote about UT2004 but forgot to include a UT2004 benchmark to illustrate my point. I did that because the first benchmark didn't really show the differences between cards well then the other one below showed with AA/AF on. The Ti4200 may not work as well with other cards with AA/AF on. Anyway, it's long on complicated to compare cards sometimes. But, I did want to make my point that a video card does make a big difference.
 
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