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The $700 Lean Machine

H

HitMan-sC

Gawd
Joined
Feb 19, 2003
Messages
987
One of my good friends called me yesterday and asked me to build him a computer, and he has $700 to work with. Trust me, he badly needs this computer - right now he's using an old Duron machine. Based on what we've discussed in the past, he wants an all-purpose, multimedia machine capable of audio editing and perhaps gaming. Here is what I have chosen from newegg so far:

Case and Power Supply: Antec SLK3700-BQE - $80.99, Free FedEx Saver

Motherboard: Asus KV8 SE Deluxe - $118, $2 FedEx Saver = $120

Processor: AMD Athlon 64 2800+ Retail - $155, $0.99 FedEx Saver = $155.99

Memory: Crucial (1x512MB) PC-3200 8T - $89, Free FedEx Saver

Video Card: PowerColor 9800SE 128MB - $119, $0.99 FedEx Saver = $119.99

Hard Drive: Seagate 120GB 7200RPM 8MB IDE - $89, FedEx Saver $3 = $92

DVD Burner: Lite-On 8x DVD+/-RW - $70, Free FedEx Saver

Total = $727.97 Shipped

I was originally going to build an Athon XP machine, but I made a few sacrifices to go with an Athlon 64 machine. He already has the Windows XP CD, keyboard, mouse, monitor, a floppy drive, and a DVD-ROM, so he can backup DVD's. My number one concern with this machine is reliability. We're going to college in a year, and I want this machine to serve him well, without me having to play tech support.

I plan on soft-modding the 9800SE to unlock the other 4 pipelines, but I'm open to suggestions on everything. The other contendor for motherboard is MSI's K8N Neo Platinum. Can anyone vouch for either board? Any advice would be greatly appreciated - I want to make him really happy with his new rig.

~ h|tman
 
IF stability and longevity is the key here, I wouldnt go with anything softmodded. Either go for a different video card (9800Pro?) or let him know gaming won't be the fastest. Also, I would highly suggest the 512MB PC3200 Corsair ValueMem Cas2.5 from Newegg (Here. Plus, I would stay away from PowerColor at all costs. Me and friends have been burned by them numerous times.

Hope I helped a bit.
 
Thanks for the heads up, Kido. I might just go for a 9600XT instead. Can anyone tell me how they will fare in gaming, or if they still come with the Hl2 coupon? And are there any other reasonable alternatives in that price range?
 
HitMan-sC said:
Thanks for the heads up, Kido. I might just go for a 9600XT instead. Can anyone tell me how they will fare in gaming, or if they still come with the Hl2 coupon? And are there any other reasonable alternatives in that price range?
Click to expand...
Powercolor had issues with their 9700 line which have since cleared up nicely, fear not because their 9800's are just fine. I'd still get the 9800SE because even if the softmod fails you still have a card that equals a 9600XT in performance and no harm done...a major win-win situation. There's even a fighting chance of modding/oc'ing it to 9800 XT speeds which will give your friend serious wood ;) .

To guage video performance, check out Kyles Doom3 hardware guide and use the 9600XT and 9800pro as examples of how your buddies system will perform (depends on how softmod turns out).

You can lay the powercolor issue to rest now since that was two years ago...

BTW i posted the 9800SE in [H] Deals, thx for the tip
 
I guess I'm going to pass on the 9800SE. Apparently, there's a 40% of getting a successful soft-mod, as they are basically 9800Pro's that failed in some QC test or other. I want to get him some more video power, so I have a couple of options here. What do you guys think will be best?

1. Buy a 9600XT for about $20 more.

2. Buy a cheaper motherboard (Asus K8V - save $21), and buy a refurbished 9800Pro. This is my main choice, but I was wondering if buying a refurb would be a good idea. There's a refurbished Sapphire 9800Pro 128MB for $159, and that seems like a killer deal. Please advise.
 
HitMan-sC said:
I guess I'm going to pass on the 9800SE. Apparently, there's a 40% of getting a successful soft-mod, as they are basically 9800Pro's that failed in some QC test or other. I want to get him some more video power, so I have a couple of options here. What do you guys think will be best?

1. Buy a 9600XT for about $20 more.

2. Buy a cheaper motherboard (Asus K8V - save $21), and buy a refurbished 9800Pro. This is my main choice, but I was wondering if buying a refurb would be a good idea. There's a refurbished Sapphire 9800Pro 128MB for $159, and that seems like a killer deal. Please advise.
Click to expand...
Consider this perspective:
1) Refurb video cards definitely have the highest defect rate of all refurbs, they have been getting much better lately, especially the 9800pros. Just be prepared to quickly test the card because you only have 14 days to RMA if the card is fubared.

2) You're not getting more performance with a pricier 9600XT over the 9800SE as they are rough equals in performance. You would also miss out on the chance to successfully softmod the SE into a 9800pro. The chances of success are based upon opinion and figures range from 30-80% chances of success. I will admit i hear of many more 'success' stories than of failures. But that is only from what i've gathered (opinion).
 
Go with the 9800SE. It'd actually be a little better because the memory interface is 256-bit while the 9600XT's is 128-bit. Also, for that price, you could either get Soltek or Epox's NF3 250GB boards cheaper than the asus, so I'd look into it. An 80gb SATA drive is in that same price range, and since he's on an old Doom machine, I don't think he has much yet to fill up the hard drive, that'd be better.
 
Hitman, not sure if you have a Fry's near you, but if you do they had a deal on a Athlon64 3000+, MSI NEO, and RAM I believe for only $250. Not a bad deal at all. BTW, it was this weekend that I saw the ad (8/1/04)
 
OK, I've been thinking about this, and I would like to keep the price, shipped, under $750. The video card is the hardest decision I've come across. Here's what I have been considering:

1. A refurbished Sapphire 9800Pro 128MB for $170 shipped. With this, I'm taking the risk of getting screwed over.

2. A new Chaintech 5900XT for $175 shipped. Can anyone vouch for how these perform compared to the 9800Pro's? I looked up benchmarks last night, and they seemed to trail by a little bit, but for the price, they seem like a great deal.

3. Get this PowerColor 9800SE for $146.95, shipped. Again, I'm really gambling here depending on the softmod.

I could really use some help here, guys. I want to have this system shipped tomorrow.
 
I really think that a mobile 2400+ overclocked easily to 3200+ will do the job just fine. It isn't bottlenecking the 9800 Pro nor is it too much.

So, 2400+Mobile 80 bucks
Some cooling 30 bucks
NF7-S 90 bucks


now you have money for the 9800 pro.
 
I just talked to him on the phone, and he said that he isn't really a big game player. So, I guess a 9800SE, even if the softmod isn't successful, will do him just fine. If it does work, I can just awe him with the likes of Far Cry and Doom 3 :p.

As for the question of processor/chipset platform, would you guys go for the Athlon XP system with 1GB of RAM over the A64/512MB system?
 
get the A64 platform since he's well in the price range. Why buy an aged platform when he's got $$$ for top shelf stuff?
Ram prices have been dropping so he can always throw in 512 more a month or two down the road if he's so inclined.
An A64 system would be viable a year or two longer than an XP rig.
 
SJetski71 said:
get the A64 platform since he's well in the price range. Why buy an aged platform when he's got $$$ for top shelf stuff?
Ram prices have been dropping so he can always throw in 512 more a month or two down the road if he's so inclined.
An A64 system would be viable a year or two longer than an XP rig.
Click to expand...

That's what I was thinking. By the way, how does the A64 2800+ compare to, say, a P4 2.8GHz or an Athlon XP 2800+ or 3200+?
 
faster than both depending on app though, and in the future it'll be even faster when more proggies utilize 64bit...
 
i've heard softmodding the 9800SE is a 50% chance. if i were you i'd go with an athlon xp and a 9800 pro instead.
 
Millow said:
i've heard softmodding the 9800SE is a 50% chance. if i were you i'd go with an athlon xp and a 9800 pro instead.
Click to expand...
I'd agree under certain circumstances but its already been demonstrtaed that his buddy isn't much of a gamer, in that case a 9800SE would more than suffice (9600XT equivalent if softmod fails, you easily reverse a failed softmod). In light of the above facts then its probably wiser to have a faster, more future-proof base system.

But its their money and it would be hard to go wrong either way. Its a great time to buy computer hardware :)
 
The 9800SE I softmodded works great and is very stable with Omega Drivers. It's in a friend's comp too, and no tech support for me!
 
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