Looking for help with DIY PC

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Looking for help with DIY PC

2005-10-27 08:11:19

foofdawg: Can I be Friendly Firer?; +1|7025

I am looking to build my first DIY computer. I have around $800 to spend, and this is what I have found. I realize that the barebones kit isnt really barebones, but as I am new to this, it comes with everything I am pretty sure I need, or already have in my current comp. Please let me know if I can get better processor/mobo/etc for the same/less cost, and better performance. I would be willing to buy the parts separately as long as I still ended up with all necessary cables/grease/mounts (i was told this one came with all this).

Abit Fatal1ty Barebones System (I realize i'm buying into the hype, please correct me and dont flame) CASE/MOBO/CPU/CPU FAN/RAM
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications … etails....
$513.50 USD incl tax/ship to FL (-120 rebate before halloween=$393.20 USD)

OEM Win XP Home Disk (dont have disk for current computer as current XP version is only on partition on C:\ as recovery drive, comp bought from compusaauctions.com for $380 over a year ago) If you have a solution for this, let me know, the 200GB hard drive is G:\ and not the one loaded with XP, it is an additional drive inside current comp for movie/music storage.
tigerdirect.com
$90

512MB PC4200 (non-ecc) RAM (TOTAL NOW 1GB)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a … 6820146368
$45 USD

19" CRT (spare in current comp)

WD 200GB IDE Hard drive (spare in current comp)
$0.00

DVD Burner (spare in current computer)
$0.00

At this point, I believe the only other things I NEED are a video card (looking to spend ~$200 USD) and intake/exhaust fans. Any suggestions/help/hey you forgot this messages would be much appreciated. Tiger direct said everything needed to assemble the kit would be included, have you found this to be true? Please make sure both of my current drives (hdd and dvd) will work on this system also, I believe they are both IDE (they are in a HP 514N currently)

Oh, and I am currently upgrading from my comp to play Battlefield 2 better, as I have to play at lowest settings, here is my current rig:
HP 514N 2.2Ghz
768MB pc2100 RAM
GeForce FX5200 256MB PCI (no agp slot on comp)
250GB storage (+10GB for XP recovery partition)
DVD/CD burner

I guess even without the extra 200GB hard drive and the original CD burner DVD player back in it, I could still sell it for a few hundred to someone wanting a computer for their kid for xmas. Lucky thinking I know.

Thanks in advance

Total cost $728.50 +fans and whatever I forgot and with -120 for tiger direct rebates

2005-10-27 08:27:55

CMDR_Dave: Redneck; +66|7109|Missoula, MT

Sounds good...just cram as much RAM in it as it'll hold. You can never have too much RAM. It's worth the price!

2005-10-27 10:51:03

thinner44: Member; +1|7077

My two cents worth (not that I'm American). Go for an LCD monitor ... or make sure your refresh rate on your CRT is set to max. I used to play games with a CRT and ended up having the worst migraines going. I could see it flashing all the time, yet others said it was perfectly ok

Vid card... I use an Nvidia 6600GT with all settings on medium. Lots of people are using the same card, not too expensive from what I hear

CMDR_Dave, "You can never have too much RAM." .... agreed

2005-10-27 11:00:55

foofdawg: Can I be Friendly Firer?; +1|7025

Thanks for the info, I've never had any problems with my CRT blinking/flashing from refresh rate, and I've been using it over a year for various games, watching movies, etc., but I will keep it in mind if the problem should arise. Are bigger or smaller numbers better for refresh rates (in hertz)?

As far as RAM, I plan on starting with 1GB (2 512MB) PC4200 sticks, and adding 2 more around xmas/new years, will that suffice?

As for the video card, I am having some trouble figuring out which one to buy. I dont really understand the difference between the models/model numbers/abbreviations, so any help here would be appreciated, especially specific links to purchase the card, or more info to help lead me to a decision. I dont want to spend much over $200, but want to get something that will perform well and last me a couple of years if I'm lucky. And of course, playing battlefield 2 is a must, so dont suggest one that has known problems. I'm probably going to be purchasing the parts/system on Monday, so I have a couple of days to figure it out. Personal experience is always a plus when you are suggesting something, so let me know what works well for you, or which one you would buy if you were in my shoes.

Last edited by foofdawg (2005-10-27 11:03:10)

2005-10-27 11:07:26

THA: im a fucking .....well not now; +609|7038|AUS, Canberra

i recently built the following for 1700 dollars australian, 800 us dollars is 1056 aus but you already have a few thing so it shoud be close.

2gb ram
nvidia 6800gt
200gb hd
19" lcd screen
case with 500w psu
gigabyte mobo ( agp )
athlon 64 3400+
lg dvd burner

its not the best rig going round but i can run any game on the highest setting with no prob at all and no lag
so its grewat for what i need.

the main things though are ram as stated earlier and vid card as my mates got pretty much same as me but 3000+ cpu and has no probs running high setting either.

foofdawg wrote:
Thanks for the info, I've never had any problems with my CRT blinking/flashing from refresh rate, and I've been using it over a year for various games, watching movies, etc., but I will keep it in mind if the problem should arise. Are bigger or smaller numbers better for refresh rates (in hertz)?

As far as RAM, I plan on starting with 1GB (2 512MB) PC4200 sticks, and adding 2 more around xmas/new years, will that suffice?

As for the video card, I am having some trouble figuring out which one to buy. I dont really understand the difference between the models/model numbers/abbreviations, so any help here would be appreciated, especially specific links to purchase the card, or more info to help lead me to a decision. I dont want to spend much over $200, but want to get something that will perform well and last me a couple of years if I'm lucky. And of course, playing battlefield 2 is a must, so dont suggest one that has known problems. I'm probably going to be purchasing the parts/system on Monday, so I have a couple of days to figure it out. Personal experience is always a plus when you are suggesting something, so let me know what works well for you, or which one you would buy if you were in my shoes.

id get more ram, atleast 1.5 if you can,

Last edited by the_heart_attack (2005-10-27 11:10:50)

2005-10-27 11:10:59

KillerAFET: Member; +3|7048|Abilene, Texas

thinner44 wrote:
My two cents worth (not that I'm American). Go for an LCD monitor ... or make sure your refresh rate on your CRT is set to max. I used to play games with a CRT and ended up having the worst migraines going. I could see it flashing all the time, yet others said it was perfectly ok

Not a fan of the LCDs yet, the pixelation has yet to equal my 21" CRT. Also, the digitals still confuse smoke and the haze of battle putting the smoke into blocks instead of the natural shapes they should be.

What through-put do you have in your network connection? If you are less than 2 MPS you might have your slow play activity outside your CPU.

Maybe you'd be better off going through NEWEGG and ordering your parts ala carte. The Windows XP OS is the only big savings you're gonna get by going bare bones through TigerDirect. Too bad you don't have the CD anymore because for $800 you can replace your mobo, CPU, RAM and video in your existing box.

These parts will set you back about $850 and give you a screaming system ready for the next generation of Windows:
Leadtek PX6800TDH Geforce 6800 256MB DDR PCI Express x16 Video Card
GIGABYTE GA-K8N Ultra-9 Socket 939 NVIDIA nForce4 Ultra ATX AMD Motherboard
AMD Athlon 64 3200+ Winchester 1GHz FSB Socket 939 Processor
CORSAIR XMS 1GB 184-Pin DDR SDRAM DDR 400 (PC 3200) Unbuffered System Memory

My son plays BF2 with an Athlon XP 2100 and 768 MB PC 2700 RAM. His advantage to making his machine competitive is the 256 MB Nvidia 6800 and he experiences no lag.
What through-put do you have in your network connection? If you are less than 2 MPS you might have your slow play activity outside your CPU.

2005-10-27 11:32:55

foofdawg: Can I be Friendly Firer?; +1|7025

I doubt that the problem is outside my computer, only because I get what I am pretty sure are good ping times (sometimes 20 on a good day, 30-40 most days, 50-70 on slow days), and yet I still get choppy motion, especially with several players on screen at once, or a lot of action going on, which leads me to believe it is just the system I have lagging on the graphics processing. I think the main problem is that I have no agp slot in my current system, and am stuck with the geforce fx 5200 256MB PCI card. I also have every setting on low, and all the boxes unchecked, although I do have the viewable range(?)(forget setting name, I'm at work) setting at 100, instead of where it started at 80.

Those are some nice parts listed above, but again, I am on a budget of rougly $750-800 total, so I am trying to do the best I can within that budget. I'm really not good at choosing graphics cards/cpu's because I really dont understand the differences, (prescott, winchester, etc) and after all of the reading I have done, I realize that the numbers claimed by the manufacturer are either not trustworthy, or not informative of real life situations.

Also, I've noticed while shopping for vid cards that different manufacturers seem to make the same "geforce xxxx" or "radeon xxxx" video card, and they seem to have the same stats, is this so? Will I be getting a lesser version of the same card because I buy it from a different manufacturer at a lower cost?

Basically I chose the Fatal1ty system because it had all the basic parts needed for a new system, minus what I already have or intend to purchase (HDD/DVDburner/Memory/Vid card) and seemed to me at the time to be a much needed improvement on what I currently have, and possibly upgradable in the future. If someone can point me in the direction of better parts at comparable prices, I would be deeply indebted. Please note that I would prefer links to the actual products/prices, as I know that minor differences in products can make a huge difference in performance. If there is any way I can repay the favor, I'll do my best to do it.

Last edited by foofdawg (2005-10-27 11:37:04)

2005-10-27 11:36:05

thinner44: Member; +1|7077

foofdawg, higher refresh rate the better. ... some you can only 'optimize' though.

2005-10-27 13:19:50

Turtle: Member; +7|7025|Boulder, CO

Your biggest problem is probably your video card. If I were you, buying a new system right now even on a limited budget, I would splurge on a pci express board and good card to go with it. The bandwidth pci-e slots can put through still isn't completely utilized and it will keep you ahead of the buying curve. I would also lean towards amd for a processor as they are slightly more competetive in pricing and almost always outperform their intel counterparts. The late model FX cpu's are also way overpriced right now, so shy away and look around for info on other 64 bit processors. BF2 also uses ALOT of memory so the more you want to put in the better but don't bother emptying your bank account on it, 1 gig is fine, less will work too but you will notice a difference in framerate. So in summation, save up a couple hundred more and get something that will last instead of paying another $500 for another upgrade in two years. Also, if you're familiar with pc's, build it from peices, it'll save you some cash. Try pricewatch.com to look for parts.

2005-10-28 07:48:51

foofdawg: Can I be Friendly Firer?; +1|7025

Thanks turtle, I'm definitely going to get a board with pci-e, as listed above. What I want to know is whether or not I can get a better system than the one I outlined above for the same cost (better cpu/mobo etc) and where I would go to get each part. I am definitely leaning towards a 64 bit processor after reading some different forums, but just dont know enough about cpu's mobo's to do it myself, and be assured I am getting the best bang for my buck. It seems like just looking at the specs for each component isnt reliable these days. As always, any help would be MUCH appreciated!

Also, I just checked, and at Tigerdirect, the fatal1ty mobo and 2.8ghz processor by themselves are $295, I'll be getting a faster 3.0ghz processor, cpu fan, 512MB RAM, PSU and cool looking case for just $20 more.

Although, it is only a 3.0ghz processor, and I know there are faster processors out there, please help me decide!!!

Last edited by foofdawg (2005-10-28 08:06:31)

2005-10-28 08:37:45

foofdawg: Can I be Friendly Firer?; +1|7025

Also, If you know of a different forums where I might get more/better responses, please post it here!

2005-10-28 10:52:02

CBRad929: Member; +1|7052

FYI

Forums

Anandtech.com has good resources.

PCI-E is a plus, but if you are getting a new board that means you have other decisions to make as well (RAM DDR vs DDR2. Only top of the line DDR2 is going to get you as low of latency as DDR).

I dont think you can pick up a 6800GT for $200 USD, but thats probably going to be the best you can get for near $200. Maybe a 7800GT (350 USD last I looked) but definitly not a 7800GTX. Although I would highly reccommend the last. I have all my settings on high except for lighting which is set to medium.

More RAM the better for this game.

BTW Tigerdirect has terrible customer service. Check the BBB and anandtech.com for references.

I would skip RAID but would shell out cash for a faster primary OS drive (ie WD 10k RPM Raptor 76 GB or possibly the smaller 32GB).

Heatsink - XP-90c, its a freaking monster all copper construction. Yes its overweight when using Intel's specs for max weight, but if you are not moving your PC around a lot its ok.

Fans - Panasonic Panaflow. High CFM low DB. Most of the time you have to buy them online since most stores dont carry them. they part numbers are specific to each type of fan (ie size, voltage, and speed Low, Medium and High)

I always keep spare parts for extra computers or for friends. A few years ago, a friend was asking for parts and found out i had everything for a complete system when I started looking.

Edit: If this is your frist time building a PC from scratch:

1) Use anti-static protection. Dont run around in wool socks and touch your proccessor.
2) Double check the fit of the components. Nothing like assembling the whole thing only to realize that your HDD cage wont fit because your video card sticks out too far.
3) Make sure that the power requirements for the MoBo match what you have planed to put into it. Newer boards are now requiring the new ATX12v2 speced PSU.

Last edited by CBRad929 (2005-10-28 10:57:21)

2005-10-28 11:25:47

foofdawg: Can I be Friendly Firer?; +1|7025

Thats all great information (although I have to admit I dont fully understand all of it, ddr vs ddr2?), but what I am really looking for is a list of the parts I should buy, so that when added up, give me a full usable computer for around $800, that I can play BF2 without skipping around. I am at this time still leaning towards the fatal1ty system I listed above, because it seems like a good deal, and with added parts (fans/vid card/RAM/WinXP) gives me a full working comp within my budget, although it is only a 3ghz 32bit processor, and I would like to get a better performance 64bit AMD if I can, I just dont know what to buy! I guess I could save some money if I could fit the parts into my existing case (HP 514n), which would mean I should only need the following parts:
CPU (with fan/heatsink)
MOBO (the one in there now is uATX, obviously it would need to fit this case, have onboard LAN and sound)
GFX card
RAM
WinXP (dont have CD, its a partitioned recovery drive, damned HP!)
PSU (200watt i believe is in there now!?!?!)

$800 price tag, show me the best I can get for gaming performance at todays prices!
(I'd love links to products also!)

2005-10-28 15:49:33

CBRad929: Member; +1|7052

First I dont think that the MoBo will fit your HP 514. That way you cant replace the MoBo with a non-HP one (I do service work on HP 510/530/7100/7600). Most of the MoBo boards will fit standard ATX form factor cases. If there is a Frys in your area you can pick up a decent case and PSU(standard is around 300-350 watt. 500 is usually overkill unless you have a lot of devices and pland on running in SLI) that may be ATX12v2 for around $100. If you are patient you can pick up a decent proccessor and low end board for cheap at Frys as well as medium end RAM. Maybe $200-$300 for RAM MoBo and Proc. The problem with their MoBo/Proc specials is that the proccessor is a decent price and getting a cheap MoBo for the combo.

You can skip the WD Raptor if you are trying to save money.

DDR-400 is the lowest latency RAM that you can get. The lower the latency the faster it works. DDR2 is the next generation ram that allows you to write 4 times per cycle. However the latency on DDR2 isnt near what you can get with DDR without going to the very high end (PC6300+). Remember that the slowest RAM that you have installed is going to be the speed of all if RAM that you are running (ie not a good idea to mix and match in addition to compatibility problems)

Proally the bigest problem is finding a good videocard that isnt going to destroy your budget. 7800 GTX is ~550. 7800 GT is about $350..

You want to avoid onboad sound. With a medium end system, you need every FPS you can scrape up. Onboard sound uses the CPU to offload its work on. A seperate audio card has its own DSP. Performance hit to the proccessor with an onboard soundcard can be as much as 25%. You can pickup an audigy 2zs for cheap (around $75).

Full WinXp Pro is about $255 retail.

If this is your first PC you are putting together, I would suggest avoiding 64 bit proccessors (you have to do a lot more homework on your drivers and components to make sure that they are supported).

2005-11-01 09:25:13

foofdawg: Can I be Friendly Firer?; +1|7025

Damn, I was really hoping to avoid buying a case, and spending the extra dough on better processor/gfx card. I found a good deal recommended by Anandtech, its a 7800GT graphics card and SLI MOBO for $400. They reviewed both products well, and it seems to fit my needs for the Athlon 64 3500+ Venice 512KB processor I'm looking at, and will support X2 when the need arises for me to upgrade again. That takes me to $600 for processor/mobo/gfx card, +90 for WinXP, +100 for 1gig RAM (2x512 pc3200). Damn, that already puts me at my $800 budget, which doesnt leave room for a sound card, or more than 1gig ram at this time. It should still be a vast improvement over my current 2.2Ghz celeron, with FX5200 256MB PCI card, and 768MB pc2100 RAM. The specs on my current HP 514N say that the mobo is a uATX form factor, and regarding your earlier post, does this mean that an ATX board will not fit?? Another guy I know is going to bring me his monster P3 tower he is not using any more, and I'm assuming that it will accept ATX (probably wrongly, as usual) This still doesnt answer the question as to where I will scrape up more funds for the cpu fan/case fans/power supply. I guess I will just have to save a bit more, or con the wife into letting me spend a bit more.

Yes, It will be my first homegrown pc.... I'm trying to do all of the research I can before I actually purchase the parts and assemble it, and I have a buddy at work that runs our IT dept, and is willing to help, although he has never assembled a pc from scratch either. I was sortof hoping the different pieces would come with instruction manuals, at least to some degree.

I'm not really interested in XP Pro, I just dont see where any of the improvements over home will actually benefit me personally. I dont do any crazy networking or have security issues that pro would fix, if you know something I dont about xp pro, please clue me in.

2005-11-01 10:24:50

Badcomp: Member; +2|7056|U.S.

It looks ok to me. Drop the Abit board. Find something else. DFI, Asus....just not that board. I have heard some not great things about and the price it's at doesn't justify the mediocre performance.

As said before, check out Anandtech.com.

Great reviews and articles there.

For 500-600 you can have yourself a decent upgrade. Canabilze what you can!
I spent $600 total on what I have now. Managed to save some cash using what I could.

My money went to RAM, Vid card, CPU powersupply and motherboard. The rest was scavenged. You may need a new case and PS as someone has already said.

Last edited by Badcomp (2005-11-01 10:29:19)

2005-11-01 10:44:03

Windwarrior2005: Member; +0|7050

Have you tried looking at the last gen high end cards that ATI do? eg. X850 XT that would run BF2 and any game for years perfectly.

Although nVidia and ATI want you to beleive you need to have the best now, a 7800 GT or GTX is overkill for a budget system, and the old cards have probably gone down in price now a new generation has comw out.

I play with a X800 XT Platinum (it was best back then ) and runs Battlefield 2 probably just the same as a 7800. The only difference between the old and the new is that basically if you want a system to last 5 years you're going to have to buy top-end graphics.

My advice would be to get medium-high graphics and save you're money to but 2 gig and better processer. I have 3500+ and i think now i should have spent more in that area (helps game smoothness).

Last edited by Windwarrior2005 (2005-11-01 10:48:55)

2005-11-01 13:13:06

{RR}SinisterCaesarSalad: Member; +1|7020|Appleton, WI

Case w/500W PS- $36.99 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a … 6811217017
AMD 64 3500+ CPU - $201 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a … 6819103533
2 GB PC3200 RAM - $252.55 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a … 6820227210
ASUS SLI Capable MB - $133 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a … 6813131524
XFX GeForce 6600GT PCI-E - $145 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a … 6814150098
Use you existing Hard drive and CD ROMs
Total price - $768.54 before shipping!

2005-11-01 13:34:54

foofdawg: Can I be Friendly Firer?; +1|7025

I've been running the numbers, and buying everything separately just isnt going to cut it for my budget. I guess I am back to the abit fatal1ty system, which just went down another $20 to $310 AR. You mentioned mediocre performance with the abit fatal1ty mobo compared with the price, but I'm not buying just the mobo. I am getting a P4 3.0Ghz processor, mobo, 512MB RAM, CPU Fan, cool looking case, and power supply for $310. I just cant find a deal (or separate deals) that compares to that price with the same or faster processor. Everywhere else I look I would be paying $300 for the processor and mobo alone, and still need to buy ram/case/psu/cpu fan/case fans/video card/sound card and still stay under $800!! I realize it is not the best, but I'm figuring that it will play loads better than my current system, especially if I can afford to have 2 gigs RAM or a really good graphics card. OH GOD OH GOD I JUST DONT KNOW ANYMORE! People on this and other forums have given me some input on what parts to buy, but they always leave out the psu, or cooling fans, or case, or sound card or whatever. Noone has been able to show me a better system that what I have outlined that I can buy and complete a system within my budget.

I appreciate all of your help though, please dont think I dont!!

Assuming I decide to bite the bullet and buy this fatal1ty system, what should I do about internal cooling for everything? The kit includes a cpu fan, but I realize that I am going to need case fans/etc. What would you do on a budget that would still prevent overheating? As I've said before, this is my first homegrown system, so any help is greatly welcomed.

So far, I have these parts covered (subject to change of course)
CPU - P4 519 3.06Ghz 1MB cache
Case
CPU fan
400W Power Supply
1GB RAM PC4200 (512 incl plus at least 512 more I buy)
MOBO - fatal1ty
Win XP - tigerdirect OEM
GFX card - still undecided, but probably x800gt or better
possible $50 sound card

I'm using $250 as my estimate for the gfx card right now and my total is at ~$800 including the sound card which I'm not too sure about, as I usually use headphones anyways. I realize I havent budgeted for case cooling, and I'm probably forgetting something important, please look over my list and let me know what else I need!

2005-11-02 06:31:24

foofdawg: Can I be Friendly Firer?; +1|7025

Thanks Sinister! I must have still been typing when you posted that last reply. This is exactly the kind of setup I was hoping to be able to afford, and of course it looks to be upgradable in the future.(Will it handle a newer x2 processor down the road?) Is there anything else I would need to buy? I notice it only comes with 1 80mm fan, will I need more than that? Obviously, since this is my first computer, I dont want to leave anything necessary out when I order the parts. (cables, connectors, etc). Also, if anyone can give me any direction on assembly instructions, that would be great! Someone else had mentioned doing homework for drivers/compatability/etc. What would I need to do? As I think I mentioned before, the IT director here at work is going to help me assemble everything, but I'm trying to bother him the least amount possible before the actual build. BTW, This has been the most helpful forum I've visited, including some that are supposed to be all about hardware/building pc's.

Edit: They are out of stock on those cases, will look for another one.

Last edited by foofdawg (2005-11-02 06:54:35)

2005-11-02 07:06:31

shortah: Oh did you want that tank?; +0|7039|Mechanicsville, VA

Gimme a min. bro.. I'm gonna set you up a decent rig for under 800 dollars, I do this on this side for extra money, so I can price you together a decent rig, just need a minute.

2005-11-02 08:02:51

foofdawg: Can I be Friendly Firer?; +1|7025

FYI, Right now I am looking at this case to replace the one that is out of stock at newegg. I also like the fact that all of the parts listed above are from the same seller. Makes RMA's (hopefully not needed) that much easier.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a … 6811209010

2005-11-02 08:25:29

shortah: Oh did you want that tank?; +0|7039|Mechanicsville, VA

www.newegg.com

1 AMC 8" 4-Pin Power Cable Splitter Model Y Power Cable - OEM
Model #: Y Power Cable
Item #: N82E16812101203 $5.00 -$5.00 Sale = $0.00

ATX Computer Cases
1 Thermaltake Swing VB6000BNS Black 0.8 mm SECC ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail
Model #: VB6000BNS
Item #: N82E16811133165 $60.00

AMD-compatible Motherboards
AOpen nCK804a-LFS Socket 939 NVIDIA nForce4 ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail
Model #: nCK804a-LFS
Item #: N82E16813137065
$10.00 Mail-in Rebate
Select An Optional Extended Warranty Plan 1 Year Service Net Replacement Plan -- $14.99 2 Year Service Net Replacement Plan -- $19.99
$88.00

Video Cards
PNY VCG66256XPB Geforce 6600 256MB DDR PCI Express x16 Video Card - Retail
Model #: VCG66256XPB
Item #: N82E16814133154 $126.00

Power Supplies
Antec TRUEPOWERII TPII-550 ATX12V 550W Power Supply - Retail
Model #: TPII-550
Item #: N82E16817103931 $89.99

Memory - System
OCZ Performance Series 1GB (2 x 512MB) 184-Pin DDR SDRAM DDR 400 (PC 3200) Unbuffered Dual Channel Kit System Memory Model OCZ4001024PFDC-K - Retail
Model #: OCZ4001024PFDC-K
Item #: N82E16820227031 $115.00

Processors
AMD Athlon 64 3500+ Venice 1GHz FSB Socket 939 Processor Model ADA3500BPBOX - Retail
Model #: ADA3500BPBOX
Item #: N82E16819103533 $201.00

SUGGESTION: (Get aftermarket fan for CPU)
1 Thermaltake VENUS 12 80mm Ball Cooling Fan/Heatsink - Retail
Model #: VENUS 12
Item #: N82E16835106038 $36.99

Operating Systems
Microsoft Windows XP HOME Edition With Service Pack 2 - OEM
Model #: N09-01152
Item #: N82E16837102151
$91.95

Subtotal: $771.94

Positives:
4 slots available for Ram Upgrade (maximum of 4gig)
Socket 939 - AMD 64/64FX/64X2 possibilities
Mobo = SATA/RAID ready, Nvidia NForce4(sound card abilities built into mobo)

Negatives = 1 PCI-Express x16 port, NO Agp

2005-11-02 09:48:44

Badcomp: Member; +2|7056|U.S.

Shortah has posted some nice parts for you to compare. You asked about cooling and what-not so I will try to answer. If you don't plan on overclocking I wouldn't worry about anything fancy and just stick with stock cooling. If you want a nice a quiet system and ARE worried about overclocking in the future, Zalman makes a nice choice. Thermaltake make nice setups too (XP-90) comes to mind.
DO NOT skimp on a decent power supply!! A crappy PS will give you headaches. 350w + with at least 20A on the 12volt rail will be adequate, but a 400 or better would be best. Make sure that 12v rail gets 20a though.
I got lucky that my OCZ modstream has a clean signal or I would be having issues.
TO give you another idea on price, this is what I spent a few months ago and what I got.

Mobo: DFI Ultra LanParty-D (non SLi, but with a simple mod it is ) $110
CPU: A64 3500+ Clawhammer Retail $260
Ram: 1gb (512x2) OCZ VX gold @ 2.3v $150 I will need more down the road, but works fine for now
Video: gigabyte 6600GT PCI-E $145
Power supply: OCZ Modstream 420w $90
I have stock cooling on the CPU and do some overclocking. I got lucky with my core and didn't need to push anymore voltage to keep it stable (2.6ghz) and thus didn't look into another heatsink. When I plan on pushing it more, I may get a XP-90 for cooling.

With this setup, I run Bf2 with 1280x1024 res, 4xAA, all settings except for 2 at high. I dont recall what is on medium, I'm at work right now so I can't tell ya.

Take into account that these parts are cheaper now so you could spend the same amount of cash on something better!!!

The rest I already had and just moved them over to the new setup. Hope this helps some.
The boards that Shortah listed WILL handle the X2 core chips with a bios update or they may already be able to. I'm not too sure on the Aopen boards.

2005-11-02 10:44:52

foofdawg: Can I be Friendly Firer?; +1|7025

This is great information, unfortunately I'm at work right now, and actually have to do some work now that I am back from lunch. Just checking in. I'm not too worried about Over clocking right now, as I've never done it before, but will definitely look into it in the future. Will check back with you guys some time later, once I've had a chance to review posted parts and prices and such. Thanks as always!

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