Computer build on a budget

[Philosopher]

I need to build a computer for college, and I'm on a budget since my dad pulled funding due to our newly-defunct A/C unit, so it's out of my pockets with my lousy $12/hr job. Thus, I'd like to push the price down as much as possible without ending up with a crippled system, so suggest changes as fit please:

Assuming no overclock on an athlon, how's this:
Asus A7V333-r $140, newegg
AMD XP1800+ Retail, $105, newegg
HSF: comes with cpu- adequate?
Samsung PC2700 512MB, $150, newegg- pc2700 over pc2100?
ATI Radeon 8500, $110, enetshoponline.com- or GF4Ti4200 a LOT better?
Turtle Beach Santa Cruz, $63, newegg
D-Link 10/100 DFE-530TX+, $16, newegg- or is a 3com NIC really *that* much better?
WD 80 GB SE, $120, newegg
lite on 32x12x40, $62, newegg
Pioneer DVD-116, $49, newegg- or suggest me one
Antec PLUS660, $107, newegg
MS Natural keyboard pro, $31, newegg
MS Intellimouse Explorer 3.0, $38, newegg
FDD, $10
Speakers: ? need decent quality as it will double as dormroom stereo (smallish dormrooms, since it's at Columbia)
Monitor: Samsung 855DF, $255, newegg; or, i've heard lots about the Planar montior from monitorsdirect. Also considering 15" lcde, but not sure if size of 15" would be too small for my taste.
Which brings us to $1001+speakers+monitor

OR I've been advised what might work would be
Asus A7N266-C NVIDIA nFORCE 415-D, $102, newegg- which takes care of sound (good quality), but what sold me about the santa cruz was that i could plug in a 2.1 and headphones at the same time... could I do it with this?
Crucial pc2100 512MB, $117, newegg- I assume pc2700 isn't good on this mobo?
minus the sound card, so total is:
$867+speakers+monitor

OR shoudl I go intel:
Gigabyte GA-8IE, $103, newegg- or suggest me a comparable Asus mobo or something even better?
Intel Pentium 4 1.6A, $140, newegg- I can up the FSB to 133 for 2.13GHz performance right?
HSF: comes with cpu- adequate?
Samsung PC2700 512MB, $150, newegg- pc2700 over pc2100?
ATI Radeon 8500, $110, enetshoponline.com- or GF4Ti4200 a LOT better?
Turtle Beach Santa Cruz, $63, newegg
D-Link 10/100 DFE-530TX+, $16, newegg
WD 80 GB SE, $120, newegg
lite on 32x12x40, $62, newegg
Pioneer DVD-116, $49, newegg
Antec PLUS660, $107, newegg
MS Natural keyboard pro, $31, newegg
MS Intellimouse Explorer 3.0, $38, newegg
FDD, $10
Speakers+Monitor- ?
Total: $999+monitor+speakers

So my choices are, I think, athlon (kt333 vs kt266+415-D) vs p4, and I need some speakers (<$100), and a monitor.

Thanks in advance!

[PoloM1]

I just got done building 2 decent "buget" computers for friends and here are some of the components I used.


Gigabyte GA-7VTXE DDR OEM motherboard and AMD XP 1700+ CPU and heatsink combo from www.3btech.net - $123 shipped

From what little I testing I did with this board it seemed pretty good especially for the price but keep in mind that it is a budget board and is definately not for overclockers and everything is OEM, no manuals cables, nothing... all you get is the cpu, motherboard and heatsink.

As for the RAM I would just get a stick of 256 PC2100 from Crucial, I think it came out to a little less than $50. You can always add more later.

If you're really on a budget, you might also want to consider using onboard sound for now, like the RAM, you can always add it later.

I don't have any suggestions on your vid card since I rarely game and I use a strong vid card (I just upgraded to a GeForce2 gts 32 Meg from a Ati Radeon VE).

[Bires]

Originally posted by Philosopher

ATI Radeon 8500, $110, enetshoponline.com- or GF4Ti4200 a LOT better?


I've built and worked with systems with both and I can say, from a gamer's point of view...yes. The Ti4200 is a LOT better. +1500 3DMarks (YMMV) and a more stable driver base.


Originally posted by Philosopher
OR shoudl I go intel


[My$0.02]Yes. Go with Intel. The 1.6A's are wicked overclockable. You're basically buying:
1. a fairly fast cpu that will run very cool under harsh loads, or
2. a cpu that will overclock to well over 2GHz.

[Ladogaboy]

Well, if you go with AMD, go with the nVidia based board. I've been hearing some worrisome things about the KT333 chipset, and I'm not to hip on the idea of paying $63 for a sound card... but that's just me. :shrug:

The 1.6a is also a good option, and it will probably get you a faster system overall, if you are willing to OC.

[xsiled2]

ok heres my bit. i run 2 amd systems and a 1.6a so my opinion isnt towards one company or the other.

at the moment i would head over to compubuzz.com and pick up a 1700+ for $67 then pick up an nforce mobo without the built in vga mind you, unless ur looking for a gf2 mx graphics....

enjoy your new system and GL with college....

[Windsor]

I would suggest:

Gigabyte RVXP or ECS K7TA3, they both have onboard sound and lan, the Gigabyte is faster, but more expensive, they should both be available from Newegg, around 118 and 77, respectively.

Athlon XP 1800+ Retail: 108 or so from googlegear, 50 cent 2nd Day shipping

Ram: Budget, I say a 256 stick of 2700 from newegg is fine.

Get a Ti4200, $140 for a 64mb, $184 for 128mg, either newegg or googlegear.

Soundcard: either that or an Audigy shouldn't run more than $85

CD-RW: That should serve you well.

Artec 16x DVD from googlegear, $36 with 50 cent 2nd Day.

Nice HDD.

Case: I dont' really have a suggestion, anything from a reputable company should be fine.

Mouse: MS optical wheel mouse for $16 shipped at Buy.com, there's a 10 buck rebate for it floating around. Free shipping, too.

FDD...any one should do.

Speakers, the Logitech Z-series has gotten great reviews on 'em, and they're fairly inexpensive.

The monitor might be up to personal preference, the LCD's might not be as good for gaming, but will save you space, and is generally better for text and stuff, which I assume you'll do SOME of...

[Bires]

Originally posted by Windsor
I assume you'll do SOME of... (gaming)

At college ?!? No one plays video games at college! College is for work and bettering yourself intellectually! :P

Man...I loved college. I got really good at Warcraft II and C&C Red Alert. The tournies kept me off the honor roll. :naughty:

[Showtime]

Last week Frys had the pent 4 1.6a retail(w/fan) and some mobo for $209. The cpu comes out to $120 and you can substitute any mobo they carry for the price its listed at. I'd get the MSI ultra 645/MSI ultra 845 aru or if they carry it, the ASUS P4b533g:wow:. They have onboard sound which is fine for many people.
-Frys had 512 Corsair XMS 2700c2 for $199 but get a stick of 256 from wherever is cheapest(Corsair/Samsund/Crucial). Just be sure to get 2700 c2.
-Ti4200 for around $160, if you have an old card, buy this last cuz prices are falling.
-Look for a deal on a case with a decent 300watt+ ps.
-nic card etc.
-Arctic Silver 2 or 3.
-use old monitor, cd rom, etc. Buy replacements when they have real nice sales.
This is potentially the "cheapest high performance system" you can buy. It depends on your overclock. My 1.6a does 2.35ghz. The best ones go to 2.8ghz and the lower ones go 2.1 but you can get a dud. The key is packing date. Get one that is packed after 03/2002(Costa rica if possible).
If you go this route than we can give basic overclocking information or you can run it stock.
Good luck
-jel:halo:

[Bires]

Newegg still has the MSI 845 Ultra ARU on sale as a refurb for $65 with free ship and the 1.6A at $140 with free ship.

This is exactly the deal I got a little more than a week ago (got my mem from crucial) and this system is blazingly fast. While there, P/U a Ti4200-64 and a good case. You can be outta there for under $400 for the lot.

[Bires]

Mine (from newegg) is the 3213A322 Costa Rica. This is (I believe, but not confirmed) the last line of P4 1.6As that intel has made...very few ppl have this cpu and it run really cool at 2.12G.