its new system time

DaFunkyUnit · 08-06-2002, 09:38 AM

Okey Dokey, i've decided that its finally time to splurge on another box. I think its time that my P3-450 step down from being the main comp.

Anyways, I want something that'll last me awhile. I'll be using the box for recreational gaming and software development (i'll be using Vis Studio XP). I have set $1000 as the spending cap. Everything is very preliminary, so recommendations/suggestions would be very helpful!

Motherboard: ASUS A7V333 DDR (no raid, no sound)
CPU: AMD Athlon XP ????
HD: WD/Maxtor 60 GB
RAM: 512 Micron DDR RAM (2700)
Video: GeForce 4 TI 4200 (don't know which brand)
Sound: SB Audigy
CDROM: Liteon 16xDVD
CDRW: Liteon 40x12x48 (is this any good?)
Floppy: watever
NIC: Probably the $10 D-link
Case: Something cool looking

PS: Enermax 350W

Oh, i'm probably NOT going to overclock, but its nice to know that I have the option. Plus, (i know this is gonna rile up some of you OC'ers) is the extra clock cylces worth the time, money, and effort???

ok let me know if i forgot anything...

-daUnit

PoloM1 · 08-06-2002, 09:55 AM

Check out the deals page, there is a listing for the KT266A board from Epox that is refurbished for $41..... just thought I might point that out.

G_Sup · 08-06-2002, 10:00 AM

OK, here goes...

P4 2.26 $270
ABIT IT7 Max $150
512 Corsair XMS 3200 DDR $230

Why would I suggest this? I just upgraded from AMD and got this system. With an ALPHA 8942 heatsink and Panflo fan I was easily able to O/C to 2.83 and some are getting higher than 3ghz (I haven't tried yet). I was a die hard AMD fan but as of right now, Intel's Northwood w/533mhz FSB chips are kicking AMD's arse. The Abit IT7 compliments the chip nicely as it's an easy overclocker. (BTW, I got all the components at Newegg.com so the prices reflect that) Oh, you might want to look into the WD JB series of harddrive's, they have 8 mb's of buffer!!!! The 80 gig (800JB) is going for $109 right now).

Good Luck!

Bires · 08-06-2002, 10:58 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by G_Sup
P4 2.26 $270
ABIT IT7 Max $150
512 Corsair XMS 3200 DDR $230

Wow...a grand? cool.

If you can still get the P4 1.6A from Newegg or buy.com, do so...if you overclock, its a great deal (2.2-2.8GHz for $140) Just make sure you get good, fast memory.

Use the money you save from your cpu on a GeForce4 4400 or 4600. Round out your system with a pair of 19" monitors (Dell=free ship) and two 80G HD's in RAID 0.

DaFunkyUnit · 08-06-2002, 11:16 AM

uh... riight... sounds good and all, but that'll definitely push me over the $1k limit. I'm building from scratch. I need a comp for the long run, and I tend to shy away from OC'ing cause it tends to shorten the lifespan of the cpu (unless you have 5 fans or watercooling) i've had a bad experience with a Cyrix back in the day ok? so i'm traumatized My goal is system stability

with that price, cant i get an XP 2100? Anything wrong with that?

thanks for the suggestions...

G_Sup · 08-06-2002, 12:45 PM

DaFunkyUnit, no nothing wrong with an AMD! I was just simply adding my .02 cents. I just purchased everything I metioned earlier with a Lian Li PC-70USB server case, a few cable accessories and an audigy for about $1100. Granted the case itself was about $230 shipped without powersupply (I got the Enermax 350 as well)! You wouldn't have to go with such an expensive case! I would look into the all aluminum Chieftec cases, they come in several different colors and are pretty nice. You might also want to check out this one http://www.frozencpu.com/cgi-bin/frozencpu/cas-08.html it's purple but it comes with a window and a fan on top. I've seen this case well over $200, how they are selling it so low is beyond me! I usually try and get all the components from the same place so I can save on shipping. Newegg IMO is simply the best online retailer in the business, hence the high scores on resellerratings.com.

Oh BTW, I would take Chosenfool's advice and get the 4400 as oppsoed to the 4200. If you are stuck on getting the 4200, the 64MB flavor has actually gotten higher scores than the 128 version due to bandwidth problems with the 128...just FYI. Me, I would spend a little extra and get the 4400. I have the 4600 and I know that you can O/C the 4400 to 4600 speeds even though I know that O/Cing isn't your bag. BTW, I have never had a CPU fry and I've been O/Cing since day one. If you had a bad experience O/C'ing a cyrix chip I can see why! LOL (It is a Cyrix!)

Ladogaboy · 08-06-2002, 08:22 PM

It sounds to me as though DaFunkyUnit wants a box that he can slap together, seal the box, and have running reliably until a major upgrade is both necessary and cheap. I might be wrong, but that's what it sounds like.

With that said, I would either recommend an Athlon XP+ or a SLOWER version of the Northwood P4. If you are only a recreational gamer, I would say that you should cut chosen's $200 price tag by $50... A Ti4200 should do you fine. The LiteOn 40x CD-RW is a great drive with a very good price... get it! The things I would splurg on (I'm trying to think like you) is your case, and ram... I just upgraded to 512 megs of ram in my system, and it makes a HUGE difference, even though I only have an 800MHz processor. And as for the hard drive, if you aren't going RAID, I'd suggest the WD 80 gig SE... provided you can find it for a decent price.

So basically, with all that said, I think your list looks fine!

G_Sup · 08-06-2002, 09:47 PM

Anyway you look at it, as long as he's in the ghz range it will be a HUGE step up from a P3 450!

DaFunkyUnit · 08-07-2002, 12:47 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by G_Sup
Anyway you look at it, as long as he's in the ghz range it will be a HUGE step up from a P3 450!

Amen brotha! And yes Ladoga, you've figured me out! That was my strategy when I built my current system. 3 years ago, when the 1st generation of P3's where on the market... when Quake 3 was the next big thing, and I wanted to make sure that my comp was able take it on. Ahh... now my 64mb TNT2 card is falling into obsolescence.

Hopefully the comp i will be building will be able to handle Doom 3 when it comes out (tentatively January 2003, according to PC Gamer)

Hmm, I guess its toss up between an XP 2000 or a P4 1.8Ghz...

The case will definitely be something "pimped-out-fly" , maybe that case from svcompucyle...

thanks for the help, and i'll keep all yall updated on [dramatic voice] Da Unit's New Rig [/dramatic voice]

Bires · 08-07-2002, 07:38 AM

If it wasn't for your *need* to have a "pimped-out-fly" case, I would recommend buying a "barebones" system from googlegear or newegg. They are the case, PS, Mobo, and CPU (sometimes mem too) at a great deal. They often use an ok board that won't overclock, but is based on Intel's or VIA's reference chipset, so they are rock solid stable. I've bought a few for friends (that don't know what OCing is) and they have been perfect.

Ladogaboy · 08-07-2002, 08:41 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Bires
They often use an ok board that won't overclock, but is based on Intel's or VIA's reference chipset, so they are rock solid stable.

I have some doubts about the stability of current Via chipsets...

DaFunkyUnit · 08-08-2002, 05:43 PM

just ordered one of these:
http://www.svcompucycle.com/almida2wus2n.html

and one of these:
http://www.svcompucycle.com/colcatfluorl2.html

and one of these:
http://www.svcompucycle.com/80crysfanthe.html

i guess i got the "pimped-out-fly" part down

Apex · 08-08-2002, 06:20 PM

What a coincidence, I just bought a new computer.

Someone buy my old one.

rajatQ2 · 08-11-2002, 07:49 PM

not to sound lazy, but dell has some pretty fat deals out there... you can pick up a pretty decent P4 system starting around $400 or $500. I just got a good one that will be my developing machine for at least 3 years for $509, all it needs is more ddr ram whenever prices come down. i got it complete w/ cd burner, pretty decent size HD, nic, and all the standard stuff.

i would think that you'd easily spend $400 of $500 just getting a processor, mobo, case and your ram. right??

So go check out the deals page

DaFunkyUnit · 09-03-2002, 11:27 PM

what do you guys think?

Intel P4 2.4Ghz (512 kB cache)
Soyo Dragon Ultra (SiS 645 Chipset)
512MB DDR (PC2700)
Albatron GeForce 4 TI 4600 128MB
Maxtor 80 GB
Toshiba 16x DVD (silver bezel)
TDK VeloCD 40x12x48

Raidmax A288
350W Enermax Whisper series EG365P-VE(FCA)

the whole kit and kaboodle will cost a little over a grand.

havent bought the mobo,cpu,ram and vid card yet, but i need to get this thing set up before heading off to skool.

DaFunkyUnit · 09-14-2002, 12:14 PM

finally, it is complete

i thought i killed my comp when i bent the pins to the cpu, but luckily my comp is running strong

P4 2.4b GHZ
Gigabyte GA-8IEXP (845e chipset)
512 PC2700 Samsung
Albatron TI4200 128MB ddr
Maxtor 80GB HD
Enermax EGP-365
Toshiba 16x DVD (SD-M1612)
TDK VeloCD 40/12/48B Burner

3dMark2001 SE "out-of-the-box" score:
9275

Showtime · 09-14-2002, 01:05 PM

I bought a Dell 2.4ghz system. It came out $599 shipped after the $150 rebate. It has a ti4200 64mg and got 95xx on the 1st run.
You components are much better so you should be able to tweak it pretty easily.
Is your chip the "A" or "B" northy?
-jel

BTW if you do some ocing let us know how it goes. i might be building another rig and I need some info.

DaFunkyUnit · 09-22-2002, 01:05 AM

some pics of the new machine

http://home.earthlink.net/~namkn/images/back.JPG

http://home.earthlink.net/~namkn/images/front.JPG

http://home.earthlink.net/~namkn/images/side1.JPG

http://home.earthlink.net/~namkn/images/side2.JPG

http://home.earthlink.net/~namkn/images/glow1.JPG

http://home.earthlink.net/~namkn/images/glow2.JPG

if you notice the back of the box, i drilled and put in the switch for the black light. I actually did some real modding!

bachviet · 09-22-2002, 08:28 AM

Nice box...

Ladogaboy · 09-22-2002, 11:42 AM

Nice... BIG step up from a 450.

08-06-2002, 09:38 AM	#1
DaFunkyUnit Rear Admiral Upper Half Join Date: Oct 2000 Location: the peanut gallery Posts: 3,909	its new system time Okey Dokey, i've decided that its finally time to splurge on another box. I think its time that my P3-450 step down from being the main comp. Anyways, I want something that'll last me awhile. I'll be using the box for recreational gaming and software development (i'll be using Vis Studio XP). I have set $1000 as the spending cap. Everything is very preliminary, so recommendations/suggestions would be very helpful! Motherboard: ASUS A7V333 DDR (no raid, no sound) CPU: AMD Athlon XP ???? HD: WD/Maxtor 60 GB RAM: 512 Micron DDR RAM (2700) Video: GeForce 4 TI 4200 (don't know which brand) Sound: SB Audigy CDROM: Liteon 16xDVD CDRW: Liteon 40x12x48 (is this any good?) Floppy: watever NIC: Probably the $10 D-link Case: Something cool looking PS: Enermax 350W Oh, i'm probably NOT going to overclock, but its nice to know that I have the option. Plus, (i know this is gonna rile up some of you OC'ers) is the extra clock cylces worth the time, money, and effort??? ok let me know if i forgot anything... -daUnit

08-06-2002, 10:00 AM	#3
G_Sup Lieutenant Join Date: Jan 2000 Location: CA Posts: 262	OK, here goes... P4 2.26 $270 ABIT IT7 Max $150 512 Corsair XMS 3200 DDR $230 Why would I suggest this? I just upgraded from AMD and got this system. With an ALPHA 8942 heatsink and Panflo fan I was easily able to O/C to 2.83 and some are getting higher than 3ghz (I haven't tried yet). I was a die hard AMD fan but as of right now, Intel's Northwood w/533mhz FSB chips are kicking AMD's arse. The Abit IT7 compliments the chip nicely as it's an easy overclocker. (BTW, I got all the components at Newegg.com so the prices reflect that) Oh, you might want to look into the WD JB series of harddrive's, they have 8 mb's of buffer!!!! The 80 gig (800JB) is going for $109 right now). Good Luck! Last edited by G_Sup : 08-06-2002 at 10:03 AM.

08-06-2002, 12:45 PM	#6
G_Sup Lieutenant Join Date: Jan 2000 Location: CA Posts: 262	DaFunkyUnit, no nothing wrong with an AMD! I was just simply adding my .02 cents. I just purchased everything I metioned earlier with a Lian Li PC-70USB server case, a few cable accessories and an audigy for about $1100. Granted the case itself was about $230 shipped without powersupply (I got the Enermax 350 as well)! You wouldn't have to go with such an expensive case! I would look into the all aluminum Chieftec cases, they come in several different colors and are pretty nice. You might also want to check out this one http://www.frozencpu.com/cgi-bin/frozencpu/cas-08.html it's purple but it comes with a window and a fan on top. I've seen this case well over $200, how they are selling it so low is beyond me! I usually try and get all the components from the same place so I can save on shipping. Newegg IMO is simply the best online retailer in the business, hence the high scores on resellerratings.com. Oh BTW, I would take Chosenfool's advice and get the 4400 as oppsoed to the 4200. If you are stuck on getting the 4200, the 64MB flavor has actually gotten higher scores than the 128 version due to bandwidth problems with the 128...just FYI. Me, I would spend a little extra and get the 4400. I have the 4600 and I know that you can O/C the 4400 to 4600 speeds even though I know that O/Cing isn't your bag. BTW, I have never had a CPU fry and I've been O/Cing since day one. If you had a bad experience O/C'ing a cyrix chip I can see why! LOL (It is a Cyrix!) Last edited by G_Sup : 08-06-2002 at 12:49 PM.

08-06-2002, 08:22 PM	#7
Ladogaboy Admiral Join Date: Jan 2000 Location: Hiding amongst the minnows Posts: 6,843	It sounds to me as though DaFunkyUnit wants a box that he can slap together, seal the box, and have running reliably until a major upgrade is both necessary and cheap. I might be wrong, but that's what it sounds like. With that said, I would either recommend an Athlon XP+ or a SLOWER version of the Northwood P4. If you are only a recreational gamer, I would say that you should cut chosen's $200 price tag by $50... A Ti4200 should do you fine. The LiteOn 40x CD-RW is a great drive with a very good price... get it! The things I would splurg on (I'm trying to think like you) is your case, and ram... I just upgraded to 512 megs of ram in my system, and it makes a HUGE difference, even though I only have an 800MHz processor. And as for the hard drive, if you aren't going RAID, I'd suggest the WD 80 gig SE... provided you can find it for a decent price. So basically, with all that said, I think your list looks fine! __________________ It is not enough to merely touch the face of god; you also must open your eyes so that you may see your palm.

08-08-2002, 05:43 PM	#12
DaFunkyUnit Rear Admiral Upper Half Join Date: Oct 2000 Location: the peanut gallery Posts: 3,909	and so, the process begins.... just ordered one of these: http://www.svcompucycle.com/almida2wus2n.html and one of these: http://www.svcompucycle.com/colcatfluorl2.html and one of these: http://www.svcompucycle.com/80crysfanthe.html i guess i got the "pimped-out-fly" part down

08-06-2002, 09:55 AM	#2
PoloM1 Lieutenant Junior Grade Join Date: Mar 2001 Location: With your mom Posts: 125	Check out the deals page, there is a listing for the KT266A board from Epox that is refurbished for $41..... just thought I might point that out.

08-06-2002, 11:16 AM	#5
DaFunkyUnit Rear Admiral Upper Half Join Date: Oct 2000 Location: the peanut gallery Posts: 3,909	uh... riight... sounds good and all, but that'll definitely push me over the $1k limit. I'm building from scratch. I need a comp for the long run, and I tend to shy away from OC'ing cause it tends to shorten the lifespan of the cpu (unless you have 5 fans or watercooling) i've had a bad experience with a Cyrix back in the day ok? so i'm traumatized My goal is system stability with that price, cant i get an XP 2100? Anything wrong with that? thanks for the suggestions...

08-06-2002, 09:47 PM	#8
G_Sup Lieutenant Join Date: Jan 2000 Location: CA Posts: 262	Anyway you look at it, as long as he's in the ghz range it will be a HUGE step up from a P3 450!

08-07-2002, 07:38 AM	#10
Bires Admiral Join Date: May 2000 Posts: 5,064	If it wasn't for your need to have a "pimped-out-fly" case, I would recommend buying a "barebones" system from googlegear or newegg. They are the case, PS, Mobo, and CPU (sometimes mem too) at a great deal. They often use an ok board that won't overclock, but is based on Intel's or VIA's reference chipset, so they are rock solid stable. I've bought a few for friends (that don't know what OCing is) and they have been perfect.

08-08-2002, 06:20 PM	#13
Apex Can you hear me now? Join Date: Dec 1999 Location: Here Posts: 5,506	What a coincidence, I just bought a new computer. Someone buy my old one.

08-11-2002, 07:49 PM	#14
rajatQ2 Commander Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: boston, ma Posts: 1,020	not to sound lazy, but dell has some pretty fat deals out there... you can pick up a pretty decent P4 system starting around $400 or $500. I just got a good one that will be my developing machine for at least 3 years for $509, all it needs is more ddr ram whenever prices come down. i got it complete w/ cd burner, pretty decent size HD, nic, and all the standard stuff. i would think that you'd easily spend $400 of $500 just getting a processor, mobo, case and your ram. right?? So go check out the deals page __________________ Find some free Comcast or Verizon on-demand movies to watch at home tonight: www.movie-cat.tv

09-03-2002, 11:27 PM	#15
DaFunkyUnit Rear Admiral Upper Half Join Date: Oct 2000 Location: the peanut gallery Posts: 3,909	what do you guys think? Intel P4 2.4Ghz (512 kB cache) Soyo Dragon Ultra (SiS 645 Chipset) 512MB DDR (PC2700) Albatron GeForce 4 TI 4600 128MB Maxtor 80 GB Toshiba 16x DVD (silver bezel) TDK VeloCD 40x12x48 Raidmax A288 350W Enermax Whisper series EG365P-VE(FCA) the whole kit and kaboodle will cost a little over a grand. havent bought the mobo,cpu,ram and vid card yet, but i need to get this thing set up before heading off to skool.

09-14-2002, 12:14 PM	#16
DaFunkyUnit Rear Admiral Upper Half Join Date: Oct 2000 Location: the peanut gallery Posts: 3,909	ITS ALIVE!!! finally, it is complete i thought i killed my comp when i bent the pins to the cpu, but luckily my comp is running strong P4 2.4b GHZ Gigabyte GA-8IEXP (845e chipset) 512 PC2700 Samsung Albatron TI4200 128MB ddr Maxtor 80GB HD Enermax EGP-365 Toshiba 16x DVD (SD-M1612) TDK VeloCD 40/12/48B Burner 3dMark2001 SE "out-of-the-box" score: 9275

09-14-2002, 01:05 PM	#17
Showtime Lakers fanatic Join Date: Sep 2000 Location: L.A. ->SoCal<- O.C. Posts: 7,338	I bought a Dell 2.4ghz system. It came out $599 shipped after the $150 rebate. It has a ti4200 64mg and got 95xx on the 1st run. You components are much better so you should be able to tweak it pretty easily. Is your chip the "A" or "B" northy? -jel BTW if you do some ocing let us know how it goes. i might be building another rig and I need some info. __________________ NBA REPORT 10-11/ The 3-Peat! 1948 1949 1950 1952 1953 1954 1972 1980 1982 1985 1987 1988 2000 2001 2002 2009 2010 Reigning NBA CHAMPS!

09-22-2002, 01:05 AM	#18
DaFunkyUnit Rear Admiral Upper Half Join Date: Oct 2000 Location: the peanut gallery Posts: 3,909	some pics of the new machine http://home.earthlink.net/~namkn/images/back.JPG http://home.earthlink.net/~namkn/images/front.JPG http://home.earthlink.net/~namkn/images/side1.JPG http://home.earthlink.net/~namkn/images/side2.JPG http://home.earthlink.net/~namkn/images/glow1.JPG http://home.earthlink.net/~namkn/images/glow2.JPG if you notice the back of the box, i drilled and put in the switch for the black light. I actually did some real modding!

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09-22-2002, 08:28 AM	#19
bachviet What's Da Pho*? Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: SoCal (714) Posts: 13,296	Nice box... __________________ Dell Dimension 9200 \| Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 (2.4GHz) \| 4x1GB DDR2 \| 256MB nVidia GeForce 8800GT Dell Studio 17 \| Intel Core i7-720QM (1.6GHz) \| 2x2GB DDR3 1066MHz \| 1GHz ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4650 Intel P4-C 3.0GHz \| ECS 865PE-A \| 3x512MB PC3200 \| 128MB PNY GeForce 6600GT

09-22-2002, 11:42 AM	#20
Ladogaboy Admiral Join Date: Jan 2000 Location: Hiding amongst the minnows Posts: 6,843	Nice... BIG step up from a 450.

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