New Computer

**Infested Cats** · 11-18-2003, 12:03 AM

I'm buying some parts to upgrade my current computer.
I'll probably be buying from http://www.markonecomputers.com

Tell me what you think of these specs, and if there's anyhting I can do to make it cheaper:

what do you think of these specs:

PowerSupply Antec 400 Watt ATX AMD and Pentium 4 APPROVED power supply, UL/FCC Listed, 1 year warranty. $67.55

CPU AMD XP 2400+ (2.0GHz) QuantiSpeed™ architecture High-performance, full-speed on-chip cache (384K total), 266MHz advanced front-side bus 3DNow!™ Professional technology (with 52 new instructions) RETAIL BOX w/fan and 3 year warranty. .13 micron. $88.92

SystemCase IM-21, BLACK ATX Mid Tower with Transparent Blue Acrylic Front, 11 bays, 4x5.25" ext, 2x3.5" ext, 5x3.5" int, Front USB 2.0, Firewire, Audio, includes 1 front fan, space for 2 80mm Fans, Without power supply, P4/P3/AMD Compatible $49.00

Motherboard Socket A, AMD Athlon/XP/DURON motherboard with 200/266/333MHz front side bus, 2-Ultra DMA/133 IDE, 8X AGP, 5 PCI, 3 DDR SOCKETS, 4-USB 2.0 nVidia nForce2 SPP chipset with MCP2-T. With 6 channel audio. 2 year warranty. $80.11

DVD Toshiba 16X DVD/48X internal IDE CD-ROM, 80ms CD/90ms DVD, 128K buffer. Bare Drive Only. 1 year warranty. $34.45

Memory 512MB PC3200 400MHz DDR 184-pin. 1 year warranty CL 3 ELIXIR $78.95

VideoCard ATI Radeon 9600 Pro 128MB DDR 8X AGP, Has s-video out, Dual Head w/DVID (OEM) $154.28

Total: $553.26 (+assembly =$588.26) (with shipping = 626.74)

**clocker** · 11-18-2003, 12:14 AM

Cats,
I would spend the couple of extra bucks and get the Barton core 2500+chip.

Also, which motherboard is it that you are getting?

If you get the right board/chip combo, you could save some money by using PC 2700 memory and still get better results...

**Infested Cats** · 11-18-2003, 12:28 AM

I believe the MB is an ABIT NF7

**clocker** · 11-18-2003, 01:02 AM

That looks like a very nice board and should easily support a bit of mild clocking which would make the 2500 a very good choice.

**Infested Cats** · 11-18-2003, 01:08 AM

I'm trying to spend less than $500... any pointers? I might have to ditch the case for a cahper one to save some money...

**clocker** · 11-18-2003, 01:19 AM

Drop down to PC 2700 memory.
You won't notice the difference.

Edit:
Obviously you could go way cheaper on the video card too.

**Infested Cats** · 11-18-2003, 01:32 AM

suppose i took you up on your 2500+ idea. Would i drop down the memory in those circumstances?

And perhaps, reccomend a better video card?
..and maybe reccomend some effective fans?

I'm sorry for sucking you dry, but you are quite smart when it comes to this!

**Virtualbody1234** · 11-18-2003, 01:41 AM

Yup. I agree. I haven't read the whole thread in depth yet but I'll start with saying get the 2500+. It has the Barton core which runa at 333MHz FSB and has twice the L2 cache. 333 RAM could be a bit of a savings.

I'll read this more in depth when I have a bit more time later.