New Computer

[Infested Cats]

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]

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]

I believe the MB is an ABIT NF7

[clocker]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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.

[abu_has_the_power]

yea, go with the 2500. for ur vd card. hmmm... that's not a bad price for a radeon 9600

[Infested Cats]

about the memory... at the place i want to order:

2700 = $83
3200 = $78

[Infested Cats]

here's what i've decided on:

tell me what you think
http://atthebegining.hypermart.net/comp.htm

[Virtualbody1234]

I'm not sure if this is a real issue or not but I have seen some complaints about that Asus motherboard. Something about temperature monitor?

http://www.klboard.ath.cx/index.php?showtopic=81628

[abu_has_the_power]

Originally posted by Infested Cats@17 November 2003 - 21:51
here's what i've decided on:

tell me what you think
http://atthebegining.hypermart.net/comp.htm
not bad, not bad at all. wow. that's a pretty good price for all that. r u getting a hd by any chance? not in ur list... hmmm....
and wat bout floppy? and wat bout cd-rw?

[clocker]

Wasn't that leonidas?

Someone else in that same thread (smurfette?) said that he had built three pc's with that board and had no trouble.

Looks like a real nice set up Cats, you should be very happy.

As far as fans go, I'm kinda confused right now. By the time you get all this stuff maybe my thinking will have coalesced and I can make some recommendations, but for right now just put her together and see what ya got goin on.
You going to use the stock heatsink?
I think that they are pretty good.

[bob_the_alien]

Originally posted by clocker@18 November 2003 - 00:37
You going to use the stock heatsink?
I think that they are pretty good.
As an interesting side note to clocker's comments about the stock heatsink, today I got a new 2500 Barton in,
And this is the first time I've ever actually read the warranty included with the chip, it states if any hsf besides the stock hsf is used on the chip, it voids the warranty.
Anyway, This kind of took me at back. I can see overclocking voiding it, or unlocking the multiplier, but just using a hsf that’s not stock.
Ahh well I guess, how the hell would AMD know anyway? :lol:

[clocker]

Originally posted by Infested Cats@17 November 2003 - 18:54
about the memory... at the place i want to order:

2700 = $83
3200 = $78
That price makes no sense to me.
It should be the other way round.