Can You Trust Computers On Ebay?

[Monkeee]

CD/DVD ROM Drives
Artec 56X CDROM, Model CSM-56(CHM-56), Retail

Floppy Drives
Mitsumi 1.44MB 3.5Inch Floppy Disk Drive, Model D359M3, OEM

Hard Drives
Western Digital Special Edition 80GB 7200RPM IDE Hard Drive, Model WD800JB, OEM Drive Only

Memory (System Memory)
Geil Ultra Series Value Dual Channel 184 Pin 512MB(256MBx2) DDR PC-3200 w/ Blue Heatspreader - Retail

Network - Interface Cards
LINKSKEY 10/100Mbps PCI Ethernet Card, Model LKF-5100+

Processors
Intel Pentium 4/ 2.8B GHz 533MHz FSB, 512K Cache - OEM

Video Cards
GeForce Fx 5200 AGP 128 Meg PNY AGP

RAIDMAX Green 10-bay Case with 420W Power Supply, Model "ATX-868WGP" -RETAIL

Specifications:

Case Type: Gaming Case
Color: Green
Material: 0.7mm SECC
Drive Bays: 5.25" x 4/0, 3.5" x 2/4 (external/internal)
Expansion Slots: 7
Front Ports: 2xUSB2.0, Audio
Power Supply: 420W
Cooling System: 2 x in-take temperature control fans
Motherboard Compatibility: ATX Form Factor 12" x 10.5" or smaller
Dimensions: 7.8" x 17.7" x 17" (WxDxH)

well i tryed configuring this computer but i'm not really good at choosing mother boards. and if you see anything wrong or missing with the above can you please post it! oh and the case is the power supply right?

[lynx]

The obvious points first.

1) Surely you would want a DVD burner rather than a CDROM drive?
2) Network card - many motherbaords have built in network port, if so you won't need this.
3) Graphics card. The 9200 does not support DirectX 9, so it won't play the latest games. You could go for a 9600 or a FX5600 for not much more money. Or a FX5200 for about the same price.

I'm not up on P4 motherboards so I can't help you much there.
Perhaps the ABIT "IS7" i865PE Chipset Motherboard for Intel Socket 478 CPU -RETAIL has everything you need, but I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong. It has built-in networking as I suggested.

The built-in audio on Intel motherboards generally tends to be lower quality than the Nvidia Soundstorm mentioned earlier, so you may want to consider a sound card for better quality and performance. But you can always add that later if you want.

The case seems something of an overkill. 10 bays (4 optical, 2 fdd, 4 hdd) but you've only got one of each. The power suppply rating seems about right, but it will be a generic one. My preference would be to get a slightly smaller case without a psu, and pick a good quality psu separately (such as Enermax, Antec or Thermaltake).

[Monkeee]

Originally posted by lynx@16 July 2004 - 08:48
The obvious points first.

1) Surely you would want a DVD burner rather than a CDROM drive?
2) Network card - many motherbaords have built in network port, if so you won't need this.
3) Graphics card. The 9200 does not support DirectX 9, so it won't play the latest games. You could go for a 9600 or a FX5600 for not much more money. Or a FX5200 for about the same price.

I'm not up on P4 motherboards so I can't help you much there.
Perhaps the ABIT "IS7" i865PE Chipset Motherboard for Intel Socket 478 CPU -RETAIL has everything you need, but I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong. It has built-in networking as I suggested.

The built-in audio on Intel motherboards generally tends to be lower quality than the Nvidia Soundstorm mentioned earlier, so you may want to consider a sound card for better quality and performance. But you can always add that later if you want.

The case seems something of an overkill. 10 bays (4 optical, 2 fdd, 4 hdd) but you've only got one of each. The power suppply rating seems about right, but it will be a generic one. My preference would be to get a slightly smaller case without a psu, and pick a good quality psu separately (such as Enermax, Antec or Thermaltake).

well this computer is going to be only for pure gaming so there wont be any other applications or programs besides so i dont need a dvd burner cause i have the computer right now i'm using for all my burning,downloading,music,etc etc. well i guess i'll just wait for someone to reply with better experiences with a p4 motherboard oh do i have to change the case? i need a good looking gaming case like the RAIDMAX Green and it seems like a good price with a 420W already in the case

[lynx]

If the pc is going to stay in one place, the case is fine, I was simply making suggestions.

On the other hand if you are likely to want to move it around (say take it to friends' houses) you would certainly want something much smaller. In that case I would suggest a micro-atx case and matching motherboard. This would reduce the height to about 2/3 of that case and make it much more manageable. The price would be much the same and there are some smaller cases which look just as good.

But cheap psu's have a tendency to fail, and sometimes take other components down with them. You may have trouble with warranty on the other components if that's the cause of the failure. It is a shame to risk several hundred dollars worth of equipment for the sake of a $20 psu upgrade.

If it is purely for gaming, you definitely need a much higher spec graphics card, definitely not the 9200 and I would suggest not the FX5200. Look in the pinned guide for more information.

[Monkeee]

Originally posted by lynx@16 July 2004 - 09:13
If the pc is going to stay in one place, the case is fine, I was simply making suggestions.

On the other hand if you are likely to want to move it around (say take it to friends' houses) you would certainly want something much smaller. In that case I would suggest a micro-atx case and matching motherboard. This would reduce the height to about 2/3 of that case and make it much more manageable. The price would be much the same and there are some smaller cases which look just as good.

But cheap psu's have a tendency to fail, and sometimes take other components down with them. You may have trouble with warranty on the other components if that's the cause of the failure. It is a shame to risk several hundred dollars worth of equipment for the sake of a $20 psu upgrade.

If it is purely for gaming, you definitely need a much higher spec graphics card, definitely not the 9200 and I would suggest not the FX5200. Look in the pinned guide for more information.

hmm... what causes them to fail? is it if you play for a long period of time? and the video card i cant get right now. i have limited money so i cant get the greatest card yet but probally gonna get a G-Force Fx 5200 AGP

[lynx]

They usually fail because of low quality caps.

When you turn the pc on you get a big inrush of power. That is usually when they fail.

Either that or voltage spikes, cheap psu's have poorer protection.

[Super Dude]

Since you're considering getting a 5200, you might want to take a look at this review, for the ATI Radeon 9550 - it is Nvidia's 5200 competitor.The 128mb/128 bit is available at NewEgg for $76.99.

Since you have a limited budget, I don't think it's wise to get a P4 2.8.It's more expensive than Amd, and most of Intel's motherboards have low-quality onboard sound.Take a look at this comparison, between onboard sound and soundcards as an edification as to why Lynx recommended a soundcard, and mentioned about the nVidia Soundstorm - keep in mind, sound does effect the peformance of games.The nVidia Soundstorm onboard sound is intergrated in some Amd motherboards.Abit's NF7-S and Asus' A7N8X-E-Deluxe series are two motherboards which has the nVidia Soundstorm onboard sound intergrated, so you might want to check them out, if you're considering getting an Amd Athlon.

IMHO, there's no point getting a P4 2.8, when you have a low-end Vga card for games - even if you bought an A64, or P4 3.2 EE - you'll still be having lags in games due to the Vga Card.An Amd Athlon 2500+, can easily be overclocked to 3200+ speeds, with a stock HSF.And it's performance will be almost the same or even better than Intel's P4 2.8.

Save your money and get an Amd CPU, and use it to get a better Vga Card.ATI's 9800 Pro's have dropped in price, and could be bought for less than $200.

Your call.

[Storm]

i agree, get an AMD, Intel is a lil better, but AMD has a way better cost/performance ratio......

id get something like this:

Asus A7n8x-x mobo $58
AMD XP 2500+ $ 75/$81 (depending if you want the standard HSF)
512 MB RAM DDR 400 (get kingston or crucial) around $95
Ati 9800PRO video card (around $200)
CDrom drive (around $30 will give you a CD RW)

total will be around 460

REMEMBER, this doesnt give you a Monitor, speakers, keyboard and such...... these are all kinda personal stuff, and you know best what you want from that

[Virtualbody1234]

Originally posted by Monkeee+16 July 2004 - 03:19--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (Monkeee @ 16 July 2004 - 03:19)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> <!--QuoteBegin-lynx@16 July 2004 - 09:13
If the pc is going to stay in one place, the case is fine, I was simply making suggestions.

On the other hand if you are likely to want to move it around (say take it to friends&#39; houses) you would certainly want something much smaller. In that case I would suggest a micro-atx case and matching motherboard. This would reduce the height to about 2/3 of that case and make it much more manageable. The price would be much the same and there are some smaller cases which look just as good.

But cheap psu&#39;s have a tendency to fail, and sometimes take other components down with them. You may have trouble with warranty on the other components if that&#39;s the cause of the failure. It is a shame to risk several hundred dollars worth of equipment for the sake of a &#036;20 psu upgrade.

If it is purely for gaming, you definitely need a much higher spec graphics card, definitely not the 9200 and I would suggest not the FX5200. Look in the pinned guide for more information.

hmm... what causes them to fail? is it if you play for a long period of time? and the video card i cant get right now. i have limited money so i cant get the greatest card yet but probally gonna get a G-Force Fx 5200 AGP [/b][/quote]
If you cannot afford a better video card then again why get a P4?

Get an AMD 2500+ and some PC3200 RAM. Run it at 400MHz FSB and you end up with better than P4 2.8 performance for less money. Use the extra cash to pay for a better graphics card.

[tesco]

Originally posted by lynx@16 July 2004 - 04:48
They usually fail because of low quality caps.

When you turn the pc on you get a big inrush of power. That is usually when they fail.

Either that or voltage spikes, cheap psu&#39;s have poorer protection.

ha mine died while i was playing need for speed 5