Building Computer...

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Apr 30th, 2003, 09:12 PM
brian728s

Building Computer...

I am going to build a computer this summer, and am on a (less than 1500) budget. I want to use it at lan parties and the like. I was thinking something along the lines of:

AMD Athlon 2600+ (with gigabyte mobo)
Radeon 9500 Pro (128mb, yes, the mobo has 8X AGP)
60 gb Western Digital 7200 rpm hard drive
52X24X52 CD-RW (whichever brand is cheaper when I actually buy it)
DVD-ROM Drive
512 mb ddr ram (yes, compatible with the mobo)
350 watt Antec Power supply

I have a 17 inch monitor from an old (Pentium 1 150) computer that I could use for a while, but eventually want to get a 17 (19 if I'm lucky) inch View Sonic flat screen CRT.

Oh, and the case I'm leaning toward has plenty of space and cooling for all of it.

What game controller do you recommend?

Any suggestions or improvements?
Apr 30th, 2003, 09:20 PM
siyan

1. Get a Barton 2500 over an Tbred 2600...
2. I assume you're getting the 7VAXP? The older revisions have problems with R300 series cards. I'd look into nForce 2 boards as well...a Soltek 75FRN-L is cheaper and faster (less features though), while a Abit NF7-S has basically the same features, more speed, but costs a tad more.
3. Get 2 sticks of RAM if you go nForce 2.
4. 80GB HDs are the proverbial "sweet spot" at the moment. Might be better value.
5. Game controllers really aren't useful IMHO, unless you play a lot of flight sims which nobody does at LAN parties. Just get a decent keyboard and optical mouse.
May 1st, 2003, 10:25 AM
VisionIT

The 7VAXP is a great motherboard... but i'de go for the 7VAXPAU, which is the newest Gigabyte Mobo they do for Socket A.

It supports all the same features as the 7VAXPU but has slightly faster DDR specs & some other goodies.

Totally agree with the 2500 Barton part too...

View Sonic aren't v.good m8, you'de do better with an LG or other decent brand. Gigabyte also do TFT's you know... and their quality goes without saying!!!!

Radeon 9500 Pro is just not worth bothering with M8y TBH... either drop your processor to a 2400 and buy a 9700PROII... or drop to a 2000Ghz CPU and get the 9800PROII. I think you'll be disapointed with a 9500 M8.

80Gb 7200's are only around £40-50 anyway... so as siyan said, go for that or higher. Western Digital 120Gb 7200SE 8mb Cache is a fab drive, and reports HUGE increases over 2mb cache'd drives.

Regards,

Paul.
May 1st, 2003, 10:27 AM
VisionIT

I've just realised in my previous post, i said...

"Drop to a 2000Ghz CPU"

If only... *drool*:D
May 2nd, 2003, 09:36 PM
siyan

Quote:

Originally posted by VisionIT
I've just realised in my previous post, i said...

"Drop to a 2000Ghz CPU"

If only... *drool*:D

heheh...you have any of those for sale? I'll take a few :D

better get some big fans though.

anyways yeah the 7VAXPAU (too many letters dammit) is based on the KT-400A so I guess they've had enough time to fix things up. But if you somehow get a old revision you may have issues...Gigabyte was "repairing" rev 1.0 7VAX/P boards by soldering new resistors onto them.

But I'm still advocating nForce 2 :p

if you can get a 97P/98P and keep the cost under $1500 then go for it, but i think the price premium may be too much.

another choice you may wish to consider is a 9600Pro and then mad-overclocking it. THG got it to about 95% of the performance of a 9700Pro, which for a card at half the price IIRC isn't bad at all....thank you .13 micron process.
May 3rd, 2003, 05:35 AM
VisionIT

Quote:

Originally posted by siyan
heheh...you have any of those for sale? I'll take a few :D

better get some big fans though.

anyways yeah the 7VAXPAU (too many letters dammit) is based on the KT-400A so I guess they've had enough time to fix things up.

Too many letters... :D :D Leave some vowels for other manufactures! :p
May 3rd, 2003, 10:45 AM
siyan

Quote:

Originally posted by VisionIT
Too many letters... :D :D Leave some vowels for other manufactures! :p

hehe...at least hte letters have purpose (sort of)

7 = K7 architecture --> AMD
V = VIA chipset
A = audio onboard (?)
X = not sure...maybe "connectivity" :confused:
P = Pro, i think = RAID, Firewire
A = KT400A instead of KT400
U = Ultra --> even more stuff but i forgot what...maybe SPDIF brackets or something
May 3rd, 2003, 11:26 AM
VisionIT

Quote:

Originally posted by siyan
hehe...at least hte letters have purpose (sort of)

7 = K7 architecture --> AMD
V = VIA chipset
A = audio onboard (?) (YEP)
X = not sure...maybe "connectivity" :confused:
P = Pro, i think = RAID, Firewire
A = KT400A instead of KT400
U = Ultra --> Serial ATA150

Spot on... :D :D

Nice one...
May 13th, 2003, 05:03 PM
brian728s

Since I was planning to buy a tv tuner and video editing software anyway, do you think that the ati all-in-wonder is a "good deal" (assuming I would buy a high end card anyway)

It would be nice to have to capability, and it offers so many ports... <homer simpson>aghaghagh</homer simpson>
May 13th, 2003, 05:22 PM
Sastraxi

Yes, ATi cards seem to have good TV capture capabilities, from what I've seen. Thinking about an All-In-Wonder 9700 Pro?
May 13th, 2003, 07:54 PM
siyan

the 9700Pro AIW would be the best choice, since its the newest, fastest, and offers the best drivers. however a 8500DV isn't the end of the world by any means.

I wish ATI would release an AIW based on the 9600 or something...cut costs a bit. Not everyone needs 9700P speeds.
May 14th, 2003, 09:57 AM
Edneeis

To anyone upgrading or building I'd like to suggest an nForce2 v2 board. They are one of the few that actually support a 400fsb (as well as 266 and inbetween) and thus will give you the longest life in the upgrade department.
May 15th, 2003, 08:56 AM
Cander

Go for a gig of memory. Do 2 sticks of 512 as a 1 gig stick is a bit expensive at the moment. Will cost about 60$ a stick for the 512's.

Quote:

5. Game controllers really aren't useful IMHO, unless you play a lot of flight sims which nobody does at LAN parties. Just get a decent keyboard and optical mouse.

Well unless you play something like BattleFiled 1942 which has planes as well as tanks, boats, and infantry. In which case I can suggest 2 good sticks. A sidewinder with the rudder control twist if you want a real smooth sensitive stick or a cyborg gold 3d if you want something a little more stiff. Dont get anything with force feedback. It sucks!
May 15th, 2003, 02:59 PM
Sastraxi

I've got a "Hammerhead FX" 'ere from Interact I bought a while ago... and it's just perfect for emulation ;) It's in the style of a PSX controller, but it has 2x triggers, L, R, and 6 buttons. Quite nice, force feedback (I don't find it very useful, but its there), and awesome for SNES/GB/PSX.