building low budget system?

[stan4993]

Here are my specs so far.

LITE-ON XJ-HD166S/XJ-HD165H 16X DVD ROM Drive

MAXTOR 60GB 7200RPM EIDE HARD DRIVE

CRUCIAL MICRON 256MB 32x64 PC 2700 DDR ram

ECS L7S7A2 SiS 746 Chipset ATX Motherboard (not sure about this)

AMD ATHLON XP 2400+ /266 FSB PROCESSOR CPU

CONNECT3D ATI RADEON 9600 128MB DDR DVI+TV

Antec Solution Series Case with 350W Power

460.00

thats a start.

any opinions would help especially the motherboard

[tgxiii]

How much are you spending for each component? The things I would reconsider are the mobo and the CPU. I'd go for a Barton core 2500+. As for the mobo, I personally have had bad experiences with ECS, so I'd be wary of that brand.

[MitaDC]

what is this system going to be used for?? If it is gonna be gaming I recommend you get another stick of 256mb and run dual channel (if that mobo supports it) if not thne you don't need a 9600. Go with like the 9000Pro or something which is quite a bit cheaper. Just my ideas, sounds like an ok system though. I will look up reviews on that mobo. Will Post later when I have time. Still have to type 2 pages of notes and do my French 2 homework. Then I have to leave for school at 5:30 tomorrow morning for zero hour. See my dilemma but I will look up that mobo for you, but I'm sure somebody will beat me to it.

[stan4993]

yea its for gaming like warcraft 3 and counterstrike. some newer games.

thanks a lot.

[R_1_Oh_Seven]

By the time you get it, there will be say...HL2 and Doom 3 out (deus ex invisible war!) that you will want to play, and cant forget about ut2003.

Go with 512 333 mhz ram 1 stick is fine, amds dont naturally benefit from having two sticks like pentiums do.

Go with the 2500+ barton and the abit nf7-s that will iliminate a soundcard. The 9600 xt comes with free HL2 and its cheaper than most other agp cards. a powersupply for 40 bucks is good get a 400w just for safe measures. I saw a good deal on a 120gb western digital the other day with like $100 mail in rebate, get a big hardrive they are worth it.

Remember Computers arnt just for gaming who knows what you might use it for so get good hardrive and get good ram. (caveman talk)

[rourkchris]

Getting a better motherboard would improve your system greatly. Choose your own preference for brand but go with an nForce 2 chipset. You'll find lots of choices and many different features. I've used the Biostar M7NCD motherboard with great success and it only costs $52.99 @ Newegg. More RAM is a possibility as it takes 2 sticks of RAM to run dual channel mode in an nForce2 board. Get the fastest memory you can afford like PC2700 or PC3200 so you have the option of upgrading/overclocking your CPU as well. Also might consider a CDRW drive. 52x32x52x Lite-On CDRW drives are selling @ Newegg for $38.00 and comes with NERO CD burning software. Think about your cooling as well. A good CPU cooler is well worth the $! Might think about the Vantec AeroCooler and Arctic Silver 5 thermal compound. The prices on 80GB and 120GB hard drives with the 8MB cache have come down in price lately and can be had for less than $80.00(80GB)-$100.00(120GB). So in summation I would reccomend the following:

Biostar M7NCD $52.99
AMD XP2500+CPU $85.00
Vantec AeroCooler TMD CPU cooler $29.00
Arctic Silver 5 $8.00
2 256MB Kingston HyperX PC3200 $114.00
WD 80GB/8MB cache 7200RPM hard drive $82.00
Lite-On DVD drive 16x $29.99
Lite-On 52x32x52x CDRW drive $38.00
Antec Solution Series case w/350 watt PS $75.00
SapphireATI Radeon 9600xt 128DDR $165.00

Total: $678.98

A difference of $218.98 but you get a newer, faster, more reliable motherboard, your hard drive is a little bigger and faster, twice the RAM and much more speed and room for overclocking, Barton core CPU, CDRW drive, and the cooler and thermal compound will let you overclock the CPU to XP3200+ speeds. This is all IMHO though. Let us know what you do choose and check ask here with any questions.

[twiztidtruckie]

IMO:

~
~PANASONIC 1.44 MB FLOPPY DISK DRIVE, MODEL # JU-256A-198P
~All Components, 32X64 256MB PC2100 DDR266
~ASROCK Motherboard For AMD Model K7-VM2 - RETAIL
~AMD ATHLON XP 2400+ /266 FSB PROCESSOR CPU - RETAIL
~Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition with Service Pack SP1a - OEM
~Dynapower Metis Series ATX Case with 300W Power supply,Model:CS-I3ASB.701,Retail.
~Lite On LTR-52327S Black 52x32x52 CD-RW Drive, 2MB, OEM
~LITE-ON BLACK 16X DVD ROM Drive XJ-HD166/XJ-HD 165H - OEM

Total cost for this setup at www.newegg.com is:
$ 359.99 before shipping!!!

Ive built 3 identical machines like this one, and all are doing fine...pretty sweet machines too

Just my .02$!

Truckie

[Starfury_2260]

xp really needs at least 512. my last system had 512 and xp was using like half of it. i would say to go with rourkchris's idea. though it costs 319 more it will last you alot longer.

also truckie wheres the hard drive?

[iseeu_3]

that abit nf7-s looks good like R_1_Oh_Seven said, the 2500+ barton looks good or even a 2600 barton. you need 512mb ram, either get it now or regret not getting it and get it later. pc3200 is what i'd go for but then again, i'm not the one buying the system and it's easy for us to tell you what you should get when we're not the ones paying for it

good luck!

<shad>

[RAR]

I agree with rourkchris about the nForce2 chipset. I have built two systems with the Gigabyte GA-7N400-L, nForce2 Ultra400 (sells for $80 at newegg) and they work great. They have an AMD Athlon 2500+ Barton processor and 2 x 256mb pc3200 (400mhz) memory running in dual channel mode. The motherboard and memory can run at 400mhz. The Barton runs at 333fsb but I've heard can be overclocked very easily (I haven't attempted it yet).

I also agree about the video card. Go with the 9600pro or xt.