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My first homebuilt computer - suggestions
I have a Compaq computer AMD 550mhz. Have to use a PCI graphics card as it
doesn't have an AGP connector. I play games and browse the internet. This computer has been flaky for awhile. I think it is my graphics card going bad; but could be power supply of motherboard or heat...; anyway because of my problems I have been considering getting a new computer. Want a stable system that has an AGP graphics card (not some onboard chip). Thinking I could build one for a lot less $ than I could buy put together (as cost is a major consideration). I have been searching the web with the following results: Best place to buy is NewEgg (for delivery and customer service, such as returns) Case - Antec Lifestyle Series ATX midsize tower model Sonata - incl. 380w ps $95 Motherboard - either Asus A7N8X Delus $125 (highly rated; but includes some things that I don't need) or Biostar M7NCD Pro $57 (with $15 rebate), highly rated, but documentation and company support is quite poor (as a beginner, this scares me; but can save almost $70) CPU - AMD Athlon XP2500+ $90 Memory - Kingston PC2700 DDR Dimm (2 x 256MB) $86 Graphics - Chaintech GeForce FX 5200 AGP 8x 128MB DDR $69 HD - Maxtor 60 GB 7200 rpm, 8MB cache, ATA 133 - $72 OS - Windows XP home (OEM) $96 Any comments/suggestions are welcome -- Phil |
#2
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On Mon, 06 Oct 2003 17:35:28 GMT, "Phil Pease"
wrote: Best place to buy is NewEgg (for delivery and customer service, such as returns) Mwave is great also. Case - Antec Lifestyle Series ATX midsize tower model Sonata - incl. 380w ps $95 Motherboard - either Asus A7N8X Delus $125 (highly rated; but includes some things that I don't need) That will run a 2500+ @ 3200+ using PC3200 RAM and no special BIOS settings. or Biostar M7NCD Pro $57 (with $15 rebate), highly rated, but documentation and company support is quite poor (as a beginner, this scares me; but can save almost $70) That's ok for a second PC in a basement or attic for me but any other not so much. CPU - AMD Athlon XP2500+ $90 Memory - Kingston PC2700 DDR Dimm (2 x 256MB) $86 Get PC3200 which you'll be glad about later. Graphics - Chaintech GeForce FX 5200 AGP 8x 128MB DDR $69 HD - Maxtor 60 GB 7200 rpm, 8MB cache, ATA 133 - $72 OS - Windows XP home (OEM) $96 Any comments/suggestions are welcome -- Phil ------------ When your PC gives a little they give a lot. http://www.dslreports.com/forum/disco |
#3
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"Phil Pease" wrote in message news:AJhgb.698947$uu5.113953@sccrnsc04... I have a Compaq computer AMD 550mhz. Have to use a PCI graphics card as it doesn't have an AGP connector. I play games and browse the internet. This computer has been flaky for awhile. I think it is my graphics card going bad; but could be power supply of motherboard or heat...; anyway because of my problems I have been considering getting a new computer. Want a stable system that has an AGP graphics card (not some onboard chip). Thinking I could build one for a lot less $ than I could buy put together (as cost is a major consideration). I have been searching the web with the following results: Best place to buy is NewEgg (for delivery and customer service, such as returns) Case - Antec Lifestyle Series ATX midsize tower model Sonata - incl. 380w ps $95 Motherboard - either Asus A7N8X Delus $125 (highly rated; but includes some things that I don't need) bloody great board! got it and i`d never have another make of motherboard again. (now on my 2nd asus, with an epox inbetween for 2-3 f*ck around weeks) or Biostar M7NCD Pro $57 (with $15 rebate), highly rated, but documentation and company support is quite poor (as a beginner, this scares me; but can save almost $70) CPU - AMD Athlon XP2500+ $90 Memory - Kingston PC2700 DDR Dimm (2 x 256MB) $86 Graphics - Chaintech GeForce FX 5200 AGP 8x 128MB DDR $69 why the fx5200? bear in mind the GF4 Ti 4200 and the FX 5600 are similar speeds, just the FX is DX9 compliant. i got chaintech GF4 ti4200 - not a very good overclocker, but very stable. HD - Maxtor 60 GB 7200 rpm, 8MB cache, ATA 133 - $72 would you consider SATA drive? the asus a7n8x dlx board supports it. only thing about SATA is you need to install some drivers when you install winXP (press F6 for SCSI and RAID controllers) i`m running SATA RAID0 (striping) on 2x somewhat expensive western digital SATA drives, for the 6days i`ve had it running, it's great! OS - Windows XP home (OEM) $96 Any comments/suggestions are welcome -- Phil |
#4
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Phil Pease wrote:
Case - Antec Lifestyle Series ATX midsize tower model Sonata - incl. 380w ps $95 Motherboard - either Asus A7N8X Delus $125 (highly rated; but includes some things that I don't need) or Biostar M7NCD Pro $57 (with $15 rebate), highly rated, but documentation and company support is quite poor (as a beginner, this scares me; but can save almost $70) CPU - AMD Athlon XP2500+ $90 Memory - Kingston PC2700 DDR Dimm (2 x 256MB) $86 Graphics - Chaintech GeForce FX 5200 AGP 8x 128MB DDR $69 HD - Maxtor 60 GB 7200 rpm, 8MB cache, ATA 133 - $72 OS - Windows XP home (OEM) $96 Any comments/suggestions are welcome What are you going to use your computer for? If all you are doing is text, internet, maybe some games, then you don't need to spend a lot. I just built no less than 3 PCs with the Chaintech 7NIF2. It's a very nice all-in-one NFORCE2 board that is easy to set up. Video and sound are onboard. That, and a compatible retail-pack AthlonXP CPU, plus 2 sticks of DDR Ram would run you less than 200.00 including shipping. Then you pick up a very nice Raidmax case that includes the powersupply, and that's another 40 bucks. Get a Seagate HD (80 gigs goes for about 80 bucks), add a DVD/CD-RW combo drive for 60 bucks. Add a floppy drive for ten bucks... Add any extras you crave that you can afford....Get it all from NewEgg, cheap. I think it should be obvious that you can have a very nice, easy-to-build system for 500-700 bucks, tops. Don't make yourself crazy over it. |
#5
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"Phil Pease" wrote in message news:AJhgb.698947$uu5.113953@sccrnsc04... Case - Antec Lifestyle Series ATX midsize tower model Sonata - incl. 380w ps $95 Antec is a great product but unless your going to use the case as a step-stool you can probably beat the box price with some local supplier and a generic box. McM |
#6
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Xeno Chauvin wrote:
"Phil Pease" wrote in message news:AJhgb.698947$uu5.113953@sccrnsc04... Case - Antec Lifestyle Series ATX midsize tower model Sonata - incl. 380w ps $95 Antec is a great product but unless your going to use the case as a step-stool you can probably beat the box price with some local supplier and a generic box. I agree. Why pay extra for an enclosure? Some people think things like a removable mobo ray are "nice", but to save forty bucks or more, I will willingly sacrifice "nice" things like a removable mobo tray. I have a VERY NICE bargain Raidmax case for my PC right now, and it's BEAUTIFUL. It's black, with a floral-shaped cut-out window, and that window is punctuated by a blue LED lit fan. It would have been equally beautiful at twice the price. AND it came with a perfectly decent power supply, at less than fifty dollars. Why pay more than you have to? |
#7
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I dunno, I kinda like the idea of a decent case. Antec cases come
with Antec power supplies, and a decent power supply IS worth a few extra bucks. In this case, however, the original poster could dial back to an Antec SLK3700AMB, get essentially the same case, with an ever so slightly smaller PS (350 vs 380 watt) and save $20, if it matters. ToolPackinMama wrote in message ... Xeno Chauvin wrote: "Phil Pease" wrote in message news:AJhgb.698947$uu5.113953@sccrnsc04... Case - Antec Lifestyle Series ATX midsize tower model Sonata - incl. 380w ps $95 Antec is a great product but unless your going to use the case as a step-stool you can probably beat the box price with some local supplier and a generic box. I agree. Why pay extra for an enclosure? Some people think things like a removable mobo ray are "nice", but to save forty bucks or more, I will willingly sacrifice "nice" things like a removable mobo tray. I have a VERY NICE bargain Raidmax case for my PC right now, and it's BEAUTIFUL. It's black, with a floral-shaped cut-out window, and that window is punctuated by a blue LED lit fan. It would have been equally beautiful at twice the price. AND it came with a perfectly decent power supply, at less than fifty dollars. Why pay more than you have to? |
#8
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#9
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