Part suggestions for sub-$700 computer

ness_25ness_25 Boone, NC
edited June 2003 in Hardware
I'm looking to build a computer using some/all of my graduation money. I'd really appreciate any suggestions on parts to use; good stuff but also easy on the wallet. I'm really mainly building this so I can play Half-Life 2 if it manages to ship this fall :D Here's a list of items I have compiled so far, but any comments would be awesome:

Antec SX1040BII Black SOHO File Server Tower
MSI KT4V(MS-6712) Motherboard
AMD AthlonXP 2800+ 333FSB CPU
512MB DDR PC2100 RAM
IBM 80GB EIDE Hard Drive
Pioneer 10X IDE DVD-ROM Drive
ATI Radeon 9500 Pro 128MB (modded to 9700 pro)
Sound Blaster Audigy 2 Platinum

Comments

  • karatekidkaratekid Ogdensburg, NY
    edited June 2003
    For a 700 dollar budget, I would say drop the 2800+ to a 2500+ and save 164 bucks (plus with alittle OCing the 2500+ can easly reach beyond 2800+ speeds.) Also, the 9500 Pro to 9700 Pro mod won't work. Mod use to work for the regular 9500 (never worked for the pros,) but ATI has sense clamped down on that whole thing, there are basically no modable 9500s left. So you are probably better off getting a 9700 (which can be Oc'ed to 9700 Pro level.) Other than that, system looks pretty good.
  • DarkGuarDNDarkGuarDN
    edited June 2003
    to save even more money, I'd say get a motherboard with onboard sound. the nforce2 chipsets all have sound on them so I would go with one of those especially considering they are around $100 and they still put out great sound.
  • Omega65Omega65 Philadelphia, Pa
    edited June 2003
    try this deal here ( 2 days left)
  • natenutnatenut earth
    edited June 2003
    I would have to agree with an nforce2 with a xp2500 barton proc (333 fsb) the onboard sound is pretty nice. check out anandtech's 6 way shootout of nfoce2 http://www.anandtech.com/mb/showdoc.html?i=1759

    You may want to rethink your harddrive purchase, the ibm "deathstar" is pretty notorious. check out http://www.storagereview.com for some good info on harddrives. the Western Digital JB series are probly highest performing, but you may want to think about serial ATA drives.
  • DarkGuarDNDarkGuarDN
    edited June 2003
    I'd have to agree with natenut, don't get an IBM (even tho I've never had a problem with my 60gb 60GXP). I've never had a problem with any of my Western Digital drives (knock on wood;)) and I think you'd fair off better with one of those. they are very reliable and the 8mb cache ones are quick.
  • CCWCCW Suffolk, UK
    edited June 2003
    For the prices difference between KT400 boards and nForce2s its better to go for the nForce2. If you are going for the 2800+ put some 2700 RAM with it instead of 2100 to get the extra 600Mbps speed off the FSB.

    Craig
  • ness_25ness_25 Boone, NC
    edited June 2003
    I think for the hard drive I'm going to go with the 160GB Maxtor deal that Omega posted about. I mean it's hard to go wrong with that much storage for $70.

    After looking at Anandtech and just hearing your guys' suggestions, I do believe I'm going to go with the Abit NF7-S and an XP2500+ Barton. But could I still get a performance boost with PC2700 RAM with this setup? Thanks again!
  • ClutchClutch North Carolina New
    edited June 2003
    I would also drop the IBM, heard way too many horror stories with them, I have had no problems with WB, Segate, or Maxtor however. Have you thought about a psu yet?*cough*Antec*cough*
  • ness_25ness_25 Boone, NC
    edited June 2003
    Well I assumed my Antec case comes with an Antec power supply.
  • ClutchClutch North Carolina New
    edited June 2003
    Some do then some don't, either way True Power is the way to go man.
  • -Ben-Ben
    edited June 2003
    mmm ye true powah!

    roll it on
  • karatekidkaratekid Ogdensburg, NY
    edited June 2003
    Oh yea, you need the PC2700. That CPU runs at a 333mhz bus, so does the PC2700. PC2100 runs at 266mhz bus. So you need the PC2700, unless you want to OC the RAM (and hope your RAM goes that far.)
  • Omega65Omega65 Philadelphia, Pa
    edited June 2003
    Originally posted by ness_25
    I think for the hard drive I'm going to go with the 160GB Maxtor deal that Omega posted about. I mean it's hard to go wrong with that much storage for $70.

    After looking at Anandtech and just hearing your guys' suggestions, I do believe I'm going to go with the Abit NF7-S and an XP2500+ Barton. But could I still get a performance boost with PC2700 RAM with this setup? Thanks again!
    The Abit NF7-S v2.0 is a Great choice!

    AMD mobos perform better with Low Latency (read Cas2) DDR. I would also suggest PC3200 (Either Corsair, HyperX or Geil) if you wish to run FSB400 CPUs or OC a FSb333 CPU (like the 2500+) you're going to need the PC3200. You can start with One stick and add another one later. NF2 benchmarks with One stick are only 1-3% lower with one than with two sticks (best kept secret)
  • DoM-aLDoM-aL Indiana
    edited June 2003
    My Recommendations:
    Antec SX1040BII Black SOHO File Server Tower-$90
    A7N8X Deluxe Retail -$128
    AMD AthlonXP 2500+ 333FSB CPU-$94
    Kingston HyperX 512MB DDR PC2700-$75.50
    Maxtor 160GB 8 mb Cache-$70 (http://slickdeals.net/#p3295)
    Lite On 16x DVD-ROM-$33
    POWERCOLOR ATI RADEON 9700 128MB-$230

    Price w/o Shipping: $720.50

    Make sure you get the retail processor. The a7n8x's sound is equivalent to that of an audigy 2. You wont be able to take advantage of the nforce2's dual channel ddr in this setup as i have you buying only a single stick. The Hard drive deal wont last long so if you were to do anything today buy that. The DvD-rom is cheap and quality my cousin has one and it works fine for him. The video card should be fast but i dont know i've heard some bad things about powercolor cards. It's up to you if you want to spend the extra bucks to get a better card.
  • AMD-FanAMD-Fan Virginia Beach
    edited June 2003
    IBM hardrives are bad luck for me although some have had no
    problems many have. I currently have western digital drives with
    a 3 year warranty the caviar line and they have worked flawlessly
    for 6 months in raid 0 . My two IBM drives broke quicly after 3 months and after they got warranty repair broke again. I dont use
    IBM anymore. Good luck in your choices. Oh good system too. :)
  • DoM-aLDoM-aL Indiana
    edited June 2003
    Like i've said before i belive the ibm drives failing prematurely is a thing of the past. Similar to when people say that amd drives run extremely hot. The new 180GXP's and 120 GXP's seem to be reliable. They run warmer than WD, Maxtor, and Seagate drives, yet they run slightly faster. The 180GXP's are very fast. My cousin has one in his computer at the moment and from his experiences he loves it. Also the advertised 120 gb drives are truly 126 gb drives. Once formatted the storage space is 117 vs the JB's 111 GB.
  • AMD-FanAMD-Fan Virginia Beach
    edited June 2003
    Western digital drives are very fast too. My drives have 8mb
    cache and are certainly no slouches but best of all I dont have
    to worry about repeated failure. After all I had a total of 4 IBM
    drives fail in 6 months or less. I currently have WD drives 6 yrs old
    and 6 months old. You can always try IBM and maybe get lucky.
  • ness_25ness_25 Boone, NC
    edited June 2003
    Ok I think I have my revised list after looking over everyone's suggestions (thank you!):

    Antec SX1040BII Black SOHO File Server Tower $71
    Abit NF7-S NForce2 Motherboard v2.0 $116
    AMD AthlonXP 2500+ Barton 333FSB CPU $96
    Geil 512MB PC3200 400MHz DDR RAM $72
    Maxtor 160GB 7200RPM 8MB Hard Drive $70
    Lite-On 16X IDE DVD-ROM Drive $34
    Powercolor ATI Radeon 9700 Gold 128MB $191
    Zalman ZM80A-HP Cooler for GPU $34

    Total price w/o shipping: $684

    Alert me to anything I'm missing :)

    Oh and my current computer is a Gateway 500 PIII, so I have deserved a much better rig for sometime :o but I just recently have obtained the money.
  • EnverexEnverex Worcester, UK Icrontian
    edited June 2003
    Originally posted by DoM-aL
    Make sure you get the retail processor.

    Any particular reason? If its for the warrenty, its pointless, if its going to fail, its going to do it in the first year, so I would say save your money and go OEM. Unless you had another reason.

    NS
  • DoM-aLDoM-aL Indiana
    edited June 2003
    Newegg has an option where you can extend oem processors warranties to 3 years. I didn't know he planned on Overclocking and what he had listed seemed a little bare. Didn't want him to get an oem box and have him put it on without a heatsinkfan and have the thing fry.
  • karatekidkaratekid Ogdensburg, NY
    edited June 2003
    Originally posted by ness_25
    Alert me to anything I'm missing :)
    I don't see a heatsink. If you are getting the CPU OEM then you need a heatsink. Otherwise, you're fine.
  • ness_25ness_25 Boone, NC
    edited June 2003
    Well I was planning on buying the retail cpu, but thanks none-the-less.
  • ClutchClutch North Carolina New
    edited June 2003
    Also don't forget your AS3, I don't know if you have some extra, but just in case you don't. I would go retail only if you wanted the warranty, other than that get a oem.
  • DoM-aLDoM-aL Indiana
    edited June 2003
    The difference in price between retail and oem is so little i dont see why not to just spring for retail... it's a $1 difference when you go to buy a 2500+. Quit being cheap bastids. If you aren't comfortable with the retail hsf just buy another one.
  • DarkGuarDNDarkGuarDN
    edited June 2003
    sweet lookin system! good luck with building it! ;)
  • CCWCCW Suffolk, UK
    edited June 2003
    The retail heatsinks for AMD CPUs are real bad, id pay a little extra to go for something a bit better and AS3 is a must.

    Craig
  • ClutchClutch North Carolina New
    edited June 2003
    Well if it's a $1 difference then I would go for the retail just for the fan, you might could use it as something.
  • CCWCCW Suffolk, UK
    edited June 2003
    Originally posted by Clutch
    Well if it's a $1 difference then I would go for the retail just for the fan, you might could use it as something.

    True, get some thermal epoxy and stick in to the mobo's Northbridge
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