Thank you for being a valued part of the CNET community. As of December 1, 2020, the forums are in read-only format. In early 2021, CNET Forums will no longer be available. We are grateful for the participation and advice you have provided to one another over the years.

Thanks,

CNET Support

General discussion

Building a new PC.. need opinions

Jun 4, 2005 3:42PM PDT

Hi... i recently got a free mobo and want to use it to build a mediocre PC for fun...

here is what i plan to buy and use

1. ASUS A7N8X Deluxe Socket A(462)nForce2 (Got for free)
- 333mhz FSB
- AGP Pro 8x
- Dual-Chanel DDR 400
2. Leadtek A6600 GT TDH Geforce 6600GT 128MB 128-bit GDDR3 AGP 4X/8X Video Card

3. Western Digital Caviar SE WD800JD 80GB 7200 RPM 8MB Cache Serial ATA150 Hard Drive

4. NEC Black 16X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 4X DVD+R DL 16X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 24X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2M Cache IDE DVD Burner

5. AMD Athlon XP 3000+ Barton 333MHz FSB 512KB L2 Cache Socket A Processor (Retail)

6. Rosewill TU-155 Black Steel/Plastic ATX Mid Tower Computer Case 400W Power Supply

Items 2-6 cost 513.41 dollars with Shipping and tax... I need some opinions about this system, if it would last maybe 3 or 4 years, and mainly to judge if its worth the price or not.

Also, if you have some hate agaisnt some of these products, please repsond and suggest something else,
and give a reason, i want a budget pc that can last me some years but can still handel some games likes CS:S, HL2, CoD, Bf1942 etc...

I would also like some suggestions on where to buy cheap RAM, i will be using 640 mbs of RAM, (yes, a weird number of RAM) at only 266 mhz...

I want to get 1 Gig of RAM at 400 mhz for not a lot, i dont mind 2x512

LIST OF THE ITEMS:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814122206

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16822135106

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16827152035

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819103381

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811147001

Discussion is locked

- Collapse -
RE:
Jun 4, 2005 10:42PM PDT

I highly doubt that that computer will last 3-4 years....Athlon XPs are 32 bit and everything is going 64 bit sometime soon

- Collapse -
think about this
Jun 5, 2005 1:04AM PDT

well, right now, there arent many 64 bit programs.... in the future there will be more... but think about this... intel is still sloww on their en64t chips and think about all the other people in the world who have a p4 who dont have the 64bit stuff because for some reason, p4 is preferred over AMD

i highly doubt that a program like AIm will got 64 bit in the next coming years

- Collapse -
um, you could get a different CPU...
Jun 5, 2005 5:07AM PDT

you could get a 2700+ or an XP-M 2600+ and OC it
and be fine
most AthlonXP non-M's are over priced


also
DO NOT BUY ROSEWILL PSU!

the gfx card however is a great choice (I own the 6800GT version, Leadtek is of a very high quality)

- Collapse -
whats wrong with psu
Jun 5, 2005 6:47AM PDT

what is wrong with the psu. its gotten great reviews

- Collapse -
go higher quality
Jun 5, 2005 11:47AM PDT

get a better quality one. antec or enermax, NEVER cheap out on a power supply

- Collapse -
but...
Jun 5, 2005 12:00PM PDT

thats what comes with the case.. and the case has good airflow... and its not pricey

and rosewill psus have gotten good reviews, its >70% efficiancy

- Collapse -
...
Jun 6, 2005 1:39AM PDT

how many people that build their own computers actually use the power supply that came with the case? your case is only $52! and that comes with a 400w power supply. most power supplies are actually $50+ = high quality. spend some more money and get a better one. obviously its up to you but i wouldnt want to spend $500 on a gaming computer cutting corners on quality

- Collapse -
Free motherboard
Jun 5, 2005 6:24PM PDT

I wouldn't spend all that money on a rig based on an outdated socket A mobo! For less than $100 you could get a socket 939 board with PCI Express video and use an Athlon 64 (939) CPUHappy

- Collapse -
this or nothing
Jun 6, 2005 1:36AM PDT

you see... im only a freshman in high schoool... the only reason why i didnt pick a 64 is the free mobo.... my are only letting me get a new system because of that mobo... if i didint get it for free, id be stuck with this system for another year or two

- Collapse -
How are they going to know?
Jun 6, 2005 7:55PM PDT

How are they (your parents?) going to know you didn't use the out of date mobo? You could start with this MOBO http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813130485 and progress from there. You can save by leaving the graphics card til later to save money as it has onboard Radeon Xpress 200 graphics. Use newegg.com to build from there and you will be surprised at the final price. Build yourself a basic computer ''just for fun'' and add stuff as and when you can afford to.Happy Good luck!

- Collapse -
Same rig
Jun 7, 2005 6:31PM PDT

I have what you are trying to build, i.e. mobo,Athlon XP,etc. with same specs. Mine currently runs at 2156 Mhz. at 50C. FYI it runs with
Ati 9700 Pro
Creative SB Audigy 2.
Intervideo WinDVD
160G Maxtor Primary
80G Maxtor Secondary.

Tips: Install N-force 2 drivers as a primary concern.

- Collapse -
Building a new PC.. need opinions
Jun 8, 2005 6:04AM PDT

"build a mediocre PC for fun." The interesting thing is that a ago year this would have been a realy good PC.
I don't think that this MB has Dual DDR support.
512 Mb of ram is the sweet spot for XP. Newegg is a good place for memory.
32 bit processors are not dead! Yet! But any new PC I build will have 64bit processor.
The AMD AthlonXP 3000+ is $113 while a AMD64 2800+ is $121 the only difference in cost would be the MB for the 64bit chip ( $75~80) at newegg.
So if you went with 512mb ($3Cool of ram that would be half the cost of the 64bit MB.
The MB you got for free is $63. So mow some lawns to get the money to go the 64bit route. John