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General discussion

New computer

Apr 20, 2005 6:55AM PDT

I was thinking of building my next desktop myself, I think that Id probably get a better deal and have much more control over what type of components I put in. Heres what I have so far.

Lian Li PC-6070BPLUS Black Aluminum ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
Model #: PC-6070BPLUS
INTEL BOXD915PCY Socket T (LGA 775) Intel 915P ATX Intel Motherboard
Model #: BOXD915PCY
ATI Radeon X800XL 256MB GDDR3 PCI-Express x16 Video Card
Model #: 100-435500
THERMALTAKE Silent Purepower W0014RU ATX 480W Power Supply
Model #: W0014RU
Intel Pentium 4 640 Prescott 800MHz FSB LGA 775 Processor Model BX80547PG3200F
Model #: BX80547PG3200F
CENTON 1GB (2 x 512MB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2-533 (PC2-4200) Dual Channel Kit System Memory Model 1GBDDR2KIT533
Model #: 1GBDDR2KIT533
Maxtor DiamondMax 10 6B250S0 250GB 7200 RPM Serial ATA150 Hard Drive
Model #: 6B250S0
PLEXTOR PX-712SA/SW Beige SATA DVD Burner
Model #: PX-712SA/SW
ZALMAN CNPS7700-ALCU 120mm 2 Ball Cooling Fan
Model #: CNPS7700-ALCU

Any suggestions or comments? right now its around 1,300 and im hoping to keep the price around that level.

Discussion is locked

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Intel
Apr 20, 2005 7:55AM PDT

Why intel, and why not 939 pin cpu?

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I would go with...
Apr 20, 2005 8:39AM PDT

athlon 64 if I were u

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intel chips
Apr 21, 2005 2:35AM PDT

I didnt know the AMD chips were better than the new Intel ones, seeing as how Intel is now 64-bit ready.

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RE
Apr 20, 2005 10:38AM PDT

I would not get x800 or any ati. Would suggest getting nvidia cards such 6600 gt or the 6800gt. Ask Ozos y u shouldnt get ati cards or intel. He'll have a lot to say. Like intel is slower and ati cards dont support technology for newer games, etc. He'll also make other suggestions for ur computer.

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no ati?
Apr 20, 2005 4:48PM PDT

what technology are you talking about? SLI or something else. cause if i remember right the X800 pro or XT was the one that half life 2 was designed for. can't get much more current than HL2

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(NT) (NT) Get a decent 400W+ better p/s unit, OK
Apr 21, 2005 3:05AM PDT
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New Computer
Apr 21, 2005 6:25AM PDT

Hi Saintman,

I see you priced your parts with Newegg. From my calculations it comes to $1321.37. Other stuff you may need to consider that increases the overall price:

Operating System = WinXP home aprx $89

Card Reader/writer with Floppy = $30

Modem

Lan 10-100

Mouse & Keyboard

Speakers

Monitor

To decrease the cost:

The case at $175 (without PS) could be exchanged for a less expensive one (really).
Course the PS at $55 ads to it. Changing the PS to the Antec Model SP-500, (PCI-E ready), would cost $30 more.

Wondering about the Zalman cooling fan ($44.99) since the retail version of the P4 640 comes with a Heatsink and Fan. The current case you selected also has 3 fans 8m (course additional case fans are welcome & can be added later if needed)

I would suggest the Western Digital 250GB 7200 RPM over the Maxtor at about the same price.

The ATI Radeon X800XL at $299 is OK, however I would prefer the Nvidia GeForce 6800GT at $305 in Asus or $309 in Leadtec. The 6800 Ultra is a little rich in price at $425 to $570.

The Intel Pent 4 640 3.2GHz process is OK at $286.99. Sure the AMD Athlon 64 3500 Newcastle at $272, or the 3800 at $375.99 is a little faster in gaming, but the Motherboard would also need changing. You playing games at home would probably not be able to tell the difference in the 3 above processors (IMO.

The AMD fans will always holler that whenever Intel comes up or equals the speed of AMD that AMD will come out with another processor that is faster. Unless you are buying the absolute top of the line in either, entering competition looking for the gold, then spending all that money is ridiculous IMO, for very good high end gaming with current high tech games, and in the next several years. Heck, my 3 year old Pent 4, 2.0GHz, 512MB RAM, Nvidia Geforce4 TI4600 video card, plays Doom3, Half-Life 2, FarCry, Halo, All the Medel of Honor series, Flight Simulators, NASCAR series, Battlefield series, Call of Duty, Brothers in Arms....etc...pretty dang good. When I find a new game that plays bad, I'll look at buying one of those cheapo emachines (selling the monitor & printer to reduce cost below $550), that has a Athlon 64 3200 processor, and upgrade the Graphics/RAM which should then last at least another 3-4 years in gaming. Wink

If this is your 1st time in building....it is not for everyone. I always like to advise people to build a very, very cheap machine for the 1st time.

You might try comparing the cost of having someone else build that would give a warranty, so that you don't have to look to yourself when things go south. One company that gives parts just as good as Newegge and charges $49 to build is Monarch:
http://www.monarchcomputer.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=M&Category_Code=allcustom

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either taht or...
Apr 21, 2005 5:15PM PDT

really do a heck of a lot of research before getting started. my current one is the first syste that i've built and i spent around $1500 or so on it. not cheap but it was a learning experience i'll say taht much. i'm sold on the idea of just doing it myself from here on out though.

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thanks for the ideas
May 4, 2005 10:04AM PDT

Thanks for the comments, guys.

I definatly have some experiance with PC hardware, My current box is a P4 1.6 Ghz, and I have replaced about everything in there myself (hard drives, optical drives, RAM, video cards), so I wouldnt be going into it completely clueless, the one thing i have never touched is the CPU, that should be one of the more difficult things to learn to do.
Also, i am interesting in furthering my knowledge in building computers, hence my idea of building my next one.
About the case- I am a student and will be living in close proximity to this thing, (its on all the time when I am awake), so a quiet case is important (hence the noise dampering case and quiet heatsink), although i will look around for less expensive items.

of course I could try dissambling and reassembling my new computer to make sure that I can do it first

Also, my friend has recently built his own computer; he didnt do the research and price shopping i have been doing though, bought components at Circut City, ugh

Anyway, i figure that if it worked out for him I could give it shot.

Another concern is that recent Intel Chips support DDR2 ram, and AMD doesnt. I want this machine to be as upgradeable as possible, and is this a problem

Also, is now simply a bad time to upgrade, with dual core chips and 64 bit operating systems on the rise?

Thanks

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not really...
May 4, 2005 4:46PM PDT

least imo. i think almost anytime could be considered a bad time to upgrade because technology is constantly being developed and things are consistently getting better.

my guess would be unless you need absulute cutting edge performance going with a high end single core cpu should work just fine. 64 bit is probasbly a good idea but not quite necessary yet.

i would also guess that given a bit of time amd will develop a board compatable with DDR2.

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RE:
May 4, 2005 4:50PM PDT

You need 64-bit support now!!! Unlikely amd will have ddr2 for their current processors, maybe a new dual-core processor with a new core that's different from current ones will support. BUt not until ddr2 is widely accepted, will amd take that step.
Roger

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re
May 4, 2005 4:50PM PDT

technology is always advancing. no way u can really keep ahead of it.

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RE:
May 4, 2005 4:50PM PDT

Yes, but you can still maintain compatibility at least.
Roger