Build me a computer :)

naednek · Post by **naednek** » Thu Nov 25, 2004 4:37 am

Ok I've been toying around about getting a new computer. My best friend might by buying my current one for about $500-$600

I really don't want to spend anything more than $800 total
My current rig is the following
AMD 2400 XP,
Asus A7V8X Nforce 2 motherboard,
1.5 gigs of PC3200 Ram,
ATI 9800 Pro,
Lite on DVD player,
ASUS CDRW,
SB Audigy 2

I don't need a monitor, video card, hard drive, keyboard, mouse and speakers

I do need the following...
Case,
CPU chip (I would like a AMD 64, my question is, which one should I get? I would like something faster than my current rig which is an AMD 2400 XP which is a 2.0 ghz chip.)
Motherboard
CD Burner
DVD player/burner
Audio Card, however I'm thinking of holding off and just use the onboard sound
Ram (at least a gig)

I built a system on newegg, and managed to get it under #700. can you do better? Or offer better suggestions?

This is what I have
http://secure.newegg.com/app/WishR.asp?ID=1112595

thanks

hitbyambulance · Post by **hitbyambulance** » Thu Nov 25, 2004 7:22 am

your current system is practically what i've got right now... and am planning to keep for another 2 years...

Fitzy · Post by **Fitzy** » Thu Nov 25, 2004 11:56 am

Your motherboard selection only supports up to DDR400, you chose DDR533(which probably would run at 400 speed in your motherboard), you can get either cheaper DDR400 (pc3200) or higher quailty 400 at the same price you're paying for the 533. Unless I'm missing something and you had a reason for picking that brand and speed.

is_dead · Post by **is_dead** » Thu Nov 25, 2004 12:08 pm

I would at least try the games you want to play because the Doom3 and Half Life 2 Engine will probably be used for the next year without major improvements. My feeling is that your pc will play those 2 engines fine, even though your processor is on the slow side. Mayve a Nec 3500 or Pioneer 108 DVDR and you'll be set.

Grundbegriff · Post by **Grundbegriff** » Thu Nov 25, 2004 12:43 pm

Similar question:

Here's my current equipment:

MB: Abit KG-7 RAID
CPU: AMD Athlon XP (1400MHz)
G: GeForce Ti4600 (128)
RAM: 512MB of registered PC2100
S: Audigy

Here are my questions:

Working from a tight budget, what are the priorities for upgrading? I could coast longer on this MB/CPU by doubling the RAM. I could replace this MB/CPU/RAM with a newer, faster trio. I could leave the MB/CPU/RAM alone and upgrade the graphics card. Other combinations are possible. Which one makes the most sense if the highest priority is bang-for-buck?

I liked the Abit motherboard's configurability (jumperless with all options in the BIOS). Is that arrangement standard yet? On the other hand, the VIA chipset was wonky and I encountered a few strange sound-related anomalies not traceable to my soundcard, presumably because of the MB. What would be a good MB/CPU replacement? Do any reasonable boards still use PC2100?

Thanks!

naednek · Post by **naednek** » Thu Nov 25, 2004 1:56 pm

I know my computer is perfectly fine.

My best friend's computer is the problem, and I figured I'd help him out by selling him mine.

Ok, so what motherboard should I get.

SirReal · Post by **SirReal** » Thu Nov 25, 2004 2:13 pm

I'd get the Shuttle XPC w/ the 939 socket. More expensive, but cooler =)

naednek · Post by **naednek** » Thu Nov 25, 2004 2:23 pm

that's the thing, i don't want to go more expensive

naednek · Post by **naednek** » Thu Nov 25, 2004 7:06 pm

I have the AMD XP 2400, the clock speed is 2.0GHZ.

If I get that AMD 64 the clock speed of 2.2 GHZ.

Will I see a big increase of speed or performance??

naednek · Post by **naednek** » Fri Nov 26, 2004 1:24 am

Ok, this is the newest one I've built

http://secure.newegg.com/app/WishHistor ... ID=1114382

My question still stands, is there a big difference between the AMD 2400 XP which clocks in at 2.0 ghz and the AMD 64 3500+ which clocks in at 2.2 ghz. Or is that a little misleading

Rich in KCK · Post by **Rich in KCK** » Fri Nov 26, 2004 1:33 am

I'm sorry I can't answer your question about the XP-64 question as I don't plan to make that move until I can find a 64 chip for under $100 and haven't read up on them yet. I do however see that you didn't include the CPU cooler for your OEM chip and just wanted to point that out so you don't forget.

You also have failed to mention a Hard Drive in either your I already have it list or I need it list.

As for an optical drive the NEC 3500A is top of the line very well priced DVD DL burner.

naednek · Post by **naednek** » Fri Nov 26, 2004 2:52 am

So if I buy the retail version it comes with the cooling fan?

I've never built one before, buit everything but a motherboard/cpu. Wasn't aware the OEM didn't come with a cooling fan.

Man I wish the shop where I bought my current rig didn't close down, he was great and cheap.

Fitzy · Post by **Fitzy** » Fri Nov 26, 2004 11:19 am

naednek wrote:Ok, this is the newest one I've built

http://secure.newegg.com/app/WishHistor ... ID=1114382

My question still stands, is there a big difference between the AMD 2400 XP which clocks in at 2.0 ghz and the AMD 64 3500+ which clocks in at 2.2 ghz. Or is that a little misleading

Clock speed is misleading, look here.

Check out the benchmarks, it doesn't mention your 2400 or 3500 specifically, but the 3400 outperforms the 2500 by a fairly wide margain. I've played on a computer with a 3000 and it is noticably faster then my 2000. So I would guess that you will notice a fairly nice increase in performance, but how much I can't say for sure.

Rich in KCK · Post by **Rich in KCK** » Fri Nov 26, 2004 4:24 pm

naednek wrote:So if I buy the retail version it comes with the cooling fan?

I've never built one before, buit everything but a motherboard/cpu. Wasn't aware the OEM didn't come with a cooling fan.

Man I wish the shop where I bought my current rig didn't close down, he was great and cheap.

Yes the Retail version comes with a cooler and in most cases a much longer warrenty than OEM. I still always buy OEM for myself and I usually buy retail if I'm building for someone other than family.

Peacedog · Post by **Peacedog** » Fri Nov 26, 2004 6:34 pm

Working from a tight budget, what are the priorities for upgrading? I could coast longer on this MB/CPU by doubling the RAM. I could replace this MB/CPU/RAM with a newer, faster trio. I could leave the MB/CPU/RAM alone and upgrade the graphics card. Other combinations are possible. Which one makes the most sense if the highest priority is bang-for-buck?

The best bang for your buck is generally RAM. It's cheap. It's a major, major factor in performance. Moreso than a Graphics card (not that the latter isn't a factor, and of course if you use something old enough you'll get a bad bottleneck). My non-expert opinion on what you should do to follow, but this is a good general rule of thumb.

I liked the Abit motherboard's configurability (jumperless with all options in the BIOS). Is that arrangement standard yet? On the other hand, the VIA chipset was wonky and I encountered a few strange sound-related anomalies not traceable to my soundcard, presumably because of the MB. What would be a good MB/CPU replacement? Do any reasonable boards still use PC2100?

FWIW jumperless was well on its way to becomming the standard last decade/millenium. I don't know of any boards that don't use a jumperless setup, but then I don't closely follow the Mobo scene. I'm sure there's some out there somewhere, but I think you should expect to find any decent commercial board to be jumperless. People don't want to be hassled with it.

You can still get PC2100-based boards I'm sure, and you'd get them cheap, but you'd be buying a no growth system, and maybe just making a lateral move (or a slightly forward one if you get a better chipset). I've had one for over 2 and a half years (early next year it will be 3). I feel like I'm seeing PC2700 boards less and less, in favor of PC3200. You could bring your RAM onto one of the above AFAIK (but maybe not), but you wouldn't be taking full advantage of things obviously.

Is there something you'd like to play but don't feel the system can do it? I wouldn't upgrade based soley on that, but your predicted gaming future is something to take in mind. Is your system doing a good job on current games?

If you go Mobo/CPU/RAM (replacing your core system, in essence), an Abit KV7 will run you $53 at newegg. A gig of PC3200 will be 150$ish (that's corsair there, and I'm assuming 2 512 DIMMs. A 1 gig one is probably a bit more expensive). A nice CPU, say an Athlon XP 2800+ will be 140$. For $340 (pre shipping, and assuming I haven't erred on compatability in some way), I'd guess you'd see a pretty big performance change, even with your "old" graphics card (which is still a good card, I'd guess). Your upside is better with this setup. Down the road (say a year), you could upgrade into a much better graphics card and better enjoy having it than you could with the current setup (even if you just double the RAM , or double the RAM and add a better processor). You could probably get something really good for cheap ($100-150).

You would need to be mindful of power. You need to find out if your current powersupply will be able to handle this (if not, that makes it a more expensive upgrade). You're almost halfway to a pretty good system sans monitor - see Naednek's proposed setup above (and if you needed to get a new case, you'd be halfway or more). And you need to read up on whatever chipset you are getting. I have no idea if I've chosen something that has been problematic for people (and you likewise need to make sure you can disable on board audio & that this won't be a problem, if you want to use a sound card). It looked like a pretty good Mobo, though, essentially one that could be fitted with a much better processor, graphics card, and RAM than your current setup. And we could fit it with those things for a reasonable price (or what looks like one, anyway). I don't know how the rest of your system is doing, from the sound card to the hard drive. If you are pleased with all of those components, this option could be your best bet. And in a sense, this is a new system. It just depends on how you look at it.

If you stay with the current system, I'd double the RAM first, and possibly consider a new CPU second. I doubt a graphics card upgrade would be a waste, but IMO it would probably not be an effective use of your money. $75 or so to double it with PC2100 - you should see better performance and that's really cheap. You could probably upgrade that processor to something nice for another $75 - again seeing better performance and we still haven't spent too much money (my guess is that a graphics card for $150 wouldn't be a big upgrade). That's cheaper than the above, but then there is less you can do with this system you are working with, and these upgrades would more or less be the last you ever did on it (maybe a graphics card down the road, but you wouldn't want to go overboard unless you figured that card would carry with you onto a new system sometime thereafter). The advantage here is that it's just less of an expense. RAM or CPU/RAM isn't necessarily the "most performance per dollar" winner, and I'm honestly not sure which would be better. An advance of just upping RAM and maybe even RAM/CPU is that it's a quick and dirty performance boost that can get you over the hump to the next new system.

Hamsterball_Z · Post by **Hamsterball_Z** » Fri Nov 26, 2004 8:46 pm

You've got pretty decent hardware already. Have you tried overclocking at all? You've got 400Mhz memory but it sounds like your FSB is only 333. Without doing any modifications you should be able to raise the FSB and make some decent gains. To get to a full 400Mhz FSB you'll probably need to adjust the multiplier. Since you're using an NForce 2 motherboard it should be easy. If your CPU is a Barton it shouldn't even need to be unlocked to allow you to change the multiplier. If it's a Thorobred you can use the pin trick (link here). Bring the multiplier down to 10 and the FSB to 400 to get 2Ghz then work your way up. I wouldn't be surprised if you could get 3000+ speeds easily.

Another option would be to drop in a Mobile Athlon. Mobile Athlons are fully unlocked so they're easy to overclock. I've got a mobile 2400+ (1.6Ghz) overclocked to 3500+ speeds (2.4Ghz) on what might be considered a lesser board than yours, a Shuttle AN35. The 2400+ like I have is only $76 at NewEgg so it's a cheap upgrade.

EDIT: Doh, now I see the "helping out your friend" post. Oh well, pass this info along to your friend for future upgrading.

naednek · Post by **naednek** » Fri Nov 26, 2004 8:52 pm

Are you referring to me?

This is what happens when people hijack threads

Grundbegriff · Post by **Grundbegriff** » Sat Nov 27, 2004 1:16 am

naednek wrote:Are you referring to me? This is what happens when people hijack threads

Hijack?! I thought we were sharing!