Hoping to start to build my first upgrade soon (on a budget), want to
use it for the latest games etc, currently have an XP1900, 215MB, ATI
Radeon 7000, 40GB HDD

I've priced up the following components so far:

Sapphire Radeon 128MB 9600XT DDR DVI-i TV-Out Retail Box
AMD Athlon XP2600 333mhz 512 L2 Cache Barton Retail Boxed
A7N8X Deluxe SKT A NForce2 Chipset Motherboard VER: 2.0
Crucial 512 DDR333 PC2700 DIMM

Not sure whether to spend more on the graphic card and memory. Can't
seem to find a descent case and PSU either.

Going to have to use current HDD, monitor, mouse and keyboard for abit

Any thoughts would be much appreciated

On 13 Feb 2004 16:27:56 -0800, (E-Mail Removed) (IDI8) wrote:

>Hoping to start to build my first upgrade soon (on a budget), want to
>use it for the latest games etc, currently have an XP1900, 215MB, ATI
>Radeon 7000, 40GB HDD
>
>I've priced up the following components so far:
>
>Sapphire Radeon 128MB 9600XT DDR DVI-i TV-Out Retail Box
>AMD Athlon XP2600 333mhz 512 L2 Cache Barton Retail Boxed
>A7N8X Deluxe SKT A NForce2 Chipset Motherboard VER: 2.0
>Crucial 512 DDR333 PC2700 DIMM
>
>Not sure whether to spend more on the graphic card and memory. Can't
>seem to find a descent case and PSU either.
>
>Going to have to use current HDD, monitor, mouse and keyboard for abit
>
>Any thoughts would be much appreciated

I put together a similar system in December. Same MB with AMD 2500
processor. I'm not a gamer, so I went with a card that complemented
my applications. I don't know how much memory gamers need, but I have
two matching 512s to get the small extra speed from the dual-channel
memory.

I chose the Antec SX635BII case which comes with an good power supply.
It's a little pricey but it's a nice case. I really like the
spring-latching lift off door.

jim

"IDI8" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> Hoping to start to build my first upgrade soon (on a budget), want to
> use it for the latest games etc, currently have an XP1900, 215MB, ATI
> Radeon 7000, 40GB HDD
>
> I've priced up the following components so far:
>
> Sapphire Radeon 128MB 9600XT DDR DVI-i TV-Out Retail Box
> AMD Athlon XP2600 333mhz 512 L2 Cache Barton Retail Boxed
> A7N8X Deluxe SKT A NForce2 Chipset Motherboard VER: 2.0
> Crucial 512 DDR333 PC2700 DIMM
>
> Not sure whether to spend more on the graphic card and memory. Can't
> seem to find a descent case and PSU either.
>
> Going to have to use current HDD, monitor, mouse and keyboard for abit
>
> Any thoughts would be much appreciated

I've seen too many reported problems with that particular motherboard, which
is odd as Asus is usually first-rate. I'd substitute an Abit NF7 or Biostar
M7NCD Pro instead. I believe all the features are identical. As the
chipset will run dual DDR, get (2 X 256MB) or (2 X 512MB) RAM boards.

For a nice case cheap, try a raidmax 208 or 208B (black) from newegg for
about twenty bucks. I built my wife's system with this one. It's pretty
nice, especially considering the price. If it comes with a power supply,
toss that. For a power supply, try a Fortron FSP350-60PN for about 40 bucks
from newegg. It is a good quality 350W, which should be more than enough
for what you will be building. -Dave