Building a new Box

[Faraway]

Hello group..

I need some advice on hardware to build a new box. I've built quite a few
machines for myself but have been out of touch with new architeccture. My
old M'board (Gigabyte Socket A) cooked and I'd like to build an economical
Athlon 64 that will handle the gammut of the Athlons. I'd like to stay
around $500 if thats possible. I'd also like to try low end dual processor
and upgrade down the line but I'd like a decent V'card and try out the
PCI-Express. I do some occasional drafting and 3dmodeling but not too
intensive (solidworks).
I'll need at least 1 standard PCI for my Wirelss Card and I'd like at lest 2
ATA 100 for DVD and my old HD as slave. I will use my existing Monitor,
keyboard, mouse, etc.


Looking for recoms on..........

Case?
M'Board?
CPU?
V'card?
Mem?
H'Drive (sata)?
DVD burner?

Also...what consensus on a "configured" box from HP?

Thanks to any help or input.
FF

 

[BC]

Hello group..

I need some advice on hardware to build a new box. I've built quite a few
machines for myself but have been out of touch with new architeccture. My
old M'board (Gigabyte Socket A) cooked and I'd like to build an economical
Athlon 64 that will handle the gammut of the Athlons. I'd like to stay
around $500 if thats possible. I'd also like to try low end dual processor
and upgrade down the line but I'd like a decent V'card and try out the
PCI-Express. I do some occasional drafting and 3dmodeling but not too
intensive (solidworks).
I'll need at least 1 standard PCI for my Wirelss Card and I'd like at lest 2
ATA 100 for DVD and my old HD as slave. I will use my existing Monitor,
keyboard, mouse, etc.


Looking for recoms on..........

Case?

~$80

Seemingly limitless choices. Sorry about the pink one.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...2E16811156187,N82E16811129163,N82E16811129012

M'Board?

~$100: all boards with good ratings. I like Asus, Gigabyte...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...2E16813138026,N82E16813131068,N82E16813131040

With 2 PATA connectors, total of four IDe drives:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...2E16813123013,N82E16813136016,N82E16813186099

CPU?
~$110

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...2E16819103735,N82E16819103733,N82E16819103774

V'card?

~$100: anything between an nVidia 6600GT (a great value) to a 7600GT
(slihgtly more expensive, but very capable) will do nicely.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...2E16814186008,N82E16814125047,N82E16814141031

Mem?

~100$

Crucial, Corsair, or Kingston: each has a lifetime warranty, and all
have modules at various price points.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...2E16820146524,N82E16820146573,N82E16820145568

H'Drive (sata)?

250GB, $75

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16822144701

DVD burner?

I have the Asus, works great.

~$30

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...2E16827136108,N82E16827135141,N82E16827136105

That's about $500...

Also...what consensus on a "configured" box from HP?

Same configuration about $630....comes with Vista Home Premium, keyboard
and mouse, warranty, service.

http://www.shopping.hp.com/webapp/shopping/cto/computer_customize_components.do

I just went to Dell site briefly: what a nightmare. Expensive, and,
you get free crapware.

Some prebuilts to compare.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...2E16883107250,N82E16883107236,N82E16883103047

Windows XP costs about $100--20% of your budget--so if you have a
transferable license that will be helpful--20% discount for building
your own.

HTH

BC

 

[Faraway]

Thanks for the info...I've been perusing NewEgg for a few days. Any
specific opinion on the ones you've suggested? What M'board do you run?

 

[BC]

Thanks for the info...I've been perusing NewEgg for a few days. Any
specific opinion on the ones you've suggested? What M'board do you run?

Dear Faraway,

two Tyan boards, two Asus, two Intel....all very good.

If it were me, I would get this system:

Any one of these cases, as per your style:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...2E16811119077,N82E16811119047,N82E16811147043

$50

Note free shipping on the Rosewill model.

Power supply: one of these if on a tight budget:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...mpareItemList=N82E16817153023,N82E16817182022

$50

This if you can afford to spend a bit more on the PSU: heart of the system:

http://www.pcpower.com/products/viewproduct.php?show=S47ATX&view=techspecs

[$99]

Processor:

AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+(65W) Windsor 2.0GHz 2 x 512KB L2 Cache Socket AM2
Processor - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16819103733

$110

Mobo:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813138041

$65

SATA HD:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16822144701

$75

Memory:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16820145566

$110

DVD:

Black or white to match your case.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...mpareItemList=N82E16827135141,N82E16827135142

$35

$495 before shipping/handling/tax/etc, $550 if you get the PC
Power/Cooling PSU.

HTH,

BC

 

[BC]

Forgot video:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16814125036

$80...

 

[Faraway]

Thnkas for the reply. Can you take a look at what Ive listed to see if I
forgetting anything or any compatibilty issues. Opinions are welcome too.
Thnaks!

Heres what my "build" looks like..... Let me know if I'm missing anything.

Antec LifeStyle SONATA II w/450 watt PS $99
(has a $50 mail in rebate)
ASUS M2N-SLI Deluxe Socket AM2 $149
AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+ Windsor $109
BFG Tech BFGR76256GTOCE GeForce 7600GT 256MB $142 ($20 mail in rebate)
CORSAIR XMS2 1GB (2 x 512) 240-Pin DDR2 DDR2 800 $109
Western Digital Caviar SE WD2500JS 250GB $70
SONY Black 16X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW $46
Atech Flash Xm-4U 11-in-1
$17

Total +shipping and after rebates
$701

Thanks, FF

 

[BC]

Thnkas for the reply. Can you take a look at what Ive listed to see if I
forgetting anything or any compatibilty issues. Opinions are welcome too.
Thnaks!

Heres what my "build" looks like..... Let me know if I'm missing anything.

Antec LifeStyle SONATA II w/450 watt PS $99
(has a $50 mail in rebate)
ASUS M2N-SLI Deluxe Socket AM2 $149
AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+ Windsor $109
BFG Tech BFGR76256GTOCE GeForce 7600GT 256MB $142 ($20 mail in rebate)
CORSAIR XMS2 1GB (2 x 512) 240-Pin DDR2 DDR2 800 $109
Western Digital Caviar SE WD2500JS 250GB $70
SONY Black 16X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW $46
Atech Flash Xm-4U 11-in-1
$17

Dear FF,

looks awesome! All great parts.....

Just looked to see if there is much difference between a hard drive with
the 8MB cache (JS) versus the 16MB cache, and it seems that there really
isn't in real world use....

16MB:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16822144701

$75

8MB:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16822144417

$70

Hmm, I would probably drop the 5 extra bucks for the 16mb version, but,
like I said, that may get you only some extra milliseconds of speed....

Looks like it will be a great build, have fun!

HTH,

BC

 

[Faraway]

Excellent point........ swapped it out.

Is there any relevance to "brand" of chipset on M'board is best suited for
"brand" of chpset for video?

Just curious as I read something about issues with ASUS and some video card
product but cant remeber which.

thanks FF