Building New Computer

[Jack Bruss]

My son and I are upgrading his old P II 267, and we're laying out options
and costs and would appreciate any and all advice on any of the following:

Case - Enlight EN 72500AZ mid tower, 300 watt, $58.

Motherboard - Asus P4SDX 8x, dual channel 533/400, $70 or Abit BH7 intel
845PE 533/400 retail $81

Processor - P4 2.0 retail 400 mhz $162 or P4 2.4 Northwind 533 mhz OEM $156

Video card - VGA Palet GeForce 5200 Ultra $132 or EVGA GeForce 5200 Ultra
$135 or VGA Chaintech Geforce 5200 128MB DDR $70.

Memory - 256 mb DDR - can get for $15 at local CompUSA, PNY brand.

Hard drive - WD 40G 7200 $58, or Seagate Barracuda 40G 7200 $62, or Maxtor
40G 7200 $40.

We got all the above costs from Newegg.com

One other option is a "barebones" system from Tigerdirect that includes a
FIC VC19C 845E chipset mb, P4 2.4G w/ fan, and 256 PC 2100 DDR. Buying this
instead of the equivalent items above would cost about $25 to $40 more.

We'd appreciate any comments or assistance.

Thanks,

Jack

 

[LiveWire]

Motherboard - Asus P4SDX 8x, dual channel 533/400, $70 or Abit BH7 intel

845PE 533/400 retail $81

I like the BH7 out of those two choices, but for better bandwidth at a
comparible price, I would recommend you check out the lower end Intel
chipset (865P) based dual channel boards for 533Mhz processors, such as the:

Asus P4P8X
Abit IS7-E
Gigabyte GA-8IP900
MSI 865P NEO

I recently put together a computer w/the 8IP900/2.53Ghz and it was a very
simple, straightforward build. Didn't run into any issues at all.

Processor - P4 2.0 retail 400 mhz $162 or P4 2.4 Northwind 533 mhz OEM

$156

Most definitely the 533 Mhz "Northwood".

Video card - VGA Palet GeForce 5200 Ultra $132 or EVGA GeForce 5200 Ultra
$135 or VGA Chaintech Geforce 5200 128MB DDR $70.

If you can afford a 5200 in the $130 range, I'm going to recommend a GF4 -
TI4200 instead.

Memory - 256 mb DDR - can get for $15 at local CompUSA, PNY brand.

I have no experience with PNY, but if you're buying it based on cost alone,
keep in mind that memory is not the place to cut corners and doing so can
compromise the stability of your system. Once you make a final decision on
your motherboard, you may want to post another query in the pertaining
newsgroup(s) asking if anyone else has any experience with that particular
MB/RAM combo.

Hard drive - WD 40G 7200 $58, or Seagate Barracuda 40G 7200 $62, or Maxtor
40G 7200 $40.

I've had great luck with those WD 40GB's. However, I also put a Seagate
Barracuda in my brother-in-law's computer and it was a bit quieter.

One other option is a "barebones" system from Tigerdirect that includes a
FIC VC19C 845E chipset mb, P4 2.4G w/ fan, and 256 PC 2100 DDR. Buying this
instead of the equivalent items above would cost about $25 to $40 more.

I vote you build it yourself if you have any confidence in your skills to do
so, it's really not that difficult, especially wiyth these newsgroups at
your disposal to ask questions in. It'll probably be more satisfying for
you in the end.

 

[Craig]

My son and I are upgrading his old P II 267, and we're laying out options
and costs and would appreciate any and all advice on any of the following:

Case - Enlight EN 72500AZ mid tower, 300 watt, $58.

Motherboard - Asus P4SDX 8x, dual channel 533/400, $70 or Abit BH7 intel
845PE 533/400 retail $81

Processor - P4 2.0 retail 400 mhz $162 or P4 2.4 Northwind 533 mhz OEM $156

Video card - VGA Palet GeForce 5200 Ultra $132 or EVGA GeForce 5200 Ultra
$135 or VGA Chaintech Geforce 5200 128MB DDR $70.

Memory - 256 mb DDR - can get for $15 at local CompUSA, PNY brand.

Hard drive - WD 40G 7200 $58, or Seagate Barracuda 40G 7200 $62, or Maxtor
40G 7200 $40.

We got all the above costs from Newegg.com

One other option is a "barebones" system from Tigerdirect that includes a
FIC VC19C 845E chipset mb, P4 2.4G w/ fan, and 256 PC 2100 DDR. Buying this
instead of the equivalent items above would cost about $25 to $40 more.

We'd appreciate any comments or assistance.

Thanks,

Jack

I would suggest a 350wt. power supply or bigger.
I'm running a Antec True Power 430wt. in my system.

Craig

 

[Ed_]

I like the BH7 out of those two choices, but for better bandwidth at a
comparible price, I would recommend you check out the lower end Intel
chipset (865P) based dual channel boards for 533Mhz processors, such as the:

Asus P4P8X
Abit IS7-E
Gigabyte GA-8IP900
MSI 865P NEO

I recently put together a computer w/the 8IP900/2.53Ghz and it was a very
simple, straightforward build. Didn't run into any issues at all.

$156

Most definitely the 533 Mhz "Northwood".


If you can afford a 5200 in the $130 range, I'm going to recommend a GF4 -
TI4200 instead.


I have no experience with PNY, but if you're buying it based on cost alone,
keep in mind that memory is not the place to cut corners and doing so can
compromise the stability of your system. Once you make a final decision on
your motherboard, you may want to post another query in the pertaining
newsgroup(s) asking if anyone else has any experience with that particular
MB/RAM combo.


I've had great luck with those WD 40GB's. However, I also put a Seagate
Barracuda in my brother-in-law's computer and it was a bit quieter.


I vote you build it yourself if you have any confidence in your skills to do
so, it's really not that difficult, especially wiyth these newsgroups at
your disposal to ask questions in. It'll probably be more satisfying for
you in the end.

I agree with Livewire about that memory. It may be just fine but if it's not
your building experience with your son could become a lesson in how to drive
back and forth to CompUSA.

Also, have you considered this....
WD WESTERN DIGITAL 40GB 7200RPM EIDE HARD DRIVE MODEL # WD400JB - OEM, DRIVE
ONLY
Specifications:
Size: 40 Gigabytes
Interface: IDE ULTRA ATA100
Seek time: 8.9 ms
RPM:7200
Cache 8MB
OEM(Drive alone) 3 Year Manufacturer Warranty................$66.00

From Newegg?? For 8 bucks you get the 8MB cache and 2 more years of warranty.

Ed

 

[Larc]

| My son and I are upgrading his old P II 267, and we're laying out options
| and costs and would appreciate any and all advice on any of the following:
|
| Case - Enlight EN 72500AZ mid tower, 300 watt, $58.

A 350W PSU would be better.

| Motherboard - Asus P4SDX 8x, dual channel 533/400, $70 or Abit BH7 intel
| 845PE 533/400 retail $81

Of the two, the BH7 is better. I'd definitely stick with an Intel chipset.
Also check out MSI motherboards. The 845PE Max is a nice board ($80 + $5
shipping at Newegg). However, if you want to be prepared for the next upgrade,
you may want to think about something compatible with an 800MHz FSB.

| Processor - P4 2.0 retail 400 mhz $162 or P4 2.4 Northwind 533 mhz OEM $156

Newegg has the retail P4 2.4 533MHz Northwood CPU on sale for $162 and free
shipping. You get a heatsink and fan with the retail package, so that's usually
a better choice than the OEM.

| Video card - VGA Palet GeForce 5200 Ultra $132 or EVGA GeForce 5200 Ultra
| $135 or VGA Chaintech Geforce 5200 128MB DDR $70.

Can't comment on your video card choices since I'm not a gamer. I like Matrox
G450 or G550, but they're definitely not for gamers.

| Memory - 256 mb DDR - can get for $15 at local CompUSA, PNY brand.

I'd go with at least 384MB of DDR, especially if the OS will be WinXP. 512MB
would be even better. If you want to take full advantage of a 533MHz FSB, get
PC2700 (DDR333) RAM. Also, I know people who've had problems with PNY memory,
so I steer clear of that brand. Kingston, Crucial and Corsair tend to be good
among the "name" brands. Mushkin is good, but it's usually too expensive.

| Hard drive - WD 40G 7200 $58, or Seagate Barracuda 40G 7200 $62, or Maxtor
| 40G 7200 $40.

I think somebody has already recommended the Western Digital WD400JB hard drive.
I second that! It's faster with an 8MB cache instead of the standard 2MB on
drives you listed ($66 with free shipping at Newegg).

Good luck!

Larc



§§§ - Please raise temperature of mail to reply by e-mail - §§§

 

[rAD]

Part of the fun of building a PC is getting the most bang for the buck. Go
with AMD and an nForce2 board. Is your kid a gamer? If not, don't waste any
money on pricey video. Put a TV card and DVD-R in it with the money you save
by not going Intel.

Yes, you can save money on HDD, memory, and CD-RW drives by buying locally
with rebates. See www.salescircular.com. Staples is the best with rebates.

In fact, you can build a new PC so cheaply these days, I'd suggest father
and son PCs (they don't call it a "personal computer" for nothing). I'm sure
your son would like his own PC (unless dad would be happy with the old PII)

Ultra cheap but nice:


FOXCONN SUPER CASE MID TOWER CASE PC-115 w/ 350W PSU....$35 shipped

Biostar M7VIG PRO Motherboard ...$57 shipped

COOLER MASTER DP5-6I11A CPU HEAT SINK AND FAN...$10 shipped

AMD Athlon XP 1700+ Thoroughbred...$45 shipped

That's $147 total! Mild overclocking will get it to P4 2GHz performance.

Add memory, HDD and CD-RW from local sales for another $100

So for around $250 ya got a nice 'puter. $500 gets ya two

 

[Stacey]

I agree with Livewire about that memory. It may be just fine but if it's
not your building experience with your son could become a lesson in how to
drive back and forth to CompUSA.

Also, have you considered this....
WD WESTERN DIGITAL 40GB 7200RPM EIDE HARD DRIVE MODEL # WD400JB - OEM,
DRIVE ONLY
Specifications:
Size: 40 Gigabytes
Interface: IDE ULTRA ATA100
Seek time: 8.9 ms
RPM:7200
Cache 8MB
OEM(Drive alone) 3 Year Manufacturer Warranty................$66.00

From Newegg?? For 8 bucks you get the 8MB cache and 2 more years of
warranty.

Ed

Ditto, I agree with both, go with 533, ti4200 and the 8meg drive. Also
DON'T skimp on the ram quality.

 

[pheasant]

I agree with Livewire about that memory. It may be just fine but if
it's not your building experience with your son could become a lesson
in how to drive back and forth to CompUSA.

I've concur; it's taken me 3 builds to finally decide to shell out for
better quality memory. (Mr. Cheap)

Last build was using PNY 133. Was still green (and cheap) didn't realize
that CAS 3 would make such a difference. Can't even push this stuff past
100 on FSB without it wigging out. Bought a single 256MB chip of Corsair's
with a lower latency and now it runs just fine at 124mhz; , think I have
issues with other hardware now, but it's too nice outside to fiddle during
the summer.

Spend the money on good memory.

Mark

 

[Hackworth]

Spend the money on good memory.

At the risk of being redundant, I have to chime in, too, and stress how
important it is to get good memory. Don't waste your time on the generic or
near-generic stuff. Memory prices are the lowest they've ever been but,
even so, some folks will see that Brand A is nearly double the cost of Brand
X and balk at paying the extra money... never mind that the cost of Brand A
is still much lower than they would have paid just a year or two ago.

For systems that I build now, I've become a memory fanatic, and now all I
buy is Mushkin. I'm not saying that the other top brands (like Corsair)
aren't great too but, for me, Mushkin is the Rolls Royce of memory.