My first homebuilt computer - suggestions

[Phil Pease]

I have a Compaq computer AMD 550mhz. Have to use a PCI graphics card as it
doesn't have an AGP connector. I play games and browse the internet. This
computer has been flaky for awhile. I think it is my graphics card going
bad; but could be power supply of motherboard or heat...; anyway because of
my problems I have been considering getting a new computer. Want a stable
system that has an AGP graphics card (not some onboard chip). Thinking I
could build one for a lot less $ than I could buy put together (as cost is a
major consideration).

I have been searching the web with the following results:

Best place to buy is NewEgg (for delivery and customer service, such as
returns)

Case - Antec Lifestyle Series ATX midsize tower model Sonata - incl. 380w ps
$95
Motherboard - either Asus A7N8X Delus $125 (highly rated; but includes some
things that I don't need)
or Biostar M7NCD Pro $57 (with $15 rebate), highly
rated, but documentation and company
support is quite poor (as a beginner, this scares
me; but can save almost $70)
CPU - AMD Athlon XP2500+ $90
Memory - Kingston PC2700 DDR Dimm (2 x 256MB) $86
Graphics - Chaintech GeForce FX 5200 AGP 8x 128MB DDR $69
HD - Maxtor 60 GB 7200 rpm, 8MB cache, ATA 133 - $72
OS - Windows XP home (OEM) $96

Any comments/suggestions are welcome

 

[AJ]

Best place to buy is NewEgg (for delivery and customer service, such as
returns)

Mwave is great also.

Case - Antec Lifestyle Series ATX midsize tower model Sonata - incl. 380w ps
$95
Motherboard - either Asus A7N8X Delus $125 (highly rated; but includes some
things that I don't need)

That will run a 2500+ @ 3200+ using PC3200 RAM and no special BIOS
settings.

or Biostar M7NCD Pro $57 (with $15 rebate), highly
rated, but documentation and company
support is quite poor (as a beginner, this scares
me; but can save almost $70)

That's ok for a second PC in a basement or attic for me but any other
not so much.

CPU - AMD Athlon XP2500+ $90
Memory - Kingston PC2700 DDR Dimm (2 x 256MB) $86

Get PC3200 which you'll be glad about later.

 

[\(\) |V| 3 G A]

I have a Compaq computer AMD 550mhz. Have to use a PCI graphics card as it
doesn't have an AGP connector. I play games and browse the internet. This
computer has been flaky for awhile. I think it is my graphics card going
bad; but could be power supply of motherboard or heat...; anyway because of
my problems I have been considering getting a new computer. Want a stable
system that has an AGP graphics card (not some onboard chip). Thinking I
could build one for a lot less $ than I could buy put together (as cost is a
major consideration).

I have been searching the web with the following results:

Best place to buy is NewEgg (for delivery and customer service, such as
returns)

Case - Antec Lifestyle Series ATX midsize tower model Sonata - incl. 380w ps
$95
Motherboard - either Asus A7N8X Delus $125 (highly rated; but includes some
things that I don't need)

bloody great board! got it and i`d never have another make of motherboard
again. (now on my 2nd asus, with an epox inbetween for 2-3 f*ck around
weeks)

or Biostar M7NCD Pro $57 (with $15 rebate), highly
rated, but documentation and company
support is quite poor (as a beginner, this scares
me; but can save almost $70)
CPU - AMD Athlon XP2500+ $90
Memory - Kingston PC2700 DDR Dimm (2 x 256MB) $86
Graphics - Chaintech GeForce FX 5200 AGP 8x 128MB DDR $69

why the fx5200?
bear in mind the GF4 Ti 4200 and the FX 5600 are similar speeds, just the FX
is DX9 compliant.
i got chaintech GF4 ti4200 - not a very good overclocker, but very stable.

HD - Maxtor 60 GB 7200 rpm, 8MB cache, ATA 133 - $72

would you consider SATA drive? the asus a7n8x dlx board supports it.
only thing about SATA is you need to install some drivers when you install
winXP (press F6 for SCSI and RAID controllers)
i`m running SATA RAID0 (striping) on 2x somewhat expensive western digital
SATA drives, for the 6days i`ve had it running, it's great!

 

[ToolPackinMama]

Case - Antec Lifestyle Series ATX midsize tower model Sonata - incl. 380w ps
$95
Motherboard - either Asus A7N8X Delus $125 (highly rated; but includes some
things that I don't need)
or Biostar M7NCD Pro $57 (with $15 rebate), highly
rated, but documentation and company
support is quite poor (as a beginner, this scares
me; but can save almost $70)
CPU - AMD Athlon XP2500+ $90
Memory - Kingston PC2700 DDR Dimm (2 x 256MB) $86
Graphics - Chaintech GeForce FX 5200 AGP 8x 128MB DDR $69
HD - Maxtor 60 GB 7200 rpm, 8MB cache, ATA 133 - $72
OS - Windows XP home (OEM) $96

Any comments/suggestions are welcome

What are you going to use your computer for? If all you are doing is
text, internet, maybe some games, then you don't need to spend a lot.

I just built no less than 3 PCs with the Chaintech 7NIF2. It's a very
nice all-in-one NFORCE2 board that is easy to set up. Video and sound
are onboard.

That, and a compatible retail-pack AthlonXP CPU, plus 2 sticks of DDR
Ram would run you less than 200.00 including shipping. Then you pick up
a very nice Raidmax case that includes the powersupply, and that's
another 40 bucks. Get a Seagate HD (80 gigs goes for about 80 bucks),
add a DVD/CD-RW combo drive for 60 bucks. Add a floppy drive for ten
bucks... Add any extras you crave that you can afford....Get it all
from NewEgg, cheap.

I think it should be obvious that you can have a very nice,
easy-to-build system for 500-700 bucks, tops. Don't make yourself crazy
over it.

 

[Xeno Chauvin]

Case - Antec Lifestyle Series ATX midsize tower model Sonata - incl. 380w ps
$95

Antec is a great product but unless your going
to use the case as a step-stool you can probably beat
the box price with some local supplier
and a generic box.
McM

 

[ToolPackinMama]

Antec is a great product but unless your going
to use the case as a step-stool you can probably beat
the box price with some local supplier
and a generic box.

I agree. Why pay extra for an enclosure? Some people think things like
a removable mobo ray are "nice", but to save forty bucks or more, I will
willingly sacrifice "nice" things like a removable mobo tray.

I have a VERY NICE bargain Raidmax case for my PC right now, and it's
BEAUTIFUL. It's black, with a floral-shaped cut-out window, and that
window is punctuated by a blue LED lit fan. It would have been equally
beautiful at twice the price. AND it came with a perfectly decent power
supply, at less than fifty dollars.

Why pay more than you have to?

 

[MikeW]

I dunno, I kinda like the idea of a decent case. Antec cases come
with Antec power supplies, and a decent power supply IS worth a few
extra bucks.

In this case, however, the original poster could dial back to an Antec
SLK3700AMB, get essentially the same case, with an ever so slightly
smaller PS (350 vs 380 watt) and save $20, if it matters.

 

[John]

I agree. Why pay extra for an enclosure? Some people think things like
a removable mobo ray are "nice", but to save forty bucks or more, I will
willingly sacrifice "nice" things like a removable mobo tray.

I have a VERY NICE bargain Raidmax case for my PC right now, and it's
BEAUTIFUL. It's black, with a floral-shaped cut-out window, and that
window is punctuated by a blue LED lit fan. It would have been equally
beautiful at twice the price. AND it came with a perfectly decent power
supply, at less than fifty dollars.

Why pay more than you have to?

Sonata case doesn't have a removable motherboard tray. It has a good
quality powersupply. 380Watts and it is quite. Very nice case.

 

[John]

I agree. Why pay extra for an enclosure? Some people think things like
a removable mobo ray are "nice", but to save forty bucks or more, I will
willingly sacrifice "nice" things like a removable mobo tray.

I have a VERY NICE bargain Raidmax case for my PC right now, and it's
BEAUTIFUL. It's black, with a floral-shaped cut-out window, and that
window is punctuated by a blue LED lit fan. It would have been equally
beautiful at twice the price. AND it came with a perfectly decent power
supply, at less than fifty dollars.

Why pay more than you have to?

I like the sonata case. Very nice and quite powersupply with 120mm fan.
It doesn't have a removable motherboard tray.