Computer I will build, opinions?

[m20power]

Im looking to build a computer and I am considering the following. What are your opinions?


case aspire x dreamer 2 57
Motherboard soltek sl-k8an2e-gr 89
Memory kingston 512mb pc 3200 68
CPU Athlon 64 3000+ 139
Hard Drive WD 80GB SATA 65
Combo Drive sony 8x dvd +/- rw dual layer 66
video card ati aiw 9600 xt 189
Monitor Rosewill R710j 17inch 229
OS Windows XP home 89

It ends up being about 1000
I know the 80 gigs isnt much. I would put a 120 gig ide drive that I currently own into it.


Odds are I should go to a computer forum. But AO rocks so I will ask you people first.

Joseph

[WickeDKlowN]

I'd say look into the MSI K8T-FSR mobo, and make sure that proc. is Retail unless you plan on getting a better HSF. I didn't notice a power supply on there either, Antec makes good PSU's that won't break the bank.

Not that I would ever condone Piracy or anything... but Windows XP w/ SP2 ain't exactly hard to find if you know where to look. And that money could be better spent on lower latency ram or something.

[OysterBoy]

I'd reccomend any of the 9800 cards, just for their power-to-money ratio. I strongly disliked my 9600SE, although it wasnt as bad as my FX5700LE.

[m20power]

I currently own a 300 watt spi power supply. Im guessing that isnt enough.

I dont know where to get XP. None of my friends have copies, they bought dells and you cant use dells version.

I remember that pricewatch.com used to have sites where you could get XP for about 20 dollars. I just looked and I cant find them anymore.

If you could PM me ideas on where to find it I would appreciate it.

[WickeDKlowN]

You're gonna want/need atleast a 350 from a decent company. If you go over to http://hardforums.com/ under the PowerSupply section that have a huge list of good and bad PSU's in all price ranges.

NewEgg has refurbushed MSI GeForce FX5900XT's for like $150, and ZipZoom Fly has new ones for I think $200.

[OysterBoy]

I'd suggest against AMD, for the cost you could probably pick up a nice 9x00 card or x00 card.
Then again, Im an Intel fanboy.

[WickeDKlowN]

Athlon 64>Pentium 4

Then again, I'm an AMD(and nVidia) fanboy.

[OysterBoy]

lol, I OWN an AMD 64 3200, and I like it fine; but for video cards I've always liked ATI.

[Python14]

Yeah, I recommend a 9800 pro or XT.....it doesn't really matter which mem you get, as long as you get the 256bit model. I had a Gigabyte 9800pro and with some overclocking and new cooling(Arctic Cooling Silencer 3).....it ran Half-life 2 at medium settings with good frame rates and such.

Also, where are you getting Kingston pc3200 for $68?

[WickeDKlowN]

I've always stayed away from ATI for some reason. One of my friends has had 3 9x00's die on him, so that probobly has something to do with it.

[m20power]

Thank you everyone for the help so far.

Python 14, the ram is from newegg which is where all of the prices are from. The soltek MB said it needed unbuffered non eec ram.

I dont know what a good latency is. I havent heard the term much. I have been out of computers for about 3 years so everything has changed a lot.

Im curious why people say the 9600 isnt so good. I like them because they support dual monitors. Currently I have some old ones that suck. They opperate at 50-60 hz so when i start my computer it wont show the start up or bios. It the computer goes into dos the monitor will shut off because it wont put out what is being shown. I dont know whats wrong with them. My intention was to get a new monitor and then use one that I have as the second monitor since it dosent matter as much.
Does anyone have any idea whats causing this, can I fix it or is it just a hardware problem.

[Darken Sun]

I dont know what a good latency is. I havent heard the term much.

The latency of RAM is what's circled in red in the attached picture. Basically, the lower those numbers, the better for A64 systems. Also, the picture would be an example of really nice timings.

Look into nVidia 6600GT's. They'll wipe the floor with 9x00 series cards. Benchmarks here.
Also, I don't know if you like how that case looks or what not, but I personally can't stand it.

[m20power]

Darken Sun, I have yet to find a case I like so I just picked the one I hated the least.

I would be willing to get something besides an ATI video card but so far I cant find any decent dual head Nvidia. They are either 50 dollars with no ram or 250 dollars and are about equal to the 9600 but lacking in software.
If there is a dual head card out there thats comperable to the 9600 xt in performance let me know. Ive used the 9600xt before on my brothers computer and I was pleased with its performance. I just havent seen enough evidence to make me change my mind yet. But I am open to it.

Thai food awaits. Bye for now.

[WickeDKlowN]

I would be willing to get something besides an ATI video card but so far I cant find any decent dual head Nvidia. They are either 50 dollars with no ram or 250 dollars and are about equal to the 9600 but lacking in software.
If there is a dual head card out there thats comperable to the 9600 xt in performance let me know. Ive used the 9600xt before on my brothers computer and I was pleased with its performance. I just havent seen enough evidence to make me change my mind yet. But I am open to it.

MSI GeForce FX5900XT. They overclock extremley well, and can be found pretty cheap on eBay if you don't want to spend $200 or whatever it costs on a video card.

[Buff]

buy the 9800Pro........the FX5900's wont run DX9 stuff well at all.......stuff like HL2 etc.
I have owned 4x9700's, 2x9800pro, and a 6800Ultra now, the ATI stuff never gave me any trouble ......I actually set a 3dmark record with a 9500 I had a while back.....