Thoughts on my computer purchase?

[Davermonk]

:confused: I'm a newbie to the forum, so please pardon any ignorance in my question. I've been looking at various on-line "custom" computer vendors and I've come up with the following configuration from Envision...

MSI K7T 266 Pro2 mobo
Anthlon XP 1800
Thermal Take Volcano 7
Enlight 7237 case w/ 400W PS
256 MB Corsair DDR PC2700 RAM
Vision Tec GeForce2 TI 64MB video card
SB Live 5.1 sound card
WD 40GB Hard Drive (7200rpm)
(I'll be adding an identical HD that's on my current computer)
Mitsumi 48x CD-ROM
Plextor 40/12/40 CDRW
generic 3pc speaker system
Mitsumi floppy drive
Win XP home
Linksys PCI network card (modem omitted... I have DSL)
extra case fan

All this assembled, tested & delivered to my door for a mere (ugh) $1400.

I have 3 questions...

#1 (the obvious one): Does this sound like a decent deal???

#2: Do you see anything that is going to give me problems? (ie... things that won't work together or anything that I've omitted)

#3: Where am I going overboard? 400W power supply? PC2700 RAM? etc.

I realize that I could probably save around $300 (or more?) by purchasing the components separately & "assembling" it myself, but if I try to put it together I'll end up spending more than that on Prozac & Tequila when the thing doesn't work.

I'd really appreciate any thoughts or advice you could offer.

Dave

[NDD]

Welcome to SysOpt ! :)

Seems like a good one to me, however, I'd put GeForce3 Ti200 (at least) instead of GeForce2 Ti, the difference in performance is huge ! Of coz, it's only if you plan to play some games on it (dah :) )
And WinXP Pro instead of Home Edition, too ...

[Davermonk]

Games? You mean I can play games on these things? I thought they stopped making games for computers when I got rid of my Commodore Pet 8032!

Adding Asus V8200 GeForce3 TI-200 64 & Win XP Pro increases price to around $1550. Do you think it's worth it?

Thx for the reply!!

d

[Fatal_Exception]

If you are a newbie, you might consider going to gateway or dell--their prices are competitive (amazingly) at this time and you get good warranty support.

[araaraara]

That sure sounds like a sweet deal to me.

[Jimstep]

Originally posted by Davermonk
Games? You mean I can play games on these things? I thought they stopped making games for computers when I got rid of my Commodore Pet 8032!

Adding Asus V8200 GeForce3 TI-200 64 & Win XP Pro increases price to around $1550. Do you think it's worth it?

Thx for the reply!!

d

In my humble opinion (IMHO), the best games available are run on a well built pc. Check out the SysOpt games forum to get a feel for the games that are available.

I also agree with ND, replace the G2 Ti and get a G3Ti200.

Think of the 400Watt power supply will give you a very clean and stable signal. It also gives you room for growth.

I'd also look at getting a 5.1 speaker system to match the capabilities of the sound card.

Cheers and Welcome to SysOpt!:cool:

[biglaker]

Since you don't want to put the machine together yourself, are you sure your M/B can take advantage of the PC 2700 Ram? I have seen on other forums what appears to be a standard use of PC 2100. If you're sure your m/b can take advantage of the 2700, go for it. If you'll have to tinker with it, to be able to use memory at that speed, then it seems like you have defeated your purpose of trying to avoid "setup" by buying a fully setup computer. If the m/b cannot take advantage of the additional memory capability, then it appears you may be wasting $50 or so buying memory capability that the m/b really couldn't use. Check your manual-- everything else looks sweet. Biglaker

[araaraara]

The MSI M7T266 Pro2 can only run the memory @ 200mhz (PC1600) or 266mhz (PC2100), so getting 333mhz (PC2700) is unnecessary unless you are overclocking. It might be the best thing to do though because if you later upgrade to a motherboard with 333mhz ram, then you can still use your existing ram.

[Davermonk]

Fatal Exception... I appreciate the advice. I thought about Dell & Gateway but I'd like to make sure that quality components go into the system. I don't think I can select the mobo, brand of RAM, etc at either of those places. Also, I want AMD and Dell only offers Intel (I'm not sure about Gateway though I think I heard that they now or will soon offer only Intel).

Jimstep, you're saying the 400W PS is OK? It's not overkill? My brother put together a system about a year ago and bought a case w/ (I think) 300W PS that didn't cut it (but it was *such* a great deal at the time :p). I assumed from his experience that bigger is better.

Biglaker & araaraara, thanks for that input on the RAM. I didn't know that the mobo wouldn't support PC2700. I'll check to see how much $$ I could save by going back down to PC2100. Maybe it would pay for the videocard upgrade!!

Thanks to all for your advice!! This forum great!!

[Davermonk]

Sorry, I had another question that I forgot to include above...

My current computer is AMD K6-2 400MHz w/ Win98. I installed a second HD about a year ago (WD 40GB 7200rpm).

When I get my new system, what is the best way to transfer files from old to new?

Option #1: copy everything to my existing WD 40GB, remove it & reinstall it in the new system? Because I'm running Win98, I had to partition the drive into about 6 smaller units. Will Win XP on the new system be able to read this drive or will I have to reformat it when I install it? btw... I run Win98 off of my "other" (original) HD.

Option #2: I have a network card in my existing system (for DSL). Can I simply connect the two computers and transfer the files that way? Then, after everything is transferred, I can pull my drive and put it into the new box? If I do this, do I need to get a router or can I just plug one into the other? I assume I'll need a router anyway if I want both computers to have access to the net (without constantly unplugging).

Man, I hope you guys never get tired of answering questions!! Thank you!!

(moderator... should I make this question a new post??)