New comp questions

[TechDude]

I plan on building a new comp for gameing and was wondering how much it would cost me.

Athlon 1.4k
1gig ram
64mb GeForce3
Either 40 or 60gig HD

Those are what im looking for.. im still deciding if i should get a dvd-rom or a plain cd-rom. Btw 48x is the fastest cd-rom right?
I also might get a cd burner but it doesnt have to be good.

Of course ill need a new mobo but i dont really know anything about mobos so what are good mobos for this comp?

Also should i go with a LCD moniter or a regular one? What about mouse? USB or PS/2?

[Makaveli]

Well, I would say that will cost a good amount.. Im not sure exactly how much, it depends on where you buy your stuff. Do you already have a case for it or do you need to buy a case too? 48x is not the fastest CD-rom... Ive seen 52x, I havn't seen one higher than that so im not sure how high they go. If you really want this to be just a game computer, I wouldn't go for the DVD.. Stick with the normal CD-ROM.. As for a CD-Burner... I wouldnt get that either if you want just a gaming system.. But if you did have one, you could burn some games and make backups if you ever wanted, so that could be a good thing to have.. The monitor and the mouse are up to you.. Good luck!

-MaK

[This message has been edited by Makaveli (edited 08-12-2001).]

[hallam2003]

I have a 56X cdrom, that's the fastest I've seen, bought it becausse it was the cheapest from where i got it, anyway, at those speeds you won't notice a huge differece between 52 and 56 or whatever. mouse and monitor are pretty much uip to you, I'm sure someone in here can give you direct performance specs on your choises. as for price, depending on what you buy and all, I'de say you could easily get this system under $2500 (USD) going by things that I buy, basically whatever the cheapest one the have there, but also not the crappy quality one either, I'd say i could do it for around 2000, that G3 really bumps the price, and this is conisidering a pretty nice monitor, and all really nice case, and other externalt things. CD-burners are pretty cheap, you can probably add one and not notice the hit too much.

Hallam

[conjh13]

Just a little tidbit, I've never actually seen one for sale, but Computer Shopper magazine (May 2001 issue, page 116, sidebar along bottom - "Optical-Drive Snapshot: Compare the Players") reports CD-ROM drives up to 72x.

[This message has been edited by conjh13 (edited 08-12-2001).]

[vass0922]

I don't see much reason for the LCD in less your cramped for space and I don't know what kind of resolutions they can handle and just how well they would be able to keep up with a fast moving game(it is liquid after all!).

I would suggest a larger monitor though, 19" is awesome!!!
I don't think bleeding edge speed cdrom is really important, I mean can anybody really tell the difference between 36x and 48x besides some benchmark?

Soundwise, I just have an SB Live! Value I think you can get them for under a hundred bucks and they sound great!! Love it when I move my head in Counterstrike and max payne and the sound comes out of a different speaker http://www.sysopt.com/forum/smile.gif

Crucial memory rocks, they're a good suggestion. The Arctic silver does wonders, to help keep things cool http://www.sysopt.com/forum/smile.gif

1 gig ram? Unless you're doing HARDCORE graphics like huge CAD (Computer Aided Design) drawings in 3d or maybe even studio max? (correct me if I'm wrong on that one http://www.sysopt.com/forum/smile.gif) I don't think you'll ever need that much.

HD make sure its 7200RPM and either ATA66 or ATA100 http://www.sysopt.com/forum/smile.gif
CD Burners rock, if you dont get one you'll probably wonder why in the hell not later! I got a plextor 16x10x32x and its a beautiful thing http://www.sysopt.com/forum/smile.gif BUT I also have a standard cdrom (40x) besides that.

DVD... myself I have a PS2 so don't need DVD so that one is up to you! http://www.sysopt.com/forum/smile.gif

Mouse, why get USB?
I still haven't found a reason for that one!
Guy at compusa tried selling me a keyboard because it was USB capable "you'll free up that PS/2 port!"
I asked him, why so I can use 2 mouses? (mice? lol)

[card_magic]

I was just thinking, after I posted earlier.. those are some great prices... Look at what you can do at Best Buy (who I hate), for $1,500. These features were taken directly from Best Buy's website.

Compaq Presario Desktop with Intel® Pentium® 4 Processor 1.5GHz
-----------------------
Intel® Pentium® 4 processor 1.5GHz, with 400MHz frontside bus for a powerful CPU-to-memory connection

*** BOO!.. My 1.4 Athlon will outperform this thing. And what kind of Mobo is this on?

32KB L1 cache + 256KB L2 cache for efficient system processing

*** Uh.. big deal. Thats just some razzle-dazzle for the unsuspecting consumer.

128MB PC800 RDRAM for multitasking power, upgradable to 512MB

*** Oh, BIG BOO! Give me my DDR. And 512Megs of it, Crucial brand, thank-you-very-much. My board can handle 2 Gigs of it. Screw that 512Meg limit.

60.0GB Ultra DMA hard drive

*** Okay. Fine.

16x maximum speed DVD-ROM drive

*** Okay. Fine.

12x maximum speed CD-RW drive

*** Er.. Whats the read speed?

SDR nVidia GeForce2 MX graphics with TV-out

*** Hey.. Why get the GeForce2, when you can get the GeForce3, on a non-factory system?

10/100 Ethernet networking card
V.90 high-speed modem

*** Okay, do we really need both of these? Seriously. Unless you are on a dial-up connection, and want to network your computers together.. which I doubt most people who would buy this computer would do.. you don't need BOTH.

Compaq Internet keyboard and scrolling mouse

*** Thats about as standard as you can get. My keyboard lights up and glows an eeire blue neon color. Stick THAT in your pipe and smoke it.

EA Sports and EA Games software bundle included

*** Now there is a selling point. Pssh.

Sound Blaster 128-voice PCI audio card

*** Nothing to write home about here.

OS: Microsoft Millenium Edition

*** Arguably, BOO. I prefer a Win2k/Win98 multiboot setup. I tried ME, and hated it.

Lets not forget, this system has 1.. count 'em.. ONE PCI expansion slot. Can we say... oh.. whats the word?.. hmm.. oh, yeah.. BOO!

Also, this computer doesn't come with a monitor! On my system, which I detailed a few posts ago, I INCLUDED a 19 inch flat-screen Samsung.
Plus, you gotta put up with all their pre-packaged software, and the fact that the system isn't the way YOU built it, or the way YOU want it. And do you think the cooling is the same? I doubt there are 4 additional fans, hooked up on a fanbus. And I doubt the heatsink is as quality as a GlobalWin CAK38. Plus, for my bottom line, I included my own custom paint job, a laser cut fan grill, and all sorts of other cool stuff. I say, thanks.. but no thanks. There is no way I'll ever get a factory computer.

So... there it is.

-Jim


[This message has been edited by card_magic (edited 08-13-2001).]

[This message has been edited by card_magic (edited 08-13-2001).]

[TechDude]

After reading about RAM i dont think ill need 1 gig. Isnt 500 DDR Ram just about the same as 1g regular ram? And i read somewhere about DDR SDRam.. i would assume that would cost a bit more .. how much and do they sell those? And would it be cheaper to buy 1x 512 ddr ram (saving 2 slots for later) or 2x 256 ?

As for the soundcard personally i dont see a reason to spend 150+ on a soundcard $ speakers. I already got a nice speaker system already (3 pieces a subwoofer and some other thing).

A friend works at best buys.. he can get me a geforce 3 for 250-300.

The mouse i still dont know. Some people say it sucks. Other people say its good. <shrug>.

I dont know about cooling. How many fans would i need?

And mobo.. can anyone tell me a good one?

[card_magic]

Okay.. I just built a similar system.

First off, I was going to put in a Gig of RAM too, but I was told that once you get up to 512Meg, it really doesn't make a difference.. And when I thought about it, 1Gig really was overkill. As you go through posts on Sysopt, you rarely see someone with a Gig. Even 512Meg isn't THAT frequent. So, I decided to spend less on quantity, and more on quality. So, instead of some off-brand SDRAM, I got 2x256 Meg sticks of Crucial brand DDR RAM, totaling me out at 512Megs DDR. You can get it super cheap at www.crucial.com. (http://www.crucial.com.)

As far as a monitor is concerned, I got a flat-screen (rather than flat-panel) 19 inch Samsung, because I don't care how much space on my desk my monitor takes up. I got flat-screen because there is less glare and the picture rocks. I went with Samsung because just about every other flat-screen monitor uses the freakin' Sony Trinitron tube. Whats up with that? The darn Trinitrons have those two stupid lines running across the screen, and they cost more. I wasn't going to pay good money for a couple of lines, and the Sony name (which is a name I TOTALLY disrespect now, for various reasons.)

Shop around for stuff, and you'll do well. I got my processor and heatsink from newegg.com. As long as you know what you're doing, go with OEM, unless you want a longer warrenty. Got my Mobo from www.AxionTech.com... (http://www.AxionTech.com...) another great vendor. So, here is what I got this summer, and how much it all cost me.
---------------------------

300Watt Mid-Tower : Local Comp Store : $35
2x256 DDR CL2.5 : crucial.com : $89
1.4GHz 266FSB AMD : newegg.com : $161
GlobalWin CAK38 hs/f: newegg.com : $31
Asus A7A266 Mobo : axiontech.com : $152
VisionTek GeForce3 : I forgot.. oops : $320
Muse XL Sound Card : CompUSA : $30
Samsung 19inch Flat : Bestbuy : $280
Artic Silver II : newegg.com : $6
CPU Shim : HighSpeedPC.com : $9
3x80mm CPU Fans : Various : $30
90mm CPU Fan : I forgot : $12
Logitech Keyboard : Best Buy : $18
Mouse w/ wheel : Best Buy : $10

TOTAL ** $1183

Thats the stuff I bought. I already had a CD burner, a 50x CD Drive, floppy drive, and a 60 Gig HDD. But, if you wanted to buy all that stuff too, here is what it would be at newegg.com...

Creative 52x CD ROM : $28
Sony 12x8x32 CD-RW : $83
Mitsumi 3.5 Floppy : $9
Maxtor UDMA100 7200rpm : $115

TOTAL ** $235

Plus, I got some extras, to mod out my case a little more... to make it look cool.

Paint : $12
Fan Grills : $4
Laser Cut Fan Grill : $15
Home-made Fan Bus : $30
GloWire for Keyboard : $25

TOTAL ** $86

Having a computer that'll whup up on your roommate's dual processor G4 : $priceless

So, I spent $1269, before shipping, on my parts. If you wanted to make the exact same system, plus the stuff I already had, it would cost you $1504 before shipping. (Actually, a little less, because some prices have dropped.) And if you wanted to do the whole thing without my nifty case mods, it would be $1418.

But, you may not need a monitor, case fans (depending on your cooling situation), keyboard, etc.. depends on what you already have.

Its a great system.
Hope this all helps.

-Jim


[This message has been edited by card_magic (edited 08-13-2001).]