On-line Gaming Dream Machine ?

[Article_86]

I thought that I would post to this forum because you guys(and gals)will probably know more about piecing together a machine from scratch. Currently I am limping along with a notebook (don't laugh). I have put several machines together as a technicina, but this was years ago, and I have lost touch of the good components. So advice is what I am seeking ...

For about $800, what kind of machine could I build for on-line gaming and leave some capabilty for use as a CAD machine also.

Here are some givens :

I have a:
decent 17" monitor
SparQ 1G external (par. port) removable drive for backups
USB joystick

I'll need a:
Win 98 OS (the one I have now is Compaqs lame OEM version that is notebook specific)
fast motherboard (not overclocked)w/ USB and 1394 ports
screaming CPU thats stable
about 10 GB of HD
comfortable amount of fast RAM (200 MB ?)
one of the hottest PCI video cards
decent audio card & speakers
a good reliable power supply
56k/V.90 modem
CD drive
floppy drive
keyboard (I might have to type I guess)
generic tower case w/ fans, etc.

Now that I have made this list, it looks to me like my $800 won't hack it. Maybe you you can tell me where to scale back or a source that has descent prices. Is Computer/PC Shopper still in business ? I have surfed a little on the Web, but can't find them.

Any advice/help is appreciated. ;-)

Article_86 - Fighter Ace junkie

[bdog]

checkout www.pricewatch.com. You could get 128 mb pc100 ram for $100 each, a 10 gig hd for around $150, ABIT mobo for around $100, Celeron 500 mhz for about $150, case and power supply for $50, and I would go with an AGP video card, they are much faster and can get a good one for about $150

[Pseo15]

Hey email me or ICQ me. I have jsut purchased all my stuff for making a brand spaning new PC. im still waiting for all my packages to come tho. so dam freaking slow. 1 week for the people to process the order, still havent shipped my stuff out. Anyways, talk to me if you want to know about stuff for getting a new comp. i got a 400 Mhz, overclockable to around 590. evverything top of the line, costs around 650.

[rl]

pseo just wondering what 400mhz chip you ordered that will o/c to 590 with out thermo electric cooling???? you got to get real real (1 in 10000) to get a celry that will run at that with out a real real good colling sys.

[Xstar]

Syquest is bankrupt and so will you be if you continue to try to use your sparq. I averaged one every two months. Five down and still no sparq. I gave up after about a year. Use a Zip or other more established system. SYQUEST IS BELLY UP!!!! HELLO...BANKRUPT!!!! RUN FOR YOUR LIFE.
Hay, it's your stuff. Post here if you want more gorry details.

[clough]

Try this Kenwood CD-ROM


http://www.kenwoodtech.com/products.html

The fastest CD-ROM drive on earth just got faster!

Kenwood Technologies, maker of the award winning 42X TrueX™ CD-ROM drive, now boosts performance to 52X. It's the only CD-ROM drive in the world that delivers a transfer rate ranging from 6750 - 7800 KB/sec across the entire disc! This speed is more than 50% faster than the average 50X Max CD-ROM drive available today.

Equivalent to a 75X Max drive - if one existed!*

The Kenwood 52X TrueX™ CD-ROM is made with Zen's TrueX technology and Kenwood's patented 7 Beam pickup, which illuminate multiple tracks simultaneously, read them in parallel, and process the data through a custom ASIC. By reading multiple tracks at once, the 52X TrueX CD-ROM drive actually spins the disc slower than conventional single-beam drives, resulting in extremely precise readability and very quiet operation.

The Kenwood 52X TrueX CD-ROM drive is faster, quieter, and more reliable than the average 50X Max drive. The 52X TrueX CD-ROM drive provides consistent high performance data throughput across the entire disc making it ideal for graphic-intensive applications such as 3D games, multimedia, and other reference content.

Kenwood Corporation, established in December 1946, has always stressed innovation as the means to provide customers with the best possible products. In keeping with this spirit, Kenwood has blended innovation with technology to create Kenwood TrueX CD-ROM drives. Kenwood TrueX drives feature Zen's TrueX technology producing the fastest CD-ROM drives on earth.

[Article_86]

Thanks to all for the responses ... other than the Kenwood commercial. lol

I have heard that AGP technology wasn't being 'embraced' by developers and would not be supported in as many products ... is that true? My guess at $800 wasn't too far off from what I see ... hey I still got it!

- Article_86

[AuraEdge]

Heck yeah AGP makes ALOTA difference in the TNT models (dunno about the Voodoo models tho). Anyways, To build a fully decked machine (decked as in overclocked so it is decked), itll cost around 1000 w/ monitor, 800 without (done my research...really its true [img]/forum/smile.gif[/img]).
BTW Pseo, got my SY-6AB+III today..stuck it in and got my 350@466 to 350@504..this board rocks...also coems with nortons antivirus, ghost, and Virtual drive, full versions...pretty good proggys. Neat huh? This board is THE BEST!!

[AuraEdge]

Heck yeah AGP makes ALOTA difference in the TNT models (dunno about the Voodoo models tho). Anyways, To build a fully decked machine (decked as in overclocked so it is decked), itll cost around 1000 w/ monitor, 800 without (done my research...really its true [img]/forum/smile.gif[/img]).
BTW Pseo, got my SY-6AB+III today..stuck it in and got my 350@466 to 350@504..this board rocks...also coems with nortons antivirus, ghost, and Virtual drive, full versions...pretty good proggys. Neat huh? This board is THE BEST!!