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Thread: Building a Computer, I need the good stuff

  1. #1
    Ultimate Member Cyan's Avatar
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    Building a Computer, I need the good stuff

    Im going to be building a new system (graduation preset from my parents) and I have about a 1.5k budget. I want this system to be good, and last me a great while.
    What I do...

    Mega gamer, I would love to play every game at the highest settings (especially Medal of Honor)

    These are the things I already have, and wont have to buy

    Geforce ti 500 - So I dont need a graphics card


    I was thinking of going AMD Athlon XP 2100, I also want ATA 133 (fastest one right?) So I need a great mother board, hard drive, and ram. I'm going DDR 512.

    Help me out please. Thank you for your time.

  2. #2
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    Well.... i just built one recently. Here is the spec :

    AMD Athlon XP 2000+
    512 Crucial PC2100 DDR Ram
    Soyo K7V Dragon Plus! Motherboard
    40GB Maxtor HDD (7200rpm and ATA 100)
    Creative Audigy DE
    Creative Inspire 5300 (This one rocks!!!)
    Asus DVD-ROM 16X (ATA 100)
    Elsa Gladiac 516 (G2Ti)
    Enlight Casing and 300W PSU
    Acer 17" Flat Screen Monitor

    OS : WinME

    I also play a lot of games on my PC and so far no crash or any other system instabiity yet. Infact..... for the past 1 month it didn't even get a GPF or anything. Very stable. Btw, my 3DMark2001 is about 48xx (Probably due to my G2Ti), your should be around 8000.


    I read on some tech forum that ATA133 is not very stable yet. Well.... that's what i read.

  3. #3
    Senior Member rextex's Avatar
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    Get a large monitor.19" or more for sure.21" would be supreme.

  4. #4
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    For motherboard just get someting based on the kt266a the
    EPoX EP-8KHA+ got good reviews. and its real cheap. For a hard drive it seems like there is no better ide drive than the western digital 100gb 8mb cache they are around $200. And for ram there pretty much all good. jsut dont buy generic

    good luck
    Joe

  5. #5
    Ultimate Member Cyan's Avatar
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    Is there a Western Digital that isnt quite as large as 100 gb?

    I'm just not sure If having a HD that large will be fast enough?

    does it out preform Smaller HD, such as around 40 gb?

  6. #6
    Member shark_megabyte's Avatar
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    I wouldn't get a 100gb drive unless I was pretty sure I was actually going to need close to 100gb. Not only do the really big drives cost more, they also will take a long time to defrag even with a fast cpu.

    RAM is not all the same, a lot of it is good, but some brands are better than others.

    Corsair ddr 333 seems to be well liked at least for people who choose ddr.
    Last edited by shark_megabyte; 04-01-2002 at 05:35 PM.

  7. #7
    Ultimate Member Cyan's Avatar
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    Now I'm at home and can ask some more direct questions.

    ASUS A7V333 SKT A - $199
    up to XP 2100+, ATA133 Raid, 5 PCI, 266MHz FSB -3 DDR, with Firewire - VIA KT333 Chipset
    or
    ASUS A7V266-E SKT A Raid, 5 PCI, 266MHZ FSB -3 DDR - VIA KT266A Chipset $151

    Note: I dont need Firewire. So whicherver is better. Hows that as far as a MB is concerened? I would like AGP 4x Pro. I'm not sure if either of those have it.

    DDR 512MB 333MHz - PC2700 - CL2.5 $164

    processor =

    OEM AMD Athlon XP 2100+ - 266MHz - Socket A (1730MHz Core speed) $259

    I Think that'll be my CPU.

    I dont want to spend more than 100$ on a HD, UNLESS its a darn good HD

    40GB IBM - 7200 RPM - ATA100 - 3 Yrs Warranty from IBM $88

    Is about all I can Find right now. but if the

    Western Digital 100GB EIDE UATA/100 8MB BUFFER 7200RPM - 179$

    is an amazing drive and can outpreform the other, I'll consider it.

    Elements 19" .25mm, LR, 1600x1200, 30~95KHz, 18"V, OSD $174
    or ---
    Hyundai 19" .26, 30-107KHz, 1600x1200, OSD, Energy Star/VESA, TCO 92 $185
    or ---
    Elements 17" .25mm Flat Screen Tube, 1600x1200, 30~95K H, 16"V, OSD, LR, Anti-Glare, $158

    Which is better? I know its only 17" but its beefed up.

    PLEXTOR PLEXWRITER 24x10x40 PX-W1610TA CDR-W EIDE -4MB - Retail $141

    Good CD-R? Im going to get two CD-Roms, so the other will probably be,

    SONY 52X CDU-5211 IDE CDROM PLAYER - OEM $27
    or
    ASUS 52X ICD CDROM - Retail $31
    or
    PIONEER DVD-116 - Tray - 16x40 IDE - OEM $56

    I'm not sure which is better.

    Keep in mind I'm a mega gamer... and Waste massive amounts of time on my computer

    Thank you for your time. And any of these are subject to change based on the replies I get.
    Last edited by Cyan; 04-01-2002 at 06:15 PM.

  8. #8
    Senior Member rextex's Avatar
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    No,No,NO!I thought you said:
    I need the good stuff
    Then why are you crapping out on the monitor?$1.5 G's is enough to get a decent monitor.TCO92?How about 99 or later,True Flat,non-interlaced?Elements?What the heck is an Elements?
    Get a Viewsonic or something decent!

  9. #9
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    All of your stuff seems really good.
    I thought id give you a link to a review also.
    http://www4.tomshardware.com/storage...120/index.html
    thats the 100gb 8mb

    http://www4.tomshardware.com/storage...305/index.html
    and thats the new 120gb version there are very good performers as to the reviews i have seen. If you done need it thats ok but I have a 60 gb hard drive and cable internet I got it over half full right now of your not a downloader maybe 40gb will do.
    Joe

  10. #10
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    I would go for an IBM deskstar 120g, for the little bit extra, plus a GeFoce 4 which you already have. This is a must for the games just coming out. You wont noticethe difference between an xp1800 and an xp2100. the Asus looks a good board, but try a look at the ecs elite k7s6a, its cheap but packs a punch and letsyou get the bigger drive.

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    Getting a DVD-ROM drive is a better alternative compared to a normal CD-ROM drive. You can play both DVD and CD on a DVD-ROM drive compared to only CD for the latter.

    ASUS DVD Drive woth ATA100 is really good.

    For motherboard you can try to wait a while and get the KT333 chipset from VIA. It is already out now, but support for it seems a bit lax at the moment. Only a handful of motherboard manufacturer have a KT333 board out.

  12. #12
    Ultimate Member Cyan's Avatar
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    SONY 52X CDU-5211 IDE CDROM PLAYER - OEM $27
    ASUS 52X ICD CDROM - Retail $31

    Whats the difference between IDE and ICD (I think thats the question I should be asking) about how much does an ASUS DVD ATA/100 cost?

    Whats new/good/"special" about the KT333 chipset MB that differs from the ones I already thought of getting?

  13. #13
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    Should be pretty cheap, i bought mine at about malaysian ringgit 250. So you divide it by 3.8 if you are in US.

    Simple math :

    250/3.8 = 65.78 (and blah... blah... blah)

    Should be under 70 bucks.

    Here is the nifty URL :
    http://usa.asus.com/optical/dvd-e616/overview.htm

    Note : It is a region free drive.

    KT333 just support the DDR333 speed ram, that about all. You may experience a slight speed increase. I am just ondering if they would re-release a KT333A chip like they did on the previous 2 occasion. Well... it is your call i guess.
    Last edited by Volts; 04-02-2002 at 12:11 AM.

  14. #14
    Ultimate Member Cyan's Avatar
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    I've decided on the MB,

    ASUS A7V333 SKT A - $199
    up to XP 2100+, ATA133 Raid, 5 PCI, 266MHz FSB -3 DDR, with Firewire - VIA KT333 Chipset

    Sound good?

    Im still horribly conflicted on Hard Drive matters, Does anyone know a good HD that is ATA133 thats around 40-50 GB? if so... how much? *crosses fingers*
    Last edited by Cyan; 04-02-2002 at 01:40 AM.

  15. #15
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    Some info for you, if you plan on getting a firewire. Soundblaster audigy comes with a Firewire port. So you can skimp up on that if you want.

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