Ive got $800 us to make my buddy a comp with. Im ganna go with a myan theme. The whole sacrificial thing kicking. But anyway I was just wondering what you guys would go with inards wise?
AMD 64, ATI for Video, Enermax or Antec PSU, Crucial for RAM, Western Digital for hard-disk... Just fill in specifics with what your budget will allow...
the best budget cpu is and has always been the trusty old amd xp 2500 very cheap cpu with good performance and stable, efficient overclocking build your system around that and an asus $95 mainboard 512mb 2700 crucial case that comes with PSU will save money prob ati 9600 pro or 9600xt 80gb wd (like $65 new now!)
I agree with javadog. go with the amd 64. Instead of ATI for video, go with the new nvidia crad...its the 6800 or something... Definitely Crucial for RAM and WD for the hd. Ohh...and buy the way...tell your friend I hate him for having $800 to spend!
this thread is a bit more relevant to the hardware forum, unless you are going to spend $800 on just the mod moving...
No point getting an XP2500+ for o/c'ing if you're coupling it with PC2700 RAM! They're all locked now and PC3200 costs like $2 more. Anyway here's how I see it ... CPU: Athlon64 fastest but AthlonXP gives you a lot for very little cash. MOBO: K8T800_PRO or nForce3_250 for Athlon64. nForce2 for AthlonXP. GFX: Rad9800Pro is a great card for very little cash. X800_Pro/XT are very good but I'd give the edge to the 6800GT, avoid the 6800 & 6800ultra. RAM: PC3200 is all you need but for Athlon64 o/c'ing you may want PC3500-4000 depending on specifics. Get a good brand but don't pay extra for low latency nor matched pairs. PSU: Ideally 400W of a good brand, Antec, Enermax, Thermatake, ToPower, Sparkle etc. Top it off with the case of your choice, a DVD Writer and I assume you'll already know whether you prefer a 19" CRT or an LCD.
A nice AMD 64bit would take up the entire budjet. I would go AMD XP 3000+ and an Asus A7N8X Deluxe Mobo. I have that board and cpu and when you o/c it to a 3200+ it runs cooler than stock. Cool thing is becasue the cpu has a barton core its unlocked by the board. If you get the original A7N8X Deluxe Mobo (the NON-E Version) you will have to flash the bios to get the cpu to run at 400 FSB. Get some nice twin 512mb (2 matched 256mb sticks) Corsiar 400 speed XMS memory or 333 if you want to save some money. A Western Digital Hard Drive for storage. Use the on-board sound because it ROCKS!!! For a video card DEFINITY go with Nvida. I had an ATI card in my system but the drivers SUCK!!!! So now i Have a Nvida FX5700U. Antec or Enermax for the psu. 300w might cut it but i would go with a 400w or mabey even a 500w. If a case come with a psu JUNK IT!!! All of the cases that i have gotten that came with a psu that wasn't name brand have screwed up radio reception. I built this nice P4 3.2ghz rig for a friend and he spent 1000 bucks for parts (not inculding vid card) and got a cheap Aspire Case and he wouldnt get a new psu. Now they system is all screwed up and randomly reboots because of the crappy psu and he still wont buy a new one. Its allready kill his hard drive and who know what it could kill next. To sum up what i just said: Motherboard : Asus A7N8X Deluxe Mobo CPU : Amd XP 3000+ o/c'ed to 3200+ Memory : Twin 512mb (2 matched 256mb sticks) Corsiar XMS 400 (or 333)Speed Video Card : Nvidia Sound Card : On Board PSU : Antec or Enermax 300w-500w (NO STOCK PSU UNLESS NAME BRAND) Hard Drive : Western Digital 80gb-250gb Thats about it. If anyone has any questions PM me and i will answer them.
AMD Athlon XP 2500+ "Barton", 333 FSB, 512K Cache Processor - Retail N82E16819103379 $81.00 ASUS "A7V880" VIA KT880 Chipset Motherboard for AMD Socket A CPU N82E16813131501 $86.00 Corsair Value Select 184 Pin 512MB DDR PC-2700 - OEM N82E16820145407 $88.00 ENERMAX 460W (with Copper Shielding for better EMI reduction) for AMD K7 N82E16817103440 $85.00 ATI AIW RADEON 9600XT Video Card, 128MB DDR, 128-bit, FM/TV/AV In/AV Out, 8X AGP, Model "ALL-IN-WONDER 9600XT" w/ REMOTE -RETAIL N82E16814102352 $193.00 Western Digital Special Edition 80GB 7200RPM IDE Hard Drive, Model WD800JB, OEM Drive Only Manufacturer Warranty: 3 years * (Includes FedEx Saver Shipping) N82E16822144122 $64.00 Samsung Black 52X32X52X16 DVD/CD-RW Combo Drive, Model SM-352NENB, N82E16827151042 $42.00 Turtle Beach 7.1-Channel PCI Sound Card, Model "CATALINA" -RETAIL N82E16829118106 $53.99 Subtotal » $ 692.99 (cut out the AIW to save some dough) Still leaves you with $100 to find a nice case w/o a PSU (since the Enermax is included above). So, you find a nice mod-able $30 case, and you will have $70 for mod-supplies. This also leaves a lot of headroom down the road, he can add much more memory, can add higher-level cpu...and the system is going to have a problem handling it.
Tm36usa ALL AthlonXP are now super-locked, the mobo can't unlock them, that's a big reason why people have been buying XP-M (mobile) instead. All AthlonXP were unlocked since the TbredB and continued on in Barton until around week 37-39 2003. The whole 'mobo can unlock the CPU' thing derived from the TbredA which were sometimes still locked, but much easier to unlock and some mobos could use them as if they weren't unlocked. For unlocked CPU's all you need is a mobo with multiplier support, if it's locked there's really nothing your mobo can do. I also don't see how the XP3000+ runs cooler at XP3200+ speed because the FSB and/or CPU speed are both higher. Since all Barton tend to o/c the same there's no point going for a faster rated one apart from for the multiplier. The AthlonXP to go for are all based on the Barton core, namely; XP2500+ (with 400FSB makes a perfect XP3200+), XP2800+ (higher multiplier so you can exceed XP3200+ speed) and XP-M 2400+ or 2500+ (have to be unlocked and regarded as the best o/c'ers). I can't imagine where the totally out-dated ATI's drivers suck thing comes from either, nVidia's have been poorer of late and are sadly overdue an official update. Unless you mean OpenGL (nVidia have a slight advantage) or Linux (nVidia have a big advantage). No disrespect intended, I'm just a little confused by some of the comments made. JavaDog PC2700 hardly save any cash over PC3200 and will limit you straight away for o/c'ing, definitely get at least PC3200, no real need for more but don't get less. 9600XT was and is a decent mid-range card but you can get 9800Pro for $200 and they are hugely faster. For gaming the gfx card is most critical, not a good place to skrimp. For the HD, capacity is probably wisest, 8MB cache is over-rated but costs very little extra. For brand I'd avoid WD because they tend to be a tad noisier and have really relied upon their reputation as fastest from being the 1st to market with 8MB cache IDE. I'd also avoid Hitachi, I've had 2/3 fail in the last 9 months, seems they've kept IBM's problems. Maxtor, Seagate and Samsung are tops in my book, see what warranty they come with, most are just 1 year! BTW there's no need for ATA133 nor SATA150, they're fine just not worth paying extra for.
Well Austin i dis-aggree with out about all Atholon XPs being SUPER LOCKED. Well, I got my CPU a couple of weeks ago from newegg and it was unlocked. I can change all om my multiplyer settings and everything. As im sure you know, when a cpu maker makes a chip they dont set it at an exact speed, they just set it at where it stable for the amount of power that it gives out. Ya when i o/c'ed i was surprised to find that it did run cooler than at stock speed. Just by 1 or 2 degress c but it still was cooler. I had the newest ATI drivers and i hated them. The computer would just go black in the middle of doing anything and i swaped the card for an Nvidia card and it hasn't gone blank or rebooted once. And when i said i *had* a ati card in there it was last week so i had the latest drivers. I dont blame Nvidia for being a little slow with their video drivers because the ones i have now work so wonderfly. And ATI drivers are always a BIG pain to un-install.
Well then you were fortunate and got an older one; all the ones produced after week 39 are super-locked.
i have a 2600+ that alows me to ajust the multiplyer from 5 -12.5 but sadly i cant go higher is that locked? becasue i have seen ppl wiht much higher multi?
Wow thanx for all the input guys. IF the deal goes definate i will let you know what i buy. Didnt know about the hardware forum. Im not a noob and thought i read all the stickies. Sorry no excuse.
im not sure what the exact resoning behind this is. My 1800+ goes up to 15* multi (maybe past, never tested). Probably the mobo that defines that. anyhoo, we all know that high fsb and low multi is better than low fsb, high multi edit: nup, that chip is unlocked . heh i didn't even answer your Q
Well, since it is for a friend, who will no doubt be pissed if the thing breaks after 2 months - Overclocking = NO! I actually build systems for a side business, I build them to be: 1) Very Stable - Known brand components, no overclocking (I will void the warranty I give). Plus, I don't have to service them if they don't break! 2) Upgradeable - Hence the large, good, psu. Also, room for extra RAM. 3) Versatile - Which is why I like the AIW, lets my customer do quite a bit. Now, true, if he is a hard-core gamer then I would change the video-card to suit that. I ALWAYS match my FSB and RAM. If the CPU is 333mhz, then the Ram is as well. I've tried running higher spec ram, and there is little to no difference. Besides, $10-saved is $10-in my pocket. Over the past three years I have built over 30 systems, I had ONE hard drive fail, and no other problems.
tm36usa, noone heard anything about all new AMD CPUs being superlocked, it just suddenly happened around week 36 2003 (date on CPU, code=0336). Depending upon where the CPU was produced you could still find an unlocked CPU up until week 40 2003, after that chances of finding a new CPU unlocked was virtually zero. Of course AthlonMP and certainly XP-M (mobile) were unlocked but all new Durons, TbredB, Thorton and Barton were superlocked. If you check the code on your CPU sticker it will surely read pre 0340. This is the main reason people have been buying the XP-M. In terms of AMD not setting each CPU at an exact speed that is true, it's on demand rather than each CPUs max stable clock though, that's why so many XP2500+ (slowest Barton) hit XP3200+ (fastest Barton) and why so many XP1700+ (slowest TbredB) hit XP2800+ (fastest TbredB). I can't imagine why you had problems with ATI drivers, even the old CAT3.6 (around 9500Pro release) were rock solid. If you didn't do a fresh OS install it's most likely risidual driver problems, a trait of previously having an nVidia OR ATI card in there. When I upgraded my GF2mx400 to a GF4TI4200 it had all kind of wierd quirks. I spent a fair while trying to address it all, did a fresh OS install and it was perfect. Also both ATI AND nVidia drivers are incredibly hard to fully remove, I see it as a minor conspiracy myself. Well nVidia's 56.72 are approaching 4 months old and don't even support the 6800 cards. That's not good in my book, and the beta 6x.xx are showing significant improvements over the 'wonderful' 56.72. ocedamd@3000+, your CPU is also surely pre week 40 2003, the 12.5x limit is down to your mobo not understanding the 5th FID bit which controls the upper multiplier range (13x+). JavaDog bear in mind that since TbredB the AthlonXP have scaled incredibly well, but they'd be no point in AMD only selling XP3000+ & XP3200+ so they clock them slower to fulfill demand. Since TbredB and Barton's releases the CPUs have been capable of MUCH higher speeds, at normal voltage. So long as you take precautions and test throughly the risks as close to zero as you can ever get. Still it takes time so I get what you're saying. If you don't want to o/c the choice becomes easier as you're not having to think about multipliers and stuff. So that would mean 333FSB is likely and for that PC2700 is ALL you need. However PC3200 runs perfectly at PC2700 speed and gives them the option of upgrading to 400FSB CPUs in the future. Since PC2700 virtually costs the same as PC3200 it makes no sense to put PC2700 in there. Currently at Crucial the diff is $3 (£1.60). Not going with PC3200 defeats much of your point '2'. Not that it really matters but there can be benfits to running the RAM faster than FSB too, the KT333/400 could use PC2700 at 266FSB and it was faster (5%ish) than PC2100. I believe KT600+ also has this ability to use say PC3200 at 333FSB, I don't know if they could carry over a perf advantage though. People pay out cash to get Dual Channel on SktA for only a 5%ish boost. The (only?) other example is nForce when using the onboard gfx, async PC3200 helps LOADS there (as does Dual Channel).
Ya it was a fresh system instal. I will have to get a picture of the cpu sticker saying the date. Is it possible for a CPU bought in June 2004 to be made pre-week 36 2003? Possible from newegg who sells a ton?
Well do to funding problems on my buddies end the budget has been cut in 2. So only $400. Ive got an asus a7v600 sitting here so i guess i will save $60 and use that. Really cuts deep. He is more interested int he asthetics than the inards i think. So will buy an amd athlon to for around $50 or $60 that fits it. Throw on a 9600 and 1-3 sticks of 512 depending on what the budget allows after that.
