Tm36usa a CPU bought should be brand new unless specified, as such I can't say there would be much chance of buying a CPU made pre week 37 2003 in June 2004, esp from a well respected co like Newegg. Ebay on the other hand may be different, but then you get no warranty and don't know if the CPU has been o/c'ed (mildly or heavily). Goblin Tinkerer that's a mean blow, but still I think he'll be amazed at what he can get for such a small budget. The Durons aren't bad at all, the TbredB/Thorton are pretty close to Barton so either of those can save you some money, esp if you o/c. If not whatever the fastest AthlonXP is for your money is wise. You've got the mobo sorted, 333FSB mobos are dirt cheap but it would be nicest to get a 400FSB for better upgradibility. If he's a gamer the gxf card is where it really counts, 9800Pro is best bang (FX5900XT close behind) but if that's too much the 9600Pro/XT are the next best thing, 9600 is a fair step down from them but still a decent card. 512MB is certainly ideal, PC2700 won't save you anything ($3?) so for future upgrades PC3200 would be wiser (but set it sync to FSB). For the case I'd suggest Antec 3700AMB, 3700BQE or Sonata which are great value for money, well built, include a 120mm fan and sport a lovelly Antec PSU. For gamer a Duron 1.8ghz (XP2000+ -ish) coupled with a better gfx card is much more preferable to an AthlonXP2600+ with a lesser gfx card.
I bought it BRAND NEW from Newegg with all the warrantys and everything. Im getting that pic for you of my cpu in 5 min. Brb [Edit] Ok i got a pic of my 3000+ for austin. Here you go. There you go. That the one i got from newegg last month. I dont know where to look for the week and year but im sure you do! [/EDIT]
I dont know US prices, (and cba to price them all), but the board you have, cheap barton or barton -m (2500+ish), 512mb pc 3200 budget brand, 80gig maxtor/seagate 72--rpm 8mb cache 350watt decent brand psu, cheap dvdrw (liteon/aopen maybe?) radeon 9500-9600 (possibly 2nd hand) decent heatsink, ie zalman 7000, aero7 etc..
Ok here is what im thinking on. Ganna totally build the case from scratch. Save the back plate and other stuff im rippingout of my old hewlett crappard. Still need a power supply. Looking throught the forums for a place that sleeves the cables for you. Dont feel like messing with it! Rosewill 52x32x52x16 CD-RW & DVD Combo Drive, Model C523216, Retail Item# N82E16827190002 $39.99 3Vantec 80mm Blue Spectrum UV fan, Model "SP8025UV-BL" Item# N82E16811999624 $11.70 Maxtor 80GB 7200RPM IDE Hard Drive, Model 6Y080P0, OEM Drive Only Item# N82E16822144205 $72.99 Kingston ValueRAM Dual Channel Kit 184 Pin 1G(512MBx2) DDR PC-3200 - Retail (one of these is mine!) $175.00 AMD Athlon XP 2400+, 266 FSB, 256K Cache Processor - OEM $67.00 HIS Hightech ATI RADEON 9600SE Video Card, 128MB DDR, 64-bit, DVI/TV-Out, 8X AGP, Model "R8S-32-A" -RETAIL (is this too crappy?) $67.99 Product total: $434.67 -$87.50 =347.17+tax
Tm36usa, that should definitely be unlocked, it is a week 36 2003 CPU, about the best you can get as later ones are locked and earlier ones may not o/c quite as well on average. Here's the break down of the codes on the CPU sticker ... AXDA = AMD desktop 130nm (IIRC) 3000 = rating (ie XP3000+) D = OPGA package type K = 1.65v stock V = Max die temp 85'C 4 = 512k L2 cache size E = 200/400FSB AQZFA = Stepping code (you can check how others with the same stepping code o/c) 0336 = Manufacture Ddate, 2003 week 36 I'm not sure what the other codes mean, but the above is by far the most important. Goblin Tinkerer Asus a7v600 is KT600 so 400FSB capable, so it's nice to use PC3200 that way he can just drop in an XP3000+ or XP3200+ at some future point. For optimum perf the RAM may run faster at PC2100 speed (for 266FSB CPU) and timings should be tight too (use SPD). It's not Dual Channel so all you need is one stick and 512MB is plenty if the budget is remotely tight (save $90ish?). With that saving you could beef up the gfx card which is VERY important for gaming, 9600Pro/XT unless you can stretch to FX5900XT or ideally 9800Pro. 9600SE is VERY VERY slow. You could also save on the CPU, a Duron 1.8ghz with 9600Pro (or better) may not sound impressive but it would be light years ahead in gaming perf. If you're going for XP2400+ I'd suggest you push a little further for a 333FSB CPU like the XP2600+, really helps improve quite a few things. Of course any XP2100+ you buy should be very happy to switch from 266FSB to 333FSB giving you an instant XP2600+ (both use same multiplier), the multiplier of XP2400+ is very limiting. Just food for thought.
Thats why i am here asking you guys. As far as comps go, I couldnt pour piss out a boot with the instuctions written on the heel. All I know is ram seems to always make the biggest diffrance in my systems so i went with decent ram at good speed. Ganna go check on maybe a 1.8. The proccessor I have above was only 67. Springing for the 9600 might put me over the budget as i want to get a fairly large array of fans, grills and cathodes. Then their will be the price of the case material. Sheesh i dunno if i can get this done for the budget. One of those sticks of ram was for me. He, er she is only getting one stick of it. ok would i be better off with this? AMD Duron 1.8GHz Socket A Processor - OEM Model# DHD1800DLV1C Item # N82E16819104160 Specifications: Manufacturer: AMD Model: DHD1800DLV1C Core: Applebred Operating Frequency: 1.8GHz FSB: 266MHz Cache: L1/64K+64K; L2/64K Voltage: 1.5V Process: 0.13Micron Socket: Socket A Multimedia Instruction: MMX, SSE, 3DNOW!, 3DNOW!+ Packaging: OEM (Processor On It will only save me $20
Not likely on an $800 budget. Not to mention the x800XT offers more bang for the buck. Avoid generic power supplies... all other advice is pretty good. Another good base is an Abit NF7-S and a 2600+ Mobile with a good heatsink/fan setup.
start saving, i wouldnt even consider spending that little on a setup.. $200 is about £250 I guess.. jees, my watercooling cost mroe than that!
It's always difficult on tight budgets to know where you should cut the costs. What is her main use(s) for the PC? For an idea why 9600SE is going to severely effect gaming perf ... http://graphics.tomshardware.com/graphic/20031229/vga-charts-03.html This is with a P4 3.2ghz and it is worth bearing in mind that the differences between cards is generally less pronounced as CPU speed lowers, more for the higher end gfx cards, 9600 diffs should be about the same. However do see the huge differences between the 9600SE, 9600 and 9600XT. UT2003; 29, 45, 70. BF1942; 69, 95, 149. Call Of Duty; 34, 56, 95. Q3; 59, 109, 164. Warcraft III; 32, 50, 55. C&C-G; 39, 43, 44. Halo; 19, 22, 34. Nacar T2004; 30, 47, 64. X2; 22, 33, 48. Aqua3; 15495, 20338, 31296. These are all using 1024x768 without AA+AF, some games don't gain as much from gfx power as they do form CPU power, esp at these settings. As for the CPU, are you likely to try o/c'ing? The Duron (64k) 1.8ghz is about equal to an AthlonXP2000+ (1.67ghz). An extra 40% cash to go from XP2000+ to XP2400+? The Tbred/Thorton (256k) are about 5% slower clock for clock than the Barton (512k), hence Tbred @2100mhz is about equal to Barton @2000mhz (if FSB etc is the same). The Barton's 'XP rating' is a touch flattering, the Tbred XP2600+ is decently faster than the Barton XP2500+, more than the extra 100 rating implies. If you aren't o/c'ing the 256k CPUs may be well worth going for ... but as always the price diffs are the key things. Maybe you could tell her with a $400 budget corners are going to have to be cut producing uneven perf (ie good CPU vs good gfx etc). Perhaps she should get the PC for $400 and then save up for fancy stuff like frills.
Well i think im going to end up putting in some cash on this one. I owe my buddy for his bday past. Had ordered an item that never came in so i cancled it and am putting it towards this. Im ganna go with a 2400 and the 9600 xp. Going to be living out of tuna cans for the next month or 2 but hopefully it will be worth it. O and this will be her work rig/ my buddies counter strike zero rig.
