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Building a PC...; for a friend...
Topic Started: Aug 20 2005, 01:08 AM (619 Views)
Crimson
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Karate ni sente nashi.
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well... now after i have my pc up and running... a friend has decided he wants to get a pc built... and i was just looking for some suggestions on parts... he plans on spending some where around $1200 USD on it... and its main use will be playing games... and school work... games like UT2k4 and Guildwars most likely... has to be graphically powerful...

any suggestions?

~ Crimson
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WildWog
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well he would be best off getting a 64bit amd 939 socket, any other needs like dvd burners, tv-turners?
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Crimson
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Karate ni sente nashi.
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WildWog
Aug 20 2005, 01:15 AM
well he would be best off getting a 64bit amd 939 socket, any other needs like dvd burners, tv-turners?

thats basically the direction i was pointing him towards... im just looking for some more detailed specs... like brand names and such... mainly the Video Card... im sure he want two DVD drives... maybe one combo... one normal...

~ Crimson
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WildWog
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Case- $130---Thermaltake Xaser III V1000A Black Chassis: 1.0mm SECC Japan Steel; Front Panel: Aluminum ATX Mid Tower


Power supply- $75---Antec TRUE430 ATX 430W Power Supply


Mother Boards- $114----ASUS A8V DELUXE Socket 939 VIA K8T800 Pro ATX AMD Motherboard


Processors- $275----AMD Athlon 64 3500+ Venice Integrated into Chip FSB Socket 939 Processor Model ADA3500DAA4BP -

Video Card-
$383--ATI All-In-Wonder X800 XT 100-714200 All-In-Wonder Radeon X800XT 256MB GDDR3 AGP 4X/8X

Memory: ---$107---crucial Ballistix 512MB 184-Pin DDR SDRAM DDR 500 (PC 4000) Unbuffered System Memory Model BL6464Z505 - x2


Hard drive---$107---Seagate Barracuda 7200.7 ST3200822A 200GB 7200 RPM IDE Ultra ATA100 Hard Drive -


CD/dvd roms--- SAMSUNG Beige IDE DVD-Dual Layer Burner Model TS-H552U/BEWN BGE - OEM $38.99 (same as mine and its GREAT!!)



Total= about $1210ish

tell me if i forgot anything
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Crimson
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Karate ni sente nashi.
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hmm... not bad... i showed him now... he's looking it over... looks fairly decent to me... but im open for more ideas from ya or others if anyone has some input ^_^

EDIT: ok... now he's complaining that he want a Dual Layer Burner... lol

~ Crimson
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WildWog
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to tell you the truth you don't need 2 drives....a dvd burner is enough.....(ill update it in afew secs ;)
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KoolDrew
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WildWog, the case you chose is not bad. It was one of th few Thermaltake cases that are not made really crappy. It is actually good quality. Case is basically all personal preference so pick whatever you want. For the price of that though I would get something like the Antec P180.

That PSU really is not a good choice at all. It would probably be fine, but a Fortron AX500-A is the same price and a much more capable PSU.

I see no reason to get a VIA chipset. Go for for NF4. My suggestion is the Epox 9NPA+Ultra. It is a great performer and overclocks well if your friend is interested in that now or down the road. He could get save money by getting a 3000+ and overclock it to save money. Then you can use the saved money for a better video card or something else. For a gamer you should really consider overclocking because of this.

There is no reason to get AGP when building a new PC. AGP is quickly being phased out. Also not to mention with the price of that card you could get the much more capable 7800GT. Pretty much that ATI card for that much is a waste of money.

That RAM is a complete waste of money too. Just get some cheap crucial Value RAM. The difference in performance will not be big and the money saved can be uised towards other things such asd more RAM or a better video card. Both would be much more benefitial then "performance" RAM. Also many people think you need such RAM to overclock. This is simply not true. When using a divider you will not limit your CPU overclock.

I would get SATA for the cables :D Really there is no performance difference between IDe and SATA because the drive is the limiting factor, not the interface, but I still think people should get a SATA drive. I also personally would go with the Hitachi drive. It offers a great cost/performance ratio.

I actually do suggest getting two different drives. One DVD-RW and another DVD-ROM. This way you can easily do disc-to-disc copieing. It is not needed, but I like having two drives. Just like how I like having two different hard drives. Having one 80GB for OS and applications, then a second larger one for storage. I suggest the NEC 3540A and a Lite-on 16x DVD-ROM. Also add a floppy as they still might be usefull.

So here are my suggestions.

Epox 9NPA+Ultra
AMD Athlon 64 3000+ Venice
crucial 1GB
Leadtek 6800GT
Creative Audigy 2 Value
Hitachi T7K250 250GB
NEC ND-3540A
Lite-On 16x DVD-ROM
Antec P180
Fortron AX500-A

Do you need monitor, speakers, headphones, mouse, keyboard, floppy or the OS? Also like I said before you can pick the case based on taste. I suggest looking at Antec, Cooler Master, Silverstone and Lian-Li though. There are also cases like the Chieftec Dragon. The Antec P180 is incredibly quiet and cools really well though. Not everybody likes the looks of it, but it is my recommendation.
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Crimson
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Karate ni sente nashi.
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exellent as always KoolDrew :D

your knowledge with computers is awsome :clown:

ill toss the knowledge on to my friend...

as for the case... he's not too picky... as long as it performs well... and doesnt look like a preschooler made it... lol

and as for the rest of the stuff... speakers, monitor... etc... he has already really... or is getting... he says that the tower is all he wanted advice on...

~ Crimson *thx alot man*
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KoolDrew
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For the case you can show him this article about it. It is a very nice case with very impressive cooling and it is really quiet.
Antec P180 Review, Part 1: A Silent System
Antec P180 Review, Part 2: The Whole Nine Yards

So since he does not need the extras this are my suggestions.

Epox 9NPA+Ultra - $108.50
AMD Athlon 64 3000+ Venice - $146.00
crucial 2GB(1GBx2) - $213.98
Leadtek 6800GT - $295.00
Creative Audigy 2 Value - $49.99
Hitachi T7K250 250GB - $121.75
NEC ND-3540A - $44.99
Lite-On 16x DVD-ROM - $20.00
Antec P180 - $111.30
Fortron AX500-A - $79.49
Total - $1,191

He could also get a seperate HSF for the CPU, but the Venices are really cool so he shouldn't have trouble overclocking a little with the stock cooling. With games like BF2, F.E.A.R. and future games really taking advantage of over 1GB of memory it is a wise choice to get 2GB. The Leadtek with that great stock cooler will easily reach Ultra speeds. You could also just get an eVGA card and install your own aftermarket cooler, but I do not think he would want to do that. So I chose one with a good stock cooler. The sound card I chose is a great card for gaming and it is pretty cheap. If he doesn;t need it though and is fine with onboard video then save money in this area. Also as I said before he does not need the second DVD-ROM, but I like having it for disc-to-disc copieing. If he doesn't need it he can save some money there. Try to save in some places to make room for higher-end parts in other areas. Also you can pick whatever color drive you want to match the case.

What monitor will your friend be using exactly? Will he be gaming at larger resolutions? If he plans to game at 1600x1200 or something he could get something like a 7800GT. Try saving money in other areas. The above configuration is good though.
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sk8rdude2
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I was just scrolling down this topic just waiting for drews posts to just pwn wildwog lmao.

i hate the way prices drop so fast though, my 6800GT cost me 400, and know you can get a 7800GT for 400 <_<
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Crimson
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Karate ni sente nashi.
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heh... thx KoolDrew... he wanted 2 DVD drives anyways... for direct copying... all of your suggestsion seem awsome... and im thinking of picking up that vid card for myself as well... since mine is just a hand me down from a friend.. and i cant game like i want to... lol... im sure he'll like your suggestions... but he knows jack about how a computer works really... so ill just convince him that this is a good set up... lol...

thx again

~ Crimson
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Blah425
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If he does plan to OC he should look into gettin a better HSF. Also just alil more you could go to a 3200+ Venice but its not really needed.

I wish I could have picked up that mobo instead of my Epox those rounded cables would be great to have right now!

I would get the P180 its a great lookin case. And I have only heard good about its cooling!
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KoolDrew
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The Venices are very cool to start out with so for doing light overclocking using the stock cooler is fine. I have even seen 2.8GHz with stock cooling. Also there is no reason to get the 3200+. The only advantage it has is the 10x multiplier, but with a good board it is unlikely for you to be limited by the HTT.
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Blah425
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That is why I said it is not needed.
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