rate this rig - what I've come up with so far

rate this rig - what I've come up with so far - Printable Version

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- Goatweed - 04-30-2003

so I've been researching boards and CPU's, comparing prices and performance - I was leaning towards Intel first, then I went heavily towards AMD - specifically, the A7N8X board with an XP2700 CPU, but I've been reading at Anandtech and motherboards.org that this board seemingly needs a lot of BIOS tweaking, espcially with CPU type and speed reporting, as well as FSB speed settings - and while I think I'm fairly technically adept, I really don't wanna have to fuck around with BIOS settings (which is the only major complaint/issue that the people who had it gave). If it means I need to spend a few more $$ to avoid that, so be it.

No now I move back to Intel, but I see their boards are primarilly AGP4x - and while most (if any) applications/games don't make use of this now, it's definitely something that will become necessary by this year's end, if not next - and I don't plan on upgrading the new mobo in a year's time to play Doom3. In any event, I got turned onto Intel's newest board based off the 875 chipset - AGP 8X, USB 2, 800Mhz/533Mhz FSB. All the reviews I read put this board at the top of the heap among Intel's other boards as well as all AMD boards.

Here's where I think I stand :

mobo - Intel D875PBZ (Canterwood) - $180.00
CPU - Intel P4 2.53 Ghz 533 FSB retail w/heatsink and fan - $189.50 or Intel P4 2.66Mhz 533 FSB retail w/heatsink and fan - $218.00
CPU Fan - Thermaltake A1545 P4 Spark 7 - $30.00
RAM - Crucial 2 DIMMs 512MB PC2700 - $149.98
HDD - Either a Maxtor or a Seagate 120 gig drive (unless there's a better brand to get) - $120.00 (estimated)
DVD Drive - either the Lite on 163 16x Drive or the Pioneer 16x DVD drive - $50.00 (estimate)
CDRW Drive - Either the Plextor 48x24x48 or the comparable TDK drive (probably the Plextor though) - $65.00 (estimated)
Sound Card - Soundblaster Audigy Gamer, maybe the Audigy2 card assuming the installation issues have been addressed. I've got the Audigy card in my machine now and it works perfectly - $50.00
Video Card - Most likely the GeForce4 Ti4200 - I'm still not sold on ATI cards, and this card would be a huge step-up from my GF3Ti500. Once the ATI's have been around for a while and enugh people rave about them, I might get one - $150.00 (estimated)
Case - I'm not sure, something from Antec probably, with a 460 watt power supply (at least) - or a PC Show case, but they're usually all flash and really not the best made cases - $120.00 (estimate).

So, I'm looking at around $1,100.00 - I can probably get the board and CPU cheaper at a PC show, as well as the HDD and Vid card - worst case I wait until mid to late summer for the prices on both to come down. The sound card and cd/cdrw drive prices are pretty much on target. I also like that the mobo will do 800Mhz as well as 533 because chances are a year from now the 800Mhz cpu's will be in the price range (if not lower) than the current 533's are - making a CPU upgrade for me easy as Hell to do.

Any thoughts?

- Hybrid - 04-30-2003

dont forget to hack the planet

- Goatweed - 04-30-2003

Angelina was fuckin' hot in that movie :loveya:

- HollywoodJewMoses - 04-30-2003

dont forget, dot matrix printer, IT IS VERY IMPORTANT YOU GET ONE

- Goatweed - 04-30-2003

with the big, green-striped paper?

- Kid Afrika - 05-01-2003

Are you compensating for some short-comings?

It looks to me like you are more interested in names than you are in actual performance. I bet you could save a good $300 by just lowering a few of your standards, and even then you would only see minimal decrease in performance that would hardly be noticable in everyday use.

For instance, I picked up a "Norcent"(?) 52X CDRW for $19 (after rebate) last week. True, it's not a TDK or a Plextor, but it still burns a full CD in about 2 minutes and it was only $19.

I picked up my Soyo Dragon Lite Mobo for $99 and it works like a charm. I think I paid like $139 for my 2.4 GHz processor and my ram was $110 (after rebate) for 2 - 512 MB PC 2700 DDR...

Shop your prices around, and don't be too loyal to brands. You have to keep in mind the performance of computers today. Small differences in speed are hardly noticable. However, it is important to get a good video card if you intend to play the latest games. I picked up an ATI Radeon Pro 9000 128 MB card for $150 and it works just fine. I'm not saying there's anything wrong with the GeForce, but I have just had better luck with ATI.

I've had no problems with show cases, just make sure the case you buy has decent drive mounting and removable bays are nice too. You may want to pick up a different power supply than the one that comes with the case though, especially if you want a lot of power for loads of accessories.

- Goatweed - 05-01-2003

UPDATE :

on a tip, I was informed about some small business specials Dell was having on PC's that expired today. I ended up getting a video-ready Dell 8300 with the Intel 875 mobo and a P4 2.66 CPU @ 533 Mhz - and the board supports 800 Mhz FSB meaning down the road I can toss a P4 $ 800 Mhz in there instead of keeping it @ 533 - sweet!

It's sorts bare bones, there were free upgrades involved :

P4, 2.66 Mhz @ 533 Mhz
512 MB of Dual Channel 333 Mhz PC2700 RAM (I paid for 256, the other 256 was free)
64 MB DDR Nvidia GeForce4MX - I plan on changing this right away, to either the Ti4200/4600
60 gig ATA100 HD, 7200 rpm - I plan on adding a secondary drive, probably 120 MB
48x24x48 CDRW drive - this was a free upgrade from a 48x cdrom drive - it was either this or a free upgrade to a 16x DVD drive. I opted for the burner because DVD drives are dirt cheap and the Dell burners are pretty solid - they're not a Plextor, but it'll be covered under a 2 year warranty)
XP Pro
integrated 10/100 Ethernet (frees up a PCI slot)
no modem (don't need it on this machine - another free PCI slot)
SB Live! card - they wanted $130 for an Audigy 2 card, I can get that much cheaper and a plain old Audigy for even less than that - so I went with the SBLive.

all that with a $300 rebate, free 3-5 day shipping plus all the upgrades that expired tonight brought me to a total of $670 :5: :5: :5: :5:

Thanks to all for the help in getting to this point - I'm still gonna build a machine, but now i can do it more for fun and not for power/gaming which would've cost me a lot more $$ than the above machine did.

- Kid Afrika - 05-01-2003

:17:

If you had to buy a ready-made machine, I guess Dell is the one to go with, but in my experience the proprietary BIOSes that those kind of machines come with don't support upgrades too well.

- Goatweed - 05-01-2003

the only reason I went with the Dell was because of the price - after reading up on the 875 chipset, I was pretty much set on getting it - and this machine had it. without the free upgrades and the $300 rebate, I wouldn't have bought this machine.

the prices I quoted this afternoon were all off of pricewatch (which most were probably dated) and from googlegear - I don't usually shop retail or e-tail, I prefer PC shows/expos because you get better prices and you (usually) don't get hit with tax if you pay cash. I just used those numbers to get a ballpark number, realizing it would probably be a little less. And I guess I'm a fairly loyal user with brands like Intel and Plextor, even Creative - but that's not because other people say they're good, it's because I've owneed their products in some way or shape and they never treated me bad. I've has my share of cheap components and in most cases, you truly do get what you pay for - but that's just me.

- Weird NJ - 05-01-2003

Here's a couple of things I want to add to this conversation.

Get the 120 Gig HD with 8MB cache. I hear they do real well with picking up the speed.

ATI has been raved about already. I think it's the ATI 9700 Series that kicks GeForce's ass in any test, with more compatible features for upcoming games, like Doom3.

As for the overall price for your dream rig, it probably has to do with getting that Pentium. True its a speed war, but like Kid A said, it's mostly negligible. AMD has a better price per Mhz than Intel.

If you already have an Audigy, why get another? Just switch it over to the new rig. Now, an Audigy2 you say? Who the fuck wants to point a speaker at the back of their head?

That is all. :burnfucker:

- The Jays - 05-01-2003

... I rate this a 5, since this rig comes with no boobs or anatomically correct input slot....

- Goatweed - 05-01-2003

Quote:If you already have an Audigy, why get another? Just switch it over to the new rig. Now, an Audigy2 you say? Who the fuck wants to point a speaker at the back of their head

I cant because I'm still gonna use the old PC - mainly for storage, but it'll still be functional and will need a soundcard. And I wanna pint a speaker at the back of my head - I'm all about the surround sound.

We'l see on the vid card, I might go either way - a lot of it depends on the prices I see this weekend for both. If they're similar in that aspect, I might go with the ATI and see just how good it really is.

- Goatweed - 05-01-2003

Quote:... I rate this a 5, since this rig comes with no boobs or anatomically correct input slot....

that was extra, and I didn't have enough to splurge.

- The Jays - 05-01-2003

Quote:that was extra, and I didn't have enough to splurge.

...liar...

- Goatweed - 05-01-2003

Quote:...liar...

you're right, I got nervous and forgot to ask about it. I'm so ashamed right now :-(

- The Jays - 05-01-2003

you should done it the way I buy condoms.... buy stuff like Reeses Pieces, hair spray, clown makeup, condoms, a wiffle ball bat, and a magazine.... you mix it up with the rest of the shit that way they don't notice....

... so you should have asked the question in the middle of the other ones...

- Hummercash - 05-02-2003

if i had read this thread sooner, u coulda had the following:
-$250 off Dimension 8250, Dimension 8300, or Dimesnion XPS code: 6A467BD946EA
-Stackable $45 off $350 code: AA6363649171

coulda saved u an extra $295... i'd tell u to call up dell and ask them to apply the coupons to ur order, but they expired 1 hour ago.

oh, and fuck the audigy... get a Turtle Beach Santa Cruz.

.//chris

- AdolescentMasturbator - 05-02-2003

Yes Santa Cruz owns the Audigy. The Audigy is the most overrated piece of hardware ever. I have a Santa Cruz and I'm never looking back.

- Hummercash - 05-02-2003

u can pick up a TB Santa Cruz for about $40 after rebate... i think its in this weeks circuit city ad.

.//chris

- LyricalGomez - 05-02-2003

Goat, get a Radeon card for that rig, not only does the 9700 blow everything out of the water, it's even beaten the new Geforce chipset in a bunch of benchmark tests.