Author Topic: New system -$1500 budget (Read 382 times)

Big G · « **on:** August 14, 2005, 12:09:49 PM »

Ok guys
I can get a decent monitor ok, but what about the hardware for the cpu ?

Could someone let me know what sort of system or bits to buy?
I want to spend around $1500 to do it and 1 of the techies at my work ( Network company) will gladly put it together for me.
Any ideas ?

Krusty · « **Reply #1 on:** August 14, 2005, 10:53:33 PM »

ASUS mobo: ~90
P4 (with fan) 3.2/3.4-ish say ~200
GeF 6600: ~160 (AGP)
1 GB PC3200: ~120
case: ~50
PSU: ~60
DVD-ROM/CD Burner: ~50
100GB HD: ~120
MS Optical mouse (the best I've used): 10
101+ key keyboard (YMMV): 20

That's ~$880 for a decent setup. If you want faster CPU you still have budget for it. More ram etc you still have a good surplus of $$ to deck it out with the best.

Ted Strykker · « **Reply #2 on:** August 14, 2005, 11:17:41 PM »

http://www.compu-terra.com

streakeagle · « **Reply #3 on:** August 15, 2005, 08:31:07 AM »

I just put this box together using NewEgg.com and put most of my money into the big 3: CPU, RAM, and video card. For a$100 or two more, the video card could have been a little better, but I prefer the single-slot, low power consumption of this one. This PC runs very quiet and cool (cpu at 85 deg F idle, about 100-105 deg F gaming).

1 AMD Athlon 64 3800+ Venice 1GHz FSB Socket 939 Processor Model - Retail    $367.00
1 CORSAIR XMS 2GB (2 x 1GB) 184-Pin DDR SDRAM DDR 400 Unbuffered Dual Channel Kit - Retail   $303.20
1 ASUS EAX800XL/2DTV/256 Radeon X800XL 256MB DDR PCI Express x16 Video Card - Retail       $283.00
2 Western Digital Caviar SE WD1600JS 160GB 7200 RPM Serial ATA II Hard Drive - OEM       $166.00
1 BFG nForce 4 Ultra Socket 939 NVIDIA nForce4 Ultra ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail      $109.00
1 Antec Performance I P160 Silver 1.2mm anodized aluminum ATX Mid Tower Case - Retail      $95.00
1 Antec NeoPower ATX 480W Power Supply - Retail $74.00
1 SONY White IDE DVD Burner Model DRU720A - Retail $71.99

Subtotal:   $1,469.19
Tax:   $0.00
Shipping:   $51.75
Total:    $1,520.94

I could have saved $218 if I would have settled for the 3000 (1.8GHz) cpu and then tried to overclock it to 2.4GHz.
I could have saved $200 if I would have settled for 2x512MB of value RAM, but Aces High 2 uses more than 1.2GB when I play it on this box

I could have saved $20 on the hard drives, but it was a small cost for top of the line SATA2 performance paired in a RAID 0 configuration.
I could have saved $20 on the motherboard, but the cheaper ones didn't have SATA2 (normal SATA has half the potential performance of SATA2).
The DVD burner was actually lower than the local CompUSA sale/rebate pricing.
Taking into account all of the above, I could have spent only $1050, but the extra money ensures I won't want or need upgrades for awhile...
Other than another 2GB of RAM to fill in the empty slots and eventually a 512MB RAM video card with twice the pipelines of this one

Big G · « **Reply #4 on:** August 15, 2005, 10:03:33 AM »

Thanks guys, I'm going to print this off and give it to one of our engineers in here and let him get on with it !
Thanks again everyone!

Big G

Krusty · « **Reply #5 on:** August 15, 2005, 10:53:08 AM »

What kind of bandwidth does SATA2 allow? As compared to normal SATA?

I don't fully remember, but isn't IDE something like 1.6MB/s?

Casper1 · « **Reply #6 on:** August 15, 2005, 02:06:45 PM »

I would recommend, if you are going with an AGP interface MoBo, you buy a better Gfx card than a 6600, IF you have budget for it.

The 6600, while its a great card, is a wee bit behind right now with alot of other cards - and if you have the budget, spend it on the Gfx card!

NewEgg.com rocks, and for finding best deals, try http://www.pricewatch.com

Ted Strykker · « **Reply #7 on:** August 15, 2005, 02:39:27 PM »

Can't go wrong with a ATI Card.They lead all the others as far as performance goes.

streakeagle · « **Reply #8 on:** August 15, 2005, 03:43:49 PM »

Quote

Originally posted by Krusty
What kind of bandwidth does SATA2 allow? As compared to normal SATA?

I don't fully remember, but isn't IDE something like 1.6MB/s?

I believe the theoretical bandwidth of SATA2 is 3GB/s compared to SATA1 at 1.5GB/s. I did some research first to see if it actually made a difference. I found some reviews that showed in most circumstances, the WD1600JD outperformed Raptors. The difference in cost compared to SATA1 or EIDE was negligible, so I figured "what the heck" and went with SATA2. I haven't benchmarked it, but I haven't seen any in-game stutters at all from hard-drive access despite playing sims at 1600x1200x32 at max quality, though the RAM helps out there as well.

As for ATi versus NVidia video cards, it is a tough choice. Price, performance, heat, power consumption, and image quality have gotten really competitive ever since the 6800 series arrived. I leaned toward ATi more out of habit than principle. Though I believe for a given price, ATi still delivers better performance and image quality when running at high resolutions and with FSAA and AF.

This is my first AMD system. I am extremely happy with both the stability and performance of this whole combination. I know my cpu temps are as low or lower than my P3 cpus and dramatically cooler and less power hungry than the P4s.