Please help before I do something stupid !!!!

[coop2]

Ok I had to slap myself silly earlier today to keep my mouse off of the "BUY" button at unitedmicro.com. Here is exactly what i have in my shopping cart. Let me know if I should keep this stuff or if I should change some it.

Mobo- Asus A7v266 Via Apollo KT266

CPU-AMD Athalon XP 1600 1.4 266 FSB

Tower- Enlight Mid-tower 350wt power supply with 7 bays

Fan and heat sink- GlobalWin WBK38

Memory- DDR 266- Micron DDR PC2100 256

Hard Drive-  Western Digital 20 gig 7200 RPM ata/100

Sound Card- Creative Labs - Creative Sound Blaster 128 PCI OEM

CD-ROM-  Artec 52x

Floppy- some generic $10 one

How does all of this look? I will be using my current video card ( gerforce 2 mx ) until I can save enought for a good geforce 3

The total come out to $598 before shipping and $625 shipped.

coop

[funkedup]

I priced the same stuff for $570 at mwave.com with no shipping, Kingston RAM insted of Micron, and a Samsung CD-ROM, and using a "Motherboard Bundle" with mobo/cpu/ram/heatsink/fan/assembly.

I think you want an Asus A7M266 mobo (AMD 761 chipset) if you can get it.  Or better yet a mobo with the KT266A chipset.  I'm using an Epox EP-8K7A (AMD 761 chipset) which is about $30 less than the A7M266.

I think  128 PCI SB cards have some compatibility issues.  I had a PCI 64 and the 128 users seem to have the same (very annoying) problems I did.  I don't know what the best price/performance sound card is but I got an SB Live 5.1 for $35 and have no complaints.

[ 10-17-2001: Message edited by: funkedup ]

[bloom25]

It looks very good, but I'd rather have an IBM 60GXP series hard drive than a WD.  

[coop2]

Funked-
 Why do you think I would benefit from the a7m266 or the KT266a? I am trying to keep this thing sorta cheap  

Also where did you find a SB live 5.1 for $35? I have been finding them for about $115. I must be thinking of a different card.

Bloom25-
  It would take me about 20 years to fill up a 60 gig HD.

[funkedup]

Coop I read some reviews at www.tomshardware.com  that indicated the AMD761 boards performed better than KT266 boards.  And the latest test shows KT266A is the best yet.  I don't know of any KT266A boards on the market yet.  You can read the reviews at tomshardware to see what I am talking about.  

If you want to keep this thing cheap, I wouldn't use ASUS.  For the same chipset and features their boards are consistently more expensive than other brands.

I got the Live 5.1 at www.mwave.com  , same place where I priced your shopping list.  It's an OEM "white box" version with just the card and drivers.  The retail versions include all kinds of software and crap that I didn't need, that's why they cost so much.

[ 10-17-2001: Message edited by: funkedup ]

[funkedup]

PS To answer your thread topic, I don't think that package or price is particularly stupid.  I'm sure it would work fine.

[coop2]

Funked-
   I was just checking out the prices and I selected the exact mobo you have. The price only went down about $40 but it looks A LOT better to me Would you stand behind it and recomend others to buy it?

thanks coop

[jpeg]

What video card are you planning to use?

Your system looks good cept for the sound card

[vatiAH]

Coop,

   The sound blaster Live 5.1 comes packaged several differint ways.  The one you saw for 110 bucks must be the LIVE platnium whtch also has a  control panel that mounts in a 5 1/4 slot on the front of your machine.  This control panel has volume, bass, trebel knobs, mic input jack and head phone jack on it.    You can buy the Sound blaster Live 5.1 value card that is the same card without all the extra hardware and I belive less software.   Right now you can get them for about 30 bucks on the net.

[coop2]

jpeg-
  I was gonna use my geforce 3 mx 32mb that is in my p2 450 until I can save up a good geforce 3. Do you have any recomendations?

coop

[-ammo-]

Originally posted by funkedup:
Coop I read some reviews at www.tomshardware.com  that indicated the AMD761 boards performed better than KT266 boards.  And the latest test shows KT266A is the best yet.  I don't know of any KT266A boards on the market yet.  You can read the reviews at tomshardware to see what I am talking about.  


[ 10-17-2001: Message edited by: funkedup ]

You can buy an Epox MB with the new VIA kt266a chipset at united micro. The EPOX 8KHA+ is the model number. I am going to buy one here in few days and had a place bookmarked where I was gonna buy it...I went back to get the link for you and they are now on backporder. United Micro has them right now though, bundled with the new Athlon XP 1600 CPU too, on sale for $253 if ya mention the pricewatch price.

[ 10-17-2001: Message edited by: -ammo- ]

[-ammo-]

or..How bout this...

Component Description
Processor AMD Athlon XP 1600+ 1.4 GHz 266FSB
Cooling Fans Thermaltake A1110 (Volcano 5) Heat Sink & Cooling Fan for AMD T Bird/Duron
Motherboards EPoX EP-8KHA+ VIA Apollo KT266A PC2100 DDR (200/266)MHz ATX ETA 10/19/01
Memory Micron DDR PC2100 256MB
Floppy Drives 1.44 3.5 FLOPPY INT
Cases Mid-Tower 300 Watt ATX 7 Bay (Front USB ports)
Sound Cards Creative Sound Blaster LIVE value 256 PCI OEM
Video Cards eVGA 32 MB TNT 2 M64 AGP NV-02
Hard Drives IBM 40.1GB 7200RPM ATA/100
CD/DVD ROMs 52x CD-ROM INT


$580 with that vid card, which i would probably just call them and say leave it there and give me the money instead. This is a bare bones system from United Micro. Not a bad price.

[ 10-17-2001: Message edited by: -ammo- ]

[batdog]

nd no I'm not one.

[coop2]

wow ammo i could get all of that for only $580? That is a sweet bellybutton deal.

coop

[-ammo-]

bump!  did you purchase your stuff yet?