How does this sound?

[JamesT]

Mobo - Gigabyte Ga-8i848e-l SKT 478 I848p ATX Sound LAN USB 2.0 FSB800 ATA100

Processor - Intel Pentium 4 2.4ghz 800FSB SKT478 512kb Cache

Hard Drive - Maxtor Diamondmax Plus 9 80gb 7200rpm UDMA133 - OEM

Graphics Card - Sapphire Radeon 9200 128MB DDR TV-Out DVI-Out

Computer Case - JNC 4JA H7650 Blue Type 5 ATX Midi Tower Case 300w PSU Front USB Firewire & Audio

CD Drives - LG 52x Internal IDE CD-ROM Drive

USB - Belkin Hi-Speed USB 2.0 5-Port PCI Card

NIC - D-Link 10/100 Mbps PCI Ethernet Adapter

OS - WinXP Home

What ya think?

[Nimbus]

Sound good to me =)

[LPDad]

Very nice...

I am partial to AMD myself...why pay more for a pentium 4??

..just my opinion.


course, I be savin up for one of those nifty Athlon 64 3400 thingys they are advertising at www.newegg.com for $280 or so.

[JamesT]

You think AMD is better? Hmm im not sure with processors.

[igalan]

Why not get a DVD-ROM when they are almost the same price as a CD-ROM? Or still better, why not getting a DVD burner when you can get a dual one for less than 120 € (LG4040B for instance)? Sooner or later you'll want to move files out of your computer, or make backups; floppy is not an option nowadays . At least get a CD burner...

[JamesT]

Im on a tight budget. I will probally get one though. Does anyone a good place to buy parts, except EBuyer.

[igalan]

Then you better hear LP . Get an AMD XP 2500+ which is half the price of the P4, and a good mobo (for instance Asus A7N8X, or A7N8X-VM -with integrated video card-). You'll save some money without sacrify performance. With the money that you save, you can get a CD or DVD burner.

[RipperRoo]

Originally posted by JamesT
Mobo - Gigabyte Ga-8i848e-l SKT 478 I848p ATX Sound LAN USB 2.0 FSB800 ATA100

Computer Case - JNC 4JA H7650 Blue Type 5 ATX Midi Tower Case 300w PSU Front USB Firewire & Audio

USB - Belkin Hi-Speed USB 2.0 5-Port PCI Card

NIC - D-Link 10/100 Mbps PCI Ethernet Adapter

What ya think?

I think buying the LAN & USB cards a waste of cash, you have LAN on & USB already on the board plus you have front USB ports as well - chances are there is a header on the motherboard for it to connect to so the 5 port USB 2.0 card seems an unneeded extra

[leopold]

Originally posted by igalan
Why not get a DVD-ROM when they are almost the same price as a CD-ROM? Or still better, why not getting a DVD burner when you can get a dual one for less than 120 € (LG4040B for instance)? Sooner or later you'll want to move files out of your computer, or make backups; floppy is not an option nowadays . At least get a CD burner...

Depends what country you're in... You should be able to get some good deals online, if you poke around a bit. Mind, DVD multi-format burners are now going below the £100 mark - check out this little chap from a store very close to where I live... latest spec drive for a whisker under £80! It's really not worth getting a CD-R or DVD-R any more, not at these silly prices. And always go multiformat, it gives you more flexibility when choosing the cheapest media.

What I'd do if I were you, is invest in a Barton core AMD chip - go for the 2500+, which is marginally faster than the 2.4 P4 and a helluva lot cheaper! Use the cash you save to get a DVD+/-RW drive, and you're away!

Oh, and if you're going the AMD route, stick with Gigabyte, they seem to be doing the best boards at the moment.

[JamesT]

I will consider this.

Has anyone got any recommendations on Memory and HD's? Ive found Maxtor to be the leading manufactuer.

[Cirga]

Originally posted by JamesT
I will consider this.

Has anyone got any recommendations on Memory and HD's? Ive found Maxtor to be the leading manufactuer.

I know quite a few people who have never had a problem with Maxtor Drives.. but I also know alot of people who have had nothing but trouble with them. I personally have owned 4 of their hard drives .. and each one of them died on me in under a year.

I have been sticking with Western Digital now.. they are really nice.. and I have a 20 gig one which is about 4 years old now and running strong as ever still. Of course Seagate is also very good.. so there are a few choices out there for you to pick. .. but if you want my suggestion it would be "dont get maxtor"

---

As for memory.. I go brand name.. and that is www.crucial.com. Corsair is really good too.. so just shop around a bit but dont settle for anything generic.

[igalan]

I didn't have problems with Maxtor, but I always get Seagate as first choice. My blacklist has Samsung on the number 1 .

[JamesT]

Heh, Thanks for all your knowledge . I decided on AMD XP 2500+ with Asus A7V8X-X SKT A KT400 8x AGP DDR Sound/lAN/USB 2.0 Mobo.

For the hardrive, ive gone with Seagate Barracuda 80Gb 7200rpm basically because it has good reviews and the price seems rather good.

Im now thinking about Graphics card.Radeon or GeForce? Im leaning on the Radeon side due to price and reviews but GeForce seems more powerful? Im not a great expert on this but what do you guys think? I just need a good stable, durable powerful card to play games, such as Command and Conquer - Generals and such. Have anyone of you had bad or really good experiences with them?

[igalan]

I had a Radeon 9600 Pro until last week, when I got a GeForce FX 5900-XT. The problem is that each new Catalyst driver fixes compatibility with one game, and brakes for another. I was tired of those problems so I moved to the GeForce. I'm glad I did, I don't have problems now, although graphic quality isn't as good as it was with the ATI, but I can live with that .

[RipperRoo]

Originally posted by JamesT
Heh, Thanks for all your knowledge . I decided on AMD XP 2500+ with Asus A7V8X-X SKT A KT400 8x AGP DDR Sound/lAN/USB 2.0 Mobo.

very good choice of motherboards, i know three people who have one, myself included