Advice for dads new comp

[Anarchy]

Well I managed to get my father to try and see logic in getting a new PC, I just cannot stand installing stuff for him anymore, win98 just is becoming obsolete.

I presented him with a similar table to this (then tweaked it a bit to his request):
Intel Pentium 4 2.8GHz $291.38 E-one
Asustek P4P800S Intel 848 $145.13 Super Services
512Mb PC3200 DDR400 SRDRAM $124.76 SCCL
Seagate 80Gb ATA100 7200rpm $123.20 LongCom
AOC 9Klr Flat 19" 45.7cmv 1600x1200@75Hz $312.75 E-one
Samsung 52x24x52x CDRW $57.38 QMB Computers
LiteOn LDW-851S DVD±RW/±R 8X DVD+R $212.63 QMB Computers
Internal 56K Modem $12.38 QMB Computers
Case: Cheapo $50ish Any of above
Keyboard $20ish Any of above
Mouse $15ish Any of above

Total $1364.61
Discuss:
Radeon 9200SE 128Mb $82.13 E-one

A few notes about the use of this comp. It will not be used for gaming, but it will be used for imaging, perhaps movies, a development platform, maybe as a print server/dvd writing (and the usual WP, excel and tah interweb). Overclocking is "over his dead body".
The main reason I think he needs a new pc is to run win2k (or XP, not decided), and any new pc he gets needs to last for at least 4 years.

I need some advice on the motherboard, the ram and importantly the graphics card. He wants a 19" monitor, and hence a higher resolution and more graphics demand. I am thinking I will stick my gf2mx400 (64mb) in and get myself a radeon 9200 or something. Will a gf2mx be able to run it pretty slick?
What things should be tweaked/removed/added?

Cheers for any advice.

[Antallica]

Yeah the MX should be fine overall.

One thing to note will be that if you're getting a cheapo case, then make sure you buy a better PSU. If the PC is going to last at least 4 years, I bet the PSU will die (and possibly take hardware with it) in less than 2 with a cheap PSU.

Enermax is probably the best way to go atm.

[Haunted]

Have you considered going with a Athlon XP 2500+? Far cheaper than a P4 2.8ghz and it should be able to cut the mustard for a while yet.
________
Buy portable vaporizer (http://vaporizers.net/portable-vaporizers)

[Anarchy]

Lets see.. a 2500+ is $129, change the motherboard to a Gigabyte GA-7VT600L Via KT600 LAN ATX $145.13 (hehe exactly the same price) and it all comes out to $1214.23, a saving of about $150. I guess its a good compensation - It won't be pushed to its limits I guess.

Pretty good point about the PSU. Are there any cases (below $100) that include a decent power supply? Looks don't matter *wince*.
Now just to get a few niggling thoughts cleared up: The 9200 (or higher) is most likely agp 8x. I have agp 4x mobo, are the gfx cards/mobos back compatible?

[casemodder]

Originally posted by Anarchy
Now just to get a few niggling thoughts cleared up: The 9200 (or higher) is most likely agp 8x. I have agp 4x mobo, are the gfx cards/mobos back compatible?

In short, it should be fine. But of course it will only run at 4x speeds.
On the cases and decent PSUs for below 100 front... AOpen would be your best bet. However they come with 250 - 300watts, maybe not enough for the system you are looking to put togeather, the 300 would be the minium i would use in your position.

[Forgiven]

With the save up, buy a better graphic card instead of the 9200se.... and do you really need the DVD writer?

[WhiteDragon]

If it's going to last for 4 years you probably want to chuck in another 512Mb stick of RAM and consider a bigger hard drive like a 120Gb or 160Gb.

[Agent666]

those kind of things can be added later on.....

why a CDRW and a DVD recorder?

[Anarchy]

He wants a DVD writer for backups, and I will be using it quite a bit too. I guess he doesnt *really* need the cdrw, but it's something like a $30 price difference between a cdrom and cdrw.

[swiftynz]

If you want it to last 4 years you might want to change a few things:

1) Don't get a cheapo case/psu. An Aopen H600A (~$130) would be a good choice since it is well made and comes with a fortron 300W psu (very good brand).
2) In 4 years time 2-4gb of ram (or more?) will be the standard, so I'd recommend putting 1gb in now. It does make a difference, especially considering the type of applications it will be used for. You could always upgrade this later, but DDR is going to be phased out, and once a technology is phased out it tends to get costly unless you buy second hand. Ram's pretty cheap at the moment now anyway.
3) If you're going to use 2x512mb of ram you might want to consider a dual channel 865PE board.
4) 120gb hard drives are better value in terms of $/gb at the moment.
5) You don't need two optical drives unless on the fly copying is REALLY important to you. Personally I'd ditch the other one and stick with just the DVD writer.
6) Your GF2MX would do the job fine. :)
But if I was you I'd consider something more powerful than a 9200SE for yourself... it isn't a gamers card. At the very least get a standard 128bit 9200 non-se.

Most of my suggestions will cost a bit more money, but if you want it to last 4 years it will be money well spent. :)

[Anarchy]

Ah my bad, I assumed that dvd writers couldnt burn cds :mad:
In that case I shall just a cd drive from the old comp.

I will leave it with a 80 gig, I feel that when/if he does fill it up, the price will have dropped significantly.
As for dual channel, I had a quick look over the list on pricespy and couldn't find any that said dual channel (for AMD, Haunted made a good point). And again, it will probably be 512mb for now, if he does feel he needs more, it shouldn't be a hassle.

Cheers for all the help, I'm just trying to decide on a case/psu. 350W will be the minimum (my 1600+ is on the verge with a 300W).
Having a quick look at acsent, they have an Excel 370W for around $100. Are their PSUs ok?

[Forgiven]

Originally posted by Anarchy
Ah my bad, I assumed that dvd writers couldnt burn cds :mad:
In that case I shall just a cd drive from the old comp.

I will leave it with a 80 gig, I feel that when/if he does fill it up, the price will have dropped significantly.
As for dual channel, I had a quick look over the list on pricespy and couldn't find any that said dual channel (for AMD, Haunted made a good point). And again, it will probably be 512mb for now, if he does feel he needs more, it shouldn't be a hassle.

Cheers for all the help, I'm just trying to decide on a case/psu. 350W will be the minimum (my 1600+ is on the verge with a 300W).
Having a quick look at acsent, they have an Excel 370W for around $100. Are their PSUs ok?

Try to get an enermax 350W PSU which is around $120

[swiftynz]

Originally posted by Anarchy
Cheers for all the help, I'm just trying to decide on a case/psu. 350W will be the minimum (my 1600+ is on the verge with a 300W).
Having a quick look at acsent, they have an Excel 370W for around $100. Are their PSUs ok? The Aopen 300W will be more than enough to power that system, not all 300W psus are created equal.

For an extreme example, the Enermax 300W psu has the following specs:
3.3V: 28A
5V: 30A
12V: 22A

The Olympic 320W psu I got with my old Olympic case has these specs:
3.3V: 14A
5V: 5A
12V: 13A

So despite carrying a rating some 20W higher, you can see that in reality the Enermax can deliver more power, a lot more in fact. It is actually impossible for that olympic psu to supply anywhere near 320W. That olympic is very poor though, and your 300 will probably be better.

The Aopen 300W has 3.3, 5 and 12V rails of 28, 30 and 15A respectively, similar to the enermax except for the 12V rail. If you look at your generic 300W psu, I think you'll find it is considerably worse than the Aopen.

[Ragnor]

Definately look into getting a better monitor. Those AOC's are cheap and nasty. Much too blurry at any resolution over 1024 and you don't buy a 19" to run at 1024.

[gingeralenz]

Yes I would agree with the AOC monitor being cheap and nasty. If your doing photo imaging look at a Philips or Sony. I'd also go with the 865pe chipset and get link (http://www.qmb.co.nz/p.aspx?101484) at 149+gst. Very good value for money. Has gigabit lan too. MSI DVD writers have a nifty function called HDBURN - which allows you to burn 1.4gb onto a standard 700mb cd.

[Anarchy]

I'll take anyones word about monitors, I have no experience there. A philips one is about $50 more, so its not that bad.
The HDBURN feature sounds OK, but I think DVDs will be just as good in the end.
Ill go with the AOpen for now, seems they have good karma around here :)