Me comp

[Barry the Seagull]

Ok you lot would of rememberd me from my first thred on me upgrading my comp well i have now got $3000 to spend on a comp of my own so befor i go off and buy it i need people to give the all clear Just so i dont go and buy an over priced peice of junk
so here we are

Thermaltake Highest Xaser II A6000 Plus Chassis with Windows & 5 x Fans Silent Fan, 420W Power Supply. $399.00

AMD Athlon XP2500+ $198.00

EPOX 8RDA+ SKT A NForce2 $233.00

2 X Corsair 512Mb DDR400 $526.00

TYAN Tachyon ATI® RADEON 9700 PRO, $692.00

Western Digital WD800JB 80GB ATA/100 8MB 7200 rpm$198.00

Genius Comfy KB-21e keyboard. $39.00

Microsoft Wheel Mouse Optical PS2/USB OEM. $29.00

Acer AL512 15" LCD Flat Panel, 1024 x 768, Speakers.$540.00

Win xp pro upgrade $200.00

Total $3054.00

Prices are from dragonpc.co.nz

it is only an xp pro upgrade cause i am just going to use win 95 then upgrade to ME then use xp pro upgrade sound good yes or no

i think this is a good system and if you are going to suggest any changes just remember i only have a budjet of $3000 i might be able to go 100 over but thats it

thanks

[fatsanchez]

1) shop around, some of those prices are a bit steep (try crazy or starlyte)

2) mabye get a 120gb seagate instead of the 80gb wd. seagates are great drives, and a fair bit cheaper...

[NTBlowz]

That spec looks fine

So u will be using the speaker from LCD screen?

And do u plan to oc? If so the stock HSF won't cut it.

Also change that R9700Pro to R9800NP.. ;)

But yeah like sanchez said some of those price are a bit dear..

[siti]

I would reccomend dropping one 512 stick and getting 2 more hard drives!!!!
That will also put you under $3000!

[=/adrenaline/=]

with the windows upgrade CD there is a way to make it bootable, so that you don't have to upgrade from 95 then ME, just google it.

[bob_dole_nz]

As sanchez said, switch to the seagate. You will love the extra 40gb space.

if you MUST have the xaser then have the xaser, but you could get a diff case and and a superflower or something psu.

Also, do you need 1gb dual channel? you could do 512mb (single or dual) and spend the extra bling on something like and SLK900 and Vantec Stealth. Or kit the whole damn rig out with zalman. oh to have pure zalman pc.

I presonally wouldn't get an LCD screen to game on, but again, I would love to have an LCD screen, for the rest of stuff.

[Ragnor]

Originally posted by Barry the Seagull

it is only an xp pro upgrade cause i am just going to use win 95 then upgrade to ME then use xp pro upgrade sound good yes or no


Definately no to Installing 95, then ME then XP. It's always better to start with clean slate. However usually with those upgrade CD's you can start the setup, put in your previous full version OS to verify and install XP only..

You can definately do this with a full version Win2000 and an upgrade WinXP CD, not sure about from 95, ME >> XP

[NTBlowz]

U can do fresh install of WXP from the upgrade CD, during the install it will ask u to put previous OS disc in the verify that u have previous OS (Windows 95 and later) even though on the box it didn't say that Win 95 can be upgraded but if u put Win 95 CD in it still work.. a loophole that M$ left :p

Also 15" LCD is fine for gaming.. ask Grrr as he saw me playing using 15" LCD ;)

[Barry the Seagull]

thanks but can you please tell me what parts i could get at a cheaper price so i can search for them and not redo the whole system

[Valium]

Dark Rider $189

Enermax EG365P-VE (FC) 350W ATX PSU $128

Alpha PAL8942 Heatsink + Vantec Stealth $115

Intel Pentium 4 2.4GHz/800MHz FSB Box Product CPU $358

Abit IC7-G Intel 875 $450

2 X Corsair 256Mb DDR400 $367.00

Gigacube ATI Radeon 9800 NP $613

Seagate 120Gb 7200rpm $187

Some Random Keyboard ~$20

MS Optical IntelliMouse Explorer v3 USB & PS/2 (OEM) $55

Philips 107T 17" $325

Win xp pro upgrade $200.00


Total - $3007

alot of these prices were off pricespy (http://www.pricespy.co.nz) but could be found cheaper, if you are buying that much most places will give you a 'good deal' on some items...

Im assuming that you already have speakers...

[paul rhee]

the case seems too pricy..
also why the 9700? you can get 9800 ATI original for cheaper..
and why the RDA+? i would definitly go for NF7-2 instead.. if you want to stick with AMD that is..

or go for 2.4c/865PE setup, which will yield in similar performance level..

[Barry the Seagull]

nah the speakers come with the lcd screen

and i like the xaser 2 cause it has 5 fans fan control amd a 420 watt psu the vid card is a 9700 probut i am going to look for a cheaper one

[NTBlowz]

If u want fan control get the Rheobus from www.overclockers.co.nz ;) (+ much better looking) or Hardcano series from www.pcgear.co.nz

Also u can get Superflower 400W w/ 2fan + active control for $130 or 500W w/ 3 fan + active control for $150ish from www.qmb.co.nz

Btw more fan also means higher noise.. for better airflow just get an Auriga case with built in duct mod which will give u much lower temp than Xaser with 5 fans

[Grrr!!]

Also 15" LCD is fine for gaming.. ask Grrr as he saw me playing using 15" LCD ;) [/B]

Yep ... that is a very nice LCD, though some people may be more picky then me.

I'm sure as hell getting one next time I have lots of money.


Anyway, if I was you I wouldn't bother with a gig of RAM.

I myself run a gig of Dual Channel DDR333 and it is hardly worth the effort if you are a tidy computer (ie, not like me, leaving things like Diablo II minimized while using photoshop and having 28 other icons in the tray), and even then I never exceed 700MB usage.

If I was you, I would use the extra money for an upgrade to a 17" TFT or more HDD space.

Also, there is absolutely no real reason why one would want dual channel on an athlon board (except if you're like me and run onboard video at DDR666) it offers very little performance increase for the extra money.

[WhiteDragon]

If you have that much to spend, I would definitely go for 1Gb RAM. I am kicking myself now for selling off one of my 512Mb sticks :(

[NTBlowz]

Originally posted by Grrr!!
Yep ... that is a very nice LCD, though some people may be more picky then me.

I'm sure as hell getting one next time I have lots of money.


Anyway, if I was you I wouldn't bother with a gig of RAM.

I myself run a gig of Dual Channel DDR333 and it is hardly worth the effort if you are a tidy computer (ie, not like me, leaving things like Diablo II minimized while using photoshop and having 28 other icons in the tray), and even then I never exceed 700MB usage.

If I was you, I would use the extra money for an upgrade to a 17" TFT or more HDD space.

Also, there is absolutely no real reason why one would want dual channel on an athlon board (except if you're like me and run onboard video at DDR666) it offers very little performance increase for the extra money.

Well said Grrr, with ram u can always add another one, and DC on Athlon only offer very smal performance boost, let not talk about Ram compatability when running in DC

Also with LCD screen once u bought it u are likely to stick with it for at least a couple of years. Judging from the current trend 17" LCD is the way to go (AOC LM721A looks pretty nice, with 16ms response time + DVI for about $750incl GST, it uses the same panel that Hitachi/NEC/BenQ used)

[Barry the Seagull]

i was thinking about it and thought that paying a bit extra is worth it for a p4 system like this

Zalman 80mm sleeve bearing, 1700rpm, 20.6cfm, 20dba $26.00

Hyena PC-146 Blue Tower case with 300W Power $125.00

Super Flower Switching Power supply SF-400TS 400W $121.34

Intel Pentium 4 2.4GHz, 800MHz FSB $372.00

Abit IC7-G Intel Canterwood $469.00

2 X Corsair 512Mb DDR333, $466.00

"Tyan" Tachyon G9500 PRO, ATI® RADEON™ 9500 PRO $484.00

Seagate 120Gb 7200rpm $195.75

Genius Comfy KB-21e Scroll $39.00

Microsoft Wheel Mouse Optical 3xButtons PS2/USB OEM.$29.00

Acer AL512 15" LCD Flat Panel, 1024 x 768, Speakers $540.00

Win xp pro upgrade $200.00

Coolermaster XDream HAC-V81 CPU Cooler $40.00

Total $3107.09

so yes no pay the bit extra for p4 or just stick with my origanal AMD system

[NTBlowz]

Change that to R9700NP.. which is about same price according to www.pricespy.co.nz but much faster

And if u don't mind getting a slightly slower mobo then Abit IS7-G is also good for $100 less

Also get DDR400 otherwise the ram maybe bottlenecking ur pc

Btw that CM fan is for AMD :rolleyes:

If it was the above setup but in AMD.. I would get

TT Smart Fan II with speed control $22

Hyena PC-146 Blue Tower case with 300W Power $125.00

Super Flower Switching Power supply SF-400TS 400W $121.34

AMD Athlon XP2500+ $180.00

Abit NF7-S $275

Twinmos Dual Channel Kit 2X 512Mb DDR400, $360.00

PowerColor Radeon 9700 128Mb DDR AGP 8X with DVI $490.00

Seagate 120Gb 7200rpm $195.75

Genius Comfy KB-21e Scroll $39.00

Microsoft Wheel Mouse Optical 3xButtons PS2/USB OEM.$29.00

AOC LM-721A 17" LCD with 16ms response time + DVI/Dsub. $750

Win xp pro upgrade $200.00

Coolermaster XDream HAC-V81 CPU Cooler $40.00

Total $2827

w/ Creative Inspire 5100 5.1 speaker + $160 = $2987.09

That should be a bit balanced

[Ragnor]

Hyena PC-146 Blue Tower case with 300W Power $125.00


I would definately go for a different case, 'Hyena' is symnonymous with junk.

Check out the cases OCNZ imports:
http://www.overclockers.co.nz/product/case/index.shtml

Then I recommend you ask www.starlyte.co.nz or www.stylespc.co.nz for a price if you want to get one.