Yet another "does this seem like a good system to build" thread - Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community

User Name · 08-27-2003, 07:07 PM

I am building my first computer system, after being stuck with a 475mhz Compaq for three+ years. I've taken apart my Compaq dozens of times, and have been reading about computer hardware for two years, however, so I'm fairly confident that I can put a new system together. I have one question. I do not want to mess with thermal compound, so I plan on using the pink pad on the bottom of my heatsink. I want a stable system that can play relatively modern games without trouble, and will never overclock. Will the bundled fan/heatsink and pink pad suffice?

Here is the hardware that i plan to order from Newegg. Note that I have a $480 budget, and plan to use my existing monitor, printer, scanner. webcam, and DSL equipment, and I have the Windows 2000 CD that I bought used. Please give me your opinions and/or suggestions.

FOXCONN SUPER CASE MID TOWER CASE PC-115 w/ 350W PSU

Acer CDRW/DVD Combo Drive Model CB4824-LA0 Retail

NEC 1.44MB Floppy Drive FD1231H-304/FD1231H-305 - OEM, DRIVE ONLY

Seagate 40GB 7200rpm EIDE Hard Drive OEM Barracuda 7200.7 ST340014A

Aopen KeyBoard KB-910 104-key Windows Layout

Viking 256MB 32X64 PC2700 DDR, Unbuffered, CL2.5, Model VGDDR32X64PC2700 - OEM

ASUS A7V8X-X AMD Athlon/Athlon XP/Duron Socket A, Processor Mother Board

A4TECH OPTICAL WHEEL MOUSE 5 BUTTON DUAL SCROLL

AMD ATHLON XP 2500+ "Barton" 333 FSB PROCESSOR CPU- RETAIL

4QTech A2 MultiMedia Speakers

ATI OEM RADEON 9000 ATLANTIS 64MB DDR TV VIVO NO DVI AGP 250/200 BULK

Zello · 08-27-2003, 07:18 PM

Looks like to me that it would run every game thats out there currently. Unless I missed it or you have on board sound, I don't see a sound card listed.

No idea about using the pink pad though.

cowlick · 08-27-2003, 07:37 PM

Seems peachy keen.
Does the motherboard fit the tower and do you have enough USB hook ups?

sixate · 08-27-2003, 07:44 PM

The retail version of that CPU will be fine since you're not gonna OC. If you game I would suggest a better vid card. Maybe a sound card. I was gonna suggest Turtle Beach Santa Cruz because just a few weeks ago it was $39, but now it's $57. At $39 it can't be beat. I have that card in my PC and I love it, but if you're tight for cash maybe $57 is a little more than you're willing to spend. Maybe watch the price of the card and wait for it to drop in price and add it later.

The 40 gig hard drive you're looking to buy is $65.. I would suggest this 80 giger for $73. It's not one of their special edition drives with 8mb cache, but if you'd like a little more storage then I'd get that.

No matter what you do you're gonna be happy as hell after being stuck on that slow Compaq for so long.

Johnny Rotten · 08-27-2003, 07:58 PM

I'd recommend at least a Radeon 9500. You can get them for $120 on Newegg. The 9000 is a bit gimped, unfortunately. It would be a bottleneck against that CPU when gaming.

You also might want to check out http://www.svcompucycle.com and http://www.googlegear.com for price comparisons. They are both highly rated at http://www.resellerratings.com, especially SVC.

User Name · 08-27-2003, 08:04 PM

Zello: The motherboard comes with a built-in sound chip.
Cowlick: The case is a mid-tower, so it should fit the board.
Sixate: I don't care much for sound. I'm using your suggestion about the hard drive. Thank you very much.
Johnny Rotten: My budget does not allow for a more expensive video card, and I would like to buy all my components from one retailer.

Thank you all very much for the replies.

I have a follow-up question. Will using Windows 2000 hurt my gaming performance significantly? I like the stability very much, and dual-booting with 98SE seems like a pain to configure.

Lasereth · 08-28-2003, 12:02 PM

Windows 2000 will be fine for gaming. If you don't plan on overclocking, that Barton will still kick ass and run games very smoothly.

I'd get a better videocard. Hell, you can get a GeForce 4 TI4200 64 MB for around $80.00 at various places on the Internet. That card is very nice for the price. Again, if you want to play games and have it kick a LOT of ass, you'll need a better videocard. Nice motherboard by the way; I'd say its only competitor is the Abit NF7-S for the price.

PS: If you wanted to overclock, you could do so very easily with that Barton. I know it will go to 2.2 GHz with a Volcano CPU fan and that RAM that you have.

-Lasereth

GakFace · 08-28-2003, 03:42 PM

Looks pretty good. Yes I've read that you don't have much money for a better video card, but there are games in the makes right now that I figure might want 128 Megs of RAM or so. Don't get me wrong 64 is great, I had one until it died (Lets not go into that, that was a sad day

, hehe). Then again, I'm sure your current Vid Card isn't going to cost a ton of money or anything, and right now you just wanna play games of the day. So it all looks good.

I couldn't help it, I HAD to get a new one when my GF3 died... So I went out and got a GFX 5900

Sabu · 08-31-2003, 08:36 AM

Yep yep yep - above posts are correct - if you want a new computer for gaming you are gonna need a better video card - especially if you don't want to have to update to a DX9 card in about a year or so - I don't live in america so I wont go into pricing but I've just ordered a Tyan Tachyon 9600Pro 128mb - it cost £117 (UK) so thats about $170 I think.

08-27-2003, 07:07 PM	#1 (permalink)
User Name Banned Location: Urf	Yet another "does this seem like a good system to build" thread I am building my first computer system, after being stuck with a 475mhz Compaq for three+ years. I've taken apart my Compaq dozens of times, and have been reading about computer hardware for two years, however, so I'm fairly confident that I can put a new system together. I have one question. I do not want to mess with thermal compound, so I plan on using the pink pad on the bottom of my heatsink. I want a stable system that can play relatively modern games without trouble, and will never overclock. Will the bundled fan/heatsink and pink pad suffice? Here is the hardware that i plan to order from Newegg. Note that I have a $480 budget, and plan to use my existing monitor, printer, scanner. webcam, and DSL equipment, and I have the Windows 2000 CD that I bought used. Please give me your opinions and/or suggestions. FOXCONN SUPER CASE MID TOWER CASE PC-115 w/ 350W PSU Acer CDRW/DVD Combo Drive Model CB4824-LA0 Retail NEC 1.44MB Floppy Drive FD1231H-304/FD1231H-305 - OEM, DRIVE ONLY Seagate 40GB 7200rpm EIDE Hard Drive OEM Barracuda 7200.7 ST340014A Aopen KeyBoard KB-910 104-key Windows Layout Viking 256MB 32X64 PC2700 DDR, Unbuffered, CL2.5, Model VGDDR32X64PC2700 - OEM ASUS A7V8X-X AMD Athlon/Athlon XP/Duron Socket A, Processor Mother Board A4TECH OPTICAL WHEEL MOUSE 5 BUTTON DUAL SCROLL AMD ATHLON XP 2500+ "Barton" 333 FSB PROCESSOR CPU- RETAIL 4QTech A2 MultiMedia Speakers ATI OEM RADEON 9000 ATLANTIS 64MB DDR TV VIVO NO DVI AGP 250/200 BULK Last edited by User Name; 08-27-2003 at 07:09 PM..

08-27-2003, 07:18 PM	#2 (permalink)
Zello Crazy Location: Vincennes, IN	Looks like to me that it would run every game thats out there currently. Unless I missed it or you have on board sound, I don't see a sound card listed. No idea about using the pink pad though. __________________ Sorry, you can not add yourself to your own list.

08-27-2003, 07:37 PM	#3 (permalink)
cowlick Insane Location: Seattle	Seems peachy keen. Does the motherboard fit the tower and do you have enough USB hook ups? __________________ "It's a long story," says I, and let him up.

08-27-2003, 07:58 PM	#5 (permalink)
Johnny Rotten lost and found Location: Berkeley	I'd recommend at least a Radeon 9500. You can get them for $120 on Newegg. The 9000 is a bit gimped, unfortunately. It would be a bottleneck against that CPU when gaming. You also might want to check out http://www.svcompucycle.com and http://www.googlegear.com for price comparisons. They are both highly rated at http://www.resellerratings.com, especially SVC. __________________ "The idea that money doesn't buy you happiness is a lie put about by the rich, to stop the poor from killing them." -- Michael Caine

08-27-2003, 08:04 PM	#6 (permalink)
User Name Banned Location: Urf	Zello: The motherboard comes with a built-in sound chip. Cowlick: The case is a mid-tower, so it should fit the board. Sixate: I don't care much for sound. I'm using your suggestion about the hard drive. Thank you very much. Johnny Rotten: My budget does not allow for a more expensive video card, and I would like to buy all my components from one retailer. Thank you all very much for the replies. I have a follow-up question. Will using Windows 2000 hurt my gaming performance significantly? I like the stability very much, and dual-booting with 98SE seems like a pain to configure. Last edited by User Name; 08-27-2003 at 08:07 PM..

08-27-2003, 07:44 PM	#4 (permalink)
sixate Registered User Location: Somewhere in Ohio	The retail version of that CPU will be fine since you're not gonna OC. If you game I would suggest a better vid card. Maybe a sound card. I was gonna suggest Turtle Beach Santa Cruz because just a few weeks ago it was $39, but now it's $57. At $39 it can't be beat. I have that card in my PC and I love it, but if you're tight for cash maybe $57 is a little more than you're willing to spend. Maybe watch the price of the card and wait for it to drop in price and add it later. The 40 gig hard drive you're looking to buy is $65.. I would suggest this 80 giger for $73. It's not one of their special edition drives with 8mb cache, but if you'd like a little more storage then I'd get that. No matter what you do you're gonna be happy as hell after being stuck on that slow Compaq for so long.

08-28-2003, 12:02 PM	#7 (permalink)
Lasereth Knight of the Old Republic Location: Winston-Salem, NC	Windows 2000 will be fine for gaming. If you don't plan on overclocking, that Barton will still kick ass and run games very smoothly. I'd get a better videocard. Hell, you can get a GeForce 4 TI4200 64 MB for around $80.00 at various places on the Internet. That card is very nice for the price. Again, if you want to play games and have it kick a LOT of ass, you'll need a better videocard. Nice motherboard by the way; I'd say its only competitor is the Abit NF7-S for the price. PS: If you wanted to overclock, you could do so very easily with that Barton. I know it will go to 2.2 GHz with a Volcano CPU fan and that RAM that you have. -Lasereth __________________ "A Darwinian attacks his theory, seeking to find flaws. An ID believer defends his theory, seeking to conceal flaws." -Roger Ebert

08-28-2003, 03:42 PM	#8 (permalink)
GakFace Go Ninja, Go Ninja Go!! Location: IN, USA	Looks pretty good. Yes I've read that you don't have much money for a better video card, but there are games in the makes right now that I figure might want 128 Megs of RAM or so. Don't get me wrong 64 is great, I had one until it died (Lets not go into that, that was a sad day , hehe). Then again, I'm sure your current Vid Card isn't going to cost a ton of money or anything, and right now you just wanna play games of the day. So it all looks good. I couldn't help it, I HAD to get a new one when my GF3 died... So I went out and got a GFX 5900 __________________ RoboBlaster: Welcome to the club! Not that I'm in the club. And there really isn'a a club in the first place. But if there was a club and if I was in it, I would definitely welcome you to it.

08-31-2003, 08:36 AM	#9 (permalink)
Sabu Upright Location: England	Yep yep yep - above posts are correct - if you want a new computer for gaming you are gonna need a better video card - especially if you don't want to have to update to a DX9 card in about a year or so - I don't live in america so I wont go into pricing but I've just ordered a Tyan Tachyon 9600Pro 128mb - it cost £117 (UK) so thats about $170 I think. __________________ Beer improves framerate.....