arch13

Pay no sttention to the post above mine advocating "aquiring" an OS through illegal means. The last thing you want is to get your whole family in legal trouble. Each illegal copy of software is a $5000- 10,000 fine.
The 120gb drive w/ XP included is actually quite a good deal. Grab that one while it's hot (As long as your source isn't shady)

I like your motherboard/CPU choice, but we've established that I'm biased
512mb is quite fine for everything you do in terms of memory. Having a full 1gb would actually not translate into improvements for the games you listed playing, and XP works fine with that much. You don't need more than what you've listed, it's just overkill that won't do anything.

Get a modem if you need one. There like $10.00 nowdays. If you don't need it, don't even buy one.
I'm digging your video card choice. That's a good deal for a 9700.

I can't think of anything we are missing.
Can anyone else spot any missing items?

__________________
Seen on an employer evaluation:

"The wheel is turning but the hamsters dead"
____________________________
Is arch13 really a porn diety ? find out after the film at 11.
-Nanofever

MikeSty

Nope, looks good so far ... but.. okay.. I hate to be picky but... get SATA and you will be happy. Oh so happy.

pacaveli

wel im actually htinking of gettin some stuff thats a little less expensive, i found a nice case for about 20 bucks, and i found a ati radeon 9200 with 128 mb for 50 that will save like like 30 bucks. and then i can spend the money i saved either more memory or a mouse and keyboard

this is the video card im thinking about

http://www.geeks.com/details.asp?inv...128B-N&cat=VCD

__________________
Check my blog out. Basically me talking about video games

http://gginsights.blogspot.com/

MikeSty

That seems like a pretty cheesy card but I suppose it might get by.

pacaveli

will it work for what i play?

__________________
Check my blog out. Basically me talking about video games

http://gginsights.blogspot.com/

P-Naughty

You might want to spend a little more money on it if you plan on playing Guild Wars. It will run the other two games you listed just fine, but Guild Wars will be a pretty big struggle for it. You could run it, but would have to turn down all the graphics settings in the game. I still think a Radeon 9800 (any of them: regular, pro, se, xt) would be a much better deal in terms of bang for your buck. It's ATI's best card from their old line, which isn't that old or that bad. I don't no how it will do on Guild Wars, but my friend just built a new Athlon 64 system with a Radeon 9800 Pro, and WoW looks great on it.

And yes, the power supply you picked is just fine. Antec PSUs are very reliable and, with the exception of the one I had struck by lightning which also f'ed up my mobo & CPU, I have had no problem with them. Sorry if I seemed a little harsh, but the PSU is often on of the most overlooked areas in a PC and is generally neglected. Spending a little more money now will save you money and hassle later on. Trust me, I went through two PSUs before I decided to sit down and find out why every 500W PSU I was buying kept dieing on me. Bought myself a 300W Antec SmartPower and it lasted for two years... then it got royaly farked.

__________________
I will not walk so that a child may live!
- Master Shake

pacaveli

how about the 70 dollar card i picked out would that run guild wars nicely?

SAPPHIRE Radeon 9600 128MB DDR AGP 4X/8X Video Card

i think that should be decent and save me about 30 bucks

__________________
Check my blog out. Basically me talking about video games

http://gginsights.blogspot.com/

MikeSty

I really think that P-Naughty is right and you should spend a bit more to get a 9800. That will give you a lot more room with gfx options and will improve the life of your machine in a sense. If you buy somewhat of a lower-end card you will find yourself spending more money to upgrade sooner than not.

pacaveli

i think im onna ge that saphire card it's what i need and it'll run things smoothly and it'll cost me abotu 30 dolalrs less

__________________
Check my blog out. Basically me talking about video games

http://gginsights.blogspot.com/

Lasereth

There's no reason to buy a nice processor and 512 MB of RAM if you're gonna go cheap on the videocard. You're gonna regret it later, trust me. Please buy a Radeon 9800 Pro for $160. PLEASE. Your computer will be bottlenecked without it. Buying the Radeon 9600 will be like buying a 1 GHz processor with 128 MB of RAM instead of your current options.

-Lasereth

arch13

He can always upgrade latter.
Some of you guys are talking like he has a ton of money to throw around. He's made it clear he needs to be aware of cost in this project, and you can't deny he's put together a bang up system with the limited funds he talking about.
He's not a hardcore gamer, and he doesn't do high end graphics. Web browsing, typing paper, listening to music. What do they have in common? They could all be done just fine with an 16mb vid card set at 1024x786.

I know your all about the fast cards Lasereth, but in his current monetary position, the 9600 is quite nice for the price.
Not picking a fight, just pointing out that not everyone needs the highend, or even upper-mid grade cards.
I do architecture for a living. I think it's probably obvious I'm running something above a 9600. But he hasn't shown an imediate need. 6 months to year down the line, he could upgrade his card just fine, and open up more possablilites if he finds the 9600 limiting for gaming.

__________________
Seen on an employer evaluation:

"The wheel is turning but the hamsters dead"
____________________________
Is arch13 really a porn diety ? find out after the film at 11.
-Nanofever

portwineboy

lol, no thanks, the last thing i want is an emachine. i build my own. I'd rather have the kickass MB/CPU than 10 emachines.

__________________
If you can read this, thank a teacher.
If you can read this in English, thank a veteran.

Lasereth

He mentioned he does play games earlier and does want to play Guild Wars. Guild Wars isn't too intensive but it will require a decent videocard.

I should have paid more attention to his overall needs I suppose. After reading his posts, I have to suggest downgrading the processor and motherboard to accomodate for the videocard. You can get a nice processor, a nice motherboard, and an "ok" videocard, or you can get a good processor, nice motherboard, and good videocard. The second option is clearly better -- a more roundabout system is better off than having two aspects of your system way better than the other.

I think pacaveli should stick with an Athlon XP setup with an nForce 2 or VIA motherboard. It'll run games just as well as an Athlon 64 combined with the correct videocard and it will save him money.

I'm sort of a bastard about processors and videocards concerning gaming, but I do know quite a bit about the effects of a processor and a videocard on a system. A processor faster than the Athlon XP line will not run Windows any faster than the Athlon XP series. This is fact. That's why I think an Athlon 64 is serious overkill for his purposes. He is on a limited budget...there's no reason to go apeshit and get an Athlon 64 where it's not needed. It'd be different if pacaveli's budget was over $1,000, but when it's $600, you gotta choose parts that are just what you need to make a nice, well rounded system. Here's my suggestion:

AMD Athlon XP 2600+ Barton @ 1.9 GHz = $80
Abit KV7-V Motherboard = $55
Sapphire Radeon 9800 Pro = $150
Corsair 512 MB RAM = $42
Enermax 350w PSU = $60
Case = $30
CD-ROM = $20
Western Digital 80 GB 7200 RPM HDD = $60
Windows XP Home Edition = $90

Total = $587. If I had $600 to build a new computer with, this is what I'd do with full confidence. Then you can laugh at your friends who build $1000 PCs with a crappy videocard that your $600 PC runs circles around. This computer will play any game on the market easily. I'd upgrade the RAM for another $40 when you have the money but it'll be fine until it comes your way.

-Lasereth

pacaveli

well i do plan to upgrade my video card in the future. The 9600 looks decent for a short term maybe a year or less time period. i plan to take this PC to college soon rather than a Notebook. So it'll have to last a good deal of time. Im not looking for something to run like high end games and i looked on the guild wars website.

this is the minimum they suggest
ATI Radeon 8500 or GeForce 3 or 4 MX Series Video Card with 32MB of VRAM

this is what they recomend
ATI Radeon 9000 or GeForce 4 Ti Series Video Card with 64MB of VRAM

so i think i'll be safe with my 70 dollar 9600 card. that will most lieky be the highest end game i end up playing. Im more of an old school player anyways. Diablo 2, starcraft, dungeon keeper 2, Populous the beggining, maybe some civilization 3 every once and while. Nothing too crazy that this card won'e be able to handle

__________________
Check my blog out. Basically me talking about video games

http://gginsights.blogspot.com/

P-Naughty

Keep in mind that when they do these minimums and recommended graphics card they go with what will run the game with everything turned down (graphicly speaking). I would really recommend what lasereth recommended for parts. You can always upgrade the AMD processor for pretty darn cheap later on and have a decent gfx card. Sure, the 9600 will run Guild Wars, but it by no means will make it nearly as enjoyable as playing it on the 9800 Pro. I'm surprised at how long the card itself has stayed up there, but it is a damn good card. Just don't be like I was until I upgraded my graphics card recently:

__________________
I will not walk so that a child may live!
- Master Shake

pacaveli

thanx for the advice, but i figure it will be cheaper, not to mention easier, to upgrade to a higher video card, than get a new processor. it's a lot easiter on me anyways

__________________
Check my blog out. Basically me talking about video games

http://gginsights.blogspot.com/

arch13

I was thinking that also, but wasn't going to keep arguing
A vid card is far cheaper than a CPU upgrade. Just buy a better vid card as your needs change.

__________________
Seen on an employer evaluation:

"The wheel is turning but the hamsters dead"
____________________________
Is arch13 really a porn diety ? find out after the film at 11.
-Nanofever

pacaveli

i plan to do that, but i've been removed from y computer for the better part of most days. I didn't do to great this quarter in my school work. so they stole my power cords

luckily they suck at hiding things. anyways i'm not sure when im gonna be able to do this project now, but i'm going to do it proly before or durring summer.

__________________
Check my blog out. Basically me talking about video games

http://gginsights.blogspot.com/

pacaveli

ok guys i need some fast repsonese so please help fast cause im checking stuff before i purchase

this is the motherboard/chipset im gonna get

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...194&CatId=1734

i wanna know if everything else will work with it

the fan
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811999452

keyboard, no real concern
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16823107120

Memory, Need to know!
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820141436

power supply
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817103934

Graphics Card
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814102305


heres my hard drive and OS
OS

hard drive
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822152014
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16837102151


trying to cut costs a little so im thinking of going for the PS

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817159022


It's 20 bucks cheaper and it has good reveiws form most everyone who bought it

__________________
Check my blog out. Basically me talking about video games

http://gginsights.blogspot.com/

d4in

www.frozencpu.com

they have some cool cases, but they are a little on the expensive side. I use these guys for modding supplies a lot.

Check out the Diabolic and Sunbeam cases....

__________________
I am not a vegetarian because I love animals; I am a vegetarian because I hate plants. -- A. Whitney Brown

pacaveli

i got a decent case for 20 bucks so im set their

__________________
Check my blog out. Basically me talking about video games

http://gginsights.blogspot.com/

pacaveli

Alright guys i put everything together and plugged it in to try it out, it turned on for a second, and then everyhting shut off. Any suggestions of what i might have done wrong.The LED lights in teh front turn on and the green one udner the one button flashes , but other than that nothing. Im in a jam

__________________
Check my blog out. Basically me talking about video games

http://gginsights.blogspot.com/

DukeNukem4ever

Re-check ALL your connections against the MOBO manual and failing that remove all the non-essentials... take it down to just the board, ram, cpu/fan, & video card.
You can test things out without the drives connected.

Also, reseat the ram... all to often people are to careful with it and don't seat it properly.

When you say it turned on for a second... did you get any video signal at all?

Cheers,
DukeNukem

__________________
The Happy Pirate - AARRGGHH!!

pacaveli

no video signal that i could see. The power supply fan turned on and then off after like 5 seconds.

__________________
Check my blog out. Basically me talking about video games

http://gginsights.blogspot.com/

DukeNukem4ever

Did you get any constant beeping... like in a patern?
Like three fast beeps pause three fast beeps pause... means no video signal detected... i.e. bad video card or not correctly installed into the slot.
Pull it out and put it back in if you have this sound.

__________________
The Happy Pirate - AARRGGHH!!

DukeNukem4ever

Please tell me the CPU fan is plugged into the CORRECT spot... there are a couple of them that look the same... only the right one will do.

__________________
The Happy Pirate - AARRGGHH!!

DukeNukem4ever

One more bit of advice before I jump into bed...

If all else fails and nothing I or anyone else posts works... take the board out of the case and place it on a NON-CONDUCTIVE surface like wood or something else.
With the cpu/fan and ram plugged into the board make only the connection for the power switch and the actual power supply to the board. Be careful with the monitor cable connection to the video card as it might try to pull the video card out of the board... with power on this would be VERY BAD! Just make sure it does not. Hook up the keyboard and that's it.... hit the power switch on the front of the case.

You will of course have the case lying next to the removed board for this to take place.

The test here will tell you if the board is grounding out someplace in the case that you can't see.

If it powers up into the bios then you have your answer...

__________________
The Happy Pirate - AARRGGHH!!

pacaveli

havedn't tried that yet, im prolly gonna take every cord out and go through the book that came with my mother board step by step. Then i'll try the things u suggested


I got frustrated last night and just went to bed

__________________
Check my blog out. Basically me talking about video games

http://gginsights.blogspot.com/

MikeSty

Make sure you reset CMOS.

I hope you made sure you were grounded from static ownage ...

SiN

I build computers every day (it's my current job) and the first thing I would suspect/try is the power switch. especially since it's a 'cheap' case ...

either use a test power switch you know works, or perhaps the screwdriver trick works in this case? (i've seen it done, but never tried it myself, so i'm not going to suggest you go poking at your motherboard with a screwdriver).

__________________

pacaveli

alright guys we found a solution to the first problem,but we don't know how safe it is,and we have a second problem now.

We switched the red switch in the backto 230 and it powers everything. Now im not sure how safe this is.


Problem 2,I don't get a signal 2 my monitor,any suggestions?

__________________
Check my blog out. Basically me talking about video games

http://gginsights.blogspot.com/

pacaveli

well it turns out that the instuction book was incorrect. the golden arrow onteh processor shouldn't be facing the locking mechanism hinge, long story short 4 pins are bent. My dads taking them to where he works up at APG to see if any of those army computer nerds can straighten the pins, but this probably was my problem i always was bad at puzzels...

__________________
Check my blog out. Basically me talking about video games

http://gginsights.blogspot.com/

DukeNukem4ever

Chances are even IF the pins can be bent back the cpu will be dead.. and IF you try to return it for replacement they will no doubt notice the damage and not give you a new one.
I'm still scratching my head trying to figure out how the hell you managed to shoe horn the damn thing onto the board?!?

Good Luck... cause your gonna need it!

__________________
The Happy Pirate - AARRGGHH!!

pacaveli

thanx, the instructiuons in the book were wrong, so im hoping that they're at fault


teh good news is my dad works with really really smart comptuer people, so they might be able to fix it, he's a plastics engineer at the science research base for the army. He is freinds with a couple of the computer nerds so with some luck they can straighten the pins and have anotehr go at it. if not then im down about 100-150 bucks assuming my angry letter fails

__________________
Check my blog out. Basically me talking about video games

http://gginsights.blogspot.com/

pacaveli

anyways my dad straightened the pins out and it runs on the normal 115 now, except when i turn it on with everything good i get no visual signal, it's not the video card, i tryed it in another computer, and i tryed a different card in mine and it didn't work, any suggestions

__________________
Check my blog out. Basically me talking about video games

http://gginsights.blogspot.com/

asudevil83

as far as websites go......you might look at elitepc.com

they have quite an assortment pretty much everything.

MikeSty

So the computer isn't turning off after 5 seconds now? It's constantly running? No video signal?

Perhaps you did damage to the motherboard slot.

BTW, for the power .. If I recall correctly, europeans use 230v setting? America is about half that (~110~120ish) .. i think... I hope..

Also, make sure you reset the CMOS

pacaveli

alright heres mny status, i now have the computer running on normal 115 american setting

it runs constantly
and i get no video signal on the monitor, like the video card slot isn't working.



whats a CMOS and how would i reset it, and what would it do?

__________________
Check my blog out. Basically me talking about video games

http://gginsights.blogspot.com/

MikeSty

CMOS = Complimentary Metal Oxide Semiconductor -- it's a chip backed up by battery that holds basic system information. It is advised to reset the CMOS every time a CPU is installed.

Do this grounded, with the PC off, disconnected from the PSU:

Look in your Motherboard manual for something talking about "CMOS reset jumper". Basically it will be a set of pins on the motherboard with a thingy covering two pins. Take that jumper and move it so it covers the middle pin and the previously uncovered pin. Let it sit for ... mmm ... 30 seconds ... and then move it to the other pins.

If you can't find shit in the manual, check for these "jumpers" near the battery on the motherboard.

Here's what it should look like

[XOO] X = Uncovered Pin; O = Pin covered by Jumper

Move that jumper so it is now like:

[OOX] X = Uncovered Pin; O = Pin covered by Jumper

Sorry to sound like a retard in this post, even if you don't need to do this, it's still good practice and I wanted to break it down as much as i could.

MikeSty