time to build a new one

[Kfrankland]

OK, the wife gave me the ok to build a new system, so here it goes...

My current System is as follows

AMD T-Bird 750
ASUS A7V MB
3 128mb SDRAM's
17 GB HHD
XP pro
The whole system is going to my daughter (hence I get a new one)

The problem is I can't decide between AMD or Intel. I've spent the last 2 weeks looking at reviews and such, and have come away more confused than when I started. I have been very happy with the ASUS boards, so that is one issue solved. As always, price does come into play. General use will be gaming, internet, some office and adobe photoshop stuff. Thanks for any ideas.

[imbest123]

You cant go wrong with either processor. Just choose anyone that you like more and the reply back :). ASUS boards are great. How much is your budget?

[Panama Red]

Hey, Welcome to PC Mech. You may just open the Intel vs AMD can-o-worms with that post! They both perform well and it comes down to personal preferance. The die hards can go on for days debating the merits of each. What type of games do you play/plan to play? That will help with parts selection more than anything. Also, a budget idea. How much are you planning to spend? And do you need to include a monitor/keyboard/mouse/speakers?

edit: I know it didn't take me 3 minutes to type this! Looks like we both think along the same lines, imbest123

[i3OSS]

Both processors do the job.
Just different architecture.
Flip a coin, if you're having that much trouble.

[Kfrankland]

Ok, my budget is going to be around $1000. The *new* monitor will wait for a bit. As far as games, mostly RPG's, on and off line. Since the old system needs to stay intact, yes, I will need all new stuff.

[icallmedan]

Well I would say if you are going for cost, go AMD, which is about $100 cheaper as far as processors go. I prefer intel, but it is a tad more expensive. Try an Asus A7N8X or Abit NF7-S. And a 9600 Pro, or 9600 XT. A good power supply, Antec, Enlight, Enermax any of those, someone else may be able to suggest another. But yeah that shout be a start. If you want Intel, go 2.6'C' with the 800FSB, and either an ASUS P4P800 or an Abit AI7 or something.

[Ogredemir]

With a 1000 dollar budget you might be flexible enough to go either way you choose.

Mobo - A7N8X - $87
P4P800 - $110

cpu - XP 2500 - $92
2.6c - $174

RAM - 512mb kingston - 87

vid card - Nvidia FX 5700 - $ ??
- Radeon 9600 or 9700 - $150 or $215 roughly

HDD - Western digital, Seagate, Maxtor 80gb 7200 RPM 8MB cache - $75-80

PSU - enermax or antec or sparkle are the good names i here. 350watts should be plenty but if you want to be a little ahead of the game you coul go for a 400 or even a true380 by antec i think

Case - pick what you like in style, some people dont care but i mean if all the internals are kickass a plain white case just doesnt sport the true power of the system :) just fnd one you like.

Monitor - i have no clue about monitor manufacturers i think SONY and SAMSUNG maybe idk. but i reccommend a CRT for gaming.

Sound - you can use onboard sound on either board should be fine if you dont care too much

everything else like mouse/keyboard are preference but im a fan of the cordless MX duo for 75 bucks. the mouse is just awesome

and logitech makes good speakers you can get like 2.1 w/sub for like 35 bucks that will do just fine unless your hardcore sound guy :)

[sakeo]

dont even look at a fx5800 or below, I am owning a fx5800 at the time and... just found out that the hs is seating completely off the core which gives me little overclockability, go with a 9600p, the 9600xt isnt worth it.
for amd mobo, Id recommend abit nf7-s
cpu 2500 barton (even if locked it wont be a problem to oc)
look at bh-5 ram, that means mushkin lvl2

[glc]

Asus P4P800 $110
Intel 2.6C retail $174
Enlight 72500AZ $63
2 - 256mb Corsair Value Select PC3200 $84
Western Digital WD1200JD 120gb SATA $109
Pioneer DVD-120 $35
Lite On LTR-52327S CD-RW $38
Sapphire ATI RADEON 9600XT 128MB DDR VGA/DVI/TV-out 8X AGP - BULK $165

Any old floppy drive, peripherals to your taste.

This close enough?

[Alfie]

Here's a good system,some may disagree,but it's what I'm using and it's pretty solid.
http://secure.newegg.com/app/WishList.asp?position=current&submit=add&item=14-102-328

[Cricket]

Alfie, I only see a SAPPHIRE ATI RADEON 9600 128MB 8X AGP listed in your link...no complete system specs.

:) Cricket

[Alfie]

Try it again works for me.
Newegg may have been updating when you tried.

[cliffboy]

I just also checked the link Alfie, and it's only Sapphire in the list.

[Alfie]

Oh,I must not doing it right,how do you put a direct link into wishlist on NewEgg?

[Alfie]

Does this work?
http://secure.newegg.com/app/WishList.asp?position=HISTORY&submit=VIEW&ID=508797

[Cricket]

Originally posted by Alfie
Does this work?Nope...still only see the Sapphire.

:) Cricket

[revelation]

No, does not seem to take you to anything but the graphics board Alfie...

I just built a new box with a Pentium 2.6. I used an Intel motherboard with the 865PE shipset. It works great for our needs... it replaced an Athlon XP 1700+. Like you, I had to choose between AMD or Intel.

When you decide, please refer to the forums here for the motherboard choice. You will find different opinions about the brand, but as a general rule of thumb a board with an Intel chipset for an Intel CPU.

[Alfie]

I'll just copy and paste,as obviously I'm too inept to get the link connection working!
So here's goes,please note the price on the SATA drives is for 2 of them.
The Via 600 chipset is possibly the best chipset Via has ever made and with it's native support for RAID make s it a winner.
The board has taken everything I could throw at it and is rock solid.
The choice usually is for Nvidia2 chipsets,which has left the Via 600 chipset overlooked and delegated to bargain boards,but considering those bargain boards come from Asus,Epox,MSI,Abit,Soltek,etc.,the quality is there.

Western Digital 36.7GB 10,000RPM SATA HARD DRIVE, Model WD360GD, OEM DRIVE ONLY
Specifications:
Capacity: 36.7GB
Average Seek Time: 5.2ms
Buffer: 8MB
Rotational Speed: 10000 RPM
Interface: SATA
Features: Not specified
Manufacturer Warranty: 5 years
Remark: OEM DRIVE ONLYmore info-> -See It! N82E16822144200 $110 $220
Memory (System Memory)
1 Geil Value Series Golden Dragon 184 Pin 512MB DDR PC-3200 - OEM
Specification
Manufacturer: Geil
Speed: DDR400(PC3200)
Type: 184 Pin DDR SDRAM
Error Checking: Non-ECC
Registered/Unbuffered: Unbuffered
Cas Latency: 2-6-3-3 1T
Support Voltage: 2.55V-2.95V
Bandwidth: 3.2GB/s
Organization: 64M x 64 -Bit
Special Features: Wafer Level Chip Scale Package
Warranty: Lifetime more info-> -See It! N82E16820144609 $89 $89
Motherboards - AMD
1 SOLTEK "SL-KT600-RL" VIA KT600 Chipset Motherboard for AMD Socket A Processors -RETAIL
Specifications:
Supported CPU: Socket A AMD Athlon/Athlon XP/Duron Processors
Chipset: VIA KT600 + VT8237
FSB: 400/333/266MHz
RAM: 3x DIMM for DDR400/333/266 Max 3GB
IDE: 2x Ultra DMA 133/100/66
Slots: 1x AGP 4X/8X, 6 x PCI Bus Master (32-bit)
Ports: 2xPS2,2xCOM,1xLPT,1xLAN,8xUSB2.0(Rear 2),Audio
Onboard Audio: 6-Channel AC97 Audio
Onboard SATA/RAID: 2x Serial ATA, RAID 0/1
Onboard LAN: PHY VT6103 10/100M
Form Factor: ATXmore info-> -See It! N82E16813180047 $78 $78
Processors
1 AMD Athlon XP 2500+ "Barton", 333 FSB, 512K Cache Processor - OEM
Specification
Model: AMD Athlon XP 2500+
Core: Barton
Operating Frequency: 1.83GHz
FSB: 333MHz
Cache: L1/64K+64K; L2/512K
Voltage: 1.65V
Process: 0.13Micron
Socket: Socket A
Multimedia Instruction: MMX, SSE, 3DNOW!, 3DNOW!+
Packaging: OEM(Processor Only)more info-> -See It! N82E16819103378 $86 $86
Video Cards
1 SAPPHIRE ATI RADEON 9600 128MB 8X AGP VGA+TV-out BULK
Specifications:
Chipset/Core Speed: RADEON 9600/325MHz
Memory/Effective Speed: 128MB DDR/400MHz
BUS: AGP 1X/2X/4X/8X
Ports: VGA Out(15 Pin D-Sub)+TV-Out(S-Video Out)
Support 3D API: Microsoft®DirectX®9,OpenGL®2.0
Cable/Accessories: 1 Cable,Driver CD
Max Resolution@32bit Color: 2048X1536@85Hz more info-> -See It! N82E16814102328 $108 $108


Subtotal » $581

[JPMiller]

http://secure.newegg.com/app/WishList.asp?position=HISTORY&submit=VIEW&ID=508869
Mobo, CPU, HSF, hard drive, memory, and cdrw...comes to $432
http://store.yahoo.com/amamax/pomaspdagrfr.html
case $26 shipped, toss the PSU its garbage...
http://store.yahoo.com/akidacomputer/acpowsup50du.html
get this one for $22 shipped instead.
Go to Sams Club (or some other local retailer) and get the Logitech cordless duo for $45...
Go to Office Max and purchase the CA-3000 2.1 speaker set for $20...great value and very good sound unless your a total audiophile...cant beat the looks or price.
Total before Monitor and video card... $545
$455 to split between a video card and a monitor isnt bad...