1st Build parts

[hyg71886]

Xoxide X-Blade Extreme Case (Black)$64.99(case)

Intel Pentium 4/ 2.8E GHz 800MHz FSB, 1MB L2 Cache, Hyper Threading Technology - Retail176.00

Mushkin 184 Pin 512MB DDR PC-3200 - Retail - $78.00(memory)

Western Digital 80GB 7200RPM SATA Hard Drive, Model WD800JD, OEM Drive Only - $67.00 (hard drive)

Info-Tek ATI RADEON 9600PRO Video Card, 128MB DDR, DVI/TV-Out, 8X AGP, Model "R9600-PRO C3H" -RETAIL - $112.00 (video card)

Enlight ATX 360W P4 Power Supply, Model "EN-8361934A1" -RETAIL - $32.00

Lite-On Black 8X DVD+/-RW Drive, Model SOHW-812S, Retail 75.99

Lite-On 16X DVD-ROM, Model SOHD-167T Black, RETAIL 30.99

Xoxide Blue LED Mouse Pad 16.99

Blue LED Fan Mouse (Blue) 13.99

Multimedia Illuminated Keyboard w/ White Keys (Black) 34.99

Logitech Z640 5.1 Speakers –RETAIL 55.00

SUB TOTAL: 757.94(w/out monitor)

This is what Im saving up to build for my first pc. I need it for college, when I open my buisness, music, and gaming. I need this thing to be able to play games like half life to with normal settings no problem, no lag. Does anyone have any suggestions on what could make this better?

[Cricket]

Originally posted by Prometheus This is what Im saving up to build for my first pc. I need it for college, when I open my buisness, music, and gaming. I need this thing to be able to play games like half life to with normal settings no problem, no lag. Does anyone have any suggestions on what could make this better?

You might want to put a better video card in there if you want to play the latest games. And 1GB of RAM would be a good idea too.

Uh, what motherboard are you going to use?

Cricket

[imbest123]

As Cricket said, you might want at least a Radeon 9800 Pro. 512mb is ok for gaming but if you game really intense games then 1gb is nice.

[kram 2.0]

Very nice. I'll be the third to echo the advice - the Radeon 9800 Pro 128 256-bit card might be slightly more desirable. The PowerColor Radeon 9800 Pro, which ist he 256-bit version of the 9800 Pro, should be the sweet spot card right now - in other words, the best bang for the buck you can get right now. Going beyond that would be the X800 Pro, which is priced right around the 9800XT. That would be rather expensive, however.

Take notice that you selected a Prescott core CPU. For sure, you would want to monitor that temperature since it runs on the hot side. If you want the cooler running alternative, the Intel P4 2.8C Northwood Core which has 512k L2 cache, but a shorter pipeline architecture than the Prescott core making the speeds and performance about the same.

Besides that, looks good.

Hope that helps,
kram

[Computer Hobbyist]

The most important component of any computer is still the motherboard. As Cricket said, what motherboard do you want to use?

[hyg71886]

Whoops, thought I put it in there,
ASUS "P4P800-E Deluxe" i865PE Chipset Motherboard for Intel Socket 478 CPU -RETAIL 116.00

[kram 2.0]

Originally posted by Prometheus Whoops, thought I put it in there, ASUS "P4P800-E Deluxe" i865PE Chipset Motherboard for Intel Socket 478 CPU -RETAIL 116.00

Very nice! One of the best motherboards out there. I then only have a few comments that I already mentioned. Frist, remember that your procesor will run hot - Prescotts heat up quickly. But second, try to dual channel your RAM by making your RAM 256 x 2 instead of one stick of 512. Especially in Intel builds, enabling the dual channeling option can make a big difference in speeds.

Hope that helps,
kram

[hyg71886]

Umm, dual channeling? You lost me there.

[kram 2.0]

You know how there are more than one socket to put RAM in in the P4P800-E DX? You also know that more than one can be used for memory at any given time. Think of it this way - the best way to work two components when they are doing pretty much same task is to make the work together - that's dual channeling. Dual Channeling, which the Asus P4P800-E DX allows, is allowing two sticks of RAM to work together, therefore allowing a marginal increase in performance. In your build, the best thing is to get RAM that comes in packs of two - they sell together. What you want is to get two sticks of 256 MB RAM instead of one stick of 512. By doing so, you allow each stick to have less work, because it can rely on the other.

Hope that helps,
kram

[RayH]

If this is going to be your college computer, get an All In Wonder card or get another TV Tuner/capture card. Trust me. Your dorm won't have much space. Your computer may windup being your entertainment center.

[hyg71886]

the 1Gb ones are very expensive.

[hyg71886]

what about these?
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProduc...145-477&depa=1

[hyg71886]

or these

Mushkin Blue Dual Pack 184 Pin 512MB(256MBx2) DDR PC-2700 - Retail

[MrAustin]

Get at least PC3200 to match your processors FSB speeds. If you get PC2700, your processor will downclock to 533Mhz FSB and lower performance. Both Corsair and Mushkin are very good brands, just make sure, as those do, it says Dual Kit so you know that you are getting two identical sticks of memory.

[kram 2.0]

I would take the ones you listed first - the Corsair ones. Those are PC3200, which are DDR400 - the speed matching the Intel P4 2.8E processor's 800 FSB. The second ones will work but will slow down your system by a noticible margin even if you are dual channeling. And yes - both of them are tested for dual channeling - just load them into your DIMM (Dual Inline Memory Module) - which are the memory sockets, and the P4P800-E DX shoud automatically set up Dual Channel.

Hope that helps,
kram

[daveyp225]

Don't forget an OS. WinXP Home is $90 right now at Newegg.

Dave

[hyg71886]

Is this a good hard drive?
Maxtor 120GB HD

[parimal]

Intel Pentium 2.8C GHz (800MHz FSB, 512KB L2 Cache) (I mean Northwood)
Asus P4P800-E Deluxe with i865PE chipset
Kingston ValueRam 512MB DDR at 400MHz (2x256MB) (PC3200)
Western Digital SATA HDD (Size suitable to ur requirement)
MSI 256MB DDR GeForce 6800Ultra
LiteOn optical drive
Audigy2 zs platinum soundcard
and so on.....

[bigandy]

That one has a 2MB cache, you want a drive with an 8MB cache. Like this one.

[|/|/1CK3D1337]

Yeah, that hard drive is fine for what you want to do and if it's too small later then you can always get another.

[hyg71886]

whats the differnce?

[bigandy]

Your system will perform better with the 8MB cache than the 2MB cache. Reason being that it can store more info in the cache, and this speeds up the accessing of programs on the drive, because it is much faster to access it through the cache, than having to get the same data from the drive.

[hyg71886]

and is Xenix a good brand for a mouse and keyboard?

[hyg71886]

Originally Posted by bigandy Your system will perform better with the 8MB cache than the 2MB cache. Reason being that it can store more info in the cache, and this speeds up the accessing of programs on the drive, because it is much faster to access it through the cache, than having to get the same data from the drive.

Ok, do I really need a drive that big though? Wouldnt a 40 or 80GB drive be good? I'm only using it for gaming, programming(in the near future), business, and school.

[bigandy]

I prefer Microsoft or Logitech keyboards myself. But from a quick google search, Xenix seems to be okay.

The size of the HD is up to you. If you're going to have lots of games installed, and/or if you like to rip CD's to your HD so you can have the MP3's right there, you may want to go with the bigger drive.

[|/|/1CK3D1337]

You could probably start off with a 80gig or less and if you need more then you can later get another one.

[hyg71886]

whats a good mother board for a P4 3.0

[hyg71886]

Are these good Drives?
DVD-RW

Combo drive

[bigandy]

Asus P4P800-E Deluxe or Asus P4C800-E Deluxe.

If you go with either of those boards, you may consider going with an SATA HD, like this.

Yes those are good drives. LiteOn makes very good opticals. Other good brands are LG, Plextor, and Sony.

[hyg71886]

Originally Posted by bigandy Asus P4P800-E Deluxe or Asus P4C800-E Deluxe. If you go with either of those boards, you may consider going with an SATA HD, like this. Yes those are good drives. LiteOn makes very good opticals. Other good brands are LG, Plextor, and Sony.

The second mother board u listed supports Hyper Threading or does it do it itself?