College system

[Familyman]

Hi, My son will be heading off to college next year and he wants a system to take with him. I can’t afford a state of the art system and he doesn’t really need that much but I don’t want it to be cheesy either. He likes music so I’d like to get him something with respectable sound, speakers and CD burner. I would like to stay below $800 U.S. if possible. This will be our first build and we will be doing it together. The OS will be Windows XP. Any and all recommendations would be greatly appreciated . Thanks.

[Cricket]

AMD or INTEL?

Cricket

[Redo40]

With this being your first build, I recommend looking at Intel motherboards, Turtle Beach Santa Cruz for the sound, Logitech speakers and Lite-On CD-RW's. All are good quality performers. Check them out at Newegg.com or Mwave.com

[Familyman]

I think we’ll go with Intel.

Turtle Beach Santa Cruz it is then.

Any particular model of Logitech speakers, Lite-On CD-RW, mobo, RAM?

Thanks

[Cricket]

Originally posted by Familyman Turtle Beach Santa Cruz it is then.

That's a good soundcard.

Originally posted by Familyman Any particular model of Logitech speakers?

The Z-Series...just pick the one that fits your budget.

Originally posted by Familyman Lite-On CD-RW

Any Lite-On CD-RW will work out fine. Just pick the speed you want.

Originally posted by Familyman mobo

INTEL D845PEBT2

Originally posted by Familyman RAM?

Crucial or Kingston.

Cricket

[jamesrpm]

That Intel motherboard comes with pretty good sound built in. I'd try it out first before I bought a seperate sound card.

[mountaineer]

Dont forget the video card for him to play games with. If he is staying on campus, he will need something to fill a lot of free time.

[Cricket]

Originally posted by mountaineer Dont forget the video card for him to play games with. If he is staying on campus, he will need something to fill a lot of free time.

Free time? What free time? Shouldn't he be studying?

Cricket

[i3OSS]

if its not too late, for an AMD build you can use:
Mobo: A7N266-VM (onboard video and sound)
CPU: XP 1700+ 1.47ghz
Speakers: Logitech Z 560
Sound: TBSC is good but try the onboard first
Ram: 256mb Crucial pc2100
HDD: 80gb WD 8mb Cache
Case: Chieftec, Antec, Enermax or some nice for him to show off his computer.

[Markoman01027]

Since he won't be doing any heavy duty gaming or anything like that..try to get an intel motherboard that has built in features(i.e ethernet, sound, video)

[mountaineer]

I think we all know what most college students really spend their time doing. Some gaming on the pc is harmless compared tosome of the alternatives. He will have at least a couple hours, probabily more every day. Boredom with adolecents equals trouble.

[Familyman]

Originally posted by Cricket INTEL D845PEBT2

That's a very nice mobo. I’ve been reading the reviews. But I am thinking along the lines of what Markoman01027 said. Especially built in video.

i3OSS, Not to late to consider AMD. With onboard sound, video and LAN for $69.99 the Asus A7N266-VM AA is very interesting. I see an XP 1700+/266 FSB Thoroughbred 1.47GHz CPU. Is that a good combination? It says Tailored for Windows XP?

You’re right about boredom often leading to trouble with adolescents mountaineer. I’m so thankful our children have made good choices. I don’t know what college is like but I’m sure my son do well and have fun.

[Redo40]

Thats a good combination, I just built with that board and cpu myself for my daughter. Put 512mb of pc2100 memory in it and XP will run great on it. The onboard graphics, audio and ethernet work great. If you want to go AMD and keep the budget down it's the way to go. Check out the Lite-On 48x CD-RW's, we can burn a cd in about 4 minutes on that very computer. Pay attention to the shipping, some have free shipping while others offer a lower price, but then you have to add shipping.

[mwb1jr]

Well, I am in college and I know once the homework is done, there is absolutely nothing to do except download movies from Kazaa. I recommend a system with an ethernet card, at least 100 gigs of hard drive space, a fast burner(48x), dvd player, tv tuner card($20), a lot of blank cds, wireless keyboard/mouse, a geforce 4 4200 ti video card, and an all-in-one printer(scan, print,copy). Actually the printer is probably just as important as the computer because my all-in-one has saved my butt many times with school work. Instead of buying stupid books, I can scan the important parts and give my profs the finger. I also think it would be a good idea to get a tv tuner card for this pc. That way he can hook the vcr to watch tapes, or just sit and watch tv on the computer. Moving in and out of the dorms sucks, that's why everything thing I need is connected to my computer.

[Fastfly]

mwb1jr you reading this post hehe

the A7N266-VM-AA is a great board I built one with it with 256 with Windows XP and works wonderfully!!!

[Familyman]

Originally posted by mwb1jr Well, I recommend a system with an ethernet card, at least 100 gigs of hard drive space, a fast burner(48x), dvd player, tv tuner card($20), a lot of blank cds, wireless keyboard/mouse, a geforce 4 4200 ti video card, and an all-in-one printer(scan, print,copy).

I never would have thought of a TV tuner card or a printer/scanner/copier. Thanks.

Do you think he could get by with a WD 80GB/7200RPM/8MB cache?

So many motherboards to chose from. I’ll keep reading about them.

Thanks everyone.

[Faba]

OK here is opinion of the college student :
If you want your son to some STYDING do not get a system with REALY good video card (ex gf 4). Getting hooked on Asherons Call and not going to classes is very easy However having little 3d acceleration never hurt anyone. So I would suggest a system with gf 2 card. This way he can still do some gaming (ex Counter Strike)

Hope this helps,
Faba

[Redo40]

Originally posted by Familyman I never would have thought of a TV tuner card or a printer/scanner/copier. Thanks. Do you think he could get by with a WD 80GB/7200RPM/8MB cache? So many motherboards to chose from. I’ll keep reading about them. Thanks everyone.

He could get by with a 40GB, it all depends on what he is doing with it. My kids download alot of music, but don't play many games and they haven't come close to filling up a 40gb hard drive yet, not even half.

There are alot of choices out there. You already have a budget in mind, so just try to build the best computer that you can within that budget, no sense in getting carried away with a bunch of expensive parts, that will be half the price a few months down the road.

[Familyman]

I see some interesting deals on refurbished boards. Is that a good way to keep cost down or would I be better off with a lesser new board for my first build?

[Spyda]

as an 18 year old at college with enough points to pass my course now(4 months early), i tell you now, leave enough room in the budget for at least a Geforce 4 Ti4200!
All the free time I get is ridiculous, there will be plenty of free gaming time!

[Spyda]

Originally posted by Familyman I never would have thought of a TV tuner card or a printer/scanner/copier. Thanks. Do you think he could get by with a WD 80GB/7200RPM/8MB cache? So many motherboards to chose from. I’ll keep reading about them. Thanks everyone.

The WD SE 80GB is a brilliant HDD, and i know some people who have the haupage(sp) WinTV card, and it really is good!

A NIC would be a really good idea aswell if you have the same system as my university will, you can hook up to their 2MB connection for free in the rooms

[Redo40]

I don't recommend buying refurbished for your first build. Newegg only guarantee refurbish boards for 15 days and cpu's for 7. You take a chance when buying refurbished and if you are on a budget you will want the warranty of a new part.

[mwb1jr]

Yeah I think the 80gig drive is fine, but when I lived in the dorms, I have 70 gigs of downloaded mp3's on my hard drive and extra cd-r's. Whether it right or wrong, college students will download anything if it's free. Or you could punish him with a 10 gig 5400rpm hard drive, then he will never touch his computer.

[mwb1jr]

If you want, I sell you my computer for $1200, check the signature

[glc]

Get the Intel D845GEBV2L motherboard - the onboard video is halfway decent. *IF* he gets into gaming heavily, it does have an AGP slot so you can add a video card later. same with sound - if the onboard sound doesn't do the job, just toss a sound card in later. Ethernet is built in to this model as is USB 2.0 support.

[sleepypost]

good luck with the build!

[Familyman]

No refurbished board then. Well, it was a thought. Thanks for setting me straight.

I looked at Hauppauge WinTV TV tuner cards. I’m going to have to read more. I might have to get one for myself.

Thanks for the offer mwb1jr. But we really want to build a system together.

The D845GEBV2L sounds like just the ticket. 400/533 MHz bus? To take advantage of the bus speed would we need a processor like the Pentium 4 2.4GHz Northwood ?

Then there’s the memory?’s. Lot’s of ?????’s. So far I’ve figured out we’re going to need at least 512MB of RAM. How do we choose the right memory?

We got a nice used Dell monitor (free). That will help.

We are going to drive to Fry’s next week and look at cases. We’ve been looking at them on the internet but I think he needs to see and touch some before we decide. I hear they have some good prices too.

Thanks for all the input. It’s a great help. We’re having lots of fun learning. I get the feeling we’re going to go over budget. Oh well. I’ve got some things I’m not using that I can sell.

[strossos]

hmm, well, i think a asus a7n8x deluxe with the great onboard sound and graphics for intergrated would be good for gaming and sound duties, maybe a 2100+ proc retail, so far 150 for mobo and 95 for proc, then 512 for crucial 2100 ram is probly 70, so 315 right now, and then a lite on 52x cd burner is about 50, so 365 total, then a 80 gig hdd for 120 or somehting, maybe a 120 gig hdd for 130, so 490 or something, then check out logitech z560 speakers (totaly awsome speakers) for about 140, so thats 550 around, and then pice out a good case for about 70 and it would be around $620, also if you want a even better graphics card check out a ati 9500 pro/ non pro, they probly like 150. also xp can be had for like 93 off of newegg.com for a total of around 800.

-asus a7nx8 mobo with onboard 5.1 sound (awsome sound) for $150
-amd 2100+ proccesor for about $95 with heatsink and fan
-windows xp $93
-lite-on cdrw drive 52x $50
-512 crucial pc 2100 ram $70
-logitech z560 380 watt speakers $140
-80 gig hdd $80-120 (shop around for rebates i guess)
-ati 9500 pro/non pro (i dunno, only for better gaming)
-case from somewhere $$ (make sure get a at least 300 watt power supply from a company like antec, ernemax, sparkle, or enlight.

[Fraughton]

If you're looking for onboard video the nforce boards, such as the a7nh8x, delivers the best performance of any onboard solution.

[Redo40]

The D845GEBV2L is a good board, should serve you well. Get your memory here , crucial even offers free shipping for orders over $40 right now.

You will definitely learn alot by building it yourselves, plus get an added bonus (quality time). Good luck with it!