Gaming/Internet System

[cmillion]

I'm thinking about building my first pc, it will be used for games and the internet. Will this setup be good?

AMD 1.4Ghz T-Bird w/266 FSB
ABIT KG7, AMD-761 chip set
CoolerMaster DP5-6131A
512MB DRR/266Mhz RAM
1.44MB Floppy Drive
Samsung 40GB, 7200RPM, ATA100
52x IDE CD-ROM Drive
64MB GeForce2 MX/400 4xAPG
Sound Blaster 128 PCI
56K V.90 Fax/Data/Voice Modem
ATX FullTower 300W PS
Duel USB Ports, PCI
Windows XP Home Edition

Not looking for a powerhouse system but one that will do the job.

[glc]

Five comments........

Look at other heatsink/fan assemblies, I may be wrong but I don't think Coolermasters are in the top group.

Look at better sound cards, the PCI 128 is very dated. Look at the SB Live Value for close to the same price.

If you game, make that modem an external serial, not a USB or PCI.

Don't touch a Samsung hard drive with a 10 foot pole - get a 7200 rpm IBM or Maxtor.

Make sure that the power supply is AMD-approved and a decent brand (do NOT touch a Deer) and make sure the case has 2 auxiliary fans - one in front blowing in and one in back blowing out.

I don't think any of my suggested improvements will cost appreciably more money except maybe for the modem.

[cmillion]

Forgot to add that I only Have a budget of around $600 and I decided tp go with the ThermalTake Volcano 2 insted of the CoolerMaster. This hardware setup will likely ge changed many time before I actually go out and buy the components.

[morriswindgate]

The system here cost $750.00 including tax and shipping to build for a friend.(Don't get this one confused with mine) If you remove the DVD, CD-RW, and use the GForce instead of the ATI, you can drop this price by about $150.00.
As for the heatsink go with a Vantec CCK-6035D all Copper and easy to install clip. I also agree, stay away from that brand of hard drive.

Case – Superpower Mid-Tower with 300watt Power Supply
Motherboard – Soyo K7ADA
CPU – Retail Box AMD 1.0 GHZ 266FSB Athlon w/AMD Furnished Heatsink/Fan
RAM – 256MB Kingston PC2100 DDR
Video Card – ATI All-In-Wonder 128 Pro
Sound Card – Turtle Beach Montego II Quadzilla
LAN Card – Linksys Home DSL/Cable 10/100
Hard Drive – 30 Gig Seagate Barracuda ATA100 7200RPM
CD-Rom – Creative 52x
CD-RW – Lite-On 12x10x32
DVD – Toshiba 16x
Floppy – Sony
Case Fans – Two Sunons

[Prew]

For gaming-- the MX card will bottleneck your system (FPS will limited by the MX card)-- You can get a Geforce II GTS for around $80 now-- I thinks its faster than an MX, however, it will still be a bottleneck for you 1.4 g processor.

[Tiretool]

I suggest the OCZ Dominator 2 HS/Fan. It floats around the $20 mark and is an incredible HS/Fan for the money, outperforming some models in the $40-50 range. You can find them at www.overclockerz.com

[cmillion]

Where would be the cheapest place online to get these things?

[morriswindgate]

www.newegg.com and www.mwave.com are the best places. When you look on their site the initial price may seem higher, but the shipping/handling is a lot less and they actually ship stuff the same day.

[Gooch]

I say shop each part... www.pricewatch.com find what you want write the price abd shipping down then call a couple companys that had some of the lower prices you found and ask them to match the other prices.....that is what I did and it worked great!

[Nuclear Krusader]

What's the deal with Samsung hard drives?

And why is an external modem better than an internal for the purpouses of gaming?

[cmillion]

I've been wondering the same thing.

[glc]

Samsung hard drives are notoriously so-so performance wise and VERY unreliable. Yes, they are cheap, but you get what you pay for.

The issue is not really external vs. internal, but the TYPE of modem. You want a 100% HARDWARE controlled modem that uses a REAL com port. There are NO PCI modems that satisfy both of these criteria, but there are ISA modems that do - and most new motherboards have no ISA slots. This is a case where older is better. Software controlled modems (winmodems) use CPU resources to do all their work - resources that you need free for best game performance. You will pay more for a good old external serial modem, but you get what you pay for. There are some hardware controlled PCI modems, but they DO use a virtual com port just like a winmodem and very likely will try to share an IRQ, which can impact performance and cause conflicts. ISA hardware controlled modems with jumpers can totally replace one of your onboard com ports and will give you the equivalent performance of an external hooked to a com port on its very own IRQ. Winmodems are fine with a modern fast machine for general online work, but do fall flat when it comes to the demands of gaming. Note that USB modems fall into the same category as winmodems.

The 2 best modems for gaming are both externals - the Supra Express 2730 and the US Robotics 5686. I think I saw the 2730 the other day at Computer Geeks for $30.

[cmillion]

Thanks for explaining that. I'll look for an external modem now.