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[Pyotr]

I'm getting new computer, but I'm not at all sure which configuration would be better.

Option 1:
CPU: AMD Athlon XP 2500+
HDD: Maxtor 6Y080P0 (80gb, 8mb cache)
Graphic card: Club 3D Radeon 9600 Pro 128 mb
Memory: 2*256mb pc2700 (or just 512 mb, really)
Motherboard: Gigabyte 7N400-L1

Option 2:
CPU: Pentium 2,4 Celeron ( 478 )
HDD: Maxtor D-max PLUS 8mb ATA133 120GB 7200rpm
Graphic card: Inno3D GeForceFX 5600 AGP8X 128MB 128bit DDR (325/550MHz) / + DVI + TV out
Memory: 512 Mb DDR-400 3200
Motherboard: DFI PE11-EC Socket 478 P4X266A+8233 / 533Mhz / DDR / ATA133 / AC97
OS: Windows XP Home

I'm gonna play games and surf the internet really, nothing flashy. Just want to get the games working somewhat fine, without too much lag.
Which one's better?
With all stuff like chassi and such things, option 2 would be cheaper, but would it work good enough?
Also, not that I don't have a lot of money, so don't give me tips on any other hardware, unless it's better AND cheaper, Swedish prices.

 

[Monk_and_Two_Peas]

Please world hear me!!! MAXTORS ARE CRAP!!! Unreliable and slow. Do not, i repeat DO NOT store anything on a maxtor. You'll eventually lose it. I ignored these warnings before and lost 40gb of music on a maxtor.

If you playing games it has to be radeon. Ge-force doesn't even nearly compete.
Option 1

 

[Praetor]

Please world hear me!!! MAXTORS ARE CRAP!!! Unreliable and slow. Do not, I repeat DO NOT store anything on a maxtor. You'll eventually lose it. I ignored these warnings before and lost 40gb of music on a maxtor.

You say that as if no other company has problems ... every company has its nightmare stories...

If you playing games it has to be radeon. Ge-force doesn't even nearly compete.

Again... a bit too much "flair"

I concurr, the Option1 would be better but only because of the CPU/mobo

 

[Pyotr]

Alright

How about this one then:

NEC ND-2510A IDE Vit, Bulk, (Dual Layer), DVD±R/RW
Chieftec BX Tower 360W PSU
AMD Athlon XP2600+ 1.917 GHz Socket A 333MHz, 512KB Barton, OEM
Sony 3,5" 1,44MB MPF-920 Floppydisk Intern
PowerColor Radeon 9800 PRO 128MB DDR AGP, ATI 9800PRO, DVI-I, TV-Out, Retail
Seagate Barracuda 7200.7 160GB IDE ATA/100 8MB cache 7200RPM
TwinMOS PC3200 DDR-DIMM 256MB CL2.5 Minne 184-P (DDR-PC400MHz) (AMD OK)
Abit NF7-S2 motherboard for Socket A,SATA nForce2 Ultra400/MCP-S,ATX,LAN
Samsung 17" CRT Syncmaster 753DF TCO99 monitor, DynaFlaT, Silver

This is the most expensive machine I could possibly afford. What you think?
Sorry about some Swedish words, too lazy to translate. Anyone with an iq of 65+ should understand it anyway.

Also, will those machines actually work once I build them?

Please don't think of me as lazy or anything. I'm good enough to put those parts into a machine, but that doesn't mean I know it'll work, or even how well. I just don't want to spend 1000€ on stuff that explodes when I start the whole thing.

 

[Praetor]

This is the most expensive machine I could possibly afford. What you think?

The RAM is hurting real bad. PSU is a bit weak and the make unknown. Other than that i'd need to know the price before i can comment

Please don't think of me as lazy or anything. I'm good enough to put those parts into a machine, but that doesn't mean I know it'll work, or even how well. I just don't want to spend 1000€ on stuff that explodes when I start the whole thing

Not at all

 

[Meistah]

Please world hear me!!! MAXTORS ARE CRAP!!! Unreliable and slow. Do not, i repeat DO NOT store anything on a maxtor. You'll eventually lose it. I ignored these warnings before and lost 40gb of music on a maxtor.

If you playing games it has to be radeon. Ge-force doesn't even nearly compete.
Option 1

hmm, id have to disagree with you there, ive only ever used maxtor hdd's and while i dont know if theyre slower or faster than others, ive never had a problem with any of mine

 

[Lorand]

MAXTORS ARE CRAP!!!

Let's not generalize from one single incident. When a hard disk dies on you it means that you had bad luck. It doesn't mean that the HDD's manufacturer is crap.
Only when a particular HDD crashes on a large scale you can blame that series. As it happened with the IBM GXP series. But even then, you can say that only the GXP series is crap, not every IBM product.

 

[Praetor]

it happened with the IBM GXP series. But even then, you can say that only the GXP series is crap,

Good thing you had that condition in there cuz some of those GXPs were the best damn drives of their time -- and still nice now too

 

[4W4K3]

maxtors are on of the bigger HDD makers, and if all of them had crashed they would be ut of business...there not crap. you just had bad luck on a large scale. i vote for option #1 cuz the celerons are pretty flaky. but you will definetly want at least PC3200 with that rig. PC2700 wont cut it if you plan on overclocking alot or keeping the machine for a long while. PC3200 is almost a standard by now i believe, cept in laptops i think.

 

[Praetor]

PC2700 wont cut it if you plan on overclocking alot or keeping the machine for a long while. PC3200 is almost a standard by now I believe, cept in laptops I think.

Quite correct ... dunno why laptops ship with 166Mhz RAM when its not a power drain to jump to 200Mhz.. About the overclocking bit tho... tell that to my PC4000

 

[kb1ghc]

Stay away from Nvidia, especially if your gonna be running operating systems other than WinD'oh!s

I regret getting this Nvidia card.

 

[4W4K3]

r u saying nvidia cards dont work with linux or mac or anything besides windows? its just like the dude who said maxtors are crap...you had bad luck with your nvidia card. im guessing it doesnt overclock well or you just had porblems with it...all luck. i regret getting this radeon card cuz i have no overclocking ability and driver problems....but its just one card. they still make awesome cards just like nvidia does.

 

[kb1ghc]

WHAT DO YOU CARE? YOU HAVE A RADEON!
And i didn't have "bad luck" with it.
to boot Knoppix i need a special command or X won't boot, and there is an Operating System called MenuetOS that i tryed (fits on a floppy) doesn't work with nividia.

nvidia is the worst card EVER!

linux and other operating systems work flahlessly on many of my older computers with onboard video/PCI video.

and my friends agree with me about it, (i wish they told me nvidia sucks, BEFORE i bought the card)

 

[kb1ghc]

and i can't OC this video card either

 

[Praetor]

Stay away from Nvidia, especially if your gonna be running operating systems other than WinD'oh!s

If you've not checked, ATi support for Linux is even more laughable... im lucky im running an ancient Rage based ATi card on my linux box as the Radeon cards ive got are just too much of a damn hassle. Now I had a pain in the ass time of getting my Rage128 working on Linux (as well as several Radeon cards) ... does that make ATi the worst chip manufacturer ever? NO!

nvidia is the worst card EVER!

Thats a bunch of fanboy crap period. Why?
1. nVidia is a company
2. nVidia doesnt make cards

and there is an Operating System called MenuetOS that I tryed (fits on a floppy) doesn't work with nividia.

OS101 (or CS350 or whatever), every working OS on the planet will work with any production level video card ... why? Because of standard called VGA.

and I can't OC this video card either

Wow. One of the most successful video card companies -- not card -- is obviously the worst because one dude cant OC his card.

 

[4W4K3]

WHAT DO YOU CARE? YOU HAVE A RADEON!

i also have another AMD rig running on a maddog nvidia geforce4 mx-440 64mb card and it is (in my opinion) SUPERIOR to this radeon card. it overclocks to 350/500, plays games alot smoother than this card (havent figured out why...probably cuz it has a decent BIOS). thats a $50 card and i got this radeon for $50 as well from microcenter.com...nvidia card would be my preference if i had to ditch one of them. and from your description...it sounds like bad luck.

 

[Pyotr]

For the love of God....

The RAM is hurting real bad. PSU is a bit weak and the make unknown. Other than that i'd need to know the price before i can comment


Not at all

RAM was totally my fault. I'm getting two of those.
I thought the PSU was good enough? Isn't 300 standard? Or am I looking at the wrong places?
The price, as I wrote, is about 1000€, or $1200, I think. With monitor. And, as I said, it's all I can afford at the moment.
Do I need extra cooling or anything?

I might have to disappoint you guys, but I'm NOT going to overclock this machine.

 

[Praetor]

I thought the PSU was good enough? Isn't 300 standard? Or am I looking at the wrong places?

Its not so much the 300W (although 350W is more normal and 400W is approaching the point of being standard) -- its the brand. Raidmax PSUs arent exactly known for their "dependability"

If you dont intend to OC you probably wont need cooling although i'd still consider it (something like the SIlentboostK7, $30USD investment, well worth it)

 

[Pyotr]

Right

Yeah, I'll have to check that out then.
And cooling isn't expensive at all, so I was considering that anyway. Especially since someone told me AMD processors burn easily (though he might be an Intel person). I'll solve it.

Two last questions:

1. Are the parts compatible (or whatever it's called)?

2. Is it VERY difficult putting it together, or can more or less anyone with some basic knowledge do it?

 

[Praetor]

Intel is just as succeptible to heat (im using a P4 to type this and it lags out to heat all the time) ... both are bad for (and with) heat and if cooling is cheap you might as well