Hi guys need help buying a computer

F

Flash_AAA

New Member
Hi guys I'm going to heading off to college soon and i need a computer but I only have a budget of 800 bucks. Ill be using it mainly for school stuff, hooking up to their Lan, writing papers, but i would like it to have some gaming capabilities, mainly flight sims (my major) but maybe some fps if i have the time :rolleyes: . I have searched some places and dell lol but the price kept going up so i found this site http://www.cyberpowersystem.com/custom/cfga64.asp?v=d This is what i have gotten so far but any help would be greatly appreciated.

(754-pin) AMD ATHLON64 2800+ Processor
(754-pin Socket) GigaByte GA-K8NS Pro nForce3 250 Chipset AGP8X w/LAN,USB2,IEEE,&Audio
512 MB PC3200 400MHz DDR MEMORY Standard Major Brand
160GB 7200 RPM ATA 100 HARD DRIVE -- Cyberpower Recommended
nVidia GeForce-FX 5500 256MB DDR W/ TV OUT & DVI
SONY 16X DVD-ROM
ARTEC CD-RW 52X32X52


This is as far as i have gotten with a price at 671$

I do have some questions pertaining to my choices
Concerning the mobo i could have gotten (754-pin Socket) NEW ASUS K8V SE Deluxe VIA K8T800 Chipset AGP8X w/LAN,USB2,IEEE,&Audio for 17$ but i don't if this is a good deal?

Does having a bigger hard drive mean faster speed or slower? And is a raid configuration good?

I chose the Nividia Video card because the mobo nforce3 chipset so figured it would be good but don't know. I also dont understand how these two could be the same price but one has double the memory

nVidia GeForce-FX 5500 128MB DDR W/ TV OUT & DVI [+99]
nVidia GeForce-FX 5500 256MB DDR W/ TV OUT & DVI [+99]

for 20 bucks more i can get

nVidia GeForce FX 5700 256MB 8x AGP w/ TVO, & DVI
but I dont know whether or not its a better deal

Is Radeon better?

I'll be getting the printer and speakers seperately. I know the monitor will be an issue with the budget.
Thx for the help guys its greatly aprieciated :)
 
Praetor

Praetor

Administrator
Staff member
1. Stay away from the Socket754s (they are outdated and abandoned in favor of Socket939)

2. Bigger harddrive can mean faster. It depends. Make sure it is at least 7200rpm and preferably 8MB cache

3. RAID is for when you have more than 1 harddrive and you want to "deal with" them in special ways (either for performance or data integrity)

4. If that's the nForce3Pro chipset (which I think it is), avoid it. It limits the hypertransports to 600Mhz as opposed to the normal 800Mhz

5. 256MB of memory isnt that much of a difference in performance over 128MB as far as midrange graphics cards go. They probably have a lot of the 256MB model they want to get rid of or something related to marketing

6. It is a worthwhile upgrade for $20 to get the GFX5700

Is Radeon better?
Click to expand...

7. Ah the source of many a debate. If you want to go with ATI, make sure you are getting the Radeon9600Pro or preferably the 9600XT. It is a good call however for basing the choice to go nVidia on the chipset (less driver dependancies = smoother everything) :)

8. If you want some specs as far as budget pricing goes, have a look at: http://forums.afterdawn.com/thread_view.cfm/93097 ... sure Option 01 costs more than what you spec'd and Option 02 doesnt have the same power but I'm sure you can squeeze something in between :)

9. Dont buy those optical drives if at all possible. Sony is more expensive than its worth (performance wise) and Artec isnt known for its performance period :)

Hope this has been useful
 
E

EMO-TOCROSS

New Member
How much time do you have until you leave? Because Building your own computer is probably the best way out if you have enough time ( It really doesnt even require that much time). I just bought all the parts for my comptuer I'm building, and Im confident it will be a great computer compared to others in its price range thats pre-built. I spent 785$ Including shipping On a pretty sick computer!
 
F

Flash_AAA

New Member
Hey Praetor, would you recomend me going to a Pentium 4 becuase them socket 939s cost an arm. Should i stick with Cyber power or do you know of a better computer site that has good deals like the budget price on the other forum. thx for the help
Flash
 
F

Flash_AAA

New Member
Wow emotocross that is nice. Is your mobo an 939 socket? I prob dont have the time or experince to build one it'd be my first. Im gone Aug 26th. night guys Thx for the site ill check it out tommorow
 
Last edited:
F

Flash_AAA

New Member
Is a socket A better or worse than an socket 754? Is the Athalon 64 superior to the XP Barton? Because if thats the case i should try Pentium 4.
 
Praetor

Praetor

Administrator
Staff member
SocketA and Socket754 are two different product lines. The SocketA is for the AthlonXP series of chips while the Socket754 are for the Athlon64 (newer) chips. If you want budget, go AthlonXP, if you want raw performance at any cost, grab the P4EE or the AthlonFX series. For anything else, the baseline A64s or the P4Cs are a good choice but that depends on exactly what you define as "midrange budget" :)
 
F

Flash_AAA

New Member
Which of these mobo's is the best bang for the buck? This is the Athalon XP. it looks like nForce2 chipset would they run better than the nForce3 that was on the 754 mobo?

Abit NF7 nForce2 ULTRA Chipset 400 FSB AGP 8X w/ LAN, USB2.0, & Audio [+7]
Albatron Nforce2 Ultra DDR 400 Dual Channel MB w/ LAN, USB2.0, & Audio [-2]
Biostar M7NCD Pro nForce2 ULTRA Chipset 400 FSB AGP8X w/LAN, USB2, & Audio [+0]
ABit NF7-S nForce2 ULTRA 400FSB SATA AGP8X w/ RAID, LAN, USB2.0, & Audio [+46]
ASUS A7V8X-X VIA KT400 MB W/ 8X AGP,USB 2.0 & AUDIO [+0]
ASUS A7N8X-X nVidia nForce-2 400 FSB 8X AGP w/ USB 2.0
ASUS A7N8X nVidia nForce-2 ULTRA 400 FSB 8X AGP w/ USB 2.0 [+19]
ASUS A7N8X-E DELUXE nVidia nForce-2 ULTRA 400FSB SATA AGP8X [+70]
GigaByte GA-7N400-L1 nForce2 ULTRA 400FSB DDR400 AGP8X AUDIO & LAN [+17]
MSI K7N2-L DELTA nForce2 ULTRA 400FSB DDR400 AGP 8X [+17]
 
Praetor

Praetor

Administrator
Staff member
1. NF2 is for the AthlonXP. NF3 is for the A64 chips. Not interchangeable

2. From that list I would buy either the NF7 series or the A7N8X series. Ive used both, tweaked both, sold a lot of both and they are both exellent boards. If your budget is tight, the A7V8X is also a nice board for its buck
 
Praetor

Praetor

Administrator
Staff member
Serial ATA ... newer harddrive specification. Not much difference between ASUS and ABIT. Both make solid boards
 
F

Flash_AAA

New Member
Which of these hardrives would you recomend

40GB 7200 RPM ATA 100 HARD DRIVE [+61]
80GB 7200 RPM ATA 100 HARD DRIVE [+69]
120GB 7200 RPM ATA 100 HARD DRIVE [+85]
160GB 7200 RPM ATA 100 HARD DRIVE -- Cyberpower Recommended [+96]
MAXTOR 40GB 7200 RPM ATA 133 HARD DRIVE [+65]
MAXTOR 80GB 7200 RPM ATA 133 HARD DRIVE [+75]
MAXTOR 120GB 7200 RPM ATA 133 HARD DRIVE [+89]
MAXTOR 200GB 7200 RPM Serial ATA 150 8MB CACHE HARD DRIVE [+139]
Western Digital 80GB 7200RPM ATA 100 8MB Special Editon [+72]
Western Digital 120GB 7200RPM ATA 100 8MB Special Editon [+95]
Western Digital 160GB 7200RPM ATA 100 8MB Special Editon [+109]
Seagate 80GB 7200RPM Serial ATA 150 8MB Cache [+79]
Seagate 120GB 7200RPM Serial ATA 150 8MB Cache [+99]
Hitachi 160GB 7200RPM Serial ATA 150 8MB Cache -- Cyberpower Recommended [+109]
 
Praetor

Praetor

Administrator
Staff member
Depends on your budget and whether your mobo supports SATA or not. As well as the capacity you think you need.
 
F

Flash_AAA

New Member
Is the 8mb cache a big deal for a hard drive becuse this looks like a good deal Western Digital 80GB 7200RPM ATA 100 8MB Special Editon [+72]? It makes choosing difficult when you have all these options. I'm fine with this 80GB 7200 RPM ATA 100 HARD DRIVE [+69] but then to double it you only pay 20 more so 160GB 7200 RPM ATA 100 HARD DRIVE -- Cyberpower Recommended [+96] or
Hitachi 160GB 7200RPM Serial ATA 150 8MB Cache -- Cyberpower Recommended [+109] How do you find the best deal!!!!!

What does ATA 100,133,150 mean? Thx.
 
Last edited:
Praetor

Praetor

Administrator
Staff member
For the 80GB capacity you are better off with the Mator 80GB 7200 8MB. As for size, thats a problem only you can tackle.

ATA100 and ATA133 are PATA speeds with ATA133 being faster. ATA150 is SATA.
 
Praetor

Praetor

Administrator
Staff member
What is better PCI Express or AGP?
Click to expand...
Not really so much as "better" and im reluctant to use that word but technically PCI-Express is better however odds are you will have to buy a new motherboard for that upgrade. Furthermore, games and such have yet to saturate AGP8X so there isnt a massive rush to goto PCI-X yet :)
 
S

Sophocles

VIP Member
I haven't bought a computer since 1995. My recommendation would be to find someone who's into building, tell them what you want to do with it and how much you have to spend. Check the stuff (hardware) that they're recommending on the net and price them out indivudally, add them up and compare it to what they're offering.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top