Help to built my new system...

[Mary]

hey all,
i`ve just reviewed few topics,and i`m imprested by your knowledge so i decided to ask for an advise...
I need to buy a new comp for my self(very much).
i am not looking for the newest stuff cause of budget.
i plan to spend about 1000$(Can) 650$(Us) without monitor.
I will use it mostly for internet,and a bit of graphic design.
So i was thinking about :
AMD ATHLON XP 1600+ 1.4GHZ
mobo:GIGABYTE GA-7VTXH+ ATX KT266A DDR SOCKET A
256 ram ddr,
no idea about video card,
some cd writer
hd:SEAGATE BARRACUDA ATA IV 40GB HD ATA/100 3.5LP 8.9MS 7200.
think thats all,if ya have some better idea,will be great.
so BIG BIG thanks for any help or some other sugestions! ???

[Chef]

Hi there Mary

the seems to be OK
Athlon + Gigabyte with DDR is good combination

I don't recommend Barracuda Seagate HDD, as it is slightly slow and pretty noisey. WD or IBM 40-80Gb/7200

I can recommend Yamaha, Philips, AOpen, Teac, with justlink technology ~14/12/40 (depends on budget, maybe SCSI). Not HP (slow, ugly software, unreliable)

Nothing specific for VGA. Any Geforce2MX card would be good for WWW + graphics, maybe simple ATI with 32Mb. anything inexpensive with 32-64 Mb (but not for heavy professional editors like 3DMax) more like photoshop, freehand, coreldraw

Don't buy cheap CDROM drive ! Burning requires quality source for better synchronization. again, consider SCSI

Maybe additional memory, although DDR is still expensive.

Roomy ATX case with additional 1-2 Fans, 300W PSU

as for OS, if anything micro, then Windows 2000 (not XP, just check all the threads about), graphic editors run better. however not good for games, cause not everything works under W2K.


Good luck
Chef

[mary]

hi chef!
yes w2k is a good option for me, i don`t play games.
hd-IBM- i heard many complainings about their recent stuff,
before i used to have one and it was great,but i don`t know now.
so do you know those:
IBM DESKSTAR 60GXP 40GB HD 7200RPM ATA/100
or
WD CAVIAR 40GB 7200RPM ATA/100 HD 3.5LP 9MS 2MB
would it be good?
about cd burner,is it such a big difference?
Case-yes i like it big-so i think that:
ANTEC SX1030B 10BAY 300W P/S SPAM gonna be good.

Anyway big thanks!!! :D

[Grinnin Reaper]

I have a few diffrent opinion's but that's what they are opinion's. SPAMAtholon is an execellent choice. SPAMGigabyte I'm not sure about but my next Motherboard will probably be an Asus. SPAMThey cost a little more but they have really good products. SPAMDDR ram is probably the best way to go right now but that will also be dependant on your Mother Board. SPAMVideo card GeForce 2's are real cheap and have a lot of bang for the buck. SPAMI have a Plextor CD burner and really love it. SPAMFor a hard drive I hear people but down Maxtor but my works great and they preform well for the cost. SPAMHere's some links to some places that can help you on your search.
For best prices try www.pricewatch.com
For reputable dealers check www.resellerratings.com
One of my favorite dealers is www.newegg.com
And finally for good reveiws try www.tomshardware.com
Happy hunting and let us know how it turns out.

[Chef]

I think IBM DESKSTAR 60GXP 40GB HD 7200RPM ATA/100 would be best option.
I use IBM disks since my first PC (that one is actually still alive)
IBM HDDs are always fast and quiet, as for reliability never crashed for me, but make sure to have backups. No HDD manufacture can guarantee you 100% fail safe. Ask for 3 years warranty
also, you probably noticed that most of 40/60/80Gb disks have about the same price, get largest HDD for budget price

As for Plextor, it's very good but expensive burner that was one of 1st that used technology to prevent buffer underflow errors. Justlink technology is used now with cheaper burners achieving the same result


Good luck
Chef

[Chef]

As for Maxtors...
the problem with HDDs is that you can't say some manufacturer is 100% OK while another totally sux. The point is that each company has certain models that are better then equal competitors. Some product lines can be better then another and every company has it's best and so-so products.

So SPAMgenerally you can't say IBM is better then Seagate (for example), you can compare 7200/ATA100 series IBM vs Seagate. Although IBM was always 1 step forward ;)

Cheers for Savage
Chef

[jinx]

Hi Mary and welcome !
It would help some if we knew where you lived, what country. Also in the post title you say need help to build, but in the post you say you need to buy, maybe a conflict with english, but any opinions I could give would need to be based on probally where you live and if you wished to build or purchase.

[Mary]

hi jinxx.
I live in Canada now.
Building,purchasing i even didn`t think to write about it,
couse it was not a point,but i want to buy,it`s not so important for me if i'm gonna purchase parts or whole in one.
yeah and i have some "conflict" with my english...
but i am quite curious about your opinion.
Maybe you can recomend some good online shop(rather in Canada)
thanks to all!

[mary]

oh guys!
what about this video card???
VISIONTEK Xtasy 5632 GEFORCE2 GTS-V 4X/2X 32MB DDR AGP - OEM
i have no idea what's the difference between GTS and regular one.

[Grinnin Reaper]

GTS added per-pixel shading. Here's a link to nvidia's web site detailing the GTS card and related cards http://www.nvidia.com/view.asp?PAGE=geforce2pro SPAMI dont' know exactly what per-pixel shading adds to the card but there is a link on nvidia page above that will explain it in marketing terms. SPAMAlso look above at my other post. SPAMwww.resellerratings.com is a very important site to check with before ordering. SPAMSome sites have feedback like "took my money and shipped me a broken board then went out of buisness", or "company has very rude people in return dept". SPAMAll in all it's a very important site to check. SPAMwww.newegg.com is still my favorite. SPAMThey usually have within two dollars of the lowest price according to www.pricewatch.com and have a very high rating according to www.resellerratings.com SPAMThey should ship to a Canadian address but I'm not sure, sorry. SPAMI just ordered a DVD drive from them last night about 9 or 10 o'clock and I checked and it's allready shipped and I have the fed-ex tracking number allready (in less that 24 hours) that kicks some serious butt in my book.

[mary]

i've just checked it, they ship to US&Puerto rico :o?!!!
not too good...
but thanks very much!!!

[Chef]

I don't recommend to buy hardware from Internet, you never know who's going to fix it & it takes time to get replacement parts (good to be prepared ;)), it's only cheaper in the start ...
why not to check the local store ?


Cheers
Chef

[jinx]

Hi again Mary,
Since you live in Canada, you should have access to Walmarts, Circuit City, Staples, Best buy, Office Depot, Office Max etc all should have outlets in Canada.
For your budget and requirements, I would suggest you go down and look over their packaged specials, which are usually very good. You can view their internet sites first to see what's available.
Don't plan on 'gold plating' a computer, anything you buy today will probally be obsolete in a year or so, also remember you are not 'putting in a dream kitchen'.
All factory run models will usually have a 16 day over the counter exchange or refund at these outlets then factory warranties for several years.
The HP models are good solid units but stay away from Compaq. Now that they are 'merging' don't know how that will affect the HP's but shouldn't be a problem. Compaq has always had toll free 800 customer service but it is the units - products- that just give problems.
Factory run models also ship with winXP and lots of free bundled software. Also if something doesn't work, just take it back ! I wouldn't much worry about nitpicking their components as they always ship the best product - mass produced- for the price.
Also don't lose sleep over 'intergrated audio or video'. Extra slots are always provided to accomodate individual audio and video cards, PCI/AGP.
Would also recommend a Pentium 4 processor, as these are the industry work horse standards and will be around a long time without overheating failures. Granted others may look good in some lab tests, but remember the human brain or eye can not discern a difference in a few nanaseconds. So all that is mostly hype.
This may be contrary to other opinions, but you did ask for opinions- plural- not jsut one. So this is mine.
Here are some links for you to view and compare units to fit your budget and requirements.
Good luck to you on whatever you decide and purchase.
--------- SPAM
SPAM SPAMCircuit City this weeks computer specials (http://www.circuitcity.com/ewebIMa/frame1.jsp?BV_SessionID=@@@@155690
3980.1017959148@@@@&BV_EngineID=ccchadcekmfelffcfngcfkmdffhdffk.0&upper=
head.jsp&lower=frame2.jsp&left=leftspecials.jsp&right=store_specials
.jsp&inleftcat=Specials&department=Computers)

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Office Depot (http://www.officedepot.com/shop/catalog/sku.asp?BC=3%3A17%3A1701%3A1701003&
amp;ID=235422&LEVEL=SK&SID=PGMQK092ALUU9JLAX74LGB9J2L6336C5&PP=30100
1)

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Here at Walmart, scroll down to HP machines on pages 2 and 3. Any units as listed should be available for pickup in the stores.

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Walmart Computers (http://www.walmart.com/catalog/search.gsp?dept=3944&search_query=deskto
p+computers&CATEGORY_ID=3951&cat=3951&currentPage=1)

[mary]

Hi,
I really didn't expect such a huge response!!!
BIG BIG thanks to @ll of you.
;D ;D ;D