am i making dumb choices?

[dukedade]

I am planning to build anew system for xmas. main uses are internet,( surfing, Runescape ) and my daughter wants to play Sims2. current systems are:ABS PIII 500 Mhz
640 Mb RAM
MATROX Millennium w/ 32 Mb etc
SONY P4 2.8 Ghz
500 Mb
ATI Radeon IGP 345M w/ 64 Mb

I have been reading many reviews, P3 system is 6 years old, so I want to get up to date without breaking the bank. Approx. budget: $1500 max. I want fairly up to date CPU and MoBo. Also, I want the LCD monitor and I want to put cool lights in . For fun, and to learn something new, I plan to try a "RAID 0" configuration. I will use the IDE 40GB from the P3 for back-up. My daughter does not demand high end graphics for Sims 2, so I picked a fairly low level video card. Also, I want to try using it as a PVR to record shows off of the Food Network and hopefully burning to disc. I don't know if I will ever SLI the graphics, but I thought I would keep my options open. MoBo got good reviews for quality etc. I doubt I will ever OC. I don't need cutting edge, and I don't want to be obsolete tomorrow. I still need cool looking case, cooling(?), and lights.
Windows XP on P3 is upgrade from Windows ME upgraded from Windows 98 so it might be easier to buy Windows XP OEM, and I would like to get MS Office to get Power Point, which is something my daughter could use for school (currently we use Corel).
Anywhere I can cut back to make this all possible? Or am I shooting myself in the foot already?
wishlist on newegg is https://secure.newegg.com/NewVersion/WishList/WishDetail.asp?position=HISTORY&ID=1782600&WishListTitle=lukes+idea
LUKES IDEA


1 ASUS A8N-SLI Premium Socket 939 NVIDIA nForce4 SLI ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail
Model #: A8N-SLI Premium
$163.00 $163.00
1 XFX PVT43PUDS7 Geforce 6600 256MB GDDR2 PCI Express x16 Video Card - Retail
Model #: PVT43PUDS7
$117.00
1 Hauppauge WinTV-PVR-150 MCE PCI Interface 1042 Tuner Card - Retail
Model #: 1042
$67.00
1 ASUS Atlas A-55GA ATX12V 2.0 550W Power Supply - Retail
Model #: A-55GA
$129.99
1 AMD Athlon 64 3800+ Venice 1GHz FSB Socket 939 Processor Model ADA3800BPBOX - Retail
Model #: ADA3800BPBOX
$282.00
1 GeIL Value 1GB (2 x 512MB) 184-Pin DDR SDRAM DDR 400 (PC 3200) Unbuffered Dual Channel Kit System Memory Model GE1GB3200BDC - Retail
Model #: GE1GB3200BDC
$74.99
1 SAMSUNG Black 1.44MB 3.5" Internal Floppy Drive Windows 98SE/ ME/ 2000/ XP - OEM
Model #: SFD321B/LBL1
$7.25
2 Western Digital Caviar SE WD800JD 80GB 7200 RPM Serial ATA150 Hard Drive - OEM
Model #: WD800JD
$109.52
1 ViewSonic VA702b Black 17" 12ms LCD Monitor - Retail
Model #: VA702b
$224.95
1 GIGABYTE Black IDE Combo Drive Model GO-B5232A-B - Retail
Model #: GO-B5232A-B
$33.99
Subtotal: $1,209[/url]

newegg doesn't have as much neat lights as this other place:
http://www.directron.com/mods.html

opinions advice nifty ideas for case mods appreciated

 

[dhlucke]

Why are you getting a SLI motherboard? Save some money and don't. The reason being that you would be better off buying a new video card when the time comes rather than getting another 6600.

That's a terrible price for a PSU. I just bought an Enermax EG565P for $80 at monarchcomputer.com.

Are you sure you need a floppy drive? Get a USB flash drive instead. Floppies are slow and unreliable. I haven't used one in years.

2 80GB drives for Raid0 is your choice but you could get 1 320GB drive for just a little bit more or one 250GB drive for less.

That combo drive is a waste of money. For $40 you can get a Lite-On DVD burner which will read and write to CD's and DVD's. I have a $40 BenQ DW1640 which is a good drive but I think they have a newer one out now.

As far as Windows, if you have the XP upgrade disk you're fine. Insert it and begin the installation. When it asks for proof of previous purchase insert a ME or 98 disk and it will scan it and do nothing else. You basically will only install XP.

 

[pickxx]

Lets get right into it.....

mobo...no Get the chaintech VNF4 Ultra, its abou $100 cheaper and you arn't missing anything from the ASUS board.

CPU.....no, get the A64 3700+ San Diego chip...its about $50 cheaper and has more onboard cache.

PSU....OH HELL NO! Get this http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817104954 its $80 cheaper and probably 80 times better.


RAM.....finally a choice i can say yes on.


FLoppy drive....lol, i haven't used one in years but its your $8


Why are you using RAID-0 if you get the system i mentino above you wont feel any lag for surfing or playing games. Get a 250GB Seagate SATA drive for $103 from newegg....get it, love it, move on.


Monitor.....sure, thats a nice choice. the only LCD's i like are the Dell 2005, or the 2405.



Exactly what DH said about the combo drive...for like 3bucks more yuo can get a DVD burner....might as well get it.

Graphics card....the 6600 256 you have is pretty low end but not bad.

TOTAL: Roughly just subtracting what i saved you.....$925-$950 is your total and it will be a MUCH MUCH MUCH better machine for you. Hell do yourself a favor and ditch the Veiwsonice and for avbout 200 more get the Dell 2005LCD.....20" LCD, GREAT for gaming no lag and it makes your penis gorw 2"

Send all savings me to me for some pizza, thanx

 

[sledgehammer70]

Graphics card....the 6600 256 you have is pretty low end but not bad. ???

now the 6600 256 is not low end compared to most users on the market. the average user has onbord grphics..so compared to onboard this is 1000 time better, but compared to a 7800GTX it is slow... a 6600 256 will run most games out there on mediums settings if not some on high. I know I run a 6600 card in a Athlon XP 3000 rig and it runs BF2 without a hickup.

 

[Rugger]

Considering he could get thisXFX 6600GT for $2 more - that would be a horrible vid card choice.

 

[slvr_phoenix]

So far I agree with everyone's suggestions. But I'd like to add my 2 cents as well.

If you're building a system that boots from a RAID array, GET A FLOPPY DRIVE. For some flirking reason, M$ insists on loading drivers off of a floppy drive when you're installing WinXP. And when Windows can't find drivers to run your RAID array, which invariably is the case when you're using RAID, you'll be darn glad you wasted that extra 10 bucks on the antiquated and otherwise generally useless floppy drive. Or at least you will if you've pre-loaded your floppy drive with the correct drivers for your motherboard's RAID controller. :lol: :lol: :lol: I learned that one the hard way.

And frankly, I'm unconvinced that your proc needs to be that powerful. An A64 3200 would do.

And be safe. Use an anti-static device when assembling the system.

 

[pickxx]

Graphics card....the 6600 256 you have is pretty low end but not bad. ???

now the 6600 256 is not low end compared to most users on the market. the average user has onbord grphics..so compared to onboard this is 1000 time better, but compared to a 7800GTX it is slow... a 6600 256 will run most games out there on mediums settings if not some on high. I know I run a 6600 card in a Athlon XP 3000 rig and it runs BF2 without a hickup.

Find me that review....find me proof that a 6600 256 can win most games on medium to high settings....maybe at 800x600 but who the hell does that?

If a 7800GTX 512 can't max out some new games how the hell can a 6600 256? I think what you mean is that at super low res settings you can run medium to low settings.

And yes....most people have onboard graphics....but MOST GAMERS would look down upon a 6600 256. I would say mor then 75-80% of all gamers have a better card then that.