New Computer

[Ouver]

I'm planning to get a new computer, well actually my dad is. He started working at home but his computer is "out of shape". Anyways, he decided that its time to get a new computer and there are two options either he buys the computer for himself or i get the new one and he gets mine.

Our budget stands at around $800 dollars: Dont need a monitor, the computer should have extensive capabilities :gaming, internet...one the we wouldn't have to upgrade anytime soon.(Intel P4 or AMD)
So plz give me some computer configurations.

MY computer : P3 450mhz,384mb sdram, 40gb hd 7200rpm,Intel Se-440bx2 mobo, BTC 40x cd-rom, Yamaha 20/10/40 CDRW, Gefore 4mx 440 64mb ,2XRealtek 100mb ethernet cards, running on Windows Xp.

 

[speeduk]

Heres what id get with £550 ($800)

Athlon 2400xp £100 $150 (use stock cooler for now)
Any nforce 2 board £90-100 $120-150 Asus is good tho
Maxtor Max 80GB 8MB Cache (fast!) £80 $120
1X 512mb pc2700 corsair £80 $120 OR
Any case really, i like <A HREF="http://www.globalwin.com.tw/new-product/gat001.html" target="_new">this </A> shop around though i found one just like this for £50 $76
400W or above psu
this leaves us with hmmm (gets calculator out) about $175 to spend on a graphics card, you dont have the budget for a top of the range so id get a radeon 9500 for about $175.
If you want you could skimp on the nforce m/board and get the asus a7v8x or similar for about £70 $130 and use the money you save to get a pro version of the 9500 or a gforce4 4600

 

[speeduk]

P.S. just seen your current spec, if you use the hard disk, cdrom and sound card you could save yourself the money to get a radeon 9700 pro!

 

[Cuda]

$80 ANTEC Midtower SX835II (BEIGE) w/350W SMART POWER
$56 Athlon XP 1700+ Thoroughbred /266 FSB
$159 CORSAIR MEMORY XMS Low Latency (Twin Pack) 512MB(2 x 256MB)
$150 Asus A7N8X Deluxe
$148 ASUS V9280TD Geforce4 Ti4200 128MB 128 bit AGP 8X TV-OUT & DVI
$102 WD WESTERN DIGITAL "SPECIAL EDITION" 80GB 7200RPM
$50 Lite On 52x24x52 CDRW Model LTR-52246S
$9 Teac 1.44MB 3.5 Inch Floppy Drive
$93 Windows XP Home Edition with Service Pack 1
$13 Logitech Deluxe Access 104 Keyboard
$12 LOGITECH B69 CORDED OPTICAL MOUSE

$872+tax is about as close as I can get to $800 for a great foundation for future upgrades. You could skimp on the memory and get the non deluxe version of the A7N8X and probably be under the $800, but the extra $70 now will pay off when you want to upgrade to a Barton using Dual channel DDR. Only things I left out was speakers and a modem. Hope you have some headphones and a broadband connection.

edit: prices all from newegg.com<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by Cuda on 03/08/03 11:16 AM.</EM></FONT></P>

 

[Ouver]

I've selected components for my new system...my budget is around the $600 dollar mark (without a monitor): tell me what you think.
Intel Pentium 4 2.4Ghz 512k 533mhz
Gigabyte Ga-8PE66 Pro
Kingston 512mb ddr333
W.D 60GB 7200 8M Buffer
Innovsion gf4 mx 440 64mb
(i know this is a low end card )
CD Rom Asus 52X
Mitsuni floppy 1.44
Enermax CS-3181L-S Neon Lighting
Thermaltake 80mm smart fan
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Few questions:
1) Is there a real differnce between a 2.4ghz cpu and lets say a 2.0ghz or even a 1.8ghz. So if there isn't maybe its best to get that and upgrade in a different area.

2) Would it be smarter to get a different memory combo ? like lets say less ram but with a faster componenet like rdram to ddr in general?