Buying a CPU

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Khanate

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Hi, I am Khanate, I have just registered but I have read a couple of posts during the past few weeks especially about where to buy individual parts, but recently my parents told me they could buy me a pc... so I guess I have about a 1000$ budget... which is a medium to low budget i guess since I need a computer for gaming, I was looking at pre-built PC's and found this one http://www.cyberpowerinc.com/highendsystem/dboxspecial.htm
but from what I've seen on the forum it would be cheaper to buy parts so what would be a well rounded PC for gaming that would leave place for upgrading?
Thx in advance,
Khanate

I crawl inside<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by Khanate on 07/28/03 05:01 PM.</EM></FONT></P>
 
F

Flinx

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Hi there. Lets get a little more info ok?

Just to get started...do you intend to buy a screen as well or do you already have one? Do you want a 17 inch screen(because it saves space) or do you want 19" or more? Do you need to build a complete system for the money (Mouse, keyboard too?)

You can do pretty well on $1000.

One of the most important components you can get will be the video card. Buying a good one will make the gaming an enjoyable experience and will let you enjoy games yet to come. I would like to suggest that you might consider an ATI based 9700 nonpro as the base around which to build your
system. That is on the lower part of the top end cards yet has features that won't be fully exploited till new games come along.

What do you think? Would that be a good starting point?

Then there is the question of the CPU. There seem to be two excellent choices at the present time. Again both at the low end of the top performance range. AMD XP2500+ Bartonand the Intel 2.4C. The 2.4C is more expensive. Both apparently overclock well if you need or eventually want to do that. So you may want to configure two parallel systems with each of these as a core CPU (but the price difference is not that much).

<A HREF="http://forumz.tomshardware.com/hardware/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&p=145175#145175" target="_new">http://forumz.tomshardware.com/hardware/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&p=145175#145175</A>

Lets look at two more large monetary considerations:

1) Screen. A good quality screen. You should buy the best you can afford after you have decided on your other components. You should even seriously consider buying a better screen if possible since that is the one component likely to have the longest life.
2) OS - do you need to buy one?


The loving are the daring!<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by Flinx on 07/28/03 05:47 PM.</EM></FONT></P>
 
H

HardWareBoss

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Check prices at New Egg .com. Intel P4 2.4c Mobo Abit IS7 or Asus P4P800 Ram Kingston HyperX PC 3500 at least 512 or 2X 512 megs ram. HD your choice Vid card same. Monitor Viewsonic plus others. Keyboard, mouse. OS unless you have one. Do you need speakers? You will need a case. Plus PSU.
 
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traviss187

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www.pricewatch.com so easy and a huge database of parts and stores. Then once you find a good price check the seller at resellerratings.com
also if you wait a month and a half (?) or so the price of cpu's will drop about 30% (at least intel)
 
K

Khanate

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First, thank you all three for replying :)
I already have a screen but i forgot what model but its a viewsonic.. i will update on this
on this 1000$, no mouse, no screen, no OS (but a keyboard yes)
I was checking the price for the 9600 pro, is this card better or not then the 9700 non-pro?

so far what i had figured out about this was that i would get:

AMD Barton 2500+ 333FSB
Asus A7N8x-DX nForce2-ST, AGP8x, A133, S-ATA, i1394,Dual-DDR400, Audio,Dual-Lan, 6USB2
(2) KINGSTON KVR400X64C3/512 512MB 400MHz DDR PC3200 DIMM RAM CL3
WD WESTERN DIGITAL 60GB 7200RPM EIDE HARD DRIVE MODEL # WD600JB (600JB) DRIVE ONLY (8MB) (size isnt much a matter with me)
ANTEC SOHO File ServerTower ATX Case Model SX1040BII with 400 Watt Smart Power
Thermaltake VOLCANO 9
(2) Thermaltake 80X80X25mm FAN, 2 Ball Bearing, 2900+/- 10% RPM, 37CFM Air Flow, with 3pin/4pin adapter. P/N: TT-8025A-2B.
Creative Inspire 6.1 6600 6 Speakers w/subwoofer


and actually i dont mind at all going under the 1000$ bar, just trying to have a good PC that could last a long time... i checked prices at newegg.com btw
Thanks all,
Khanate

I crawl inside
 
K

Khanate

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i found a refurbished ATI All-In-Wonder RADEON 9700 PRO 128MB DDR 8X AGP for 267$ is that a good basis?

I crawl inside
 
K

Khanate

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Sapphire ATI RADEON 9700 Atlantis PRO 128MB DDR, DVI/TV-out/CRT AGP for 292$ then? good basis?
so am i missing anything except dvd and cd?

I crawl inside
 
K

Khanate

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AMD Barton 2500+ 333FSB $91.00
Asus A7N8x-DX nForce2-ST, AGP8x, A133, S-ATA, i1394,Dual-DDR400, Audio,Dual-Lan, 6USB2 $92.00
Sapphire ATI RADEON 9700 Atlantis PRO 128MB DDR, DVI/TV-out/CRT AGP $292.00
2xKINGSTON KVR400X64C3/512 512MB 400MHz DDR PC3200 DIMM RAM CL3 91x2=182$
WD WESTERN DIGITAL 60GB 7200RPM EIDE HARD DRIVE MODEL # WD600JB (600JB) - OEM, DRIVE ONLY (8MB)$83.00
Lite On 52x24x52 CDRW Model LTR-52246S OEM $43.99
Creative Labs Inspire 4.1 4400 Speaker $49.00
Logitech Deluxe Desktop (Deluxe Keyboard & S69 Mouse) - OEM $19.00 **
ANTEC Performance PLUS Model PLUS1080AMG- with Antec Original TRUE 430W P4 Power Supply ATX12V Retail $115.00
Thermaltake VOLCANO 9, Copper base inserted, SMART & SILENT $21.99
Thermaltake 80X80X25mm FAN, 2 Ball Bearing, 2900+/- 10% RPM, 37CFM Air Flow, with 3pin/4pin adapter. P/N: TT-8025A-2B. Retail. 10.00$

i need a soundcard??

I crawl inside<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by Khanate on 07/28/03 06:49 PM.</EM></FONT></P>
 
F

Flinx

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Looks like your doing great!

What is your total now? And the price of that 9700 nonpro seems a bit high for American $$$. Supplier here in Canada has it at $335 for a Sapphire without packaged games (about $240US) (Don't know if there are more models than the Atlantis) and a 9800pro (retail) is running at $370 US on newegg.

If XP is your operating system consider another 512 of DDR (total 1GB).

Oh yep, floppy drive. That's a few $$$ and don't forget to count taxes.

The loving are the daring!<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by Flinx on 07/28/03 06:57 PM.</EM></FONT></P>
 
X

XERXES_II

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I recommend that you get a bigger hard drive than 60GB. I'm a gamer too, and when you add on all the games, patches, demos, videos, screenshots, mods, and save games that space goes fast. It is also really convenient to listen to music after you copy all of your CDs to your hard drive.

More stuff:
Arctic Silver
Microsoft Internet Keyboard Pro

Places to shop:
Newegg is my favorite.
<A HREF="http://www.hypermicro.com" target="_new">http://www.hypermicro.com</A>
<A HREF="http://www.big008.com" target="_new">http://www.big008.com</A>
<A HREF="http://www.techonweb.com" target="_new">http://www.techonweb.com</A>
 
K

Khanate

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that is a 9700 PRO (does the price makes sound like this?)
and it is 2x512ram, you mean an additional third ram?

I crawl inside
 
F

Flinx

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At the 9700Pro you're not on much of a budget anymore.
And if you can get the 9800 pro for $30 or $40 more do that.




The loving are the daring!
 
K

Khanate

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i have a separate sound system :eek:)
and i never used over 4gb even after a 2.2 gb diablo2 install on my 9.6gb hard drive i currently have, 60 sounds much more then enough to me, i have to worry there :eek:)
it is more on the quality of the component of it that I am more insecure (as well as the quality of the component of the other pieces of my pcpuzzle)

one more question... soundcard??

Thanks to everyone,
Khanate

I crawl inside
 
F

Flinx

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Everything you have (at least the important stuff) is very high quality.

I hope all goes well with your build and I'm sure you're going to be very happy with your system.

The loving are the daring!
 
Crashman

Crashman

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I'll assemble and test a system for you for $100, including shipping. That should actually save you money over buying a prebuilt system. Simply order the parts and have them shipped to me.

<font color=blue>Only a place as big as the internet could be home to a hero as big as Crashman!</font color=blue>
<font color=red>Only a place as big as the internet could be home to an ego as large as Crashman's!</font color=red>
 
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traviss187

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forgot but you can also watch www.slickdeal.net and every other week or so (usually) a deal will come up where you can get a good burner for about $20 after rebates, I got a 52x lite-on for $25 (it's rebadged but I didn't pay shipping and if I have a problem I have a place to return it, curcuit city)


also you'll get a noticable proformance increase if you can get cl2 or cl2.5 ram, it makes a big difference
 
K

Khanate

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sounds like a good deal!
thx for the info!
and ill dig further the cl2 or 2.5 part! (does my other hardware support this btw?)

I crawl inside<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by Khanate on 07/28/03 09:29 PM.</EM></FONT></P>
 
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