Need advice on a new system

If you want best bang for the buck, a 1.7 AXP will most certainly best a 1.6 P4. The P4 only starts besting the AXP at the higher end in their 2.4 ghz chips which i'm guessing cost as much as the computer you're planning to build. I am also in the process of building a new computer for my parents, but i'm giving them my old parts and getting new ones for myself since they really only use it to wordprocess and go online Now for $500 i'm pretty sure you could get a decent system with a video card, i would forget the integrated video if i were you, that's probably a big mistake unless you don't want to do any gaming. Right now your best bet for the motherboard is probably an EPOX 8K3A+ $108 at newegg, not bad. You can pick up pc 2700 ram from crucial for around $80 - $100 The rest is basically trivial and up to you, get the athlon, video card, and hard drive you can afford, you might want to throw in a sound card too, i think you can get an SB live for around $40, but the integrated audio might be enough for you, i just wouldn't stick with integrated video if you have any intention of gaming with it in the future. I think you can get a Gf3 right now for around $100, so you could definitely get a nice cheap gf2 ultra or something like that. Oh and if you want a nice case, i'm buying one from newegg for $32, w/o powersupply, but you can probably get an enermax 300 watt for around $40. This case seems to be kind of hard to believe for what they're giving you, worth a look......http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProduct.asp?submit=manufactory&catalog=7&manufactory=1524&DEPA=1

first one on the list

"If you want best bang for the buck, a 1.7 AXP will most certainly best a 1.6 P4"

Hmmm, now I know he didnt mention OCing, but Im pretty sure a 1.6A can be OCed to perform better than that AXP.....Good "bang for the buck", imo.
Radeon 8500 is down to $100......Theres some more "BANG" for ya.

I sold my sig for $50.

I think the AXP will do just fine... in Oc'ing etc.

As for the Radeon 85k , i got one for about 110 about a month ago... great stuff all around...

<font color=blue>I for one run Quake 3 on a P133(No MMX)</font color=blue>I have no affiliatioin w/ Intel

tsk tsk, not possible.
cheaper price round $250 for the ATI Radeon 8500 64 Mo.



<i>if <b>you know</b> <font color=white>you don't know<font color=black>, the way could be more easy ...

got the Radeon 8500 128Mb for $160 this last weekend. Got it in the mail today and trying to find things to test it on.

"The P4 1.6A overclocks far better than the AXP. The chances are very high that it will do 2.4 GHz with retail cooling, and that's with a nice quick FSB too. If the OP intends to overclock, the P4 1.6A or 1.8A is really the best value."

Ive considered overclocking but what about the memory it will more that likely be DDR memory and while jumping the FSB to 133 for the P4A will provide a boost there, won't the 266MHz DDR memory be a limiting factor as far as performance boosts go????

You're talking about the All in Wonder.

I sold my sig for $50.

A 1600+ runs at 1.4ghz, not 1.6ghz, generally the p4 overclocked will beat the athlon, but the person who started this thread did not mention overclocking, and from the fact the pc is not for him, I would reccomend the athlon to avoid any issues overclocking may bring.

The Cash Left In My Pocket,The BEST Benchmark

"Actually, he said it is for him and he'll be giving his old parts to his parents."

Actually I said I was building it for my cousin, using new parts, someone else mentioned they was building one for thier parents using parts from their old system.

Also, about OCing, if I OC a 1.6A P4 to a 133FSB, I know 266MHz DDR would be fine at that speed, but how would that affect performance??

Meh, must be the cold medication kicking in

/me apologizes to anyone who might be offended by that or future comments.

<font color=blue>Hi mom!</font color=blue>

No, it doesnt.

I sold my sig for $50.