| Author |
Making a custom pc |
The Anarchist
Grand Admiral
Joined: January 09, 2005
Posts: 83
|  Posted: 2005-08-22 21:05
Mnn ive been playing with this old sony vaio for quite a while
2.2 ghz pent 4 processor
32mb intergrated graphics card
512mb pc2100 ram
Quite slow, can barely run counter-strike 1.6 in opengl...which is why im ordering this:
Processor
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819103539 Athlon 64 3700+ San Diego $290
Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813152049 Chaintech VNF4 MB $80
Ram
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820145440 Corsair 2x512 $90
Hard drive
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16822140166 300gb Hard drive $130
Dvd drive
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16827152047 DVD burner $45
Sound card
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16829102178 Audigy2 $71
Case
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811208008 XionII case $65
Video card
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814102505 x850xt 256mb $400
or http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814122228 Geforce 7800GT 256mb $400
Approx Total (without shipping): $1170
My budget is around $1000 but i decided to get a 3700+ so i wouldnt bottleneck my 7800GT
What do you think of it?
btw- if anyone can offer some advice on changing any of this to get maximum performance, it would be appreciated
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Ramius
Fleet Admiral
Agents
Joined: January 12, 2002
Posts: 894
From: Ramius
| Posted: 2005-08-22 21:20
sigh, firstly, take the ATI over the geforce card. The newer games have started to drop Nvidia, you're better off with the ATI for game related support. Check you're ram speeds and type to see to make sure its the best suited for your board. Try to dual channel if you can.
everything else is fine, some people may tell you to buy a seagate drive over a maxtor, but it really doesnt matter.
If you don't care an incredible amount about your sound, the nforce base audio works rather well, if you want to save some money.
The one thing you might consider is getting a different case. The one you have is some large steel behemoth with a generic power supply. You are running some high end equipment, and you may encounter power issues. I suggest getting a bare aluminum case instead, and installing a truepower or smartpower PSU of at least 450 watts, though it would be safe with 500W. Aluminum is a godsend if you are worried about heat or you're a lan gamer and tote around your case. It'll take off 20 lbs and makes gamers happy.
Goodluck in construction.
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BackSlash
Marshal
Galactic Navy
Joined: March 23, 2003
Posts: 11183
From: Bristol, England
| Posted: 2005-08-22 21:26
I cant really say anything else. Ramius summed it up.
Go for ATI though at all costs. Hardware DX9 is SO important at the moment.
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The Anarchist
Grand Admiral
Joined: January 09, 2005
Posts: 83
| Posted: 2005-08-22 21:49
Thanks for the help, im not sure what you meant by my mobo and ram speeds, the mobo is pc3200 standard but i dont really know what your talking about
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BackSlash
Marshal
Galactic Navy
Joined: March 23, 2003
Posts: 11183
From: Bristol, England
| Posted: 2005-08-22 22:05
pc3200 = 400mhz, your fine for ram and mobo speed.
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Gabriel
Cadet
Joined: November 27, 2003
Posts: 46
From: United Kingdom.
| Posted: 2005-08-22 22:13
If you can afford to, get a single stick of 1024mb memory instead of the 2 x512mb, will work out more intially, but if you want to add more memory later will save you a packet instead of losing the 2 x 512 to replace them with 1024mb.
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" Vengeance & Death Shall Be Mine, For I Am Gabriel.... "
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BackSlash
Marshal
Galactic Navy
Joined: March 23, 2003
Posts: 11183
From: Bristol, England
| Posted: 2005-08-22 22:22
Quote:
|
On 2005-08-22 22:13, Gabriel wrote:
If you can afford to, get a single stick of 1024mb memory instead of the 2 x512mb, will work out more intially, but if you want to add more memory later will save you a packet instead of losing the 2 x 512 to replace them with 1024mb.
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Dont do this. For more performance two 512's in duel channel will perform FAR better than a single 1024.
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Fatal Rocko Willis
Fleet Admiral
Fatal Squadron
Joined: March 01, 2003
Posts: 1336
From: Kentucky
| Posted: 2005-08-22 22:52
Well this is what I found since I like the sett up but found things a few dollars cheaper for you...
Processor - Athlon 64 3700+ = Your Price $290 (including shipping) but here...
http://www.monarchcomputer.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=M&Product_Code=120273&AFFIL=pricewatch&NR=1
Only $274.90 (shipping included)
Motherboard - Chaintech VNF4 MB $86.50 ($83 actually + 3.50 S&H) but here..
http://www.chiefvalue.com/app/productdetails.asp?submit=&item=13-152-049&ATT=Motherboards&CMP=OTC-pr1c3watch
Only $80 (Shipping Included)
Ram - Corsair 2x512 $91.78 (including shipping) but I would stick with that choice...
Hard drive - 300GB Ultra ATA133 HD $133.74 (includes shipping) but here...
http://www.softghost.com/mx300R.html
Only $131 (shipping included)
DVD - NEC DVD Burner $41 (Including shipping) Keep it!
Sound Card - CREATIVE Sound Blaster Audigy2 ZS - $75.99 (including shiping) but here...
http://www.ewiz.com/detail.php?p=SC-0350ZSB&c=pw
$63 (Free Shipping)
Case - XON-103/Black $60.98 (includes shipping and after rebates) - Keep it!
Video Card - x850xt 256mb - $405 (including shipping) - or go here...
http://www.allstarshop.com/shop/simprod.asp?pid=10476&ad=pwatch
$358.99 (includes shipping)
Video Card - Geforce 7800GT 256mb - $404.00 (including shipping) or here for...
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814170088&CMP=OTC-pr1c3watch&ATT=Video+Cards
$389 (free shipping)
Your Cost?? $1,184.99 (includes all shipping)
My Cost?? $1,101.65 (includes shipping) with 850xt vid card and $1131.66 with the 7800GT Vid Card...
All prices were gathered from Pricewatch.com
Enjoy 
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JRE
Grand Admiral
Joined: August 14, 2003
Posts: 571
| Posted: 2005-08-22 22:56
Look into pricewatch.com some pretty cheap stuff in there....
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BackSlash
Marshal
Galactic Navy
Joined: March 23, 2003
Posts: 11183
From: Bristol, England
| Posted: 2005-08-22 23:54
Carefull on the 64 bit cores. Some run cooler than others.
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