i want to do some video/picture editing, surf the web, microsoft office, listen to music, dvd burning. basically a lot of multimedia stuff, not gaming at all.
If you don't plan on gaming at all you could build one under $500 easily. The big, bad video-card won't be waxing your wallet. Do you have a preference for a cpu maker? Intel / AMD? I'd grab a motherboard with onboard video and grab one of the cheaper Athlon XPs. Grab a stick of 512MB PC3200, nice case, good size IDE HDD, DVD-ROM/Burner and a good monitor shouldn't cost you over $500 if you shop cautiously.
i prefer intel, but i can give amd a try. is there any specific motherboard/cpu you can recommend. I am having a hard time choosing what I need. I don't want to get stuff I am not going to use/need. [bold]Divinus,[/bold] I see your computer specs, just wondering if that is enough for whatever you do on your computer. Thanks.
me, i'm running a p4-2.4 celeron, 256meg ddr soon to be 512meg, 80 gig hd & 52x cd burner but thinking about dvd burner. $309 AMD Sempron 2400+ ASUS A7V400-MX MB 256 MB DDR333 PC2700 RAM 64M VIDEO (SHARED) 40GB 7200 HDD LG 52X CD-ROM Sony 1.44MB Floppy Drive Onboard Audio/LAN Front USB Case Keyboard / Mouse / Speakers AMD sempron 2500: $329 AMD sempron 2600: $349 $359 AMD sempron 2400+ ASUS A7V8X-X 256MB DDR 333 PC2700 RAM Radeon 7000 64M DDR TVO 40GB 7200 HDD 52X32X52 CDRW Sony 1.44MB Floppy Drive Onboard sound & 10/100 LAN Front USB Case Keyboard / Mouse / Speakers AMD sempron 2500: $379 AMD sempron 2600: $389 $439 AMD sempron 2500+ ASUS A7V8X-X 512MB DDR 400 PC3200 RAM Radeon 9200SE 128M DDR AGP8x 80GB 7200 HDD 52x32x52 CDRW Sony 1.44MB Floppy Drive Onboard sound & 10/100 LAN Front USB Case Keyboard / Mouse / Speakers AMD sempron 2600: $449 AMD sempron 2800: $479 Upgrade : ASUS A7N8X-X +$15 $319 Intel Celeron 2.4D533 ASUS P4VP-MX 256MB DDR 333 PC2700 RAM 64M Video Card (onboard) 40GB 7200 HDD 52X CD-ROM Sony 1.44MB Floppy Drive Onboard sound & 10/100 LAN Front USB Case Keyboard/Mouse/Speakers Intel P4 2.4A FSB533 $389 $379 Intel Celeron 2.4d 533 ASUS P4V8X-X 256MB DDR 400 RADEON 7000 64M DDR 40GB 7200 HDD 52x32x52 CDRW Sony 1.44MB Floppy Drive Onboard sound & 10/100 LAN Front USB Case Keyboard/Mouse/Speakers Intel P4 2.4A FSB533 $449 $599 Intel P-4 3.0G (530) ASUS P5GD1-VM 512 DDR 400 INTEL GRAPHICS 900 (shared) 80GB HDD 7200 SATA150 1.44 Floppy Drive 52x32x52 CDRW Onboard sound & LAN Case w/Front USB Ports Keyboard/Mouse/Speakers P-4 3.2G (540) $649 P-4 3.4G (550) $729
I was thinking: Chaintech 7NJL6 Socket A Motherboard and AMD Athlon XP 2900+ Processor http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicat...etails.asp?EdpNo=1166612&Sku=MBM-7NJL6-XP2900 Mercury Eros - Black ATX Mid-Tower Black Case with 400Watt Power Supply and Front USB Ports http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=717093&CatId=1519 Western Digital / 120GB / 7200 / 8MB / ATA-100 / EIDE Hard Drive http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=291932 Ultra 512MB PC3200 DDR 400MHz Memory CL3 http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=586829&Sku=ULT30215 XFX GeForce FX 5200 / 128MB DDR / AGP 8X / VGA / TV Out / Video Card http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=674963&Sku=P450-8602 Windows XP Home, Keyboard & Mouse, Floppy Drive With the rebates and shipping it should be 467.88. Any improvements or suggestions would be nice. Is this enough for what I want to do?
im making a computer for myself so i won't have to share with my brother. i can install it with the same cd but i won't be able to get sp2 or any updates with the same key would I?
I don't think you'd be able to use the cd key on both and install the sps. There are ways of getting around that, that would get us in trouble here so lets leave it at that. I like the build you've come up with. If you don't plan on doing ANY game, at all. I'd drop the 5200 and just get a mobo with onboard graphics. Maybe grab one of the nforce 2 boards with the integrated Geforce 4. Yeah, my computer does everything I need it to. It's basically set up for gaming, albeit my video card is starting to feel the squeeze on the newer games. I used to have another 512MB ram but I was tricked by the evil Mushkin Corporation. I'm also running out of hard drive room really quickly, especially when backing up lots of DVDs. Let me just ask you... What components are you keeping from your previous PC? That way we can skip some of the stuff like monitor, or cd-rom, or burner, etc... This way we can just focus on spending the $500 on what you need to get maximum performance.
From my old PC I am going to keep my dvd burner, already have an extra monitor and speakers, and video-capture card. I want to OC but don't know much about that. What you said about the onboard video, I am trying to save some money by getting the motherboard and CPU bundle, so if you can find a better price/item from somewhere else that would help, a lot. Thanks again.
How about this? http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1133509&sku=A455-2110 B
Wow, you went right for the Athlon 64, lol. Yeah, I suppose that's ok. If you're just going to download music and burn it, and do some video and sound editing, though, it's over kill. Those processors are pretty much meant for gaming, not saying they under perform in every day applications, though. That combo you have will be plenty fast. In getting that system you would definitely have upgradeability, seeing as it's the 939 socket, you could upgrade the CPU later. Nice mobo, nice case. Plus you have a pretty damn powerful computer if you ever did want to game. A 512MB stick of descent ram will be around the $60-$80 area. You still have a bit to play with. Grab a descent sized hard drive and a cheap video card you should be set. On the other hand, if you're positive that you will never game. Have no interest. That system is over kill. I'd go with a nice nforce 2 board (with onboard video) and grab one of the 2600+ Mobile Athlon XPs (NOT the 65watt version , get the 45). This should be in the $175 range (if that). After this just grab a nice sized IDE drive (or SATA) and a 512MB stick. Nice case, etc... At this point you should be around... $400. Maybe a little more if you chose a nicer, more expensive case. You'll have around $50 or so to throw into a bigger hard drive or more ram, whichever. The basic trade off here is that if you grab the Athlon 64 bundle, you'll have to grab a video card. And unless you grab an absolute shitter you'll be paying $75 or more. You'll have to buy your HDD. Grab memory. You'll have killer performance but since you don't game, you don't need it. If you did your homework, and shopped around for a cheap nforce 2 board and just stuck with a nice Athlon XP, grabbed a descent case. You could come out well below the $300 mark. This gives you more money to play with other things such as hard drive space, or other accessories. It's really up to you. The Athlon 64 bundle is a good deal. The other system will require more time and shopping around, but ultimately could lead to more hard drive room / ram or more accessories.
I took your advice for the nforce 2 chipset, but I can't decide which to choose. Configuration 1 CHAINTECH nForce3 250 Chipset Motherboard for AMD Socket 754 Athlon 64 CPU, Model "VNF3-250" http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=13-152-043&depa=1 AMD Athlon 64 2800+, 512KB L2 Cache, 64-bit Processor http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=19-103-452&depa=1 Corsair Value Select 184 Pin 512MB DDR PC-3200 http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=20-145-026&depa=1 Maxtor 60GB / 7200 / 2MB / ATA-133 EIDE Hard Drive http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=440430 XFX GeForce FX 5200 / 128MB DDR / AGP 8X / VGA / TV Out / Video Card http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=674963&Sku=P450-8602 JustPC Black ATX Mid Tower Case With 450W PSU, Model "JPC727P4-BLACK" -RETAIL http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=11-200-003&depa=1 I like this case, but would I need a new power supply? Pro Source Mid-Tower Case w/350W Power Supply, Model: 602XU-BL-SF - Retail http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=11-132-020&depa=1 Windows XP Home-92.50 Floppy Drive-20.00 Total:488 w/first case/490 w/second case numbers may be off a bit because I rounded Configuration 2 BIOSTAR "M7NCG 400" nForce2 IGP Motherboard for AMD Socket A CPU -RETAIL http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=13-138-234&depa=1 AMD Athlon XP 3000+ "Barton", 333 FSB, 512K Cache Processor - Retail http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=19-103-381&depa=1 Corsair Value Select 184 Pin 512MB DDR PC-3200 http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=20-145-026&depa=1 Maxtor 60GB / 7200 / 2MB / ATA-133 EIDE Hard Drive http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=440430 JustPC Black ATX Mid Tower Case With 450W PSU, Model "JPC727P4-BLACK" -RETAIL http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=11-200-003&depa=1 I like this case, but would I need a new power supply? Pro Source Mid-Tower Case w/350W Power Supply, Model: 602XU-BL-SF - Retail http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=11-132-020&depa=1 Windows XP Home-92.50 Floppy Drive-20.00 Total: 469 w/first case/ 471 w/second case numbers may be off a bit because I rounded Please correct me if something is wrong or is incompatible with something else.
Sorry about not responding, friend. I have dial up at the moment and when someone lists a bunch of links for me to go to, that could take a while, lol. Honestly, after reviewing both of those. Go with the Athlon 64 system. The performance will definitely be better and you'll have a bit of headroom if you ever do find a game you enjoy. The only thing I can find that would be critical of the 64 system is that Socket 754 isn't produced anymore (or won't be soon), so that means that if you ever do go to upgrade to a faster CPU (not likely as you'll probably get a new board also, most people do) then you may not have a big selection to choose from. The XFX5200 should do whatever you do fine. No problems at all. That's a great system you've built. It should serve you well. Keep us updating on the building process and when you've finished, tell us how it runs. If you have anymore questions, I'll be around here.
