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Review my to-be computer specs! UPDATE: Total: $996.01 (Through NCIX) 802.11g

Started by Yosh 30 replies 4.3k views
Original Post
Yosh
Yosh
UPDATE - Holy savings, Batman! I know there seems to be a few of these threads floating around, but since I want to get the most ouf ot what little money I have, I'm asking you all to review my to-be computer specs which I will be ordering Tuesday. The graphics card (X800 XL 256 MB AGP Edition) and sound card (Creative Labs Audigy 2 Value) are already bought. As is / are the mouse (MXsomething Logitech Optical) and speakers (2.1 Cyber Acoustics 110W). Without further adue, here is what I've picked out:
  • AMD Athlon 64 3000+ Venice I chose this CPU since I wanted the best possible bang for my buck. I also heard that you can overclock this proc a fair amount with the stock HSF that comes with it. So, basically, it doesn't run as hot, it also inclues SSE3 instructions, and it's cheap for the power it offers.
  • Asus A8V Deluxe I'm getting this motherboard rather than the Soltek because, well, it's ASUS. It's about $50 more (the Soltek mobo is on sale), but I believe it's more than worth the extra money.
  • Seagate Baracuda 7200.8 RPM SATA 8 MB Cache with NCQ I'm getting this because it's a Seagate, and because I need the space. Need I say more? [wink]
  • Sony black floppy drive I'm getting a floppy namely for a failsafe solution - and since some people still transfer files via floppy (crazy, I know). I'm thinking of getting a USB thumbstick, but that will be a later thing.
  • LG DVD+/-RW with Dual Layer read / write support For burning backups, amongst many things.
  • LG Black 16x DVD-ROM I'm getting this because I don't want to unecessarily wear out my DVD burner, and for copying / backup abilities.
  • 1 GB Kit (2*512) Corsair CAS 2.5 PC3200 (DDR 400) RAM I'm getting this instead of expensive RAM since it's pretty adequate, and since I'd prefer a high quality motherboard.
  • Antec Sonata II with 450W PSU It's on sale, it's good, and it comes with a good PSU. Can't go wrong.
  • Logitech Internet Keyboard (Black) It's cheap, it's black, it has a place to rest my hands. I can't go wrong.
  • A Black 19" Monitor The company doesn't matter, as long as I can get A Black 19" Monitor. [razz] I'll be buying this at Futureshop, the following Monday, since shipping 25 KG worth of monitor costs a LOT.
  • Linksys Wireless-G Router & Linksys Wireless-G PCI Adapter I'm going wireless since, if I don't, I'll either have to run the ethernet cable through and across the hallway to my bedroom (bad, would get stepped on) or along the ceiling (bad, would be too long). So, wireless seems like a logical solution. (Buying at Futureshop the following week.)
Well, I think that's it. I only have about $1037 CAD on my credit card to spare (I overpayed my credit card just so I could afford the aforementioned equipment next week [besides the Futureshop stuff, which will be bought the following week - that and a desk - a huge desk]), so keep that in mind. I'm buying everything from NCIX. As far as I can see, they have the best service (especially compared to ATIC, which is cheaper, but has HORRIBLE service). So what do you all think? Anywhere I could improve? Oh yeah, the above mentioned equipment costs about, including taxes and shipping, $996.01. (Minus the monitor, router & cable.) [Edited by - Yosh on June 27, 2005 6:34:12 AM]
________________________________"Fetch me a rope, lynch mob of one." - Randy Blythe, Lamb of God."The masses are asses." - Unkown.
lethalhamster
lethalhamster
It hurts me that you want to over clock your Athlon 64. Don't do it, I have the same CPU and its amazingly fast. The only thing overclocking is going to do is make your system unstable, and make the CPU last a lot less longer.

Other than that, it looks great to me! I don't know much about the PSU, but will 450w be enough for all that?
............Could Jesus microwave a burrito so hot that he himself could not eat it?
Yosh
Yosh
Quote:
Original post by lethalhamster
It hurts me that you want to over clock your Athlon 64. Don't do it, I have the same CPU and its amazingly fast. The only thing overclocking is going to do is make your system unstable, and make the CPU last a lot less longer.

Other than that, it looks great to me! I don't know much about the PSU, but will 450w be enough for all that?

Well, I've read of people running similar hardware (actually, 6800 Ultra instead of an X800 XL) on a 350W PSU.

Anyway, the Venice can overclock very well, and doesn't suffer from instability issues (from what I've read). I won't be overclocking it at ALL to begin with. In fact, I won't, I'll just buy a better mobo / proc / graphics card in a year's time (or so).

I'm ASSUMING the proc I'm getting will be a great deal faster than my Athlon XP 2800+ I have currently. [wink] Am I right to assume such things?
________________________________"Fetch me a rope, lynch mob of one." - Randy Blythe, Lamb of God."The masses are asses." - Unkown.
tHiSiSbOb
tHiSiSbOb
Quote:
I'm ASSUMING the proc I'm getting will be a great deal faster than my Athlon XP 2800+ I have currently. [wink] Am I right to assume such things?

Yes. This is a good CPU. AMD makes a great chip [smile].
----------------------------------------------------"Plant a tree. Remove a Bush" -A bumper sticker I saw.
Yosh
Yosh
Thanks for the replies so far. [smile]

Anyway, I'm scrapping the Kingston memory idea, since you have to special order it, and I'm not waiting a hojillion weeks for RAM.

So, I need RAM! [razz]
________________________________"Fetch me a rope, lynch mob of one." - Randy Blythe, Lamb of God."The masses are asses." - Unkown.
Botroid
Botroid 
  AMD32 2800+- AMD64 3000+-------------=    32  200


What you get is 64-bit processor and some additional computing power.

Of course I could be terribly wrong, but from the articles that I've read I'm quite convinced that my "calculation" is not that incorrect. Besides, if AMD64 3000+ would be much more powerful than 32-bit 2800+, AMD's marketing team would have named the processor differently, don't you think? [smile]


Yosh
Yosh
Ok, after a bit of hunting around, I've come across this. Seems to be pretty good RAM for a good price. I know the latency isn't going to be as low as the Kingston RAM I had previously selected, but now I can buy the DVD-ROM as well.

Thoughts?
________________________________"Fetch me a rope, lynch mob of one." - Randy Blythe, Lamb of God."The masses are asses." - Unkown.
Yosh
Yosh
Quote:
Original post by Botroid
  AMD32 2800+- AMD64 3000+-------------=    32  200


Of course I could be terribly wrong, but from the articles that I've read I'm quite convinced that my "calculation" is not that incorrect. Besides, if AMD64 3000+ would be much more powerful than 32-bit 2800+, AMD's marketing team would have named the processor differently, don't you think? [smile]

Anyways, nice computer... *jealous*

From what I read the "Hyper Trasport Technology", and the way the L1 and L2 cache is/are set up make the processor a lot faster.

But, that's from what I've read, I don't know from experience.
________________________________"Fetch me a rope, lynch mob of one." - Randy Blythe, Lamb of God."The masses are asses." - Unkown.
Spoonbender
Spoonbender
Quote:
Original post by Botroid
  AMD32 2800+- AMD64 3000+-------------=    32  200


What you get is 64-bit processor and some additional computing power.

Of course I could be terribly wrong, but from the articles that I've read I'm quite convinced that my "calculation" is not that incorrect. Besides, if AMD64 3000+ would be much more powerful than 32-bit 2800+, AMD's marketing team would have named the processor differently, don't you think? [smile]


Nah, it is quite a lot faster. Their performance ratings doesn't really translate exactly between different chip families. A Sempron 3000+ is much slower than an Athlon 64 3000+, for example, and an Athlon XP 3000+ isn't equal to an Athlon 64 3000+ either. (Around 2800+, the XP family started running out of steam, and basically, the ratings were a bit overrated then [wink]. At that point they started lagging behind equivalent Intel CPU's. The A64 on the other hand, runs circles around both.)

In any case
Yosh
Yosh
Ok, so I've found a Maxtor 200 GB hdd that's only $5 more than the HDD I'm looking at. There's actually TWO versions of this HDD, one is about $9 more than the other, but is on special order.

Here is the HDD that's in stock.

Should I get this? I hear that extra 8 MB of cache REALLY helps.
________________________________"Fetch me a rope, lynch mob of one." - Randy Blythe, Lamb of God."The masses are asses." - Unkown.
Max_Payne
Max_Payne
I wouldn't buy a DI-604 if I were you. Alot of people have had problems with the DI-604 and DI-624... Thats why they're so cheap, they tend to have very annoying glitches. I'm not saying it will cause you problems, but it certainly can.

Looking for a serious game project?
www.xgameproject.com
Yosh
Yosh
Quote:
Original post by Max_Payne
I wouldn't buy a DI-604 if I were you. Alot of people have had problems with the DI-604 and DI-624... Thats why they're so cheap, they tend to have very annoying glitches. I'm not saying it will cause you problems, but it certainly can.

Hmmm...

Well, I'll be getting it the following week, so maybe I'll go for a Linksys or something like that.
________________________________"Fetch me a rope, lynch mob of one." - Randy Blythe, Lamb of God."The masses are asses." - Unkown.
AnonymousPosterChild
AnonymousPosterChild
Do NOT get a Maxtor. Every maxtor I have gotten is not only really freakin' loud, but they die in only a few months.
With love, AnonymousPosterChild
Conner McCloud
Conner McCloud
Is the proper notation $1001 CAD, or just 1001 CAD. Seems redundant to put 'dollars' on both sides of the number.

CM
Cypher19
Cypher19
Quote:
Original post by AnonymousPosterChild
Do NOT get a Maxtor. Every maxtor I have gotten is not only really freakin' loud, but they die in only a few months.


Same, minus the volume.

Yosh
Yosh
Hmm, ok, I'll go back with the Seagate then. I don't like what I hear here, and I REALLY don't want it to die on me within a short while.
________________________________"Fetch me a rope, lynch mob of one." - Randy Blythe, Lamb of God."The masses are asses." - Unkown.
skjinedmjeet
skjinedmjeet
ATIC is about the worst place you can purchase from. Check out their return policy.



And google a little. I bought a computer with nearly the same specs (Biggest difference being an X700 instead of an X800) from a local computer shop (Well, the parts anyway, I assembled it myself), and the total was just under $1000 before taxes. So, yeah, overall my system cost a few dollars more than what you're paying, but I have experience with the people I'm dealing with, they're great about returns if anything goes wrong, and they've bailed me out a few times when a components gone down (for example, lending me a hard-drive while I waited for a new one on order)
Yosh
Yosh
Quote:
Original post by skjinedmjeet
ATIC is about the worst place you can purchase from. Check out their return policy.



And google a little. I bought a computer with nearly the same specs (Biggest difference being an X700 instead of an X800) from a local computer shop (Well, the parts anyway, I assembled it myself), and the total was just under $1000 before taxes. So, yeah, overall my system cost a few dollars more than what you're paying, but I have experience with the people I'm dealing with, they're great about returns if anything goes wrong, and they've bailed me out a few times when a components gone down (for example, lending me a hard-drive while I waited for a new one on order)

I don't see how ATIC is all that bad. If you buy something that is incompatible, that's your own fault, really. If you buy something that is defective, you have to contact the manufacturer first and only return it to them if the manufacturer says so.

That's not that bad, really.

Anyway, there are no stores around here that even come CLOSE to the prices at ATIC, as I live on PEI.

EDIT - Ok, maybe you have a bit of a point.

*starts pricing on NCIX.com*
________________________________"Fetch me a rope, lynch mob of one." - Randy Blythe, Lamb of God."The masses are asses." - Unkown.
gumpy
gumpy
Quote:
Original post by skjinedmjeet
ATIC is about the worst place you can purchase from. Check out their return policy.

Quote:

ATIC Computers will only accept returns for store credit, and will only accept returns on specific items. Returns will not be accepted under any of the following circumstances :
1) Item is opened and/or used.
2) Packaging has been damaged or altered.
3) Item is for specific purpose (particular to a system, peripheral, or application - ie : memory for a specific notebook, ink cartridge for a specific printer).
4) Item is valued at over $500.00CAD.
5) Item is a computer system or notebook.
ATIC Computers may be willing to make exceptions to these circumstances, but all exceptions are done on a case-by-case basis, and are at the sole discretion of ATIC Computers. In all circumstances, any shipping charges, service charges, labour charges, etc, will not be refunded.
Refunds are only issued for cash, debit, cheque/money order transactions, within the first 7 days of the transaction being completed.
Store credit will be issued for all credit-card transactions, or any returns accepted between 7 days and 15 days from the date of transaction.
No refunds or store credit will be issued for any returns that are not processed within 15 days of the date of transaction.

not exactly newegg, eh?
This space for rent.
Yosh
Yosh
Yeah, from what I've read, NCIX has great service.

Maybe I'll use one of their SUPER AWESOME DEAL specials to get a good price?

Hmmm...
________________________________"Fetch me a rope, lynch mob of one." - Randy Blythe, Lamb of God."The masses are asses." - Unkown.

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