Friend has $600 to spend on a new comp, any suggestions?

[implexant]

i'd say go with a cheaper nVidia graphics card, or a cheaper ATI card. cheaper case, and PC2100 RAM. its a budget machine afterall

-Chris

[chris64]

If you already have a windows XP Home CD you can buy a COD for around $50-75.

[xcrunner51]

well the system will be OC'ed to be running at 166fsb, the only thing that isn't certified for that is the 1700+, but it should OC to 166 being a tbred, and i decided sell him my aluminum case and get the lanboy, cep i'd keep my tru430 and he'd get the Antec Smartblue 350w that comes with the Antec Lanboy. We're putting those saving into a better CPU, prolly a 2100+ or something. Floppy, CD-ROM/CD-RW can be stripped from an old computer. The HD i told him to get the 80gb, but hes on dialup anyway so hes not gonna have a lotta dls anyway. the K7S5A would in no way compare to dual channel ddr333 on the nforce2. Those are the cheapest i've found using reputable sites like newegg,dell,mwave,googlegear. I have copies of WinXP Pro Corp and Win2k Pro Corp, so that ain't a problem. I decided on the 9500 Pro because when the R350 and RV350 come out in a few days it should drop the price on the 9500/9700 series, plus its way faster than a ti4200. NIC and Sound will be stripped from an old comp. MDS, the mobo in that thread isn't cheaper than the one in mine, nor is it better, cuz the Nforce2's kill the kt400's

[jdurbin]

I think it is a very solid system but I would get the Maxtor/CompUSA 80GB HD with 8MB buffer for $70 after rebate. Also, I got the Coolermaster HAC-V81 for $15 at newegg. He got very good reviews and has a potentiometer which allows him to dial the fan speed up or down from outside the case.

Check with Endobiotic. He's got practically the same system and he has an 800MHz overclock with the XP1700+.