System opinion

[thePh@r@oh]

a friend of mine came to me and commissioned me to build his family a computer. The basically wanted a system for net surfing but he wanted to play some "cool games" (his list): hitman 1&2, UT, GTA.....you get the idea. Here is the specs ive priced......i had to stay in a $600 parts budget (including OS).....

ALBATRON GeForce 4 MX440SEN1 (NVIDIA GeForce4 MX440SE GPU), 64MB DDR. TV-Out

Microsoft Windows XP Professional

AMD Athlon XP 1800+/


Thermaltake volcanoe 9 CPU cooler

PC Chips Motherboard for AMD Processors, Model M848LU
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProduc...ion=13-185-005

Viking 256MB 32X64 PC2700 DDR

WD WESTERN DIGITAL 60GB 7200RPM

NEC 48x/24x/48x Internal CD-ReWriter
_________________________________________________

everything else is pretty standard 350W psu,cas keyboard and mouse.....they already have a good set of speakers and a monitor. So guys what do you think of the system AND what do you think of that MOBO i havent heard much about that company does anyone know how well that board performs....

[squeech]

IMO, get a retail AMD CPU (longer warranty and comes with its own HSF) and save $30 on a Thermaltake. Something tells me he won't need the aftermarket HSF.

Also, use PC2100. With an XP 1800+, your performance gain isn't enough to justify the price increase. Especially in a budgeted system like that one. You can get a Samsung 256MB PC2100 stick for the same price as the one you quoted, and it's much higher quality.

Just my two cents...

edit~PS. I don't know much about that mobo company, but that chipset cooler looks a little shifty. It's the same as the ECS chipset heatsinks, and probably applied the same way (doublestick tape). Should be fine, but when chipset coolers cost barely $10, I usually replace that kind. You can spend the money you saved on the Thermaltake!

[JPMiller]

squeech sounds to be right on the money!
go with stock cooler on retail, Volcano 9 is overkill for this application and it is one heavy piece of hardware...have heard of this causing some people probs as well.
PC Chips is actually a pretty good budget Mobo producer.
True about the ridiculous double sided sticky tape for heatsink but that is easily remedied...
http://www.ocworkbench.com/2002/ecs/...OD%20GUID1.htm
Couldnt find cheaper/better combo either when I looked.
Go for it!
Looks to be decent system.

[Idigguns]

I agree with Squeech. If you do get a retail CPU, take a closer look. You may be able to get a 2000+ for the same price or less. Does your buddy really need XP Pro? Why not get him XP home and save another $50? Between that and the other savings, you could upgrade to a GeForce 4 Ti 4200. If he's playing games like Hitman 2 today, what will he be playing next month? Or in 6 months?

[thePh@r@oh]

basically hitman 2 is the ONLY game he plays hes not a big gamer he jsut wants to be able to play right now........they are using an HP pavilion with onboard this and onboard that so the graphics kinda suck i figured the GF4 would be ok cause i can play hitman2 on my server and its only got a GF2mx400..........as for win xp pro......i'll check into it like i said they want to stay in a low budget and i put this together real fast

the only game my friend plays regularly is internet dominioes....

[thePh@r@oh]

just checked everything out....newegg only has the OEM version of the XP chips up to 1900+ after that there are retail (2000+...) but thats about $100 not wanting to spend that much when 1800+ will do the trick...Im gonna stiuck with the 1800+...any suggestions on the cooler (since the TT may give me trouble)........also i called my friend and he says he wants XP pro....unless i can find a REALLY good deal on home.....im getting this copy of pro from newegg for about $143 so you cant really beat that. as for the core i think i might use the trick that JPMiller posted or as my friend if he wants to get another core cooler......so guys how bout some more help....thanks so far.

[dragonb]

Personally I'd go with a ATI Radeon 9000 or 9100 that would only be a bit more money, or a TI 4200. Either of these options would be way better than an MX. ( trust me I went from an GeF4MX440 to a Radeon 8500, it's worth it.)
Also, I would try telling him that XP pro isn't all that different from Home, maybe list them for him, and save the $50 there. Once he knows the differences, he probably won't care.(Oh no, XP Home won't join a domain, yea, probably not a big deal)
I guess I've built about 10 "budget" machines for family in the past year, and have learned that you just tell them what's up, and give examples of the difference, and almost 100% of the time they choose the cheaper money, and believe me, it pained me to build machines with onboard everything to be as cheap as possible.(but, at least I made sure they had AGP slots and plenty of PCI for later expansion.)

Well, good luck
dragonb

[EndobioticChaos]

Well, lets see... that motherboard plus that graphics card totals $105 shipped. For $99 shipped, you can get the Epox 8RGA+, which includes onboard GF4 MX graphics, as well as all the other extras that PCChips board has, plus it's a better quality board. Only problem is, Newegg doesn't have it in stock right now.

[thePh@r@oh]

i may change the vid card..........but what about the CPU cooler

[EndobioticChaos]

For a CPU cooler I suggest the ThermalRight AX-7. It's just $18 at www.svc.com. It's not terribly heavy, and does an excellent job of cooling. You'll have to get a seperate fan though, but pretty much any 80mm fan will do just fine.