i'd give u a detailed review of the X800Pro and its overclocking / flashing abilities if i could get windows to load on my sata drives.
I just built a budget computer and I can highly recommend it since its working like a dream. Antec 350 Watt case Abit NF7-S MOBO Athlon 2500+ 512 megs ram (dual channeled) 80 GiG SATA MAXTOR HD ATI Radeon 9600XT vid card.
You could buy a barebone like ninja said and you could also buy a lcd screen. Although they're not as good as CRTs for gaming, they take much less space.
Of course, the good ones are going to cost some hefty bills, so you might want to go with, say a 17" CRT. You should be able to find a decent one with a flat screen for $150. Just for the heck of it, let's see what we can do with a barebones setup w monitor. Mobo/Case/PSU/Heatsink: Soltek QBiC EQ3401A P4 SFF barebones system -- $269.00 CPU: Pentium 4 2.8C - OEM (CPU only) -- $179.00 RAM: Kingston ValuRAM 1GB (2x 512MB for dual channel) -- $155.00 Video card: Sapphire Radeon 9600 128MB -Bulk -- $94.00 HDD: Western Digital 200GB 8MB cache 7200RPM, IDE -- $117.50 Optical drive: Samsung DVD+/- RW/CD-RW drive TS-H542A/WBCH -- $79.00 Monitor: KDS XF-17BK 17" Xtreme Flat CRT -- $108.00 Total: $1,001.50 In the long run 1GB would be advisable, especially since it's not that much more than for 512MB of the same Kingston ValuRAM package. If you do decide to drop down to 512MB, make sure you get 2 x 256MB of PC3200, or you'll cap the full performance of the P4. From what I've read, Soltek's QBiC series is pretty nice, and quiet. For speakers, since you'll be in a dorm room, I might suggest that you buy some headphones instead. The Koss UR-19's are nice and cheap. If you want to look for a nice video card upgrade, the nVidia GeForce 6600 and 6600GT will likely run for $150 and $200, respectively. nVidia is claiming that it can run D00M 3 at 1600x1200 with some eye candy turned on and have smooth framerates on these cards. The 9600 I put in is fine for right now, and you're highly unlikely to find anything better for the price. I don't know how much or what kind of gaming you do, but that should be fine for moderate to light stuff. I also put in the OEM version of the CPU, as the QBiC, like all SFF's (Small FormFactor PC's), have an included heatsink with them. I would spend the little extra cash for an optical mouse. Personally, I've been very happy with my Microsoft Intellimouse Optical. They're a few years old, but they still work great (mine). For a keyboard, shouldn't matter too much, but I've had no trouble with logitech. AOpen can be good too---and cheap. Don't waste too much money here, unless you must have a wireless combo.
I heard that the P4 was not good for gameing. I am building this PC for the best gameing performance I can get out of my 1000 dollars. Was my information incorrect? Other wise it looks good, barebones systems are better than buying each piece by itself? If so, can I get good barebones at Newegg? Thanks again,
No, it is good for gaming. Not necessarily the best, but it's definitely a CPU you would want. The SFF barebones systems are nice since they include the case, motherboard, power supply and CPU heatsink. If you're looking to save space, they certainly help. Personally, I like a tower just because of having better room to work with. Again, if space is at a real premium, you can get an LCD, but then you're going to be eating into your $1k budget big time. A 17" monitor may not be the most glamorous, but unless you absolutely have your heart set on something larger, this is a good size. I would recommend getting a flat CRT if you're going to be spending any quality length of time at the PC. For a more gaming-centric system, what you could do is go to 512MB of the same Kingston PC3200 ValuRAM (remember to get 2x256MB), get a smaller size hard drive, and go with a CD-RW/DVD-ROM combo drive instead of the DVD RW/CD-RW combo drive. In turn, upgrade to a Radeon 9800 Pro. I would suggest going over to Newegg's website and making use of the wishlist. What I mean by that is that you can go there and for each item you want, you can click on it, and then the page that comes up will have an option to add it to your wishlist. You can play around with different pieces and get a feel for it. There's so many different configs you can come up with. A few things that you'll want to remember: -Don't get any less than 512MB of PC3200 DDR. Any system, Athlon XP, Pentium 4, Athlon 64...you'll be fine any way you cut it.
So, what are the advantages of a P4 versis Athalon? Also what motherboard would be best for each choices? Are we talking 200$ for a 17inch flat screen? Also what of the GeForce 6800? I hear this is a very good card, worth stretching my budget for... I have the money needed now, its only a matter of part selection.
Ok, I have collected my parts and want to make double sure they are ok. eVGA nVIDIA GeForce 6800GT Video Card, 256MB GDDR3, 256-Bit, DVI/TV-Out, 8X AGP, Model "256-A8-N344-AX" -RETAIL AMD Athlon XP 2800+ "Barton", 333MHz FSB, 512K Cache Processor - OEM ASUS "A7N8X-E Deluxe" nForce2 Ultra 400 Chipset Motherboard for AMD Socket A CPU -RETAIL Corsair Value Select (Dual Pack) 184 Pin 1G(512MBx2) DDR PC-3200 - OEM Samsung Black 52X32X52X16 DVD/CD-RW Combo Drive, Model TS-H492A/WBGH, OEM ENERMAX Blue Aluminum ATX Mid Tower Case With 400W PSU, Model "10MCS-56881LBFS-D3" -RETAIL I also have a 120 gig HD that I aquired earlier.
