Building a PC ****1/17 - problem. help me.

Yeah, I know the topic has been done to death before, but this stuff changes so fast i'd like the latest word. The last similiar thread I could find was from April.

Here's the deal, my brother is giving me $1000 to build him a computer, monitor excluded. He want's Intel inside, so sorry AMD.

So far i'm thinking:

MoBo:intel 875P chipset (either Asus or Intel)
Processor: P4 2.8 or 3 ghz, 800Mhz FSB, HT
DVD: Pioneer
Graphics card: best i can afford with the money left, pref ATi Radion, at least 9600
CD Burner: we have an old one
Soundcard: ? creative i guess? Depends if the MoBo has it built in or not, intel's board doesn't, Asus' does.
RAM: 512MB Crucial
HD: doesn't have to be huge
case, power, cables.... how much should i reserve for all of this stuff and what do i need?

I haven't added up all the money yet. I may have to scale down expectations. I'd appriciate thoughts on what i should/need to get.

********** 1/17 *****************
The computer is up and running and everything seems good, but I've got a problem and i'm confused.

I ran 3DMark03, and looking at the project details, it shows my FSB is running at 200Mhz instead of 800Mhz. I looked through the device manager and in the Bios, but i can't find anywhere to confirm this and/or change it. Does anyone know what to do?

Make sure you get a motherboard with an 8x AGP slot. That will save you the hassle over the newer cards that support it.

I highly recommend ASUS boards. They'e stable, and powerful.

Stick with the on-board audio for starters, then upgrade to a full sound card when you have more money saved up.

Hard Drive? GET a Serial ATA (SATA) drive. The ASUS mobos have on-board support for them, and it helps save you from ribbon-cable nightmares.

ATI's Radeon 9600 Pro boards are getting quite cheap, but if you have enough money, try and get the All-in-Wonder 9600 Pro. It's only marginally more expensive than a regular 9600 Pro, but you get AV in/out, Tivo-like capabilities (cable in), and a nifty RF remote control comes bundled with it.

8x agp really isnt worth it. most mobo's support it anyway but its only like .01% faster than 4x anyway. id say screw the intel setup and get a barton 2500xp with an abit nf7 mobo (nforce 2 ultra and stick in 2 matched pairs of pc3200 ddr ram) and overclock like hell, saving you more money for a 9800pro which will be much more future proof.

and get an antec true power supply, dont go cheap on this part if you decide to go cheap anywhere. get at least 400 watts. thatll help with the 9800 and the overclocking.

what about RAM? My bro said he's add the extra money to go from 512MB to a gig, but i think if he really wants to add another $100, the 9800 Pro is the more noticable upgrade. I'm fairly certain he doesn't do anything RAM intensive like video editing.

Going from 512 to 1024 seems sorta overkill. :p

stick with a good brand and go dual channel like i said with the nforce 2 mobo. 512 is all youll need. only people doing non gaming stuff would ever take advantage of 1gig. the vid card upgrade would be much better in the long run. dammit krang listen to me.

yeah, i'm getting crucial RAM, but i'm not going AMD. Sorry! Intel's 875P chipset seems to be the fastest/ most reliable MoBo out now. Plus, it's in the benchmark systems on a ton of hardware sites. It's my bro's call anyway, and he says no AMD (personally i'd be looking at AMD's 64 bit processors).

Yeah i should have looked at power supply more closely. A good 400W+ is going to be another $75-$100. :\

As for sound card, is there any reason i should be considering anything better than the SB Audigy ES ($42)? Seems like it does the trick.

Here's the set up right now, with Newegg prices.

Mobo: Intel D875PBZ $140
Intel P4 2.8C Ghz, 800Mhz FSB, HT $214
ATi Radion 9800Pro $297
Seagate 80GB SATA w/8MB buffer $86
512 MB Crucial DDR PC 3200 $93
SB Audigy ES $42
Pioneer DVD $39
Win XP home $91
ENERMAX EG465P-VE(FCA). 431W Power supply for AMD K7 & Pentium4 $84
case - ???

Total = $1086

I'm pretty happy, this thing should fly. Just curious about the benefits of using the Asus P4C800E Deluxe MoBo($180) instead of the Intel. Primary benefit would be overclocking ability, anything else?

It's really hard to stay on budget. I'd love to add another HD in a RAID 0 array (which the MoBo can do natively). And that Coolermaster wave case! :evil:

Don't get an Intel brand board.

Seriously.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Kenshin

Don't get an Intel brand board.

Seriously.

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Well, I know they are locked down to prevent overclocking and other mods, but they are also supposedly very reliable. I have one in my old computer that has been incredibly stable. So why not?