buildin a lan comp ... HELP!

[tyshy]

ok.....im gonna build a lan comp......its not a primary rig and i just want it to play games well and hopefully be upgradeable.....mostly for friends gamin etc. I m 16 so i am at a $450 budget....i have an Abit KG7 already......i was thinkin of selling it....and buying a board with onboard everything....i heard of a board somewhere with a gf2mx built in and good sound and onboard lan.......i just need these onboard cuz all i wanna do is run open gl and other ****....i was htinkin of a tbird 1.33......and a 20 gig hd. a regular cdrom too......i just wanna get a good board with onboard sound, video, lan, and be upgradeable if i ever wanna add say another new agp vid card......it has to have an agp slot........an dhopefully ddr....i havn't looked at many boards like this but if you could give me ur suggestions that would be great.....thanx

[David]

Have a look at the NForce based boards. Most of them have:
- o/b GeForce 2 MX graphics (not fantastic but should do OK)
- o/b sound (I beleive you can get some good o/b sound cards)
- DDR RAM
- AMD Socket A CPUs
- PCI slots

I'm sure you can find an mATX NForce board, not sure about an AGP slot.

David

[yanks111]

i would suggest maybe getting an xp1600+ because if you want it to last awhile, that processor is very good. Also from what i've heard, the 1.33 tbird runs very hot, so you would have to decide if noise will be an issue or not.

Upgrade ability? Well, if you do get an nforce board, wait for the nforce2, so you get the new agp and all the new processor support and faster RAM speeds

[tyshy]

when is the nForce 2 coming out....?....i wanna get it built b4 the end of the summer........hopefully by the end of august....

[Mr. Chambers]

i heard late this year or early next year for nforce2 unfortunately

[Captain Slug]

Originally posted by dragon orb 3
ok.....im gonna build a lan comp......its not a primary rig and i just want it to play games well and hopefully be upgradeable.....mostly for friends gamin etc. I m 16 so i am at a $450 budget....i have an Abit KG7 already......i was thinkin of selling it....and buying a board with onboard everything....i heard of a board somewhere with a gf2mx built in and good sound and onboard lan.......i just need these onboard cuz all i wanna do is run open gl and other ****....i was htinkin of a tbird 1.33......and a 20 gig hd. a regular cdrom too......i just wanna get a good board with onboard sound, video, lan, and be upgradeable if i ever wanna add say another new agp vid card......it has to have an agp slot........an dhopefully ddr....i havn't looked at many boards like this but if you could give me ur suggestions that would be great.....thanx

FOR KRISPY KREMES SAKE! Would you PLEASE use line breaks and paragraphs? Now my eyes hurt...

P.S. I HIGHLY recommend the Abit Nv7m(yummy), or the Asus A7n266-VM(this one doesn't have any overclocking features though).
They both have everything you're looking for including Integrated Geforce 2MX

[Da Whip]

For that price range;
Case - Chieftec DH-01W w/ 350 watt PSU
Mobo - MSI K7N420 Pro w/ integrated GF2MX video, onboard LAN and sound
http://www.msicomputer.com/product/detail_spec/product_detail.asp?model=K7N420_Pro

HDD - Maxtor D740X 20Gig 7200rpm
CPU - AMD PX1800+
CD-ROM - Samsung SC152LEB 52X
RAM - Crucial PC 2100 256MB
HSF - Thermaltake Volcano 6+
Total $453 + shipping

That gives you everthing you asked for.

[RnPgrosz]

The nforce boards are pretty expensive. I would get a Shuttle AK31A. It is only around $55-$60, you can adjust the fsb up to 166, 6 pci, 4 dimm and IMHO a very good board for the price (I have used it numerous times in systems I have built). Then just get a network card and GF2 MX or something equivelant to that and it will be about the same price or less expensive than the nforce. This board does have onboard sound.

[Da Whip]

By the time you buy network card, video card and mobo it is the same price as the nForce board.

[RnPgrosz]

Originally posted by Da Whip
By the time you buy network card, video card and mobo it is the same price as the nForce board.

The motherboard you suggested is $124 on newegg. The Shuttle AK31A is $59, add $10 for a network card, and get something like a Radeon 7000 for $33 or the DDR version for $3 more. This comes out to $101. Your saving about $20 by getting everything seperately not to mention the nforce chipset isn't the greatest and I would much rathe have the KT266A.

[David]

Apologies if I misunderstood, 'dragon orb', but are you looking for a Micro-ATX case (ie smaller and lighter) or for a full size one?

If you are going full size, I see no reason not to get a non-integrated motherboard.

Newegg prices:
SiS 735 based ECS K7S5A: $55
XP1600+ OEM: $68
256MB PC2100 RAM OEM: $73
Cheiftec DH-01W 400W: $50.50
WD 20GB HDD 7200rpm: $67
BTC 52x CDROM: $22
Thermaltake Volcano 6+ : $12

Total: $347.50

Waaay under budget :D

David

EDIT: Just add Vcard. Depends whether a GeForce 2MX is OK or you want a geF 2 Gts, Gef 3 whatever.

[DrunkenBozo]

What about the Asus m-atx nForce board? it's $90-ish on newegg last I checked.

[tyshy]

Originally posted by David
Apologies if I misunderstood, 'dragon orb', but are you looking for a Micro-ATX case (ie smaller and lighter) or for a full size one?

If you are going full size, I see no reason not to get a non-integrated motherboard.

Newegg prices:
SiS 735 based ECS K7S5A: $55
XP1600+ OEM: $68
256MB PC2100 RAM OEM: $73
Cheiftec DH-01W 400W: $50.50
WD 20GB HDD 7200rpm: $67
BTC 52x CDROM: $22
Thermaltake Volcano 6+ : $12

Total: $347.50

Waaay under budget :D


David


i think u forgot vid card.....cuz i looked at the pic of that one just to be sure.....i saw no onboard video....
:confused:

[David]

Originally posted by dragon orb 3



i think u forgot vid card.....cuz i looked at the pic of that one just to be sure.....i saw no onboard video....
:confused:

Oops, my bad. It all depends on what you want/need. A TNT2 based card may suffice, but you want GeForce 2MX/GTS at a minimum. Its up to you if you want to fork out the extra cash for a GeForce 3 or GeForce 4.

David