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JamesHong

New Member
Joined
Feb 24, 2005
Hello everybody, i am not 100% sure this is the correct place to put this, but i didnt really see a General forum, so here goes :D

I currently have a old eMachines, and i upgraded it a little, i put a bit more ram in, and a 9800 Pro, however i find its just not able to play the new games the way i would like to, so i decided to spend a portion of my tax return on building a new computer, i would really like to keep the 9800 as i just purchased it not long ago, i also only have ~1000 to spend, so it will have to be not so hardcore machine, iam thinking the currently so far, please help fill in the missing with suggestions on what i could do better, or what i could change, thanks :)

Case: RAIDMAX Black Gaming Case (668WBP) -> $84.00

Mobo: ASUS "A8V Deluxe" VIA K8T800 -> $134.00

Processor: AMD Athlon 64 3200+ (90 nm -> OEM) -> $180.00

Cooling: Arctic Silver 5 With -> Thermalright XP-120 With -> Panasonic Panaflo 120 x 38mm Cooling Fan -> $13.50 + $56.99 + $15.99

PSU: Fortron 530W Power Supply -> $78.00

HDD: Western Digital Raptor 74GB 10,000RPM With -> 120 GIG IDE HDD I already Own, ( For Storage Only ) -> $180.00 + $0.00

VIDEO CARD: Radeon 9800 Pro -> $0.00

MEMORY: ???? Here iam Stuck

Total: ~$742.50

Anybody any suggestions for the memory, or anything i should change, and could anybody tell me if this will play the latest games fine, example HL2, DOOM3 and such, thanks again :D
 
Last edited:
Welcome to the Forums!
Everthing looks good, looks like you have done some homework. As for memory, I'm using Corsair, but I have also used Crucial, both work great. As for playing the latest games sure, it looks great.
 
Thanks for the warm welcome :D

Sorry, i renoted in the post, i have a Radeon 9800 Pro, i would like to keep as i just purchased it. Thanks for the link, iam gona read it :)

I was taking a good look at the: OCZ EL DDR PC3200 Platinum Edition rev2, at the time i looked they were 279.00, Sold out but now they are 284.00, Instock at newegg.
 
Hows about changing to this case: http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=11-117-030&depa=0

Get a 3000+, I see them hitting 2.75ghz all the time, they overclock the same as the 3200+.

Get the dfi nforce3, or if you can get $160 out of your 9800pro, get the dfi nforce4 and an x700pro 128mb($165 and at least as fast as your current card). Then you will have pci-express.

For a hard drive, get this one: http://www.compusa.com/products/product_info.asp?product_code=316138&pfp=SEARCH
Supposedly its as fast as a raptor, because of the 16mb of cache.

Get this cpu cooler: http://store.yahoo.com/svcompucycle/acfz-64.html
I got mine for $22, and supposedly its equal to an xp-90 and completly silent, though I have not owned an xp-90 to compare then. Also don't bother getting AS5, the thermal paste that comes with this heatsink is just as good.

For powers supplies, get the fortron BlurStorm 500w, its a new revision with a lot more power on the 12v rails(theres 2).
 
upgrade the power supply to a name brand, never heard of fortron. i got a antec trueblue that works great. it kept my athlon xp sytem stable while overclocked.
 
leedog2007 said:
upgrade the power supply to a name brand, never heard of fortron. i got a antec trueblue that works great. it kept my athlon xp sytem stable while overclocked.


fortons are really good for the money, a lot of people around here have them.
 
leedog2007 said:
upgrade the power supply to a name brand, never heard of fortron. i got a antec trueblue that works great. it kept my athlon xp sytem stable while overclocked.

fortron is one of the most common and reliable psu companies.

i have the same case in silver, it's been working great so far, the 6 fans really help. the onyl thing i don't like about is the external usb/firwire/headphone/mic ports are on top of the case, instead of in front.
 
Thanks for all the suggestions, i have finally decided what to buy, and my rig will be the following.
----------------------
CPU: AMD Ahtlon 64 - 3200+ OEM
----------------------
COOLING:
Greese: Arctic Silver Premium Silver Polysynthetic Silver Thermal Compound, Model "Arctic Silver 5", 12-gram( 5 cc. )
Sink: Thermalright Heatsink for P4 & K8 CPUs, Heatsink Only, Model "XP-120" -RETAIL
Fan: Thermaltake 120mm BLUE LED Fan for PC case and CPU fan, Model "A2018" -RETAIL
----------------------
CASE: RAIDMAX Black Aluminum Gaming Case with 420W Power Supply, Model "668WBP" -RETAIL
----------------------
MOTHERBOARD: GIGABYTE "GA-K8NS Ultra-939" NVIDIA nForce3 ULTRA Chipset Motherboard For AMD Socket 939 CPU -RETAIL
----------------------
PSU: Fortron Blue Storm 500W ATX12V V2.0 Power Supply with 120mm Fan, P4 and AMD ready, Model "AX500-A" -RETAIL
----------------------
MEMORY: OCZ EL Platinum Revision 2 Dual Channel Kit 184-Pin 1GB(512MBx2) DDR PC-3200 - Retail
----------------------
HDD'S:
Main: Western Digital Raptor 74GB 10,000RPM SATA Hard Drive, Model WD740GD, OEM Drive Only
Storage: Maxtor 300GB 7200RPM SATA Hard Drive, Model 6B300S0, OEM Drive Only
----------------------
KEYBOARD:
Logitech LX501 Cordless Desktop(White) -RETAIL
----------------------
FLOPPY:
Samsung Black 1.44MB 3.5inch Floppy Disk Drive, Model SFD321B/LBL1, OEM Drive Only
----------------------
CD-R/DVD-R
CD-R: Lite-On 52X32X52 Internal EIDE CD-RW Drive Black, Model SOHR-5238S Black, OEM
DVD-R: NEC IDE DVD BURNER (I currently Own already)
----------------------
VIDEO CARD:
Radeon 9800 128MB - 256Bit AGP
----------------------

Total w/Shipping -> ~$1300

Also notice, there is no sound card, or speakers, i own a very cheap 16Bit sound card, and some very cheap speakers, but they do me fine! :D

Iam hoping to be able to overclock this a little bit, and finally be able to play half-life 2 and doom 3, without crappy hicups

Seen as this will be my first time building a computer, iam just wondering one more think, will i need to buy any more cables, or any screws or such, you know to put it all together, i dont wana be stuck with parts and not able to use them :D, thanks again.
 
Sounds great, but i would definatly get a PCI Express mobo (with SLI for more future proofing), a $200ish nvidia/ati pci-e video card and just sell your 9800pro on ebay or something.

PCI-e isn't any faster (yet atleast), but your better off getting one now because i am sure the next upgrade you plan to do you won't get much $$ for your 9800pro.
 
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