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Marl65

Member
Joined
Apr 13, 2003
Location
Indiana
I am in the process of building a new 'puter. I have decided to go with an AMD system. I am looking to build a good value/bang for the buck system. Probably in the range of an A- or a B+ performance wise. I am interested in some outside opinions. Here are the parts I am currently looking at. I especially need help with my motherboard selection (some overclocking is a strong possibility). I am not willing to pay an outrageous price for the video card (or I am _really_ going to have to be convinced of its value to the system). Please give me your opinions of these choices or, if you have better ideas, I would love to hear them.

Thank you for your time and valued opinions.

Cooler
- Vantec Aeroflow

RAM
- Crucial 512Mb DDR PC 2700

Video Card
- 64 Mb DDR Crucial Radeon 7500

Motherboard
- MSI KT4VL

Chip
- AMD Athlon XP 1700+

Case
- Chieftec Server Chasis
- 450W Power supply
- 2 rear fans & 1 side fan
- room for 2 more at front of case

really
 
That vid card makes it a D performer, lol. I also heard Crucial cards= teh suck. If you are gonan go ATI , get a built by ATI card. I would loook for a 8500LE, which you should be able to find for about 70 bucks.Here ya go--- http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProdu...e=0&propertycode=&propertycodevalue=3044,3677 . As for cooler, look around for a SK-7. which are, IMO, th ebest "bang for the buck coolers", an dmany will agree. If your not going for a heavy OC, than that ram will be fine. Otherwise, look for some pc3200 (name brnd, generic sucks) and also, it really doesnt make sense to get a kt400 bases mobo. I would go with nforce 2. I would get the 8rda (http://www.newegg.com/app/viewproduct.asp?DEPA=&submit=Go&description=13-123-192) for 9 bucks more. After thatm you seem pretty well off. O ya, what HArd Drive are you gonna use?
Hope this post was useful, and dont be afraid to ask if u want to know anything!

WELCOME TO THE FORUMS!
 
For an A- B+ system you need to get the ATI 9500 PRO GPU, make sure you get the DLT3C B 1700 (excaliberpc.com) they are guaranteed steppings there. You really need the SLK-800 and a Tornado to get the most out of that proc. also check out the new NF7-s rev. 2.0, other than that it looks pretty good maybe some 3200 ram, that case is really awesome that what I have.
 
The reason I was looking at a Radeon 7500 over a 8500 or a 9500 was the TV out and dual monitor support that I will never ever use. Also, SLK-800 and tornado?
 
I've still got my 64mb ddr vivo 7200, may not get the best 3d marks, but it still puts out high framerates in games like CS and UT at 1024x768 32bit.
 
i would also second the 8500LE, its a great card and will give you much better perofrmance over the 7200, also buit by ATI is the way to go. The TV outs and dual monitors are not costing you that much, its how much better the card will make games run that costs, just thing of them as extras that you dont need. As for cooling and ram, since you said "some overclockeing is a strong possiblity" i would say the SK-7 and the ram you have are fine, if you decide to really push the system, you should use the slk-800 and faster ram, your choice, but you dont sound like you want to push that hard, just looking for a bonus. As for the hard drive, i would reccomend at least 80 gig since the gain of lower capacity is minamal price wise, unluss you find a good deal with heav discount or are really strapped for the extra 10-20 bux saved by going down to a 40.
 
The 450w power supply is definitely not necessary. Unless it comes with the case, I wouldn't spend the extra money. Look to the Sparkle 300w, or maybe the 350w, although i'm 99% sure that you won't need more than the 300w. You could use that money to upgrade the video card, to a GF3 ti200, or as suggested to Radeon 8500. Your best choice would be a GeForce4 ti4200, which is currently one of the best "bang for the buck" cards.

-CPFitz-
 
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