[Zerileous]

Ok, a friend of mine is asking me to help him order and build a computer and this is what iv hammered out. The GFX card is a bit pricy but he does not want to jump down to 9600 Pro. THis is all off of newegg, he already has a burner (black friday) case and PSU and enough case fans for the non overclocker.

LiteOn DVD Rom - 31
WD800JB - 85
P4 2.6c - 211
Asus Springdale (onboard audio and lan, he does not care about sound quality at all)- 135
1 gig buffalo (400 mhz, in 2 sticks) - 180
radeon 9800 np - 249
Total - 890

[KaHNZa]

That looks good to me. But it would be even better if you could convince him to get the pro version of the 9800...

[Zim2411]

Western Digital BAD!!!!!! I've had tons of problems with them. Go with Maxtor

[Renigade]

Seriously?!?! I'll never buy anything but WD... Ive never had a problem with them...

[Zerileous]

Sorry Zim but everything but you that i have heard has said they are great, and i own one myself and am pleased with it, i guess you just got one bad apple, maxtors are not that great in any speed specs and not that high of quality either, i consider them a step above generic myself. If i had read any reviews that agreed with you he would be going with plextor but i think ill stick with WD. Sorry to hear about your bad luck.

[Zerileous]

Update:
Friend wants to go in two stages so he can buy a few faster stuff and then buy the rest later after he gets more moneys (a month or two max is before 2004 for second part) He also wants a monitor and didnt like how much the first budget pushed. He is also considering upgradeing to the canterwood but i told him its not worth 40 bux, what do you guys think? here is the new list. I dont know where the monitor will come in since he already has a 19 inch but wants a second (the first is old and he is a dual monitor phreak)

Stage UNO
512 buffalo - 80
Asus Springdale - 135
3.0c - 400
WD1200JB - 110
725

Stage 2
512 buffalo - 80
liteOn DVD - 31
radeon 9800 np - 249 OR PRO $364.00
360 OR 470

monitor
http://www.newegg.com/app/viewProduc...001-020&depa=0
Samsung SyncMaster 950B 19" CRT monitor - Retail - 200

[Renigade]

I dont know about that memory... spend $200 less on the CPU and get some good 3700 DDR. The 3.0's aren't quite as efficient at overclocking as the 2.4's. I believe it's the NB's that can't handle insanely high MHz that a 3.0 could pump out. (You can get like 275-300 FSB on the 2.4cs and hit 3.4-3.6 or you could spend another $200 to get 3.4-3.8). You will NEED good memory to hit good FSB's (with a 4:5 divider ) So invest that $200 in some good dual channel DDR and get a 2.4 or 2.6. My .02

Also unless he is running Photoshop, Premiere, CADD or some other crazy memory hog application, 512MB will be more than enough for quite a while. Even running something like SW:Galaxies runs well on only 512.

If you started a poll on how many people watch DVD's on their computer you would find many people don't. Unless you have some special need like you have little room and are looking to save space by skipping on a TV, dont bother with the DVD. Or if you like ripping DVDs to your HD...

[Zerileous]

Ok, first of all, the reason i recomended a gig is because of dual channel and the fact that to keep that performance level the 512 would be useless if he wanted to upgrade-advice noted though, thanks. He will watch DVDs on the computer instead of a TV just because he can-he's like that. I alluded to this in my first post but didnt say it straight out and this is my bad bacause this is an O/C forum not a computer building forum, but he will not be overclocking, he does not want to overclock something he is spending so much money on, and, in the case of such a powerfull system he doesnt need to, it would be simply hobyiest. So this is why the buffalo ram, its good for non oc ram.

[nil_esh]

Originally posted by Zim2411
Western Digital BAD!!!!!! I've had tons of problems with them. Go with Maxtor

Every brand will have a few bad drives. I love the WD's w/ 8MB cache. I've got one at work and at home. I also have a newer Maxtor. It is noisy. Someone I know had one fail. I would say WD is a bit better than Maxtor at present.

[squeakygeek]

Originally posted by Renigade
I dont know about that memory... spend $200 less on the CPU and get some good 3700 DDR.

Originally posted by Zerileous
So this is why the buffalo ram, its good for non oc ram.

You guys have been mis-informed. Buffalotech ram is awesome for overclocking!!! My Buffalo PC3200 runs at 230mhz at 2.9v, without becoming hot to the touch! Can't wait to get my fsb higher so I can do the vdimm mod. Also, I am curious, why did you choose P4 over Barton? I'm not a fanboy either way, and I really don't want to start a debate, but from what I hear, P4's are only good for die hard overclockers. You can get a 2500+ for well under $100. One more thing on the Buffalo ram; make sure you get the stuff with the winbond modules. If you buy it from newegg, which is what I reccomend, you can be sure it's the good stuff. It says winbond when you buy it.

[Zerileous]

thanks for the aqvice on getting winbond modules. Ill check out amd's latest offering in some more detail but as far as i understood it Intel has always (well recently at least) had the performance crown while AMD got in the goodies with the price to performance ratio, but ill do some research. Thanks.

[squeakygeek]

Let us know what you decide to go with. I've been very happy with my Barton 2500+. If you're saying the fastest P4 is faster than the fastest Barton, I'm not sure if that's true or not, but that shouldn't make a difference unless you're planning on buying the fastest one. Price to performance ratio basically means you can get a chip that performs better for less money. I don't see what the big choice is if you're not overclocking.

[EDIT] I just checked neweg, and a 2800+ is cheaper than a 2.6C.

[Zerileous]

check out the anandtech benchmarks, all bartons fall far short of the P4s when looking at gaming which is what he will be doing. Then comes the question does he really need to have such a powerfull system or will a nice asus nforce system and a 2500+ be more than enopugh for his needs. No need to spend money for the sake of spending it.

[Renigade]

Im not a fanboy either, Ill jump wagons any time someone comes out with something better Its just with the current 2.4C's, you're all but guaranteed to hit at least 3.2 gig on stock air stock voltage. (Remember we're overclockers here boys =D)

This comment isn't aimed at advice for Zerilious, its just a comment as to why someone would want to buy a current Intel chip.

[squeakygeek]

Renigade - You forget, Bartons overclock too...