Customer CPU - Intel or AMD?

[g0dM@n]

I do my own private custom PCs for friends and family, and came across someone that wants to spend around 800 bucks on a PC. He's so stupid that he is asking for a good video card and a DVD burner with 512 RAM and thought I could do 600, but let's not forget he still needs a monitor and peripherals.

Anyway, I've built a couple Intel, but mostly AMD. If this guy is not too great with computers, but still wants it for a bunch of different purposes would it be bad to build him an AMD? I mean, people that are computer illiterate think that Intel Pentium 4 is where it's at... so since I'd rather not keep him second guessing, I was thinking about just building an Intel for him just to make things easier for the matter.

I love AMDs, but what CPU/Mobo/Ram combo would you request I build for him for a decent price. He saw Dells for 800 with (I know) crappy 2x128 DDR Ram with "integrated" *cough*crap*cough* "graphics." I don't want him leaning in a bad direction where he's going to need a format/new computer in the next year.

Please post what you recommend... I think it's better off getting him 512 Ram, and maybe a decent video card (perhaps Radeon 9200)... Thanks.

 

[tomchong]

Whats wrong with AMD, for the money he wants to spend its not like your gonna be able to get him a p4c. What is he going to be doing with it that he needs hyperthreading? definetly go for 512 of ram, as it is cheap. i suggest a barton and a mobo with a newer via chipset(decent perfomer, still very cheap)and get cheap pc2700. Also no matter what you do, dont cut corners on the hard drive, get a good quick one with 7200rpms and a big cache, as it will make the system much "snappier" and he will not have any complaints.

 

[Buhammot]

Gotta agree with tomchong on the hard drive, I dont think you want to be replacing a WD (Will Die) next month. But I do like that AMD is priced the way they are and they perform quite well considering. But within his budget... it may be kinda hard to fit it all into 800 bucks with quality components. But be sure to do plenty of price shopping at different places.

 

[CandymanCan]

Build him an AMD proc. Maybe im saying that cuss iv been using AMD ever since istarted buildings PC's. Well thats not ture iv had intel and prefer amd better.

Try this.

Athlon xp 2600+ Barton thier around $80

Abit NF7-S thier pretty cheap now adays, $90

2x256mb $80 (samsung (2 for duel channle) Tust me thier cheap and the quality cant be beat I always use samsung they over clock great 2

Stick some 80gb 7200 WD hdd in thier. $75

Psu you only need some cheap 400 watter and up. Price can range from $20 to $90 it all depends one which one u get.

Case $60

Then DVD burner can b about $80 to 100

Windows xp $100

radeon 9600 xt $170

Thats about $730 or so bucks thier, and you said he has $800, i mean you dont have to buy these high grade parts. But simply sticking a 9200 in a computer a guy says he wants a good video in is kinda like umm....

Anyway. You can downgrade each part i listed here by 1 and save over $150, that way u can make say $250 profit or so on building this pc.

 

[ocpinoy]

Build him an AMD proc. Maybe im saying that cuss iv been using AMD ever since istarted buildings PC's. Well thats not ture iv had intel and prefer amd better.

Try this.

Athlon xp 2600+ Barton thier around $80

Abit NF7-S thier pretty cheap now adays, $90

2x256mb $80 (samsung (2 for duel channle) Tust me thier cheap and the quality cant be beat I always use samsung they over clock great 2

Stick some 80gb 7200 WD hdd in thier. $75

Psu you only need some cheap 400 watter and up. Price can range from $20 to $90 it all depends one which one u get.

Case $60

Then DVD burner can b about $80 to 100

Windows xp $100

radeon 9600 xt $170

Thats about $730 or so bucks thier, and you said he has $800, i mean you dont have to buy these high grade parts. But simply sticking a 9200 in a computer a guy says he wants a good video in is kinda like umm....

Anyway. You can downgrade each part i listed here by 1 and save over $150, that way u can make say $250 profit or so on building this pc.

he needs monitor/keyboard/mouse too

 

[bill gates]

Definetly get a nice 8mb cache wd harddrive and get 2 sticks of 256mb ram for dual channel. Also amd is the best choice for the tight budget because for that money you can't touch a p4c rig and still be able to get a monitor. Personally I would get an amd 2500+ and the abit nf7-s and overclock it to a 3200+ and spend $50 for a thermalright slk heatsink and a good fan. Then just make sure you have 1 or 2 80mm exhaust fans on the back of the case and you now have a kickass system for cheap! I would suggest a nice Antec case with an Antec 350watt or better powersupply.

 

[bill gates]

Newegg has some cheap Geforce fx 5200 cards for like $90 and they have 256mb of ram. If he sees that they have that much ram he will think it is a good video card and frankly it probably will be fine if he isn't a hardcore gamer.

 

[c627627]

Even GeForce3s are better than GeForce 5200s and GeForce4 Tis destroy them. Definitely stay away from the 5200s.

CandymanCan, power supply makes or breaks an overclock.
Cheap PSU not only can't OC to the full potential of the setup, when it goes out, it can actually take out the other components (I lost 2 HDs and 1 mobo)

Psu you only need some cheap 400 watter and up. Price can range from $20 to $90 it all depends one which one u get.

 

[g0dM@n]

You guys are great! Thanks for giving some suggestions. I didn't mention earlier, but most PCs I build were this:

ASUS A7N8X-X
2500 barton
512 Geil PC3200
Radeon 9200
etc etc

I personally think the Radeon 9200 is a good bang for the buck, but I've NEVER tried any of the FX models for NVidia. Also, don't count the O/S in the price... I'm just gonna give it to him the old way.

One issue that someone (I think tomchong) already mentioned was the RAM... I was gonna say... should I just get PC2700 instead of 3200? I mean, this guy isn't smart at all (sorry to say)... he works for my father. I just want to make like 100 bucks off of this and build him something he'll be happy with... and of course something that will last.

Someone also mentioned the ABIT NF7-S, which I alwasy wanted to try... but once I bought the NF7-M and I had problems with it. Also, a couple others mentioned the WD80gig 8mb cache... well, I already had that in mind but thanks anyways.

Keep it flowin... I really appreciate this.

P.S. Don't forget that if you get any neat ideas about any Intel rig's, also let me know of that. This guy was going to buy a Dell, so I kinda wanted to make something more comparable to them... rather than just jumping to AMD (trust me I LOVE AMD!!).

 

[OC Noob]

You can do him a favor, build the AMD setup and wonder when he will start *******g or...

You can screw him over, build a celly system and leave him ignorant and happy

I prefer the second option for that O' so annoying relative or friend, but it really depends on how much you like the person.

 

[Shishio]

Build him an AMD proc. Maybe im saying that cuss iv been using AMD ever since istarted buildings PC's. Well thats not ture iv had intel and prefer amd better.

Try this.

Athlon xp 2600+ Barton thier around $80

Abit NF7-S thier pretty cheap now adays, $90

2x256mb $80 (samsung (2 for duel channle) Tust me thier cheap and the quality cant be beat I always use samsung they over clock great 2

Stick some 80gb 7200 WD hdd in thier. $75

Psu you only need some cheap 400 watter and up. Price can range from $20 to $90 it all depends one which one u get.

Case $60

Then DVD burner can b about $80 to 100

Windows xp $100

radeon 9600 xt $170

Thats about $730 or so bucks thier, and you said he has $800, i mean you dont have to buy these high grade parts. But simply sticking a 9200 in a computer a guy says he wants a good video in is kinda like umm....

Anyway. You can downgrade each part i listed here by 1 and save over $150, that way u can make say $250 profit or so on building this pc.

If you're going to spend $170 bucks on a video card, you might as well pay $30 more and get a radeon 9800 pro. I would go the cheaper route with a ti4200 though. Probably can get a good one for around $100, maybe less now.

 

[SewerBeing]

I would go with AMD, if he starts raising hell, calmly explain to him that the computer he got is far superior to the dell he was going to get. I would got with a ti4200.

 

[bill gates]

Even GeForce3s are better than GeForce 5200s and GeForce4 Tis destroy them. Definitely stay away from the 5200s.

CandymanCan, power supply makes or breaks an overclock.
Cheap PSU not only can't OC to the full potential of the setup, when it goes out, it can actually take out the other components (I lost 2 HDs and 1 mobo)

Yeah the fx 5200 cards suck, but they are cheap as hell and they come with 256mb of ram, which doesn't mean sh#t but the guy who is buying it will probably think it is one hell of a videocard just based on memory specs alone. If the guy is as dumb as he seems then he probably won't care to much about game fps performance anyway. I didn't realize that ti-4200 cards are like $100 now, I would agree that this is a better route. Also I agree that a good powersupply is the 1 thing you do not want to cheap out on. That is why I suggested a good Antec 350watt powersupply which will be a lot better than most cheapo 450watt powersupplies. If you want to overclock the 2500+ get a good powersupply.

*edit*

A geforce fx5200 is still a hell of a lot better than dell's integrated graphics!

 

[JCLW]

I used to build computers for family.

Now I just point them towards Dell.

 

[brennan77]

Ditto.

 

[bill gates]

O.K. here you go, a complete list of parts for the system within your budget.

Case:
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=11-129-122&depa=0

Motherboard:
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=13-127-144&depa=0

Memory:
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=20-146-219&depa=0

Processor:
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=19-103-379&depa=0

Harddrive:
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=22-144-122&depa=0

Video card:
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=14-102-320&depa=0

Dvd Burner:
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=27-152-012&depa=0


Total cost = $599.99 with shipping

And you will have a good powersupply and a very nice video card! Only thing I might change is I would probably get 2 sticks of 256mb instead so you can do dual channel.

 

[Kenshiro]

Personally, for a high budget, I will recommend either a A64 or P4C. But with his budget, he is better off getting a AthlonXP.

Case with powersupply = $55
Harddrive = $100
DVD-burner = $100
DVD-rom = $35
Mobo = Abit NFS-7 = $100
Barton 2500/2600= $80
512 MB ram = $80
FX5900XT = $180

Total = $730.

Add another $80 for a 17inch monitor or $150 for a 19inch.

The above is the average price from Newegg.com. Ask anyone in this forum and they can agree that the specs i recommend above is an above average system.

Check newegg's website and maybe you can find cheaper parts. As for harddrive and memory, you might be better off buying them from CompUSA or Bestbuy. Sometimes with rebate, they are way cheaper than online. Compusa is selling a Seagate, 7200rpm, ATA100, 8mb cache, 200GB harddrive for $100 after rebate. I think Bestbuy is selling PC2700 512 memory for $50 after rebate. If you really shop around, you can really find some good prices. If he wants to go cheaper, you can change the vid card to either a 9600 non pro, or a 9600 pro. They are great cards for the price.

$800 is definitely a nice budget to get a decent rig. If he wants top of the line, that is doable by $1000.

The most important thing is that you have to educate your friend about prices and components. he has to understand that sometimes he sees great deal from Dell or gateway, they usually comes with onboard components, or with outdated vid card.

You get what you paid for.

 

[JoT]

Personally, for a high budget, I will recommend either a A64 or P4C. But with his budget, he is better off getting a AthlonXP.

Case with powersupply = $55
Harddrive = $100
DVD-burner = $100
DVD-rom = $35
Mobo = Abit NFS-7 = $100
Barton 2500/2600= $80
512 MB ram = $80
FX5900XT = $180

Total = $730.

Add another $80 for a 17inch monitor or $150 for a 19inch.

The above is the average price from Newegg.com. Ask anyone in this forum and they can agree that the specs i recommend above is an above average system.

Check newegg's website and maybe you can find cheaper parts. As for harddrive and memory, you might be better off buying them from CompUSA or Bestbuy. Sometimes with rebate, they are way cheaper than online. Compusa is selling a Seagate, 7200rpm, ATA100, 8mb cache, 200GB harddrive for $100 after rebate. I think Bestbuy is selling PC2700 512 memory for $50 after rebate. If you really shop around, you can really find some good prices. If he wants to go cheaper, you can change the vid card to either a 9600 non pro, or a 9600 pro. They are great cards for the price.

$800 is definitely a nice budget to get a decent rig. If he wants top of the line, that is doable by $1000.

The most important thing is that you have to educate your friend about prices and components. he has to understand that sometimes he sees great deal from Dell or gateway, they usually comes with onboard components, or with outdated vid card.

You get what you paid for.

Only a couple things I would change: Don't get a case with a PSU, it's a waste of money, just buy a $35-40 Fortron. They are amazing power supplies and equally amazingly cheap.

If you're getting a Barton proc to OC, get a mobile, if you need why explained to you, just browse the AMD CPU forum a few minutes and you'll see why.

If this guy isn't going to be playing a lot of games, or a lot of newer games, set him up with a Ti video card, they're nice and cheap lately, and they're still very good cards. If you spend more than $150 on a card, just make him throw down the extra 50 and get a 9800P.

RAM you might not want to cheap out on too badly; get some decent RAM with good timings, it will make the system overall faster rather than needing to crank up a few more MHz.

 

[g0dM@n]

I am an overclocker myself. Come to think of it, I think that was the original reason I showed up on these forums a year ago.

Anyways, I'm so obsessed with those 2500 Barton's since they first came out. I've bought a total of 6 of them, always seeing the potential of each newer stepping. Either way, I'm not sure if I want to overclock this guy's computer. I overclock my personal PCs, which now I have two overclocked (2500barton @ 210x11 and 1700xp @ 200x11.5).

What do you think? Should I sell someone an overclocked computer?? I was thinking of actually buying the 2800barton and just putting it in stock. Let me know what you think.

Also, trust me guys... I pretty much shop newegg 99% of the time. I calculated almost 5 grand of merchandise that I've purchased since last year May, hehe.

As for the video card... how come no one likes this one:

Radeon 9200

I put this in two computer's I've built and seem to be doing a good job, considering it's less than 70 bucks.

Also, I've been debating on getting myself a new powersupply... for that is the last thing I've learned about here at this forum. Is a good power supply that important for a PC that won't be overclocked and only runs like a 2500 Barton??

 

[g0dM@n]

If you're getting a Barton proc to OC, get a mobile, if you need why explained to you, just browse the AMD CPU forum a few minutes and you'll see why.

Can you link me? I've never played with a mobile b4.