If you had $300 to spend on mobo/chip/memory...

[GNEP]

I recently bunged one of these:

Coolermaster CP5-8JD1F-0L Upto XP3200+

into an el-cheapo machine I was building - and for the price (it's only about £6.50, which for the UK is v. cheap) I was very impressed. So if you want to stay cheap, and a bit quieter than stock, it's a good bet. 80mm fan, copper core and aluminium fins. I was just taken aback by the low price, so thought I'd try it out.

[Tjalfe]

Originally posted by Kurt
The stock HS/F for the Athlon are fine. They're not whipser silent à la Zalman, but they're not very noisy -they used to be bit not anymore.

As for the performance with one stick instead of 2, well...it's not noticeable.

BTW, if you wondered why the A7N8X-X is cheaper than the A7N8X, it's because it is a _single_ channel nforce2 board...

Also, get a XP2600+ if you can, they overclock nicely and are faster than the Barton (the 2600+ is about the same price as the 2500+).

I'd still stick to the 2500+ 512KB cache, versus 256KB in the 2600+ .. and if both can overclock to the same frequencies, which I think they can, the 2500+ will be faster

[Kastuvas]

I'll be starting uni soon and compiling a new pc for that, well im still in the early stages maybe i will stick with my old one for another year.

But if i decide to get it, it will be something similar to this.

Gigabyte SoA nForce 2 ATX A 2L R £113.20

IBM Deskstar180GXP 123.5GB UDMA100 £73.20

AMD Athlon XP 2600+ 2.08Ghz SoA £71.07

Crucial Technology 256MB 184DIMM PC3200 NP CL3 £32.37 £64.74

Sub-total £328.21
VAT £57.40
Total £385.61

[cjolley]

Originally posted by Helevitia
I realized another problem. He will need a new case as well since his old Dell case and PS will not work.

anybody know a cheap case with an AMD approved PS? I know about the $18 Allied 300W PS, but what about a functional case with maybe USB ports on the front?

Dave

Your best bet might be your local Mom & Pop PC store.
Around here they have cases for about $35, as long as he has no specialized needs like high drive bay count or zoot looks.
And no shipping charges, which would be quite a bit higher than for the other parts he is getting.
chuck

[Kurt]

@kastuvas: make sure you get the 8MB edition of the 180GXP, not the 2MB one.

[DentyCracker]

I put a really quiet one one my friend's 1700+. I think it was a coolermaster DP5-6I11A

http://www.dabs.com/products/prod-search.asp?action=search&tid=751&mid=915&ob=manufacturer&stab=ref

Works fine at 166 (1.83 GHz)

[Helevitia]

Oh No! He now has $600 to spend on the mentioned above plus case and new video card. Back to the drawing board.....

[KvHagedorn]

Well, just buy the same and pocket the rest as your fee.

[Helevitia]

and scam my own brother

OK, now I am a really tight spot because I can get the Radeon 9800(non pro) for $250. That brings the grand total to $556 shipped to my door, but that only leaves me with $44 dollars for the case and power supply. Is there such a case and power supply to power this system without worrying about power problems? If anyone knows a good case and power supply for $44 or less, fess up!

Dave

[Sasq]

tell him to bost it to $620~650 and you should be fine

[KvHagedorn]

or get a 9500

[Jammrock]

Originally posted by Helevitia
and scam my own brother

OK, now I am a really tight spot because I can get the Radeon 9800(non pro) for $250. That brings the grand total to $556 shipped to my door, but that only leaves me with $44 dollars for the case and power supply. Is there such a case and power supply to power this system without worrying about power problems? If anyone knows a good case and power supply for $44 or less, fess up!

Dave

You can get EnLight mid-tower cases with 300 W power supplies that are actually decent, for abou $50. I've used many and never had a problem. With a smaller ps you might be able to squeeze it in for $45.

Jammrock

[Chrono_Wanderer]

For me, I will get a Plextor DVD+/-RW

But in your case, I will get a Sapphire Radeon 9600 for 170 dollars (canadian) and some Ram, if his system is 1GHz+

But that's jsut me...

[Helevitia]

OK, we ordered it. We decided to get this Enermax case for $54 and a 350W PS. If we have any problems, we will return it.

VGA ATIOEM|RADEON 9800 128M 8X AGP% (Qty=1,Price=249.00)
MB NFORCE2 A7N8X-X ASUS R (Qty=1,Price=83.99)
CPU AMD|2500/333 ATHLON XP BARTON R (Qty=1,Price=92.00)
DDRAM 512MB|64X64 PC-2700 CRUCIAL% (Qty=1,Price=88.99)
CASE EMAX|10B M ATX CS-3191L-B3A RT (Qty=1,Price=54.00)


Dave

[Chrono_Wanderer]

congrats (maybe not coz i assumed u didn't get any money from ur bro. haha jk)