Suggestions Wanted for Gift System

[Clocker]

Suggestions Wanted for Gift System

Hey guys. Some of you may know that I’m building a gift system for a family member to be delivered in August. They are pretty proficient Windows users and they like to play the occasional game of RtCW Max Payne or similar FPS so the system has to be a ‘pretty good’ performer. Not top-end by any stretch of the imagination but just pretty good. This is what I’m considering right now (remember purchases will be made in July):

Case:
Probably Antec SLK3700AMB. I want to get them a quality, decent looking mid-tower with a name brand PS.

Processor:
AthlonXP 2400+ to 2600+
Maybe Barton if it is price competitive.

Ram:
512MB (Probably PC3200)

Hard Disk:
80GB 8MB cache unit. Whatever brand is cheapest with 3yr warranty

Video Card:
Not quite sure but I want a passive cooler. honold might have a GF3 to sell me. I want to limit it to under $100 (prices in July) but I may get flexible. This is a tough call! What do you think will be a good buy in July?

Motherboard: Another tough one. I’m willing to spend some $ on a good board. Onboard sound and LAN are wanted as long as the sound has decent quality & excellent compatibility. I think I might end up with a Nforce2 Ultra but I’d also consider a KT400A if I saw any available anywhere. I’m a little afraid of the nForce2 onboard sound compatibility (I had static in some games with my 8rda+). 400Mhz FSB capability would be nice to have but not an absolute requirement. Anything else I should consider?

I’d really like some recommendations on the m/b. No overclocking options are needed and I’d actually prefer to use jumpers rather than a soft-bios to discourage my user from playing with stuff he should not be touching. I have a Zalman chipset cooler I can use on the motherboard chipset if it doesn’t already come with a passive cooler.

Here are the priorities I have for this system overall (in order of importance):

Reliability
Compatability
Performance
Price

Any suggestions you guys would care to make would be appreciated!

Thanks,
Clocker

 

[Tea]

Honold's Gforce III sounds perfect.

On the motherboard front, I think you want a Toyota ... er ... I mean Gigabyte KT400. No good for overclocking, not the last word in performance, but solid and reliable as you like. Not stupidly expensive either. For compatability, you can't beat the world #1 chipset maker; go VIA every time.

Not that I've heard anything bad about Nvidia chpsets. The ones I've used have been just fine, but in the end, I just trust VIA to be more trouble-free.

 

[CougTek]

You might consider buying the RAM immediately. On my yesterday's pricelist, the RAM prices of ALL types of PC RAM have increased by 10% compared to the week before. I see it in the sky, this is a sign of things to come...

CPU : Can't say what's gonna be the best bang for the buck in August as there will be several other price cut rounds until then, but currently the Barton 2500+ is VERY tempting at ~95$.

Regarding the motherboard...Tea's right about the reliability of the GigaByte KT400 offering. However, the integrated sound on it is in the very low end. For games, especially those allowing audio positioning, your family member might be disapointed. Hopefully, VIA will have launched its new KT600 chipset in late July with the better audio chip solution that they encourage motherboard manufacturers to use with it.

And as far as I know, the only hard drive in 80GB capacity with an 8MB buffer AND a 3 years warranty is the Western Digital SE Caviar. There's the new Samsung 7200rpm model that might offer that too, but Samsung drives are scarse in online stores. Maybe Buck will be able to tell you when it's going to be available.

 

[Buck]

Maybe Buck will be able to tell you when it's going to be available.

Sorry Coug and Clock, no word on an 8MB Cache Samsung yet. Maybe Tony has some information about this.

 

[Clocker]

Thanks for your input guys. I think I'll buy some RAM in the very near future. Thanks for the head's-up!

C

 

[CougTek]

Sorry Coug and Clock, no word on an 8MB Cache Samsung yet. Maybe Tony has some information about this.

Found the answer. At page 16 of the Samsung pdf manual of the P80 model, it is written that models with the 8MB cache have the following # :

SP0421N : 40GB, 8MB cache
SP0812N : 80GB, 8MB cache
SP1213N : 120GB, 8MB cache
SP1614N : 160GB, 8MB cache

Those with the smaller 2MB cache are :

SP0401N 40GB
SP0802N 80GB
SP1203N 120GB
SP1604N 160GB

 

[Clocker]

Guys...thanks for your input thus far. I ended up picking up a Gigabyte board per Tannin's suggestion as well as some other things. I shopped at NewEgg & MWave and it turned out the NewEgg price was cheaper overall (by just a few bucks, including shipping) so I cancelled my MWave order and went with NewEgg. Here is what I have thus far....

FD 1.44MB|MITSUMI #D359M3% (Qty=1,Price=7.00)
CPU FAN SPEEZE |5F263B1M3 P3/AMD (Qty=2,Price=14.00)
MB VIA KT400|5P1A3D GA-7VAX ATX RTL (Qty=1,Price=75.00)
MODEM 56K|V/F/D V.92 5634PRS- RET (Qty=1,Price=10.99)
CASE ANTEC|Sever Tower SLK3700AMB (Qty=1,Price=72.99)

Best Buy has the 60GB WD JB drive on sale tomorrow for $50 after rebate so I think I might pick one up. I'm wondering if it is a single platter drive? It is a new product for them (BBuy) as far as I can tell so I think it might be the single platter version which would be nice...

C

 

[honold]

i'm pretty sure she'll drop the card by august even if i can't find mine

i've got an abit 64mb geforce4 ti4200 in mine, and i'll be upgrading for doom3

 

[Piyono]

Clocker, I was just browsing Antec's site and came across the Sonata case. It's touted as quiet and unobtrusive -- nice specs (not the least of which are a 120mm rear fan and and TruePower PS) and it's purdy, to boot.

Thoughts?



Piyono

 

[Clocker]

Piyono (Doug?)-

I've been looking at that case for several months. I like it alot but it is about $30-$40 more than the 3700AMB I purchased. The only major differences between the two I see are:

• Sonata is Black (negative for me, since I have a beige CDRW for the system)
• Sonata has a little nicer power supply which is nice
• I think Sonata only has room for one 120mm fan (no difference to me really)
• Sonata has a cool way of mounting drives

Sonata & the 3700 both have rubber isolated HDD mounting which is nice.

That being said, I think the 3700AMB is a better case for the $ and will work great for my family member. However, if the price drops below $100, I might pick up a Sonata for myself.

Bottom line for me...if the Sonata was cheaper I would have bought it for them.

 

[Clocker]

Damn! The bastards at Best BUy falsly advertised the 60GB WD drive they had on sale for $50 after rebate(s) as the 8MB version with long warranty. It was only the 2MB version with standard warranty.

I'm still looking for a good deal on a 3-year warranyy drive if anybody sees one...8MB cache is optional at this point.

C