Seeking opinions from the PC Gurus

[Hawk]

I'm in the market fro a new computer and I found a place locally that can build one for me.
I'm wondering what some of you more knowledgeable ones think of these specs.

Motherboard: Asus M2N32-SLI Deluxe AM2
Processors: AMD Athlon 64 X2 4600+ AM2
Memory: 1GB DDR2-4200 533MHZ
Hard Drives: 320GB SATA II 7200 RPM NCQ - 80GB SATA 7200 RPM Ncq
Optical Drives: Sony DVD-ROM/CDRW Combo Drive - Sony 52x CD-Burner
Video Card: Nvidia GeForce 7900GT 256MB
OS: XP Pro w/ Vista Upgrade
Case: Antec Sonata II Quiet Mid-Tower ATX
Sound Card: Creative Sound Blaster Audigy SE

Along with a few other particulars (software, etc) it's going to run about $2,200.00.

[Wolverine@MSU]

For another hundred bucks I'ld throw in another 1 GB of RAM. You never know when you might need it. Can't comment on MB or processor, but they look OK on the surface.

[canis39]

Yeah, I would agree...RAM is kind of like Railroad Tycoon...you can never have too much! :)

[AZ Rail Rat]

ASUS - :D
AMD Athlon 64 - :D :D

Memory - Don't know much about brands. Make sure ASUS recommends it. They have a list on their site by muthaboard. Agree with Wolvey - MAX IT OUT

Hard Drives - What brand? I been with Seagate for MACzean and kids replacement disk. Not old enough yet to know how reliable.

DVD Drives - I'm a Plextor Man

Video Card - NOT nVIDIA

Case - No pizzaz at all there Hawk . . . How about some lights and color??? :?

Sound Card - Might get some argument here, but unless you have speakers over $200 (and you have $200 ears to tell the difference), don't waste your money on a sound card. ASUS on-board sound and $50 speakers have suited me just fine. Of course that's because I got $50 EARS. :P :P :P :P

XP Pro / Vista - Has the Dawg changed his stripes????? This I GOTTA SEE. Welcome to the 21st Century Hawk! :P :P :P :P :P :P

Price - If that's assembled, loaded and tested, don't know how you can beat it with above specs.

Good luck - send pictures.

[Gwizz]

I don't know without more research how well those components work together but I agree to go for more Ram and for me the sound card is more than my ears need.

My present plans are to use more than one computer.

One for email and internet (a striped down version of one I already have)

One for word processing. ( using the MS tools I now have, no XP)

And one for only gaming. (A new computer) (Limit the programs that are necessary for gaming) I don't game on-line.

I may use 3D Mac on one computer and XP for the other graphic programs that I have that require it.

Maybe one machine for only music. (again using a computer I already have)

Gwizzzz that will make 5 to complain about but it uses up the ones now collecting dust.

[pure al]

Sony DVD-ROM/CDRW Combo Drive – Try getting one that burns DVDs. It’ll only be a few dollars more.

AZ Rail Rat, there’s nothing wrong with an NVidia! That’s a great card Hawk.

Great price for that system. Go for it.

Gwizz I have 3 and they keep my room warm during winter :? :D

[Hawk]

2 GB of RAM? I never would have figured I'd need that much. I'll think about it though.

Memory brand is Kingston. I'll have to check the Asus site.

The place that I would be getting the computer from builds it to the specs you request, within reason of course. They won't add non-compatible hardware.
I'm really not to keen on the Hard drive. It's a Seagate. I really prefer WD.

I've used both Nvidea and ATI. I currently run an ATI 256MB card that doesn't seem to give any better performance than my old 64MB Nvidea card. 'Course that may have a direct relation to my system. Might be a bit of a bottleneck there. :D
I never did have any problems with the Nvidea card but I seem to have some minor issues with the ATI card. Again that may be system related. I'll look into that issue some more.

As for the case-I don't need no stinkin' pizazz. I'm a simple man. Don't really give a hoot 'bout no lights and such. I am looking a another case though. The one spec-ed above only has one fan. The other one I'm looking at has 3 case fans as well as the processor fan and power supply fan. The downside is it comes with only a 450 watt power supply.

Don't go gettin' too excited Rat. The only reason I'm going for and XP OS is for warranty purposes. The Vista thing is a free upgrade when you buy the XP Pro OS. It doesn't mean I'll be taking advantage of it.

If I get this one I'll still have my other 3 computers. Well, I have 2 others and the little woman has one.
I may just use this new one for gaming.

Thanks for all the advice folks. It's really appreciated. This one isn't cut in stone yet. I'm still looking around for other reputable dealers that will build to suit.
This one comes from a local company called Vision Computers.
If any of y'all know a good place t have one built, I'm all ears.

[canis39]

Re: the video card, I've had nVidia cards for a few years, and I've never had a problem. I loved my GeForce 4 MX440. I had to replace it, though, because it didn't support pixel shading, so it wouldn't play too many new-ish type games.

From the research I did a few months back when I was shopping for an upgrade, the 7900 is a great card.

(I ended up going with a 6200 because it was CHEAP and it supported pixel shading).

[Hawk]

Thanks for the tip canis.

[joebandit]

Problem with WD is they dropped there warranty back to 12 months, Seagate is 5 years. AS far as Ram, max it out, you can never have enough., same with Hard Drives.Videio, I took out an ATI 92?? becasue it kelpt BSOD'ong my system, put back in my Nvidia 5200.Does what I need it to do.

[Hawk]

I didn't know that about WD. Hmmm?

Right now I have an 80GB drive with a 30GB backup and a 20GB and 13GB in the other two computers, all 3 networked together. I could use a little more storage.
I think the 320 and 80GB will do. I'd really like to go with 10,000RPM drives though but that was with WD. Now I'm not sure.

Again, thanks for all the input folks. I'm gettin' itchy fingers wanting to get a new one but don't want to jump in blind.

[Gwizz]

I bought a WD 200+gig hard drive about 4 months ago. I have over 140 gigs saved on it. A lot of graphics, pitures etc, saved on it. It is now making grinding noises. I have beem backing up what I want to save on CDs. Then I will switch it to storage only and let it rest as much as possible.

Get a large case. I had to jury rig to get a 2nd hard drive installed and bought an extra long cable with a number of connectors.

I heard that Vista has may bugs and many back doors. The bugs should get fixed. But I believe MS was paid to install the back doors. I bet there are no back doors on Gate's personal computer. I wonder if this is truth or fiction.

[Hawk]

I have no intention of upgrading to Vista. XP is bad enough.

But I believe MS was paid to install the back doors. I bet there are no back doors on Gate's personal computer. I wonder if this is truth or fiction.

Paid?
Have you ever considered what might have transpired in closed door chats between Uncle Bill and Uncle Sam during that Anti-Trust case?

[Hawk]

I went back and did a little reconfiguring and here's what I came up with.



Sheesh! This is gettin' expensive.
Still not sure about the power supply and I don't know what the on-board sound is. I'll have to give them a call.

[Wolverine@MSU]

You could probably cut $200 by going with a different video card. Not sure what to recommend, but for around $200 you should be able to get one that will do what you want.

[Hawk]

I might do that. I'm not so sure I need that good of a vid card anyway.
I'm still thinkng on it.

[AZ Rail Rat]

Better BUy SOMETHING before the price goes up again Hawk!

My memory is Corsair, but I saw Kingson on the ASUS list. I think I went with Corsair because of price.

Is that video card PCI-Express? Might have missed if mentioned before. It's the going thing you know.

Was the +$149 on the case for a bigger powr supply? With all that stuff, I would not go less than 550W.

Finally, don't do like I did for six months, have ANALYSIS PARALYSIS!!! One can "think" so much that by the time you decide, everything you picked is OBSOLETE. What will REALLY get you is, by Easter, the price on everthing will drop and you'll go "WHAT HAVE I DONE????"

[Hawk]

Yep! The card is PCI-E. I wouldn't go with anything else.
I still don't know for sure about the power supply. I need to call them.
I need to get this new pute before the release of Vista or I never will buy a new one. I refuse to go with Vista. 'Course I said the same thing about XP, didn't I.
I might try and get it ordered this weekend. I think it takes them about 5 to 10 days to build it but at least I can lock in on the price.

[Hawk]

OK! I did a little on-line research and after great deliberation and some financial evaluation, here's what it looks like I'm going to get. Should run around $2,200



It will have a 650 watt power supply and with the 7600 vid card I can always buy another one later and run it in SLI, which according to reviews I read, really greatly improves the performance.
I also decided to hold off on extra memory. I think 1gig will do fine for me right now. I can always add later when the price comes down and the wallet fills up a bit more.
The case will have 5 fans too. Shouldn't have a problem with heat. It also has a removable, washable filter to keep it nice and clean inside.

I want to thank y'all for your advice. It really helped a lot, believe it or not.
I'll be ordering it tomorrow. It should take 5 to 10 business days to build and test.
I'm getting it from a local place too. I like that. They have great ratings as well.

[Wolverine@MSU]

I think you'll be more than happy with the build. Keep an eye open at places like CompUSA, OfficeMax, Circuit City or Staples for specials on memory. You can often get 1 Gig for under a hundred bucks. Let us know what you think about your unit (if you can tear yourself away from actually using it).