Ordering new computer... need opinions

[Digitalwave]

Well its finally time to upgrade from my P3 500mhz Dell system. I am keeping the monitor (19" Sony Trinitron in great shape) and speaker set as well as the Sound Blaster Live! Value sound card. Here is the system I have come up with, from Cyber Power, for $539.

2ND_USB: STANDARD 2 USB PORT CONNECTORS
CAS: (NEW !!!) TURBO X-INFINITY Case 420W W/ WINDOW & LCD Temperature Display (SILVER COLOR)
CDRW: SONY CDRW 52X32X52 EIDE [+5] (BLACK COLOR [+0])
CASUPGRADE: 12" COLD CATHODE NEON LIGHT SOUND ACTIVED (BLUE COLOR)
CPU: AMD Athlon XP 2500+ Processor (512K L2 CACHE) ~ CL705 [-16]
FAN: AMD CERTIFIED CPU FAN & HEATSINK + 3 EXTRA CASE FANS [+9]
FLOPPY: 1.44 MB FLOPPY DRIVE (BLACK COLOR [+0])
HDD: Seagate 80GB 7200RPM Serial ATA 150 8MB Cache [+4]
KEYBOARD: PS2 MULTIMEDIA INTERNET CONTROL KEYBOARD (BEIGE COLOR)
MOUSE: Microsoft® Optical Wheel Mouse [+5] (BLACK COLOR [+0])
MOTHERBOARD: ASUS A7N8X-X nVidia nForce-2 400 FSB 8X AGP w/ USB 2.0 [+2]
MEMORY: 256 MB PC3200 400MHz DDR MEMORY [-38] (Standard Major Brand)
NETWORK: ONBOARD 10/100 NETWORK CARD
OS: Microsoft® Windows® XP HOME EDITION
POWERSUPPLY: STANDARD CASE POWER SUPPLY
SOFT1: Microsoft® Works 7.0
VIDEO: ATI RADEON 9200 SE 8X AGP 128MB DDR W/ TV-OUT & DVI
_PRICE: (+539)

What do you guys think of this? What are your experiences with AMD processors and ATI video cards? The AMD is a bit cheaper than an Intel chip, and the ATI video card is also cheaper than nVidia.

I am on a tight budget, I can't spend much more than this ($550).

[m42technic]

http://store.apple.com/

[decay]

that seems pretty good for under 5.5 bills.

at my last real IT job i built a database server using a dual-athlon-MP board (tyan tiger) and a promise IDE RAID controller.

previous to that i was an intel purist, but that thing ran fast and clean. i had no reason to complain or steer anyone away from the hardware.

[BMW BMXER]

I just got an Altholon XP after having a Ath 1.2 so far I am happy with it, the last one gave me no problems

[MattM20]

why only 256mb of ram? i guess if your on a budget thats enough to run XP, but make sure it has more than one extra memory slot so you can easily upgrade it later on.

[Digitalwave]

It has 3 slots, as soon as I can I plan on buying another 256mb stick from www.newegg.com

[MattM20]

It has 3 slots, as soon as I can I plan on buying another 256mb stick from www.newegg.com

ehh. 512 still isnt that great, i'd try to put it over a gig with two 512's whenever you get around to upgrading.

[decay]

yeah. i'm stuck on an ancient p2 laptop w/ 256 @ home right now. it sucks. i missed that; you will want an upgrade sooner than later.

[SykoBMW]

ATI cards are great, 9200 is a decent card, go 9800 PRO or better if you want awesome gaming.

[LikeCDoos]

Ehh, i'm not a fan of AMD but they do get the job done. ATI does make good cards but the 9200 is quite old. Definetly get more RAM and XP Professional. Personally I say save up your money and get something WAY better...like this:

http://www.r3vlimited.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=9044

We can work something out if you like TJ, let me know

[mgold]

http://store.apple.com/

I couldn't agree more. Too bad he's stuck in a PC state of mind.

[LikeCDoos]

http://store.apple.com/

I couldn't agree more. Too bad he's stuck in a PC state of mind.

Mac's would be way better if they had more software readily available. It would also help if they wern't so expensive and proprietary.

[James Crivellone]

I would ditch the Asus motherboard for Abit, I have had nothing but major issues with Asus, and I work with a ton of those pos boards ;)



Radeon 9200SE, I would go for a 9600SE at least if you can, give you a ltitle more bang

Windows XP Pro at the least, and more ram, god man more ram

[Kristuphir]

He's not gonna find anything at the Apple store for $550 though....we have to be honest with ourselves (this coming from a diehard Mac guy who's currently sitting in front of a nice shiny new one, keep in mind)...

[spencers]

Guys, it's really a matter of fact of what TJ does with his computer. If he just uses it for internet/email it will be fine. If he wants to do some gaming, hell no.

The CPU will fit you just fine, with the motherboard you got, it will unlock it so you can overclock if you please. ASUS is a fine board. :)

It just depends on what you do on your computer to justify 256mb RAM. I'd always suggest at LEAST 512mb. Especially with XP. I'm getting another half gig this summer so my games will run better.

As long as you aren't playing any video games, that 9200 will be alright. That is the absolute most budget retail card you can get right about now. So, if you want to play games, I'd suggest a better card.

Otherwise, good lookin' PC for a respectable amount of money!