How much would this cost?
 

AMD 3000+
512 PC 3200 DDR Ram
80 GB WD 7200 RPM 8MB Cache
MSI K7N2-Delta
Onboard 5.1 Sound
Onboard 10/100 LAN
ATI Radeon 9800 Pro 128MB
52x Sony CD-Rom



Aproxiamately, how much would this in all cost and if its fast enough for all the current games right now? I'm looking for a new computer and these are the specs from the LAN area I play a lot. All I really care if this system is fast enough to run the Half-life 2 engine at 60+ fps.

Re: How much would this cost?
 

about 600 or more i suppose. american
and i would get a 256 instead of a 128 for the newer games like doom 3.

if you want a good motherboard go with either Asus or Gigabyte..

i have an Asus P4P800-E deluxe it has onboard audio 6.1 and LAN port. But my board is an Intel

Here is a good one with lan and audio. http://www.allstarshop.com/shop/prod...63081R4EKB291E#

Re: How much would this cost?
 

yeah aound 600 if you bought it from newegg and built it but i would also go with the upgrade the viddy card

Re: How much would this cost?
 

Okay $600 is perfect, i'm low on cash and just looking for the lowest possible price for a good gaming rig

Re: How much would this cost?
 

i just wanne add that 256 dont do much compared to 128.. better you buy more ram.. the features is more importent on the card..

Re: How much would this cost?
 

about how much this would cost ... there are several online stores out there where you can click and collect all that items and then get the prize ...

about motherboard ... I have a asus p4g8xdeluxe and i'm really content, so a P4P800 like the shepard said would be a fine solution. dunno if you really need the deluxe version ...

Re: How much would this cost?
 

Well, but the P4P800 is an Intel mobo, and he wants AMD to get away with less costs... I think the MSI is fine, but if you want to have a broader overview of several nForce2 MoBos, you can try this link:
http://www.anandtech.com/mb/showdoc.html?i=1759
In the long run, I think you can neglect performance differences (which are bound to be tiny among boards with the same chipset) and decide according to which board offers everything you want and no features you won't ever use (like Asus', Chaintech's and Gigabyte's top-of-the-line MoBos), plus good reliability, customer service and warranty. Just my § 0.02...
Oh, and I'm not sure if the perfomance gain from 256 MB gfx memory instead of 128 is in any reasonable relation to the price difference... I would check that if I were you.

Re: How much would this cost?
 

This got me an average of 54 FPS at 1024*768 on the Source benchmark:

AMD Athlon 64 3200+ (1 MB cache version)
512 MB DDR400 RAM
Geforce 4 TI 4200
AOpen AK89 MAX
60 GB Maxtor HD
16x Liteon DVD drive

A word of warning, make DAMN SURE you have enough power. 350 watts was not enough for my system.

Also, the ATX 4-pin connector (AKA p4 connector) needs to be hooked up if your motherboard has it.

This system would cost probably under $1000, but I am not sure. Anyway, you will most likely want a better video card.

Re: How much would this cost?
 

that link in my first post is to an amd mobo..

and it shud be 600 bucks i built one of my clients just yesterday a computer for 600 bucks..


Pentium 2.4c Ht
gigabyte GA-8S648FX-RZ mobo
256 kingston ram
400 watt ps a nice looking case.
nvidia 5700 256
80 gig Western Digital 8meg buffer 7200 rpm
52x cdrom burner
and ofcoarse just a normal floppy.

it was around 599 bucks american

Re: How much would this cost?
 

Oh yeah, you're right, I missed that link... Well, the question with this MoBO is if you need a WiFi slot, SATA RAID and FireWire and how much cheaper a board w/o these features would be... the A7N8X-X, for example, has the same chipset, audio, USB 2.0 and still one LAN, but lacks FireWire, PATA RAID and SATA - and it costs 30 bucks less.

@sfx1999: Damn true, a good PSU is a must.
However, as you certainly know, the mere watt number doesn't tell the entire truth... what really matters is how many Ampere it can deliver on the 3.3V, 5V and 12V rails, and this can vary from one "350W" PSU to another... one thing's for sure: In the long run, It can turn out to be expensive to try to save money by buying a cheap no-name PSU...

Re: How much would this cost?
 

Heyyo,

I think that vidcard's good enough to crank out some great graphics. me bud has that an an AMD athlon xp 2500 with a gig of generic pc3200 ram, n' he can crank the graphics on full for Far Cry, n' not have to worry aboot frame drops too much. That build should easily be enough to play HL2 np. :)

Remember folks, he's not looking for state-of-the-art computer, he just wants one that'll get the job done without too much vid lag.

BTW, I have the same mobo, and it works great man. I have no complaints there. :D

The reason why sfx1999 only scored 54 frames/second is that he cranked the rez (1024*768 ) and I'm also guessing the graphics are cranked to full, and he also has a Geforce 4 TI 4200 (Don't get me wrong, I'm not knocking that card, it's a good card, IMO it's one of nvidia's best cards. I'd rather get that than a fx5600 anyday. ;) )

Stick with ATI for HL2. HL2 is optimized for ATI cards.

Re: How much would this cost?
 

one question to you hardware freaks: do you know what is currently the best motherboard with integrated graphics ? graphically speaking I mean. I know, I know, onboard gfx sucks a lot, but my woodputer won't let me put a normal card cos it won't fit in.

Currently I have a K7N2G (with integrated GeForce 4 MX) but it's beginning to be the very low end for most games today. I'm thinking about upgrading for christmas, anyway I'd probably need a newer one for HL2. If you know a good one, I'm all ears.

Re: How much would this cost?
 

Shouldn't this be posted in a new thread? :D

Oh, and all I know is that Via apparently has a chipset called KM400 for AMD systems. It features an integrated S3 gfx chip, but I just didn't find a nice review where you could see it in comparison with the other onboard solutions. Besides, most mainboards with this chipset are micro-ATX, if that matters for you. Most, but not all.
If you would also buy an Intel system, Via has the same gfx chip in some northbridges for Intel systems, too, but on the Intel market there is more competition. I would be surprised if SiS didn't have some kind of onboard gfx as well, not to mention Intel themselves.
Maybe I'll find some reviews, but it's almost midnight now and I gotta work tomorrow...

Re: How much would this cost?
 

???:( ok first things first onboard grfx sucks :P

and secondly if your getting a new mobo then wouldnt u be able to get a graficks card?

Re: How much would this cost?
 

firewire is a must.

USB will be replaced by it soon. thier never going to finish the USB2 project.

Re: How much would this cost?
 

if anyones intressted.. this is an upgrade i have kept my eye on for some time..
i cant afford it right now.. but hopefully soon..
in US $ i guess it would cost around 350$

• 300492 - AMD Athlon 64 3000+ 2.0 GHz Socket 754, 512 KB cache, BOXED
• 117212 - Corsair Value S. PC3200 DDR-DIMM 512MB Unbuffered, Non-parity, 64Megx64, CL2.5
• 300671 - EPoX EP-8KDA3J Moderkort för Socket 754 nForce3 250GB,SATA,GbLAN,ATX,Ljud

i still need some kind of box.. tower.. to put it in.. another 100$

Re: How much would this cost?
 

Because of this:
If you haven't seen his woodputer, check the "show me your desk" thread...

I am yet to see many things that can be plugged into a PC (except for some video cameras) which absolutely need FW instead of USB. However, when I look around, I see:
USB digicams,
USB printers,
USB memory sticks,
USB scanners,
USB card readers,
USB christmas trees (no joke!),
USB keyboards,
USB mice,
USB trackballs,
USB modems,
USB external hard disks,
USB external CD burners,
USB webcams,
and more...
Don't forget that there are many devices which don't take advantage of any performance gain offered by possible future ports simply because they don't require high bandwidth etc. (be it a possible USB 2 or a future FW version). Take the accessories Nr.1+2 for a PC: keyboards and mice. Heck, you don't even have any performance gain from PS/2 to USB! In fact, I could use an old AT mainboard, plug my keyboard into it (via a USB->PS/2 adapter, which came with my KB) and a PS/2->AT adapter, and I wouldn't see any difference.
USB is so established now that it won't die quickly. It won't be replaced soon. Look at up-to-date MoBos: Most of them still feature PS/2, parallel and serial ports - simply because these ports are established and you get loads of stuff that connects to them (and which doesn't need any faster / better ports), whereas boards which discard all legacy ports (like the Abit MAX series) are the absolute exception. I would guess that MoBos in 2 or 3 years will still come equipped with USB ports. Maybe FireWire will have made its way to a further standard port by then instead of an optional addition, which it is now. You can get many mainboards w/o FW, but try getting one w/o USB... and that's for a reason.
I bet the industry said the same about parallel and serial when USB came out... "they will be replaced by USB". But there just were so many parallel and serial devices on the market, and the actual benefits from upgrading to USB were so small in many cases (not to mention inconveniences related to USB that didn't occur with legacy ports), that those legacy ports lasted until today - and they will live for some more years. So will USB.
Plus, even if you were to keep your PC for a long time, and even if you were eventually forced to add some FireWire ports, you could walk into a shop anytime and buy an add-in card for 20 bucks (possibly less if and when FW becomes more widely used).
I would only get a MoBo with FW if I were sure to use any FW device in the near future or if the board came equipped with FW anyway, and still were reasonably priced.

Re: How much would this cost?
 

Heyyo,

I think USB will be around for a long time. no worries there. Heck, firewire's older than USB2, and I only know a few people who use firewire... it's less popular right now.

N' I saw your computer PMB, very classy man, I like. But have you thought aboot maybe getting a larger wooden suitcase with wheels for your conveinience? (lol, however you spell that word. stupid gharmmar... :P ) Cause if you did that then you could get a beast of a card. I suggest not a pci-express, cause I heard they're not much better than an ATI Radeon 9800 pro...

N' I've searched for some intergrated graphics benchmarks, and as usual, I found a good one at tom's hardware guide: http://graphics.tomshardware.com/gra...aphics-14.html

I diddn't know they made 9800's as ingergrated graphics... ya learn somethin' new every day I guess. ;)

[EDIt]
Oh nevermind... I just can't read. 9800 is not intergrated... stupid words. :P

Re: How much would this cost?
 

yes i only use firewire on my external HD. but usb2 will never be finished and USB will be replaced by firewire believe me everyday at work i see more and more firewire products theres even a new mouse out with firewire(not sure of the mouse i think i have seen it)

Re: How much would this cost?
 

LOL, why'd you full-quote my whole sermon? Better just write "@ T Wrecks", it helps to have more than 3 posts per page... :D

And I still think USB 2.0 will last a pretty long time, for the reasons I mentioned, but we shall see... in the end, only time will tell.
Maybe a wireless connection like Bluetooth will spoil both szenarios and replace USB and FireWire in the not-too-far future? It's hard to predict, especially since it's not always the best solution that becomes a standard (remember betamax / video 2000 / VHS ?)... :(

Re: How much would this cost?
 

Heyyo,

is firewire even faster than USB2? I dunno, but anywho, don't you guys remember floppies? they made a 2mb floppy disk, but no one bothered to change from their 1.44mb floppies, and 2mb floopies vansihed of the face of the earth. I'm not saying firewire will vanish, but yeah, It's not that widely used. I only know like, 3 PC's that have firewire, and that's only cause of their digicams. I know IMacs seem to have firewire and USB (dunno if it's 2 or 1) as a standard..

Re: How much would this cost?
 

vid cams use firewire.. since usb is too slow.. usb2.. I dont think its out..

Re: How much would this cost?
 

Quoted from "21st - Why FireWire is Hot! Hot! Hot!":
FireWire provides a high-speed serial bus with data transfer rates of 100, 200, or 400Mbps.


Quoted from "USB 2.0, Hi-Speed USB FAQ":

USB 1.1 allowed a maximum transfer rate of 12Mbits/second.

USB 2.0 has a raw data rate at 480Mbps, and it is rated 40 times faster than its predecessor interface, USB 1.1, which tops at 12Mbps. Originally, USB 2.0 was intended to go only as fast as 240Mbps, but then, USB 2.0 Promoter Group increased the speed to 480Mbps in October 1999.

That's why I don't understand this:
???:( I mean, USB 2.0 is a wide-spread standard already, I have 6 USB 2.0 ports on my MoBo, and the text snippet above says it was cranked up to 480 Mbps as early as 1999 - that's almost ancient history measured in computer lifetime terms.... what do you mean? And on a side note, it's still faster than the more "modern" FireWire if these numbers are correct.
[Note that I don't intend to advertise pro-USB here; I don't have any FW experience and it might very well be that FW is better and more reliable - just interpreting some numbers here...]

Oh, and here's something more that might be interesting:

As an aside, USB mice and keyboards need only 1.5Mbits/s to function.

Now I guess that a lot will depend on the costs of manufacturing and implementing USB or FireWire chips... nobody will make FireWire keyboards if a USB 1.1 chip (which would already offer 8 times the bandwidth that's needed for running a keyboard) comes cheaper than a FireWire chip... Only in the high-bandwidth range (external drives or storage devices, photo or video cameras) there's the choice to make between USB 2.0 @ 480 Mbps or FireWire @ 400 Mbps...

Re: How much would this cost?
 

USB 2.0 is one thing byt USB2 is a whole new project.

Re: How much would this cost?
 

Heyyo,

USB2 isin't a complete project? you mean, it's supposed to get even faster? cool, plus USB2 ports are backwards compatible to USB1.. so if they do make something like a USB3 port, I bet I'd be the same deal. For me, I think that wireless technology is still in development, cause I think the fastest wireless router is only 48mbits is it? well, something low like that...

But what I was wondering for usb keyboards, is if it supports more buttons to be held down at 1 time. I think the max for PS/2 keyboards is 3-6 is it? I dunno... but if anyone has a USB keyboard, plz tell me how many buttons you can hold down at once.. If it's more than a PS/2 keyboard, it's already better by half the usefullness of a PS/2 keyboard. (if you ask my why? sometimes me buds are too lazy to bring over comps, so we just cram all together on 1 keyboard n' mouse, n' a gamepad playing serious sam 1 & 2 it's annoying when your buds purposely hold down keys to make you fall into pits. Makes you wanna hold down a lot of keys when keelers are running at them. :P )

I don't think there's too much advantage to Mice though, unless the new laser technology requires more bandwith than what PS/2 provides. I know optical mice seem to do good on PS/2 (but not my crappy mouse.. don't buy that turbo gamer (aka. mitsuko) keyboard n' mouse combo... I warned you. ;) ).

Re: How much would this cost?
 

@ Adrian: Ah, ok. Hey, I didn't even know they were developing a new USB port... I don't really see the need, either. It's no use to change standard ports every 2 years, especially when the current oneas aren't even maxed out. Just like with PCI ans AGP, in the long run there might be some cheap & easy low-speed ports on future MoBos (for printers, scanners, webcams, mice tec.), and maybe one or two high-speed ports for vidcams and external drives...
@ MarD: Hm... my kb & mouse (both Logitech) are USB by default, but they already came with a PS/2 adapter attached to the USB plug, and I left it like that. (try to adjust your BIOS settings with a USB keyboard, ha ha) If you can plug USB into PS/2 that easily, I can't imagine that there is a different limit concerning how many keys you can push at the same time, but I have really no idea, sorry.

Re: How much would this cost?
 

No problem.

I work at a computer shop :D

Anyways umm they were making USB2 for transfering information from one hd to another. also for macs for video transfer.

The external HD is sticking with Firewire. Personally i like USB better than firewire (cause i only have 2 firewire ports rofl) i have 8 usb..lol

Re: How much would this cost?
 

Okay i finally think i know what i want. I'm getting an HP a600n for 550$. I want a custom pc but it's my parents buying the computer so they don't really trust me. But here's the problem now the vid card. As you guys know i'm low on cash (or i mean parents). Here's my choices

1st choice: ATI radeon 9600 pro for 139$
2-asylum 256mb 5200 Geforce 129$
3-geforce 5500 overclocked 99$

i have a very low knowledge of video card so plz help! I just want a comp. ready for hl2 sooooo bad! My budget for the vid card is nothing over 140$ so plz ne suggestions

Re: How much would this cost?
 

Heyyo,

I highly suggest the 9600 Pro. That Nvidia Geforce 5200 is PURE CRAP. The ATI 9000 Pro could kick the 5200's arse easily... that's a sign dude... and trying to make that 5200 a 256mb video card? lmao, that's hallarious... it still makes the card crappy, and you'll barely see an increase in frames, if any... On the benchmark the 5500 isin't shown, so just look at the 5600 for a guess... I used to own a 5600, but I sold it off cause the card sucked, n' I bought a 9600 Pro.

Also, the source engine (the game engine HL2 is built on) is optimized for ATI cards, making the gap between those 2 nividia cards, and that ATI 9600 Pro, even bigger.

want proof? check this benchmark out, it shows many different cards benchmarked on many different games the 1st game is ut2003:

http://graphics.tomshardware.com/gra...ournament_2003

Re: How much would this cost?
 

thank you for that link, that was a lot of help. And for the Hp i'm getting here's the cpu specs:

Processor Manufacturer: AMD
Processor Class: Athlon XP
Processor Speed: 2.08 GHz

that's a good couple right? a600n and 9600 pro?

Re: How much would this cost?
 

Heyyo,

That's pretty good. Is it the AMD Athlon XP 2500+? cause AMD doesn't really go by cpu speed, they go by like, efficiency. Cause an AMD Athlon XP 2500+ is equivalent to Intel's P4 2.5GHz. If you can, try to get a 2500+, cause me bud has that, and with his ATI Radeon 9800 Pro he can run far cry on full graphics without his framerate dropping below 30f/s. ;)

BTW, for big company's selling pre-made computers, HP's the best cause they're easy to upgrade, unlike their lower end products, the compaq line, (lol, yeah HP bought them out man. ;) ) you can fully upgrade your HP. :D

Re: How much would this cost?
 

[EDIT]

oops... double posted again, sry, I made changes to my post and hit posted a 2nd time... I should really stop this knack, I'll try harder in the future to let slow internet connections take their time. :P

Re: How much would this cost?
 

I wouldnt go Brand name computers.
Reason: If they break you need to go to hp and buy the parts from them. and they overcharge. plus upgrading wise you cant do much but the ram and vid card.

Both the 9600 and the 5200 are good cards but to 5500 is a piece of crap

Re: How much would this cost?
 

Heyyo,

Err... the 5200? good? I dunno, I've seen it, in NFS: Underground, that one had to be cranked to low res as possible, n' it still averaged beloe 25f/s... then again the processor was an old AMD K6 700mHz... :P

But here in canada, you're better off spending the extra $60-$70 for a ATI Radeon 9600 Pro..

Re: How much would this cost?
 

If your gonna spend 139 bucks go ahead and pick up an Nvidia 5700 256 ecellent car i have it

Re: How much would this cost?
 

Okay i've already gotten this computer, but it was faster then the hp i was planning to get.
http://www.outpost.com/product/4177013

Compaq Presario SR1126NX AMD® Athlong™ XP 3000+, 512MB, 120GB, DVD+R+RW, CD-ROM, 56K, NIC, XP

AND i went ahead to get the 9600 pro. This setup can play most modern games right now right? I haven't been happy in such a long ass time!

Re: How much would this cost?
 

Heyyo,

You should easily be able to play modern games. Heck, I think your computer's even stronger than mine! :)

Ok, download that 3D Mark 2003, and benchmark your comp, it'll give you a number, that number will tell you how strong your computer is. Give it a shot man, and post your number here, Later on tday I'll dig mine outta my comuter once I get home.... anyone else wanna see how well our computers stack up against eachother? get it, n' let's see. ;)

[EDIT]
TRUST me, you made the right choice with HP. Don't get a compaq whatever you do! they're just the low-end line of HP since HP baught out Compaq. Even before Compaq was baught out their comps sucked cause of how hard it is to upgrade those buggers...

Re: How much would this cost?
 

nice rig 9600 pro is a good card