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Help me buy a perfect desktop.

post #1 of 8
8/28/04 at 9:26pm
Thread Starter 
Im in sort of a bind i posted earlier this week a thread asking what computer i should buy with my low budget of $800 and i got 2 responses. I dont know much about computers so i dont know what the difference is. I want this computer for games like unreal 2004, cs, call of duty and maybe doom 3. Which choice would be better and why. Thanks in advance

CHOICE #1
ATOP ATX833BLK Case 350W w/ Window (BLACK)
AMD™ Athlon™ XP-2800+ Processor (Barton 512K L2 Cache)
ASUS A7N8X-X nVidia nForce-2 400 FSB 8X AGP w/ USB2.0, LAN, &; AUDIO
1GB (512MBx2) PC3200 DDR400 Memory (Major_Brand)
80GB 7200 RPM ATA 100 HARD DRIVE
ATI RADEON 9800 PRO 128MB DDR AGP 8X W/ TV-OUT & DVI
CD-RW 52X32X52 (BEIGE)
3D WAVE ON-BOARD 5.1 SOUND CARD

CHOICE #2
Case ( Standard ATX Mid-Tower Case w/350W Power Supply [no side window] Black )
Power Supply ( Standard Case Power Supply )
Processor ( AMD® Athlon-64 3000+ CPU w/ Hyper Transport Technology )
Processor Cooling ( Certified CPU Fan and Heatsink + 2 Extra Case Fans )
Motherboard ( Foxconn 755A01-6EKRS SIS-755 Chipset w/5.1 Sound, LAN, IEEE-1394, USB 2.0 8x AGP Motherboard )
Memory ( 512MB DDR-400 PC3200 Memory Module Major Brand )
Video Card ( Nvidia Geforce-FX 5700 256MB w/DVI + TV Out 8x AGP Video )
Hard Drive ( 80 GB HARD DRIVE 80 GB 7200 RPM Ultra ATA-100 Hard Drive )
CD-RW/DVD-RW Drive ( 16x DVD-ROM + 52x32x52 CD-RW Combo Drive Black )
Sound Card ( 3D Wave Stereo Sound Onboard )
Speaker System ( 600W PMPO 3 PCS Super Bass Subwoofer Speaker System )
Network Card ( 10/100 Network Onboard )
Mouse ( Microsoft IntelliMouse 1.1A USB Internet Mouse Beige )
Meter Display ( Thermal Temperature LCD Display Blue )
Flash Media Reader/Writer ( 6-In-1 Internal Flash Media Card Reader/Writer Beige )
USB Port ( Build-in USB 2.0 Ports )
Operation System ( MS Windows XP Home Edition )
Warranty ( Warranty Service Standard 3-Year Limited Warranty )
Rush Service ( Rush Service Fee (not shipping fee) No Rush, Ship Out in 5~10 Business Days )
Sub Total: $789.00
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post #2 of 8
8/28/04 at 9:30pm
UT2k4, CS, and COD will all run no problem on that, Doom 3 will be the bottleneck, I would say get the second one, but bump the memory up to 1gb, you'll have the slightly better processor, and the better video card, also bump up that power supply a tad, it seems a little low to me (although i haven't been on the desktop scene for a while, but you can never have too much power, just too little, especially if you want to add a hard drive later)
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post #3 of 8
8/28/04 at 10:08pm
Thread Starter 
which would be better if i raised the first one to amd 3000+
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post #4 of 8
8/28/04 at 10:13pm
keeping the memory as-is, the first, if you boost the second one to 1gb of memory, then you have to research the two video cards and see which is better as more video memory isn't always necessarily better

also, for doom3, check out hardocp.com for their doom3 hardware guide, it should be right on the front page real big
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post #5 of 8
8/28/04 at 10:15pm
Thread Starter 
CHOICE #3
Case
• Standard ATX Mid-Tower Case w/350W Power Supply [no side window] Beige
Power Supply
• Standard Case Power Supply
Processor
• AMD® Athlon XP 3000+ QuantiSpeed CPU [512K L2 Cache]
Processor Cooling
• Certified CPU Fan and Heatsink + 2 Extra Case Fans
Motherboard
• Asus A7N8X-X w/Audio, LAN, USB 2.0 8x AGP Motherboard
Memory
• 512 MB Dual Channel [256MB X2] DDR-400 PC3200 Memory Module Major Brand
Video Card
• ATI Radeon 9800 Pro 128MB W/DVI + TV OUT 8x AGP Video
Hard Drive
• 80 GB HARD DRIVE 80 GB 7200 RPM Ultra ATA-100 Hard Drive
CD-RW/DVD-RW Drive
• 52x32x52 CD-RW Drive Beige
Sound Card
• 3D Wave Stereo Sound Onboard
Speaker System
• 600W PMPO 3 PCS Super Bass Subwoofer Speaker System
Network Card
• 10/100 Network Onboard
Floppy Drive
• Mitsumi 1.44 MB Internal Floppy Drive Beige
USB Port
• Build-in USB 2.0 Ports
IEEE-1394 Fire Wire Card
Operation System
• MS Windows XP Home Edition
Warranty
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post #6 of 8
8/28/04 at 10:21pm
i still stick to upgrading the memory to 1gb, 2x512 in dual channel will be fine, you won't have to upgrade so soon which will save you money in the long run, if you buy 2x256 now you'll have to scrap both sticks to add more (unless it happens to have four slots, in which case go for that and buy another 2x256 later, or more if you want), otherwise still i'd say look into the power supply if you decide to add another hard drive, the proc and video card are power hogs, even 400-450 will give you some breathing room, don't want to overload your power supply and have it short out all your components
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post #7 of 8
8/29/04 at 3:30am
i agree with compujas with the 1Gb of Ram, and your choice 3 looks perfect... i have pretty much the same thing you do and everything runs awesome...

my system specs:

• 420W Power Supply
• Processor AMD® Athlon XP 3200+ w/ Thermaltake Volcano 9 and 3 80mm cold cathode fans
• Asus A7N8X-X w/Audio, LAN, USB 2.0 8x AGP Motherboard
• 1024 MB Dual Channel [512MB X2] DDR-400 PC3200 Memory Module Kingston Brand
• ATI Radeon X800 256MB W/DVI + TV OUT 8x AGP Video
• 40 GB HARD DRIVE and three 200GB 7200 RPM Ultra ATA-100 Hard Drive
• Sound Blaster Live
• 10/100 Network Onboard
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post #8 of 8
8/29/04 at 11:40pm
http://www.ibuypower.com/ibp/store/c...r.aspx?mid=107 and change the 5200 to 256 mb 9600 xt comes to 805
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