Advice on building PCs

[[Dragoon]]

A friend of mine is planning on getting 2 new computers, and I'm helping him out with buying the parts and putting them together. I don't have too much experiance with PC hardware, so if you guys could double check this list and make sure it's all compatible and whatnot it would be great.

HardDrive: 2x Maxtor Fireball 40GB 3 3.5" IDE Ultra ATA133 Hard Drive - OEM
http://www2.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16822144149
$89.00

DVD Drive: 2x ASUS Black 16X DVD-ROM/48X CD-ROM Drive
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=27-135-117&depa=1
$51.00

CD-RW: 2x ASUS 52x32x52 IDE Internal CD-RW Drive
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=27-135-023&depa=1
$54.00

Floppy Drive: 2x Mitsumi Black 1.44MB 3.5inch Floppy Disk Drive
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=21-104-101&depa=1
$21.00

Video Card: 2x SAPPHIRE Radeon 9600PRO 128MB 128-bit DDR AGP 4X/8X Video Card
http://www2.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814102408
$166.00

Case: 2x Linkworld 3230-02C2222U Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case 430W Power Supply
http://www2.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811164057
$49.00

IDE Cable (1): 2x UNINCOM ROUND, 18-Inch, True ATA133/100/66/33, ( RED ) IDE Cable. 3-Head
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=12-181-063&depa=1
$9.98

IDE Cable (2): 2x UNINCOM ROUND, 12-Inch, True ATA133/100/66/33, ( BLACK ) IDE Cable, 2-Head
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=12-181-042&depa=1
$9.98

Floppy Cable: 2x COOLMAX Floppy 12" Round Cable Transparent Yellow
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=12-104-613&depa=1
$6.98

Keyboard: 2x Logitech Black Value Keyboard - OEM
http://www2.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16823126170
$10.00

Mouse: 2x Logitech SBF96 Black Mouse - OEM
http://www2.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16826104176
$16.00

Motherboard: 2x ECS PT800CE-A Socket 478 VIA PT800 ATX Intel Motherboard
http://www2.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813135168
$77.98

Processor: 2x Intel Pentium 4 2.4B 533MHz FSB Socket 478 Processor - OEM
http://www2.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819116140
$273.98

Memory: 2x WINTEC 512MB 184-Pin DDR SDRAM System Memory
http://www2.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820161615
$67.88

CPU Fan/Heatsink: 2x Masscool CPU Cooler for Intel
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=35-150-041&depa=0
$19.98

Monitor: ViewSonic E70B Black 17" CRT Monitor
http://www2.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16824116253
$109.00

Total:
$1031.76

Note that there's only one monitor on there, this isn't a mistake - They happen to have one lying around. This is the complete list, so if you notice that some vital component is missing let me know.

 

[Asus]

Everything looks fine. I would recommend getting better quality memory though. Those are pretty cheap. Maybe look at some Kingston Value memory or Corsair. Also, if there is a motherboard with an Intel chipset instead of VIA for around that price I would choose it.

 

[[Dragoon]]

Everything looks fine. I would recommend getting better quality memory though. Those are pretty cheap. Maybe look at some Kingston Value memory or Corsair. Also, if there is a motherboard with an Intel chipset instead of VIA for around that price I would choose it.

Couldn't find a cheap Intel motherboard, but I did switch to Kingston RAM:

Memory: 2x Kingston 512MB 184-Pin DDR SDRAM System Memory
http://www2.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820141424
$85.34

 

[nick103]

I also suggest getting an AMD chip instead of a pentium. They're cheaper, and they actually play games better. Don't be fooled by what the computer thinks you're clocked at. I have an AMD Athlon 2500+ and my comp says that I'm running at 1.8ghz. But I can assure you, I'm definately not. I can play Half Life 2 at 50 frames per second, or a bit more. And I'm still running on a Ge Force 4 Ti 4200 w/ 128mb ram.

 

[Revisedsoul]

I also suggest getting an AMD chip instead of a pentium. They're cheaper, and they actually play games better. Don't be fooled by what the computer thinks you're clocked at. I have an AMD Athlon 2500+ and my comp says that I'm running at 1.8ghz. But I can assure you, I'm definately not. I can play Half Life 2 at 50 frames per second, or a bit more. And I'm still running on a Ge Force 4 Ti 4200 w/ 128mb ram.

i can assure you that you are running at 1.8ghz

 

[FictiousWill]

http://img259.echo.cx/img259/9086/haxorpc3fi.jpg

Amd clock cycles are more efficient.

 

[DEATH eVADER]

Also, if there is a motherboard with an Intel chipset instead of VIA for around that price I would choose it.

What is the PC rating on the RAM, if its PC3200, its fine. As for ASUS, I agree, VIA are not exactly at the top of the market, either get an intel or nvidia chipset type motherboard.

 

[gweedodogg69]

i have the ASUS A8N-SLI Deluxe which is obviously nForce4 chipset and it's zoomin. I need better RAM though since the Cas Latency is 3 (but I set it to 2.5 in the BIOS) so hopefully I'm really getting 2.5 Cas Latency now.

 

[Asus]

What do you plan to use the Computers for?

 

[[Dragoon]]

What do you plan to use the Computers for?

Gaming, mainly.

 

[huntingbear]

get a better hd then that...5400 rpm? and a better vid card at that...
also...why are you purchasing IDE cables? they come with your hd and cd/dvd burners? yes...better memory is a must

http://www2.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819103483
recommended processor
http://www2.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813127178
recommended mobo

if you need any help with setting up the computer give me a holla

dooderguy: AIM
[email protected]: MSN

 

[holydeadpenguins]

If they're for gaming why are you getting intels?
And you could get 9800s for 166 dollars.

 

[Muhahahaha]

1. You may need a better power supply than that. Yes, it has ample wattage, but that is not everything.

2. I don't think you need both a 16x DVD-ROM and a cd burner. I have seen combo drives that cost about the price of one of those. You will be paying twice as much for no reason. Here's one in black: http://www2.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16827106819, and another one: http://www2.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16827130029. (This way is cheaper, and they have better access times, too)

3. Yes, please get an intel chipset (if you go with an intel CPU), otherwise, do what someone else says about AMD.

4. I was going to reccommend an X700 or something, but I see that you have already doubled the prices. In that case, $83 is not going to get you much of a video card, but as long as you want that, go for it. X700's are around $200, too much I am guessing. Anyways, maybe someone else knows some cheap graphics cards that are better than that 9600.

5. Yes, get some better RAM than that. Also, 1GB would be ideal since it is for gaming, but I suppose it's not completely necessary. You could always buy a dual channel kit (2x512MB) and split it between them, and if you notice any lag you could always buy another kit, and put the other kit all in one comp.

6. If you spend about $366 for both your processors, you could get a P4 3.0E with 800MHz FSB. That FSB there is very important. You will definitely notice the difference, plus the CPU speed is also 600MHz higher: http://www2.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819116175. That there is OEM.

I hope some of that helped.