Considering a LAN system... Thoughts?

SidewinderX

SidewinderX

Newbie
Joined
May 15, 2003
Messages
4,884
Reaction score
0
After screwing up big time taking the main computer to a LAN (make a long story short, we blew power as windows was booting up and communicating with kernel, killed my windows, forced to reinstall, luckly saved files and didn't have to reformat...)

So I was considering putting together a system at the lowest cost possbile that would be a good system to cart around to lans and whatnot...
So, exlcuding a monitor, this is what I have.
(~525$ with shipping)

linky

MB03-BA19446-BA03106-BA13301-BA02598-BA02598- ATHLON XP - 333Mhz (OEM) BUNDLES
Details (ASUS A7N8X-X-MB; AMD XP 2500+(333Mhz); MWAVE 512MB DDR333(256MB X 2); NO TESTING) $218.72 $218.72


AA23780 ATI RADEON 9600 256MB 8XAGP DDR W/TV & DVI (OEM - POWERED BY ATI) Details $115.00 $115.00


AA11495- WD 40GB WD400BB EIDE ULTRA-ATA/66-100 9.5MS 7200RPM 2MB BUFFER HARD DRIVE (Bare drive) Details (NO DATA CABLE) $54.00 $54.00


AA21010-- LITE ON 52X CD ROM BLACK #LTN-526S (Bare drive w/audio cable) Details (NO EXTRA AUDIO CABLE; NO DATA CABLE) $17.90 $17.90


AA17310 MITUSMI 1.44 FLOPPY (Bare drive-black color) Details $6.90 $6.90


AA25780 HP INTERNET KEYBOARD PS/2 #5069-3553 SILVER/BLACK Details $7.90 $7.90


1133305 MICROSOFT INTELLIMOUSE EXPLORER 3.0. Details $33.54 $33.54


1384507 MICRO INNOVATIONS DELUXE BEHIND-THE-NECK HEADPHONES W/BUILT-IN MIC Details . $12.19 $12.19


BA19896-BA19612 AHANIX INTEGRA (BLACK) MID TOWER W/ 350W POWER SUPPLY 4x5.25" 1x3.5" 6x3.5"(hidden) Details (EXTRA 80mm FAN(BLUE LED)) $27.50 $27.50
 
Yeah, price out this system at newegg.com, you may save some money.

The graphics card, you should go with a 9600 with only 128 memory. The 9600 isn't powerful enough to use the full 256. It is also $20 cheaper at newegg.

Other than that, looks good.
 
Um, just one recommendation, make sure you get whichever version of the A7N8X it is that has the SoundStorm audio (or whatever they call it). The fast one that sounds good. :p Btw, nice choice of motherboard. A7N8X rocks.

Oh, and just out of my experience, my Seagate drives have been very resistant to shock. Most HDD manufacturers publish this kind of info (how many operating and non-operating G's the drive can take) so it might be worth your time to look it up.

Hmm, and if it were me, I'd probably put a DVD-ROM drive in there instead of CD-ROM, just in case, since it reallly isn't that much more, but that's up to you.
 
You should definitely consider Shuttle XPC Mini-PC's, especially if you're concerned about lugging it around to LANs. Here's a decent rig:

Shuttle SN45G ($229)
AMD Athlon XP 2500+ ($75)
Kingston ValueRAM PC2700 2x256MB ($80)
Samsung 40GB 7200RPM HD ($57)
Samsung 52X CD-ROM ($15)
Samsung Floppy Drive ($10)
Sapphire 9600 ($95)

Grand Total: $561

All the prices are from newegg.com. I've got almost the exact same system and it runs great. I normally choose Samsung over WD and Lite-On cause the parts are alot quieter and higher quality for around the same prices.
 
Well, I don't mind the size, and i persoanlly dislike shuttle cases. I priced my same system on newegg and it was more, as that shuttle system is ~60 dollars more....
Besides, i'm persoanlly inlove with WD HDD, had many of them for tyears, never, ever had a problem.

This system is jsut for taking to lans, and maybe fooling with stuff at home, a cdrom drive will be fine (but i will look ;) )

The reason I got the 9600 256mb is that it was the cheatpest vid car don mwave in the range i want.... other than a 5700 FX :p
The deluxe version is the one with soundstorm, but it's alot more money... and i'm buying medicore headphones as well, and sound isn't that vital.... if i want better sound, i'll take the SB LIVE card outta this oc, and let this oc run on it's own intergrated sound...
 
If you're going to be moving it around a lot, then you really want as few components in there as possible, so I would recommend against adding in a sound card later. You're right that what it comes with is probably fine.

Another thing to think about is your HS/F. For a desktop that stays in place, it's often ok to exceed the socket weight limit for a cooler, but if you're going to be moving the box a lot, you're going to want a relatively light heatsink to keep from damagin the CPU. I don't remember exactly what the weight is... It will be in your motherboard manual. AMD and Intel probably have this data on their websites as well. I think it's around 400 g, or maybe I'm just remembing a cooler I was looking at.
 
yeah...getting the deluxe version of the mobo for good sound just has no point...if you're at a LAN, you're going to be using headphones...so any ol' onboard sound will be totally fine.

looks like a good system...until you go to a LAN this fall and everyone's playing Far Cry, doom3, hl2 (hopefully), etc...
 
forget the 9600pro..go with the powercolor 9800se. it's about $154 at newegg. just about $40 more, but with that u can get the performance of a 9800pro by softmodding with the omega drivers and make sure it says 256bit.
 
ok, making some changes... :)

Remember, they key issue here is price. I don't want a system that will pwn everyone else, I want a system I cna lug to LANS and play.

So, with that said, I making some changes.

First off: it's 100$ cheaper now...
$433 with shipping

what I changed...

instead of the 9600, i'd get a cheap ass 9200 128mb card. When I go to the lans or whatever, I'd put my 9600pro (which I already have in current comp) in, and put the 9200 in my comp at home. I'd put it in because there ar eothe rpeop,e who use the comp at home, and I don't want to screw w/ drivers, so i'd ge thte 9200.

I also changced the CPU to a 2200+, that will be plenty fine for my purposes
As a result of this, I changed the RAM to pc2100, and dropped the amount to 1 256mb stick.

When I go to the LAN's, i'll pull out a stick of pc2100 from my current comp, and then i'll have 512mb in the LAN comp, and leave 256MB in comp at home.


what do ya'll htink?
 
:frown: nooo...u need good dx9 support so u can play hl2..get a higher gfx otherwise u'll be playing the original hl while everyone plays cs2
 
i'd jsut like to empahsze that I said i'd pu the 9600pro in when i'm gaming...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

S
Coming Tuesday
Replies
7
Views
633
johnnypoopoopant
johnnypoopoopant
Back
Top