Update:

I have compiled a list of things I think would be in my price range, can anyone see if all of these parts are compatible with each other?

Hard Drive: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16822144200
MotherBoard: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813135190
Graphics Card: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814127176
Processor: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819103461
Sound Card: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16829120103
RAM: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820156006
Case: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811144038

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Hello fellow forumers, I need your help once again.

I am considering to buy a new computer, since the old one I have is obscenely outdated (Seriously, 400mhz...), I have to get a new one in order to use modern day programs (IE: Games).

If you guys know, please give me some good deals on a reliable computer. One thing that I require though, is for it to be around 500 - 800$, and have a decent graphics card, able to play most games on the market today.

I've been looking around newegg, but being the hardware noob that I am, I'm afraid I'd get ripped off.

Thanks in advance.

Motherboard - This will be your deciding factor for everything below. Fastest you can get for under 100.

CPU - Fastest you can get under $200.
Video Card - Again, fastest for under $200
Case - Go for the biggest, ugliest piece of crap you can get with as many fans already on it and the most voltage out of the powersupply. You want at least 400 for your new rig. Should be under 100.

The rest is really bla. Go for a Hard drive with Serial ATA (SATA) technology. Whatever your motherboard supports, go get it.

I presume simply buying one would be out of the question...

Although, what are some recommandations?

Asus, for motherboard. ATI for video. AMD for processor.

something that supports smartshader 2.0 or higher for a gfx card.
http://stores.tomshardware.com/search_attrib.php/page_id=5//
there's where i'd look if i had the spending money ;)

building your own is always the best way to do it. but if thats out of the question, then get this : http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16883102642

and then buy another stick of 512 memory, and an ATI Radeon X800GT.

Hmmmm, So far:

I found a pretty good deal on a Radeon X800 (150$, http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814127176), but it needs to be mounted on a Pci Express x16 slot.

I've also found a motherboard (65$, http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813135190) that supports it, but has no AGP slot.

I found a processor too, (215$, http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819103461) that seems to be pretty good.

Because I'm running on outdated ram (SD ram, jeez...), I'll also have to buy DDR Ram. This one (45$, http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820156006) is the only one I found. I'm not quite sure if I need 1 or 2.

The rest of the stuff can be savaged from my old PC, I think, maybe even the tower itself...

Can anyone tell me if that setup would work?

quote:Originally posted by Leo Da Lunerfox
I've also found a motherboard (65$, http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813135190) that supports it, but has no AGP slot.
The newer motherboards come with PCI-Ex, which your video card supports. AGP is for older cards, such as the 9800, but PCI-Ex is faster.

The case might not be usable. If your old case was by a company like HP, they might be using a certain case which is incompatible with generic parts, and depending on the age of your PSU, you might not be able to use newer processors with it.

just use a cardboard box with some wood in there ;)

Ahhh, so far, the budget adds up to 570 or so, adding a 25 dollar sound card, as well as accounting for shipping and handling fees. The case I have is pretty generic, just an old square box that looks like it came from the 1990s. But even if I add in the box, it would totally up around 620, a pretty good sum for what I'm going to be getting.

Oh yeah, and with a new harddrive, that'll total up to around 700, I'm guessing

Now the hard part: Persuading my parents to invest that money for me.

quote:adding a 25 dollar sound card
I would think that onboard sound is better than a 25$ sound card? :|

edit: also don't forget to get RAM..

I would buy Quantum II processor with 8.6 GHz and 1 T.B RAM which is coming 2006 for only 8500 $.. YAY!

@ Noobface:
Yeah, I'm not big on the sound factor of it: You don't need a super uber sound card to play sound on 2 speakers, anyways. However, I might upgrade or downgrade my setup, depending on the funds my parents will allocate me. Maybe if they took some money out of remodeling their house and put it to "Remodeling" my computer instead....

leo. do what i suggested. and buy an X800GT or X800GTO, but dont buy a regular X800.

quote:Originally posted by n00bfacequote:adding a 25 dollar sound card
I would think that onboard sound is better than a 25$ sound card? :|

No :|

If you dont' want to build your own computer I have found that compaq makes a good computer, thats what I use most of the time.

no matter what you get, make sure you get a nice, fast hard drive. that is usually what people are plagued by most when they whine about their computers being slow. i'd suggest 7200 RPM at the least. if you build a computer, get SCSI and a 10k rpm hard drive, it is what i use in all of my servers and those things really tear it up. I can reccommend a couple particular models if you're building it yourself, otherwise look for a computer with a 7200 rpm hard drive. I doubt you can find a consumer comp with 10k rpm, but if you do, get it

I'd prioritize getting RAM and raw processing speed over a good grafics card, because a 7800 gtx on 512 RAM is going to perform no better than a rad9800, because the system puts a bottleneck on the card performance. For a gaming system, you should start out with about 1 gig of RAM if you have any hope of playing modern and next gen games. AMD athlon FX is a good bet for processor, but a P4 with Hyperthreading can deliver comparable performance. I'd suggest something in the high 2 gig to low 4 gig range.

As for a grafix card, since you are on a budget, and the rest of the stuff above isn't going to come cheap, I'd suggest something very bad until you can get enough money later for a more cutting edge card.

Start off with something like a GeForce 5600 or radeon 9800, which aern't very expensive now and can still deliver acceptable perormance for many games. Later, move on to something like and X850 or, if you want it BAAAAD, a 7800gtx. If you can wait a bit, and have enough dough, I'd suggest waiting for ATi's RA520 *drool*. But by then, a 7800 will be cheaper too, so the choice is up to you.

A second aspect of buying cards is who manufactures it. for example, the 7800 has many different makers, but some of them will overclock the card and optimize it's memeory. Do a little research on it for best results.

Make sure to get a good power supply along with it, since you need enough juice to power all your components. A good radiator would be nice too, hopefully some of these you can "savage" from your old comp or buy second hand.

As for avoiding getting ripped off, newegg will be pretty good, as they are pretty honest IMO. I'd suggest things like overstock and, dare-I-say-it, eBAY, since they can sometimes give you better deals. Once again, buying used or from a friend is great way for cheap (Please refrain from swearing)s to get their fill.

one of the most imporant things you can do leo, is not listen to anything papasurf says. listen to me...they dont love you.

get big RAM.....that's all i have to say

quote:Originally posted by AerialAssaultone of the most imporant things you can do leo, is not listen to anything papasurf says. listen to me...they dont love you.


I am trying to help him. I'm no expert with computers, but at least I try to provdie him with what limited information I know. He has a very strict budget, and it's hard to follow since he wants to be able to play most modern games and hopefully, future ones.

Who is "they?"

quote:Originally posted by papasurf31AMD athlon FX is a good bet for processor, but a P4 with Hyperthreading can deliver comparable performance. I'd suggest something in the high 2 gig to low 4 gig range.
Athlon64s are around the same price as 32 bit Pentium4s, and have slightly better performance, as well as being 64 bit, so they can have more than 4gb memory (not that it's needed yet).

good job, stick with that raptor for the hd choice

So are they all compatible with each other? Since there is a no return policy, I'd like to know if what I'm trying to build will end up working in the end.

um guys im gonna probably buy a cheap computer for now cus this computer is old........is dell any good?

quote:Originally posted by Leo Da LunerfoxSo are they all compatible with each other? Since there is a no return policy, I'd like to know if what I'm trying to build will end up working in the end.

I haven't seen any problems EXCEPT:
You don't have a CPU cooler!

I recently bought a Zalman CNPS 7000B CU and I love it so far (cooling a P4 2.8ghz 800FSB with HT). As far as I know it will also fit on a Socket 754.

Also, the hard drive may be fast, but 36.7 GB isn't much nowadays. I'd recommend buying a second Serial ATA drive, preferrably Samsung's SpinPoint series.
Basically: all things that need to be accessed very fast will be put on the 10k drive: operating system and games.
MP3s etc. can just be stored on a "slower" but bigger hard drive.

I have this drive: SP1614C. It's quiet and hasn't died on me, along with my other Samsung.

i have read all the posts and I find your faith in technology amusing.
computer's isn't anything..

quote:Originally posted by ?If you dont' want to build your own computer I have found that compaq makes a good computer, thats what I use most of the time.

you are a stupid mother (Please refrain from swearing)er i have a compaq and it came with a STUPID 16-bit on board video card OMG PC FROM THE 1800 have more then a 16 bit video card!!!

Boosta:

Great idea, however, I'm hoping to get the fast HD first, then when funds allow, add a second one. I'm hoping the first headdrive wouldn't reach full that quickly.

[IMAGE]

If you're looking for a cheap case... Well, yeah.

EDIT: Goes well with your avatar, too.

HAHAHAHHAHAHAHA zomg. That's actually a viable idea. Just poke holes in the box when the temperature gets a bit high or something, lol.

I can call it the lol machine.

http://bit-tech.net has a ton of amazing computer mods in their forums, check out the project logs forum