My New System

[Admiral Michael]

Hey All!

I have put together a quote for myself for my new system. I wanted to get your options/suggetions on it.

Heres the Specs: (All Prices are Canadian)

MOTHERBOARD
Gigabyte 7VT600-1394 VIA~ $160

CPU/FAN
AMD Athlon XP 2600+ RETAIL BOX ~ $127
Thermaltake Volcano 11+ Xaser Edition (A1725) ~ $36

CASE
Thermaltake Xaser III V2420AU (Aluminum) 420W w/ window ~ $272

HARD DRIVE
Western Digital 120GB S-ATA, 7200 RPM ~ $143

VIDEO CARD
ATI All-In-Wonder Radeon 9600XT 128MB DDR ~ $358

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TOTAL: $1260.40 incl. tax
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[LeeJend]

The video card is pretty limited in capability.

Did you intend using the system for gaming?

 

[Admiral Michael]

Nope, I would have just kept my old ATI Rage Fury 32MB with Vid In/Out. I just use my comp for chattin, surfing, watchin tv and the odd game but they dont need a power vid card. Im not much of a gamer, I just play Counter Strike, Rollercoaster Tycoon and Star Trek Voyages Elite Force.

I just wanted the All in Wonder for its tv tuner capabilities, I would have went with a TV card but Ive read bad things bout some.

I used to have a 8MB PCI All in Wonder back when I used 98, it was awesome, since going to XP I lost it, so I just want a cheap All in Wonder.

 

[rnielsen151]

If you plan on playing HalfLife 2 or DoomIII .....you might want to get the AIW 9600

 

[Admiral Michael]

Im not a big gamer, so a high powered vid card isnt necessary.

 

[dreamliner77]

Nice system, I would've gone with an Nforce2 board though.

 

[Sazar]

nice system 🙂

enjoy it 😀

 

[ming]

Are you still using that PC Chips mobo?
Did you get a photocopied user manual with that mobo?? lol 😛

 

[Graebob]

I just play Counter Strike, Rollercoaster Tycoon and Star Trek Voyages Elite Force.

Rollercoaster Tycoon!!!!!!! 😀 😀 😀

 

[Ded Morozh]

if you're in the US you're likely getting hosed down on that video card. you might want to shop around a bit, the 9600XT has more memory and is usually availible for @ $160 US and you can find the 9700 AIW for less than $200....oh yeah, i FINAlly found a job, so I'll be looking for new hardware, too. 🙂

 

[Sazar]

all right people before someone else mentions the video card... I think michael has made it abundantly clear that he doesn't need a high-powered video card and he has bought the AIW for a specific reason..

ta 🙂

 

[Heeter]

He also did mention that all prices are canadian. So they do look a little high to our American neighbors.

Admiral, you forgot to mention the ram.

I still have one of those Rage Fury32meg AIW. Works absolutely flawless for my setup as well (Messenger, Camcorder/DVD/VCR video capture, Webcam using my Camcorder...) That was money well spent five years ago.

Heeter

 

[Admiral Michael]

Are you still using that PC Chips mobo?
Did you get a photocopied user manual with that mobo?? lol 😛

I had to RMA it, and for some reason I didnt get the drivers cd back. And I didnt get a manaul at all, I had to go and download it (that or it was on the cd before I RMA'd it)

Rollercoaster Tycoon!!!!!!!

Ya, I kno. I'm not one for gaming.

the 9600XT has more memory and is usually availible for @ $160 US and you can find the 9700 AIW for less than $200

Man I wish I had those prices here, then I would get the higher AIW.

Admiral, you forgot to mention the ram.

I'm using the RAM from my current setup, guess I should have said that. Its 512MB PC 2700/333MHz DDR. Im also gonna use the Western Digital 60GB as the slave along with the Promise Controller, CDRW, CDROM, DVDROM, Monitor and Speakers.

I still have one of those Rage Fury32meg AIW. Works absolutely flawless for my setup as well (Messenger, Camcorder/DVD/VCR video capture, Webcam using my Camcorder...) That was money well spent five years ago.

My friend sold it to me for $30, and I have never since regretted it. I have it hooked to a VCR so I can watch TV, its nice, but I want the AIW so I wont need a VCR (at least not to watch TV) and the added RF remote is a bonus since it does volume and such.

 

[Sazar]

you'll notice the remote integrates almost flawlessly with windows media player as well as having winamp plugins 😀

for winamp I had to tweak the settings a bit but it works perfect out of the box with wmp9 😀 for ffw/rw and volume control and the like...

 

[Maveric169]

Personally I would step up to the 2800 Athlon, not much of a price difference for the increase in performance.

 

[Admiral Michael]

I was originally going to go for the Athlon 2800 but Im trying to keep the price as low as can be.

 

[Tuffgong4]

if that is all you are going to do you will be very happy with what you are buying. I am about to upgrade to a middle to high end gaming machine(and some design work and other things) but right now I am running a p41.6 with 768MB of pc2100ram a geForce4 ti 4200 and can play the newer low end games such as UT2004 and Battlefield Vietnam with no problem at all. If you play CS online you will be fine since I was playing with a Geforce2 MX 440 until about a year ago and was fine.

everything you are getting will be fine except if you are worried about price the case might be able to be substituted for something a little less flashy like a (american dollars) 40 dollar caseedge case with more money spent on a very good quality psu(even though thermaltake is top notch) but the NEED of the window and flashy case isn't necessary...

 

[Admiral Michael]

I love that case, the whole comp actually started at the case. I wont be changing that. Its my dream case. 🙂

 

[Tuffgong4]

ha makes sense!..then good for you

 

[Admiral Michael]

I have decided from a few recommendations, to up the video card, Im now going with an ATI All-In-Wonder Radeon 9600XT 128MB DDR. Its only $158 away, so why not!

I updated the first post!