making cheap system

fcukme

hey guys,
i was woundering if you could help me out making a system. i need the cheapest way of building a reasonable system for gaming and divx encoding etc.
I'll need cpu, mobo, RAM and graphics card.
I was looking a xp 2500 cpu. Are these difficult to overclock up to 3000? What type of fan would i need? If its not too difficult could someone point me in the direction of a good online guide! Appreciate if you advise for stuff i can pick up a komplett to keep delivery costs down! On a system of this type of spec would there be much gain from bringing RAM from 256 to 512. I not that worried about this as i can pick up the RAM at a later date.
As for the graphics card, i looking in the direction of thw ati radeon 9600 chipset. Is there a big difference between the pro and xt versions? I also see the chipset made by power colour on komplett priced reasonable. Anyone know if these are any good?

Any other suggestions welcome. Thanks

define "cheap"

fcukme

For the four bits above i'd like to get out on €350 to €400 but limit is €500. like to use the extra €100 approx for dvd writer

joePC

Western Digital Caviar 120GB IDE

Crucial PC2700 DDR-DIMM 512MB CL2.5 6ns

Abit NF7 V2.0 Mainboard for Socket A DDR

LG DVD-recorder IDE

AMD Athlon XP2500+ 1.833 GHz

€510 with shipping

You may need to strech that budget or go for lower spec components

Good Luck...

Thanks joePC

Capt'n Midnight

How about a chipped Xbox with an external USB DVD writer ?

joePC

Yeah install GentooX on your XBOX same as linux, does the job...

Thanks joePC

Oriel

Gaming = big graphics
Gaming = big RAM
DivX = big processor
DivX = big storage.

There's no two ways about it, you're going to need a big system.

secret_squirrel

on XP/2000 massive gain between 256/512mb ram. Decent gain between 512 - 1024.

I overclocked 3 Xp2500+'s to XP3200's with little or no effort or extra cooling needed.
All on Nforce2 based boards.

And I think you missed a case on your spec Joe.

That budgets kinda tight tho 700 notes will get you a lot more. Probably a reasonable GFX card. Although if you get an Nforce2 with integrated graphics you can always get that laters.

fcukme

Well say if i could squeeze €700, i won't eat for week or 2!!!!!!!
What would you recommend?
I seem a cheap case in peats, about €40 euro, thought that would do?
Is there a big difference in the graphics cards between the 9600 pro and xt versions?

Col_Loki

From Komplett....

116244 AMD Athlon XP2500+ 1.833 GHz
- Socket A 333MHz, 512KB Barton, OEM - 86.97 (cant really go wrong)

118267 Abit NF7 V2.0 Mainboard for Socket A DDR (Cant really go wrong)
- nForce2SPP/MCP/Ultra 400,ATX,USB2.0,LAN - 77

120318 PowerColor Radeon 9600 PRO EZ 128MB (Good performer, nice price)
- AGP, ATI 9600PRO, DVI-I, TV-Out, Retail - 129.47

119407 Spire CPU-Fan FalconRock II Socket A (Quiet fan , up to Xp3200+)
- 5F271B1L3 For AMD up to XP 3200+ - 22.72


Total: 316.16

For memory id go for A-Data ram from
Here - Based in kildare , Pc3200 Ram 512mb for €84 with free delivery. You will be VERY glad of this ram if your overclocking as the Xp2500+ will be multiplier locked....... you will have to overclock using FSB and this ram will allow you to have a nice high FSB !!

That brings you up to €410 ish incl delivery, i wouldnt skimp on a PSU....... get a decent brand that wont cause you problems in the future (not q-tec, or no-namers etc). You could get a Sonata from www.elara.ie (€130) , or one of the ones from komplett (gaming bomb, chieftec ......)

Thats roughly €550 incl a good case & PSU.........

Woden

what col_loki said

and perhaps you could go for the nf7-s v2.0 which is on special on komplett at the moment.

also i've heard thing things about the cooler master aero 7 lite for 21.43 on komplett.

and it might be a good idea to invest a little more in the graphics card a sapphire radeon 9600XT for €164.56

the sonata case is a good idea as it comes with an antec power supply which is a good thing.

happy hunting

data

Col_Loki

Would definetly agree with Data on that.

Main reason i overlooked these products was because you were on a tight enough budget and i didnt include a DVD burner (komplett's cheapest one is €120 , they dont seem to have the Nd1100a for €77 anymore).

If you can afford to budget in these upgrades then its advisable, the NF7-S comes with SATA , Better Sound, and Firewire......... thats the difference over the NF7 (both boards are excellent, me & data have the NF7-S.... i couldnt be happier TBH).

The Aero7 lite is a good cooler, might be a little more noisey that the one i picked....(Aero7 prob cools a little better).

If your big into gaming the 9600xt would be a wise choice, if you cant afford the extra then the 9600pro is still a very good performer and is hard to fault.(9600xt is clocked faster and thus performs better)

[edit] Good review of the 9600xt (compares to 9600pro & 5600ultra) .... Here

OfflerCrocGod

I'd go with what data and COL_LOKI are saying and add a HDD since price is important the Seagate S-ATA should do. I'm curious as to the diffrence in performance between this 9600 card and the 9600 Pro is the 9600SE total rubbish compared to the 9600. I'm trying to build a VERY cheap rig for my sis and the graphics card needs to be really cheap (I was going to get a 5200 - would it be worth spending more to get the 9600SE or 9600 €25 more for a 9600SE?).

<edit>
Yes she does game......:)
<edit>

Col_Loki

Gaming on a budget i dont think you can do much better than 9600pro EZ PowerColor , the Ram runs a little slower that the Regular 9600pro's but the core speed is the same. Unkel has one and he was very happy with it.....got a nice overclock too.

256mb Ram V getting a pro version ....... the pro version would perform better.
Yea the 9600se is rubish, but still better than the Fx5200.......now thats a bad card.

If your getting a graphics card for a decent gaming machine, at min id go for the 9600......and 9600pro if possible (and of coarse the 9600xt if thats possible). ATI are the way to go at the min, DX9 has crippled Nvidia's performance (due to Nvidia's DX9 implementation).

unkel

Yes, all depends on your budget really - and yours is low

You can't really beat value for money on the Powercolor 9600 pro (€124 from Komplett at the mo). If she is a very serious gamer, you cannot avoid the 9800 pro though

My Powercolor 9600 pro just scored 13000 in 3DMARK2001 SE - which ain't bad. Hope that helps m8

BTW agree with pretty much everyting else that was advised to you on this thread

uberpixie

Dont buy a cheap case from peats. For my first build i got a cheap case and had to dump the thing after a month due to the lack of air flow in the damn thing. Went off and had to buy a half decent one for about 100 euro.

Had temps way too high in the crap one.

Dont skimp on the case or power supply it just is not worth the hassle it causes.

DaemÈn

I built a new machine about 2weeks ago and got a v nice case from dtl for just over 50 quid its very attractive and a good build quality...worth looking at

http://www.dtl.ie/ecom/description.php?II=412&UID=20040114075617195.167.131.50&CatID=8

u can get some nice ones in from the uk 2 but shipping will prob drive ur budget up.....

patch

Originally posted by DaemÈn
I built a new machine about 2weeks ago and got a v nice case from dtl for just over 50 quid its very attractive and a good build quality...worth looking at

http://www.dtl.ie/ecom/description.php?II=412&UID=20040114075617195.167.131.50&CatID=8

u can get some nice ones in from the uk 2 but shipping will prob drive ur budget up.....

Hi,
How much did you wind up paying to ship that case? It seems a decent price.

pat.

OfflerCrocGod

64 euros are you happy with the case DaemÈn? what about fan slots? are there any 120mm ones?. I was tempted to go for that case but since I can't actually see it.....I though I'd go for one Maplins have a 66euro one with a digital thermometer and two (three) LED fans; no PSU with it though.....the one from DTL does how long did it take to be delivered?.

Fabre

fcukme I have the cheap case from Peats the Kotech Miditower ATX / Micro ATX Style Case at €39

If you are looking for something compact, it does the job fine with a height of 34cm.

On the bad side the psu is above the cpu so your heatsink + fan musn't exceed 7cm in height

to give you an idea here is a pic of the inside of the case.

Temp wise the case temp is 28 and cpu 49 (54 at full load) and that's with a xp2400 (non oc) and a radeon 9800 pro.

/Edit

OfflerCrocGod if you are looking for a case might be worth having a look at http://www.pc-look.com/boutik/default.php?cPath=71_78&language=en

DaemÈn

Originally posted by OfflerCrocGod
64 euros are you happy with the case DaemÈn? what about fan slots? are there any 120mm ones?. I was tempted to go for that case but since I can't actually see it.....I though I'd go for one Maplins have a 66euro one with a digital thermometer and two (three) LED fans; no PSU with it though.....the one from DTL does how long did it take to be delivered?.

ya im very happy with it - ive gotten a few cheap ones elsewhere over the years which cost between 45 and 55 euro and they were very poor.... this one has the windowed panel and an led strip which is damn cool! i got it 2 days after ordering. -which wasent bad - i had alot of other parts comming with it too. its a 350 w psu which is plenty....im not sure about the fan slots ill have to wait till i go home and check - ill post it up later

Woden

Originally posted by Fabre
On the bad side the psu is above the cpu so your heatsink + fan musn't exceed 7cm in height

so thats what it means when the psu is above the cpu, i was thinking of the standard case and where the psu is always above the cpu socket

OfflerCrocGod

I've looked at pc-look already and I found nothing in my very low price bracket:D; the DLT case comes with a PSU which means I save a few eurons on the whole thing, which is important.........

OfflerCrocGod

Ta DaemÈn!; I meant to ask you about the PSU but I forgot:rolleyes:; I dont want to spend extra:p what kinda h/w does the PSU drive in the case?, is it noisy?. Does the strip glow nice and bright in a dark room( thats very important ). If it has a good ventilation then I'll definately go for it.

secret_squirrel

Personal opinion but - I think you can go overboard on Case and PSU, especially if you are on a budget. Most no-names will do the job and leave you more money left over for things that really matter like memory and graphics cards. I dont know anyone whose ever had a problem with a noname case/psu, although I do notice some ppl on boards have.

A few tiny compromises might be necessary given your budget. Ditto for the fan if you need to squeeze an extra tenner out, just go for the cheapest coolermaster that fits. The 2500-3200xp is a pretty mild and low temp overclock judging by the 3 I have done. They seem to settle at high 40's to low 50's at idle (ie surfing) with no extra cooling.

And if you can stretch to a 9600XT www.overclockers.co.uk have the sapphire 9600xt + half life 2 bundle (well when it finally appears!) for 170 yoyos.

Woden

case aside i'd have to disagree about the psu most people would agree that a solid psu is required for overclocking one with decent rails that will hold when you up the voltage and what not. no names tend to be not great at this and can limit your overclock

Col_Loki

Yea, ive had first hand experience & the joys of no-name PSU's mixed with overclocking. I used to get random restarts, memory errors....... such a pain. Of coarse at the start i thought it could be anything but the PSU......eventually figured it out and get an Antec 480w, plain sailing since. Btw my rails were all over the place, dangerously so ....... its something id rather not have to worry about TBH.

Ive seen people who have had a PSU that burnt there 12v connection (plastic plug) along with the connections on the motherboard ....... all sorts of things.

But on the other hand my brothers PC is happily running with a lovely cheap jaguar case and PSU....... without problems.

Personally i think its too much of an important part to neglect, and aswell the better PSU's are normally quieter (and you can get em with nice blue lights ).

Woden

Originally posted by COL_LOKI
(and you can get em with nice blue lights ).

which is the best part