should i buy or not buy...

Da_cOmRaDe_MiKe

AMD Athlon 64 3400+ 2.4 GHz
Crucial PC3200 DDR-DIMM 512MB CL3 5ns
PowerColor Radeon 9600XT 128MB DDR
IIyama 19" CRT Vision Master 1451
Q-Tec Midi tower ATX 6024MD, Black
Sony Floppy Drive 3,5" 1,44MB MPF-920
EPoX EP-8KDA3J Mainboard for Socket 754
Crucial PC3200 DDR-DIMM 512MB CL3 5ns
NEC DVD recorder ND-3500A IDE Black
Harman Kardon Soundsticks II
SMC EZ Connect Wireless G PCI
Seagate Barracuda 7200.7 200GB S-ATA
PC with no operating system

total of €1284.5 including delivery and vat.


buy or dont buy??
all from komplett... any ideas? changes? suggestions? i need them quick. im hoping to have it by new years...

Thordon

Just a few suggestions:

The CPU you chose is much more expensive than a 3000+/2800+ for example, I would cut back on that, and get a better graphics card instead (9800 pro/6600gt). Youll get better gaming performance that way.

You have the 512 ddr down twice, not sure if you meant to do that, but if you can, go for 2x512 sticks, 512 is good, but lots of games these days will take advatage of a gig, shorter loading times/smoother framerate.

I see a q-tec case, with no mention of PSU, so Ill assume theres a q-tec one in it, they are generally thought of as crap, providing less wattage than they advertise, I would recommend a Fortron/Hiper PSU, Fortrons for example generally provide more than advertised.

Da_cOmRaDe_MiKe

there is 512 mbr ram there twice which makes it 1024mb ram :-P
there is a psu included with the case. and from what ive seen, the cases are pretty funky in style, and the wattage is standard to most available cases.

not sure about the graphics card. im not too familar with whats good or not...

koneko

Da_cOmRaDe_MiKe wrote:

and the wattage is standard to most available cases.

Wattage doesn't mean that much. You can have a 300W good-quality power supply that's better than a 450W crap-quality one. I'd stay well clear of Qtec PSUs, we've had nothing but bad experiences with the ones we have in work (and it's quite a few of them).

Da_cOmRaDe_MiKe

removed it now...
im gonna get a

AMD Athlon 64 3000+ 2.0 GHz
Crucial PC3200 DDR-DIMM 512MB CL3 5ns
Sapphire Radeon 9600XT Atlantis 128MB DD
IIyama 19" CRT Vision Master 1451
Chieftec Dragon Medium Tower w/door Silv
Sony Floppy Drive, 3,5" 1,44MB Black
MSI K8N NEO Platinum Edition S754
Crucial PC3200 DDR-DIMM 512MB CL3 5ns
Plextor DVD-recorder PX-712 IDE Retail
Harman Kardon Soundsticks II
SMC EZ Connect Wireless G PCI
Seagate Barracuda 7200.7 120GB S-ATA
PC with no operating system

changed a few bits...

total cost now is
Total: 1282.88 inc vat and del.

Khannie

I would get a better graphics card than the 9600XT if you intend playing games. Minimum I would recommend is the 9800pro for a machine like that.

Also, if you can get CL2.5 ram (komplett have lots of it), I would. I don't know much about CAS except lower is better

Are you getting them to build it for you? Looks like one of those systems.

What do you want to use this machine for? Games? Video encoding? Some detail please

Mutant_Fruit

With the 9600 you won't be able to play Doom3 with details on high and high resolution. Future games will have to be toned down even further! Its not worth getting a 9600 unless you plan on upgrading within a year. I have a 9600pro, and it struggles with doom, but plays HL2 flawlessly.

chorus techy

Here's something you may be interested in:
Maybe the HP Pavilion t680uk?

AMD Athlon 64 3200+
1024MB DDRAM
200GB Seagate HDD (7200rpm)
256MB nVidia GeForce 5500 VGA
Philips DVD+RW DVD 9 Dual Layer format
DVD Rom Drive
Lite On 300W PSU
15" TFT Monitor
Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound Card
PCI 56k modem (V92)
Windows XP Home edition
Microsoft Works v7
Norton Anti Virus & Firewall
HP Wireless Optical Desktop System (USB)
5 USB Ports, 2 FireWire, 1 Ethernet
1 Parallel Printer Port

€1699 - pretty good deal?

duridian

chorus techy wrote:

Here's something you may be interested in:
Maybe the HP Pavilion t680uk?

AMD Athlon 64 3200+
1024MB DDRAM
200GB Seagate HDD (7200rpm)
256MB nVidia GeForce 5500 VGA
Philips DVD+RW DVD 9 Dual Layer format
DVD Rom Drive
Lite On 300W PSU
15" TFT Monitor
Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound Card
PCI 56k modem (V92)
Windows XP Home edition
Microsoft Works v7
Norton Anti Virus & Firewall
HP Wireless Optical Desktop System (USB)
5 USB Ports, 2 FireWire, 1 Ethernet
1 Parallel Printer Port

€1699 - pretty good deal?

Err.. no pretty crap deal actually. Low wattage psu, puny graphics and all the other joys of a nice awkward to upgrade big name brand.
Mike I'd echo what the others suggest about slightly lower speed cpu and a higher spec. graphics card if you intend to do any gaming. Good decision changing the Qtec case/psu for the Chieftec. Would be a shame to fork out this much on a pc only to have a dodgy psu take half the pc parts with it if it burned out, which Qtecs do far too much.

Da_cOmRaDe_MiKe

ok. i spoke to komplett. they advised this for what im intereted in...
tell me if its any good!

AMD Athlon 64 3200+ 2.2 GHz
Sapphire Radeon 9600XT Atlantis 128M DDR

IIyama 19" CRT Vision Master
Chieftec Dragon Medium Tower
Sony Floppy Drive, 3,5" 1,44MB Black
MSI K8N NEO Platinum Edition
Corsair Value S. PC3200 DDR-DIMM 512MB
Corsair Value S. PC3200 DDR-DIMM 512MB
Total of 1024mb ram.
Plextor DVD recorder PX-712A IDE Black
Harman Kardon Soundsticks II
CNet 11g PCI CWP-854
Seagate Barracuda 7200.7 120GB S-ATA

Mutant_Fruit

the 9600 is ok, but for future games it will not be enough. On the other hand, it is quite a bit better than the 5500 listed in the HP deal. Other than that it seems pretty good.

If you want to save a bit of cash, kompletts cheapest DVD burner, the nec 3500 is actually a great drive. It doesn't copy game copy protections, but its got great write quality when it comes to DVD burning. I whole heartedly recommend that drive to anyone who asks.

Also, maybe 512mb ram now, and 512mb in a few months might be better. It'd allow you to spend more on a graphics card now, which is definately what you should be spending money on if you want to game. the 9600xt is literally the bare minimum if you want to game, and that would definately be the first thing you should upgrade.

EDIT: Maybe you should ditch the floppy drive too Who uses them anyway. Get a USB memory stick instead.

monkeyfudge

I have the soundsticks. They're very nice. Good choice!

BloodBath

Swap the seagate for a hitachi drive. The seagates are quieter but the hitachis have better performance and are still reasonably quiet.


BloodBath

CatInABox

Okay, You've got a fairly good system for gaming there, I'll presume that your an "average gamer", i.e. want to play the latest games but dont want to get sucked into upgrading every 3 months.

-->AMD Athlon 64 3200+ 2.2 GHz
The 3000 will probably get you the same performance, I have it and it hasn't given me any problem gaming wise.

-->Sapphire Radeon 9600XT Atlantis 128M DDR
No. No no no. The 9600's lifetime is pretty much up, and current and future generation games are already starting to leave this behind. As some one else said, you'd have to upgrade this in a year. Go for a 9800 instead.

-->IIyama 19" CRT Vision Master
This apparently is a good brand, dont know enough about them to say anything else. Good choice sticking with CRT though, give LCDs and other tech another couple of years to work out all the kinks and then get one.

-->Chieftec Dragon Medium Tower
Better than q-tec by a long way, but then again, its not hard. This case comes with a 360w PSU, and has a fair amount of room for expansion, might have to upgrade the PSU in the future.

-->Sony Floppy Drive, 3,5" 1,44MB Black
The question to ask yourself is, "Do I actually need one?" I know i don't. bring one home from work to set your system up and then return it. If your always bringing files to/from work, get a zip drive instead(if they're in work), or a usb key.

-->MSI K8N NEO Platinum Edition
I had a little problem with mine(never worked) but I've heard people swear by them. Has all the features you could need, and at this stage its established tech.

-->Corsair Value S. PC3200 DDR-DIMM 512MB
I have this ram in my system, and for all of my needs, including gaming, they work just fine. 1024 is indeed recommended.

-->Plextor DVD recorder PX-712A IDE Black
Haven't heard anything good or bad about Plextor, but the DVD writer that I bought was one of the cheapest and it works fine, but I dont usually burn lots of disks.

-->Harman Kardon Soundsticks II
Again, the question to ask yourself is, "Do I actually need one?" In my case, I just re-used my old speakers from my old Dell DoorStep. Might not sound the best, but it gets the job done.

-->CNet 11g PCI CWP-854
I dont know enough about this to tell you anything, good or bad.

-->Seagate Barracuda 7200.7 120GB S-ATA
I got a 160GB version in my rig, and its fine for my purposes. Be aware that with SATA, you are more than likely going to need a floppy for the install process. Also, SATA drives use a different power supply connecter. When I got my rig, adapters came with the motherboard and not the hard drive.

Da_cOmRaDe_MiKe

CatInABox wrote:

Okay, You've got a fairly good system for gaming there, I'll presume that your an "average gamer", i.e. want to play the latest games but dont want to get sucked into upgrading every 3 months.

-->AMD Athlon 64 3200+ 2.2 GHz
The 3000 will probably get you the same performance, I have it and it hasn't given me any problem gaming wise.
im a very average gamer.

-->Sapphire Radeon 9600XT Atlantis 128M DDR
No. No no no. The 9600's lifetime is pretty much up, and current and future generation games are already starting to leave this behind. As some one else said, you'd have to upgrade this in a year. Go for a 9800 instead.
advise taken

-->IIyama 19" CRT Vision Master
This apparently is a good brand, dont know enough about them to say anything else. Good choice sticking with CRT though, give LCDs and other tech another couple of years to work out all the kinks and then get one.
i hate flat panel's... too ****ty so far. a few years, then ill go with em

-->Chieftec Dragon Medium Tower
Better than q-tec by a long way, but then again, its not hard. This case comes with a 360w PSU, and has a fair amount of room for expansion, might have to upgrade the PSU in the future.
i love this tower's design.

-->Sony Floppy Drive, 3,5" 1,44MB Black
The question to ask yourself is, "Do I actually need one?" I know i don't. bring one home from work to set your system up and then return it. If your always bringing files to/from work, get a zip drive instead(if they're in work), or a usb key.
i need 1. essential for some things i do.

-->MSI K8N NEO Platinum Edition
I had a little problem with mine(never worked) but I've heard people swear by them. Has all the features you could need, and at this stage its established tech.


-->Corsair Value S. PC3200 DDR-DIMM 512MB
I have this ram in my system, and for all of my needs, including gaming, they work just fine. 1024 is indeed recommended.
1024mb is min for me.

-->Plextor DVD recorder PX-712A IDE Black
Haven't heard anything good or bad about Plextor, but the DVD writer that I bought was one of the cheapest and it works fine, but I dont usually burn lots of disks.
this 1 will do

-->Harman Kardon Soundsticks II
Again, the question to ask yourself is, "Do I actually need one?" In my case, I just re-used my old speakers from my old Dell DoorStep. Might not sound the best, but it gets the job done.
come on man! they're worth it for the look... :-P

-->CNet 11g PCI CWP-854
I dont know enough about this to tell you anything, good or bad.
i rang komplett, and eircom. they both agreed this 1 will work nicely with my router. so thats no hassle.

-->Seagate Barracuda 7200.7 120GB S-ATA
I got a 160GB version in my rig, and its fine for my purposes. Be aware that with SATA, you are more than likely going to need a floppy for the install process. Also, SATA drives use a different power supply connecter. When I got my rig, adapters came with the motherboard and not the hard drive.

ah no worries. im sure ill fill it soon enough anyway's and need another 2 or 3!

well, my order will be complete soon, and im hoping to get it for christmas...
NOT LIKELY...

haha.