[wallijonn]

We're too mature to get into a Mac vs. Intel flame war. It's been hashed before.

 

[erl]

Quote:

Originally posted by weems 80 gig HDD? screw that. get at least a 120. HDD prices are ROCK BOTTOM right now. i just managed to nab a maxtor 160gb 8mb cache 7200rpm for 74 dollars shipped (no rebates)....of course that was a one time deal....but it gives you the general idea of how cheap they are.

As far as hard disks go, I'd recommend the Seagate Barracuda series. They are quieter than most other drives (25 dB), and in my experience they are reliable as opposed to Hitachi/IBM for example who have had quality problems with their drives.

/My 2 öre

 

[Fuse]

Sorry to semi-bump this thread, but I'm kinda in the market for a new pc myself...

I need some advice on the best mobo for a sub-$600 system, sans monitor and OS (yes...I'm that far in the hole...first car still to pay off

). I just want to be able to cram as much RAM as I can into the thing, so at least 3 slots is a must, I was also thinking of using the AM XP processor series (maybe 2600+ or 2800+) for best bang-for-buck ratio. If anybody also has had a good experience with cheiftec cases, (particularly in that stop sign red color, those are nice

) and good graphics cards that are cheap, I would really appreciate it. Thanks in advance!

J.F.

 

[wallijonn]

Chieftec cases are really good. Just make sure that you do not buy any with swinging doors over the CDRom / DVDP or that have sliding CDROm doors that go up and down. Be wary of any little doors that house USB / Firewire, etc. ports. These usually break easily.

The nVidia nForce 2 mobos are probably the best thing for AMDs, but Linux may have problems with them. I think nVidia just came out with a nForce3 model, just yesterday. it's for the AMD64. http://www.anandtech.com/chipsets/showdoc.html?i=2004

do you really need more than 1G of mem? Always buy them at the same time. If you feel that you need 4 G of mem, then buy it all at the same time.

me, I'm keeping my eye on the AMD Operton 244 (or is it Opteron?) - it tested real well against the 3.2 G P4.

Wait on the graphics card. New models will probably be released in 30 days or so.

 

[bootman]

Quote:

Originally posted by Fuse Sorry to semi-bump this thread, but I'm kinda in the market for a new pc myself... I need some advice on the best mobo for a sub-$600 system, sans monitor and OS (yes...I'm that far in the hole...first car still to pay off ). I just want to be able to cram as much RAM as I can into the thing, so at least 3 slots is a must, I was also thinking of using the AM XP processor series (maybe 2600+ or 2800+) for best bang-for-buck ratio. If anybody also has had a good experience with cheiftec cases, (particularly in that stop sign red color, those are nice ) and good graphics cards that are cheap, I would really appreciate it. Thanks in advance! J.F.

MB - ASRock K7S8XE $49
CPU - AMD Athlon XP 2500+ "Barton" retail $81
Mem - 2x Mushkin 512MB DDR PC-3200 $170
video - ATI RADEON 9800 pro $211
Case - CHIEFTEC Red Mid-Tower Case (450W PS) ATX-601AE - $95

Grand total - $606

This would make a very nice gaming system.

You could go a bit cheaper on the video and get a 9600Xt for $158,
but if you are a gamer the 9800 pro for $211 is a good buy.

BTW the ASRock board is a new brand spun off from ASUS.
All prices quoted are from newegg and all include shipping with the exception of the case.