Building a computer: Have a few questions.

[faded glory]

Dude. Just a heads up. Your HD OS wont work with your new system.

"512 MB PC2700 DDR Ram"

Sounds good. But stay away from Kingston


"Asus A7S333-E SIS745 Chipset 266/200MHz FSB Motherboard with CMI 6 Channel Sound RETAIL "

I would Just go ahead and get the A7N8x with Nvidia Nforce2 chipsets (no IGP but w/ SS)

"Gforce4 Ti4200 128 MB DDR"
Love this card. Handles well on my MSI-K7N2L. Just make sure you get the 8x bus slot

"Athlon XP 2200"

Good choice . And actually...you are in for a suprise. If you order now...RIGHT now. They have 2700+ Bartons in the 2200 bin. But thats our secret ! Yes imagine my suprise when I RMA'ed my 2200 after a burn out OverClock try (I got my 2200 to 144 fsb before it died...it was running cool tho. Tried to reset to 200fsb, no go) and got a 2700 back ! (I wasnt the only one!)

Just make sure you get the Heatsink and stuff on properly. (I hate wrestling with AMD heatsinks...grr..nutdriver..pressure...oops..RMA time )

newegg is da shiznit. Ive built 6 systems with them and only got one bad Maxtor Drive. You probably can read my reviews if you look hard enough

http://secure.newegg.com/app/CustratingReview.asp?item=14-128-116

[Zopperoni]

Get a Radeon 9500 (non pro!). With that one, you have a chance of using the drivers to upgrade to a Radeon 9700!

[Wraith]

--"Is the motherboard good enough?"

It's a good brand, but I'd be a little wary of the SiS chipsets. They seem to have more problems than even the Via ones do. For preference, I'd go with one of the nForce 2 chipsets -- no integrated graphics, but with SoundStorm. That'll get you better quality sound than a SoundBlaster Audigy and a very solid chipset.

I'm not familiar with the case, but as long as they've got a reputable brand power supply in there that should be more than enough.

There isn't going to be a whole lot of difference in the RAM vendors unless you're planning on some extreme overclocking. For basic non-overclocked operation, any of the big name vendors will be pretty similar.

As far as fans go, I'd try to get away with as few as possible. No point in having a good soundcard if you can't hear it over the noise coming from your case.
Again, unless you're planning on overclocking, don't bother adding fans. The PS fan and CPU fan should be enough.

Wraith
Deterministic chaotic physicist

[Giancarlo]

I think the A7N8X would be a better motherboard ot buy... afterall it is runned on the NForce2 chipset, which is at times typically 20% faster than the KT-400 chipset.

[Worthingtons]

Ok , about the RAM
I have just got a new PC with very simular spec to yours, and i went for DDR Ram.

However, While in theory the lowest speed of DDR (266mhz) should be twice as fast as SD, that doesnt always seem to be realised, and as SD ram is considerably cheaper, some people would prefer to have MORE SD Ram rather than less slightly faster.

When you bear in mind that the price gap between them is being closed every day you're probably better off with your DDR, and if need more later it should be cheap by then.

[dudemanjack]

The A7N8X costs $116. Is it worth it to put down another $35 for this motherboard over A7V8X-X for a motherboard. Basically it's VIA vs. NFORCE (the chipsets).

I don't plan on overclocking anything, if that matters.

Is there a noticable difference between the GFORCE4 and RADEON (at the same price lavel)?

[Urban Ranger]

Depends. The Radeon 9700/9700 are definitely better than nVidia FX, for now.

[Wraith]

--"While in theory the lowest speed of DDR (266mhz) should be twice as fast as SD"

Actually, no, it's not supposed to be twice as fast even in theory. There's other things that will keep it from even achieving a true theoretical doubling.

In any case, do not buy SDRAM for a modern processor. The DDR really is necessary if you're doing the kinds of things people do on their desktops. The only place you'd want more SDRAM instead of DDR SDRAM is if you're running a server app that wants bigger memory space more than it wants faster memory accesses. This is pretty rare.

--"Basically it's VIA vs. NFORCE (the chipsets)."

I would say so, assuming the nForce was the more expensive one ^_^

Wraith
"I'd hate to die twice. It's so boring."
-- Richard Feynman's last words

[faded glory]

FYI your 9500 non pro runs slower than a Ti4200. However the PRO version is faster

[CyberGnu]

Since we're on the subject of graphics cards: If I want a 128MB card with a TV Tuner, does that mean I have to get the 9700 All-in-Wonder, or are there better/cheaper alternatives?

[faded glory]

no. There are many products with TV out.

3dlabs and german Matrox make very good cards for this.

[tinyp3nis]

Originally posted by Zopperoni
Get a Radeon 9500 (non pro!). With that one, you have a chance of using the drivers to upgrade to a Radeon 9700!

Only works on some 9500 non pros. My friend infact has one, but they are rare so don't bother unless you know your 9500 is actually 9700... So 9500 pro is better than 9500, unless you know what you are doing. If you can get cheap 9700 pro or not think about it.

[CyberGnu]

Faded, not TV-out, TV in

I'm trying to decide whether to buy a 19" or 21" monitor. One of weighing factors would be if I could use the monitor as a TV, that way I could justify spending a little extra on it. Then again, if the cost of the graphics card is going to be as much as a TV, there isn't much point... Except for the DVR function, I guess.

[dudemanjack]

Here is what I've decided to go with:

Athlon XP 2200 - $83
ASUS A7N8X (nforce chipset) - $116
MICRON 512 MB DDR - $72
GFORCE4 Ti4200 128 MB DDR - $120
Case - Antec Model #SLK2600 AMB w/ Antec SmartPower 300W P/S. - $55 (300W should be sufficient right?)
Maxtor 30GB 7200 RPM HardDrive - $60

Total Cost - $506

Question about video cards. A lot of companies make a GFORCE4 video card. Are there any particular BAD ones I should avoid?

Items I already have: DVD-Rom, external CD-R drive, speakers. I'll try the onboard sound the mobo has, or the sound card from my old PC. I also have a monitor - the one I'm looking at right now.

I wish I could buy it now instead of towards the end of the month! Thanks for all your help!

[alva]

Question about video cards. A lot of companies make a GFORCE4 video card. Are there any particular BAD ones I should avoid?

If it says 'MX' .... run away!!!