Crossing Enemy lines... Suggestions?

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mac_mogul

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This is the Case/Speakers/Keyboard/mouse Barebones kit I'm ordering from TigerDirect.

Specs:
Soyo KT600 Dragon v2.0 Socket A ATX Motherboard(this is good, right?)
AMD Athlon XP 2900+ Processor:)freak: I know absolutely nothing about AMD)
Ultra Socket A/370 Copper Core CPU Cooling Fan(will I need more than one?)
Ultra 512MB PC3200 DDR 400MHz Memory(Would it be better to have one gig?)
Maxtor 120GB ATA-133 EIDE Hard Drive(this is perfect)
XFX GeForce FX 5200 128mb DDR Video Card(Also perfect)

I'm needing suggestions for a monitor and a good quality Optical drive (preferably a DVD/CD-RW)

And also, I need to know a little more about Socket A processors and installing them.

I'll mainly use it for games. And I probably won't need it online until I got to college next fall. (don't really know what difference it makes) And I might be using it for graphics(C4D, Adobe, etc...), seeing as the college I'm going to uses PC's and PC software.

So.... any feedback would be greatly appreciated since this'll be my first, (almost from scratch) build. :D
 
For the dvd/cd-rw look for the brand called lite-on, their really good. BTW, I'll sell you my fully working 5200 for like 50 bucks, p.m. me if you want it.
 
Hey,

Hopefully I can help you with a few aspects here. Unfortunately, my knowledge of AMD processors and motherboards isnt up to scratch so I'll leave that to another member. However regarding your memory, you may want to think about going for better quality. 1GB of Ultra RAM will last you some time, however you might want to consider getting 512mb with Corsair branding or a similar high standard make. Two sticks of 256mb running in dual channel should be fine for most modern games depending on the memory timings - the better the make, the better the memory times, is usually the case.

Regarding the monitor it depends whether you want a CRT or TFT. I would recommend CRT, as you are going to be using it for gaming and primarily to keep the price down (TFT's are expensive if you want one with a good response time). CRT monitors, which I would recommend, are those made by IIyama, BenQ and Samsung.

For Optical drives I recommend MSI. I have used these drives and have always, for me, given reliable results in CD/DVD reading, RW etc.

As for information regarding installing Socket A processors I managed to find this article on AMD's website. Note that this is a PDF file.

Hope this information helps,

Retro.
 
Well you can get a relatively cheap gaming system out of that if you are interested in overclocking... It seems you have been brought to the light side :). This is the best Socket A mobo- http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=13-127-166&depa=0

And this cpu is overclockable up to 2.4 ghz... which is really fast for AMD. It's intel equivalent would be around 3.4ghz... - http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=19-103-439&depa=0
You must make sure you get the on in the link or it wont overclock as well. Here is a good heatsink/fan combo for that as well- http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=35-106-037&depa=0

And for ram- http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=20-146-883&depa=1
That will work very well for gaming. Also that video card I believe isn't very good...
 
The chip is good, you will only need one CPU cooler because it only has one processor chip.

For a gaming machine, I would say one gig of DDR would be considered standard, but 512 is okay for now for smaller older games and basic processing and internet browsing needs.

I too have a Fx5200 teamed up with a AMD XP chip, it works quite well for older games on low to medium settings, but if you want to play any newer games out there, I might suggest a Radeon 9600 or better.

One more thing, the second you turn on those speakers and listen to any music whatsoever, you will want new speakers. For something cheap and really nice, I would suggest Logitech Z-3 wood and brushed aluminum set of 2.1 speakers. Superb sound quality, post modern design, powered subwoofer, wired remote with headphone jack and volume all for around 30 bucks.
 
New card, teh FX is teh suxxor, get what Im getting

The 9600 PRO by Saphire
He's put in that that is PERFECT....which means that card will suit him just fine for his needs so why would he jump from around $100 for the 5200 for around $150 for the 9600PRO which if he doesn't game he'll never really need.

Ultra Socket A/370 Copper Core CPU Cooling Fan(will I need more than one?)
What do you mean by this? More than one case fan? Well that's up to you, but you can't have more than one fan on the CPU unless you do a little duct mod which wouldn't be too hard.

I'd personally suggest an MSI or ABit motherboard mainly for quality and stability. Any of the NF7 series from ABit should suit your needs since you really don't need to overclock you dont necessarily need the board that has the OC'ing BIOS options unless you think you might like it for later.

If you get the NF7-S v2 board and the 35w 2400+ XP-M it is EXTREMELY easy to 'adjust' I say adjust instead of overclock because by stock it's 266FSB, 133x13.5 = 1.8GHz, but you can set it to 200x9 = 1.8GHz and then that way you have a 1:1 ratio with PC3200 DDR400 RAM, but you're still running the same clock speed so you don't have to worry a bottleneck or OC'ing becoming too hot.

Even with stock heatsink you should be able to reach 2GHz no problem. So in all honesty if you want to save some cash you would save on buying the 35w 2400+ XP-M or even the 2600+ XP-M and just adjusting it to the speeds you need.

These chips can hit 2.2GHz fairly easily straight out of the box..so thats something to think about.

And it's barely even 'overclocking' because with 2 adjustments in the BIOS you can have a 400FSB CPU at atleast a 200MHz OC without even worrying about temps.

Ultra 512MB PC3200 DDR 400MHz Memory(Would it be better to have one gig?)
Well it depends on what exactly you're using your computer for, but I'd say especially if you can possibly OC that CPU or even 'adjust' it then you can save money there and get a 1gig of RAM which would help out greatly for apps.
 
ohGrFreak said:
I too have a Fx5200 teamed up with a AMD XP chip, it works quite well for older games on low to medium settings, but if you want to play any newer games out there, I might suggest a Radeon 9600 or better.

I'm really confused. Some of these posts are saying that the FX 5200 is a bad card? I figured it would be perfect because I've used a Dell laptop (1.4ghz Centrino, 256mb, Fx 5200/64mb) And I've played NFS:U, The Sims 2, and a few other power hungry games on it. So I just guessed that a 128 mb FX 5200 would be superb in this AMD setup :confused:

Is there a similarly priced card with better performance?

And about the speakers... I've got a Z-3 system on my iBook :D So I'll be looking into getting another set! :)

I think Tiger said that this particular processor was clocked at 2.08 ghz with a 400mhz fsb... So I wouldn't expect any OC'ing to be necessary.

And also, thanks for the comments about the RAM. I know it's important so I'll definitely look into some higher quality brands. :)
 
it's because the FX 5200 is a mainstream card and not really meant for performance at all. Go to www.nvidia.com click products then the FX family and read up on the difference between the performance and mainstream. I say you atleast try to get something performance
 
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