help me wiht my computer selection

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twin3037

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i need to build a computer for college and am trying to make some decisions on parts and what not so please help with suggestions and advice. This computer is going to be running both 3d cad programs and games for refrence. I have 1500 for this comp not including monitor or small bits

i would like to run a amd 64 bit and can't decide between a 3800+ and the 4000+ is the 80 dollar diffrence worth to price?

Im pretty clueless on chossing a mother board this is the one part i dont want to skimp on though

With ram i figure 1 gig maybe 2 depending on how the money comes down but what is a good brand

graphics card i dont know i dont need top of the line bc im not a hardcore gamer but still need a good one

hard drive i need a big one at least 120 gig + i assume 7200rpm but toehr then that im not sure which are good

i then need a daul layer dvd burner i can pick taht out but money has to be spent on it

and how much of a power supply will i need to run this?

any help is appreciated
 
IMO a 3800+ is good enough already (well at least to me, i can't feel the difference of 200mhz)

and not skimping on the motherboard is a good decision; for an AGP graphics card, go with the MSI k8n neo2 platinum, and if you are going PCI-express, then get a DFI lanparty ultra-d UT motherboard

one gig of ram is enough for gaming, but i don't know about the 3d cad programs you are going to use (good brands include OCZ and twinmos, although there are other brands that are great as well such as patriot, g skill, etc. but i wouldn't buy their ram unless you're into overclocking b/c it's not worth the price)

for a graphics card that's not top of the line, go with an eVGA 6600GT or 6800GT depending on your budget ($160AR, and around $380 respectively; 6800GT is near, if not, top of the line)

for hard drives, go with a brand you trust (for me, it's seagate, but other people might like western digital, etc.); go for a serial ATA hard drive, and maybe 2 of them to run in RAID

a good non-dual layer dvd burner is the NEC 3510A, but i don't know about DL burners

you shouldn't skimp on a power supply either; get an OCZ modstream 520W, or an OCZ powerstream 520W or 600W if you want to be futureproof (i.e. if you plan on upgrading the gfx card onthis computer in the future)
 
I suggest the AMD Athlon 3700+ with a San Diego Core for $338.

ASPIRE X-Dreamer II ATXB4KLW-AL Silver Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case 350W Power Supply-56

Enermax EG565P 535 Watt Power Supply (SLI-Ready)-121

ASUS A8N-SLI Deluxe Socket 939 NVIDIA nForce4 SLI ATX AMD Motherboard-175

AMD Athlon 64

CORSAIR XMS 1GB (2 x 512MB) 184-Pin DDR SDRAM DDR 400 (PC 3200) Unbuffered Dual Channel Kit System Memory Model TWINX1024-3200C2PRO-130

Maxtor 250GB 7200RPM SATA Hard Drive, Model 7Y250M0, OEM Drive Only + Thermaltake SATA Cable-142

PIONEER DVR-109 DUAL FORMAT 16X DVD±R/±RW + CD-R/RW DRIVE DUAL LAYER-56

Rosewill DVD/CD-RW DRIVE-30

Microsoft Windows XP Home w/Service Pack 2-93

eVGA 6600 GT 128MB DDR3/PCI-E/TV-Out/Dual-DVI-159

Mitsumi USB2.0 Digital Card Reader/Writer W/FD INTERNAL, Model FA404A/404M-24

SILVERSTONE SST-FP52-S Multifunction Panel-34

2x THERMALTAKE A2016 80mm 1 Ball 1 Sleeve Blue LED Light Cooling Fan-28

Cooler Master Blue Ultra Aurora Cold Cathode (Dual Kit) "SFL-U12-UB"-12

COOLER MASTER KHC-L91-U1 92mm Ball Cooling Fan/Heatsink-50

Arctic SIlver Premium Photosynthetic Silver Thermal Compound Arctic Silver 5-8

Creative Blaster Modem-19

Creative Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS-89

SyncMaster 730b 17-inch LCD Monitor, Black-280

Logitech X-230-30

Logitech X700 Wireless Type Standard Keyboard and Mouse-63

and the grand total is up to you. Most of these parts are high-end, so if you want to cut out some you can decrease the price. THe things i suggest would be monitor, speakers, keyboard/mouse, modem, the non-stock heatsink and fan, the multifunction panel, modem, and the $121 psu. With the money saved, perhaps get an eVGA 6800GT for $359 and you've got your machine.
 
1.) that asus board sucks
2.) corsair XMS sucks for the price when you can get the twinmos ram for much cheaper and overclock even better when supplied more voltage with the DFI lanparty
3.) pioneer sucks at everything except dvd-burning, which it owns at
4.) rosewill is meh, but it'll work
5.) creative modem?? huh??


i think (the original thread creator) should just decide what he wants for himself, don't give him exact parts,just give him a general idea of what to get
 
Actually i added the price, and if you buy a $40 400watt psu, a $250 monitor, no speakers (if you have or really cheap ones), $40 total spent on keyboard and mouse, no non-stock heatsink/fan, multifunction panel, modem, then your budget is exceeded. But if you get the 6600GT, you've got just right, if you add shipping from newegg, around exactly $1500.
Roger
 
diabloII said:
1.) that asus board sucks
2.) corsair XMS sucks for the price when you can get the twinmos ram for much cheaper and overclock even better when supplied more voltage with the DFI lanparty
3.) pioneer sucks at everything except dvd-burning, which it owns at
4.) rosewill is meh, but it'll work
5.) creative modem?? huh??


i think (the original thread creator) should just decide what he wants for himself, don't give him exact parts,just give him a general idea of what to get

He didn't say he was going to overclock dude. The Asus board doesn't really suck... And as for the ram, i didn't say there wasn't a cheaper option. And as for the modem, it was an optional item to begin with. I gave him a list to look at but advised him that it wont meet his budget and to change a couple of parts here and there...
Roger
 
the asus board is buggy as hell

many people have had problems with it

you're lucky you haven't had problems with it

newegg screens all of their reviews on their products, so you don't see anything negative on the asus board
 
i probablly wont be overclocking and whats the point in buying a case wiht a power supply if i need to upgrade it anyway? and the 3d cad programs i will be running are solid works and the like. and i agree with diablo 2 i was more intrested in the specs i need to look for and brands that are better and brand ot stay away from
 
buy the case you want, it doesn't mater if it comes with a power supply or not because any power supply (except with select few from thermaltake and antec, but still, they are only good for 20pin boards [AGP gfx cards]) that comes with the case sucks
 
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