Building a computer

[Iggy]

I thought I posted this already but I couldn't find it. I am building a computer for my dad for his birthday in April. He is a novice user that has been learning on my old Dell P3 450 for the past year or so. It is quite old and runs slooooooow. Other than browsing the internet (on an awful dial up connection from the local podunk telephone company...yuck) the only thing he does that requires a decent system is digital photography. So, bearing that in mind, I want to build him a decent, middle-of-the-road system on the cheap. I'm not using generic components and am trying to put together a reliable system because without a warranty, it is up to me to support him from 400 miles away.

Here are some components I picked out after a few hours of browsing newegg.

Chieftec Dragon Servers Series Black Aluminum Workstation Tower - $65 - newegg link (http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=11-125-221&catalog=7&manufactory=BROWSE&depa=0)

ENERMAX EG365AX-VE (W)FMA. 350W Power supply - $68 - newegg link (http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=17-103-421&catalog=58&manufactory=BROWSE&depa=0)

ABIT nForce2 Ultra 400 Chipset Motherboard for AMD Socket A CPU, Model "NF7-S" - $89.99 - newegg link (http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=13-127-166&catalog=22&manufactory=BROWSE&depa=0)
*Sponge told me to go with the ASUS but this one had better ratings.

AMD Athlon XP 2500+ "Barton", 333 FSB, 512K Cache Processor - $80 - newegg link (http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=19-103-379&catalog=343&manufactory=BROWSE&depa=0)

Kingston HyperX Series 184 Pin 512MB DDR PC-2700 - $97 - newegg link (http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=20-144-104&depa=0)

SAMSUNG 80GB 7200RPM IDE Hard Drive - Model SP0802N - $69 - newegg link (http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=22-152-010&catalog=14&manufactory=BROWSE&depa=0)

SAMSUNG SFD321B/LBL1 Black 1.44MB 3.5inch Floppy Disk Drive - $8.99 - newegg link (http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=21-103-203&catalog=13&manufactory=BROWSE&depa=0)

NEC Black Bezel 4X DVD +RW/-RW Drive - Model ND-1300A - $92.99 - newegg link (http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=27-152-007&catalog=5&manufactory=BROWSE&depa=0)

GIGABYTE ATI RADEON 9200 Video Card, 128MB DDR, 128-bit, DVI/TV-Out, 8X AGP - Model GV-R92128DH - $62.99 - newegg link (http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=14-125-113&catalog=48&manufactory=BROWSE&depa=0)

Grand total - $633.96

He doesn't need a monitor or any peripherals so I'm just building the tower.

I would really like input from our resident hardware gurus like NV on what I am forgetting, etc. Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks.

[Chalybos]

Seems like a sound system. He's going to use the onboard sound card and network adapter?

[JTFazz]

That is one sweeeeet tower case. I wish I had the chutzpah to build one myself.

[Angry Kid]

Depending on his digital camera(s), a built-in multi-memory-format card reader would be nice. Same for a 2 or 4-port front-mount USB hook-up. You can never have too many USB ports.

Less cable clutter and it frees up some desk space. :)

[Iggy]

Tower case was actually fairly cheap in comparison to many of the others. It was also one of the only mid-range ones that included the fans (not like that is a great expense but at least it's one less thing to deal with).

It will have 4 USB 2.0 ports, 2 front, 2 rear. I thought about the card reader but honestly, if he wants one he can add a USB reader no sweat.

The on-board sound and network ports should be all he needs.

When he gets his new system I plan on talking him into broadband so he can enjoy browsing. His new thing is publishing his pictures on a web site I built for him so the dial up is cramping his style. ;)

[Chairman_Kaga]

FWIW - I love my chieftec tower case. Picked it up from xoxide on clearance with 400W power supply and 4 80 mm fans for under $100. Lots of internal room.

[Angry Kid]

FWIW - I love my chieftec tower case. Picked it up from xoxide on clearance with 400W power supply and 4 80 mm fans for under $100. Lots of internal room.

Yeah, that's my only complaint, too - not enough fans. :swg:

<<why are my feet cold?>>

[YellowDog]

Do you have an OS if not take advantage of the OEM since your buying hardware.

YD

[DrGreen]

Do you have an OS if not take advantage of the OEM since your buying hardware.

YD

I second that.
a retail box of XP Pro will run u $300 while an OEM copy is about $140 & Home is close to $100 now.

[Iggy]

I have the copy of XP Home that came with my Dell that I am going to use. I have since upgraded to XP Pro on that system so that piece is covered.

[BoogerBomb]

Only thing I would change is the Samsung hard drive. I bought one 6 years ago at Fry's. It is the only item where I had to use the in-store warranty so many times that I got a name brand Maxtor free of charge as a replacement. The Samsung just kept getting one bad cluster after another til the drive became unusable. For a hard drive go with Maxtor or Western Digital and make sure they are 7200 RPM drives.

[megaman]

don't buy at fry's. i mean, personal exprencies...and when you return the stuff, they try and make you look like a delinquent.

[BoogerBomb]

Well he already indicated hes getting it at newegg.com. I was just telling him about my bad experiences with Samsung hard drives. And I have never had a problem at any of the 4 Frys stores near me.

[SpongeBob]

You're all lucky *******s, there are no Fry's up here in the northeast, and the retail outlets we have, like CompUSA carry very little for high end products, as they have no competition forcing them to. Sometimes I'm surprised to see a Pentium 2 or Diamond Stealth 64 video card on the shelves of the crappy places around here. That's what they consider "cutting edge" in some of these places. Online shopping pwns me.

[Iggy]

Several people have told me not to get the Samsung. That's the feedback I was looking for. I am going with a Seagate instead. NV suggested getting the mobo, memory, processor, and video card as a bundle from Accessmicro because they assemble, burn in, and guarantee the components. I also ended up getting a better AMD processor out of the deal. All the major components together cost roughly $566 so I feel like I did pretty well. The sad thing is it may end up out performing my current system and I have to give it away. :lol:

[Chalybos]

You're all lucky bastiges, there are no Fry's up here in the northeast, and the retail outlets we have, like CompUSA carry very little for high end products, as they have no competition forcing them to. Sometimes I'm surprised to see a Pentium 2 or Diamond Stealth 64 video card on the shelves of the crappy places around here. That's what they consider "cutting edge" in some of these places. Online shopping pwns me.
Dude, Newegg delivers in record time, with good prices. Screw CompUSA.

[SpongeBob]

You're all lucky bastiges, there are no Fry's up here in the northeast, and the retail outlets we have, like CompUSA carry very little for high end products, as they have no competition forcing them to. Sometimes I'm surprised to see a Pentium 2 or Diamond Stealth 64 video card on the shelves of the crappy places around here. That's what they consider "cutting edge" in some of these places. Online shopping pwns me.
Dude, Newegg delivers in record time, with good prices. Screw CompUSA.
Dude, I know, received two items from them just yesterday, still waiting on the bulk of my order though, but it's only been 4 days.

[YellowDog]

You are not missing anything with no FRY'S they are teh sucks!! nothing but restocked crap on the shelves and you have to either dig or ask the clueless help to find a new unopened item. BAD PLACE

YD

[megaman]

You are not missing anything with no FRY'S they are teh sucks!! nothing but restocked crap on the shelves and you have to either dig or ask the clueless help to find a new unopened item. BAD PLACE

YD

word :very mad:

[Bokchoi]

Very nice case, that's what I have :D. I would suggest adding the $26 for the ATI RADEON 9600SE $125 or the ATI AIW RADEON 9000PRO $148 (if you think he would like to watch some tv on his pc while editing pictures). And I don't think you need a 1.44 floppy at all (boot with cdrom and better off getting one of those multi media reader).

$22 portable Asus card reader (http://www.newegg.com/app/viewProductDesc.asp?description=20-182-802&depa=1)

Check out the other Card Readers (http://www.newegg.com/app/manufactory.asp?catalog=69&DEPA=1)

Any Canadians ordered from Newegg before? I wonder FedEx gets border tax, I know with UPS you don't have to pay the customs with certain delivery method.

[Hsnopi]

You may want to look into 2 things
(and yes I agree ont he samsung)
one
Antec cases Rock. They are functional as hell. And for 30 more then the 68 you are payiing now you can get an antec power supply included with the case. They are sweet.

two
look into Corsair RAM, it has a better track record. Though Kingston is fine.

[CMontyBurns]

Any Canadians ordered from Newegg before? I wonder FedEx gets border tax, I know with UPS you don't have to pay the customs with certain delivery method.
I just assume you have to pay the duty and taxes regardless of whether its FedEx, Purolator or UPS... though not too sure (cuase some of these prices look awful nice

[Bokchoi]

I just assume you have to pay the duty and taxes regardless of whether its FedEx, Purolator or UPS... though not too sure (cuase some of these prices look awful nice

Well I've bought stuff thru ebay, and the ones that use USPS makes me pay the custom and the ones that use UPS doesn't cause they have some kind of something that lets them thru the border without being checked by the customs.

[Bokchoi]

Also I have this local store that is in the Native Reserve (tax exemption). Frosty's (http://frostys.qc.ca/products.html) They don't have quite as many brand as newegg but the price is good since there is no tax. But then again, they do not have as wide range of products as newegg.

[Dali]

Looks like a great system Iggy....I have an Abit NF7-S...Its a very good board....though the onboard sound is lacking IMO....My SB live sounds much better... oh yeah....the onboard network controller seems to be rock solid !

[Chalybos]

I just assume you have to pay the duty and taxes regardless of whether its FedEx, Purolator or UPS... though not too sure (cuase some of these prices look awful nice

Well I've bought stuff thru ebay, and the ones that use USPS makes me pay the custom and the ones that use UPS doesn't cause they have some kind of something that lets them thru the border without being checked by the customs.
Actually, UPS has to go through Customs and pay for it; the USPS doesn't go through or pay for Customs.

[CMontyBurns]

good stuff to know... thanks guys

[ignus]

You're all lucky bastiges, there are no Fry's up here in the northeast, and the retail outlets we have, like CompUSA carry very little for high end products, as they have no competition forcing them to. Sometimes I'm surprised to see a Pentium 2 or Diamond Stealth 64 video card on the shelves of the crappy places around here. That's what they consider "cutting edge" in some of these places. Online shopping pwns me.

same here :| 1 Compusa, 2 Best Buys. thats it. :cry:

sounds like a great system iggy, you're making me wanna upgrade sooner than i want! :very mad: :P

[Iggy]

sounds like a great system iggy, you're making me wanna upgrade sooner than i want! :very mad: :P

I think I may be in the same boat. Like I said, if this system is better than my current one it will be sad to give it away. I guess I do sort of owe my existence to him though. :roll: :wink:

[ignus]

sounds like a great system iggy, you're making me wanna upgrade sooner than i want! :very mad: :P

I think I may be in the same boat. Like I said, if this system is better than my current one it will be sad to give it away. I guess I do sort of owe my existence to him though. :roll: :wink:

actually, shouldnt you be buying the milkman a new pc then :roll: :P

[SauerKraut]

sounds like a great system iggy, you're making me wanna upgrade sooner than i want! :very mad: :P

I think I may be in the same boat. Like I said, if this system is better than my current one it will be sad to give it away. I guess I do sort of owe my existence to him though. :roll: :wink:

actually, shouldnt you be buying the milkman a new pc then :roll: :P



OMG!! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

[Bokchoi]

Actually, UPS has to go through Customs and pay for it; the USPS doesn't go through or pay for Customs.


Ok so UPS pay the customs themselves (that's why I never paid the customs), and USPS doesn't have to go through or pay customs (then why do I have to pay the custom everytime I receive something through USPS?)