Ack such a pos

[Subliminal]

My computer has been really acting badly lately freezing so often i cant play games for extended periods without freezing. Im considering buying a whole new system from www.buy-atlas.com
I read about them in PC gamer.

I configured:

Amd athlon xp 2400+
512mb of DDR400
80gb 7200 rpm hd

3yr warrenty, 1 yr tech support.

I got the sub-total to $730

i havent bought a system in a while so i was wonder how good of a deal you guys think this is?

[Zatrais]

More info please...

Mobo, case, power supply, fans, display adapter etc.

what are you keeping from the old one?

[Subliminal]

I built a similar system with

2.4ghz P4 533fsb

512mb DDR400

40gb 7200 rpm hd.

Do you think the trade off of an amd-p4 is worth the loss of 40gb?

[Subliminal]

all im keeping from my current system would be my geforce 4 ti4200. Both of those systems have onboard sound but i think the AMD system has better onboard sound

AMD system mobo:
MAIN BOARD Shuttle AV49N VIA P4X400 w/DDR400 533MHz FSB 8X AGP U133


P4 system:
Shuttle AV49N VIA P4X400 w/DDR400 533MHz FSB 8X AGP U133

both are under $800 with 1yr tech support which would be a nice thing to have if i ever have a problem i cant work out on my own. Both come with windows xp home. The case looks pretty nice, nothing special, like a 350watt p/s. Option of neon light and window kit installed for +$17. In the end both have 512mb of
PC-3200. The only diff is the trade off between the 533fsb on the p4 and the extra 40gigs i would get with the AMD system.

[Zatrais]

That can't be the AMD mobo... thats a pentium mobo hehe.

So you're only keeping the GF4 card. Means you're also getting a new case and psu right.

What bout cdroms, burners, dvd, keyboard, mouse, monitor?

[Subliminal]

both have 48x burners. And i forgot to mention im keeping my KDS X-flat 17' monitor because i like it alot. If i get a black case which is an option for no additional $ ill get a new monitor and sell this one. If i cant crunch the cost down enough ill take off the dvd-roms and use my artic 52x cdrom as the top drive.

the motherboard for the AMD is actually-

Albatron KX400-8X VIA KT400 8X AGP DDR400 UDMA-133 USB 2.0 & 5.1 Sound

I think im going to go with the AMD system unless someone here says the P4 is worth the loss of the big 80gb HD. Who knows when the time rolls around i might be able to afford the +$30 to upgrade the p4 to 80gb then i will buy that one.

btw anyone looking for a new system check out www.buy-atlas.com

they have several models for each processor and they are fully customizable with a user friendly interface, check it out.

[Zatrais]

I'm still kinda confused on what parts your keeping and what parts your $700 gets you...

Could you make a complete list of what you keep and what you're getting new please.

As for the mobo, the first mobo you posted under AMD was a pentium board, the second you posted was an AMD board... but it has a VIA chipset and thats a bad choice if you're gonna have onboard sound.. best onboard sound and best AMD boards are nForce2 boards.

[Subliminal]

K for clarification all I am keeping from my current computer is my monitor and my video card.

for about $750ish im getting

2.4ghz computer (either a 2.4 p4 or a 2400+ which i know doesnt really clock at 2.4 but whatever)

512mb of pc 3200 ddr (400mhz)

80 or 40gb hd.

some probably crappy speakers.

both have onboard sound but the one on the amd isnt just a via ac97 its some kind of 5.1 sound thing. Im probably going to go for the p4 system because the fsb is alot higher and they generally seem to run cooler.

[Sentrosi]

Well, this is my system that I'm starting to receive parts for. I got most of these prices off of Pricewatch.com (http://www.pricewatch.com) for under $500. Could save you an extra $200

What I have:

Epox 8RDA+: $106 w/ free ground shipping
AMD XP 2200+: $112.94 w/ shipping
CPU Fan: $25.00 (taisol CGK760172 AMD Recommended) w/ shipping
GeForce4TI 4200 128MB DDR Video card: $132.00 w/ free shipping
512MB DDR PC 2700 Memory: $88.95 (crucial.com) w/shipping

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
=$464.89

I'll do some research on the board and processor you're getting. I'll post what I find here.

[Sentrosi]

If you go with an AMD based mobo, the only route to go is with an nForce motherboard. Click here for more info on nForce Mobo's (http://www.anandtech.com/mb/showdoc.html?i=1759&p=1)

Here's what I've found for you based on the AMD choice.

Abit NF7-S (http://www.buyxtremegear.com/nf7s.html)=$115
AMD XP 2400+ (http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProduct.asp?submit=property&DEPA=1)=$135
Corsair 512MB DDR 3200 (http://www.spartantech.com/products.asp?orderid=95930987587621706724166&cat=277)=$90
Western Digital 80GB 7200RPM 8Mb Cache (http://www.neutronexpress.com/prod.cfm/194196/WESTERN_DIGITAL/WD800JB) =$98 or, if you want serial
Seagate 80GB 7200RPM Serial Drive (http://www.coolerexpress.com/sebaseatav80.html)=$134

Totals (does not include shipping)
With EIDE Hard Drive: $438
With Serial ATA Hard Drive: $474

You're saving yourself a little over half of what you'd pay someone else to do for you. Like I said, this does not include shipping or taxes (if applicable), but I believe most of these had either $1.00 flat rate shipping or free shipping. Budget around $500 and you should be sailing smooth. If you have any other questions or comments, e-mail me or PM me.

[BurningSpear]

What're pros and cons of EIDE vs Serial ATA?

[Sentrosi]

Well, EIDE max transfer speed ever will be 100-133Mhz

Transfer speed right now for some Serial Drives is about 150Mhz.

Not much difference right now, but it seems like Serial will be the wave of the future. Serial offers the fact that you'll no longer have to set your hard drives to either slave or master, hot-swappable, and the cable is really small.

Should you go for Serial ATA? Will it affect game and system performance? Not sure. You don't have to get a serial drive. This mobo comes with a couple of Serial to Parallel connectors. You'll still have the same 100 or 133Mhz transfer speeds even if you use the serial cable attached to an older IDE drive. Read here (http://www.anandtech.com/storage/showdoc.html?i=1795&p=4) to shed some light on Serial ATA performance. It features the same Serial to Parallel connectors on the Abit board quoted.