PCA Forums

Ok fellas, here's the deal since I've been at college the money hasn't been there and it seems like there's more stuff to do at college than sit on my computer all day reading reviews. Therefore I'm not anywhere up to date on the hardware. Well my dad wants me to either build my little sister a computer or buy her one. Please help. Budget is not really a factor but stability is of utmost importance.

From what I've read lately Athlon xp is the the way to go. She won't be doing much other than surfing the net and playing mp3's. So a all-in-one motherboard might be good. Lemme know.

Thanks for all your help,
mage

Oh yah I think a flat panel should be in order since she'll be taking it to college.

here is a shot.

Nvidia Mboard: http://www.kdcomputers.com/eui/prime/pr ... ponent.htm onboard Video, sound, and NIC

SK6 heatsink: http://www.kdcomputers.com/eui/prime/pr ... ponent.htm

heatsink fan: http://www.kdcomputers.com/eui/prime/pr ... ponent.htm (just use the fan off this heatsink on the sk6, it is quiet and cools well. and you get a free heatsink out of it cause most fans cost as much as this does anyways.)

HD: a maxtor 40-60g should be fine. should be able to find the 40g for around $60

I would get 2 128 meg dimms here: http://www.crucial.com/store/listModule ... &submit=Go Probably dont need more then that for her for now.

whats left...a cdrom what ever is cheap.

and cases are personal preferance.

Greg

You didn't mention a processor Nexus. He is right though, a Nvidia nForce chipset would probably be the best. 256MB will be plenty enough for RAM. I would say that an Athlon XP 1700+ or greater would be more than enough. Even a 1 Ghz Duron would work well.

yea, I just noticed that also.

CPU: http://www.tcwo.com/cgi-bin/webc.cgi/st ... rodid=1389 These guys are VERY good!

Greg

WOW! You guys are better than I remember. I really really appreciate the help. If you could kinda get me up to speed on things. The last I remember were 600e's were the hot item. This motherboard uses what chipset? and how old is it relative to the newer ones, or is it THE new one. Also is the ram just regular pc133.

THANKS so much

mage

its about 1/2 a generation old on the Mboard, but stil lthe TOP proformer as far as intergrated stuff.

the 1700+ will get you very good proformance. It is what I use.

this memory is pc2100 its DDR comapred the the sdr pc133 stuff.

Greg

The memory stills runs at 133mhz but it's DDR so you get an effective speed of 266mhz. nVidia nForce is the chipset. Top preformer, a lot of integrated stuff that is good and plus it has digital 5.1 sound support. PC2100-PC3000 is the DDR mem, if your not gonna overclock don't spend more on PC3000 than you would on PC2100. Athlon XP processors are the way to go nowadays. Cheap and provide the best preformance. Don't let the names fool you, a 1700+ does not run at 1.7 Ghz but at 1.47 Ghz (I think).

here is a case you might want to look at. http://i.ezot.com/i/u/277251/i/X_Star5585.jpg http://koolcases.com/inc/pdetail?v=1&pid=429

Looks liek a great deal for what you get.

If you do get anything remember to put PCAbusers.com in the comment section if they have that area.

Greg

Those cases good for the chips previously specified, stability wise and everything?

it will be a nise stable setup.

That case also comes with a 350w Powersuply so that also saves you some Bank.

Greg

I agree with everything except the heatsink...the SK6 can be a downright bastard to install, and quite frankly its pretty dated. Instead I would go with the Thermalright AX7 -
http://www.heatsinkfactory.com/product. ... &prod=AX-7

with a quiet 80mm Panaflo fan..it will be more quiet than the SK6 but also a better cooler-more stable.
http://www.heatsinkfactory.com/subcat.php?cat=1006

I would recommend getting the Panaflo "medium speed" fan.

costs more and he has no reason for it.

Greg

I would think its worth it...because the performance of the SK6 with a low cfm fan is pretty bad since the heatsink is designed purely for high performance overclocking situations where noise does not matter.

I never had a prob with it. ran it esactly like that and my 1.4 @ 1.6 never got over 40c.

Greg