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Well guys.. I still have the bug.. lol.. I'm just happy building computers. But I can't support my happiness if I can't get rid of some of these older machines a P200MMX@225 w/64EDO +16bit sound and 3GB HD bare (no other drives) W98 installed, and an AMDK6-2 550 w/196mbSD100 2.1G bare. I just use them for folding only. I'll post them in the FS/FT forum later. But for now, I'm trying to decide on my next build.. I know I'm wanting to go with one of the newer AMD's with 333mhz FSB and some DDR. But I really don't know what would be a good board. I've been reading about waiting for the KT400A chipset. But what about the NForce2 boards? I've read about WVJohns and some others. But should I just wait? Money will be slow so there's no problem with waiting. I can buy the other stuff in the process. But I'm not wanting to spend much more than $400-$550, but I'm sure I will. I've already got an 80GB HD for it. I'd just be getting the following :

Case - Full Tower (not too picky here, just something that mods well.
PSU - 500W+
Mobo - ??? (preferabbly one w/good built in surround and nic)
CPU - XP2400+ or Higher
CD-RW - LiteOn 48x12x48 (I like the one I've got, so will get another)
DVD - ???
DDR - ???
Vid Card - I don't think I'm ready for a 9700 yet. Any cheaper ops?

Did I leave anything out? Let me know what you guys think I should do. I've got DRaGo running now. So it can hold me over for quite a few months. It took me about 5 months to build him. So like I said, time is'nt much of a worry here. TIA eGo

The ole urge to merge eh. Whether we need to or not.

Of the cases i have had i still like that blue meany. It's longer than most cases and can fit in more fans while still allowing room to mod. Plus versions of it can be found cheaply.

For a mobo, the new nforce2 mobo's seem to be the best out now and with many great options. But the longer you can wait, even better ones will be out. Of course that goes anytime nowdays with technology changing and getting better and better so fast.

For a DVD, that doesn't matter as much. The best made ones have usually been made by pioneer and toshiba. But lite on ones are doing well. I use a 16x one now and it hasn't let me down.

For DDR, samsung seems to be a choice one to get. Higher the better.


For a video card you might consider getting a 9500 and changing it to a 9700. I posted a link how to do that in the video card forum. Seems like a cheaper option if it works.

Here it is again;

http://rage3d.com/#1041776416

<i>The guys over at overclockers.ru have found a pretty simple way to change a cheap Radeon 9500 128MB board to a Radeon 9700 board. It requires changing the solder bridges within 3 resistors and then a bios reflash.

In order for the mod to work you have to have a 128MB board 9500. Here's it is:

Guys from Overclockers.RU made some experiments with 128 MB card RADEON 9500 from Sapphire, as a result they converted it in... RADEON 9700 card!
Card on ATI RADEON 9500 have 128-bit or 256-bit bus, depending on a quantity of video memory. Since these boards are done on PCB from RADEON 9700, it equipped 64-bit half-sized versions, which have exactly half of chips, from RADEON 9700, i.e., 128 bits. Then the 128-megabaytnye boards, which have 8 chips of memory, installed exactly as on RADEON 9700, have the "valuable" 256-bit bus of memory.
For alteration it was required



To solder one of the resistors, located on the base layer of chip RADEON 9500 of position (2-3) to position (1-2) or to install analogous, with the resistance 6,8 kOm
flash a hack BIOS for Hercules RADEON 9700 downloaded from warp11
try to overclock: in this case board equipped 3,6 ns memory from Infineon; therefore overclocking of memory is not strong, only to 300 MHz, but chip - from 275 to 370 MHz


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I realllly REALLY liked that Blue case that you reviewed.. The all plastic one.. But they don't have it anymore.. I thought it was a really neat case. The VidCard thing could be a much better option. I'll have to consider that. Thanks for your thoughts.. eGo

500 watt power supply seems overkill and will cost more especially considering you want to spend $400-550 total. Also for cpu you are spending more for not much of a speed increase.

Case: Chieftec, Antec or Inwin Case
PSU: Antec Truepower power supply. Just get something solid. 400 watts should be plenty.
Motherboard: nForce 2 motherboard {Leadtek, Asus}
AMD processor: retail AthlonXP 2100+ is best bang for buck {longer 3 year warranty is better}
Ram: 512MB {if you will run WinXP) PC2700 Corsair or Samsung or Crucial 512MB Corsair PC2700C2 DDR memory. If running Win98, decrease amount of ram.
CD-RW drive: Lite On 48x24x48 or Lite On 52x24x52 CDRW {only a few dollars more}
DVD drive: LITE-ON LTD-166S16X DVD ROM Drive
Video Card - Radeon 9500 modded to Radeon 9700, Radeon 9500 Pro, GeForce 4 Ti4200
beer after you are done: Guinness