Want to build a PC

LionOfTheSouth wrote:

 > Not looking for anything fancy. Just a budget PC ,but one that uses
 > relatively good components.
 > I was thinking of using an Athlon XP3200 . My present PC is using an
 > Athlon XP1700.

Why not Athlon 64? If you stay away from the latest/greatest Athlon 64 you
should get away fairly cheap. nForce 3 chipset boards are very affordable,
and the Athlon 64 3200+ is cheaper than the XP 3200+ at the moment.

 > Dont really want to buy parts from all over the place.Any recommendations
 > on online retailers that still sell a good selection of parts for these

<a rel="nofollow" style='text-decoration: none;' href="http://www.zipzoomfly.com" target="_blank">www.zipzoomfly.com</a>
<a rel="nofollow" style='text-decoration: none;' href="http://www.newegg.com" target="_blank">www.newegg.com</a>

I rarely buy from anyone else.

 > WRT graphics cards, in the PC I have at the moment I have a Ge Force 3 Ti
 > 200 .This is more than adequate for my needs ,so something of simialr
 > power is fine ,but I dont have any idea what to look for,its been a few
 > years since I took any notice of such things.

AGP = GeForce FX5200 PCI-e = GeForce 6600 would be my recommendations if
that's all the performance you need.

 > AMD Athlon XP3200+ 400mhz FSB
 >
 > Abit NF7 V2.0 nForce2 (Wouldnt mind a board with LAN and Firewire ,but can
 > live without if no recommendation?? )
 >
 > 2 X Crucial CT6464Z40B 512MB DDR 400Mhz (1Gb = Overkill??)
 >
 > Would I have any problem using bigger HD? I am thinking of 250Gb drive

Consider this instead:

MSI K8N Neo2 Platinum

<a rel="nofollow" style='text-decoration: none;' href="http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813130468" target="_blank">http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813130468</a>

AMD Athlon 64 3200+

<a rel="nofollow" style='text-decoration: none;' href="http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819103502" target="_blank">http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819103502</a>

And your memory is fine.


--

Registered Linux user #378193
 >> Stay informed about: Want to build a PC 

jimbo wrote:

 > I would choose two 100 GB drives rather than one 250 HG drive. I end up
 > using the second drive as a clone of the first drive.

So, you in essence end up with one 100 G. drive.

I have a second partition on my main drive that I save backups to. I
also save backups on cds and dvds. IMHO for most people a whole second
drive that mirrors the main one is overkill.

I mean, if every byte and bit of one's precious data is mission-critical
and one can't afford even an hour of downtime, then maybe. If all one
is doing is email, games and downloading porn (for example), then,
what's the big deal?
 >> Stay informed about: Want to build a PC 

A second partition on the first hard drive is also lost on a hard
drive failure. With Norton Ghost, I can clone the drive in about 20
minutes. If the first drive fails or gets corrupted, I can simply boot
the second hard drive. And with a boot manager, I actually choose
which hard drive I want to boot at anytime.

jimbo

ToolPackinMama wrote:
 > jimbo wrote:
 >
  >> I would choose two 100 GB drives rather than one 250 HG drive. I end
  >> up using the second drive as a clone of the first drive.
 >
 >
 > So, you in essence end up with one 100 G. drive.
 >
 > I have a second partition on my main drive that I save backups to. I
 > also save backups on cds and dvds. IMHO for most people a whole second
 > drive that mirrors the main one is overkill.
 >
 > I mean, if every byte and bit of one's precious data is mission-critical
 > and one can't afford even an hour of downtime, then maybe. If all one
 > is doing is email, games and downloading porn (for example), then,
 > what's the big deal?
 >> Stay informed about: Want to build a PC 

 > ToolPackinMama wrote:
  >> jimbo wrote:
  >>
   >>> I would choose two 100 GB drives rather than one 250 HG drive. I end up
   >>> using the second drive as a clone of the first drive.
  >>
  >>
  >> So, you in essence end up with one 100 G. drive.
  >>
  >> I have a second partition on my main drive that I save backups to. I
  >> also save backups on cds and dvds. IMHO for most people a whole second
  >> drive that mirrors the main one is overkill.
  >>
  >> I mean, if every byte and bit of one's precious data is mission-critical
  >> and one can't afford even an hour of downtime, then maybe. If all one is
  >> doing is email, games and downloading porn (for example), then, what's
  >> the big deal?

"jimbo" wrote in message

 >A second partition on the first hard drive is also lost on a hard drive
 >failure. With Norton Ghost, I can clone the drive in about 20 minutes. If
 >the first drive fails or gets corrupted, I can simply boot the second hard
 >drive. And with a boot manager, I actually choose which hard drive I want
 >to boot at anytime.


Or, with a cheap RAID card, like I have, backups can be accomplished almost
instantly. I have 2 80GB SATA drives set up in RAID1. While this won't
help if I screw Windows up completely (that's what weekly backups are for),
it will help me if one of the drives dies, and I won't lose everything.

MC
 >> Stay informed about: Want to build a PC 

jimbo wrote:

 > A second partition on the first hard drive is also lost on a hard drive
 > failure.

No duh. That's why I also save critical backups on removable disks.
 >> Stay informed about: Want to build a PC 

ModeratelyConfused wrote:

 > Or, with a cheap RAID card, like I have, backups can be accomplished almost
 > instantly. I have 2 80GB SATA drives set up in RAID1. While this won't
 > help if I screw Windows up completely (that's what weekly backups are for),
 > it will help me if one of the drives dies, and I won't lose everything.

Is catastrophic HD failure a common problem?
 >> Stay informed about: Want to build a PC 

"ToolPackinMama" wrote in message

 > ModeratelyConfused wrote:
 >
  >> Or, with a cheap RAID card, like I have, backups can be accomplished
  >> almost instantly. I have 2 80GB SATA drives set up in RAID1. While this
  >> won't help if I screw Windows up completely (that's what weekly backups
  >> are for), it will help me if one of the drives dies, and I won't lose
  >> everything.
 >
 > Is catastrophic HD failure a common problem?

Not that I noticed, but it would be nice to have a backup just in case.

MC
 >> Stay informed about: Want to build a PC 

"LionOfTheSouth" wrote in message

 >
 > Here is what I am looking at
 >
 >
 > AMD Athlon XP3200+ 400mhz FSB

Looking here <a rel="nofollow" style='text-decoration: none;' href="http://www.pricewatch.com/" target="_blank">http://www.pricewatch.com/</a> one sees that for the same money,
you could get into a socket 939, 64 bit AMD. This would future proof
your system a little going forward.

 >
 > 2 X Crucial CT6464Z40B 512MB DDR 400Mhz (1Gb = Overkill??)
 >

With the recent drop of RAM prices, one might miss a buying opportunity
if he went less. Plus, you'll never regret having that extra stick.

 > Would I have any problem using bigger HD? I am thinking of 250Gb drive
 >

You mentioned "budget PC". 120 to 160gig is the sweet spot right now
for cost per gig ratio. Windows XP handles the larger HD's without problems.
 >> Stay informed about: Want to build a PC 

Gary C wrote:


 > Looking here <a rel="nofollow" style='text-decoration: none;' href="http://www.pricewatch.com/" target="_blank">http://www.pricewatch.com/</a> one sees that for the same money,
 > you could get into a socket 939, 64 bit AMD. This would future proof
 > your system a little going forward.

I agree. But mind your motherboards if you don't want to be stuck
buying a PCI express video card too.

I have had good luck in dealing with New Egg.
 >> Stay informed about: Want to build a PC 

"LionOfTheSouth" wrote in message

 > Not looking for anything fancy. Just a budget PC ,but one that uses
 > relatively good components.
 > I was thinking of using an Athlon XP3200 . My present PC is using an
Athlon
 > XP1700.
 > Dont really want to buy parts from all over the place.Any recommendations
on
 > online retailers that still sell a good selection of parts for these CPUs?
 >
 > WRT graphics cards, in the PC I have at the moment I have a Ge Force 3 Ti
 > 200 .This is more than adequate for my needs

<snip>

suggest you just keep the machine you have and add more RAM if you need
it...
and a larger HD if you need it.
as you said...your present graphics card is "more than adequate"
and it's not too likely you really need an XP1700.

I'm using an AMD1200 and my girlfriend has an XP2200
and as far as performance I can't tell the difference
 >> Stay informed about: Want to build a PC 

ToolPackinMama wrote:
 > ModeratelyConfused wrote:
 >
  >> Or, with a cheap RAID card, like I have, backups can be accomplished
  >> almost instantly. I have 2 80GB SATA drives set up in RAID1. While
  >> this won't help if I screw Windows up completely (that's what weekly
  >> backups are for), it will help me if one of the drives dies, and I
  >> won't lose everything.
 >
 >
 > Is catastrophic HD failure a common problem?

I have 3 or 4 over the years. Not a nice experience.

jimbo
 >> Stay informed about: Want to build a PC 

"jimbo" wrote in message

 > A second partition on the first hard drive is also lost on a hard
 > drive failure. With Norton Ghost, I can clone the drive in about 20
 > minutes. If the first drive fails or gets corrupted, I can simply boot
 > the second hard drive. And with a boot manager, I actually choose
 > which hard drive I want to boot at anytime.
 >
 > jimbo
 >
 > ToolPackinMama wrote:
  > > jimbo wrote:
  > >
   > >> I would choose two 100 GB drives rather than one 250 HG drive. I end
   > >> up using the second drive as a clone of the first drive.
  > >
  > >
  > > So, you in essence end up with one 100 G. drive.
  > >
  > > I have a second partition on my main drive that I save backups to. I
  > > also save backups on cds and dvds. IMHO for most people a whole second
  > > drive that mirrors the main one is overkill.
  > >
  > > I mean, if every byte and bit of one's precious data is mission-critical
  > > and one can't afford even an hour of downtime, then maybe. If all one
  > > is doing is email, games and downloading porn (for example), then,
  > > what's the big deal?

OK, Im in the UK. From what I have seen ,there is quite a difference in
price between the two types of CPU .
I have been running this PC (AthlonXP1700) for the last 3 years or so .TBH
it does all I need without any problem ,but my kids PC is on its way out so
I figured if I upgrade to a XP3200 and let my kids have the 1700 it will all
be good . ?? what you think
 >> Stay informed about: Want to build a PC 

LionOfTheSouth wrote:


 > OK, Im in the UK. From what I have seen ,there is quite a difference in
 > price between the two types of CPU .

Hmm, yes, that's a factor.

 > I have been running this PC (AthlonXP1700) for the last 3 years or so .TBH
 > it does all I need without any problem ,but my kids PC is on its way out so
 > I figured if I upgrade to a XP3200 and let my kids have the 1700 it will all
 > be good . ?? what you think

Not a bad idea.
 >> Stay informed about: Want to build a PC