Hey, Im selling a computer, and im just wondering if the set is worth the price, look

Also, I want at least 1gb ram, and Im going to use this for video editing, if that helps at all. how come that processor is 450$ but is only 2.2GHz? is it still as fast as like a 2.4ghz? or faster? or slower?

ok, after about an hour or two of searching and checking compatibility, and attempting to stick to my budget (which was 1100, and i finished at 1170, so not bad) I found all the parts, and I think this rig is gonna be pretty fast. so give some opinions on it please:

Processor: AMD Athlon 64 X2 4400+ Toledo 2000MHz HT 2 x 1MB L2 Cache Socket 939 Dual Core Processor - Retail

Motherboard: ASUS A8N5X Socket 939 NVIDIA nForce4 ATX AMD - Retail

Hard drive: Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3320620AS (Perpendicular Recording Technology) 320GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM

Disc drives:(two of these) NEC Black 16X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 8X DVD+R DL 16X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2M Cache IDE/ATAPI DVD Burner - OEM

Memory: CORSAIR XMS 1GB (2 x 512MB) 184-Pin DDR SDRAM Unbuffered DDR 400 (PC 3200) Dual Channel Kit System Memory - Retail


Videocard: SAPPHIRE 100153L Radeon X1800GTO2 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 VIVO PCI Express x16 Video Card - Retail

Soundcard: soundblaster 24bit live

Firewire: have a firewire card

Case: ASPIRE X-DISCOVERY-BK Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail

Windows: Microsoft Windows XP Professional With SP2 - OEM

That looks like a very nice system indeed. Im kind of jealous now, lol

as far as your question goes on the CPU speed. The reason that AMD CPUs are almost always slower than say Intel, is that AMD focuses more on operations per secong, rather than clock speed. But in reality, your X2 CPU will technically run at 4.4GHz, combining the power b/t the two cores.

Have fun building her, and when you do get her built, tell us how she runs

...AMD

BTW, if this rig is for video editing, i highly reccommend upgrading to 2GB of RAM, you may spend some more money upfront, but you will thank yourself in the long run. plus if you have 2GB now, that will make Windows Vista run even faster.

...AMD

A few things come to mind here:

1 power supply, you didnt mention that. If you are getting a generic power supply from a lower priced case, then you need to buy your own power supply. You can go to directron.com and newegg.com to see power supplies. You dont have to spend a fortune but for the rig you are talking about a $50 power supply is not out of the question. The power supply is the single most important part of your rig. Its often neglected. But a good power supply will prevent motherboard damage and damage to your hard drive, vid card, etc, when a power issue happens at the wall. I havent checked out your case, it may very well have a good power supply in it?

2 Most motherboards come with fairly decent sound onboard. If the mobo you have chosen already has onboard sound, you could do without the extra sound card, put it toward a better power supply.

3 UPS. Some people have never heard of them and consider them an extra. I dont. To me, a UPS is a must have item. I could fill a page on why and i dont think any town or city can say that their power is so clean that its not needed in their area. These days you can get one for $50 or less. And just a surge suppressor alone doesnt cut it.

Great rig, im jealous too, lol.

haha thanks guys, and yea I was gonna just use the psu from the case, but yea Ill get a better one any suggestions, around 50?

and for the ram, Im still debating on weather I should spend the extra 100 on it or not, but I probablyy wont buy it for a week or two so i have time to think.

Nork, you said you could get stuff cheaper then ebay, and other sites, do you think you could find any of this stuff anywhere?

Yes, I forgot to mention the UPS as well, they can prove to be an invaluable invetsment. Get one with at least 3000 joules. i'll tell ya a little story.

One evening i was reinstalling windows, and was about only 40% throught, when i turned my head to the television and noticed that our city had a tornado warning! Frantically i watched the skies, and hoped that the power wouldnt go out since i was right in the middle of the process. I have never experineced a power putage when i was right in the middle reinstallling windows, and it didnt know if it would hurt the PC or not. anyway, the power did go out, but i had my UPS batteries charged and ready to go my UPS provides electricity for 45min. and windows was finished by that time, and no harm was done. The End

so go ahead and splurge that extra $150.00 for a good, dependable UPS. I use a GeekSquad brand, but i've also heard that APC makes a good one as well.

...AMD

The power supply, all you have to do is go to, say, newegg, go to power supplies, and punch in the dollar numbers. I did that for power supplies from $50 to $75. Under that just isnt good enough for the rig you have. There are some under $50 that might very well do, but why worry about $10 when you have $1,200 at stake! This is the engine of your car, so to speak, and its a lot more important than most people think. There is special circuitry in better quality power supplies that protect your system and that is the biggest reason to go for better.

Heres newegg.com.s power supplies from $50 to $75
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.asp?N=2010320058 4026&Submit=ENE&SubCategory=58

Antec, thermaltake, Fortron, sparkle, and more. But some I see for sale at newegg i wouldnt want. As much as i like Antec and Thermaltake, to be fair, there have been the odd version that arent quite up to their standards, but they all beat generic power supplies by a wide wide margin!

Heres some info and lists on good and bad power supplies for your reading:

http://forums.nvidia.com/index.php?showtopic=4146 from Apr 22 2005

http://club.cdfreaks.com/showthread.php?t=142753
http://forum.pcmech.com/showthread.php?t=98650
http://forum.pcmech.com/showthread.php?t=131195
http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=792566

This is just for your info:

troubleshoot power supply with multimeter:
http://techrepublic.com.com/5100-10...g=feed&subj=tr#

atx format:
http://www.formfactors.org/



The UPS, you dont have to buy the best. I even suggest the cheapest one that has protection for your pc, internet and phone. A main source of pricing is how long you have before the UPS's power gives out and you have to shut your system down. If you are home you will hear the beeps, trust me, and so even only 10 minutes is fine. If you arent home it may not matter if its a 10 minute warning or 30 minutes as most of the time when we go out its usually over 30 minutes anyway. So, unless you want the very best, heres a place where you can get the lower price and not suffer the consequences. What a UPS is best for is protecting your pc from "brown=outs and power surges, and they all do that well, the extra time, to me, isnt worth paying for.

Your other question i will answer in the next post.

I will pm you, but, just so someone doesnt think i am full of hot air, lol, i will point out that forums like this are an excellent source of NEW, slightly used, and plain old used pc parts.
As for forums, here they are. I was so happy to see we were starting our own "for sale" section, but since its been taken out, then i feel its ok to point these forums out to you:
Here you go:

http://www.techimo.com/forum/index.html this one is my favorite

http://forums.anandtech.com/categories.cfm?catid=45&zb=1701759 another favorite

http://episteme.arstechnica.com/eve/forums/a/frm/f/57909216 first one i ever tried

http://www.pcabusers.net/forums/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=2 another good one.
There are another half dozen i know that are just as good as well.

There is also pricewatch.com and reselleratings.com. At pricewatch you can just punch in what part you are looking for and you will find a great deal. And there are others like pricewatch, i am just used to pricewatch.

Forums are still better but sometimes new, new is the way to go, of course.
And, as stated, you can get new, new at forums. I have many times!

anyone else think its good?

think what is good?
The rig you are getting, darn right its good, lol.

haha thanks nork! but the problem is Im about 200 short of the price, I know I can make 100, but if you can help me find items that are compatible (so I dont have to change evrything, a little cheaper, and same performance. That way I can forfill my dream of building this computer. thanks

Go for an AM2 Socket based Motherboard and DDR2 RAM.

Okay, i will try, but im not always the best at that part, putting the best mobo together.
First, though, i need to know where you are spending the money.
Can you give me the list you have, as above, although its possibly changed a bit from that, but write your list out again, please, and put the price and where you are getting each part from, i can likely help you better.

Are there any parts from your old rig you can use, like the case, etc? Not necessarily the power supply as you do need a decent power supply if you are getting that type video, pci-e, along with that cpu, you will need a decent power supply.

No, there arnt any I can use because I am selling it. Basically evrything I said and this psu:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817159037

other then that Im keeping evrything else. And about the ups, Im gonna wait for that until I get some more money.

Great System Choice, but....

Your configuration is great, but dont think you should switch everything over to socket AM2 ? I know they say the performance gain isnt anything to brag about over 939 but its newer technology concidering 939 is as much as i hate to say it, being phased out....I mean 939 is fine thats what i have.....its great, but if i was buying somthing new id go for the AM2....And really the prices are just about the same even with the DDR2.....Would you guys agree with me ? Its just a wise choce

I understand there will still be avaliability of 939 cpu's for quit a while but there will be no new ones as will there be with AM2.....

Jimshady is right, we need to pick out an amd socketAM2 rig. That would be the wiser choice. I knew there was something about socket939 but i couldnt quite remember. Socket939 is fairly new tech, but socketAM2 is even newer and thus will have a higher end as far as the speed of the cpu you can use possibly now but for sure into the future.
Again, i will leave that to those who can do a better job.
One thing, though, I have heard that the power supply you have is on the bad list of power supplies. As much as it seems good and good to great power on some rails, like the 12v, perhaps, for the money, you might want to pick out a brand name like antec, Forton, thermaltake, etc. I dont think you will have to spend any more money, but, if you do, its worth it anyway as the power supply is the single most important item in a pc, after the UPS. Im throwing the UPS in as a kind of joke, the power supply is and will likely always be the most important. For one thing, the better power supplies protect your pc in low and high power situations at the wall, so, if you arent getting a UPS, better make sure you get a good power supply. I could be wrong about the power supply, as its not my lists of good and bad power supplies, and i dont have any experience with the newer coolmax units. I have run into older coolmax and i dont recall any bad experiences but it must be on the bad list for a reason, i would suspect. I do know that some power supply mfgrs simply way overstate the value and qualifications of their power supplies, like boasting 680 watts when its more like 350 watts, things like that, they do happen.

Heres some info for you on that:
http://forums.nvidia.com/index.php?showtopic=4146 Apr 22 2005

http://club.cdfreaks.com/showthread.php?t=142753
http://forum.pcmech.com/showthread.php?t=98650
http://forum.pcmech.com/showthread.php?t=131195
http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=792566

atx format:
http://www.formfactors.org/ this is for future reading, but it will also show you what atx format you need for now, as in the 24 pin power connector, for instance, which, as i see, you already know about. It just puts the info at your disposal.

DDR2 is often even cheaper than DDR[1]

and for power supplies... nork is right, cheap companies like coolmax overstate their actual power output. the rating they provide is maximum peak power, not continuous usable power. and it is rated at 25c ambient, however the temp inside the power supply case will likely far exceed 25c which greatly reduces power output.

quality brands like Antec, Fortron, seasonic, PCP&C rate their PSUs with actual continuous usable power, not maximum peak power. but they don't actually make the PSUs themselves, they have them built by a 3rd party and they just brand them, so read reviews on specific models as well becase often times each model series is built by a different manufacturer.

cheers :wave:

KingCody obiously knows his power supplies, so i would strongly suggest you consider what he is saying.
Again, the power supply is THE most important part of your pc. Its the engine and much more, it protects all your expensive parts.
I know as at one time i didnt pay much attention to getting a decent power supply, i used standard, generic and forgot about it.
And i didnt use a UPS either, figured they were just after my money.
After a few destroyed mobos, hard drives, power supplies, etc, etc, i decided maybe these people were right.
So 6 yrs ago i bought a UPS and an enermax power supply. I have my pc loaded to the gills and my enermax hums along. We get power surges and power brown-outs (which are actually worse than surges!), and my UPS tells me its happening all right, but my pc hums along just nicely!
I learned the lesson the hard way so i try and help people so they dont have to! And, just in case you are thinking that i lost my pc parts from anything else, let me tell you flat out that the cause was power brown-outs (reduction in power at the wall or plug) or power surges. With brown-outs being much harder on pc parts i would imagine it was that that totally destroyed these parts.
Since people in these type of forums wised me up i have lost one old hard drive that i got second hand and thats over 6 yrs!
Get a UPS and a good power supply, even if that means having to borrow the bucks!