I am in the progress of building a computer on a budget, specifically something that will run games such as Everquest 2 and World of Warcraft better then my 1GHz Celeron with 512MB RAM, SoundBlaster Live 5.1, and an ATI Radeon 9200 GFX Card... 
My new computer, I am planning on an aproximate 670 dollar budget, that has to include EVERYTHING! My plans were:
For a case, I was planning on a case from XPG Gear, features include
- Power Lab 450 watt power supply
- 4 CD/DVD bays, 2 Floppy Drive bays, and 5 HardDrive bays
- 1 Side, Front, Back, and Bottom fans.
- Thumb Screws
- The option to get 2 Fans included instead of 1
- Alien Head Resemblence
**********$55**********
I was planning on getting a combo from SMKSUPERSTORE that comes with
- P4 3.0GHz Processor
- Arctic Silver Alumina Thermal Compound
- Ultra Performance Copper Core Fan & Heatsink, Under 135* Under High Load
- IS7 Motherboard (INTEL 865PE) that supports HT, has a 800MHz FSB, AGP 8x, and got 9/10 in 4 reviews I read.
- 256 RAM Stick
- 3 Year Warranty on both CPU and Motherboard
**********$355**********
I also plan to put more memory in from 4AllMemory
- PC3200 Dual Channel 1GB Stick
- Lifetime Warrenty
**********$115**********
I also plan on keeping my SoundBlaster Live 5.1 and trasnferring it over to my new setup.
On top of that, I expect to have to keep 25 bucks on hand when I find myself out of screws, in need of a cable, missing a fan or any other excuse that causes me to have to run out to COMP-USA.
**********$25**********
TOTAL: $550
Now is it just me, or am I underbudget? I was thinking that maybe it was time to give my ATI Radeon 9200 a break. This is were I need your help!
Someone told me to check out the ATI Radeon 9250 256MB, and with further research I also found the NVIDIA GeForce FX 5500 256MB. I could pick up either for around $65. Now, which one would you say I would be happier with? The goal of getting the new graphics card is because I figured that I could use the extra bit of texture memory for running Everquest. Any thoughts on which I should get? Maybe a better one with 256MB of memory? I can go up to around $100 on the graphics card, but please also give your opinions about which of the two cards, too.
****ALSO I know that mixing the 256 stick and the 1GB stick isnt going to mean that I will be taking advantage of the 800MHz FSB, when I get my next paycheck I plan on getting another GIG stick.****
Thanks! Lookout for my posts in other threads, I will keep you updated as I build my new computer!
My new computer, I am planning on an aproximate 670 dollar budget, that has to include EVERYTHING! My plans were:
For a case, I was planning on a case from XPG Gear, features include
- Power Lab 450 watt power supply
- 4 CD/DVD bays, 2 Floppy Drive bays, and 5 HardDrive bays
- 1 Side, Front, Back, and Bottom fans.
- Thumb Screws
- The option to get 2 Fans included instead of 1
- Alien Head Resemblence
**********$55**********
I was planning on getting a combo from SMKSUPERSTORE that comes with
- P4 3.0GHz Processor
- Arctic Silver Alumina Thermal Compound
- Ultra Performance Copper Core Fan & Heatsink, Under 135* Under High Load
- IS7 Motherboard (INTEL 865PE) that supports HT, has a 800MHz FSB, AGP 8x, and got 9/10 in 4 reviews I read.
- 256 RAM Stick
- 3 Year Warranty on both CPU and Motherboard
**********$355**********
I also plan to put more memory in from 4AllMemory
- PC3200 Dual Channel 1GB Stick
- Lifetime Warrenty
**********$115**********
I also plan on keeping my SoundBlaster Live 5.1 and trasnferring it over to my new setup.
On top of that, I expect to have to keep 25 bucks on hand when I find myself out of screws, in need of a cable, missing a fan or any other excuse that causes me to have to run out to COMP-USA.
**********$25**********
TOTAL: $550
Now is it just me, or am I underbudget? I was thinking that maybe it was time to give my ATI Radeon 9200 a break. This is were I need your help!
Someone told me to check out the ATI Radeon 9250 256MB, and with further research I also found the NVIDIA GeForce FX 5500 256MB. I could pick up either for around $65. Now, which one would you say I would be happier with? The goal of getting the new graphics card is because I figured that I could use the extra bit of texture memory for running Everquest. Any thoughts on which I should get? Maybe a better one with 256MB of memory? I can go up to around $100 on the graphics card, but please also give your opinions about which of the two cards, too.
****ALSO I know that mixing the 256 stick and the 1GB stick isnt going to mean that I will be taking advantage of the 800MHz FSB, when I get my next paycheck I plan on getting another GIG stick.****
Thanks! Lookout for my posts in other threads, I will keep you updated as I build my new computer!
