i told my mom about it and she hinted towards letting me get it for christmas. the specs are:

ECS nforce4 socket 939 mobo
MSI radeon x800 pci express
Maxtor 80gig hd
512x2 patriot ddr 400 ram
Aspire atx 500watt power supply
AMD Athlon 3200 64 venice core
Coolermaster Centurion atx case

finally ill be able to play half life 2, cs source, doom 3, far cry, and all those othere games i only dreampt about playing. what do you guys think about this? oh and it comes out to ~$680 shipped + tax, i just have to put everything together.

ECS isn't one of the best board manufacturer's...they're claim to fame is budget products. Is the board based on the nForce4 or nForce4 Ultra? The Ultra is better.

The X800 is OK, but it's not great. Here's a benchtest comparison. The plain X800 isn't listed, but the X800XL & X800XT are...it'll give you an idea of were it stands:

http://www4.tomshardware.com/2005/12/02/vga_charts_viii/page16.html

80GB HDD is kinda small.

I've read some bad reviews about the Aspire 500W PSU.

This space for rent

Agreed. Spend a little more money on your motherboard. DFI makes an NForce 4 Ultra for under $100.

The Antec 350W PSU's being made now currently have more juice on the 12V rail than that Aspire if you actually use a volt meter to compare. The specs claimed by Aspire are highly exaggerated. If you want an inexpensive PSU, look here.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817153023

Agreed on the hard drive. Spend a few bucks more and get a 250 gig drive. Remember, your system will perform better with mroe than half your drive empty. Also, I'd recommend Seagate or Hitachi for better reliability.

That video card, while not as powerful as others, is a good buy at $100 after rebate at newegg. I'm assuming that's where you're buying it. Nice find. Just don't expect high res and image quality in games like FEAR, Call of Duty 2, etc. If you want more power, consider the NVidia 6800GS at about $200.

Please help survivors of Hurricane Katrina!

www.redcross.org

Also take a look at this case...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811129155

Comes with an ATX 2.0 450W PSU, which is better than the Aspire and the Thermaltake I just linked you to.

I've used this case a few times. Very quiet, well cooled with front and back 120mm fan spots. For $92 shipped after rebate, it's a very nice case!

Please help survivors of Hurricane Katrina!

www.redcross.org

Well if your gnna go with a PCI setup instead of AGP and depending on how much you have to spend on the computer you want to get then always shop with newegg.com but here ya go im doing this cause im in a good mood and i like to help pepole out so im gonna give you a setup that i think would be okay. this is just my opion but may be better than waht your gonna buy for $680. okay here i go.( eh i know its more but most likely better)

1. go to ati.com for a video card. look under clearance section and you will find a refurbished X800pro for $179.00 PCI express version. Note: their is nothing wrong with a refrurbished X800pro my freind owns one and its never crashed or quit on him he owns a refurbished one from ati.

Next ordering parts from newegg.com :>

2. NEC Beige IDE DVD Burner Model ND-3550A - OEM $ 38.99. yea i know its oem but its fairly safe to trust those type of cd drives and its a DVD burner so it does everything for you...might be over kill but the more the merryer.

3. Thermaltake W0093RU ATX 12V 2.0 Version 500W Power Supply - Retail $ 79.99 These are some of the best power supplys on the market.

4. Patriot Signature Series 1GB (2 x 512MB) 184-Pin DDR SDRAM DDR 400 (PC 3200) Unbuffered Dual Channel Kit System Memory Model PSD1G400KH - Retail $ 75.95 ( Note: ive never used or owned this ram but it has lots of great reveiws so im taking their word for it. but it looks fine to me.

5. ABIT GD8 Socket T (LGA 775) Intel 915P ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
Model #: GD8 $84.00

6. Intel Pentium 4 630 Prescott 800MHz FSB LGA 775 EM64T Processor Model BX80547PG3000F - Retail $170.55
Model #: BX80547PG3000F (Note: blah lol i know its the same processor i have but its awsome for gaming and with a L2mb cache and 64bit support its a good deal. Also make sure you have a good case with cooling. wich is not hard to do mainly its the selection of atx case that matters and the ammount of fans in the case and their position.

7.Seagate Barracuda 7200.8 ST3250823AS 250GB 7200 RPM Serial ATA150 Hard Drive - OEM $103.50 (Note: i know its oem its up to you i just picked something out)

Total price of newegg.com parts $632.97
This is excluding the video card wich youll have to go to ati.com to buy it from the clerance section after you do that your total spending bill will be $811.97

I know i havent included a computer case but i left that up to you. so all that i left out was a case. But i just thought id give you some other options of selection for building your own gaming rig. if you dont like waht i put up then its all good. i just have time on my hands and lol im off from work today so i dont have much else to do. this is everything to build a pretty nice machine but its up to you and how much doe you have to spend. I agree with my bro and my freind to have a good gaming rig you have to spend about $1000.00 but ive only spent about almost$700 on mine. thats because i spend lots of time shoping for low prices and good parts. waht i listed abouve is better than my comp. especially the X800pro it out performs my 6800 128mb video card by GeForce. Well i hope this was somewaht helpful to you. but if you dont have experiance building your own comp then i highly adivse you seek professional help with the assembly process. Have a good day.

P4 3.0ghz presscot
MSI 865PE Neo-3 mobo
2x 512mb G. Skill ram
6800 GeForce AGP

"then always shop with newegg.com"

I like newegg, too, but there are other good shops online. zipzoomfly comes to mind.

"go to ati.com for a video card. look under clearance section and you will find a refurbished X800pro for $179.00 PCI express version."

A 6800GS brand new is $200 and destroys the X800Pro.

"Intel Pentium 4 630 Prescot"

AMD Athlon 64 3200 Venice beats it in games rather easily, runs cooler, uses less power, overclocks substantially better, and costs less.

"NEC Beige IDE DVD Burner Model ND-3550A - OEM $ 38.99"

Go with a Lite On because it includes software to burn DVD's.

"Seagate Barracuda 7200.8 ST3250823AS 250GB 7200 RPM Serial ATA150"

Find a SATA2 (300M/sec) instead.

Please help survivors of Hurricane Katrina.

www.redcross.org

hero sypcho is right on the video card for the 6800GS it is a nice card and waht exactly waht i would have love to have gotten but im on abudget. as for the amd 3200 processor you mentioned it is cheaper but its only 2.0ghz on the amd website and it does not have a 2mb L2 cache i even double checked. in fact tomshardware.com dosent even have a 3200 venice listed on the processor comparison charts. but i have noticed the clawhammer and northwood versions of the 3200 maybe thats waht you meant. ill admit that the 3200 clawhammer slightly out does the P4 640 presscot but its not a godly increase. but yea still go with the 6800GS hes very right on that point its worth the extra bucks

P4 3.0ghz presscot
MSI 865PE Neo-3 mobo
2x 512mb G. Skill ram
6800 GeForce AGP

well i really do have to keep this thing on a budget, and ive been playing games on low quality settings all my life so that doesnt really bother me as long as they run, and 80 gb is fine for me becuase i have one right now in my computer and i still have 30 gigs left. i was lookin at the dfi's but on newegg the reviews had a lot of people having problems with ram compatibility and being DOA

and wow after seeing those frame rate comparisons on fear i think i really should get the 6800gt

To give an example of Zipzoomfly:

DFI N4 Ultra Mobo: $98
AMD 3200 +: $168.00
Thermaltake 430w: $44.50
Evga 6800GS: $209.99
Seagate 120GB SATA: $89.99
Corsair TwinX 1GB 3200: $105.00
Samsung Dual Layer DVD: $44.99

Total: $765.50/free 2nd day air shipping on all parts

Pick up the case locally. Shipping charges are high for cases. It is also a very important compenent that you should be able to touch in order to satisfy your needs.

So Give yourself about $70 for a quality case and the total is 835.50. About $150 more then you stated above. However, you are getting better stability and graphics out of the above components, a justifed price hike in my mind.

home page was hijacked byhttp://magicsearch.try this, if you have any backupregistry data files,merge them in to current , or if you have several , i did. i merged about 5 or six. rebboot. it has been

and do either of these mobos sound good

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813127221

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813136160

and i was lookin at the 6600gt, and how does it outperform the x800 when it has 4 less pipelines and only a 128 bit interface?

"as for the amd 3200 processor you mentioned it is cheaper but its only 2.0ghz on the amd website and it does not have a 2mb L2 cache i even double checked."

That's great, but Athlon 64's have integrated memory controllers, which gives them far superior memory i/o, even using DDR vs. DDR2 that Intel uses.

All Athlon 64's run at slower clock speeds than Intel's, and they still meet or exceed Intel in performance in most applications.

Look at any benchmarks comparing the two in any game, and the Athlon 64's beat comparable Intel's rather handedly.

"ill admit that the 3200 clawhammer slightly out does the P4 640 presscot but its not a godly increase."

A. A Venice is the same except it adds SSE3 as well as runs cooler, etc.

B. Go look at some benchmarks. Comparable models of Athlon 64's beat Intel chips in games, often by significant margins...and they cost less, too.

"i was lookin at the dfi's but on newegg the reviews had a lot of people having problems with ram compatibility and being DOA"

They were probably using crap RAM, or you are looking specifically at the LANParty, which has an incredible amount of options to tweak for overclocking, which novices have a hard time setting up correctly. This is not the board's fault. The Infiniti series will work great for you.

"and wow after seeing those frame rate comparisons on fear i think i really should get the 6800gt"

Go with a GS. They're only $200 and are for all intents and purposes equal to the 6800GT in performance.

"So Give yourself about $70 for a quality case and the total is 835.50."

$70 + $40 for the Thermaltake power supply vs. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811129155

I'll take the nice case with a 450W for $95, Alex...

"do either of these mobos sound good"

No and no. You want something with an NForce4 Ultra chipset.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813136163

Check www.zipzoomfly as they may have it cheaper.

"and i was lookin at the 6600gt, and how does it outperform the x800 when it has 4 less pipelines and only a 128 bit interface?"

I was speaking to the 6800GS. The X800 is a better card than the 6600GT. But the 6800GS will destroy both of them. However, given your budget, you probably can't get the 6800GS.

Please help survivors of Hurricane Katrina.

www.redcross.org

and i was just looking at the 6800xt, would it be better than the 660gt cuz it has more pipelines and 256 bit interface?

Some people just don't know good advice when they see it....

This space for rent

what are you talkin about??? i have to keep this thing cheap

"what are you talkin about??? i have to keep this thing cheap"

See this is a problem. I have learned from much advice here that when it comes to computer parts "you get what you pay for".

What we are trying to do here is (I hope that Jam and Hero are with me on this) is give you advice for the cheapest system possible with quality parts. The last thing you want is crap part that is not supported by the manufacuturer or is shoddy out of the box.

DFI, Seagate, Evga, etc., all have reputations for outstanding products and customer service. This is something you probably won't find with ECS, etc.

home page was hijacked byhttp://magicsearch.try this, if you have any backupregistry data files,merge them in to current , or if you have several , i did. i merged about 5 or six. rebboot. it has been

ASRock Dual SATA $72.00 or so with shipping http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813157081&ATT=13-157-081&CMP=OTC-pr1c3grabb3r

I bought an AMD socket 939 3500+ Newcastle with HSF used off ebay for $125.00 (a buy it now recently listed, if you find a good buy it wont be there long) with shipping should be able to get at least a 3000+ Winchester or Venice core for about the same price they run a little cooler, and draw less power with their smaller core

Antec case with 400W Power Supply $93.00 with shipping after rebate http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811129155

Go with the 6600GS at $209.00 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814130258&ATT=14-130-258&CMP=OTC-pr1c3grabb3r

I bought a 250GB Hitachi Deskstar SATA 150 bare drive in sealed bag, had about 20 months left on the warranty for $55.00 with shipping (good luck i had to check buy it nows recently listed for a couple of weeks before I found a good score)

Corsair Value Select for about $73.00 with shipping http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=80098-21&affiliate=pricegrabber

And I come to a grand total of $627.00 bucks
without keyboard, mouse, speakers, monitor, OS etc.