$2,000 budget ... build a system

[instant000]

ok, i have a 2,000 budget

but, i've been away from gaming so long, i don't know what's good like i used to
does one still trust anything that says voodoo? or has it changed?

i want to get back into gaming

but, i want a system that will last 2 or 3 years prior to obsolence

i know that ram is cheap now

what do you recommend?

i know some of you gamers have good ideas of

which moboard to buy, which video card to buy (crucial decision here)
which sound card to buy (if video and sound aren't on same card ... but, i actually care less about sound than i do video ... don't know why)

which gamepad to buy

agp or not agp? how much ram on the video card itself?

how many slots should my board have?
what kind of modem?

i already have speakers and a monitor

but, if anyone wants to respond to this post, i wouuld greatly appreciate it

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I came, I saw, but I did not conquer

 

[tarez]

You got email....

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When in doubt break out the sledge hammer....

Join the JJR512 [email protected] team

 

[instant000]

yeah, my e-mail is [email protected]

and, i could use a reply, thanks

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I came, I saw, but I did not conquer

 

[jankerson]

That's a pretty fat budget.

You have a monitor and speakers.

Video card: Gforce 3 (gainward)

HD WD or IBM 40 or 60gig

Sony cdrom

Sony,LG or HP CDRW

As far as everything else you have to decide between AMD and Intel.

There I am not saying anything, I have my own views on which platform to get.

One thing I will say though is look at the support forums and see who is haveing the most issues, or problems and who isn't.

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P3 933
512 mb
Intel D815epea MB
40gig WD 7200
12x DVD
12x8x32 cdrw
Elsa 64mb GForce-2mx 400
300w PS
19" Monitor
SMC, Linksys NICS
Win 2000 SP2

P2 400
256mb ram
13g WD
Win 2000/SP2

[This message has been edited by jankerson (edited 08-18-2001).]

 

[MoodyBlue]

You have been away from gaming awhile.

 

[tarez]

Did you get my email?

------------------
When in doubt break out the sledge hammer....

Join the JJR512 [email protected] team

 

[instant000]

no, i did not get an e-mail

please try again

[email protected]



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I came, I saw, but I did not conquer

 

[tarez]

Sent it again from both my email addresses

------------------
When in doubt break out the sledge hammer....

Join the JJR512 [email protected] team

 

[QuestionableK]

Tarez is awesome at getting the best parts at the cheapest price =D

[This message has been edited by QuestionableK (edited 08-20-2001).]

 

[Arris]

A7M266 Asus motherboard.
256DDR Ram
Nice fast hard disk. IBM or Fujitsu probably about 40 gig or 2x20gig.
Turtle Beach Santa Cruz sound card.
19" Sony monitor.
ASUS, Leadtek Or Gainward GF3... or wait a little while and get a Radeon 8500.
Do a search on this forum for Radeon 8500 and Geforce3 and have a read of the info you find.


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Athlon 1Ghz
Gigabyte GA-7IXE4 Motherboard
ASUS 8200 Geforce 3 Pure
Aureal Vortex2 Quad
3x 128Mb PC133
Logitech i-Touch cordless key&mouse
17" Monitor of unknown type

 

[tarez]

Thanks for the kind words QuestionableK

------------------
When in doubt break out the sledge hammer....

Join the JJR512 [email protected] team

 

[mungorocks]

get a 486 with 4 mb of ram

you can't go worng

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ME: Hello Support?
NON IT BOD: My computers dead.
ME: Did you kick a plug out?
NON IT BOD: No
Me walks over and low and behold, plug kicked out

 

[Jough]

Enlite case and 300W PSU buy locally for $80 tax included(or get hit with $20 shipping)

shuttle AK31 mobo $95
1.4 gig Athlon $150
fan $20
256 Meg DDR Kingston $48
IBM 7200rpm 40 Gig HDD $110
(consider buying the better IBM for an extra $40)
16x DVD/48x CD-ROM $55
12/10/32 CDR/W $88
key/mouse $25
Hardware Modem $38
Turtle Beach Santa Cruz $70 (or SB live value & save $25)
Kyro2 64Meg video $115
Win 98/ME $95
shipping $30
case fan $6

That totals around $1025. Find a cheap 19" monitor locally for under $250 (on sale) and your still under $1300. Then go out and buy a half dozen games for $200. I think if you spend much more than this on a system, you are just pissing your money away. You could even spend more and get less. The performance difference between having spent $1300 and $2000 will make little difference to you 2 years from now - but the $700 you saved might. BTW, I priced this out at mwave.com - you could do better on some individual component at other places(like newegg), but mwave is pretty good when you want to do all your internet shopping at one place.

DOH! forgot the all important 1.44M floppy drive.

 

[IcarusDC]

ok well i know you can get this:

- Athlon 1.4 Tbird for 121+shipping
- any OS im sure you can get ...without purchasing....perhaps...

Just my opinion...LOL




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I shall call him...Minnie me!!!

 

[instant000]

ahh, thanks for all of your suggestions, people

good, inexpensive suggestions

and, so far, no one has suggested pentium
heh, why not? i guess performance counts more
than commercial hype, eh?

hahaha, thanks for educating me on that voodoo situation, tarez, hehe, made me look like a looney tune mentioning voodoo

ok, another off-the-wall question

how much ram do these oses reserve for themselves?

the os's i'm curious about are : win2k, win98se, and winMe

how much ram do they want to take for themselves? and how are each at releasing resources after program termination? (or is there some utility that fixes that problem?)

thanks in advance, i'm sure you people will give good responses

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I came, I saw, but I did not conquer

 

[outside looking in]

win2k likes 256MB to run smoothly, although 128 will work. I'd recommend 256 minimum for win2k.

win98 will operate smoothly on 128MB, but at current prices, I'd recommend 256MB for a little speed boost. 384MB is probably the largest amount that will show much performance gain, and win98 doesn't like anything above 512MB without editing registry settings, and it's pointless anyway (for most users)

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Those who fear the facts will forever try to discredit the fact finders. - Daniel C. Dennett

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Dual Palomino @ 1.9 GHz
3 X15 Cheetah's in Raid
2GB DDR SDRAM CAS 2 @ 400 MHz
Radeon II
smokin' crack...

 

[Tomschaft]

if you have a $2,000 go for 512mb.

 

[Arris]

http://www.alienware.com/x/sector/systems/gaming_main.asp

Need I say anything about this?

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Athlon 1Ghz
Gigabyte GA-7IXE4 Motherboard
ASUS 8200 Geforce 3 Pure
Aureal Vortex2 Quad
3x 128Mb PC133
Logitech i-Touch cordless key&mouse
17" Monitor of unknown type

 

[Bennyboy]

I see your point Jough, but if the man's got $2000 to spend on a PC and wants something top-notch then he can get it. Seeing as he wants to game, at least a GF3 is a pre-requisite with that budget. And also, why skimp on a cheap keyboard/mouse for $25 or a monitor for $250, get some quality components, especially for the main interface with the machine. It may not give you extra 'performance', but personally I'd trade a few MHz/fps for a better monitor or mouse. It's good that he doesn't have to compromise though. Also, I would have thought SCSI would be a serious option at this price.

 

[Jough]

Bennyboy, I'm just a tightwad