GameBanshee Forums

I've finally persuaded mes parents to cough up for a new computer, and by some miracle, persuaded them to let me build my own I figured it would be helpful to run it by the techies here ( ) to see if there was anything glaringly obviously wrong with it/compatability issues, and to answer the few questions I have.


AMD Athlon 64 3200
512Mb 400DDR Ram
Socket 754 Motherboard
(note, these are part of a motherboard bundle from the site, so are inseperable)
Details

400MHZ 184Pin 512MB DDR Ram
Details

Diamondmax 80Gb 7200Rpm HDD
Details

Geforce FX5200 128Mb graphics card

52X Cdrom Drive
16xDVD 52x CD recordable Disc Drive

Generic Mouse/Keyboard/Monitor
Case... Undecided.

I don't plan to use it for reaaallly serious gaming, but will the graphic card hold up if I decide to?
Also, Is XP Home acceptable? Should I fork out for MS Office, Or use a different, freeware office suite? Also, If i choose XP Home, Do I need XP Home OEM, or XP Home Full version?

Many Thanks
Giles

You forgot the A drive or the disk drive. That graphics card should be really good. I have a Geforce4 and it runs every game possible. I can't think of anything else you might need. Maybe an extra fan.

Disk Drive is already accounted for And another fan is also easily obtained. I was worried that the extra stick of RAM might not fit, does the motherboard have enough slots?

The motherboard bundle says 3x DDR - so that would mean you can fit in 3 DDR memory ram chips. That should be fine for your ram requirements. I am not sure what socket type or chip set means. So will have to wait for a techie to answer that.

I'm not a techie, but...

Basically, the newer AMD chips use 939, but they still make 754 pin processors. It only has to do with processors and mobos really, in terms of compatability. If the mobo and processor came bundled, I'd like to be able to trust the shop to know what they are selling.

I'm pretty sure that card should be fine if you dont expect perfect detail. But u might like to get an extra 512mb ram -- it makes most programs faster, load times shorter, etc. Work or play. But make sure the two sticks are at least matched in speed -- 400mHz.

I dont think theres a huge difference between Home and Pro, but there are some nice extras... and I dont think the prices are too different. OEM just means there is less stuff in the box -- essentially, its aimed at businesses. Its cheaper because there is not much more than the cd... so you dont pay for anything but the cd. The program is the exact same, however.

I'm pretty sure that card should be fine if you dont expect perfect detail. But u might like to get an extra 512mb ram -- it makes most programs faster, load times shorter, etc. Work or play. But make sure the two sticks are at least matched in speed -- 400mHz.

You mean I should get more than the 512 in the bundle and the extra 512 I ordered?

Basically, the newer AMD chips use 939, but they still make 754 pin processors. It only has to do with processors and mobos really, in terms of compatability. If the mobo and processor came bundled, I'd like to be able to trust the shop to know what they are selling.

Well, I ordered from Novatech.co.uk and i've only heard good things about them, so fingers crossed....

My order has been placed, and should arrive tuesday

If you have a gig of RAM, that should more than enough

Maybe when Bill Gates releases the next generation of windows, we might begin needing more than 1 gig of RAM

I'm personally going to do an overhaul of my system just before Oblivion is released. The FX5200 is a great lil graphics card. Like CM, I have a GeForce 4 ti4200 which runs any game on the market today (maybe not top settings ) but an FX5200 will suffice for lite gaming.

Being the greedy bastard I am, I upgraded the 5200 to the FX5500. Was this a sensible choice?

The Geforce 5500 is only marginally faster than the 5200, and both will lag on anything graphics intensive. I think even Morrowind will lag with settings set to full.

Hmmm... well... I can always upgrade later. Seems unfair to make my parents pay for a top spec graphics card, when it isn't exactly necesary.

[QUOTE=memimo]I dont think theres a huge difference between Home and Pro, but there are some nice extras... and I dont think the prices are too different. OEM just means there is less stuff in the box -- essentially, its aimed at businesses. Its cheaper because there is not much more than the cd... so you dont pay for anything but the cd. The program is the exact same, however.[/QUOTE]

XP Home is lame when it comes to networking. There are a multitude of differences which can be found via the Internet, particularly Microsoft's site.

OEM software is bundled with a computer. The point is to buy a pre fab system with software already installed on the computer. The downfall to OEM software is that it is bound to the computer it ships with. It isn't legal to install it on any other machine even if you trash the machine and buy a new one. The benefit to OEM software is that it is the cheapest full version end users/businesses can buy without going to a manufacturer/developer yourself and ordering licenses by the truckload.



Giles, I haven't built a computer for a while but you're doing right if you spend about 150-175 USD for a video card. Again, it depends on your applications, but at such a price value, there won't be much along the line of gaming you'll have trouble with. I'll refrain from making a specific vid card recommendation, however, I avoid ATI at all costs. I wouldn't use one of their cards if I was paid, just my opinion and probably extreme but my experiences have all been bad both in the home and the business markets.

Temperature is always a factor when going AMD, make sure you've got enough cooling going on. A case is more important than you think. You don't want to be frying that power supply.

Seems unfair to make my parents pay for a top spec graphics card, when it isn't exactly necesary.

Can they spare $200?

Giles, I haven't built a computer for a while but you're doing right if you spend about 150-175 USD for a video card. Again, it depends on your applications, but at such a price value, there won't be much along the line of gaming you'll have trouble with

The Geforce 5200 costs less than $80 USD. (If you are paying any more than that, you got cheated)

I'll refrain from making a specific vid card recommendation, however, I avoid ATI at all costs. I wouldn't use one of their cards if I was paid, just my opinion and probably extreme but my experiences have all been bad both in the home and the business markets.

There are many of us who have had great experience with ATI, while Nvidia has no shortage of problems when it comes to drivers.

Temperature is always a factor when going AMD, make sure you've got enough cooling going on. A case is more important than you think. You don't want to be frying that power supply.

Sorry, AMD processors have been cooler than Intel processors for more than a year now. Take the Athlon 64 3000+ (90nm) and the Intel P4 3.0E (90nm - not including the new "J"), the Athlon 64 usually stays below 40C, while the Pentium 4 regularly exceeds 60C, with both on the standard fan.

Not to mention the fact that AMD's reputation as having hot CPUs is stemmed from the overclocking community . All AMDs will run just fine on stock cooling.

Well... Everythings at the warehouse and waiting on dispatch!

A few quick questions...

PCI slots seem to be mentioned alot... What exactly are these, and what goes into them?
If i decide to Mod my case, i.e add cold cathodes/led's, where does the power come from for these? Will there be extra somethings on the PSU?

PCI slots are expansion slots for cards like sound card, network card, etc.

The power of the LEDs may or may not come from the PSU.

The power of the LEDs may or may not come from the PSU.

Waaaay helpful

Will 4 PCI slots be enough?

4 is usually enough for a home user... Tbh you'll probably only use one for the modem/ethernet card. Maybe one for a sound card (your mobo may have onboard sound).

Cathodes and such generally are hooked up to the PSU. If you buy a good quality PSU, there will be more than enough power cables for extra fans, LEDs and what not

slots

Make sure the mobo has an fast AGP slot in addition to PCI slots. If you can get your hands on PCI-Express slots, try to... It amazes me to no end that people will upgrade to a Gigabit Pci Ethernet card, when the limit to a Pci slot is around 100 meg.