Simviation Forums

Thanks !

The problem is that I'm drowning in websites already with pricing comparisonsbut no product performance info, and others with reviews.....TONS of reviews.

I was trying to find a simple "Consumer Reports" type of chart that shows in each category, all the products, the specs, ratings (in stars, ***** or some equally vague, but to the point representation of quality and performance), and a reference price average.

That, or a thread somewhere with the concensus of the best boards & chips, cards, etc.

I think I've got the video figured out now from your earlier posts, but still in a quagmire over mobos & CPUs.

It's enough to make a guy go to Best Buy and buy a package system!

power supply: 300 watts minimum

motherboard: Leadtek K7NCR18D (~80 US $)

CPU: AMD Athlon 2000+ (~65 US $ (maybe 25$ extra for a cooler))

HDD: your choice, but choose one with 7200rpm

Video Card: ATI 9500pro/9700 or Geforce FX 5600/ultra

Burner: every burner is able to record audio CDs ,it depends on the burning software you use.

i don't know how much those components cost exactly,so take a look at those links,which swanny posted before.

get a 7200 RPM 60 GB and a 15000 RPM 18.6 GB  :-P jk, dont get the 15000 RPM they are awesome, but very very expensive

...and loud and hot.

Thanks Guys!

no problem,pal!

The more I know the less I know!

umm...okay:

-the so-called Front Side Bus is the connection between the CPU and the memory.

-high FSB frequency = better performance

- the FSB is fully downwards compatible (this means you can run a FSB 266 CPU on a FSB 333 board)

no,the L2-cache and the FSB-speed won't make any big difference, maybe just 3 to 5 per cent.

yes ,the clock speed does make some difference,but don't look at the true clock speed of the athlons,they're a bit confusing.an Athlon XP  2500+ is as fast as a P4 2.5ghz,althouch the Athlon has a clock speed of just 1.8ghz.

unboxed: just the CPU,no extra equipment (like a cooler or something like that).

boxed: CPU with cooler.

no problem with the bundle,it's okay,there won't be any problems between the Athlon and the motherboard.

can you give me a pic of the motherboard?

u beat me to it Silent *angry look on face*

btw dont get an 800FSB, as you may have noticed, it will cost you ur entire budget  ::)

Take a look at my computer specs at the bottom of this post. Mine is a low budget mid end system. Shop around for parts. You can often get used ones or even trade in allowances on old ones. Ebay is also an excellent place to start for things such as sound and video cards. Most stuff can be installed by your self. The only things that I would recomend that you do not install on your own are the motherboard, CPU, and RAM as these are all highly sensitive to heat, moisture, and static electricity. If you do not want to buy off the internet, just simply collect the lowest prices you can find on various online stores (except eBay because most stuff is used). Total your prices and phone up as many computer stores in your area and haggle and get them to go down to your price or even lower.

Silent Exploader's info is good. I've always heard AMD's are faster than Pentiums. I'm going to see if I can trade in my Duron for an Athlon XP 2000 but I doubt I'll get much of a Trade-in Allowance.

A good place to goo is www.tomshardware.com as he rates CPU's and other computer equipment. You may wish to try the ECS K7S5A mainboard which uses AMD processors up to an XP2000. It's one of the better value boards.

Here ya go Pixelpilot,

My previous posts.


http://www.simviation.com/cgi-bin/yabb/ ... 1056316345

http://www.simviation.com/cgi-bin/yabb/ ... 1056305973


Well, I've gone and kept the AMD system. It's simply better at running sims.

My best advice is, whatever you do, get the best mainboard you can, it doesn't have to be expensive, or any particular brand, just get the best chipset for your money, and any features you require.

If it isn't a board that supports dual channel memory, forget it. The nVidia nForce2 and Intel 865PE chipsets are fine. Both have AC'97 Audio codec which does not like MS Sidewinder FFB Pro (the previous generation) in WinXP.

The AMD XP2600+ should be found at a budget price. No
need for a Barton here. Just make sure if you go AMD that you get a mainboard that supports the new 400 mhz CPU's for a possible future upgrade. My Soltek does.

Happy Hunting!

Thanks guys!  Lots of useful info!

I think you all answered most of my questions!

I have one other that came up today that I'll throw out there.  I'm donating my Craptronic (see below) to my ex to use as a high speed word processor.  To give her the "go back in time to before you screwed up the entire sytem" feature, I'm wanting to install WinXP on it.  It meets all the tests, except an outdated BIOS code (1999)

VIA Technologies, Inc. VT82C597
AMD K6-2 4*100
Apollo MVP3-596-W877
Current BIOS: Award Software International, Inc. 4.51 PG 08/25/99

I've been to driver.com, and a few other sites looking for a bios flash download but all want to sell me a new chip.    Any suggestions?