TR Forums

Vrock · Mon Dec 12, 2005 9:32 am

So, my Mom and stepfather have an aging Dell PIII 800 with a Geforce 2 AGP card and 256mb of RAM....running WinME. Stepdad wants to play COD2 on the machine...I explained to him why that wasn't gonna happen, and offered to build him a new box for $650 that would be a competent gamer. He accepted.

Here's what I've ALREADY ORDERED. So if you think it sucks, IT'S TOO LATE, so please keep it to yourself :wink:

Antec SLK1650 case w/ 350 trupower ATX 2.0 PSU: $78.32
Asus A8N-VM motherboard: $75.00
Cosair Value Select 1 GB Dual Channel Kit: $73.13
Athlon 64 3200+ Venice retail box: $168
WD Caviar WD800JD 80GB Serial ATA drive: $55.50
Windows XP Home OEM w/ SP 2: $78.00
================================
Total including shipping: $527.95

He got a DVD burner for Christmas last year, so I'm going to transfer that from the Dell into the new computer. So basically I have $122 left for a video card. Yes, the A8N-VM has GF6100 onboard, but that's not going to cut COD2. Was planning on saving some cash on the processor, but Venice Athlon 64 3000s are now rarer then hen's teeth, it seems. Ah well.

I can get a 6600GT for $125 and come out three bucks over budget....what else am I missing? I'm willing to go to $150 for a vid card. Should I look for something else besides the 6600GT? 6800 XT, perhaps, or something from the Red Camp? Thanks.

derFunkenstein · Mon Dec 12, 2005 9:38 am

I think the only way you'd get a competing ATi card that matches in price and performance in your range is to go back a generation and scout around for a Radeon 9800...seems that they can be had for about $150, but I personally had to answer that question a while back and went with a 6600GT...I am not disappointed.

ah, here's a 9800Pro at NewEgg:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6814102477

edit: i changed the link from the OEM/bulk version to the regular version. Saves you $2 in the process.

Vrock · Mon Dec 12, 2005 9:40 am

Well, it has to be PCIe, though.

LicketySplit · Mon Dec 12, 2005 9:42 am

With that PSU the 6600GT is prolly a good choice. Its going to be funny when you fire it up and find out your xpm is lagging behind :lol:

derFunkenstein · Mon Dec 12, 2005 9:42 am

Hi, I'm an idiot. I knew that. :oops:

edit: what about a vanilla-style X800?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6814129047

Dude...*I* might jump on that.

Vrock · Mon Dec 12, 2005 10:25 am

LicketySplit wrote:
With that PSU the 6600GT is prolly a good choice. Its going to be funny when you fire it up and find out your xpm is lagging behind

Yeah, I had thought about that. :roll:

Thanks for rubbing it in! :lol:

Vrock · Mon Dec 12, 2005 10:27 am

derFunkenstein wrote:
Hi, I'm an idiot. I knew that.

edit: what about a vanilla-style X800?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6814129047

Dude...*I* might jump on that.

Too late...it's out of stock. I'm guessing it would beat the 6600GT in everything except Doom/Quake 4, huh?

LicketySplit · Mon Dec 12, 2005 10:41 am

ZipZoomFly has it for $110 after $30 MIR :wink:

http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDe ... e=shopping

Vrock · Mon Dec 12, 2005 10:44 am

LicketySplit wrote:
ZipZoomFly has it for $110 after $30 MIR

http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDe ... e=shopping

That's where I ordered everything else from (except the Windows CD). They're better than Newegg, IMO.

Yeah...I hate rebates though. I guess I could get the girlfriend to process it. What I really want to see is a X800 vs. a 6600GT review now. Hmmm.

LicketySplit · Mon Dec 12, 2005 10:51 am

Dont show them head to head..but read it here on you own home grown TR.

http://techreport.com/reviews/page.x?pg=graphics

Joeg_7 · Mon Dec 12, 2005 11:13 am

this will show them head to head
http://techreport.com/reviews/2005q1/sa ... dex.x?pg=1

Vrock · Mon Dec 12, 2005 11:23 am

Well, the X800 looked pretty good against the 6600GT, but I just pulled the trigger on this:

http://www.actbuy.com/details.asp?item=AS10X6600GT

Shopping's done. Total: $651.99. Not bad.

Ragnar Dan · Mon Dec 12, 2005 11:24 am

You could've saved some money if you bought the processor at mwave.com. I can't figure out what the difference between the 2 listed is, though, except the second one lists what it calls the stepping (E4) for an extra $1.

ZZF is usually pretty good, but sometimes they overcharge for things. I notice newegg has raised the price on the 3200 to the same as ZZF's, so I doubt mwave's price will last for much longer.

Joeg_7 · Mon Dec 12, 2005 11:28 am

axeman wrote:
Joeg_7 wrote:
this will show them head to head
http://techreport.com/reviews/2005q1/sa ... dex.x?pg=1

Besides the fact the OpenGL results are dated, I believe ATi has improved OpenGL performance pretty significantly since then.

not really only on the x1000 line. there have been slight improvements in the x800 family though. the new memory controllers on the x1000 cards are what helped the opengl numbers.

Vrock · Mon Dec 12, 2005 11:30 am

Ragnar Dan wrote:
You could've saved some money if you bought the processor at mwave.com.

$168 shipped from ZZF or $161.20 shipped from Mwave. Yeah, so I'm out $6.80. Oh well.

If I hadn't been forced to buy Win XP for this build, that $78 bucks would've gone straight into a 6800GS. But, what can you do? Gotta have an OS.

Thanks for everybody's input. T/R is the best.

TR Forums

The $650 Competent Computer

The $650 Competent Computer

Who is online