Can Someone please tell me if these computer parts are worth the money?

That looks to me like a pretty good combo, especially for a custom computer but if you're wanting a custom i would recommend a case from here http://colorcases.com/cases.htm They are very high in quality and performance, I have three of them and trust me on this when i say you will not be disappointed.
Good luck.

I wasn't very happy with my Gateway either. So, I called them about a upgrade recently(about three weeks ago). They gave me a PIV 3.0 Ghtz processor and motherboard for 380.00. Then, I added 1Ghtz memory for 250.00 and a MGE clear blue case for 79.00. And, PIV power supply with Blue LED fan for 39.00. I had a blast assembling everything but it was sort of scary. Luckily, I didn't drop my hard drives. . It's real fun when you customize your own system. And, this thing rocks now. What's lag?

bunch of killer cases there, but i dont really care about how it looks as long as it has good performace.

What's lag?

Lag is what someone like me gets

...me i would definately look at a 64 bit machine ...

second get a monitor that has a lower rise and fall time. 16 ms is abt the fastest you will find . ive seen many times where the monitor is not fast enough to keep up with the rest of the computer. this is expecially cruical for gamers ..

third try a DI-604 made by Dlink.. is inexpencive and one of the better routers for gaming .. imo...


also if your serious about gaming .. get this hdd http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=721846 install os and games only,on it .. use other hdd's to install other stuff and storage .(most progs ask for an instalation directory . you can change it to drive D for example and have most other progs installed to it)........this hdd at 3.2 ms seek time smokes and will make a mass difference in your pcs gaming performance ....and it is easy on the pocket book......


remember your pc is only as fast as its slowest piece of hardware.....
i hope this helps

Not to be blunt ChasUGC but you wasted alot of money.

I agree with HG_Eliminator - 64 bit machines are to way to go.

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1. There are other websites like newegg.com that also have pretty good deals on computer hardware if you''re still looking for some.

2. I''m not sure I''ll vouch for a Soyo motherboard. My bf''s brother bought one a few years ago, and it was having problems close to one year of usage. I prefer MSI motherboards. Personal preference.

3. Make sure you find out what video card they''re talking about. I recommend, personally, the nvidia geforce fx 5900 graphics card ($200 tops). That''s pretty darn close to top of the line so you should have pretty good graphics and you can play just about every game you want on it without trouble and it costs a lot less than ATI. (You might find ATI people suggesting an ATI card. It''s really up to you.)

4. I really do not think you need a 400 watt power supply. I have a 300 watt on my system and it works just fine. 400 watt power supply just end up using a lot of power that you may not need.

5. That LCD is nice, but my boyfriend recently bought himself a GEM from Fry''s Electronics. That monitor costs about $350 after mail-in rebates and it was 18" instead of 17". You might want to look around if you want more bang for the buck. (Suggestion: always go physically look at the lcd before purchase. Some lcd monitors are blurry).

6. I''m not sure about US. Robotics as a router, but I think a LinkSys is one of the best brands out there...or was that D-Link... I''ll have to get back to you on that.

Basically, it boils down to all of this..

Computer cases cost about $70-$120 depending on what you want.

Motherboards cost about $50-$250 dollars depending on what you want. Some might actually even be higher than $250.

Processor (I recommand AMD Athlon XP) stands at 2500+ for $85, 3200+ for
$190, and so on and so forth.

Harddrive = http://shop1.outpost.com/category/Outpost/Hard+Drives+&+Memory/Hard+Drives/Internal+Retail+Kits/Parallel+ATA that should help a bit to give you a price range on what you want and what you might be able to get. A note, however, on the harddrives. Some BIOS in computers cannot recognize harddrives that are bigger than, I think, 130gigs unless you have a converter card of some sort (harddrives bigger than 130 comes with it I think. If not, it shouldn''t be too hard to get one.)

RAM = Here''s a link to let you see what options there are. Keep in mind though, that newegg.com might also have better prices. http://shop1.outpost.com/category/Outpost/Hard+Drives+&+Memory/Memory/Desktop+Memory/DDR+PC3200 I personally use Mushkin since I believe it''s one of the best rams out there. They are quite a bit more pricy than others.

CD-RW and DVD drives really just depends who you get. Sony is definitely going to be premium price.

Grahpics Card is really the main part. The card I had suggested above(nvidia geforce fx 5900 is about $200. nvidia geforce fx 5950 (not much of an upgrade) is about $300. nvidia geforce fx 5700 is about 160, if I''m not mistaken. It might have dropped in price again for all I know. ATI cards, anything in the 9600+ range might cost between $250-$400. I''m not absolutely sure on that, so you''ll have to ask ATI fans for information there.

Sound Card - I use onboard sound. I can''t give you much advice there, sorry =/

I just wanted to add that for a fully loaded computer, that was a good deal that you found. If you like it, all I can say is, go for it. Even if you had to replace the grahpics card, it''s a good deal. You can always recycle old parts from your old computer to save cash. This is why I love a desktop pc instead of a laptop. I don''t have to buy a brand new one every 4 years.
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Thanks everyone. Thanks for the great advice Elfkura.

Nah, there are many people here who can offer better advice. They just haven't shown themselves yet.

I only have one preference Asus Motherboards can't kill'em. Every person's motherboard preference is based on personal experience, your mileage may vary Also before you decide on a PSU consider future power needs. This link http://www.jscustompcs.com/power_supply/ will help. I'm using an Antec 430W PSU and will probably have to jump to a 500W when I upgrade my sound and video. For a lot of info on PC hardware go to http://www.tomshardware.com/index.html Tom's Hardware Guide. For a general idea of what things cost go to http://www.pricewatch.com/ PriceWatch.

Not to be blunt ChasUGC but you wasted alot of money.

That maybe be true, Kona. But, how many Pentium 4 3.0 Ghtz systems with
1 GB DDR Ram, Platinum 5.1 Soundblaster card, 5.1 Cambridge speakers, TV card, 128 ATI Video, 60 GB, and 30 GB Hard drives, WinXP pro OS, DVD and Plextor 40x CR/RW, Wireless Keyboard and wireless Optical mouse, and a Blue acrylic case with neon blue fans, can you find for under $750.00? With a 19" CRT monitor and external 120 GB hard drive included? Hmm.

I really do not think you need a 400 watt power supply. I have a 300 watt on my system and it works just fine.

Nope, it won''t work. A PIII power supply, as he has, is not compatible with a PIV system. Remember, I just tried it. The plugs aren''t the same.

The card I had suggested above(nvidia geforce fx 5900 is about $200. nvidia geforce fx 5950 (not much of an upgrade) is about $300. nvidia geforce fx 5700 is about 160, if I''m not mistaken.

Nope, I found out a while ago, when I was purchasing my new video card after my problematic Nvidia card crashed, that Nvidia does not sell retail video cards. Their cards come packaged with new systems. This way Nvidia does not have to offer any support when their video cards break down. From what I found out about my Nvidia card is that they last the length of the two year warrranty and then normally break down. I found a website where many customers complain about Nvidia Cards. This is why a lot of computer manufacturers are switching to ATI. This is also why I''ll never buy another Nvidia card.
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Also, a PIII case is not compatible with a PIV system. Again the plugs aren''''t the same. It was a nightmare for me. Gateway assured me that my RAM, case, and Power supply were compatible. I got the definitive from Intel, none of those things are compatible. Those guys were great. They gave me free support to help me get my system up and running. It was basically just good business practice. Otherwise, I would have sent the motherboard and processor back to Gateway. But, it was great help to a consumer and much appreciated.

Sure, the ATX configuration is the same. So, the screws lined up properly with the holes on the case for the motherboard. But, the back panel was different. And, my Gateway case didn''''t have a pop out back panel like the newer PIV cases. So, I tried Dremeling it. Once I spent two hours making the cutout back look nice, I found out that the plugs just wouldn''''t work on the case. The 380.00 price was great. But, thanks to Gateway''s lack of knowledge, or outright misrepresentation, I had to spend $300.00 more to make it work. Maybe I should sue.
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If you want good prices and service for computer parts, try http://www.mwave.com (mwave.com). I bought my barebones PC there...been shopping for PC parts there for a few years now.

ChasUGC - The point is that you could have saved alot of money with a AMD setup. And as everyone knows, a AMD Athlon XP 3200+ CPU out performs a 3 Ghz P4. Better yet a AMD FX 51 OR 53 makes the P4 look like childs play and both are 64 bit.

Be that as it may, please don't think I am picking on you nor trying to start a flame war as I am not.

Everybody has a choice so each to his own.

Personally I could build your sytem for less if I did the whole thing from ebay.

ok for gaming .. if your an extremest like me ..(been online gaming for over 9 years) ...

CPU... AMD 64 bit amd 53fx series,

Main board... Azus, MSI are top line boards,,, soyo? i had 2 burn out in 6 mos.. i stay clear of them my self ....

HDD... any ultra 320 scsi . try to get a lower seek time (seek time includes head settling time)3.2 ms is about the fastest you will find. try to stay away from 33 66 or 100 ata hdds they are slower and are all but phased out ...133 ultra ata is the slowest i would try to run ..

Video card.... nividia fx5950 ultra 256 meg is the minimum i would go with ..me id go with a nividia 6800 ultra..it smokes ...but the price is hefty ...

Power supply .. 400 watts or better ..the more power the better.. as new hardware devices come out . they require more power .. it is better to have ample power to meet all the hardwares needs ..ive seen many smokin pcs that only ran fair because of inadequate power ...or just wouldnt run at all after hooking up that new toy...

Monitor.. while clairity is a must. remember performance is a gamers quest.. rise and fall times are the main #''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''s you need to watch ...

Sound card ...while sound cards dont really impact a pc''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''s gaming performance, it is nice to have good sound.
besides it helps if you can hear the enemy snecking up behind you

ON Board Video and Sound ... stay away from these .. you can buy a main board with them but dont use onboard sound or video. onboard sound and video share your pc''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''s ram and cpu, taking away from its performance... sound and video CARDS have built in ram and GPU''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''s(graphics processing units),Spu''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''s(Sound processing units)*for the lack of a better word*...these cards add to the pcs performance, not detract from it .

Case.. not much to say here .. but make sure it has plenty of fans. heat is a pc''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''s worst enemy (well that and kids with sodas).. a pc that is under cooled will eat up hardware fast as heck. 8 out of 10 pc''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''s i see in my shop heat is the main factor for hardware failure..
a word of advise.....Clean .. clean .. clean .. open case and blow out all fans and power supply and heat sinks. i get some in that havent been blown out since they were bought... the dust and dirt traps heat and jams fans (can you say bye bye cpu?) ....... a sugestion....look for case with removeable air filters... i added filters to the intake fans on my pc. it helped keep the dust out of the fans, and off the components... try liquid cooled case if available... ( man im glad i didnt have much to say on this subject)

OS.. 2000 pro/XP. either will work fine.. xp has a little better networking capabilities but is more the resource hog ... i will post a link to a site describeing what services you can disable to free up resources.on both XP and 200 pro..



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Thanks everyone

ChasUGC,

as long as you buy nvidia cards from Verto or BFG, they''ve got great tech support. I''ve never had a problem with nvidia. As for ATI, I don''t know where to start
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Video card.... nividia fx5950 ultra 256 meg is the minimum i would go with ..me id go with a nividia 6800 ultra..it smokes ...but the price is hefty ...

that's not true. 128mb nvidia geforce fx5900 is good enough for just about anything game related. I've been able to play games gamers couldn't play on their computers, and I'm not even much of a gamer.

yes but for the price the 5950 is the better deal .. now that nividia and ati have released their new, top line series .. prices have dropped imensely on the fx series ...and its my recomended minimum .. not everyones ...

and as far as onboard sound goes. I think my onboard sound is actually even better than some of the sound cards out there. I got a nice onboard sound feature. It all depends on your motherboard. Sound is only as good as your speakers.

Remember, this is a computer built to your needs, not something so overblown that it's going to cost you a pretty penny. You don't need -the best- computer out there, just something that'll work.

As far as the site complaining about nvidia, there are sites out there for people who want to complain about ATI.

he stated a pc built for gaming ..... in gaming performance is every thing. yes while your onboard sound may be better than some actual cards for quality .. it also eats up more Pc resources than a card will...thats a fact.
i was also posting from an extreme gamers point of view .. not the casual shooter...
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besides why not if you going to build a pc get the best out of it ...id rather spend a few extra $ now than have to spend another unforseen amount of cash next year building another pc cause my new/old stuff is no longer compatable ....been there done that ....
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Try this http://www.cyberpowersystem.com/or http://www.cpsolution.com

that should be http://www.cyberpowersystem.com
or http://cpusolutions.com