ebay computer, take a look

  • Thread starter Thread starter Falopo
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looks pretty solid for recording... good price and not lacking anything except for an operating system which would be another 100 or so unless you already have one..
 
That is a great price for what you get. It appears to be using a low end motherboard that I would be skeptical about. And one thing I wasn't clear on is it shows in the description that it includes a DVD drive and a CDRW drive but only one in the photo ?
 
The computer only has TWO open PCI slots.
You ARE going to at least use one more, and who knows about the other, think expansion.

It's got VIA chipset, that's apparently from what I hear here is the one chipset to try and avoid for home recording as most home recording gear (the pci interface aspect) usually has conflicts with via.

outside of recording the GF4MMX is a cheap card, so don't think it's a top one.

If you do go with that system DON'T buy their XP home for $99
You can get a better pro version for the same price (or cheaper) elsewhere.
(that is if you want to go with XP)

With that system you're really paying for the processor.
Because everything else on it are cheap components. Not that they're horrible. It's just if you actually priced them they are very cheap in price.

Don't pay more than $500 for it (including shipping)
unless you have money to throw around.

Also the PC doesn't look to have good ventalation for air in-take.
You'll at least want an one intake and one exaust to know it's nice and cool in there.

and that's about it.
 
I'd pass genereic shit.

Doesn't say what type of ram, or anything like that.
grrr
 
Via chipsets are fine in regards to specific chipsets (KT266a, KT333, KT400) and only when used with an AMD. Their chipsets for Intel are never recommended by any pro/semi-pro audio card manufacturer that I've ever seen. If you're going Intel, go with an Intel chipset.
 
I just threw this one together at newegg.com...a bit more pricey, but i think it'll be a lot better. The only thing is that you'll have to put it together.



ENERMAX Model# FS-501BBS (BLACK/SILVER) ATX 10-BAY MID-TOWER CASE w/ POWERUP 300W P-4 POWER SUPPLY - RETAIL
$45.00

Lite On 48x24x48 CDRW Model LTR-48246SBlack
$45.00

*BLACK* PANASONIC 1.44 MB DENSITY FLOPPY DISK DRIVE, MODEL # JU-256A-198P - OEM, DRIVE ONLY
$8.00

Maxtor 80GB 7200RPM Hard Drive Model # 6Y080L0 - OEM, DRIVE ONLY
$87.00

Crucial Micron 512MB 64x64 PC2100 DDR RAM, 184-Pin, CL=2.5-Unbuffered 2.5V, 6-Layers
$68.00

ASUS P4PE/L Motherboard for Intel P4 478 Retail w/ Intel Hyper-Threading Technology, Onboard LAN, SoundMAX Digital Audio System
$112.99

On Sale! Intel Pentium 4 2.4BGHz 512K 533MHz CPU Northwood P478 Processor Retail Box
$162.00

GAINWARD/CARDEXPERT GeForce 4 MX440SE
$52.00


Subtotal » $579.99
 
hey, thanks a lot for piecing together that computer. i was thinking about making one but i wasnt exactly sure all of the pieces i would need. so that list there is everything i would need.

does that case have room for expansion also?
I sort of need a dvd drive with my computer. the parts you listed only one drive which was a cdrw corrcect?

also, i have no experience putting together a computer, is it self explanatory with maybe a little reading up on stuff?
thanks again for your input.
 
one more thing, the only thing i wasnt sure about is the

"ASUS P4PE/L Motherboard for Intel P4 478 Retail w/ Intel Hyper-Threading Technology, Onboard LAN, SoundMAX Digital Audio System"

what exactly is that?
 
the hardest part is going to be putting the thermal greese/compound on the processor and then the heatsink on the processor. That's the really picky nervous part about putting together a system.

Arctic Silver 3 Thermal Compound *two thumbs up*!

not neccessary, but it'll make your cpu about 4-6 degrees cooler and it's better than the generic crap. It's not neccessary. I'm just a weirdo and stuff. /:

The rest of putting the system together is easy, and if you have any problems there's enough people to help here.

Then after it's set up it's just the boring part about installing software. But it's worth the effort, and then you could charge people and put PCs together for them after you show them the cool little beast you created for yourself!

or something...
 
Falopo said:
one more thing, the only thing i wasnt sure about is the

"ASUS P4PE/L Motherboard for Intel P4 478 Retail w/ Intel Hyper-Threading Technology, Onboard LAN, SoundMAX Digital Audio System"

what exactly is that?
Click to expand...

It's the motherboard (mainboard). It's the thing that holds all your components/processor/ram and determines your hardware expansion capability.

Hyper-Threading is I believe a new thing where it makes a single processor PC act as if it in a way has two processors and divides things. I'm not to hip to hyper-threading since it's an intel thing and I'm an AMD guy.

Onboard LAN is your Ethernet port. It's better that it's on-board it'll free up a PCI slot if you run a network or have broadband.

Soundmax Digital Audio is it's on-board audio system- obviously. I'm not sure how good that is.
 
"does that case have room for expansion also?"

Here's the picture of the motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/app/Showimage...29-07.JPG/13-131-429-06.JPG/13-131-429-08.jpg

It's got 6 pci slots and 1 agp (video card) slot, so there should be plenty of room for expansion

"I sort of need a dvd drive with my computer. the parts you listed only one drive which was a cdrw corrcect?"

Yes, it's a cdrw. A dvd drive will probably cost between $40 and $50. Definitely not a problem to add to this system

"also, i have no experience putting together a computer, is it self explanatory with maybe a little reading up on stuff?
thanks again for your input."

The motherboard should come with a manual that will walk you through the process. A friend of mine helped me put mine together, but after changing things around here and there inside my case, I'm pretty confident I can put one together...you'll probably have better luck with some of the "more experienced" folk on this board. IMHO, it shouldn't be that difficult.

"one more thing, the only thing i wasnt sure about is the

"ASUS P4PE/L Motherboard for Intel P4 478 Retail w/ Intel Hyper-Threading Technology, Onboard LAN, SoundMAX Digital Audio System"

what exactly is that?"

It's the motherboard. Seeing that the ebay item had a P4 processor, I assumed that's the way you wanted to go. So that's where this motherboard came from...it also is upgradeable to the newer "Hyperthreading" chips that Intel has. If you want to go the AMD route, the ASUS A7N8X is a recommended motherboard. You'll also be able to knock off a few bucks going this route.

This system is definitely not set in stone as the premium system for the money. I'm sure others here can help out as well and have better ideas and/or components to add or subtract from this system. This board helped me out a ton...just trying to return the favor.
 
whattaguy said:
Dang! Beat me to it!
Click to expand...

Well, it wasn't useless.
You had some nice info there.
I've got that ASUS A7N8X Deluxe board, it's GREAT! If you go AMD deffinately go with the NForce2 boards. It's also got 6 PCI slots, I've only got one left!!! But I could kick my Audigy Gamer off, since the Deluxe has very comparable surround to the Audigy. I've heard some say it's for the most part better than the first series of Audigy's. I'm a gamer, so I still need my surround.

Using a delta 44 for my recording card.

If you also went AMD you'd also save money on a very comparable processor to the P4 2.2 GHz. If you're not an overclocker and you do go AMD I do recommend the A7N8X, if you want good quality surround quality for gaming go with the A7N8X deluxe it's not too much more than the regular A7N8X and you get some expansion stuff for more USB2.0 ports.

Either route is good.
And adding a DVD drive won't be a problem to that system as mentioned. Both boards offer great expansion the AMD and the listed Intel board.
 
Hey Nos...have you ever had a "CPU have overspeed" error with that mobo???
I did recently (I have the same mobo) and was able to correct the problem with some help from members of this BBS...I'm just curious.

Other than that the A7N8X deluxe of mine has performed BEAUUUUUUTIFULLY....highly recommended.
 
Yeah,
But that was because I treid over-clocking my processor that wasn't un-locked... Just set the multiplier back down and it worked. But you can turn off that error report. But the multiplier adjustments didn't improve. 'Cause the processor, well, had to be unlocked. I was just hoping.

But that's the only time I got the "CPU has overspeed" message at the info boot prompt screen.
 
yea, I got my error, even tho I hadnt messed with any overclocking or the like. All I had to do was go into the BIOS and reset to defaults and it was fine. Apparently it is a quirk with some of these mobos, but is nothing serious.
 
"the hardest part is going to be putting the thermal greese/compound on the processor and then the heatsink on the processor. That's the really picky nervous part about putting together a system."

Is this something that i must do? you said it wasnt necessary but i wasnt sure if you were reffereing to the kind of grease or what?

another thing, if i went with the motherboard for the amd i would only have to change the processor on the list of things? and what would be a good athlon processor?

thanks for all your suggestions, its been a lot of help.

p.s. does building a computer deal with any soldering?
 
oh yeah, i meant to write this on my last post.

i have another computer that came with the windows xp operating system cd. can i use that to install xp on this computer that i am going to build?
and what are the legalities in doing that? thanks
 
"the hardest part is going to be putting the thermal greese/compound on the processor and then the heatsink on the processor. That's the really picky nervous part about putting together a system."

"Is this something that i must do? you said it wasnt necessary but i wasnt sure if you were reffereing to the kind of grease or what?"

Yes it is. You just gotta make sure that it's a very thin even coat on the processor without it leaking over the edges. I think that he meant not that specific brand of grease. I also heard that P4's do not need the grease unless you are overclocking...retail P4's do not mention the grease in the manual...I think.

"another thing, if i went with the motherboard for the amd i would only have to change the processor on the list of things? and what would be a good athlon processor?"

You are correct. The processor is the only thing you need to change. Anything over XP 2000+ will suit you fine. I find that the XP 2500+ is a nice price/performance processor but may be a bit pricey for you if you want to stay under...let's say...$600.

"p.s. does building a computer deal with any soldering?"

Keep any hot metal melting object away from your computer! :D

"i have another computer that came with the windows xp operating system cd. can i use that to install xp on this computer that i am going to build?
and what are the legalities in doing that? thanks"

I believe that you need a registered copy on every pc you own, unless you aren't using xp on your other system anymore. I'm not to sure, though. Anyone?
 
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