The project for my friend is going better than planned...

[CLTEK]

This is the preliminary estimate. 'On Papaer' it will out perform the machine that he spec'd out by a long shot and it'll cost me over a thousand dollars less! Here's what I have so far...

T-Bird 1.2GHz 200MHz
ASus A7V133 (for over clocking<smile> )
350W P/S
Lite-On ATX Tower
Floppy Drive
Alpha CPU Cooler
IBM 307075 7200 RPM 75 GB HD
512MB Mushkin PC133 CAS2 Rev.2
ASus Nvidia GF2 GTS 64MB Video
Creative SB X-Gamer (Or possibly Live Platinum)
Asus 50x cdrom
21" Viewsonic Monitor
Win2k or Win ME OS (what would you kids recommend?)

Am I missing anything aside from peripherals? I've never done and ENTIRE sytem before. Just pieces parts before this.

Any questions comments or criticisms would be greatly appreciated.

Respectfully, Cory

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Age and Treachery will forever triumph over Youth and Skill.

[This message has been edited by CLTEK (edited 02-23-2001).]

[This message has been edited by CLTEK (edited 02-23-2001).]

[Randy_tx]

Well........you have the makings of a VERY fast computer. I wonder why you would want to put EITHER Win 2000 OR Win Me in such a nice box though. If you have never done a machine from scratch, the best OS is Win 98 SE and be VERY careful with the CPU (as in dont start up the system without a VERY good cooling fan installed). Good luck. By the way......dont even think about overclocking a Tbird unless you REALLY do your homework...there isnt a software program on the planet that goes faster than a 700 mhz machine will handle anyway.

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"As hard as a rock & dumb as a brick"...Windows CEMeNT

[hiredgoonz]

When I built my ghz athlon, I tried 98SE, ME and finally settled on 2000...I was never happy with the stability of 9x...if you're going with mostly new parts, and you check for compatibilty before you buy, I would recommend 2000...most new games support 2000...and if you need 98 for something, it is VERY easy to set up a dual-boot 2000/98 (very close to completely idiot-proof)

And not to disagree w/Randy, but if you ever do DivX encoding (or any other video editing) you'll appreciate every mhz you can get...

[macellarius]

Nice machine. I might even spend a little less on the CPU and consider even more RAM.
I agree on the O/S, don't waste any RAM running WIN2000, and stay far away from ME. If it's Windows your looking at, stick with 98SE. I've used all of these.

[bassvax]

I Just built a similar system and Win 98SE is what I spent my cash on. I went with the gig Athlon on the same mobo. I got the 32MB ASUS 7100 video card for now. I spent the $200 for the Live Platinum 5.1 (with Live Drive). It is most certainly worth the $$ for the retail box and here's why: I got all jacks/cables that you could need, the remote control option is cool for things that I do, and the Live Drive with it's front ports makes transferring a breeze.
I got MDK2, Unreal Tournament, Soldier Of Fortune, Thief 2: Metal Age and Deus Ex. Now this may not sound 'cool' to you guys, but I've never played 3D games on the pc and have always been a playstation-eer, but these games deliver great sound and graphics. Then there was the countless other useful (really...no lies here) software such as Mixmeister, PixMaker...yada, yada, yada. But the best thing I've noticed is the sound will blow you away. I guess I could be a salesman for Creative, but I'm impressed. You will have to download the updated (and Free) version of the Playcenter 2.0 (8MB)to eek out a bug when closing the playcenter. OK, enough...I agree that Win 98SE is the best solution for now.
Check out the Antec cases...they seem to accomodate the cooling atmoshpere that you will want/need. Happy bulding http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/smile.gif

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Jerry

[bassman]

Go to SummitRacing.com and buy a 5 point harness, Kevlar helmet, and some really cool shades. http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/tongue.gif

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If your not living on the edge, your taking up to much space!

[like2be]

First of all, if you want SOLID go W2K. Once you get it set up and stabilized it's like using a Pentagon computer. Always there and READY!!
Seriously. I also have a 98se box in the room and it's great too, but nowhere as tough as the 2000 machine. As far as the equipt. list goes I make a few changes myself,;
1. Toshiba or Pioneer DVD-rom with a 3.0 Power DVD software program, with all the cpu power you gotta have some dvd..
2. Take a good hard look at the Antec mid atx towers in particuliar the SX 1030B, good looking, lots of room, removable bays,2 free fans, 300watt smart fan, quality and great engineering.
3. last but not least, don't cheap out on the mouse and keyboard, MS optical "trackball" Explorer, and the MS Internet Keyboard "pro" is very nice.

Good Luck with your new toys

[like2be]

Hey I forgot to mention that I'm using the same A7V with a 1gig TB and buddy let me tell you, once you get it tuned in, make sure you have your seat belt on. See the boys at Littlewhitedogs.com for the tweaks you'll need for the VIA's have fun