2003-12-23, 00:12 | Link #21 |
Photographer
Join Date: Apr 2003
Location: Ohio, USA
Age: 43
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Yes, it is true. Yes it is also true that it is a good heatsink (unless you overclock). It is also the only way to keep a warranty on an AMD processor. Using any other fan will void it (or that is what the lit that came with mine said).
As a student you may be able to get the OS and what not free. M$ had/has an agreement with many schools where you can check out some of their software for free. Both schools that I attend have one of these. You should be able to get XP and office and what not for free. I use a gForce 4 4200, 512 meg ram, an XP 2400+ as my system and can safely say that I very rarely run into problems with any of the current games as long as I don't get too greedy on resolution (Halo and DX2 both eat system resources like a bitch, but then again I am running Win2k which is NOT built for gaming so that might be the problem). |
2003-12-23, 01:08 | Link #22 | |
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Join Date: Nov 2003
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even my P3 800 + 128mb 133mhz + ge4mx 400 plays Halo at 30fps with medium quality (no dx8), so don't worry about 'too slow'.
As for the retail version heres the link from AMD offical website https://aac.avnet.com/AMDstore/shop.jsp Quote:
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2003-12-23, 01:25 | Link #23 |
Oscar winning black actor
Join Date: Nov 2003
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the retail pack has no thermal grease?
Im thinking about just replacing my mother board with 8xagp so i can use a geforce 5600 or radion 9600and just keeping my xp2000+ I have pc2100 memory, whats the best mobo i can get around 100 for that price? intergrated sound and lan also? and, how hard is it to take out a mobo from a case, and then take out my cpu, and place it in the new one, and reinstall my mobo? if i do this, i'll probally save like 250 bucks not buying a new case, hd, cd drive, memory, and cpu. also if i did this, ill probally be sweating bullets when i try to take out my cpu and try not to break anything or do some static charge damage! |
2003-12-23, 15:55 | Link #24 | |||||
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Join Date: Nov 2003
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1. not to crack your motherboard when you are installing cards 2. not to crush your cpu+motherboard when installing the heatsink. One of my friend just crushed his P4 1.8 when he messed around with the heatsink. The manufactures made it so damn hard to install heatsinks for some reason....you need to be pretty rough to install them. Quote:
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2003-12-23, 16:32 | Link #25 |
Oscar winning black actor
Join Date: Nov 2003
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So having a geforce 5600 or radeon 9600 running at 4xagp is just as good as 8xagp?
if so, it looks like the only thing i have to change is my video card, guess i dont have to worry about breaking anything after all oh, and go with the radeon over geforce no matter what? Last edited by p3psi; 2003-12-23 at 19:34. |
2003-12-23, 21:09 | Link #26 | ||
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Join Date: Nov 2003
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2003-12-23, 22:07 | Link #27 | |
Oscar winning black actor
Join Date: Nov 2003
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just checked it out, i dont think you're ever going to find a "real" hd for $.50 a gig, the merchant "dumpinggrouds" skews all the prices, and thier reviews are horrific. plus, the less than $.50 a gig price is before they add $10 shipping. Last edited by p3psi; 2003-12-23 at 22:23. |
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2003-12-23, 22:48 | Link #28 |
Internet God
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: Stop spamming from my closet!!!!!
Age: 37
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Corps older brother here and I build custom PCs so I though I would chime in.
Building a Gaming rig on the cheap is rather hard but it all depends on what you want to do with it/ play. Doing a quick looksie and I can build one for around $700, but heres the best part my favorite two words (say it with me now) OVER-CLOCKING. That's right ladies and gents overclocking, the time honored geek tradition of getting the best back for your hard earned green. Buy the best componets in your price range and then turn that measle $700 kitten into a $1500 beast! |
2003-12-24, 08:17 | Link #29 | |
Europeon
Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: Yurup
Age: 37
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2003-12-24, 08:28 | Link #30 |
eternal Shinobu lover
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In Holland Computers are much cheaper
€ 250 ($300) http://www2.alternate.nl/html/nodes_info/sjbv06.html this is just a basic system without OS, monitor and keyboard+mouse. |
2003-12-24, 09:37 | Link #31 | |
Europeon
Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: Yurup
Age: 37
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2003-12-24, 10:12 | Link #32 | |
eternal Shinobu lover
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2003-12-24, 10:19 | Link #33 | |
Europeon
Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: Yurup
Age: 37
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2003-12-24, 11:43 | Link #34 | |
seen Beautiful Life yet?
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: Oldenburg, Germany
Age: 42
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Saved me 400€ at that time... |
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2003-12-24, 22:05 | Link #36 | |
seen Beautiful Life yet?
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: Oldenburg, Germany
Age: 42
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The point is that todays Athlons should all be able to run at 2000MHz, even the very cheap ones |
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2003-12-24, 23:07 | Link #39 | |
Senior Member
Join Date: Nov 2003
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2004-01-13, 16:19 | Link #40 |
Junior Member
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I'm suprised that nobody's mentioned this guide as a good starting point. I wouldn't follow it word-for word but it's useful for some guidelines. The price they have comes out to about $600 without monitor; if you don't need new speakers or a modem, considering that prices have dropped since it was last updated, you'd be right at $500.
Places you could cut some corners :
One thing about overclocking; if you're going to do it at all, make sure you do it -right-. Test that machine & make sure that it's not going to crash under heavy loads. The two most important things are RAM and CPU. For testing RAM, leave it alone with memtest86 (google for it) for 12-24hr. For testing the CPU (assuming you're using windows) nothing beats a prime95 (again, google) 'torture test'. An nForce2 board shouldn't have problems overclocking a 166MHz (aka 333) or a 133(266) CPU since it's designed to do 200(400)MHz chips. As for where to get the parts, I reccommend only dealing with 1 or 2 (3 at the most) reputable dealers. This helps keep shipping costs down since combined shipping is almost always cheaper than ordering all components individually. As for what 'reputable' means, check out http://www.resellerratings.com to see if you're dealing with somebody who's gonna rip you off. Here's a few of the places that you can generally trust to get you started : http://www.newegg.com my favorite http://www.zipzoomfly.com http://www.mwave.com site's kinda hard to browse; good for -exact- items http://www.heatsinkstore.com good place for cases & cooling; mediocre prices on other stuff |
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