~~Can Someone Review This Setup~~

This PC isn't for hard-core gaming, and I don't play a whole bunch of "online-games" but I love the Age of Mythology and GTA SA games. Will this be sufficient?

CASE : ATX MEDIUM TOWER CASE 350 WATT (BLACK COLOR)
CPU : (939-pin) AMD ATHLON™64 3200+ CPU w/ Hyper Transport Technology
MOTHERBOARD : (Sckt939)Asus A8N5X nForce4 Chipset SATA RAID PCI-E w/GbLAN,USB2.0,&7.1Audio
MEMORY : 1024 MB (512MBx2) PC3200 400MHz Dual Channel DDR MEMORY (Corsair Value Select)
VIDEO CARD : NVIDIA Geforce 6600 256MB 16X PCI EXPRESS VIDEO CARD
VIDEO CARD 2 : NONE
MONITOR & LCD : NONE
HARD DRIVE : 200GB Hard Drive (SATA150 - Maxtor 200GB 7200RPM 8MB Cache Hard Drive)
Hard Drive 2 : NONE
Optical Drive : COMBO DRIVE (16X DVD-ROM & 52x32x52 CD-RW) (BLACK COLOR)
Optical Drive 2 : SONY 52X CD-ROM (BEIGE COLOR)
SOUND : Creative Labs SB LIVE 24.bit 7.1


Is this ok for $922.00 ? How will it compare to my HP A1150Y I bought at BestBuy?

 

Looks fine but I'd up the cdrom drive to a dvdrom or dvd writer drive. Seems a good price.

 

You say " NVIDIA Geforce 6600 256MB 16X PCI EXPRESS VIDEO CARD"

I hope you mean a 6600 GT? There is a huge difference in clockspeed and fillrate.

It's not a cheap package, and personally I think you can do much better than that if you shop around.

 

No, this package has the 6600, my other optional package has the GT for 159+ extra.But how much worse is this card compared to intergrated video cards? Shop around where?

I intentionally wanted a Combo drive( DVD-Rom+CD-RW) for primary, and a plain jane CD-Rom52X for secondary. I have a DVD/RW Dual LAyer w/Lightscribe and I never used it in my older a1150y, so it seems alittle excessive.

Please Keep in mind I'm not OCing! and I'm not playing any memory demanding games( other than my sons GTA VC+SA). But does this seem ok for small gaming needs( SimCity4,Sims2,GTA) and small office needs? My slightly older HP a1150y held and played 4 of my sons games with no choppy effects at all. Will this PC do the same?

 

Lets put it like this....if you had a choice of only ONE of these setups, which would you choose?( not how you would change it)


PX191AV#ABA
– Microsoft(R) Windows(R) XP Home Edition with SP2
– AMD Athlon(TM) 64 3200+ (2.0GHz / 512KB L2 cache)
– FREE UPGRADE from 512MB to 1024MB 400MHz (2x512)
– 250GB 7200 rpm SATA Hard Drive
– FREE UPGRADE from CD-RW to 16X DVD+/-R/RW
– 48x max. CD-ROM Drive
– Front USB, FireWire and audio ports
– None
– 256MB DDR NVIDIA GeForce FX 6800, DVI & TV-Out
– Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS for MS Home or Pro OS
– HP Keyboard, HP Scroller Mouse
– Microsoft(R) Works 8.0/Money 2005/MSN Encarta Plus
– 56K bps data & fax modem
– hpshopping in-box envelope

For $1341.47

-------------------OR-------------------------------------

CASE : ATX MEDIUM TOWER CASE 350 WATT (BLACK COLOR)
CPU : (939-pin) AMD ATHLON™64 3200+ CPU w/ Hyper Transport Technology
MOTHERBOARD : (Sckt939)Asus A8N5X nForce4 Chipset SATA RAID PCI-E w/GbLAN,USB2.0,&7.1Audio
MEMORY : 1024 MB (512MBx2) PC3200 400MHz Dual Channel DDR MEMORY (Corsair Value Select)
VIDEO CARD : NVIDIA Geforce 6600 256MB 16X PCI EXPRESS VIDEO CARD
VIDEO CARD 2 : NONE
MONITOR & LCD : NONE
HARD DRIVE : 200GB Hard Drive (SATA150 - Maxtor 200GB 7200RPM 8MB Cache Hard Drive)
Hard Drive 2 : NONE
Optical Drive : COMBO DRIVE (16X DVD-ROM & 52x32x52 CD-RW) (BLACK COLOR)
Optical Drive 2 : SONY 52X CD-ROM (BEIGE COLOR)
SOUND : Creative Labs SB LIVE 24.bit 7.1

For $922.00

-------------OR--------------------------------------------------------

CASE : ATX MEDIUM TOWER CASE 350 WATT (BLACK COLOR)
CPU : (939-pin) AMD ATHLON64 3000+ CPU w/ Hyper Transport Technology
MOTHERBOARD : (939-pin Socket) GigaByte GA-K8NSC-939 nForce3 Ultra Chipset AGP8X w/LAN,USB2,
MEMORY : 1024 MB (512MBx2) PC3200 400MHz Dual Channel DDR MEMORY (Corsair Value Select)
VIDEO CARD : NVIDIA Geforce 6600 GT 128MB AGP8X w/TVO
MONITOR & LCD : NONE
HARD DRIVE : 200GB Hard Drive (SATA150 - Maxtor 200GB 7200RPM 8MB Cache Hard Drive)
Hard Drive 2 : NONE
Optical Drive : COMBO DRIVE (16X DVD-ROM & 52x32x52 CD-RW) (BLACK COLOR)
Optical Drive 2 : SONY 52X CD-ROM (BEIGE COLOR)
SOUND : Creative Labs SB LIVE

For $964.00
---------------------------------------------------------------------

Plz help me pick either 1, 2 or 3... personally I like #3 the best, but what do you all think?

 

my vote is #1 .. it has the best video card + cpu, but #3 will still do you fine if your main priority is price

I would rule out #2 right now

 

So the 6800FX is better than the 6600GT? And what do you think of my rinky-dink soundcard( Creative Labs SB LIVE 24.bit 7.1) compared to on-board sound?? Thanks for your help Pirate!

Edit: How much stronger is the AMDAthlon64 3200 from the 3000?Is it that obvious?

 

If I could upgrade my 3000 to a 3200 for 30 bux extra, would it be worth it?

 

The 6800 is a more powerful chip than the 6600 GT.

A dedicated sound card is usually better than onboard sound.

It's really a no-brainer, #1 is the best package, however, one thing you should try to get is a full copy of Windows and not just a recovery CD.

You will need it sooner or later.


"How much stronger is the AMDAthlon64 3200 from the 3000?Is it that obvious"?

Not much of a difference, however price-wise it wouldn't be much either so try to get the more powerful one if the money isn't an issue.

 

go with the 3200...what matters, or at least seems to matter a little is the core. the difference between the 3000 and 3200 is mainly clock speed. benchmarks show different cores makeing the difference. What ever the newest core is with the 3200+ would be a good choice, and a great overclocker. ive seen them past 2.6 with a 33*C idle. Thats decent. my 3500+ at 2.2 idles around 31*C loads at 39*C. And the benchmarks are just a little better than a friends 3500 with clawhammer core (i have a venice core).

I personaly would go with the 3200 because if you do plan to push it, its allready 200Mhz Ahead of the game.

thats my 2 cents.

 

"It's really a no-brainer, #1 is the best package, however, one thing you should try to get is a full copy of Windows and not just a recovery CD.

You will need it sooner or later."

If you hadn't bought it already, I would like to stress this point again, because you WILL need it... make sure you ask the sales person

 

It looks like a HP, which sadly only supply recovery discs.

Don't settle for that, a recovery CD is a poor substitute for a Window CD.

 

So Everyone here is voting for # 1 choice, cool. And for 30bux extra I should go with the 3200+, and go with the 6800FX. Thanks for all your help ppl, youve been an invaluable source of info for me. Thanks again. Any comments or last thoughts will be welcomed.

So HP, doesnt give you the actual Windows disc( that sucks). But I suppose I could install it myself. Does CyberPower give you a Windows disc if you buy from them? Or when you buy the Age of Mythology frm CyberPower for 6bux extra, do they give you the game or just install it on your pc???


Much thanks go too..

Pirate

Insomniac

McAdam

Spyderfreak

 

i don't know the answer to that question but I'm sure their sales person would tell you. Though it is far more likely that cyberpower will give you the disks. Come to think of it, with that in mind #3 might be the best bet if it has PCIe graphics port, because in a year or so, the 7800 or similar card will come down in price. And you most likely wouldn't need the power of the 6800 unless you're a hardcore gamer, and you stated you aren't. With the 6600gt you will still be able to play the latest games just not at the highest settings.

 

Yeh, I always thought #3 was the best choice( for the money spent anyways).And like you brought up, i am NOT a hardcore gamer( yet) but I enjoy games like everyone else.

Thats the answer i was looking for, big Thanks to you Pirate! I'm not looking for Optimal performance, just something that can handle a few weak games.

How will I find this out? Where do I look i mean?


Thanks too all for all the help!

 

oh... that board is AGPx8 which isn't bad it's just on its way out and won't make for an upgradable system.. i must be out of it today.. so #3 would only be good if you were to just get that, then get a completely new system in two years or so

but upon further review it seems #1 is the most powerful but least upgradeable.. #2 seems to be the most upgradeable,(as it has PCIe) so if you could do without the graphical frills right now and then upgrade to a more powerful graphics card in a year or so... I'm not too sure of the min specs but age of myth should play well on it, just judging from the pics at gamespot, and so should GTA:SA as that plays fine on a PS2

 

CyberPower offers a PCIe card and driver for 19.00bux extra, if I add this to the 3rd choice, would that make a substantial difference? I was offered a
MSI K8N NEO4-F nForce4 Chipset SATA Raid PCI-E w/GbLAN,USB2.0,&7.1Audio, but I heard from a source from here( MajorGeeks) that MSI was a bad brand. I was told to stick to ASUS or Gigabyte. Any comment?

Thanks again, thats also just the info I needed! You've been a big help Pyrate, thanks! So if GTA plays well, then I should have no problem with SimCity4 or Sims2.