Is this a good computer for $179.00?

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mynazzaraxxsyn
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Is this a good computer for $179.00?

Postby mynazzaraxxsyn » Wed Sep 24, 2003 12:36 pm

I'm looking at buying this computer, its 179 bucks with 35 shipping. I haven't kept up with hardware much since the socket 7 days. anyone care to give me theirs thoughts on this barebones?

AMD XP 2000 (1.67GHz) Processor:
Socket A Interface
266MHz System Bus Speed
128KB Level 1 Cache
256KB Level 2 Cache on Chip
Enhanced 3DNow!
0.18 Micron Process Technology


Ball Bearing Heat Sink CPU Cooling Fan:
Model No.Socket 2100
Suitable to AMD Socket 462
Fan: 60×60×25 mm
Rated Voltage: 12V DC
Speed: 4500±10% RPM
Air Flow: 36.0CFM
Noise: 31.5dBA
Heat Sink Dimensions: 60 × 60 × 35 mm

SYNTAX SV266A DDR/SDRAM Motherboard w/ Audio & Lan:
Manufacturer Model# SYNTAX SV266A

Special Features LAN / Modem Wake up
Keyboard Power On
Hardware Monitoring
Smart Card Reader

Processor AMD Athlon XP / Athlon / Duron CPU
Socket A
266 / 200MHz

Chipset VIA Apollo KT266A North Bridge VT8366A
VIA VT8235 South Bridge
Super I/O
Integrated in VT82C686A/B

Memory 2 DDR DIMMs & 2SDR DIMMs
Supports DDR266 / DDR200
Support PC133 memory
Max 2GB

Sound RealTek ALC100/P AC'97 CODEC

IDE 2 UltraDMA 100 / 66 / 33

USB 2 USB 2.0

I/O Interface 1 PS/2 Mouse
1 PS/2 Keyboard
1 Serial
4 USB
1 Line-in
1 Line-out
Microphone
Internal I/O Connectors
Front Panel Audio header
Front Panel MIC/Speaker out header
2 USB headers
1 LAN wake up connector
1 Modem wake up connector
SIR header
Single color LED header
Smart card reader header
Speaker connector
20-pin ATX power connector

BIOS Award 2MB Flash EEPROM

Expansion Slots 5 PCI
1 AGP (4X)
1 CNR

Form Factor ATX (305m*190mm


P4/AMD 400W Silver / Black Aluminum Case (FCC,UL Approved):
Special!!! "SILVER BLACK" Neon Aluminum P4/AMD Mid-Tower Case with 400 W Power Supply (FCC,UL) for your Motherboard and Processor
Main Board ATX /Baby ATX
Expansion Slot 7 Expansion slots
Drive Space 4x 5.25" / 2 x 3.5" /1 x 3.5" hidden
Power Supply ATX or PS/2 type
Dimension (D x W x H) 445 x 200 x 411 mm
LED Display Power ; HDD
Front Panel Switch Power ; Reset

3 Pieces Rounded cables:
ROUNDED IDE CABLES
Length: 18 or 24 Inches (Silver Braided Aluminum w/clear plastic cover)
Supports ATA66/100/133
For Any 3.5" HDD, CD-ROM, DVD-ROM, CD-RW, & ZIP DRIVE
To decrease the space the cables take up in your case and thereby increasing airflow and ultimately cooling

ROUNDED FDD CABLE
Length: 18 Inches (Silver Braided Aluminum w/clear plastic cover)
For Any 1.44MB FDD
To decrease the space the cables take up in your case and thereby increasing airflow and ultimately cooling
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Gura group-says 'ill go solo the biznatch, just don't tell Stamm'
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rylan
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Postby rylan » Wed Sep 24, 2003 1:57 pm

Well its a barebones system (mobo/cpu/case/ps). So obviously you'd need to buy the memory, hd, vid card etc. Its the older AMD Athlon core with the slower 266fsb and slower ddr memory on the motherboard.
I've never hard of that motherboard manufacturer, and couldn't find their website... so getting bios updates or support is unlikely... sounds like one of thoe ghetto brands like PCChips.

All depends on what you want to do with it. Its probably fine for a second system or moderate computer use, but if you want to do any heavy use like high end gaming or video capture and editing, then the unknown factor of the motherboard stability comes into play.
mynazzaraxxsyn
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Postby mynazzaraxxsyn » Wed Sep 24, 2003 2:20 pm

I have vid card, hard drive and all that. i'm taking apart a computer i built in 96 or 97 (amd 500mhz). the mother board was my big concern as i despise onboard anything.
Lilithelle stops using a softly throbbing piece of flesh.
Gura group-says 'ill go solo the biznatch, just don't tell Stamm'
Kossuth responds to your petition with 'is it bad that the two words i think of when i see yer title are hottub and cthulhu? :('
rylan
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Posts: 2903
Joined: Fri Jan 26, 2001 6:01 am
Location: Hudson, MA

Postby rylan » Wed Sep 24, 2003 4:28 pm

Yeah, AC'97 onboard sounds blows regardless of the motherboard. At least its got a agp slot so you aren't stuck with some cheesy onboard video.
mynazzaraxxsyn
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Postby mynazzaraxxsyn » Wed Sep 24, 2003 5:07 pm

Ok, i'm going to stay off ebay for my motherboard. I checked out newegg.com and can only find motherboards with onboard card (video, sound and/or nic). I'm looking for just a plain motherboard for an AMD (around 1.5-2ghz) with agp and USB. if anyone has a suggestion for a make of mb and a website to find said mb i'd love you long time.

also if you know where to get those cool plexiglass cases with neon lights and stuff that'd rock too.
Lilithelle stops using a softly throbbing piece of flesh.
Gura group-says 'ill go solo the biznatch, just don't tell Stamm'
Kossuth responds to your petition with 'is it bad that the two words i think of when i see yer title are hottub and cthulhu? :('
rylan
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Posts: 2903
Joined: Fri Jan 26, 2001 6:01 am
Location: Hudson, MA

Postby rylan » Wed Sep 24, 2003 5:25 pm

Epox 8RDA. link below for a list of their motherboards wih differant chipsets and options depending on what you want. I've always liked their boards.
http://web.epox.com/html/motherboard-pr ... 20a&lang=1

www.crazypx.com for some interesting case mods and stuff. I've ordered from these guys before and thought they're pretty good.
mynazzaraxxsyn
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Postby mynazzaraxxsyn » Wed Sep 24, 2003 5:58 pm

Ok, found this EPoX looks much better then the "ghetto" board i was looking at. Any comments?

Specifications
Processor AMD Athlon, Athlon XP, Duron
Core Logic VIA Apollo KT600 Chipset + VIA VT8237
BIOS Award/Phoenix BIOS v6.0
Max. FSB 400MHz
Memory 3 x DDR SDRAM PC3200, 3GB max.
Form Factor ATX, 305mm x 245mm x 40mm

Expansion Slots
AGP 1, 8X/4X (1.5v)
PCI 6, 32-bit

Ports
PS/2 1 mouse, 1 keyboard.
Serial 2
Parallel 1
USB 4 onboard, 4 optional. USB 2.0
Network 1 x VIA Tahoe VIA VT6103 Physical Layer / Transceiver
Floppy 2 drives max.
IDE 2 x E/IDE Ultra DMA/133, 4 drives max.

Controllers
Sound Realtek ALC650 6-channel full-duplex integrated sound
Option VIA VT6420 S-ATA

Special Features
4Mb BIOS
AGP-Master for protection against improper AGP card insertion
EZ Boot
Hardware Monitoring Function provided by Winbond
Includes I/O Shield
Keyboard Power On (KBPO)
Magic Flash
Magic Health
Magic Screen
P80P Diagnostic LED
PowerBIOS for excellent overclocking features
Suspend To RAM (STR)
Unified System Diagnostic Manager (USDM)
USB Resume
Wake On Lan (WOL)
Lilithelle stops using a softly throbbing piece of flesh.
Gura group-says 'ill go solo the biznatch, just don't tell Stamm'
Kossuth responds to your petition with 'is it bad that the two words i think of when i see yer title are hottub and cthulhu? :('
rylan
Sojourner
Posts: 2903
Joined: Fri Jan 26, 2001 6:01 am
Location: Hudson, MA

Postby rylan » Wed Sep 24, 2003 6:18 pm

I haven't tried the KT600 chipset yet, but I've heard its better than the previous ones, especially the KT266a.
Daz
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Postby Daz » Wed Sep 24, 2003 7:45 pm

i just bought a koyo DRAGON that uses the kt600 and its very happy

also, if you like case lighting - go to www.xpcases.com or www.xpcase.com, one of the two - i spent about a hundred bucks there last weekend, the delivery was awesome, the customer service was great - and the products are all incredible.

for cases, i bought one from tigerdirect or newegg
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