[Chris Tsutsui]

Hello, I was just looking for some clarification before I bought the parts for 2 computers. They will be used primarily for data entry, and internet use. lol

I am given a budget of $600 per computer (no monitor or software)

I've come up with the following (ALL from one online reseller NEWEGG:

• ENLIGHT Model# EN-72500AZ (BEIGE) ATX MID-TOWER CASE w/ 300Watt POWER SUPPLY - RETAIL AMD Approved & Pentium 4 Ready One Year Warranty. $58
• Lite On 52x24x52 CDRW Model LTR-52246S OEM $43
• WD WESTERN DIGITAL "SPECIAL EDITION" 80GB 7200RPM EIDE HARD DRIVE MODEL # WD800JB - OEM, DRIVE ONLY $82
• GEIL DDR RAM 512MB PC-3200 Value 400MHz Ultra- CAS 2.5, 2T CommandGL5123200B Value. DDR400 $69
• Asus Motherboard for AMD Athlon XP/Duron Processors, Model# A7N8X Deluxe Retail $128
• AMD ATHLON XP 2500+ "Barton" 333 FSB PROCESSOR CPU- RETAIL $94
• Transcend ATI Radeon 7000 32MB CRT+DVI+TV 4X AGP - RETAIL $35

That's motherboard, ram, hard drive, CD-rom, processor, and Case. There's integrated sound, USB2.0, firewire and lan so no need for those.

This appears to be a lasting computer with a lot of options for under $600. By the way, they already have Windows XP and Office XP. They also have CRT monitors already so need to buy those, and no need to buy speakers. I'm replacing the keyboard and mouse because the ones they have are pretty worn out.

The only concern I have is if the Radeon 7000 AGP4x will fit in the AGP Pro/8X slot of the A7N8X motherboard. Could anyone tell me if it will fit?

[Camp]

Good value. Excellent job of shopping. If needed, you could probably save more money on a cheaper mobo. This PC doesn't need an nForce (though it's nice).

[Christop_Holmes]

if you want somethin good, you can add a dvd rom drive for about 30$ ( i wish i would have got mine with one so im going to upgrade) and if you want a stronger processor, go with a pentium 4 2.0 ghz. i think those are about 150$

[Jeffrey_Jones]

Hello,

I'm thinking of a upgrading and am going through similar purchasing decisions. From all the reviews that I have read (Tom's Hardware, anandtech.com, etc.) you will increase system performance if you match the 333 FSB processor with 333 MHz RAM. 400 MHz consistently performs slower in this scenario.

Good luck,
Jeff

[Max Leung]

Chris, the graphics card looks a little week. Are you planning to play 3D games with it? If so, I'd suggest a Geforce 4 Ti4200 as a minimum.

A DVD-ROM would be nice too.

At any rate, that should be a nice system. If you have an HT receiver that accepts SPDIF input, you'll be very happy with the sound quality as well.

[LeeHuff]

Get 2 sticks of 256mb instead of the 1 of 512. This way you can take advantage of the dual channel memory that the NForce2 provides.