Computer Parts

[freekwonder]

I need some help. Ive been out of the loop for awhile and need a new sound and video car for my computer at home. here is a quick description of what i have

1600 AMD Athlon
256 mgs Ram ( i know i need more)
10 gig
30 gig hard drive
Windows 2000.

I dont play alot of games but would like a new card that can handle new games. as for sound i dont ahve good computer speakers, but i do play MP3 through my home stereo and need a good card that can handle that kind of stuff. Thanx for any help guys. i appreciate the comments. HELP ME PLEASE. (drinks)

 

[Sir Nuke]

freek, believe it or not....when it comes to sound cards BIGGER and more EXPENSIVE is not always better.....I have a good system here and a set of Yamaha's YST-MS50w speakers, its two smaller satilite speakers(12 watts each) and a 80 watt powered sub....they were only about $90 two years ago....AND the sound card was only $24....yep you got it....$24......and it was recommended to me by a freind how is an audiophile and a computer tech. I download and play a lot of mp3's on my system.....and it sounds totally awsome. Go to PRICEWATCH.COM and dig around....if its available out there...you can find it here.....I baught all the parts for my complete system through vendors that use price watch.....I also used Resellers Ratings . com to check out each and every vendor I used. it paid off and I got a system built exactly like I wanted and saved a WAD of green in the process.

NOW, as for the sound card...I would like to recommend a Yamaha Xwave Audio Elite, it uses Yamaha's 744 chipset, it will do all you want and more.....and its only $25, plus $9 shipping from OpenLinx Communications. And they are a highly rated company. their address is:

OpenLinx Communications
336 PASEO TESORO
WALNUT CA 91789
phone number is 909-493-6701

and their website is http://www.openlinx.net/index.html

Just for giggles I looked up the speaker system I got too....and its still only $88! and runs about $18 shipping....so $106 shipped.

if you change the last letter in the part number from a W to a B it is a difference of either WHITE or BLACK speakers....

Newegg.com has them. their address is:

Newegg.com
132 S. 6th Ave
La Puente, CA 91746

and their phone number is: (800) 390-1119

once again....they are a VERY VERY highly rated company...and I am talking ratings from their consumers....not some other rating company..

AND I am not a gamer...so the video card wasn't that important to me....I also have a 32 Meg GForce2 but I would recommend the 64 meg, which can be had for as little as $55 shipped to your door, but if you want to take the next step up to 128 meg...the price jumps way up there....they start at about $260.

Just go and hunt around Pricewatch.com after you figure out what you really need/want.

Hope this all helps..

 

[fastdrvr23]

I have had good luck with my Soundblaster Live and GeForce2 64MB video card... They might not be the best out there, but it sounds great and everything I've ever tried to play game wise was really smooth and flowing at the highest resolution possible.
Just a thought... Good luck.

My system is fairly similar to yours...
1.6 GHZ P4
512M RAM
40G HD
WinXP-Home
Harmon Khardon 5.1, 5 Satellites w/Sub

You might want to ask KoolDino on here, he is a PC hardware guy if I remember correctly from another post.

 

[sundevilMP5]

it all depends on how much you want to spend...for a soundcard if you want to go with high end i would recommend a good turtlebeach sound card...otherwise soundblaster live will do just fine...

as for video cards there are soo many out there...top of the line right now would be the visiontek nvidia geforce4 ti4600...but it's pretty expensive ~$250 or more...

the geforce4 ti4400 puts out almost the same video quality but is less expensive...about $200

geforce3 cards are dirt cheap and are great cards...they will still run all of todays newest games smoothly

there's other cards out there from ati/radeon that are great too...but i've always been a fan of nvidia for their quality...

 

[freekwonder]

thanx for the help guys, ill keep my eyes open for that stuff.

 

[Kooldino]

As stated above, it's all about the $.

Low end vid card: geforce 2mx400 ($40)
mid level vid card: radeon 9000 ($75)

low end sound card:
hercules muse XL ($17 OEM, $30 retail box)
mid/high end sound card: turtle beach santa cruz (~$65 OEM)

 

[jdm_mp5]

i don't know too much about sounds cards or speakers, but i do know a lot about video cards. if you are wanting a good video card (worth the money and that will still not become obsolete over time) go for the geforce4 Ti 4200. it will run you around 160, but it was rated as the best for the money's worth.

 

[Kooldino]

So freek, did you order up the goodness yet? If you didn't, tell us what you intend to spend, so we can throw out suggestions within your budget. I haven't really seen any bad advice in this thread yet...but it all is basically determined on what you wanna spend.

 

[freekwonder]

well i was going to order them in the next couple weeks, but my wife and I just started the process to adopt a child and it runs 20 grand. so no new parts for the computer or CAR for quite a while. but thanx for all the help guys

 

[Sir Nuke]

well i was going to order them in the next couple weeks, but my wife and I just started the process to adopt a child and it runs 20 grand. so no new parts for the computer or CAR for quite a while. but thanx for all the help guys

CONGRATULATIONS.....the endevor you are undertaking is a very noble one. I wish you all the luck in the world....as there is a child out there that is going to be a very lucky little boy or girl.

 

[jdm_mp5]

congrats! i would do the same freek, but being am eighteen year old college student, adopting a child, seems a little bit out of place don't you think? anyway, the computer im gonna be building will be my temporary "child." oh yes, with all the nice little goodies you could ever imagine!

 

[freekwonder]

thanx guys, i need all the luck i can get. right now we have about 9 grand. hopefully we will have the rest. then we will have 2 two year olds running around the house. glad i got the four door car.

 

[Sir Nuke]

thanx guys, i need all the luck i can get. right now we have about 9 grand. hopefully we will have the rest. then we will have 2 two year olds running around the house. glad i got the four door car.

TWO TWO YEAR OLDS? omg...you are a VERY VERY brave man!!!...

either that...or you don't spend much time at home! lol

(stash)

 

[freekwonder]

(beer) i had to deal with my brother when he was two. im kind of use to it.

 

[Kooldino]

well i was going to order them in the next couple weeks, but my wife and I just started the process to adopt a child and it runs 20 grand. so no new parts for the computer or CAR for quite a while. but thanx for all the help guys

20 grand to ADOPT?! WTF? Why so much?

 

[Kooldino]

thanx guys, i need all the luck i can get. right now we have about 9 grand. hopefully we will have the rest. then we will have 2 two year olds running around the house. glad i got the four door car.

I dunno d00d, for $9K you could get a SWEET PC and a NIIIIIIICE turbo setup.

 

[freekwonder]

trust me i know. but unfortanetly its what we want (damn why did i have to grow up). its about 20 grand just cause of everbody you have to pay. now i understand why so many kids don't get adopted. s*** is expensive and exhausting.