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Building a comp
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Posted by: Bobaroo
Well my dad got this computer, from work and we want to build it up, and make it pretty good. Right now it is a
P2 166
112 mb
Windows NT
and that is all I know...
So far i have the case, ethernet card, RAM, monitar, mouse, and keyboard...so I think i need.....
new mobo, processor, possibly a sound and video card, and maybe more RAM.
I want this comp to be able be networked with my other comp, and connected to the cable modem. I want this to be able to play CS, D2, SC, and other games.
I am thinking of getting a celeron or a P3, I have no clue what mobo to get. I might by a GeForce 2 and put it in my main comp and then take that TNT2 and put it in this "new" one, but i am not sure. I don't want to spend that much money, because this is only going to be a second computer.
Posted by: Sops
more ram is a good idea and it is dirt cheap now. You might be ablre to take the sound card from the old machine, if its a separate card. Thats a good idea for the video card. I'm assuming u have a cd-rom drive and a floppy drive. I don't know about what kind of processer u would want personally i like the 1 gig athlon thunderbird.
Posted by: Ion Silverbolt
Considering the age of the computer, it would actually be better to buy a whole new system. If you use your old case and power supply, the PS might not even output enough wattage or provide the proper voltage on all the leads. Not to mention it's already old. Is it even an ATX case and power supply? The memory is probably too slow and would bottleneck the system a lot if you used it on a newer motherboard. You might even be using EDO memory.
Your best bet is to buy a brand name PC if you don't like to work on them. If you do like to, get a barebones setup and get what you need like CPU, MB, video card, case, etc. You also qualify for an OEM version of Windows this way which will make that a llot cheaper. After you get what you want, throw in things from your old system like the CD-ROM, floppy drive, mouse, keyboard, and the Ethernet card.
If you decide to use as much old equipment as possible, a low cost Celeron setup is the best route since their FSB is limited anyways.
Posted by: Gunslinger
Follow what Ion said - except the part about buying a brand name PC. It's much more fun to build it yourself and you gain a lot of knowledge from doing something like this correctly.
However, everything else is cool. Use as man old parts as you can. Get the necessities first: Floppy, CD ROM, HD with a decent amount of read speed. If you are wanting to play Diablo II, you will not be able to use an older hard drive. Diablo II abuses the hard drive like a big dog - you will need something with fast read speeds so a newer drive would be the order of the day. The Celeron is a nice budget CPU, but I typically lean towards AMD products (some exceptions) which means a Duron. A good 700 to 800 mHz Duron is really cheap (so is the Celeron). If you want to get a new video and sound card, you can, but remember, for someone with a budget, these things are merely aesthetic. Get what you need before you get what you want.
All those other things that Ion said should be taken into consideration. On a P166, I would venture to say that it is not ATX and that the motherboard is running EDO memory. Both of these thingsn are bad. You definitely need a board that supports DIMMs (absolutely, this is a must) and it certainly helps to have an ATX board (which means an ATX case). The ATX boards are just so much more useful for some many reasons.
And the Windows NT thing. Diablo II is not going to like Windows NT. It runs, technically, but you're not going to like what you see (I use Diablo II as reference because it is the most demanding of the games you listed).
Anyway. I'm done rambling. Let us know what else comes up so we can see where it's headed.
We tech junkies live for things like this - at least I think we do. MORE INFO! (when it becomes available).
Posted by: Bobaroo
Do you recommend any good Mobo, cases or other products, i could get. I don't want to buy a new comp, just try to make this decent.
Posted by: Gunslinger
Well, I would recommend either a Celeron or Duron processor for your purposes.
Good motherboard manufactureres are, but not limited to, Asus, Abit, and AOpen. Find your motherboard first. That is the critical part of your system. Look around, and find one with the number and type of expansion slots that works for you. The type of IDE controllers you want (ATA 66/100). RAM capacity. Things like that.
Here is a place I often like to purchase hardware:
www.tccomputers.com
They have a good selection and decent prices. After you find a good board, look for the correct slot/socket type for the processor. Then, just pick a processor that will fit the board. I don't really need to make recommendations from there, except maybe for a hard drive. Look for something with 7200 or more rpms for the games you are trying to run. Also, make sure the board functions with SDRAM (dimms). I honestly don't know if you can run DDR on a Celeron/Duron, but dimms are going to be your best value as far as money is concerned.
Anyway. Check out that site, and also check out www.pricewatch.com to find some of the best prices.
If you need some help from there, me, or someone else here can make specific recommendations on what to buy and what not to buy. If you would like that kind of help, say so and we can offer some assistance.
Posted by: Ion Silverbolt
Do you even have an ATX case or SDRAM memory? You're not going to be able to find much of anything to fit that case if it's an AT case and power supply.
Peronally I wouldn't use anything out of the old system with the exception of the mouse, keyboard, floppy, CD-ROM, monitor, and the network card. Everything else is just too old and will hinder performance a lot, or may even cause instability or compatability problems. Old hardware just plain sucks and most of it usually isn't salvageable without some sort of ACPI compliancy issues or DirectX incompatability in the case of old sound and video cards. And mixing old and new hardware in the same system just increases the chances of problems occuring.
IMO, your absolute best bang for the buck would be to wait for an NVidia nForce chipset board and put an Athlon XP of some speed on it or a 1Ghz Duron. Also grab a couple of DDR DIMMS while it is dirt cheap. The nForce boards come with a lot of integrated stuff that is good but not costly. You get onboard GeForce 2 MX equivelent video performance with an open AGP port for a later video card upgrade if you want, onboard Dolby Digital 5.1 sound, 56K modem, and 100BaseT Ethernet. All for around 150$ At least that's the price estimate.
Check the review of it in OTS news if you're interested. All I know is I think you will just run into headaches if you try to use any of that old equipment other than what I mentioned above. TC Computers is a decent place to pick up barebone systems too. Not the best prices, but they have good service and support.
Posted by: Bobaroo
Would my TNT2 card that i use now, work with this computer i am putting together, or do i need a new card. This TNT2 is only about 8months old.
So far i have looked at this stuff, but not sure if they work together.....
Micron Bare Bone Socket A System----$99.99
Bare Bone System includes Micron mATX MiniTower, GVC KT133 Socket A Motherboard, 1.4MB Floppy Drive, V.90 PCI soft modem
and FREE 64MB PC133 SDRAM. Assembled and tested
.Product Code: MCN10373P
AMD Duron 750 ---$45.99
750MHz processor. 128K L1, 64KB L2 on die-cache at full processor speed.
Requires Socket A motherboard
Product Code: AMDD750
16X64 ------$19.99
128MB PC 133, CAS 2 Latency, 6 Layer PCB Board. Lifetime Warranty. Product Code: ALC12813C2
Western Digital Caviar 20.0GB-------$89.99
20.0GB Ultra DMA/100 IDE Hard Drive, 7200 rpm
Product Code: WD200BB
Pine Tech. Excalibur GeForce2 MX400------$79.99
64MB SDRAM, nVIDIA GeForce2 MX400 GPU, 350MHz RAMDAC supporting from 640x480 up to 2048x1536 in true color, complete support for DirectX7 features and fully optimized for OpenGL.
Product Code : PNEMX40064
Pine Technology PT-23182002------------------$9.99
Crystal chipset, 16-Bit ISA Stereo, Integrated CrystalClear 3D Enhancements 4KHz to 48KHz sample rate, mono and stereo 16bit stereo full duplex A/D and D/A.
Product Code: PT262131
Posted by: Chako
The TNT2 should work fine in any computer. I have had 2 TNT2 Ultras (a Diamond and a Creative Labs), and found they worked well in all my systems including this new one I just built. The Geforce2 MX though is a far superior graphics cards (newer), and I would trade up to it. For 79 Bucks you can't go wrong.
Posted by: Bobaroo
Well thats good, i can get a GeForce 2 on my main comp, that i have wanted for so long. And this other comp can have a decent Video Card.
Posted by: Ion Silverbolt
yeah the TNT2 card is still decent although far from the best. Chako has some solid advice. 
As for the free 64 megs of memory, make sure it is CAS 2 like the 128 stick is. If not, you'll probably have to run both of them at CAS3 which is slightly slower.
I would also see if you can get a hardware modem. They usually have better pingtimes and lag all around less than softmodems(Winmodems).
Also, the ISA onboard sound isn't a good idea. Look for PCI sound for better performance and future compatability.
Posted by: Bobaroo
I am not sure if I should get a different modem because this computer will be hooked up to the cable modem. I found a soundcard, in my house that I could use.
Posted by: Ion Silverbolt
Well if you don't do online gaming much, it won't hurt to use the old modem for a while.
Posted by: Bobaroo
The 56k modem is a back up so i realy don't have to worry about anything.
Posted by: Bobaroo
I got a case, and my dad was wondering if the Duron was a good processor. He was thinking about a celeron, but I saw the Duron being $30 cheaper.
Posted by: AK47
Just curious- what is a good brand name for PCs? Dell and Gateway are ones I hear lots about, but I was wondering what else is considered decent.
Posted by: Bobaroo
Dells are awesome, gateways are pretty good. Another really great brand of comps are AlienWare AlienWare.com
Posted by: AK47
Those alien ware ones are quite nice- I cant afford that
I went to my friend EBAY and found a few things like this one :http://cgi.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAP...item=1291577561
looks nice to me- just currious to what everyone here thinks about buying a comp off ebay. The price is certainly right for me and it looks to be a decent set up (they have others too).
just wonderin if buyin somethin like this is a good idea or not.
Posted by: AK47
ran it by gerb- he says pretty crappy. crappy parts and whatnot.
I knew it was too good to be true
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