Gumby needs a new computer cause my p166 is a "bit"

[nb2k]

Guys I need a hand please.

I have $3G to spend and need a hand in picking the right gear. What I have in mind is:

P4 2G or above
Asus, Gigabyte, MSI main board (nothing onbaord, maybe sound)
Maybe Asus P4S533
512 DDR 333
Full Tower with at least 300W
DVD ROM
CD Burner
At Least 80G HDD (not segate)
17 - 19inch monitor (not hyundai)
Creative Live 5.1 SE
Wireless Keyboard & optimouse (maybe logitec)

Feedback on brands and previous experience would be great.

I am also planning on buying in June so if anyone knows any really good retailers in Brisbane It would be great hearing from you.

Thanks for any info/help you can give.

[Albinus]

I get most of my equipment through Compuworld, located at South Brisbane (about 150m from the Convention Centre).

They only sell retail boxed Pentium 4's, so you should be safe from remarked chips. They are an AOpen dealer, so they will sell an AOpen board to you - I suggest the new Intel i845D based boards, they are quite nice :)

512MB DDR..... from my experience get the Apacer, not Kingmax. I don't suggest getting a full tower if you have to carry your machine - I love my AOpen H600A to bits, it's a little taller than a midi and a little shorter than a full tower. Has 5x 80mm fan bays, and 9 drive bays. Have a look at it :thumb:

DVD-ROM, I like Pioneer but Compuworld doesn't stock them. The AOpen CD-RW drives are very nice, CW has the 24x and 32x write models in stock ATM. Western Digital is my preferred brand of hard drive, and if you have the money I highly recommend getting a Sony monitor - my friend has the 17" from Compuworld and it kicks the backside off my Hansol 19" :(

The Live! 5.1SE is selling for less than $100 now, so that will be O.K. The wireless keyboard and mouse you will have to go somewhere else, but please keep in mind that cordless input devices have "lag" and aren't as smooth as corded ones.

Hope this helps :wave:

[Morgan_Lander]

You can do better than the Live!. If you don't need the 5.1 sound, I highly recommend the Hercules Fortissimo II. It retails for $60 USD, and it's cheaper online. It does have better sound than the Live! and doesn't have incompatibilities with Via chipsets, or other problems it's been known for.

[Albinus]

I haven't seen the Hercules card on sale around Brisbane though :(

[Mr. C]

I looked long and hard at the Fortissimo II - in the end I went whole-hog (which is rather out-of-character for me - I must have felt particularly deserving for some reason :laugh: )

I recently purchased a Hercules Game Theater XP and I will not mince words here --- I absolutely love it :thumb:
NOTE: If anyone should be inclined to get 1 -- stick with the 4.03 drivers, the 4.10 use significantly more of your CPU. Unless you experience an issue of some type 4.03 is the way to go.

The console is awesome, never have to go digging around the back of the tower as the wide array of hookups provided is totally cool. 4 x USB, headphone and microphone hookups, gameport, MIDI in and out, Digital Audio in and out, and hookups for a wide array of speaker arrangements.

nb2k I envy you dude, you are going to be walking in high cotton when you get that system.
From a P166 to that --- WhooHoo!!! You'll be feeling like a God! LOL