AMD Systems Building guide for students / budget users
Budget : RM1500 - 2200 (No Built-in graphics/sound + Printer)
These prices r correct at publish times, some prices may vary according to place
| Components | Recommendation |
| Processor (Proc)
(RM175 - 185) - anything above this is expensive |
AMD K6-2/K6-2+ 450 & above I doubt it that U can find any Procs below 500 MHz this days. These Procs offers great performance in graphics & daily office tasks. Great for students who wants to use it to do assignments & play a game or two. Careful with the K6-2+ though, some mobo doesn't support it |
| Motherboard (Mobo)
(RM 265 - 285) - VIA MVP3 chipset, no built-in graphics, sound
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Asus P5A (Baby AT)/P5AB (Micro ATX) The best super 7 mobo still in the market today. ALI chipset, 3 PCI, 2 ISA, 2 Dimms, 2 simms, USB support. Careful with the size, as a Micro atx mobo won't fit into some baby AT casing |
| Casing
(RM60) |
Enlight Mini tower w/200W Power supply
Provides great ventilation, with a mobo tray for easy assembly, 2 X 5.25" slots, 2 X 3" slots |
| Memory (RAM)
(RM95) |
64MB PC100 SDRAM Any brand will do, if possible get a good brand, i.e. Twinmos/Apacer with Hyundai/Samsung chips |
| Storage/Harddisk
(RM350) |
10.2 GB Seagate U10 ATA 66 support, 5400 RPM, unfortunately storage prices has gone up to an all-time high recently, this baby would've cost 70 bucks less a couple of months ago |
| Soundcard
(RM75) |
Creative Vibra 128 soundcard
Nothing better than Creative in this department |
| Graphics
(RM150) |
16 MB UMAX Savage 4
Good graphics at 800 X 600 resos, 32 bit color support, AGP 2X, adequate for most games, plus some Quake III at low detail |
| CD Rom drive
(RM125) |
48X Aopen
It might not be the fastest drive out there, but this drive will surprise U with its speed & quietness |
| Floppy drive
(RM45) |
Sony 1.44 MB
Any brand will do, but it's a Sony |
| Monitor
(RM380) |
14" Philips 14E
Nope, this system won't give U 17" display, but this Philips beauty has great features, supports up to 1024 X 768@60Hz |
| Keyboard
(RM60) |
Genius KB 16 Multimedia
A great keyboard with extra internet & multimedia buttons. |
| Mouse
(RM30) |
Genius Netscroll+
Very comfortable with scroll wheel for easy browsing & surfing |
| Speakers
(RM50) |
BAST multimedia speakers
Great set of speakers, 4 W RMS each satellite, adjustment for bass level, plus surround sound effects. |
| Printer
(RM275) |
HP Deskjet 630C Great printer for its price, a real value for money, fast, good printouts. Cartridges will cost about RM90 - 110 (black) and RM120 - 130 (color) |
| TOTAL | RM2135 |
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This system will be significantly cheaper with built-in graphics & sound, using the VIA MVP4 chipset mobos. Those who play very little games, or games with light graphics, such as Sega's Lose Your Marbles or Daytona, should choose these. Bear in mind that built-in graphics will use your main memory as their memory, usually up to 8MB, so if U'r using the max 8 MB of graphics memory, your main memory will be reduced to 56 MB (for a 64 MB system). Get more memory if U'r planning to use built-in graphics. Built-in sound doesn't use any memory. Mobos with built-in memory are available in abundance at any computer shop, namely the PC Partner (RM220) or Eagle (RM240). This mobos doesn't have any AGP slots for future graphics expansion. |
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The printer I suggested was the best inkjet printer with the fastest printouts using normal paper. Some of the students might prefer Canon's bubble jet series printers, which uses much cheaper ink cartridges (RM60 - 70 for black, RM80 - 90 for color). Popular models include BJC-1000SP (RM275) & BJC-2000SP (RM300, w/scanning capabilities). |