least cost / best quality hardware?

[mohrt]

Just wondering where people purchase their hardware for their MAME boxes. Since raw CPU & video are what really matter (not pretty cases & hi res monitors), where is the best place to buy?

The "buyers guide" of this site looks pretty good:

http://arstechnica.com

With the "budget box" example, you can pick up an nForce Asus A7N266-VM for $69 and a 1.3 ghz AMD Athlon XP1700 for $47.

mohrt

[Smittydc]

decide what you want then go to http://www.pricewatch.com to see who has the best prices.

[mohrt]

decide what you want then go to http://www.pricewatch.com to see who has the best prices.

It looks like arstechnica has their own price grabber too, although I don't know how it compares to pricewatch.

[Silverwind]

I have been using pricewatch for many years.. back when it was just simple HTML with no frills hehe..

it is generally decent.. especially now that it shows shipping charges!  It used to not show shipping charges..and some companies would have a real low price.. but then jack up the shipping 3x..

I have purchased from computer shows as well.. if you have any around you.. might be worth it to take a look... typically they carry both retail and OEM stuff.. most of the prices are close to pricewatch prices... you have to pay tax, but no shipping..

if you have some time.. take a look at www.techbargains.com, they list deals on there.. they also list coupons..

some places like buy.com or staples.com carry computer equipment, primarily only retail.. but also have online coupons you can use... $20 off.. free shipping.. etc..  

so check www.pricewatch.com, www.techbargains.com, and find the products you want.. weigh the costs (tax, shipping, product price). Shouldn't take too long to find out a few good deals..

I have purchased a lot of my stuff from www.compuplus.com, no tax in CA and their prices are pretty good..

[JustMichael]

You will also need some DDR ram...  

[lightspeed]

I prefer http://www.tcwo.com.  Very reasonable prices, and shipping is only (at least, it used to be) $6.95 for orders under 50 lbs or something.  

My picks:  Biostar M7VIP DDR - $66 (Biostar boards run middle-pack performace-wise, but offer a lot of features and are very reliable.  The board supports 333Mhz DDR, they have another 400Mhz model for $74.

Athlon XP 2100+:  $91.  This is the current best price point - the 2200+ plus is $151.

Just don't buy a second rate video card if you're going to use TV-out.  Some manufaturers skimp on TV out components, resulting in poor picture quality.    That said, you can get away with a relatively low-end card - such as an ATI Radeon 7200.    If you buy an ATI card, make sure it is "Built By ATI" as opposed to "Powered By ATI."  There is a difference.  Matrox is also known for excellent picture quality.  

[mohrt]

I prefer http://www.tcwo.com.  Very reasonable prices, and shipping is only (at least, it used to be) $6.95 for orders under 50 lbs or something.  

My picks:  Biostar M7VIP DDR - $66 (Biostar boards run middle-pack performace-wise, but offer a lot of features and are very reliable.  The board supports 333Mhz DDR, they have another 400Mhz model for $74.

Athlon XP 2100+:  $91.  This is the current best price point - the 2200+ plus is $151.

Just don't buy a second rate video card if you're going to use TV-out.  Some manufaturers skimp on TV out components, resulting in poor picture quality.    That said, you can get away with a relatively low-end card - such as an ATI Radeon 7200.    If you buy an ATI card, make sure it is "Built By ATI" as opposed to "Powered By ATI."  There is a difference.  Matrox is also known for excellent picture quality.  

I take it this M7VIP does not have an integrated video card? Wouldn't it be a bit more cost effective to go with a mobo with integrated video/audio, and find one with decent quality S-Video out?

mohrt

[lightspeed]

I prefer http://www.tcwo.com.  Very reasonable prices, and shipping is only (at least, it used to be) $6.95 for orders under 50 lbs or something.  

My picks:  Biostar M7VIP DDR - $66 (Biostar boards run middle-pack performace-wise, but offer a lot of features and are very reliable.  The board supports 333Mhz DDR, they have another 400Mhz model for $74.

Athlon XP 2100+:  $91.  This is the current best price point - the 2200+ plus is $151.

Just don't buy a second rate video card if you're going to use TV-out.  Some manufaturers skimp on TV out components, resulting in poor picture quality.    That said, you can get away with a relatively low-end card - such as an ATI Radeon 7200.    If you buy an ATI card, make sure it is "Built By ATI" as opposed to "Powered By ATI."  There is a difference.  Matrox is also known for excellent picture quality.  

I take it this M7VIP does not have an integrated video card? Wouldn't it be a bit more cost effective to go with a mobo with integrated video/audio, and find one with decent quality S-Video out?

mohrt

Cost effective, yes.  But with the exception of the NVidia Nforce motherboard chipsets, on board video generally offers poor performance and eats up memory bandwidth and CPU cycles.    I'd definitely consider on-board audio for a cabinet application, but definitely not video.  

But, to each their own.  If your budget is that tight, it may make a good interim solution, and if you ultimately want use an add-in card, you can always buy it later.  I don't think Biostar has any boards with integrated video.  

[rampy]

I prefer http://www.tcwo.com.  Very reasonable prices, and shipping is only (at least, it used to be) $6.95 for orders under 50 lbs or something.  

My picks:  Biostar M7VIP DDR - $66 (Biostar boards run middle-pack performace-wise, but offer a lot of features and are very reliable.  The board supports 333Mhz DDR, they have another 400Mhz model for $74.

Athlon XP 2100+:  $91.  This is the current best price point - the 2200+ plus is $151.

Just don't buy a second rate video card if you're going to use TV-out.  Some manufaturers skimp on TV out components, resulting in poor picture quality.    That said, you can get away with a relatively low-end card - such as an ATI Radeon 7200.    If you buy an ATI card, make sure it is "Built By ATI" as opposed to "Powered By ATI."  There is a difference.  Matrox is also known for excellent picture quality.  

I take it this M7VIP does not have an integrated video card? Wouldn't it be a bit more cost effective to go with a mobo with integrated video/audio, and find one with decent quality S-Video out?

mohrt

more than likely that would be a rare bird to find...  and probably not as cost effective (cheapo integrated video/audio mobo's abound for low prices --- fancy pants video integrated is probably a premium cost...)


Not that you can't find it.. but i'm guessing dollars to donuts not cheapest solution.
*shrug*

rampy

[mohrt]

I prefer http://www.tcwo.com.  Very reasonable prices, and shipping is only (at least, it used to be) $6.95 for orders under 50 lbs or something.  

My picks:  Biostar M7VIP DDR - $66 (Biostar boards run middle-pack performace-wise, but offer a lot of features and are very reliable.  The board supports 333Mhz DDR, they have another 400Mhz model for $74.

Athlon XP 2100+:  $91.  This is the current best price point - the 2200+ plus is $151.

Just don't buy a second rate video card if you're going to use TV-out.  Some manufaturers skimp on TV out components, resulting in poor picture quality.    That said, you can get away with a relatively low-end card - such as an ATI Radeon 7200.    If you buy an ATI card, make sure it is "Built By ATI" as opposed to "Powered By ATI."  There is a difference.  Matrox is also known for excellent picture quality.  

I take it this M7VIP does not have an integrated video card? Wouldn't it be a bit more cost effective to go with a mobo with integrated video/audio, and find one with decent quality S-Video out?

mohrt

Cost effective, yes.  But with the exception of the NVidia Nforce motherboard chipsets, on board video generally offers poor performance and eats up memory bandwidth and CPU cycles.    I'd definitely consider on-board audio for a cabinet application, but definitely not video.  

But, to each their own.  If your budget is that tight, it may make a good interim solution, and if you ultimately want use an add-in card, you can always buy it later.  I don't think Biostar has any boards with integrated video.  

I see, I didn't realize there is a performance penalty for integrated video. IF that's the case, then I think it is definately worth keeping them separate. Thanks for the tip!

[lightspeed]

Let me throw one more site in here:

http://www.resellerratings.com/


Check them before buying from a vendor that  you are unfamiliar with.

[mohrt]

I prefer http://www.tcwo.com.  Very reasonable prices, and shipping is only (at least, it used to be) $6.95 for orders under 50 lbs or something.  

My picks:  Biostar M7VIP DDR - $66 (Biostar boards run middle-pack performace-wise, but offer a lot of features and are very reliable.  The board supports 333Mhz DDR, they have another 400Mhz model for $74.

Athlon XP 2100+:  $91.  This is the current best price point - the 2200+ plus is $151.

Just don't buy a second rate video card if you're going to use TV-out.  Some manufaturers skimp on TV out components, resulting in poor picture quality.    That said, you can get away with a relatively low-end card - such as an ATI Radeon 7200.    If you buy an ATI card, make sure it is "Built By ATI" as opposed to "Powered By ATI."  There is a difference.  Matrox is also known for excellent picture quality.  

I take it this M7VIP does not have an integrated video card? Wouldn't it be a bit more cost effective to go with a mobo with integrated video/audio, and find one with decent quality S-Video out?

mohrt

more than likely that would be a rare bird to find...  and probably not as cost effective (cheapo integrated video/audio mobo's abound for low prices --- fancy pants video integrated is probably a premium cost...)


Not that you can't find it.. but i'm guessing dollars to donuts not cheapest solution.
*shrug*

rampy

In the following thread, you'll find some decent prices for mobos integrated video. The cards are not quite the speed of these in this thread, but definately cost effective. The mobos are mini-atx too, so they fit in a tight space.

http://www.arcadecontrols.org/yabbse/index.php?board=1;action=display;threadid=4233

[Silverwind]

Typically.. there can be a penalty with integrated audio also... a lot of them use the CPU to emulate the sound...

sort of like software modems

[eightbit]

Typically.. there can be a penalty with integrated audio also... a lot of them use the CPU to emulate the sound...

It all depends on what kind of performance your trying to get. If you buy a duron or a celeron chip your also going to take a hit versus a p4 or XP chip. Sometimes you can save a signifcant amount of cash on durons and celerons. It hard to make actual comparisons when there are so many factors.

[Silverwind]

Typically.. there can be a penalty with integrated audio also... a lot of them use the CPU to emulate the sound...

It all depends on what kind of performance your trying to get. If you buy a duron or a celeron chip your also going to take a hit versus a p4 or XP chip. Sometimes you can save a signifcant amount of cash on durons and celerons. It hard to make actual comparisons when there are so many factors.

"Budget" CPU's typically do not perform to the same level, no, as typically to lower the cost they "cripple" some features like cache or pipelines etc..

but no matter which chip you have... if you have to emulate sound/modem/video whatever.. it's going to be a little slower..  with the fast CPU's now days.. it might not make much difference (except for the video) but for purists... that's still not acceptable

[HotDogg]

For computer stuff www.newegg.com usually has fair prices.  They ship quick and provide timely order status updates as well.  Also, I've posted this before but I like www.sciplus.com just to see the range of stuff they carry - not necessairly computer related but interesting nonetheless.