CTX is a rebrand company. They don't make monitors. They buy based on what they can get cheapest and in biggest bulk. I had one CTX monitor that was from like B.C. and it's still working today. But I've also seen about 50 that have needed repairs (minor and major) and most have been replaced long ago.

NEC is good. I prefer ViewSonic/Nokia. Sony is good also.

As for your second question. I'd go with newegg unless the final price diffrence (product + s/h) is more than 10% less than newegg. Newegg's service is awesome. I've never had a problem with them and I'm willing to give that 10% to get the better service if something does go wrong. I've only 2 times found newegg to be over 10% more expensive.

 

Cool thanks, yea i think i'm gonna do the math right now and see how much its all gonna cost for newegg, and then i'll see if i can find alot better price elsewhere. here is my current system that i'm looking to get in about 1-2 months:

ANTEC Life Style Series Black Case With 380W Power Supply, Model "SONATA"
Specifications:
Case Type: Mid Tower
Color: Piano Black
Material: 0.8mm SECC Steel
Drive Bays: 5.25" x 3/0, 3.5" x 2/4 (external/internal)
Expansion Slots: 7
Front Ports: 2xUSB & 1xIEEE1394 & Audio
Power Supply: 380W
Cooling System: 1 x 120mm Fans Rear
Mainboard Compatibility: Standard ATX
Dimensions: 16.75"x18.25"x8.13" more info-> N82E16811129127 $95.00 $95.00


AMD Athlon XP 3200+ "Barton", 400MHz FSB, 512K Cache Processor - Retail
Specifications:
Model: AMD Athlon XP 3200+
Core: Barton
Operating Frequency: 2.2GHz
FSB: 400MHz
Cache: L1/64K+64K; L2/512K
Voltage: 1.65V
Process: 0.13Micron
Socket: Socket A
Multimedia Instruction: MMX, SSE, 3DNOW!, 3DNOW!+
Packaging: Retail Box (Heatsink and Fan included) more info-> N82E16819103390 $187.00 $187.00


Kingston HyperX (Dual Pack) 184 Pin 1GB(512MBx2) DDR PC-3200
Specifications:
Manufacturer: Kingston
Model: KHX3200AK2/1G
Speed: DDR400(PC3200)
Type: 184 Pin DDR SDRAM
Error Checking: Non-ECC
Registered/Unbuffered: Unbuffered
Cas Latency: 2-3-2-6-1T
Support Voltage: 2.6V
Bandwidth: 3.2GB/s
Organization: two 64M x 64 -Bit
Warranty: Lifetime more info-> N82E16820144114 $268.00 $268.00


Maxtor 200GB 7200RPM SATA Hard Drive, Model 6Y200M0, OEM Drive Only
Specifications:
Capacity: 200GB
Average Seek Time: 9.3 ms
Buffer: 8MB
Rotational Speed: 7200 RPM
Interface: Serial ATA
Features: Maxtor Shock Protection and Data Protection Systems
Manufacturer Warranty: 3 years
Packaging: OEM Drive Only more info-> N82E16822144324 $144.50 $144.50


Belkin F8E208-BLK ErgoBoard Keyboard AT/ PS/2 107keys -RETAIL
Specifications:
Interface: AT/ PS/2
Number Of Keys: 107 keys
Wireless Technology: N/A
Palm Rest: integrated
Design Style: Ergonomic
Features: Split-key ergo design for more comfortable typing, Integrated wrist rest supports your wrists as you type, 3D design rises and falls for optimal reach comfort more info-> N82E16823154003 $32.40 $32.40


Logitech MX500 Optical Mouse USB/ PS/2 -RETAIL
Specifications:
Interface: USB/ PS/2
Number Of Buttons: 8x buttons + 1x Wheel
Optical/Ball: Optical
Wireless Technology: N/A
Features: Cruise Control scrolling system, MX Optical Engine, Quick Switch Program Selector more info-> N82E16826104129 $39.00 $39.00


Lite-On Black 8X DVD+/-RW Drive, Model SOHW-812S, OEM
Specifications:
Write Speed: 8X DVD+R, 4X DVD+RW, 8X DVD-R, 4X DVD-RW, 40X CD-R, 24X CD-RW
Read Speed: 40X CD-ROM, 12X DVD-ROM
Interface: ATAPI / E-IDE
Buffer: 2 MB
OS Support: Windows 98 / NT 4.0 / ME / 2000 / XP
Features: SMART-BURN avoiding Buffer Under Run error, VAS to reduce vibration & noise during recording & reading
Packaging: OEM Package (see pictures for details) more info-> N82E16827106936

 

ops forgot the mobo.

ABIT "AN7" nForce2 Ultra 400 Chipset Motherboard for AMD Socket A CPU -RETAIL
Specifications:
Supported CPU: AMD Athlon XP/Athlon/Duron Processors
Chipset: nVIDIA nForce2 Ultra 400 + MCP-T
FSB: 400/333/266/200MHz
RAM: 3x DIMM for DDR333/266 Max 3GB, 2x DIMM for DDR400 Max 2GB
IDE: 2x ATA 133 up to 4 Devices
Slots: 1x AGP 8X, 5x PCI
Ports: 2xPS/2,1xLPT,1xCOM,8xUSB2.0(Rear 4),1xLAN,2xIEEE1394(Rear 1),SPDIF In/Out,Audio Ports
Onboard Audio: 6-Channel AC97 CODEC
Onboard LAN: Realtek 10/100Mbps Fast Ethernet
Onboard SATA/RAID: 2x Serial ATA 150, RAID 0/1
Onboard 1394: 3 Ports
Form Factor: ATX more info-> N82E16813127167

 

Abit :drool:

 

yea hehe my friend told me about the board and it seems pretty damn good. hey another question, for the memory i got, do i need specific memory to run the dual channel? besides them having to be exactly the same? should the memory be specified to run dual channel? or just make sure i get 2 identical sticks?

 

Why not go with an Athlon64 XP chip? The older 32bit Athlon XP's were typically behind the last generation of Northwood P4's in performance. The 64 bit chip isn't really that much more expensive and has the onboard memory controller. It runs 32 bit code faster than the older Athlon XP and will support 64bit programs as they come out.

Edit: Oh yeah, no graphics card?

 

2 identical sticks should work fine. As far as I know the "Dual Channel" ones have just had an extra step in testing to "make sure" they work in dual channel mode. If it's the same price, got with them. If it's more $$$... it's a marketing gimick.

 

or sound card

what kinda price are you getting that ram for?

 

the ram is 268. The video card i already bought becasue i wanteed to play farcry decently. Its a ATI Radeon 9800 PRO 128. Love it but I need some more memory for far cry. As for sound card i wasnt going to get one, i figured the onboard sound would be sufficient. as for the 64 bit stuff i dunno i might wait off on it till it drops price i guess. i might check out the prices now and compare.

 

get a differnet dvd drive

i suggest sony drw500 or pioneer a07. unless you dont want to do 8x burning.