New Comp with Intel 915 motherboard recommended?

[there_is_no_spoon]

Hi,
I am going to get a new comp, but am facing the foll. problem:
(Pardon my ignorance :- { )

a) The 915 motherboard( Intel original) reportedly performs slower than the 865 with avilable DDR RAM(NOT DDR2) in india. It also has only a PCI xpress x16 slot, and not the agp 8x one.
With a current budget of around 35k, I was planning to get a 3.0 HT with865 mboard and fx5200 card (xfx make)-- thats what fits in this budget. However, it seems the 865 restricts upgradability , while 915 allowing for upgradability, performs badly with current available components ( saw this on some website hardware benchmark).
can the fx5200 card be accomodated in 915?
How long will it take for pci xpress to take over agp 8x, and cards to be available in the market? ( i cant wait for more than 3 months to play UT 2k4!)

b) What ATI cards fit in the same range (around 4K)? what is recommended?

c) Hard disk-- decent 80 GB ones?

d) I plan to get the comp from Lamington-- How do I check whether the RAM is actually what he says he will give (DDR 400, etc.), and that it is not second-hand?

e) i need a decent lan card, but my fundaes in this area are zero!pls help.

e) Any other recommended configurations, and a reliable Lammy dealer's name would be helpful!

Thanks![/b]

 

[theraven]

a) first of all with that budget
and either ways ud be better off with an amd64 system
this 915 mojo has been discussed earlier too
NO the fx 5200 ( agp 8x ) card WILL NOT fit on a PCI-Express slot

IT IS NOT BACKWARD COMPATIBLE ... or forward compatible for that matter

b) with a budget of 4k ur better off with the onboard graphics of 915
c) seagate HDD no 2 ways abt it ... it comes with 5 yr warranty
dont be deceived by 5400 rpm drives
get a min 7200 rpm drive ofcourse
d) umm i dun seem to recall how to tell betweek types of RAM ..as for it not being second hand .. guess u just gotta trust
e) ull get a nice onboard lan on 915 ( or most of the mobo's for that matter)
E)(again?) i mean f) (i) search the forum there are loads u can find helpfull
(ii) this is more the area for ppl like blade_runner
(iii) nonetheless my recommendation for sub 35k pc:
AMD64 3000 : rs 8600
ASUS K8v : rs 5550
seagate 80gb hdd : 2850
zebronics lava cabinet with 400w power supply ( not sure ) : rs 1500
17" samsung non flat monitor : ard 5500
logitech kbd optical mouse : rs 1100
liteon 52x cd-rw drive : 1500
radeon 9600 pro w 128mb : 7500
total : 34,100

 

[blade_runner]

ATi cards arnd 4k wud be 9200, 9250 but i'd recommend going for a 9600pro or 9600 normal in that order. For telling between fake ram, u got to chk out the identification that the manufacturer normally advertises like 3d sticker etc, specific stickers with symbols etc. Each brand is different in doing this.