Possible PC Purchase or Build

[BCspeed34]

Well, I saw this great looking PC at Costco a few weeks ago, and thought of buying it. It had a dual-side DVD burner, 300 GB HD, Intel Pentium D 830 (3.0 Ghz), 1.5 GB RAM, ATI Radeon X1300 PRO, and a 21" LCD screen. The PC was put together by HP. It was $1850.

 

So, what I need from you kind computer folk is a list of stuff that would make a complete PC that is on a $2000 budget (sans tax and shipping), and contains AT LEAST OR BETTER: a 3.0 Ghz processor, 1.5 GB RAM, X1300 PRO (256), 160 GB HD, 21" Widescreen monitor.

 

The products do NOT need to be from the same site, so I'll start it off:

 

Monitor: http://www.shopping.hp.com/webapp/shopping...e=P8727AA%23ABA

Price: $649.99

 

Thanks

 

-BC

[Majestic]

easy

better pc for $1,239.23 without monitor

 

If you add the 21" monitor you listed, you get $1889.23

 

Why is it better?

$300 Nvidia 7800GT video card vs $60 Radeon X1300 video card

500GB vs 160GB

2GB ram vs 1.5GB ram

3.2 Pentium D vs 3.0 Pentium D

 

So basically heaps better specification on all fronts for basically same price. I even picked a fancy case.

[Sixdust]

I will try my best to give you what you want, and even more. As for the lcd, I might have issues with that. Also I assume that you prefer Intel/ATI. Some things I cant help you with are case because it is personal opinion, however I will provide a few. And as for the power supply, I cannot really help you other then the fact that I know you need about 500-600w (its not my expertise)

 

 

Processor

Pentium 4 3.2ghz

with hyper threading and 64 bit support as well as 2 mb cache.

 

Motherboard

Aopen mobo

Supports the processor and ht as well as 64 bit support, up to 4 gb of ram, has 1 pci express x16 slot, 2 pcie x1 slots and 3 pci slots, 4 usb ports, 6 audio ports(surround sound), ethernet port (there are more things as well)

 

Ram

2gb of ram

(2 x 1 gb sticks with nice red heat spreaders)

 

Thermal Paste

To keep that processor cool

 

Dvd burner/drive

Lite on brand

This has lightscribe which allows you to also burn labels onto your lightscribe media with the laser inside. As well as a bunch of other stuff.

 

Harddrive - sorry about this however harddrives are more expensive online then in a store like compusa that you can get a 250gb hd for $60 usd after rebates

 

Videocard

Radeon x1900 512mb crossfire edition

Some of the best graphics around.

 

As for the monitor, do you really the 21" screen? You can save so much more money by going down a 0.9 inch decrease by having a 20.1" screen.

Take a look Here

 

As for other parts: do you also want me to suggest the power supply and a mouse, keyboard, and floopy? Or other features? also there is the OS which will cost around $150. I do not know other things you want so I cannot help. Also, you did not say what type of style /color scheme you wanted.

 

Here are some cases:

Viper case

Centrino Case

 

Here is my suggestion for power supply

Mouse that I just got from Logitech

Keyboard that I am getting now

Soundcard for gaming or if your onboard isnt good enough

Logitechx530 5.1 surround sound speakers

Floppy Drive

Mousepad (agian your taste)

 

Summary

CPU $217

Mobo $98

Ram $157

Thermal $6

Dvd $53

Graphics $569

Power $93

 

sum: $ 1193 without case, harddrive, monitor, shipping and extras

 

Floppy Drive $10

Mouse $33

Keyboard $43

Soundcard $122

5.1 Speakers $53

Harddrive $40 - 200 depending on sale price and size as well as brand

Case $40 -200 (depends on your taste)

Mousepad $10 - 50

Cooling $5 and up (depends on what case you get and if you want a seperate heatsink or fans) water cooling is an option too.

 

 

Agian all up to you.

Edited February 25, 2006 by Sixdust

[BCspeed34]

Thats excellent! And a 7800 to boot!

 

I'm going to see if this guy can have the parts ordered and built for me. *prints list*

 

Thanks again

 

EDIT: Sixdust, how much does that all cost? If it's near my budget, that sounds great. Are all the products on newegg? If so, it should be easy to make a comparable list. That 512 ATI sounds amazing.

 

2nd EDIT: I added it all up, and the prices aren't too bad, thats a pretty cool looking case too. Only a $14 difference between yours and Majestic's.

Edited February 25, 2006 by BCspeed34

[Sixdust]

It is. I am currently building this pc for my friend, all on sale pieces but excellent bang for the buck. And this will last a long time and anhilate any game. And yes this is all on newegg except the harddrive and OS which is better to get in store. If you happen to have the Os disk or any friends with earlier copies of it then you save some serious cash. Plus the crossfire will blow you away and if you have the extra money I suggest getting every last penny from your budget.

 

And as for the monitor, get two instead of one at about $180-300 each and have dual displays. It will be much cooler looking.

 

@majestic: the processor is actually 3.0ghz, look carefully and the hard drive is only 250 gb.

 

Edit: upon further research, I am not sure if the motherboard is crossfire ready if it is not, then can someone else find a good mobo or can you do without the crossfire? (probably not though, crossfire destroys games) If the mobo needs to be adjusted, the ram probably will have to be adjusted as well.

Edited February 25, 2006 by Sixdust

[Cran.]

BCSpeed, Pentium D is pathetic for what it is. Just two P4's slapped together. A AMD Athlon 64X2 4400+ would be better and faster for the money.

 

Okay, so i'd go for a:

 

AMD 64 X2 4400+ (2.2GHz, Same Cache as 4800+)

1gb (or two) of PC3200 RAM.

MSI Neo4 sk939 SLi Motherboard (Just incase you want to upgrade to sli later on)

1x 7800 GT (Or, if you wait til March, 7900 GT) OR, maybe if you can afford it, another 7800/7900 GT. Those low-mid end ATi graphics cards aren't hot sh*t. 6800 GS can beat the X1600

 

And then you can pick all you little 'iddy bittlity parts, k? So don't go for a Pentium D. Not worth it...

 

Finally getting around to a new computer, eh?

[MegaVovaN]

Offtopic, but I just LOVE seeing how self-built PC (with a lil hassle if your building first time or with no hassle if someone builds for you from your parts) DESTROYS pre-built PCs in terms of perfomance:price ratio!

[Taxman]

BCSpeed, Pentium D is pathetic for what it is. Just two P4's slapped together. A AMD Athlon 64X2 4400+ would be better and faster for the money.

 

Okay, so i'd go for a:

 

AMD 64 X2 4400+ (2.2GHz, Same Cache as 4800+)

1gb (or two) of PC3200 RAM.

MSI Neo4 sk939 SLi Motherboard (Just incase you want to upgrade to sli later on)

1x 7800 GT (Or, if you wait til March, 7900 GT) OR, maybe if you can afford it, another 7800/7900 GT. Those low-mid end ATi graphics cards aren't hot sh*t. 6800 GS can beat the X1600

 

And then you can pick all you little 'iddy bittlity parts, k? So don't go for a Pentium D. Not worth it...

 

Finally getting around to a new computer, eh?

...I've looked at the specs, isn't the 7900GT a 7800GTX with a slighly higher memory speed?

 

I mean, I overclocked my 7800GT to 500/1.17....If the price is too much, it's probably not worth the money.

[Sixdust]

I love it when a pc comes together as well. Especially when it destorys prebuilts as well.

 

Can anyone help me with the crossfire issue? I dont know if the motherboard needs to say something special like crossfire ready or something. OR does it just need the required pci express x16 slot? Or is it dual slots? If so I need to change the mobo and possibly ram in this build.

 

I also just noticed that the power supply I picked is 20+4pin and the mobo is 24 pin. Is 20+4 pin the same as 24? If it is not, I will choose another.

 

(sorry for some mistakes but you have to consider I was doing this at 2 in the morning)

 

Edit: Upon some serious thinking and product viewing, maybe the crossfire is not needed and will take another chunk out of your budget.

 

Maybe you are better off without the crossfire. A regular pcie card is still good.

 

Here it is for $499

Edited February 25, 2006 by Sixdust

[BCspeed34]

I've been thinking it over, and I feel like a 19" would suit me just fine. Yet it's very hard finding a quality one for under $300 .

 

I also have been thinking that if I can save a few bucks here and there, (monitor, case), it might be possible to get a 7800 GTX 512 for the system. Either that, or, two 7800 GT's.

[Fozzy Fozborne]

How about

 

Coolermaster Ammo-533 Gaming Tower Case w/420W Power Supply

[939-pin] AMD� Athlon-64 X2 4200+ CPU w/ Hyper Transport Technology

Free Nero 7 Ultra Edition --- with Purchase of any AMD Athlon 64 X2 4200+ Based PC or Up

Asus A8N5X nForce4 Chipset w/7.1 Sound, Gb LAN, S-ATA Raid, USB 2.0 PCI-E Motherboard

2048 MB [1024MB X2] DDR-400 PC3200 Memory Module

Nvidia 7800GT (256 MB)

250 GB HARD DRIVE [serial-ATA-II, 3Gb, 7200 RPM, 8M Cache]

16x DVD-ROM Drive Silver

16X Dual Format/Double Layer DVD�R/�RW + CD-R/RW Drive - Silver

3D Premium Surround Sound Onboard

Cintre RW-6510 5.1 Surround Sound Speakers + Subwoofer

Logitech Multi-Media Keyboard

Logitech Optical Internet Mouse

MS Windows XP Home Edition w/Service Pack-2 [w/Free Game - Age of Empires III]

(3-Year warantee)

Onboard LAN Network (Gb or 10/100)

(optional floppy disk - $6)

 

Total Price - $1,485

Check it out Here

 

Optional monitor herehttp://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16824112177

19"

$269.99 (plus $14.50 shipping)

 

Total price out the door - (about) $1769.50

(and it's already built for you)

 

Edited February 26, 2006 by Fozzy Fozborne

[Sixdust]

That is kind of expensive and a bit much for those components.

The Ammo case is nice however, and I was thinking about using it in a future build.

Here it is on newegg $75

 

And Newegg has good 19" monitors, take alook through the reviews and stuff.

 

Here are some

Samsung black 19" $320

AMV black 19" $230

 

The rest of the monitors newegg has 19"

Edited February 26, 2006 by Sixdust

[BCspeed34]

By doing a little modification here and there, I was able to get a pretty good PC parts list for $1341.87 without a video card. That includes everything, case, monitor, CPU, speakers, etc. I'm going to purchase a HD seperatley, as it will probably easier and cheaper just to buy one at Best Buy or something.

 

Now, this leaves roughly $650 of spending money for a video card, what should I get? A 512 7800 GTX is looming around my head right now...

[Cran.]

Screw the 7800 GTX 512MB. It's hard enough to get as it is.. Just wait a couple of weeks til the 7900 GT and maybe get two What's your final config? I'll kill you if you buy a Pentium D WAY overpriced!

 

@Taxman No. The 7800 series is a 130nm GPU, the 7900 is a new core, which is 90nm. More pipes will be in the 7900 series than the 7800s and there will be faster core speeds. Completely new cards. These cards will cost the exact same amount as the 7800s.

[Taxman]

Then dammit, I just bought a 7800GT in january for nothing.

 

Actually, the 7900GT has the same amount of pipes as the 7800GTX, so I DOUBT it's going to be priced the same.

[Majestic]

a word of advice, get a powerful powersupply from a reputable manufacturer.

[Cran.]

Then dammit, I just bought a 7800GT in january for nothing.

 

Actually, the 7900GT has the same amount of pipes as the 7800GTX, so I DOUBT it's going to be priced the same.

The 7900 GT WILL be the same price as the 7800 GT. Same with the 7900 GTX. It's being replaced. It's a completely new card, so why would it be more expensive just because it has the same amount of pipes as the 7800 GTX, which is a completely different card (Same with every 7800 series card). It's like saying this;

 

This new stock model chevy has the same power as the old sports model which is 10 grand more. The new stock chevy is now going to be 10 grand more because it has the same power as the old sport model and the old sport model costed 10 grand more. It makes no sence why it would be.

[BCspeed34]

Ok, since the 7900 will be coming soon, I need to make a good decision.

 

Should I:

 

Buy 2 7800 GT's for around $580 COMBINED

 

Buy 1 7800 GTX 512 MB supercard (If I can find one) for AT MOST $650

 

Buy 1 7900 GTX when it comes out.

 

Once I get everything sorted out, I'll post my final list.

[Cran.]

I'd say buy 1 7900 GT when it comes out, then save up for another

[anus]

Yep, go with what Cran said. It would be no use of buying a 7800GTX when the 7900 would completely own it. If you really want to use that PC now, try getting a mobo with onboard video since there are very good mobos which have onboard video or you could just throw in your current card in there if it's PCI-E.

[BCspeed34]

I've been thinking of getting it soon, so I compiled a little list of possible stuff:

 

Case ( NZXT Trinity ATX Mid-Tower Case w/400W Power Supply Black )

Case Lighting ( Cold Cathode Neon Light Blue )

Power Supply ( NZXT PRC-550 550W Power Supply )

Processor ( [939-pin] AMD® Athlon-64 3700+ CPU w/ Hyper Transport Technology )

Processor Cooling ( Certified CPU Fan and Heatsink )

Motherboard ( Gigabyte GA-K8NF9 nVidia nForce4 Chipset w/7.1 Sound, Gb LAN, S-ATA Raid, USB 2.0, IEEE-1394 PCI-E)

Memory ( 1024 MB [512MB X2] DDR-400 PC3200 Memory Module Corsair-Value or Major Brand )

Video Card ( PCI-Express 16x] Nvidia Geforce 7800GTX 512MB w/DVI + TV Out Video )

Hard Drive ( 200 GB HARD DRIVE [serial-ATA-II, 3Gb, 7200 RPM, 8M Cache] )

CD-RW/DVD-RW Drive ( [** Special !!! ***] 16X Dual Format/Double Layer DVD±R/±RW + CD-R/RW Drive Black )

Sound Card ( Creative Lab Sound Blaster Audigy SE )

Speaker System ( Cintre RW-6510 5.1 Surround Sound Speakers + Subwoofer )

USB 2.0 Accessories ( Build-in USB 2.0 Ports )

Meter Display ( Thermal Temperature LCD Display Blue )

Flash Media Reader/Writer ( 12-In-1 Internal Flash Media Card Reader/Writer Beige )

Operation System (MS Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 [w/Free Game - Age of Empires III] )

 

The total price is $1,663.00, which leaves me around $340 for my monitor and keyboard, not bad.

 

Is that fairly decent? I just had to choose that card, I have a jihad against my buddies PC, I have to obliterate it in power. I just chose this option because it perfectly fits my budget, allowing me everything I want in a PC. There is only 1 GB or ram because there is a great sale at Fry's over here, I get 2GB for $120, so I can update the PC to 3GB for less than it costs to make it a 2GB online.

 

Basically, will the motherboard support this setup? If not, which one can/will?

 

Thanks, -BC

 

[Cran.]

Okay then... oh well. It's a waste of money to get a 7800 GTX right now, but if you MUST.. Atleast I turned you to AMD, but no love to the MSI motherboard?

 

BTW, I wouldn't get the ATA hard drive, go for a SATA one. You can get a Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD2500KS 250GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s for 96 bucks from Newegg. Just make sure that the mobo you picked supports SATA

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?...N82E16822144701

Edited February 26, 2006 by Cran.

[anus]

It's a good thing you got that Audigy, I just wanted to add that the X-Fi Sixdust suggested is really not worth all that cash. Unless you're doing some extremely stressing audio editing, recording, etc, the card will not be used to it's full potential.

 

And for the hard drive brand, I'd highly suggest Samsung, their Spinpoints rock and are extremely silent. I'm using some Spinpoint PATAs atm and no problems.

 

Other than Samsung, Seagate and Fujitsu are awesome. I'm not sure about Toshibas since I have no experience with them. The WDs are great, but some of my friends have had problems with them.

 

Why don't you replace those 5.1s with a sweet 7.1 system? The Creative Inspire 7.1s would rock, and aren't all that expensive.

 

And if I were you, I'd replace that 16x burner with a 24x one. They're only a tiny bit expensive than 16x ones.

 

Cran, WTF? He didn't pick ATA, he picked SATA II .

[Cran.]

RIGHT RIGHT. Well, either way, the WD is better since it has twice the cache

[BCspeed34]

The site keeps deleting my shopping cart At least I have the details saved.

 

Now, my dad agreed to buy it, and we will be doing so soon. He even agreed to buy a 20.1" monitor by Samsung. 1600x1200

[Barbaneez]

...

Edited December 14, 2008 by Barbaneez

[BCspeed34]

It's a different site, ibuypower.com, as they have everything I need. I have a newegg list, and that one works just fine, except I'm not using them.

 

It's no big, I've memorized my shopping cart

[kevin2006rhs]

I've been thinking of getting it soon, so I compiled a little list of possible stuff:

 

Case ( NZXT Trinity ATX Mid-Tower Case w/400W Power Supply Black )

Case Lighting ( Cold Cathode Neon Light Blue )

Power Supply ( NZXT PRC-550 550W Power Supply )

Processor ( [939-pin] AMD® Athlon-64 3700+ CPU w/ Hyper Transport Technology )

Processor Cooling ( Certified CPU Fan and Heatsink )

Motherboard ( Gigabyte GA-K8NF9 nVidia nForce4 Chipset w/7.1 Sound, Gb LAN, S-ATA Raid, USB 2.0, IEEE-1394 PCI-E)

Memory ( 1024 MB [512MB X2] DDR-400 PC3200 Memory Module Corsair-Value or Major Brand )

Video Card ( PCI-Express 16x] Nvidia Geforce 7800GTX 512MB w/DVI + TV Out Video )

Hard Drive ( 200 GB HARD DRIVE [serial-ATA-II, 3Gb, 7200 RPM, 8M Cache] )

CD-RW/DVD-RW Drive ( [** Special !!! ***] 16X Dual Format/Double Layer DVD±R/±RW + CD-R/RW Drive Black )

Sound Card ( Creative Lab Sound Blaster Audigy SE )

Speaker System ( Cintre RW-6510 5.1 Surround Sound Speakers + Subwoofer )

USB 2.0 Accessories ( Build-in USB 2.0 Ports )

Meter Display ( Thermal Temperature LCD Display Blue )

Flash Media Reader/Writer ( 12-In-1 Internal Flash Media Card Reader/Writer Beige )

Operation System (MS Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 [w/Free Game - Age of Empires III] )

 

The total price is $1,663.00, which leaves me around $340 for my monitor and keyboard, not bad.

 

Is that fairly decent? I just had to choose that card, I have a jihad against my buddies PC, I have to obliterate it in power. I just chose this option because it perfectly fits my budget, allowing me everything I want in a PC. There is only 1 GB or ram because there is a great sale at Fry's over here, I get 2GB for $120, so I can update the PC to 3GB for less than it costs to make it a 2GB online.

 

Basically, will the motherboard support this setup? If not, which one can/will?

 

Thanks, -BC

 

Dont get the case....its an overpriced piece of sh*t....and the disc door breaks off.

 

I have one...I know...

 

^its blurry but I am playing FEAR.

[BCspeed34]

Ok then, how about this one?

 

 

Raidmax Ninja-918 ATX Mid-tower Case

 

or this:

 

 

NZXT Guardian ATX Mid-Tower Case

[kevin2006rhs]

I like the Raidmax Ninja.

 

The only benifet of havin my case is that you can put a sh*tload of fans in it. I have 13 at the moment.