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Building A Computer

Started by Dominicds 12 replies 550+ views
Original Post
Dominicds
Dominicds
I''m working on building a P4-based computer. This is what I''ve come up with so far. 
Asus P4P800 Motherboard $105.00
    800 MHz Front Side Bus
    8x AGP Slot
    Serial ATA Support
    Integrated Gigabit Ethernet
    Dual Channel DDR Support

Intel Pentium 4 $400
    3.2 GHz 800FSB With Hyper-Threading Technology

Sapphire Radeon 9700PRO 128MB $210

Creative Labs Audigy 2 $59

2xSamsung 512MB Memory $160
    PC3200 400Mhz Dual Channel DDR 

TDK VeloCD AI-481648 48X16X48 CD Burner $30

Powmax Case $40
    With 350W Power Supply And Cool Window in the side

Logitech Z640 5.1 Speakers $66

120 GB Segate HDD Serial ATA $87

Dell 19" Monitor $110

Random "multimedia" keyboard $10
And Optical Mouse $10
All this totals to just under $1300. My question is, can anyone build a similar system for cheaper? If you can, tell me what sites you used! Thanks for your help.
Imperil
Imperil
I don''t know the exact prices offhand.. but you might want to check:

http://www.tigerdirect.com/

they have some great deals. I''ve ordered 5 shipments from them in the last 2 months and everything was great.

Sometimes prices dip under cost just to clear the warehouse of certain stock.

I have an almost identical system to your proposed system that I use at home.. the only difference is that I went FX5900 instead of 9700 for performance gains and it wasn''t too much more.
mjhpc
mjhpc
Where did you get a Dell 19" monitor at for $110?
Wolfmanyoda
Wolfmanyoda
You could save money by going with AMD instead of Intel.
Check out the bottom System Kit at Computer Parts USA.
The video card is not as nice, it's a 9600Pro.
It's a Athlon XP 3000+, black tower with case light and 420W power supply, and a DVD+-RW/CD-RW.
It's only $970.
You could upgrade the video card and still save money, but that's if you're not dead set on a P4
I've bought 2 kits from them with no problems.

====================================
Cat: the other white meat

[edited by - wolfmanyoda on January 16, 2004 3:07:56 PM]
tHiSiSbOb
tHiSiSbOb
quote:
Original post by Run_The_Shadows
NewEgg
I ordered my FX5900 on the 12th of December, it arrived on the 15th. They have always done well by me.


Oh, and I think you need a Xoxide case. I think it''s worth the extra!

- It''s a life''s work
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Yea, from my experiance, they are great about that.
----------------------------------------------------"Plant a tree. Remove a Bush" -A bumper sticker I saw.
Dominicds
Dominicds
The monitor is a "Grade A" referbished unit.

quote:
quote
Grade A - Monitor is in Great Condition
Has slight Cosmetic Blemishes, examples of which are (but not limited to):
Slight Scratches in case

Dominicds
Dominicds
quote:
Original post by Imperil
http://www.tigerdirect.com/



quote:
Original post by Wolfmanyoda
Computer Parts USA.


quote:
Original post by Run_The_Shadows
NewEgg


Thanks for the help everyone, I actually was already planning on getting quite a few of the parts listed from NewEgg. And I''m probably going to stick with Intel for the processor.
Imperil
Imperil
quote:
Original post by Dominicds
quote:
Original post by Imperil
http://www.tigerdirect.com/



quote:
Original post by Wolfmanyoda
Computer Parts USA.


quote:
Original post by Run_The_Shadows
NewEgg


Thanks for the help everyone, I actually was already planning on getting quite a few of the parts listed from NewEgg. And I'm probably going to stick with Intel for the processor.


Good choice, Intel runs nice and cool =]

You might want to up your power supply though. For the system you've spec'd you will be using about 330Watts.

So unless you have an Antec TruePower you might be starving the system at times. Not to mention if you add another drive you will be too low on power.

I would grab 430Watt if possible =]

[edited by - Imperil on January 16, 2004 3:27:51 PM]
Michalson
Michalson
quote:
Original post by Dominicds
I''m working on building a P4-based computer. This is what I''ve come up with so far.

TDK VeloCD AI-481648 48X16X48 CD Burner $30

Have you looked into the LG 4040B or 4081 DVD Burner? They are extremely inexpensive (not anywhere near CDRW drive prices, but still very low) and yet are of good quality, with support for +,- and RAM standards. Of course DVD burning isn''t essential, but it could be an inexpensive upgrade.

quote:

Powmax Case $40
With 350W Power Supply And Cool Window in the side

Do you know what model PSU? Powmax makes some ok PSUs, but if its just the one they are packaging with a ($40) case it will likely be one of there general ones, which is no better then your generic die-and-fry-the-motherboard PSUs.

quote:

Logitech Z640 5.1 Speakers $66

Good bargain 5.1 speaker set. Good for gaming. However I have heard they do not have the precision to really do justice when playing music (though I don''t own them myself, so I can''t say for sure)

quote:

120 GB Segate HDD Serial ATA $87


hmm, while Seagates SATA line is better than their ATA line (quiet but way to hot) I still wouldn''t give them top marks as there isn''t really much to set them apart from the competition. For about the same price you could get a Maxtor SATA (what I''ve got, much quieter than their normal line, best sustained transfer rate in the price range) or a Western Digital SATA (two lines, both superior quality for long lasting drives, Raptor line is also the speed demon for a big price increase)

Dominicds
Dominicds
quote:
Original post by Imperil
You might want to up your power supply though. For the system you''ve spec''d you will be using about 330Watts.

So unless you have an Antec TruePower you might be starving the system at times. Not to mention if you add another drive you will be too low on power.

I would grab 430Watt if possible =]


Yeah, it''s not an Antec TruePower. I''ll probably go for a higher Wattage, thanks for the heads up. How exactly do you figure the power usage for a computer? I''ve never been able to find guidelines for this.




Imperil
Imperil
I would kill for 2 WD Raptors RAID striped =]


$371 CND for a 72GB HDD though.. no thanks =]

I went with 2 Seagate Baracuda 160GB''s RAID striped. Maxtor is probably the best drive out though right now, at least imo.
Imperil
Imperil
quote:
Original post by Dominicds
quote:
Original post by Imperil
You might want to up your power supply though. For the system you''ve spec''d you will be using about 330Watts.

So unless you have an Antec TruePower you might be starving the system at times. Not to mention if you add another drive you will be too low on power.

I would grab 430Watt if possible =]


Yeah, it''s not an Antec TruePower. I''ll probably go for a higher Wattage, thanks for the heads up. How exactly do you figure the power usage for a computer? I''ve never been able to find guidelines for this.




Try here: http://www.utcache.com/power.asp

There is another one I know of that is better, but I can''t find the link here at work so I must have it bookmarked at home.
Dominicds
Dominicds
quote:
Original post by Michalson
Have you looked into the LG 4040B or 4081 DVD Burner?


Actually, I did look at some LG DVD burner (I can''t remember which model). But I don''t really need to store that much information.

quote:

...if its just the one they are packaging with a ($40) case it will likely be one of there general ones...

Thanks for the info, I''ll be looking for a better PSU.

quote:

...Maxtor SATA (what I''ve got, much quieter than their normal line, best sustained transfer rate in the price range) or a Western Digital SATA...

Thanks again! I''m probably going to pick up a Western digital SATA drive for about $20 more. I''ve had good expirences with their drives in the past.

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