Sorry to keep replying in my own thread, but eh! Okay, here's the new computer I cooked up, thoughts please: CPU AMD Athlon XP 2400+ 2.0GHz 266 FBUS Case: CAS ATX Zmax 868 Mid Tower Case w/400W Black Motherboard: MBD Asus A7N266-VM 2DDR266, nVidia, 3PCI, LAN 266 Memory: MEM 512 MB 266 MHz PC2100 DDRRAM Hard Drive: HDD WD 80 GB Western Digital 7200 RPM ATA/100 CD ROM Drive: CDS CDRW 52X 24X 52X Black OptoRite CD Re-Writable Floppy Drive: FDD Mistumi 1.44 MB 3.5" Floppy Disk Drive Video Card: VID nVidia Geforce FX 5200 256 MB 8X AGP TV, DVI Sound Card: SYS-D SIS AC 97,2.2 Codec, 6 Channel, 5.1 Dolby D Modem: MDM 56K Conexent V.92 Fax Software Modem USB Ports: SYS-D 4 USB 2.0 Ports Transfer Rate Up to 480Mbps Network Card: SYS-D NIC Integrated 10/100T Realtech LAN Keyboard: KBD Black Standard 104 Key PS/2 Internet Keyboard Mouse: MIC Standard PS/2 Black 2 Button Mouse w/Scroller Speakers: SPK 4Q SP-698 120W Black 2 Piecs Speakers Warranty: 1-Year Parts & Labor Warranty & Technical Support Price: $590 Might go up to a 120 GB hard drive, although I can't ever see myself needing that much space... What does everyone think? I moved away from celeron and that junk...
Looks good. Like I said, Stay away from Celerons since you want a machine you can play games on. AMD XP series are good processors. That is what I have running in my machine right now. looks good. Very similiar to my machine.
Woohoo! It's about time I found something satisfactory, I've been playing around with this site all afternoon! Thanks for the help everyone, I appreciate it very muchly!
Be weary of GATEWAY! I bought one on oct of 2001 & it shut off all of a sudden & started smoking just a few months ago ! I bought a Compaq PC Presario from SAM's Warehouse, it has a 2.08 GHz, 512 sdram, 120 GB, CD-RW, DVD-ROM, Windows XP for under $800.00, it also includes a 7550 color monitor! And thus far, I've been very satisfied with it! It's fast considering I don't have Hi Speed internet.
I would sacrifice the ram & video card, reasons why: 1. ram is pretty cheap 2. video cards are upgradeable the processor is the heart of the system. you don't really want to upgrade the processor any time soon. if your really into games, you probably will upgrade your video card once a year.
Yes..I am in search of a new computer. Dell right now is offering free shipping and a $150 rebate on certain items. The computer you have assembled is quite cheap! That computer would probably cost at least $1000 with Dell. Do you all think Dell will have good deals during Christmas? I am waiting an extra month..hopefully the price of the computer I want remains the same or goes lower! Great deal!
I just ordered a Dell yesterday. They offered some great deals through my company. Ended up getting a Dimension 4600 P4, 2.66GHz DVD rom, 48X CD-RW no moniter, no speakers, just the damn box with everything in it. After the $150 rebate I'll end up paying $560!!!! It ships out November 20th!!
esse, Dell is offering a Dimension 4600 P4 2.66 GHz with 256 MB RAM CD/RW and DVD for $569 after rebates right now. Add $80 and you can get a 17" monitor. You may want to smack you company and ask for better than a $9 discount. For those of you leaning towards Dell, they usually have a pricing screwup every few weeks. People have run out of there with $800-$1000 systems for $400-$500 all the time. If you're buying from Dell, always try to find a coupon - sign up for them on their website. They're always having 10-20% off sales that combined with coupons make for a hell of a deal on PC's.
WHAT! Well, that is my total including FREE shipping..... dontcha dare say they offer that too! either way a good deal.
One last question: How important is the motherboard? The place I'm buying from has a few choices, each more expensive than the last...and it's either sacrifice something like a worse video card to get a better (more expensive motherboard) and I'm just curious if it's all that important... Any input appreciated!
Well motherboard I would think is pretty important since everything else has to be compatible with it. You would want to get the motherboard that yuo dont need to upgrade in a year. You want to get a motherboard that leave room to upgrade if you don;t have the money for the higher end cpu, ram ect. for the time being. Upgrading smaller parts are pretty easy but upgrading the motherboard is a pain in teh ass. Asus motherboard seems to be a well known adn reliable brand name so go for one of that. Make sure the motherboard have all what you need since its the essential part of the whole system.
It depends on what you want out of your motherboard. Some motherboards come with on-board audio other don't. Some come with onboard NICs (network cards), others don't. Some support RAID, some don't. Just because it costs more or has more doesn't mean you need it. Outside of that, just make sure your motherboard supports the processor. But if it's a good store you're buying from, either their online configurator or someone working there will let you know that your combination of motherboard and processor, for example, won't work.
Well, earlier today I had put together a new system with a real sharp looking fancy case and with these neat colored keyboards and mouses all that...but I made yet another system tonight that sacrificed all that glitz and flashiness to upgrade to a P4. My final creation, one that I will purchase very soon: Processor: CPU Intel Pentium 4 2.66 GHz 512K Cache,533MHz FSB Memory: MEM 512 MB 333 MHz PC2700 DDRRAM Hard Drive: HDD WD 80 GB Western Digital 7200 RPM ATA/100 Mother Board: MBD ECS P4VMM2A 533FBS 2DDR, 2PCI, Vid, Snd, LAN, Bios & Security: SYS-D AMI 2MB Flash Bios,w/Passward Protection Case: CAS ATX Mid Tower 606 Stealth Blue Color w/ 350W CD ROM Drive: CDS CDRW 52X 24X 52X OptoRite CD Re-Writable Floppy Drive: FDD Mistumi 1.44 MB 3.5" Floppy Disk Drive USB Ports: SYS-D 4 USB 2.0 Ports Transfer Rate Up to 480Mbps Video Card: VID nVidia Geforce FX 5200 256 MB 8X AGP TV, DVI Sound Card: SYS-D VIA AC 97 2.2 Codec, 2 Channel Sound Modem: MDM 56K Conexent V.92 Fax Software Modem Network Card: SYS-D NIC Integrated 10/100T Realtech LAN Keyboard: KBD Standard 104 Key PS/2 Internet Keyboard Mouse: MIC Standard PS/2 Inteli Mouse Speakers: SPK 4Q SP-698 120W Black 2 Piecs Speakers Warranty: 1-Year Parts & Labor Warranty & Technical Support Okay, what does everyone think? This is really really hard...
sound good but never heard of that motherboard. You should at least check on teh net for most of the component taht you are getting to see the review to your liking. But the motherboard isn't well known. Be careful since motherboard is pretty important part of the system so make sure the it's something that won't mess up during upgrade.
The motherboard is the most important part of the computer, I wouldn't go with a cheap offbrand. I'd pick up an Asus mobo if I were you.
I've ALWAYS built my own PC's, and I try to do one every year. I need to build one this year (for tax purposes), but I'm struggling to find the time.....and I'm struggling to justify the cost. The fact that you can't really "borrow" the XP OS (ie...you have to pay for it), and the general economies of scale that Dell enjoys just makes it about impossible to beat them. I know all about where to get the best deals on components, but I just don't think I can beat Dell anymore. Their prices are that good.
Unfortunately an Asus is an extra 90 bucks, and I certainly can't afford it. I know that I'm being a dummy, but I'm just gonna have to risk it with the off-brand motherboard... It's got a one year warranty on everything, so if it breaks before then, I'll be fine. When it breaks they first day after the warranty is up, which of course it will with my luck, then I can say, "Why oh why didn't I listen to the BBS?!" Ah well. I'm very short sighted.
See if you can try and bargain it down saying you have this much money only. It's like take it or leave it.
