Monarch Computers? Good or Bad

[Rouse713]

I posted earlier about getting a new computer. I was going towards cyberpower, but I heard some nasty things about them. So then, I was looking into monarch computers. They are a little more pricey, so I had to ditch the SLI 6600GT [for now at least ]. Thanks to THG, I was able to determine the best 6600GT (gigabyte VP, the passive air cooled one). The summerVI benchmarks on a single 6600GT aren't that shabby. Anyways, I would like some feedback about the company. I can't find too many things about them.

 

[RichPLS]

Monarch is top notch, but you pay a bit more, but is good for someone not experienced enough to build themselves.


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And the sign says "You got to have a membership card to get inside" Huh
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[Rouse713]

Ok, thanks for the quick reply. Also, do you think that the gigabyte VP 6600GT is a good card for sub $240. I know that the card is only $200 at monarch, so I was thinking maybe there is a better card for 40 more dollars. I looked into ATI, but I heard that none of their cards have PS 3.0 support, only the new upcoming ATI series will. Thanks in advance for advice.

 

[RichPLS]

<A HREF="http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=322286" target="_new"> Gigabyte GV-R80256D Radeon X800 AGP 8X 256MB DDR3 Video Card w/HDTV-Out & DVI Retail ***Free 2nd Day*** </A>

<pre><font color=red>°¤o,¸¸¸,o¤°`°¤o \\// o¤°`°¤o,¸¸¸,o¤°
And the sign says "You got to have a membership card to get inside" Huh
So I got me a pen and paper And I made up my own little sign</pre><p></font color=red>

 

[Rouse713]

I will probally stick with the 6600GT, as the 40 extra I thought I had is going towards better ram and ASUS A8N SLI Premium NForce 4 Mobo instead of the deluxe. I read on THG that it would be silly to buy an SLI mobo, get one card, and buy the second video card later, since the two will probally be outdated. However, I plan to just stick with the single 6600GT and then later when I have the money, buy one (or two if I have the money) better card(s). I was wondering then, since I plan in the future to maybe only use one new video card on a SLI mobo, would it be better to get a mobo with only one PCIe slot, or is the Nforce 4 SLI northbridge a reasonably good chipset. Finally, what would a reasonable life expectancy be with the Asus premium SLI mobo with an AMD 3500, coupled with whatever newest videocards are out at the time? Are the better mobos for my situation that would lend themselves to longer lifespans? Thanks