Gamer's Dream

[YouGoFirst]

My wife informed me the other day (along with my 5 year old) that our desktop machine is officially too old and slow. (800 mHz AMD)

Hopefully I can get the new system before the Vista upgrade offer expires so that I can have a copy of both XP and Vista for cheap. I am looking to spend around $1600 on a new system, including a monitor. Ideally I would like it to be DirectX 10 capable, and have an Intel chip. (I am looking at having the system dual boot XP and Vista) I have found the monitor that I want from Costco for $330 (Viewsonic 22" widescreen). What I am looking for is a good place to buy the box and a good set of speakers. The place can be either a local shop or else online. (If it is possible, I would like to have a TV tuner card included so I can use the machine as a DVR.)

I do know quite a bit about computers, and am very comfortable maintaining my system, so having on-site service is not as important as having a really nice system.

I am located in the Ogden, Utah area, but am looking for a place that would have the best machine/support either on line or anywhere between Brigham City and Draper.

 

[apt403]

So, are you building this system, or are you buying a prebuilt box? If your building you can easily get a dx10 gfx card and a midrange C2D, but if your buying prebuilt $1600 isnt going to cut it. If i where you i would buy all the parts off newegg and build yourself.

 

[YouGoFirst]

I am looking to get a complete system, no assembly required. However, if the price is more than $100 less (including shipping) than I would consider buying the components and building a system.

 

[apt403]

This is a pretty good dx10 system for around $1200, all parts through newegg. A similar configuration from a company like Dell would be $2000.

E6300 - $189
G. Skill 2gb - $200
Biostar TForce965PT - $105
8800gts - $409
Western Digital 250gb HDD - $70
NEC 7170A - $30
550w Antec NeoHE - $110

Total - $1113 before shipping

Pick out a case you like, and your set, shipping should be about $70-$80.

 

[PCAnalyst]

Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 Conroe 2.4GHz $320

ASUS P5N-E SLI Socket T (LGA 775) NVIDIA nForce 650i $145

OCZ S.O.E 2GB (2 x 1GB) DDRII 667 $220

WD Caviar SE WD250 8M $70

eVGA 640 GeForce 8800GTS 640MB $420

ZALMAN 9700 $55

COOLER MASTER Centurion Case $48

CHIMEI 22" 5ms DVI Wdscrn LCD Mon $300

ENERMAX Noisetaker II 485W $80

$1658 + Shipping

 

[casemods]

Just go with newegg, or at least go with them if they have better prices.

Better prices mean spending more on other parts which will utilize the price (some things you get what you pay for)

 

[Xazax310]

Here is a prebuilt for 1200$

2gb DDR 2 PC5300
E6400
Built in TV tuner card
7600GS

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=8120115&type=product&productCategoryId=pcmcat103700050055&id=1158319080080


But if you dont mind AMD for 914$ you can get this
AMD 5000+ x2
2 GB DDR2 4200
TV tuner card
Simply add in a 8800GTS or other card(+/- 400$) and it costs 1300$ all prebuilt

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=8022784&type=product&productCategoryId=pcmcat103700050054&id=1156607399630


Like them i too suggest DIY computer for best bang for the buck HOWEVER DIY computers tend to have FAR more problemsa nd you cant complain or yell because you did it yourself so if something screws up, your fault... personally i like blaming Gateway,dell, HP for there screwups.

 

[UAL3312]

i resent that Zalman makes very very good air cooling products they are in the top 3 for air with Scythe and Tuniq

at 3.5GHz and 1.43 Vcore my temp's on a Conroe are 40/58

 

[UAL3312]

yes that is Dual Instances of P95 small FFT's

 

[YouGoFirst]

Thanks for all of your help. At least I have seen what should go into a good system. However, I have noticed that if I go to someplace like Cyberpower, ABS Computers, or iBuypower, I can have them build my system and give me technical support for about $100 more than parts and shipping for anything purchased online.

I would like to know if there is any reason why I should not go with a DX10 card if I am buying a new system.

 

[PCAnalyst]

Thanks for all of your help. At least I have seen what should go into a good system. However, I have noticed that if I go to someplace like Cyberpower, ABS Computers, or iBuypower, I can have them build my system and give me technical support for about $100 more than parts and shipping for anything purchased online.

I would like to know if there is any reason why I should not go with a DX10 card if I am buying a new system.

How about tryin this... go to ABS or Cyberpower or whichever you prefer and customise a computer from thier list.

Write down every component they include into your final package and include price.

Then come back here and list those items with the bottom line price.

I seriously think the e-store prices will be crushed when components are matched.

And I am sure there is a few here who would step up to the challenge of beating those prices.

Of course any software included will be an extra, but you should really look closely at what is offered, and in many cases make sure the items purchasable individually also include software.

I recieved Nero OEMs, games, MS works/ trips, and a few others... so who knows.

 

[YouGoFirst]

Ok, here is the system that I am looking at buying:

CASE: Raidmax Sagitta Mid-Tower 420W Gaming Case w/ Side Panel Window (BLACK COLOR)

CPU: (Sckt775)Intel® Core™ 2 Duo E6400 CPU @ 2.13GHz 1066FSB 2x1MB L2 Cache EM64T

MOTHERBOARD: Asus P5N-SLI nForce 570 SLI Chipset LGA775 Supports Core 2 Duo CPU FSB1066 DDR2 Mainboard w/GbLAN, USB2.0, &5.1Audio

MEMORY: (Req.DDR2 MainBoard)1GB (2x512MB) PC6400 DDR2/800 Dual Channel Memory (Corsair Value Select or Major Brand)

VIDEO CARD: NEW!!! NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GTS 640MB 16X PCI Express Video Card

HARD DRIVE: Single Hard Drive (250GB SATA-II 3.0Gb/s 8MB Cache 7200RPM HDD)

Optical Drive: LiteOn SHM-165H6S 16X Double Layer DVD+-RW Super Allwrite + Lightscribe Technology (Black Color)

Logitech Delus 104 Keyboard

Logitech Optical Wheel Mouse

1.44 MB Floppy

Microsoft Windows XP Media Center 2005

Total Price $1446 plus $350 for Viewsonic 22" Wide DVI LCD from Costco

The prices include all shipping costs. Granted the system that I have listed does not have the E6600 CPU and only 1 Gig of RAM, but by buying the parts from Newegg I don't get an OS with the system.

 

[PCAnalyst]

Ok, here is the system that I am looking at buying:

CASE: Raidmax Sagitta Mid-Tower 420W Gaming Case w/ Side Panel Window (BLACK COLOR)

First of all ditch the PSU in that case... it WILL NOT WORK with the 8800GTS power requirements. $70 newegg

CPU: (Sckt775)Intel® Core™ 2 Duo E6400 CPU @ 2.13GHz 1066FSB 2x1MB L2 Cache EM64T

Good Choice - $220 newegg

MOTHERBOARD: Asus P5N-SLI nForce 570 SLI Chipset LGA775 Supports Core 2 Duo CPU FSB1066 DDR2 Mainboard w/GbLAN, USB2.0, &5.1Audio

Outdated chipset... could do better $71 Newegg

MEMORY: (Req.DDR2 MainBoard)1GB (2x512MB) PC6400 DDR2/800 Dual Channel Memory (Corsair Value Select or Major Brand)

Corsair doesn't even make these modules - NO PC6400 in 512 sticks but the PC5300 DDR2 667 goes for $108 newegg

VIDEO CARD: NEW!!! NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GTS 640MB 16X PCI Express Video Card

$400 newegg

HARD DRIVE: Single Hard Drive (250GB SATA-II 3.0Gb/s 8MB Cache 7200RPM HDD)

$60 newegg

Optical Drive: LiteOn SHM-165H6S 16X Double Layer DVD+-RW Super Allwrite + Lightscribe Technology (Black Color)

$30 Newegg

Logitech Delus 104 Keyboard

delux models going for about $10 newegg

Logitech Optical Wheel Mouse

$25 newegg

1.44 MB Floppy

:roll: $5 bux

Microsoft Windows XP Media Center 2005

$110 newegg

Total Price $1446 plus $350 for Viewsonic 22" Wide DVI LCD from Costco

$300 newegg

The prices include all shipping costs. Granted the system that I have listed does not have the E6600 CPU and only 1 Gig of RAM, but by buying the parts from Newegg I don't get an OS with the system.

For a grand Toe Tal of: $1424 ....including the monitor, and realistic RAM. And just so you will be able to run it... seasonic 430W PSU = $90

I would also suggest upping the RAM to 2 gigs, else your system will bottleneck.

 

[haywood]

Just built a new rig

E6400
P5B-E mobo
PNY 8800GTS
2 Gb Corsair XMS RAM
CD/DVD burner
Thermaltake case
OCZ GameXStream 600w PSU
Assorted cables
Speakers
20.1" Widescreen LCD
Copy of XP

$1550 after rebates

I tried to build this online and it was always arond $2200

 

[YouGoFirst]

I am just about fully convinced to build a system rather than buying a system from a builder. From the looks of things I can save up to about $200 building one compared to geting one pre-built.

Since this was just an exploratory exercise, and I have to get my Taxes done first, I will check things out again towards the end of February.

Which leads me into my next question, will I be able to get a DX10 graphics card that is less than $400?

 

[PCAnalyst]

Well the egg has the GTS for 399 today... sooooo I would assume the price will drop in a month to some extent.

 

[revenge7]

Cheaper DX10 cards should be coming out in February or March.