Search
Sign in with
Sign up | Sign in

$1,800... what computer would you buy?

Tags:
Last response: in CPUs
Share

I have a budget of around $1800, which I don't want to exceed to buy a new computer. My last computer was a Pentium II 400mhz with a TNT 2 Ultra, so I'm quite excited with this opportunity. I still have about a month to make a definite decision, but this is what I thought and did some research about:

Thermaltake XASER III V2420+U ( SILVER ) 12-Bay All Aluminum ATX Super Tower Chassis w/ Locks + (W0009)420W Power supply - Retail

ASUS Motherboard for Intel Pentium 4 / Celeron Processors, 800Mhz FSB Model# P4P800 DELUXE Retail

Sapphire ATI RADEON 9500 128MB DDR

TV LEADTEK WINFAST "DELUXE" TV2000XP TV/FM MULTIMEDIA CARD - RETAIL

Intel Pentium 4 / 2.6CGHz 512k socket 478 Hyper Threading Technology 800 MHz FSB - RETAIL(hope to OC to 3.2 without any negative repercussions with the cooling components I choosed)

Thermaltake P4 Spark 7 for Intel P4 478 FMB2, 3 GHz and higher.Retail

SAMSUNG 1.44MB FLOPPY DRIVE Model# SFD321B/LEB - OEM, DRIVE ONLY

Optorite DVD+-RW Dual Retail Drive Model DD0203 Retail

Creative Labs Sound Blaster Audigy 2 - PCI OEM

Corsair XMS 3500 2x512mb(platinium vs. regular heatsinks, any difference? -price is the same)

-The monitor, I'm getting through a friend that is manager in a company that distributes Samsung monitors. He said I could choose any CRT 21 inch monitor and I could get it for $2**.

-Hard Drive, I had decided for the Maxtor Diamond Max Plus
II 120 GB SATA after reading some reviews, but then I
noticed they were outdated. Are their newer models around
the same price that are faster and have better performance?

- I still have to choose a monitor model and find a dvd-drive that will complement by reading almost any format without hassle and that is or can be region free. I choose the video card since it is cheap and it can be modded (I hope the retail version from googlegear can give me better odds than the oem that newegg is providing).

Out of curiosity, what system would you build or buy with that amount? Any advice with the components that I wrote would be very helpful, thank you for your time.

More about : 800 computer buy

Register or log in to remove

i'd probly go for 9700pro the extra 128bit bandwith really makes a difference or so i heared i got a 9500 pro and i'm happy with it, and the dimondmax can't go wrong with the price but it's realiability ain't the good

ALWAYS AIM LOW SO YOU CAN'T BE DISSAPOINTED
Related ressources
Ask the community

yes, the price would be around or under $1,800 dollars.
I was thinking of buying WD, but the 120 gb model I found was not SATA, wouldn't that make it slower than the Dimaond?

I would buy the ati 9700 pro, but after hearing that the Sapphire 9500 could be soft modded I'll give it a try. If it doesn't work I'll just overclock and wait till next year to get a better card, when they are cheaper. Would the retail card have any advantage over the oem?

Do you think I could reach 3.2 ghz with the current settings or should I provide more cooling? Also, which 21 inch Samsung monitor model would you recommend?

Thank you for your advice and suggestions.

Quote:
Corsair XMS 3500 2x512mb(platinium vs. regular heatsinks, any difference? -price is the same)

The two differ only by color.

<b><font color=blue>Logic over all.</font color=blue></b>

Ah well, it's early in the morning and I have nothing better do so, what would I build... priced off of newegg.

Radeon 9800 pro 128 (have one, very nice, but if you want to keep your tv tuner AiW 9700pro is about the same price and also nice)

floppy drive

Asus a7n8x delux w/soundstorm audio (so now I don't have to buy an audigy 2)

amd 2500+ and OC

optorite dvd+-RW (the only ones i've read up on are sony, but at least the specs and price look nice on this)

corsair 2x512 (for my own system I'd probably stick to 2x256 just to save some money)

xaser III V1000A

Antec true control 550W power supply

Seagate 120GB SATA

Volcano 9 HS

Your $200 21" monitor :) 

And some 5.1 speakers for under $100 to bring the cost to $1800. I think I managed to stick close to yours, though I go with the spirit of video card and not processor. Also, platinum metal is so expensive I have a hard time believing that there is much platinum in their platinum/silver heatspreader series. Anyone know what the percent is? Also, given the current airflow issues I have in my own case, I might go ahead and drop a few dollars on the round cables for my floppy and dvd drives. Those xasers have such airflow though that I don't know if it would make a noticable difference.

sata drives are not necicarely faster...sure they have 150mb/s interface...think of it this way would a ferrari transmition on a fiat 500 help anything? Same thing with sata most hard drives peak at about 66mb/s so really you are not taking advantage of sata...in fact the WD JB drives use ultra ata 100 not even 133 why? Because they just don't need it.
Register or log in to remove
 
Ask the community
Read discussions in other CPUs categories
!