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Spitfire_x86   04-09-2004 at 02:55:39 AM

List your "most expensive" PC components you ever bought and how much you paid for that component (in US $)

Here's my list:

CPU: AMD Duron 1 GHz; $63
Mobo: MSI K7N420 Pro, ABIT NF7 v2.0; both were $125
RAM: Kingston 256 MB PC2700 CL2.5, $55/stick (Bought two sticks together)
Graphics Card: Gigabyte Radeon 9000; $80
HDD: Maxtor D740X 40 GB, $90
Optical Drive: LiteOn 40x/12x/48x CD-RW, $80
Sound Card: Creative SB Live! Value; $36
Speaker: Creaive SBS20; $20

------------
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<A HREF="http://geocities.com/spitfire_x86/myrig.html" target="_new">My Rig</A> & <A HREF="http://geocities.com/spitfire_x86/benchmark.html" target="_new">3DMark score</A>

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darko21   04-09-2004 at 03:18:09 AM
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well my most usless investment, like most here was my first PC. I went form concidering a $2500.00 p75 8 meg ram 800mb harddrive, and said nah I will get the future proof p100 16 meg ram 1.6 gig harddrive for $3700.00

A wise investment took me 2 years to figure out how to use it.

If I glanced at a spilt box of tooth picks on the floor, could I tell you how many are in the pile. Not a chance, But then again I don't have to buy my underware at Kmart.

Reply to darko21
pauldh   04-09-2004 at 03:35:03 AM
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I'd have to think way back and don't want to guess right now. But I'd say the worst were definately Hard drives and memory. I paid a rediculous amount for a 1GB back when they were big news (early 1995) And also, remembering some of those early 4-8MB Simm upgrades are hard to swallow. I have those simms all over the place now from piecing old 486's. If I could only take them back in time!!! :tongue:

I remember many months back cleaning out the basement I came upon stacks of PC mags from 1993-1996. Oh my, looking at the pricing was a blast. The video card that came in our 1994 top of the line Gateway P5-90XL was an Ati Mach 64 2MB PCI. It was like a $900+ card I believe, or something like that. I think I saved a couple mags and if I can find them I'll post the exact price. Ugh, that hurts. But anyone who bought PC's through the years saw their money become useless in a few short years. Sad investments for sure.


ABIT IS7, P4 2.6C, 512MB Corsair TwinX PC3200LL, Radeon 9800 Pro, Santa Cruz, TruePower 430watt

Reply to pauldh
Frozen_Fallout   04-09-2004 at 03:35:13 AM
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A R9700 Pro for $300.00 I got it the begining of last year.

-------------------------------------------------
Remember what your fighting for, Remember why you even started fighting, and Remember who you are

Reply to Frozen_Fallout
Spitfire_x86   04-09-2004 at 03:38:07 AM
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LOL.

My first PC was a K6-2 450 MHz, 32 MB PC100 SDRAM, 13 GB HDD, 8 MB SiS 6326AGP, Yamaha ISA-719 sound card. I spent $600 for this, at 2000 (without software)

------------
<A HREF="http://geocities.com/spitfire_x86" target="_new">My Website</A>

<A HREF="http://geocities.com/spitfire_x86/myrig.html" target="_new">My Rig</A> & <A HREF="http://geocities.com/spitfire_x86/benchmark.html" target="_new">3DMark score</A>

Reply to Spitfire_x86
pauldh   04-09-2004 at 03:43:37 AM
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A $63 Duron and a $90 40GB HDD was an expensive PC Component buy? Man I feel such the old-timer right now. LOL. You are lucky, you just might not realize how bad things were and how good you have it now.

ABIT IS7, P4 2.6C, 512MB Corsair TwinX PC3200LL, Radeon 9800 Pro, Santa Cruz, TruePower 430watt

Reply to pauldh
Boilermaker   04-09-2004 at 03:45:28 AM
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my most useless investment...an ls-120 drive for the very first computer i built myself (i think it was like 1998)...i paid around $80 for it and never used the 120mb disk, just used it as a floppy drive before it burned out.

Reply to Boilermaker
pauldh   04-09-2004 at 04:00:06 AM
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Judging by that system, you bought just after us. The P5-90XL was the king back before Christmas of 1994. The 100 was just available around the exact day we purchased the P90, but when I ordered they informed me of the newly available chip and since they wanted $300 for the 10MHz upgrade, we decided that at about $4200, the P5-90 was enough. Future proof, LOL. ANyway, that system is still in use in my Dad's small family business today. Still has the original Win 95 upgrade (9 year old install)running and has been a rock in office tasks. Slower than snot even with the Ram maxed out at 128MB (4x32MB sticks), and a P180MMX overdrive. 10 years and used many days a week. 9 years on a single upgrade install of Win95a! Hows that for return on investment? It's had the "don't install anything un-needed" policy for most of it's life though.


So yours was Jan-Apr of 1995 I'd guess?


ABIT IS7, P4 2.6C, 512MB Corsair TwinX PC3200LL, Radeon 9800 Pro, Santa Cruz, TruePower 430watt

Reply to pauldh
pauldh   04-09-2004 at 04:00:50 AM
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LOL that is funny.

ABIT IS7, P4 2.6C, 512MB Corsair TwinX PC3200LL, Radeon 9800 Pro, Santa Cruz, TruePower 430watt

Reply to pauldh
Johanthegnarler   04-09-2004 at 04:07:46 AM
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3,000 dollar Alienware.
p42.8b
9800pro
1gb rdram pc800
intel board
some snazzy case.

Then.. a few months later i made a better computer for 600 dollars... funny isn't it?

<A HREF="http://arc.aquamark3.com/arc/arc_view.php?run=277124623" target="_new">http://arc.aquamark3.com/arc/arc_view.php?run=277124623</A>
46,510 , movin on up. 48k new goal. Maybe not.. :/

Reply to Johanthegnarler
darko21   04-09-2004 at 04:10:26 AM
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More like summer of 95. (brian adams anyone) yeah I upt the thing to 48 ram win 98 (first edition) and unloaded it on my parents for abot 4 or 5 hundred 3 years after I bought it. They finally got rid of it last year. I built them a really good nforce system. They just used it for internet really only draw back was that cutting edge 28k modem that came with it. Belive me when I origanly bought the thing 28k modem was bleedingly fast 14.4 was considerd very fast.

If I glanced at a spilt box of tooth picks on the floor, could I tell you how many are in the pile. Not a chance, But then again I don't have to buy my underware at Kmart.

Reply to darko21
Piccoro   04-09-2004 at 04:37:10 AM
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My most expensive single PC component was...
9800Pro 128MB for 300$.

Reply to Piccoro
endyen   04-09-2004 at 06:24:30 AM
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First computer was used, but still cost $1800. It was a 286 with a whole meg of ram, a 5 1/4 floppy and no hdd, or mouse. It came with dos 3? and a couple of games. 1987.

Reply to endyen
P4Man   04-09-2004 at 09:11:15 AM
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That must have been a 512 Kb EMS board for my venerable 286 "workstation". Don't recall exactly how much it costed but surely not far from €1.000 back then. like 15+ years ago. I still have that machine btw, it still runs. And if you think todays computers are noisy, you should hear the wining noise the matching state of the art 640x480x16 colour VGA monitor (flatscreen I kid you not !) makes. If anyone is interested, you can buy it all for only 1/10th the purchase price :D

= The views stated herein are my personal views, and not necessarily the views of my wife. =

Reply to P4Man
endyen   04-09-2004 at 09:44:06 AM
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Did I mention that it came with a green (ie before black and white) monitor. My favorite game was Hitch-hikers Guide to The Galaxy, it was a word game.

Reply to endyen
P4Man   04-09-2004 at 09:58:16 AM
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My favourite back then was "Santa Paravia" on TRS-80, but I have never found anything on that game later on. It was a text based "multiplayer strategy" game *cough* where you had to run a kingdom, build an army, buy land, feed your people, buy soldiers attack your oponents. All through a dull text interface :) Still it was oodles of fun to play with a couple of friends.

Just found the game ported to windows !!!
<A HREF="http://jeffrey.henning.com/app/paravia/default.htm" target="_new">http://jeffrey.henning.com/app/paravia/default.htm</A>

Gotta go, I *have* to try this !

= The views stated herein are my personal views, and not necessarily the views of my wife. =

Reply to P4Man
pauldh   04-09-2004 at 10:04:14 AM
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Back in the early days I used to like a game call "The Ancient Art of War" That was a fun one. I still have it on a green monitored AT&T 6300 (8086). Although the system has been in a closet for a couple years, I used to occasionally play that game until space became too valuable to keep that system hooked up.

ABIT IS7, P4 2.6C, 512MB Corsair TwinX PC3200LL, Radeon 9800 Pro, Santa Cruz, TruePower 430watt

Reply to pauldh
AtolSammeek   04-09-2004 at 10:43:18 AM
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The Games I was use to was elite. And Most expesive computer I had was the one I m running but I was smart how I built it. Amd 1800 with 1.5gb of ram gf3 ti 500 Dual 80 gig hard drives and 21 Inch monitor $900. And remember this was when Amd 1800 Frist came out. So if I did not go in the Auctions It would of been $1,500

Reply to AtolSammeek
Auburn9698   04-10-2004 at 05:17:28 AM
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Let's see here......spitfire has a thread titled <font color=red>"Most expensive!"</font color=red> ??? With a little trophy sign, even!

And you'd tried to give the impression you didn't have any money. Very interesting!!!!!!!

Shame on you, spitty!

<pre>Will you carry my children? Pwease!</pre><p><font color=blue>War</font color=blue> <font color=orange>Eagle</font color=orange>
"I am not a role model." - Charles Barkley
{FTM}

Reply to Auburn9698
blackphoenix77   04-10-2004 at 11:02:13 PM
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The most expensive thing I've got for my computer is a Fx5200(64 bit version) for $100 from Staples :cool: , second place is my 80gb hdd for $80. the day after i bought it there was a 120gb for $90. I was like...damn it..because i couldn't take the $90 back. And then I was like...damn it damn it

<A HREF="http://kevan.org/brain.cgi?michael:)" target="_new"> You Want To Click Me, Go Ahead:) </A>

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sevw   04-10-2004 at 11:21:49 PM
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i paid 900$ for a ricoh cd-rw 2x 4x 16x i think

Reply to sevw
Spitfire_x86   04-11-2004 at 12:02:56 AM
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Nice! Coming to CPU forum and trying to pick up more arguments.

Considering cost/durability ratio, these things are waaaaaaaaay cheaper than software/game/dvd/music. I will use my $80 graphics card at least for 18-24 months. But I can finish playing $80 games within couple of weeks. My $60 CPU is 24 months old and still going strong, not completely obsolete yet for me. How long it takes to finish two $30 FPS game?

No more argument about this topic here. We should keep it limited to 1 thread. Detailed reply coming in the original thread.

------------
<A HREF="http://geocities.com/spitfire_x86" target="_new">My Website</A>

<A HREF="http://geocities.com/spitfire_x86/myrig.html" target="_new">My Rig</A> & <A HREF="http://geocities.com/spitfire_x86/benchmark.html" target="_new">3DMark score</A>

Reply to Spitfire_x86
phsstpok   04-11-2004 at 08:24:52 AM
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I'd tell you but then everyone would know how old I am.

What the hell, I'll tell you anyway.

Let's see.

1988 - ZEOS 286 system (10 mhz, factory overclocked to 12 mhz), base system was around $1500 USD, floppy, 32 MB hard drive, 256 KB of memory (yes that's KB), monochrome graphics. Upgrades - 256 KB of memory ~$300, 32 MB to 49 MB hard drive upgrade maybe $200, Multifunction card (serial and parallel ports) ~$100. I must be forgeting some stuff because total cost was $2700.

The most painful expense was during one of the DRAM shortages. I paid $499 for a 16MB DIMM in 1995. A year later a second module (but generic) cost me $87 (maybe it was $67).

Since 1988 I've owned 13 CPUs costing thousands of $$$ in total. After the above 286 I've owned, 386DX-25, 386DX-33, 486-25, DX2-50, DX4-100, K6-133, Cyrix something or other 166, K6-200, K6-2 350, Duron 600@1007, Thunderbird 1.0@1.5, Tbred B XP1700+@2.1 ghz. I think the DX4-100 was the most expensive at around $400.

<b>56K, slow and steady does not win the race on internet!</b>

Reply to phsstpok
phial   04-11-2004 at 09:32:56 AM
- 0 +

jesus you payed 3000 for that? dude ... always build for yourself, youll.. well you see now dont you :D

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<A HREF="http://www.albinoblacksheep.com/flash/you.html" target="_new">please dont click here! </A>

Reply to phial
phial   04-11-2004 at 09:46:48 AM
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first computer i owned when i was 13 was a 486dx80 ... 8mb/ram, 800mb hard disk, trident 512k graphics adapter, and.. i have no idea what motherboard


i put hundreds of hours playing this combat flight sim called ... oh crap i forget, but it was a GREAT game.. realistic flight models and aircrafts, 256 color graphics, and a campaign/map builder..

i spent days making these insane maps.. funnest one I made was where I had to stay under 500 feet to avoid radar, and there was AA guns and rockets and tanks scattered all over the place.. very realistic, still decent to this day. all the weapons were made to spec (based on some war that happened in russia)

ahh.. good old days. wish i could get engrossed in games like i was able to as a kid

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<A HREF="http://www.albinoblacksheep.com/flash/you.html" target="_new">please dont click here! </A>

Reply to phial
pauldh   04-11-2004 at 03:55:08 PM
- 0 +

It was alot harder to build them yourself back in those days. Plus it cost a fortune to buy the parts. Sure later days, building them yourself is usually the best route to go, occasionally it's not the cheapest though, depending on the configuration. I haven't considered buying except when I see a refurbished system that I can buy for little more than the cpu alone. Even some new Dell deals have been priced so low after rebate sometimes I have been tempted to buy one, pull the fast P4 and dump a slow cpu in it to sell cheap. Haven't done that, but was tempted a couple times many months ago.



ABIT IS7, P4 2.6C, 512MB Corsair TwinX PC3200LL, Radeon 9800 Pro, Santa Cruz, TruePower 430watt

Reply to pauldh
Flamethrower205   04-11-2004 at 08:20:00 PM
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Try $1000 for 512MB ram...

SEX is like math. Add the bed, subtract the clothes, divide the legs, and hope you dont multiply

Reply to Flamethrower205
Schmide   04-11-2004 at 08:29:43 PM
- 0 +

386dx2 20mhz, 66mb hd, tower case 300w PS, circa 1988 $3500. Oh the layers of dust it is collecting back in the old basement. It has a 32 bit ISA slot to boot.

Dichromatic for your viewing plesure...

Reply to Schmide
Clob   04-11-2004 at 09:03:24 PM
- 0 +

I do realize that I was screwed out of my cash for my system that I baught from a reseller.

He charged me $3600 for this:
Asus P4T533-C mobo
2.8 northwood (533)
1gig of 1066 rambus
Radeon 9700 Pro
WD 80gig 8meg cache
Veiwsonic E90FB 19"
Creative Inspire 5.1 5700 (digital)
Audigy 5.1 (regular only) First one to come out!
16x Samsung DVD rom
48x16x48 MSI CDW
250 meg zip.
MSI Tvcard

I think I got swindled out of about $1000 for this system. I feel very stupid now. Only of my first computer excitment didnt overwhelm me and if i only thaught about what i was buying. I baugh this in october of '02

"If youre paddling upstream in a canoe and a
wheel falls off, how many pancakes fit in a doghouse? None! Icecream doesn't have bones!!!"
<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by Clob on 04/11/04 03:06 PM.</EM></FONT></P>

Reply to Clob
speeduk   04-11-2004 at 10:20:38 PM
- 0 +

9700pro $560
3200 athlon 64 $385
2x512mb OCZ 3200 $330
MSI K8T mobo $185
Antec 480w psu $155
Antec amg case $130

Will be spending $500-$700 on new gfx card soon!


<A HREF="http://service.futuremark.com/compare?2k1=7737657" target="_new"> My rig </A>

Reply to speeduk
Flamethrower205   04-11-2004 at 10:42:01 PM
- 0 +

fug yeah, me an u brova!! The more u spend the longer u'll love it:) lol

SEX is like math. Add the bed, subtract the clothes, divide the legs, and hope you dont multiply

Reply to Flamethrower205
P4Man   04-12-2004 at 12:50:13 AM
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>jesus you payed 3000 for that? dude ...

$3.000 sounds like a good price, I know I paid more for my Zenith 286 "workstation" *cough*. But I think I got it a bit earlier as well, the 286 was brand new. And I got one of those shiny hercules monochrome graphics first, upgraded to EGA (ungodly expensive), and even ended up with one of those miraculous VGA cards. The worst part was that my friends' Commodore Amiga could do tons of things I could not (multitask, GUI, sound, "high res" graphics,..) for a fraction of the cost.

> always build for yourself, youll.. well you see now dont
>you

DIY wasnt an option back then. things werent as standardized as they are now, and many (most ?) components could not even be bought seperatly; newegg.com didnt exist yet. You just bought a complete machine from IBM, Zenith, Transdata, Bull or whatever. I'm not even sure memory was interchangeable, and if it was, it just wasnt done. Needed a RAM upgrade ? Order from IBM and pay month salary for 512 Kb EMS that sat on a board as big as a full sized ISA card :)

= The views stated herein are my personal views, and not necessarily the views of my wife. =

Reply to P4Man
phial   04-12-2004 at 04:37:43 AM
- 0 +

i was talking baout the 3000$ Alienware P4B 2.8ghz that he bought...


:P


but yea i realize that about back then.. my step dad had picked up a 386 back in 1995 or something. a 2500$ word processor

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Reply to phial
Johanthegnarler   04-12-2004 at 05:04:33 AM
- 0 +

No dude.. when that was out it was definately l33t. Just.. things get so outdated so fast.. and i was still too scared of building a computer. That was with a 17 inch lcd viewsonic monitor flat screen. So all in all i still use the flat screen*yuck.
I was just too stupid.. and to think that was only like a year and a half ago. I've learned a lot from then. And even found a few things i'm extremely interested in. So even though I did waste my 3 grand.. i've gained a lot of knowledge and possibly a career.

<A HREF="http://arc.aquamark3.com/arc/arc_view.php?run=277124623" target="_new">http://arc.aquamark3.com/arc/arc_view.php?run=277124623</A>
46,510 , movin on up. 48k new goal. Maybe not.. :/

Reply to Johanthegnarler
rcj187   04-14-2004 at 11:43:01 AM
- 0 +

worst value was 128MB stick pc133 ram in 96-97.. cost about £100 and i had to drive to london to get it. it died about 6months later! most expensive was my old geforce3 which was £240 damn good card tho

Reply to rcj187
TheRod   04-14-2004 at 07:29:18 PM
- 0 +

Quote :

my most useless investment...an ls-120 drive


My story looks like yours, I bought an Internal SCSI / ZIP 100 Drive with a pack of 5 Zip disk. At that time it cost me about 250$CA for the drive alone. I don't remember the price of the ZIP disk... But I haven't use this zp drive much and I really don't know what to do with it, no one wants this today!

--
Would you buy a potato powered chipset?

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