lamer goes w/ OEM (AMD1.2G /w 266FSB)

[tfbww]

Yup, that would be me. I finally made a purchase and since I asked for a lot of advice over the past month I figured I'd just post what I bought (from Alienware). OK, and maybe gloat a little Yeah, people are going to bitch about the price but that was a known quantity because I was not going to do it myself (not enough time nor patience right now). Anyhow here it is... would love to get CONSTRUCTIVE thoughts (i.e. let's not turn this into a flame war like all you Aureal fanatics

Case: SPACE BLACK ATX Mid-Tower Case (300-Watt PS)
Processor: AMD Athlon 1.2GHz Processor 266MHz FSB w/Heatsink & Cooling Fan
Hi-Performance Heatsink/CPU Cooling Fan
ALi MAGiK1 Motherboard w/1AGP/5PCI for Athlon Processors
Standard 1.44MB Floppy Drive
Memory: 256MB DDR SDRAM (PC-2100)
Keyboard: SPACE BLACK 107-Enhanced Windows Keyboard
Hard Drive: 40GB HD 9.0ms seek time, 7200RPM, UltraATA
Video Cooling: KoolMaxx Video Cooling System $46.00
Video Card : NVIDIA GeForce2 ULTRA w/64MB DDR TV-Out 4X AGP
Sound Card : SoundBlaster LIVE! 5.1 X GAMER
DVD-ROM : Pioneer 16X DVD 40X w/Software MPEG-2 Decoder
Storage : PlexWriter 12X/10X Write 32X Read CDR-W Recordable-IDE
Modems : US Robotics V.90 56K Internal Voice/Fax/Data
Ethernet NIC: PCI Ethernet 10-100 NIC
Warranty: Aliencare Toll-Free 1-Year 24/7 ONSITE Warranty w/Drive Imaging Recovery System $39.00
Microsoft Windows ME Operating System
Performance Benchmarks Documentation
Personalized Technical Support Manual
Latest Drivers
Shipping Method: Free Fed-Ex 2nd Day Air w/insurance through January 31, 2001 (No Charge)

Final Tally: $2500

I probably could have done the recovery disk myself, but as you can tell, I AM LAZY. lol Anyhow, it has the 266FSB so we will have to see if it actually is an Athlon C or not.

 

[Guest]

Constructive critism eh? 1. Well if you've read any of the reviews the ALI DDR chipset was one to avoid. You basically spent too much money because of the memory and didn't get any performance for it. (actually I think often less than the KT133A) 2. Video cooling for $46? I'm sure you could find a better use of $46. 3. I'm not a big fan of the GF2 Ultra. Obviously the performance totally rocks, but the Pro has a much nicer price/performance ratio. Not a big deal though. 4. AMD says that you are suppose to have 400W PS for a 1.2ghz athlon. It's true, but a bit of a joke.

Regarding OEM stuff like you're saying; The price is a bit steep and it REALLY doesn't take long to put a PC together. 30 mins is a reasonable time. Quality/compatibility shouldn't matter much if you pick your parts intelligently. Hell you could just copy an OEM config if you wanted. I'm being pretty picky (accept with the ALI/DDR) so I'm sure you'll enjoy it. What sort of monitor did you get?

 

[AmdMELTDOWN]

dude, admit it...You are jealous because he can afford it and you can not! hahaha.

I like alienware, I like their style...cool!

 

[flavio321]

i could have made you the exact same system for less than 2k. you've got to shop around more...

If you can't beat 'em kill 'em
athlon "SLOTA" thunderbird 700@1050mhz

 

[phsstpok]

On price alone I don't think you did that badly. Here is my reasoning.

Not counting the memory, you have about $1800 worth of hardware at street price. I don't know how much DDR memory costs. I'll call it $200. Microsoft Windows ME adds what, $80. Let's call it all $2100. Now figure if you were buying all the parts yourself you'd spend about $150 in shipping charges. That brings the cost up to $2250. Now for an extra $250 someone built it for you and you get a 1 year guarantee and Alienware has a good reputation.

Congrats. Enjoy your purchase.

 

[beans]

Really??!? I'd like to see your vendor list and prices for all that stuff, flavio.

 

[Crashman]

Hey, it sounds like a great system. And the MAGiK is a great chipset. It may not give you the full benefit of DDR, but it still outperforms SDR and is almost sure to be more reliable/compatable than anything VIA comes up with.

Suicide is painless...........

 

[flavio321]

everything came out to roughly $1,700 bucks without the motherboard. and the price of the motherboad to that...
i overestimated everything and included the shipping and handling. i am going to list the whole thing. just look for yourself...

azzo.com
computersupersale.com
icompz.com

If you can't beat 'em kill 'em
athlon "SLOTA" thunderbird 700@1050mhz

 

[Guest]

Yep Dude, I totalled it up, and from my favorite vendor, I could have built the exact same system for $1985.00, and chosen the exact brand of component I wanted as well, not the cheapest one of each. Nice system though, lets hope that no problems start appearing with DDR RAM and mobo's!

 

[wapaaga]

the lowest recomended power supply by amd fo an atholon 1.2 is 250 not 400

 

[phsstpok]

Here is the costs for the equivalent system that I come up with. (My original estimate with guessed prices was high by about $310). All prices are from www.pricewatch.com. Same brand and spec were used where possible. Brands and/or models listed otherwise or generic. For generic the the lowest priced item was taken.

Case: SPACE BLACK ATX Mid-Tower Case (300-Watt PS) -$91 Antec (black)
Processor: AMD Athlon 1.2GHz Processor 266MHz FSB - $269 w/Heatsink & Cooling Fan
Hi-Performance Heatsink/CPU Cooling Fan - $22 GlobalWin Fop38 w/ Delta
ALi MAGiK1 Motherboard w/1AGP/5PCI for Athlon Processors - $152 IWILL KA266
Standard 1.44MB Floppy Drive - $4
Memory: 256MB DDR SDRAM (PC-2100) - $294 Corsair CM64SD256-2100
Keyboard: SPACE BLACK 107-Enhanced Windows Keyboard - $18 Antec keyboard (black)
Hard Drive: 40GB HD 9.0ms seek time, 7200RPM, UltraATA $145 Western Digital 400BB
Video Cooling: KoolMaxx Video Cooling System $46.00 - $46 Don't know left as is
Video Card : NVIDIA GeForce2 ULTRA w/64MB DDR TV-Out 4X AGP - $335 Visiontek
Sound Card : SoundBlaster LIVE! 5.1 X GAMER - $72
DVD-ROM : Pioneer 16X DVD 40X w/Software MPEG-2 Decoder - $69 Pioneer 16x, $40 Sigma Systems Mpeg2-decoder
Storage : PlexWriter 12X/10X Write 32X Read CDR-W Recordable-IDE - $196
Modems : US Robotics V.90 56K Internal Voice/Fax/Data - $24
Ethernet NIC: PCI Ethernet 10-100 NIC - $33 3com
Warranty: Aliencare Toll-Free 1-Year 24/7 ONSITE Warranty w/Drive Imaging Recovery System $39.00

Total = $1710 + shipping ($150 est) + cost of Windows ME ($80 est) = $1940

Not much I would have changed from this list. Would have went with an IBM 75GXP. I like VisionTek vid cards (very overclockable). I don't know the specs on the PSU. I would want one with at least 25A/+3.3 volt and 25A/+5 volt. I don't know enough about DDR motherboards to make a decision.

 

[Grizely1]

Why would we bitch about the price?! That's one helluva deal for a DDR 1.2GHz Alienware system! I though they were $5k! (they charge a lot).

----------------------
I hate intel

 

[beans]

Flavio, I can't seem to find an Athlon "C" on any of these sites. Can you help me out?

 

[beans]

All from one vendor? And who might that be, if I may ask?

 

[beans]

I'm not sure you're really equivalent, phsstpok. I didn't see any 1.2G 266FSB Athlons or Athlon "C" CPUs on pricewatch. Also, the Vision Tek cards that are comparable to Alienware's seem to be almost $500. Did I miss something?

And, there is some value in having an assembled system with a warranty as compared to a sack of parts.

 

[bsprawka]

Where did you get a Pioneer 16X with decoding software for just $69? The cheapest I see is 74.

Also, we all know what happens if you actually buy from the lowest priced vendor on pricewatch. You get screwed. I think he got a farely good price with the DDR, athlon C, and all.

 

[phsstpok]

Beans, tbfww mentioned himself that he didn't know if he has an Athlon C, in any case we already know that the original tbird can be unlocked and run at 133 mhz.

As for the Visiontek, $335 at Universal Computer Dist. Thats for Geforce 2 Ultra, 64 MB, tv-out. Search www.pricewatch.com for keywords: geforce ultra. It's the second hit.

Also my second message may have been misunderstood. I still maintain that even though my piecemeal system is cheaper than my earlier "guess", that the complete, guaranteed, pre-tested, Alienware system is one darn good value.

 

[phsstpok]

Sorry, screwed up on that one. I read the wrong number. $73 for bare drive only. Didn't care about the software because I thought the system was spec'd with hardware mpeg-2 decoder which was about $40. It is on my list.

Oops, one accidental improvement.

$89 is the price for DVD with software decoder. I'd rather pay $73+$40=$113 for the hardware solution.

Also, the point of my messages were to affirm Tfbww's purchase. Any "improvements" in material, vendor choice, or buying retail parts for guarantees just raises the price and makes Tfbww's purchase look better and better.

He got a great deal!

 

[flavio321]

what's the fun in buying an assembled system. if you come to this forum, you do it yourself. and one rule for consumers, never buy warrenty or buy extra warranty. i used to work at gateway and they make you push the warranty on you. the commission for selling an extra 10 month warranty is 80 percent!!! they know that people are suckers.
even if you buy it yourself, all the hardwares come with a manufature warranty. so what's the problem? do you need someone else to install windows, or a program? only the AVERAGE consumers would buy an assembled computer.

If you can't beat 'em kill 'em
athlon "SLOTA" thunderbird 700@1050mhz

 

[phsstpok]

Two points I have to disagree with.

One, this is not the overclockers forum so it is not given that everyone here is a hobbyist who wants to build his own computer.

Two, though I tend to agree with you on not paying for extended warranties and retail products do come with a manufacturer's warranty, the lowest priced items available for sale often do not. These items come under the general label of "oem parts". Generally, when buying oem hardware that is not part of a complete system one does not get a manufacturer's warranty. If the vendor offers a warranty then it is usually very short, like 14 days or 30 days, after which time too bad.

It all comes down to the consumer. Does he want to buy something that may have little or no warranty or does he want to pay for guarantees?

I happen to like building my own computers especially if I can save money. However one mistake, one crushed CPU, one zapped video card, one wrongly chosen part, how much have I saved? The experienced builder probably won't make those mistakes but a first timer might. So is the warranty worth it to that person? I'd say so.

 

[Guest]

Actually AMDmeltdown I could quite easily.

 

[Guest]

No, 400w is the "new official line."

 

[Grizely1]

Meltdown, he's not the 13yr old in here. I doubt you could afford anything close to that alienware system.

----------------------
I don't hate Intel............ Do I?

 

[wapaaga]

where did you find this at
the amd website say 250 is the lowest power supply that they approve for the 1.2
and it still there like last night

 

[Guest]

I can't remember a specific link but I do know that's the official generic answer (just like for =<1ghz it's 300w). The receommended lists have specific PSs that will work, however it is by no means a list of every acceptable supply. Anyway, I was joking and trying to be incredibly anal.