Christmas sales - New computer time!!!

TooMuchButtHair

New Member
I was going to buckle down and replace my 1.7GHz P4 in February, but I can't pass up these sales. I'm going to venture to circut city tommorow and pick up this:

AMD Athlon™ 64 X2 3800+
* 250GB 7200RPM hard drive
*1GB of DDR SDRAM (expandable upto 4GB)
*300 Watt power supply
*Integrated video :( - I'll change that with a 7800GT oc'd.

It comes with XP Media Center 2005 (which is important to me), and a TON of photo editing software (again, important to me).

The PC is 850 excluding the 7800GT. I don't know what kind of mobo it comes with though, so I'll probably be upgrading it to an SLI in a few months. What are your thoughts and opinions on this setup? I know you guys perfer to build your own, but you can't beat 12 months parts and labor, and 350 bucks worth of FREE software (and I will use all of that software).
 
power supply seems a little weak but cant really tell sence it mostly depends on the amps.
 
From a hardware perspective
Baseline
- AMD Athlon64 X2 3800 [S939, Manchester, ADA3800DAA5BV]($322)
- Buffalo 2x512 [CL2.5]($66.31)
- ASUS A8V-MX($60)
- Maxtor DiamondMax10 250GB [16MB]($101)
- JPAC 608 + 500W [12V@18A]($27.99)
- BENQ CB523C($20.99)
SUBTOTAL = $598.29

Extra crap
- MS Windows XP MCE 2005 [$119.95]

My box leaves out the OS and the demo crap that comes with the storebought machine which indicates exactly how crappy the parts are for that machine (considering my box outperforms that box hands down left right and center ... and its a piece of crap).
 
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AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+ 1GHz $322
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819103533
ASUS A8N-VM Socket 939 NVIDIA GeForce 6100 Micro ATX $72
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813131571
BUFFALO Major 1GB (2 x 512MB) 184-Pin DDR $66
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820150631
HITACHI Deskstar T7K250 HDT722516DLAT80 160GB $75
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16822145091
NEC IDE DVD Burner Model ND-355A$38
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16827152059
Broadway Com Corp 204-4HA Beige Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case 450W(18A) $25.00
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811162017
total: $598
 
$850 for that system isnt a great sale, and you cant upgrade an OEM computer's motherboard without buying a new case. i would recommend building it yourself, but if you dont want to do that, then go to a place like www.cyberpowersystems.com or www.ibuypower.com and select your parts, and then they build it and ship it for you.
 
for waht you are doing i would get a bigger and better psu. that one will be fried in about a month of use. you would need at least 400w to get it to last.
 
Well, I went out and bought the system. BUT, here's what I got: The 3800 x2 (like I posted above) and a 500W power source for. . . .wait for it. . . . .650 bucks. You can't beat that. I even bought it at Best Buy!!! I also got a 7800GT, but that was 350. All-in-all, I got a pretty good deal. Now that I've got the computer up and running, I have to install the 7800GT and start playing Battlefield 2 (for the first time).
 
for waht you are doing i would get a bigger and better psu. that one will be fried in about a month of use. you would need at least 400w to get it to last.
Wattage rating doesnt mean anything. See PSU101to see what im referring to

650 bucks. You can't beat that.
Not until you tell me the make and model of the parts you've got for that price .. you CAN tell me the make and model right? ;)
 
HP Pavilian a 1250n. I'm assuming that's what you meant?
Sort of ... you see HP uses, for lack of better words: crap parts. I could easily match that price but there's a certain line (known as "its to crappy i wont reccomend it") that i dont crosss. Call it being picky if you'd like, i prefer to call it "keeping the standards high" But what i actually meant was what is the make and model of all the parts IN that HP computer i.e., motherboard, ram, psu etc ... the machies specd in post3 and post4 are most likely superior
 
Praetor said:
Sort of ... you see HP uses, for lack of better words: crap parts. I could easily match that price but there's a certain line (known as "its to crappy i wont reccomend it") that i dont crosss. Call it being picky if you'd like, i prefer to call it "keeping the standards high" But what i actually meant was what is the make and model of all the parts IN that HP computer i.e., motherboard, ram, psu etc ... the machies specd in post3 and post4 are most likely superior

In all honesty, I think your being a little rude. I know you could match the price, but (for lack of a better term) I don't care. I am the type of person who likes to have a service pack with the computer in case something goes wrong. I'm in college and don't have the money to buy a replacement processor - so instead, I paid 100 bucks and got 3 years un-limited parts and labor. You might be able to go out and spend a ton of money when something breaks, but I certainly can't do that. I use my computer a TON, for both school and gaming; and I'm more than certain that within the next 3 years, something is going to go wrong.

On the software side of things, I don't have a ton of money to go out and but Microsoft XP pro, and Ulead stuff - I got both free with my PC, and I used them a LOT on my old computer. For me, it was a good deal. I mean, software isn't cheap.
 
In all honesty, I think your being a little rude. I know you could match the price, but (for lack of a better term) I don't care. I am the type of person who likes to have a service pack with the computer in case something goes wrong. I'm in college and don't have the money to buy a replacement processor - so instead, I paid 100 bucks and got 3 years un-limited parts and labor. You might be able to go out and spend a ton of money when something breaks, but I certainly can't do that. I use my computer a TON, for both school and gaming; and I'm more than certain that within the next 3 years, something is going to go wrong.

On the software side of things, I don't have a ton of money to go out and but Microsoft XP pro, and Ulead stuff - I got both free with my PC, and I used them a LOT on my old computer. For me, it was a good deal. I mean, software isn't cheap.
Hardly
1. Being in college entitles you to academic discounts which, if you've not checked: are huge .. c'mon WindowsXP Pro for $5 at my college
2. The individual parts have warranties
3. Im aware that you dont care: that why Ive not made an attempt to convince you otherwise (not that I would bother to start with .. it is after all, your money) .. if you actually take the time to read through: all my comments are purely technical in nature: whether you're a poor college student or not has no bearing in the context of my comments -- you could be a billionaire and you know what? id prolly still be right.
 
Praetor said:
Hardly
1. Being in college entitles you to academic discounts which, if you've not checked: are huge .. c'mon WindowsXP Pro for $5 at my college
2. The individual parts have warranties
3. Im aware that you dont care: that why Ive not made an attempt to convince you otherwise (not that I would bother to start with .. it is after all, your money) .. if you actually take the time to read through: all my comments are purely technical in nature: whether you're a poor college student or not has no bearing in the context of my comments -- you could be a billionaire and you know what? id prolly still be right.

I never said you weren't right. 5$ for XP? I knew there were student discounts, but I didn't know they were that low. XP pro isn't $5 at my school, but I'll check and see how much it is when the next semester starts in January. I know I can get 3Ds for free through the school if I wanted, and I have. I also know I can get warranties on the products I buy, but I don't like sending my product somewhere, I like taking it to a store, and having fixed/replaced within an hour. It sure as hell beats waiting 3+ days.

You are an arrogant person (over the internet at least) when it comes to building other people's computers. Is it justified? Maybe. But that doesn't mean it isn't rude. I'm happy with my setup, and to me, that's all that matters.
 
Tsk tsk now now lets not start flaming (especially when im actually correct) cuz that would be rude.
 
Praetor said:
Tsk tsk now now lets not start flaming (especially when im actually correct) cuz that would be rude.

I'm not flaming anyone. I just said it was rude. To me, critizing someone for being happy with what they purchased is rude. I apologize if you disagree. You can be as correct as you want to be.
 
To me, critizing someone for being happy with what they purchased is rude.
Where did i criticize he you? and in particular, for being happy with what you bought?
 
Praetor said:
Where did i criticize he you? and in particular, for being happy with what you bought?

It wasn't direct criticism, it was infered:

Praetor said:
Sort of ... you see HP uses, for lack of better words: crap parts. I could easily match that price but there's a certain line (known as "its to crappy i wont reccomend it") that i dont crosss. Call it being picky if you'd like, i prefer to call it "keeping the standards high" But what i actually meant was what is the make and model of all the parts IN that HP computer i.e., motherboard, ram, psu etc ... the machies specd in post3 and post4 are most likely superior

In the above quote, you make the statement that my computer is built with crappy parts, and later in the quote, you state that the same processor built with other parts are superior - I know the other parts are superior, but to me, it seemed like you were throwing it in my face that i could have gotten a better computer for the same money - I know I could have, but like I stated before, I like service factor. By that, I mean I can get my computer fixed within a few hours of it being broken. If I ordered it from newegg, I'd have to wait several days, if not weeks. I know it wouldn't be the end of the world if something malfunctioned on my PC and I had to use the library PC's, but I'd rather spend 3-4 hours a day doing homework in my room.
 
Praetor said:
Hardly
1. Being in college entitles you to academic discounts which, if you've not checked: are huge .. c'mon WindowsXP Pro for $5 at my college

yeah, no joke at my old college, microsoft office was only $13. completely outrageous.

i dont know which version of office it was but it came with:
word
powerpoint
outlook
frontpage
excel
maybe one more, but cant remember the name. my sis went there and she got two copies.:D

btw praetor, hook me up with one of those copies of xp:D.
 
TooMuchButtHair said:
It wasn't direct criticism, it was infered:

So in other words you THINK he insulted you. Let me explain how it works around here. You ask a question. We answer the question exactly how it was asked. Let look at the question you asked

What are your thoughts and opinions on this setup?


Praetor then preceded to tell you his thoughts and opinions based upoun his knowledge which I promise you is a lot greater then yours. You then get offended for him anwering the exact question you ask. You came to the wrong forum if you came here so someone would make you feel good about your purchase. Over here we answer questions to the best of our knowledge.
Did you expect him to make up a BS answer to make you feel good?

Then you make false statements

To me, critizing someone for being happy with what they purchased is rude.

He answered the question praetor could have given a rat ass about whether you was happy or not happy about your purchase. There was no point where that factored into his comments.

Now stop being a cry baby because you did not get the answer you looking for and next time you ask a question just to make yourself feel better do it someplace else.
 
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