Viewing Thread: $1800 complete system.

me_mantis Joined: 26 September 2003 Posts: 1152

01 December 2005 18:24 (UK time) I will probably be making a computer for a friend, and its got a $1800 budget. I have a rought outline of the stats, but I'd like to know what you think. ASRock Audio/-LAN/PCI-E/IEEE/SATA2/DDR AMD Athlon 64 X2 4200+ Dual-Core 90nm - with cpu fan & heatsink - Assembled & Tested bundled with HL2!!! $480 200gig sata $90 -eVGA Nvidia GeForce 6800XT 128MB PCI-express X16 Video Card model N367 $200 2GB DDR2 PC3200 400MHz CL3 ECC Registered 240pin SuperTalent $270 XP home ~$50 cubedpc case $120 www.cubedpc.com NEC Internal 16X Dual Layer DVD+/-RW Drive Black color. $50 Laser mouse $30 KB606BK BLACK STREAMLINE ILLUMINATED Backlit KEYBOARD W/ USB&PS2 COMBO KB607BK $30 total $1340 Dell 18inch LCD Flat Panel 90 Day Warranty 1280X1024 Display Monitor All Black Design Sealed $257 total $1677 Sound Blaster AUDIGY 2 ZS GAMER LIMITED EDITION Retail box.24-bit ADVANCED HD Audio THX Certified for Cinematic Audio with IEEE.NEW! Factory Sealed. includes--- Star Wars® Jedi Knight®: Jedi Academy™ Halo® Combat Evolved Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness™ Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six® 3: Raven Shield™ Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell® (Includes 3 additional missions) $120 Creative Labs Inspire P7800 7.1 Speaker System - 51MF7025AA000 $80 total $1767 You need to login to create posts in this thread.

James Bunting Joined: 17 September 2003 Posts: 1308

01 December 2005 18:43 (UK time) Dell 18? 2 slim bezel monitors at 19" >700:1 <8ms surely? Grab ones with DVI AND D-sub connectors so you can use the primary as DVI? Or just go D-sub (use a DVI to D-sub adaptor), grab 2 Samsungs because they are doing some amazing deals at ebuyer.com US. You need to login to create posts in this thread.

Dragonfly Joined: 31 October 2004 Posts: 26

01 December 2005 19:25 (UK time) Like Stupid girls and popular people would clarify this as: What the fuck mates?... Computer Talk??? NERDS PP But, yea sounds good to me, i wish i had that much money =P You need to login to create posts in this thread.

arezey Joined: 16 June 2005 Posts: 1599

01 December 2005 20:20 (UK time) I didn't tell you but I started also saving money fo my comp. It is as slow as snail so it will take ages, maybe I grow up before I get it done. And (*really angry aleks*) (grrrrr) I LOST my how-to-build-a-comp book!!! You need to login to create posts in this thread.

me_mantis Joined: 26 September 2003 Posts: 1152

01 December 2005 21:19 (UK time) Hee Hee.. Popular non computer oriented people are just jealous, and they wish they had the 1337 skilz to make computers. Does windows xp home support dual processors? I don't have $1800 for a computer, and I didn't spend that much. I built an awesome cad station for $500. The video card in it, a nvidia quaddro4 700xgl was $400 list when I made the system, but I got mine on ebay for $90. before I go... Lemme tell you how to build a computer in 3 steps. #1. Get a computer addvertisement from a newspaper. #2. Explain to some one who know tons about computers that you bet them $20 they couldn't build a better system than in the add for cheaper. #3. Ask them to build it for you, and pay them some $$ to make it =D or ask give them $20 and ask them to help you build it! Before you know it, you will be making $$ building computers for neighbors! Edited: 01 December 2005 21:23 You need to login to create posts in this thread.

Assain Joined: 02 November 2003 Posts: 979

01 December 2005 21:44 (UK time) OK... sorry, i wrote up a huge list of suggestions, but James's fourm system logs you off automatically in 15-30 mintues.... so yeah, its ALL gone (BTW james, make the time your logged in ALOT longer PLEASE) So im gonna keep it simple. --------------------------------------------- ASRock Audio/-LAN/PCI-E/IEEE/SATA2/DDR AMD Athlon 64 X2 4200+ Dual-Core 90nm - with cpu fan & heatsink - Assembled & Tested bundled with HL2!!! $480 <b> Could you please give me more info on your MoBo? Also, Dual Cores are NOT for games, they are made for multi-tasking, as the first game that I know of that will be the first to take advantage of Dual cores is Oblivion in 2006.</b> 200gig sata $90 <b>Make sure that you/your freind REALLY needs 200GB. Such as, I only use 80-120GB on a computer.</b> -eVGA Nvidia GeForce 6800XT 128MB PCI-express X16 Video Card model N367 $200 <b>Get the 6800GT. Although now, 128MB is good ENOUGH for games, COD2 and other new games comming out and other next-gen games, will pretty much require 256MB of video RAM for good visuals and performance.</b> 2GB DDR2 PC3200 400MHz CL3 ECC Registered 240pin SuperTalent $270 <b>First of all, i could find 2GB of RAM for $120. Second, that is DDR2, and VERY FEW MoBo's support it. And heads up: yours doesnt . Get normal DDR RAM </b> XP home ~$50 <b>Highly suggest XP Pro. You can find it bulk packaging for $80 on PriceGrabber.com . Heard XP Home has some problems, and besides, from what weve seen so far, it doesnt run well at all on M2 </b> cubedpc case $120 www.cubedpc.com <b> Whats the powersupply? If it doesnt include one, you need to get one. Also, how many fans it has would be good info too.</b> NEC Internal 16X Dual Layer DVD+/-RW Drive Black color. $50 Laser mouse $30 KB606BK BLACK STREAMLINE ILLUMINATED Backlit KEYBOARD W/ USB&PS2 COMBO KB607BK $30 total $1340 Dell 18inch LCD Flat Panel 90 Day Warranty 1280X1024 Display Monitor All Black Design Sealed $257 total $1677 Sound Blaster AUDIGY 2 ZS GAMER LIMITED EDITION Retail box.24-bit ADVANCED HD Audio THX Certified for Cinematic Audio with IEEE.NEW! Factory Sealed. includes--- Star Wars® Jedi Knight®: Jedi Academy™ Halo® Combat Evolved Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness™ Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six® 3: Raven Shield™ Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell® (Includes 3 additional missions) $120 <b>Ok, first of all, for games IMO, anything more than $100 spent on a sound card is too much. Better sound cards are made for stuff like heavy recording, sound business, ect. Games dont really need them. Although, if it includes 5 games, it might be worth it. But i can tell you Splinter Cell 1 and Tomb Raider are not to good of games to play on a fancy new system </b> Creative Labs Inspire P7800 7.1 Speaker System - 51MF7025AA000 $80 <b>That seems a-tad bit expensive, although i dont know the quality of the speaker system. Personally, i prefer surround sound headphones.</b> total $1767 -------------------------------------------------- Remember, the most import thing to remeber is that you MUST make sure all of your parts are compatable with your MoBo (motherboard). Edited: 01 December 2005 21:46 You need to login to create posts in this thread.

mike323 Joined: 23 January 2005 Posts: 745

01 December 2005 23:58 (UK time) The creative inspire speakers are perfect, and you should stick with them because the speakers make all the gaming difference. My Logitech Z-3e system sounds FABULOUS and with the inspires running at the same price as the Z-3s, he will be pleased. Edited: 01 December 2005 23:58 You need to login to create posts in this thread.

me_mantis Joined: 26 September 2003 Posts: 1152

02 December 2005 05:08 (UK time) Thanks for all the great comments! (too bad you got logged out. When that happens to me, I use the back button, copy the text, and repost it.) Right now, all the prices are from my favorite compshopin' site in the world. <a href=http:\\www.pricewatch.com>Pricewatch</a> CPU: I have been looking at the Processor ranking sheets on Tom's hardware guide, and the 4200 scores quite nicely on most tests. I'm considering a amd xp 4000 64bit, since its usually quite high on the rankings. MoBo: ASUS A8V (AGP 8X) / ASUS A8V-E SE (PCI E x16) Retail Box mboard - With CPU - AMD Athlon 64 4000 90nm Rev. E 939 Pin & Heatsink & Fan - 5 PCI - 4 DDR (Dual Channel) - Gigabit Lan - Audio - 8 USB 2.0 - IDE & SATA - Complete Combo <a href=http://www.smksuperstore.com/catalog/view.asp?ID=13633> Details here!</a> HDD: I have used 40 gig of my 160 gig hdd in the 3 years I have had it. The purpose of this computer is "To play computer games well into college." Thats a few years, and computer games keep getting bigger n bigger! I think that 2 60gigs on raid would be good, but I've never done raid or sata, so I'm not sure how to go about that. GFX: $661 - geforce 6800 ultra 512mb pci express. That's a bit high on the graphics catagory. $242 - geforce 6800 gt pci express 256mb. Thats probably more like it. Both cards have great benchmark stats. The computer would need gfx power to run games like B4ME 2, Project offset, elder scrolls(even though that game ain't the most amazin' JK!) OS That's a great deal on that xp pro. I'm not sure that xp home supports dual core, if thats the way we are headed. XP home has no problems with running meteor 2. XP pro (on my brothers computer) can't run meteor mods manager. XP 64 runs meteor 2 like a dream. XP MCE -- I don't quite know about this. Memory "And heads up: yours doesnt ." Good call! lol This is 2 gig on 1 stick. Would 2 stick of 1 gig be better? I think that if dual channel would work, it would be better, but I am not sure. Case Cubed pc cases look nice, but they are only making 5 this holiday season. I may get a different case from someplace else. PSU /smacks self Yeag. I'm looking for a nice psu that doesn't make a load of noise, but provides enough power pcie and a good gfx card and a hdd array, and the dvdrw. I will also need casefans. I think that the Nexus 80mm Real Silent Case Fan look good. The Nexus 80 mm quiet case fan has a true 17.6 dB(a) decibel rating - measured in an anechoic chamber using ISO standards The down side is that its only 20 cfm and 1500rpm. $14.75 Vantec 80MM Stealth Fan Most Quiet Case Fan on the Market today. Its 22.1 cfm and 2200rpm $7.00 Monitors I just copied the first monitor that looked decent into the list. "2 slim bezel monitors" what's that? Is d-sub the same a vga/rgb? I think that 2 dvi monitors would be cool, since the vdo card does that. SNDCard I really like the EAX effects that creative offers, and I supporting a good speaker system is helpful for games. I do think that those games are a bit old. The "Creative Labs Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS OEM Package 24bit ADVANCED HD 8Channel 108dB" is a way better deal. It also doesn't include the " all the old games you can buy at a dollar store" bundle. -$61 It does output to a nice speaker system. The main problem with 7.1, 5.1 and 4.1 is lan parties. They don't like to move around very easily. Speakers I think that these speakers are great, Johnwe has a 5.1 set from creative, and its quite nice(execpt that we always trip on all the wires) If any of you can recommend a nice set of 2.1 speakers, I'd like to hear about it. The z-3 speakers are only $60 nowadays, and they do look cool. Do I win the longest all original post contest? You need to login to create posts in this thread.

mike323 Joined: 23 January 2005 Posts: 745

02 December 2005 06:02 (UK time) lol yes u do You need to login to create posts in this thread.

Assain Joined: 02 November 2003 Posts: 979

02 December 2005 20:59 (UK time) I heard 2 1GB sticks are better. Such as, if you want to do 1GB of RAM, you would do a 512MBx2 for 1 GB and 2 GB would go 1GBx2 Of course, it really depends on your mobo (which is fine BTW). You need to login to create posts in this thread.

40oz  Official Sponsor Joined: 03 January 2004 Posts: 1799

05 December 2005 03:36 (UK time) $30 laser mouse? i got mine for 14.95 at Staples. *Papercut Pro-Murder. Legalize Crime. You need to login to create posts in this thread.

me_mantis Joined: 26 September 2003 Posts: 1152

05 December 2005 19:35 (UK time) Hee Hee. Another victim of the slap together a price sheet in 10 minutes game. I think that it would be better to get a wired mouse, be cause wireless mice HAVE MORE WIRES!!! I have tested the logitec mxlaser mouse, and its pretty good, although its got to be docked to recharge it, and its gotta have a reciever sitting close by. What mouse did you get? I'd like know what type I got the job, so im looking into the fine details of the computer now. I will post a full stat sheet with urls so you can all build it too. I could also post a build sheet for the other computer I made, if anyone is interested. You need to login to create posts in this thread.

arezey Joined: 16 June 2005 Posts: 1599

05 December 2005 19:36 (UK time) > We have laser mouses at 90 euros here. You need to login to create posts in this thread.

mike323 Joined: 23 January 2005 Posts: 745

06 December 2005 05:16 (UK time) wow! thats $100, describe the mouse...is it like a high quality mouse? cause my laser mouse was like $30 You need to login to create posts in this thread.

40oz  Official Sponsor Joined: 03 January 2004 Posts: 1799

08 December 2005 02:53 (UK time) My mouse is a black logitech optical mouse, I threw out the box though, so I dunno how else to describe it. There are some details on the bottom, but the laser is blinding me at the same time. =/ *Papercut Pro-Murder. Legalize Crime. Edited: 08 December 2005 02:55 You need to login to create posts in this thread.

arezey Joined: 16 June 2005 Posts: 1599

08 December 2005 12:48 (UK time) Actually I said that we have laser mouses here in finns 90€, I didn't say we have one XD You need to login to create posts in this thread.

me_mantis Joined: 26 September 2003 Posts: 1152

15 December 2005 20:50 (UK time) I've been looking at memory, and I'm wondering if there is a difference between dual channel and single channel memory. Would 2 gig of dual channel pc3200 by much faster than single channel? You need to login to create posts in this thread.

mike323 Joined: 23 January 2005 Posts: 745

16 December 2005 05:20 (UK time) If you're using an intel proc, then dual-channel is beneficial to processing speeds. You need to login to create posts in this thread.

Assain Joined: 02 November 2003 Posts: 979

16 December 2005 17:35 (UK time) Just get single channel, you wont really need dual channel (and besides, its cheaper). You need to login to create posts in this thread.

IMYSC2000T Joined: 17 October 2004 Posts: 237

31 December 2005 07:28 (UK time) The only thing I don't like about that system is the graphics card. It's already old. And it sucked anyway. I've already got my sights on either a dual-1GB Crossfire or dual-1GB SLI setup. You need to login to create posts in this thread.

me_mantis Joined: 26 September 2003 Posts: 1152

31 December 2005 18:13 (UK time) A 6800gt 256mb is old? Well the 7800 is out, but they are expensive, and the 7200s and up are coming out in february, and the computer will be done by then. Would it be better to wait fir those? You need to login to create posts in this thread.

IMYSC2000T Joined: 17 October 2004 Posts: 237

01 January 2006 09:45 (UK time) Yes, I personally would wait (for many different reasons). Of course you never said 256MB (it says 128MB up there in your first post - I might've missed it if you said 256MB elsewhere). Even a 256MB 6800 though would be too little. It'll be old in less than a year. I'm personally gonna go for the top end. You need to login to create posts in this thread.

fuzinavl  Official Sponsor Joined: 06 October 2004 Posts: 287

02 January 2006 05:22 (UK time) Save $320. In games, the athlon 3500+ Venice outperforms the dual core by a hair and costs $200 less. <a href="http://www.tomshardware.com/2005/11/21/the_mother_of_all_cpu_charts_2005/page24.html">OpenGL benchmarks</a> Let a good 1 ghz fsb motherboard do all the sound blaster stuff for you. ($120 less) Edited: 03 January 2006 01:11 You need to login to create posts in this thread.

me_mantis Joined: 26 September 2003 Posts: 1152

02 January 2006 21:11 (UK time) I picked a different mobo without onboard video, and with onoard 5.1 sound. would the 3500 processor be faster than a xp 4000? the amd xp 64 4000 would be $80 cheaper, but it lacks the dual core coolness. You need to login to create posts in this thread.

fuzinavl  Official Sponsor Joined: 06 October 2004 Posts: 287

03 January 2006 01:24 (UK time) Make sure the onboard sound has a high quality chipset. an athlon 4000 costs $133 more, and performs a little bit better. I like the performance/price ratio of the 3500+ better, but it's your call. The 4000+ has a higher clock speed, so will run hotter. <a href="http://www.tomshardware.com/2005/11/21/the_mother_of_all_cpu_charts_2005/page24.html">OpenGL benchmarks</a> Look at the benchmarks again. You'll see that dual-core coolness does absolutely nothing! Edited: 03 January 2006 01:29 You need to login to create posts in this thread.

me_mantis Joined: 26 September 2003 Posts: 1152

24 January 2006 18:29 (UK time) lol Dual core coolness lets you play meteor 2, and run a fluid simulation at the same time. Dual cores did way better on multitasking, but I would probably have gotten a 3500, if that wansn't an issue. The last piece to purchase is a video card, since we decided to wait for the new 7000s. The 7300s stink. The only have a 6.4gb/s memory bandwidth. I've been looking at this eVGA e-GeForce 7800 GT PCI Express 256MB DDR3 Video Card w/HDTV-Out, Dual DVI & VIVO Retail ***Free 2nd Day*** its $280, and has a 45gb/s memory bandwidth. http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=322739&affiliate=pricewatch What do y'all think? You need to login to create posts in this thread.

fuzinavl  Official Sponsor Joined: 06 October 2004 Posts: 287

27 January 2006 07:26 (UK time) *drool* :l..... though I'd save some $$$ with a speedy athon 3700+ 1MB cache processor and get a radeon X1800xt or a geforce 7800GTX Then there's the radeon X1900xtx in crossfire mode (if you're insane.) Edited: 27 January 2006 07:58 You need to login to create posts in this thread.

me_mantis Joined: 26 September 2003 Posts: 1152

27 January 2006 14:55 (UK time) lol... I won't get a card untill I see the benchmarks, because I can't see how good they are. about sli/Xfire, They don't give 2X tha speed, so they really arn't worth it =\ thanks for tha advice, y'all! I'll be building the system in a week er so. You need to login to create posts in this thread.

fuzinavl  Official Sponsor Joined: 06 October 2004 Posts: 287

28 January 2006 00:45 (UK time) <a href="http://www.tomshardware.com/2005/12/02/vga_charts_viii/page12.html">Vga Comparison Chart VIII</a> <a href="http://www.tomshardware.com/graphics/index.html">Newer Graphics Articles</a> Edited: 28 January 2006 00:49 You need to login to create posts in this thread.

me_mantis Joined: 26 September 2003 Posts: 1152

28 March 2006 22:20 (UK time) Finished the comp a few weeks ago, and I thought I'd tell you how it worked. It ran Meteor 2 at 600fps. Its dual core processor allowed it to calculate a fluid simulation in blander 3D, and surf the web/configure windows at normal speed. I'd suggest dual core if you really need 2x the power, but not really for people who only would be playing one game at once. You need to login to create posts in this thread.

mike323 Joined: 23 January 2005 Posts: 745

29 March 2006 00:52 (UK time) Beautiful! My next upgrade will definately be a dual-core proc. You need to login to create posts in this thread.

arezey Joined: 16 June 2005 Posts: 1599

29 March 2006 12:27 (UK time) <b>600 FPS!!!???</b> Now, how's that possible? When I'm playing M2, if I have FBlend turned off, I might get up to 30 FPS. I can't imagine there is a comp 20x powerful than mine... You need to login to create posts in this thread.

nyasudah  Official Sponsor Joined: 06 February 2005 Posts: 832

29 March 2006 14:44 (UK time) The comp looks marvelous. The blue lights are the best and that 600fps. I'd like to have a comp like this. ^^ AWESOME!! nyasudah / masuda / mp / PetiX / PtX Edited: 29 March 2006 14:45 You need to login to create posts in this thread.

Assain Joined: 02 November 2003 Posts: 979

30 March 2006 00:30 (UK time) O_O Your screwed buddy, shouldnt of posted a pic of your room, now I'm on the verge of finalizing my plans for a burglary On a happier note, try this: http://hamar.sk/spherexp It makes your desktop 3D. Sucks up processing power, but you can toggle it off for games. Although, i doubt you will need to considering your processor. You need to login to create posts in this thread.

me_mantis Joined: 26 September 2003 Posts: 1152

30 March 2006 15:53 (UK time) lol I tried the program out on my computer, but its not dual monitor optimized. Other than that its pretty cool. He actually has a modded NVidia desktop with dragging transperancy, window throwing, and a few other cool features. I'll send him sphereXP though =D You need to login to create posts in this thread.

40oz  Official Sponsor Joined: 03 January 2004 Posts: 1799

31 March 2006 03:41 (UK time) I couldnt even imagine FPS like that. And that computer is sick!! Definetly state of the art. *Papercut Pro-Murder. Legalize Crime. You need to login to create posts in this thread.

arezey Joined: 16 June 2005 Posts: 1599

31 March 2006 17:48 (UK time) *foreboding* I honestly congratulate you on your fabulous work me_mantis. You need to login to create posts in this thread.

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