April 2006 gto-pontiac’s Computer buyers guide

[gto-pontiac]

April 2006 gto-pontiac’s Computer buyers guide


Up-dated prices
This is only to be used as a guide, not what to buy


System 1 (Strict budget)
Case: Antec SLK1650 $97.00
PSU: w/ 350W included
CPU: Intel Celeron D346 3.0Ghz $143
Motherboard: Asus P5LD2 $152.00
Memory: Samsung 1Gb Kit DDR2 PC4200 (2x512Mb) $115
Hard Drive: Maxtor 160Gb SATA $104.00
Video Card: Leadteck 6600GT $176
CD/DVD-RW: Benq oem $57
$844.00

you can drop the Video card to lower PCI express card if it you want something lower as well as Hard Drive

You can up grade the CPU to Pentium Ds if you like to add extra power.

System 2 (Best value for money) mid end Gaming
Thermaltake Soprano with 430W PSU $135
AMD Athlon 64 3700+ Venice $325.00
Asus A8N-E $140.00
1GB (2x512MB) OCZ PC3200 Value $127.00
Maxtor SATA 160GB $104.00
LeadTek 256Mb 7600GT $325
Benq oem $57
$1,213.00

this system can play most of the recent Games, like Nedd for speed, FEAR, BF2, and others that require good graphic card.
or you can upgrade the card to X1800, X1900, or 7900


High-End PC AMD Dual Core High-end gaming

Case: Antec P180 no PSU $214.00
PSU: Antec TruePower2 480W $132.00
CPU: AMD Athlon 64 X2 4400+ $685.00
Motherboard: Asus A8N-E Nforce 4 Ultra $140.00
Memory: 1GB (2x512MB) OCZ PC3200 Performance $181.00
HDD(Boot Drive): Western Digital 74GB Raptor $249.00 (scoprtec)
HDD (Storage): Maxtor 16Mb SATA 250Gb $135.00
Video Card: 512mb Sapphire X1900XT $792
CD/DVD-RW: BenQ oem $57
$2585.00

High End Intel Dual Core

Case: CoolerMaster Stacker-810 $205
PSU: Antec 530W “true Powe2” $155
CPU: Intel Pentiam D920 2.8Ghz $365
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA 8i955X-Pro $225
RAM: 1Gb Samsung (512x2) DDR2 $115 or 2Gb for Multimedia computer $225
HDD(Boot Drive): Western Digital 74GB Raptor $249.00 (scoprtec)
HDD (Storage): Maxtor 16Mb SATA 250Gb $135.00
Video Card: 512Mb Sapphire X1900XT $792
CD/DVD-RW: BenQ oem $57

1Gb $2298 2Gb $2408

any components can be changed to your needs.
comment, suggestions or any question please ask us!

[martyboy]

High-End PC AMD Dual Core High-end gaming

Case: Antec P180 no PSU $214.00
PSU: Antec TruePower2 480W $132.00
CPU: AMD Athlon 64 X2 4400+ $685.00
Motherboard: Asus A8N-E Nforce 4 Ultra $140.00
Memory: 1GB (2x512MB) OCZ PC3200 Performance $181.00
HDD(Boot Drive): Western Digital 74GB Raptor $249.00 (scoprtec)
HDD (Storage): Maxtor 16Mb SATA 250Gb $135.00
Video Card: 512mb Sapphire X1900XT $792
CD/DVD-RW: BenQ oem $57
$2585.00
gto-pontiac,
where is the price of the video card coming from, as I cant see it on the web?
The system sound great, and If I add a bit more for an OS and Word etc, plus a wireless card , I recckon I'd still under $3k..

[gto-pontiac]

all the price is from MSY.
you can get rid of the Raptor drive, that way you can get your self a MS XP pro and you can lower that CPU to 3800+ 64x2 that way you can spend bit more towars the LCD monitor, keybard, and other thing.

[anandasim]

Just kicking the ball around,

I'm really stingy about case and PSU - if you're not into admiring cases or running 4 drives or power hungry Intel chips, over $300 for that is IMHO a bit much - I would go for a combo that is about $150.

If budget is a consideration, yes, as gto says, I would get a slightly cheaper AMD x2.

If budget is a consideration, I'd think twice about the Raptor - I would like a two hd of $100+. Either RAID for data safety or RAID them for speed or for $300 get three hd - use two in a RAID and one as system backup in an external case.

[Stephen]

I have to agree with you there Anandasim. I am on the stingey side when it comes to a case also. I have a couple of full-towers that I have had for around 6 years and they keep getting re-used.

I also am a RAID advocate, If I am looking for a new HDD I will always make it a quantity of 2.

I am booting of a single 15K Seagate SCSI though data drives are all RAID Mirrors. Virtual Machines are 'really fast' running of the RAID Array.

[newman]

So, if I wanted to dive in here, I already have a spare case and PSU, I'd need CPU, mobo, RAM.

I have a 300gb pata drive that's not really being used, but all the boards mentioned here are sata ones, I think. Maybe I could buy a sata HD as well, and use the pata drive as storage?

As I understand it, a sata mobo will still have a pata connection for the optical drive - do they have two? Like in an older board a primary and secondary ide. Maybe I could use the 300 pata there, or use a USB box.

[gto-pontiac]

As I understand it, a sata mobo will still have a pata connection for the optical drive - do they have two? Like in an older board a primary and secondary ide. Maybe I could use the 300 pata there, or use a USB box.

yes they do have PATA connections most still have 2 but some only have 1
or yes you could get a USB case to put your 300GB HDD in

[anandasim]

Look at the mobo specs and board photos at the manufacturers' websites. The old pre-SATA mobos had two PATA channels - each PATA channel of course supports two PATA devices - making 4 in all. Many of the current SATA mobos continue that support.

Or you could get a SERILLEL (haven't tried that and ABIT claims it only works with the Silicon Image drive controller chipset)

http://www.abit-usa.com/news/2003/20030425b.php