Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Rikus]

Moving to the states and leaving my computer for the MIL. I am going to try to keep a pretty tight budget for a servicable computer that can be upgraded. Here is the rig that I threw together just from a few minutes surfing on Tiger.

MB, CPU, Ram Bundle 400$ after rebates
EVGA nForce 680i SLI Motherboard
Intel C2Q Q6600 2.40GHz OEM
OCZ SLI 4098MB PC6400 DDR2
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3918489&CatId=1599

Case with PSU bundle 120$
Apevia Mid-T
PowerUp GEN-6803 800-Watt Power Supply http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3685290&CatId=1520

Video Card 170$ after rebates
BFG GeForce 9800 GTX Video Card - 512MB GDDR3, PCI Express 2.0, SLI Ready, (Dual Link) Dual DVI, HDTV

Optical Drive 30$
Philips SPD2413BD Super All-Write DVD Burner
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=2984924&CatId=4

Hard Drive 55$
Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 250GB Hard Drive
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3247662&CatId=2458

Keyboard and Mouse 40$
Microsoft Wireless Optical Desktop 3000 Keyboard and Mouse
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=2367927&CatId=1482

OS 110$
Windows Vista Home Premium 32-bit DSP OEM DVD with Service Pack 1
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3746805&CatId=3778

Monitor 160$
Acer X193WBD 19" Widescreen LCD Monitor
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?
EdpNo=3642069&CatId=170

The grand total is 1,085$ after rebates. My goal is to get it under 1000$ with shipping without sacraficing much quality. I am probably missing a few things as well. CPU fan. [/b]

[I_Am_The_Kiwi]

If your going to buy 4GB of RAM then you need a 64bit version of XP or Vista to utalise it.

As for the OS costing $110. If i were you id cancel that and download it off the net for FREE....but im just a no good pirate who doesnt pay for shite.

Up to you, but your gonna need a 64bit OS.
You could drop that GFX card to a 9600, bit cheaper unless your a gamer and want to keep up with the new releases.

[Rikus]

I have been dealing with the pirated OS stuff for the last five years or so and it has gotten tiresome. The 64 bit version has a lot of problems with hardware compatabilty and whatnot. So I am waiting on that. The difference on prices of the video cards is less than the drop in quality.

[Temporary]

The 9800 GTX blows... I had a chance to play with one and it wasn't no where as nice as a 4850.

[kprrok]

[kprrok]

Here's what I'd do. First off, I've found NewEgg to have better prices and delivery.

Motherboard - ASUS P5Q-E P45
Price: $159.99

CPU - Intel C2D E8400
Price: $169.99

RAM - OCZ Reaper HPC PC2-6400 2x2GB
Price: $92.99 - MIR $35.00 = $57.99

VGA - Saphire Radeon HD 4850 512MB
Price: $169.99 - MIR $20.00 = $149.99

HDD - Seagate Barracuda 500GB (7200.11)
Price: $79.99

ODD - LG 20x DVD-Multi Drive SATA
Price: $23.99

Case - Rosewill R5604 Mid-Tower
Price: $54.99

PSU - Corsair 550W Crossfire-ready
Price: $89.99 - MIR $25.00 = $64.99

Keyboard - Logitech basic black USB
Price: $6.99

Mouse - Logitech basic optical USB
Price: $7.29

LCD - Acer X-193W 19" WS 5ms
Price: $159.99

OS - Vista Home Premium 32-bit
Price: $99.99

Total: $1,036.18 before shipping.

You can always buy a better keyboard and mouse later, if you are close to your budget ceiling, which you are, get the cheapest you can find and then buy better later.

You'll notice this is an ATI-based system simply because I have the 4850 and have tried a 9800 and I like mine much better. Granted, my overall system is a bit better than the one I tried the 9800 on, but I don't think the differences were enough to justify the differences in the VGAs.

If you have to drop some money, look at the E7200 which is 45nm, 2.53Ghz, 3MB L2 cache. It's priced at $119.99 so that would save you $50 and put you under $1,000.00.

Also, these are both Retail CPUs so they will have fans and heatsinks included. They will do you fine for standard running, but if you want to OC later, you can get an after-market cooler then.

Cheers.

[Rikus]

Thanks for the great reply. This is what I am looking for. Some opinions on alternate builds. It's also good to hear about the 64 bit OS.

I have always used Nvidia graphics cards so I am a bit hesitant to try the ATI.

[kprrok]

I understand your hesitance to buy an ATI card, a lot of people feel that way...cough, cough, cubanlord, cough. I feel ATI has a couple of main advantages right now over nVidia.

1.) Bang-for-buck...ATI has always had very good price v. performance. nVidia seems to need to bring their prices down to compete with ATI whenever a new ATI card comes out. Yes, nVidia does win on the pure power scale, but bang-for-buck, ATI is the king.

2.) Scalability (sp?)...Adding a 2nd HD4xxx card really does improve the experience, not quite doubled, but much better than the nVidia lines do. I've read reviews that show a 2nd 4850 gave almost 80-90% more FPS in some games. It does depend on the game you're playing, and other factors, but from what I've seen, ATI is doing a better job with this.

3.) Drivers...I've read lots of problems with nVidia drivers, especially in Vista when trying to play older games. If you are playing only new games (since the card came out), it's ok, but if you try to play an older game there might be issues.

4.) Better motherboard support. nVidia, up until the new X58 chipset, wouldn't license their SLI support to Intel. That means that Intel chipset mobos could do Crossfire with 2 ATI cards, but only 1 nVidia card. This becomes an issue when you read about the stability of an nVidia chipset mobo for an Intel CPU. I've read lots of places that the stability isn't nearly as good as an Intel chipset for an Intel CPU. If you're not going to do any OCing or adding a 2nd card, this isn't as big an issue.

But hey, this is all just my opinion. I've got an ATI HD4850 and I love it. It's a great little card and very good price. I'm happy. If you're happy with nVidia...I'll look at some options for ya.

[kprrok]

Here's an nVidia set-up. Keep all the same stuff except for the Mobo and the VGA.

Motherboard - MSI P7N 750i SLI Platinum
Price: $149.99 - MIR $20.00 = $129.99

VGA - EVGA 8800GT AKIMBO 512MB
Price: $154.99 - MIR $30.00 = $129.99

The 8800 is still the best bang-for-buck buy in the nVidia line. I've read good things about that cooling solution, plus EVGA has a trade-up program where you can trade your older card for a newer one at a better rate than you'd be able to sell it.

That would make your total cost: $986.18 before shipping. This way you can still get the E8400 and still be under your budget. This is nice and up-gradeable because you can add a 2nd 8800GT very cheaply, or upgrade to a newer GT200 card once they come down in price more.