$1700 Budget, looking to buy pc (details inside)

[fultz]

I need the PC to be prebuilt, I don't know how to build computer and while im fairly certain I could figure it out quite easily, my parents won't allow me to buy computer parts and assemble a computer myself. My parents also won't allow me to buy a computer unless it has a minimum of a 1 Year Warranty and it has to be an official business. I can't buy from EBAY or people, they just won't let me.

I have checked Dell, Alienware, Gateway, ect... They are all way too expensive and overpriced. I have considered Ibuypower but their PSU's and cooling and cases are ugly and cheap.

For a while I thought I had it figured out when somebody suggested I get a pc from ABSPC.com but after seeing their forums and all the bad testemonials about how much their tech support and computers suck I think I'll pass. I know this is a lot to ask and it doesn't leave much but if you have any idea where I can get a build similar to this for $1700 or under let me know.

Thanks in advance.

Thermaltake Tsunami Aluminum Case w/Side Window (BLACK) + Blue Neon Lights
DFI Lanparty UT nF4 Ultra-D Socket 939 NVIDIA nForce4 Ultra ATX AMD Motherboard
Thermaltake K450 Fan or Equivilant
Sufficient SLI Power Supply (unless 7800GTX is not available)
1GB (2 x 512MB) Corsair XMS Extreme Memory Speed PC3200 DDR RAM
nVIDIA GeForce 7800 GTX PCI-E or ATI Radeon x850 XT PE PCI-E
250GB 7200RPM 8MB Cache SATA HDD
Sony Black 16x DVD-ROM Drive
1.44MB Black Floppy Drive
16x DVD+/-RW Drive

If X850 XT PE the psu doesnt have to be sli sufficient.

I don't need monitor/keyboard/mouse/mousepad/speakers.

[Sshadow]

Newegg as usual. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16883102627
Sure its only a 6800GT, and the pictures say its a Asus mobo. But not which kind.

//Christian

[TalRW]

why exactly won't they let you build one? For 1700 dollars you could build yourself a pretty sweet computer, if you buy prebuilt you have to pay for a lot of stuff that you won't need like bundled software and warrentees. I seriously would recomend if at all possible try to convince your parents to let you build one.

Also like you said, you don't need stuff like a monitor but most places will require you buy one with your PC if you get prebuilt. Also what is it going to be used for? If you absolutly have to get prebuilt maybe try to look for a dell in your price range (assuming you aren't gaming) because you should be able to get one for 1700 that will suit most needs unless you are gaming.

As well they have really good cust. support.

[fultz]

Hehe, do you think i'd want a 7800 GTX if I wasn't gaming? Gaming is the entire purpose of the pc. :(! I know I could build a really sweet computer for that but theres no way they will let me, i've been trying to get them to let me for months. BTW That computer at newegg is from abspc.com which means it also carries their tech support and warranties, not cool. :(

[Sshadow]

Sorry, not that into the american market.. :D Think i missed the abspc part.
And you could always tell your parents on every part you buy you get 1 year warranty without lying. And the tech support is at Ocforums.. :D

//Christian

[fultz]

haha I didn't mean I needed tech support for the parts... I meant you get the ****ty tech support from abspc with the abspc from newegg and if it comes broken they will take forever to respond to you! Actually the parts are pretty good on warranties. Some of them have lifetime warranties, others have 3 year warranties. (retail) I so want to build my own I could probably take the savings from building it myself and get myself an FX-55 instead of a 3500+ :[ oh well. I am currently checking out cyberpower pc they are almost identical to ibuypower but with more options, maybe they will agree to build it custom for me. Wish me luck.

[nealric]

When you build your own, the parts usually have more than a 1 year warranty.

When you get into the 1700+ realm, thats where building your own REALLY pays off cost wise.
If you must buy prebuilt, you could always get an ibuypower and switch out the case/psu. (which would allow you to build your own in essence :P )

I checked out ibuypower, and you can upgrader the psu to an ok enermax when you customize the system, plus you can choose some ok looking cases.

[techun]

you could get a hot laptop for that..if u have to get a prebuilt..you might as well get what they're good at making

[Lewis]

The one in my sig is $1,000 all bought from newegg, and it's fantastic. Change the graphicscard to the one you've got and save yourself around $500.

[fultz]

Wow really? I can't find a system with a lanparty in it from newegg, can you link me? $1000 sounds great because I could buy a graphics card seperate and install it myself. Where did you find one with a 3700+? I don't see one there with that.

[Lewis]

Wow really? I can't find a system with a lanparty in it from newegg, can you link me? $1000 sounds great because I could buy a graphics card seperate and install it myself.

Damn sorry, read your first post again and you said you want it prebuilt, mine were all seperate. Sorry again, hope i didn't get your hopes too high! :bang head

[fultz]

That's what I thought haha, it's okay though.

[apunkrockmonk]

Just have someone build it on this forum then buy it from them. Have them put on a dell case badge or something, if they're foolish enough to make you buy pre-built they probably don't know too much about computers. That way everyone is happy. You don't get ripped off, you get the warrenty, and your parents feel all warn and fuzzy inside because dude, you're getting a dell.

[fultz]

I really wish I could have somebody here build it because for $1339 I could get this config:

Thermaltake Tsunami w/Side Window (black) - $102.00
DFI Lanparty UT nF4 Ultra-D Socket 939 NVIDIA nForce4 Ultra ATX Motherboard - $135
AMD Athlon 64 3500+ 512KB L2 Cache - $267.00
Thermaltake CL-P0075 80 x 80 x 20 mm - $33.99
1 GB (2 x 512MB) Corsair XMS Extreme Memory Speed 3200 DDR Ram w/Heat Spreaders - $116.00
Sony 16x Black DVD-ROM Drive - $22.99
NEC ND-3540A Black DVD +/-RW Drive - $48.00
Sony Black 1.44 MB Floppy Dirve - $10.00
NVIDIA GeForce 7800 GTX - $599.00

It would be rock solid and exactly what I want, the only problem is that is a lot of money to send to someone I don't know on the internet, I mean, How do I know they wouldn't keep the cash and there would be nothing I could do about it? This is the only chance im gonna have to get a pc for the next 3 years or so.

Im not saying I don't trust anybody here, it's not the people it's just that they aren't a business so there isn't really a guarentee. I would have them build it, then buy it from them off ebay but I can't get an ebay account because I don't have a credit card. :(

Plus if it broke and I didn't know what was wrong with it I would be SOL W/O a warranty.

[m3x1c4nj3w]

Why would you need a good tech support from the manufacturer? This forum will help you with any troubleshooting that you mighth have.

[illskills719]

listen I didn't know how to build a computer...I read for a month or so and now I officially built my first rig on June 24th, 2005 :) and its fine working and stable..just read and ull have a satisfcation of buildling a comp and knowledge that can never be surpassed by anyone else except ur self :) so have fun dont pay soo much when u can build for 5/8ths of that money

[Janus67]

first of all, how old are you (for polling purposes)

the best way to convince your parents into letting you build your own computer is to show them how simple it is and explain what you will need to do. It really is not that difficult (I have built about a dozen for buddies of mine and a few for family/myself etc). As long as you read the manual, read forums, read anything you can get your hands/fingers/eyes on (from a reputable source) learn it. It will become so helpful. I am 19 years old and have been building for about 4 years. Also tell them that it is an invaluable experience, people get paid good money to be this familiar with computer parts because most common people are completely computer illiterate and/or too lazy to learn. I am now in the Computer Information Systems major at Ohio State University and should be making about $60,000 straight out of college.

[Superjed]

I would try and convince your parents as well.

But, if you cant, then you might want to look at PC Club. They will build it any way you want it, warrenty, and not charge you for the alienware name. :rolleyes:

[fultz]

Thanks a lot guys. Im 18 years old and just for the record, im not computer illiterate (though I do know you weren't referring to me). I actually believe I could build a computer myself just from what i've read. What I mean is, im kind of afraid to try with $1000+ worth of parts that I may screw up. If it was all just snap in and stuff that would be different. I have actually already installed most of the parts that are needed except for these:

The thermal pastes on the processor/heatsink
Heatsinks
Fans
Motherboard
Power Supply
Cables to connect all the drives
Hard Drives
Processors

I have installed Ram, Video Cards, PCI Devices, ect. I know I could put it all into the case but im a bit worried. I have no idea how to apply the paste or how much to use, even if my parents would let me (which they said they won't) I would be afraid to apply paste to a processor that is worth $300.

[TalRW]

Why exactly won't your parents let you, just curious?

There are guides for everything, like you say you are worried about thermal paste application, well here is a guide

http://www.arcticsilver.com/arctic_silver_instructions.htm

It's really easy, most stuff now fits in only one way and it's hard to mess something up. Really seriously if you want a good gaming rig try to convince your parents.

[Speciale]

So your going to spend $1700 on a computer worth $1200 because your scared to apply $5 of thermal paste?

I understand your worries, we've all been at that point. In fact my first computer i built went great, had it done in 3 hours (i can now do it in...30-40 mins if all goes well). Turned on, booted up...what a feeling. Long story short, i was farting around with the ram a few days later and didnt instlal it right. Power on "POOOF BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP". I fried it. Lesson learned as followed: Take time, double check everything, and save money on a computer that runs great and will do so for years.

And here is a little trick of the trade...newegg.com has great customer service.

[aeiou]

I have an idea- it may be easier to convince your parents to let you build it if it wasn't so expensive. Try putting together a system that is maybe in the $500-800 range. This way, it wouldn't be quite so bad if you messed one thing up. Go with the same motherboard so you can just upgrade when you get to that point. It will take you longer to get the system you really want, but you will have a system that will play any games now, and you can put the money you saved towards upgrades to even better stuff than you are thinking of now in the future. Another bonus to this is that when you are done, you can either spend just a little bit more and you have 2 good computers, or you can recoup some of the spending by selling the old stuff, either on here or other places.

[Aslan]

You could purchase it at Monarch Computers. You can customize your computer completely, and they build it for you.

http://www.monarchcomputer.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=M&Category_Code=alldesktops

[CeeDeeJay]

I don't believe in lying to your parents after all there paying for it.However do you know a friend or a computer builder(teacher,computer shop,relative,ect) that would agree to help you built your unit.Here in this area thier are a few that would do it to help a computer enthusist get started and maybe your parents
might agree to something like that.

[Superjed]

CeeDee, thats a good idea, never thought of that.

I think you could do it yourself. Just take your time, check you have everything in correctly, and you should be fine.

Remember that we are here to help with questions you may have when you are building as well :thup:

[BrutalDrew]

You could purchase it at Monarch Computers. You can customize your computer completely, and they build it for you.

http://www.monarchcomputer.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=M&Category_Code=alldesktops

That would be my suggestion if you absolutely cannot build it yourself.