Final Pricing

Ok, i'm trying to do a final pricing of a rig, hopefully around $1000...Currently it's about that, near $1100...Haven't decided for sure if i'll be doing this, but if I do so it'll be within the next month or so and prices wont be much different. So any suggestions? I'm not sure what fans to use yet at all. I'll be using it mainly for internet and games most likely, but I may also be working a bit with stuff like AutoCAD, ProEngineer, and other engineering programs (don't know how much or if at all).

AMD Athlon 64 3200+, Venice Core $192.99
DFI|NF4 LANPARTY UT nF4 Ultra-D $135.00
XFX PVT43GND Geforce 6600GT 128MB GDDR3 PCI-Express x16 Video Card - Retail $169.00
CORSAIR XMS 1GB (2 x 512MB) 184-Pin DDR SDRAM DDR 400 (PC 3200) Unbuffered Model TWINX1024-3200C2PT - Retail $119.00
Western Digital Caviar SE WD2500JD 250GB 7200 RPM Serial ATA150 Hard Drive - OEM $129.00
Lian Li PC-60USB B2 Silver Computer Case - Retail $95.00
FSP Group (Fortron Source) FSP530-60GNA ATX 530W Power Supply - Retail $80.00
THERMALRIGHT XP-120 Heatsink - Retail $51.99
PLEXTOR Beige SATA DVD Burner Model PX-712SA/SW - Retail $89.99
SONY Beige 1.44MB 3.5" Internal Floppy Drive Windows 98SE/ ME/ 2000/ XP - OEM $9.50

So how does it look? Anything that I should swap out in exchange of something else? Also, is SATA II worth the extra money compared to SATA 150? Thanks.

What I'd change: Get rid of the floppy drive. Get an IDE Maxtor hard drive with 16mb of cache, they are much faster. Get a fortron bluestorm power supply, they use the 24pin connector your motherboard has, and have 2 12v rails. Ram... I don't know anything about the ram you chose, but I am VERY happy with this ram.
http://shop4.outpost.com/product/3602905?site=sr:SEARCH:MAIN_RSLT_PG

Get a second opinion on it, but I can run cas2 at 240mhz +.

If I were you and you were gaming on this rig I would cut back your processor to a 3000+ Winchester http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819103501 and your memory down to some cheap rosewill http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820223009 and use the extra money to get an x800 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814131416

I have long since learned a lesson about cheap ram. Usualy, it only lasts a few months and when it goes out, you will often corrupt your windows installation The 6600gt is plenty enough for him.

OK, just a suggestion! I use that rosewill cheap memory on many systems. Never had to RMA 1 stick.

Hmm, well if overclocking isn't a primary concern, then I'm sure he'd be happy with it. As for the 3200+ vs 3000+, my cpu caps out around 300x9, but I can do 320+ on my board. I don't think the 10x multiplier is necessary with modern boards.

I just think the X800 is a much higher performing card... I think you will notice the difference when playing games that require a higher performing card.

Any other opinions other than Yuriman and I? lol

Well personally, I'd save myself a bit of money on the case. Shopping around can get you a nice one for just over half that price. Ok, so it won't be Lian Li, but it can look nice and be well constructed with good ventilation. Ok, so it's not a major saving, but every little helps, and you don't lose anything by spending a while searching around for reviews of lesser known cases in my experience. I will add the caveat to this that the most expensive case I've been near cost less than £25 - so I don't really know if there is a massive difference in the more expensive cases.

I don't know if you have priced up a retail or OEM processor, but if it's retail: people may hate me/scream at me for saying this: if you're not planning to overclock, you may as well use the stock heat sink. There said it, and saves you a nice chunk of money again. Of course, if you are buying an OEM cpu, you will need to buy the heat sink yourself and can ignore this

I wouldn't ditch the floppy drive, as the chances are that in the next year you may only use it once, but that time it will desparate, and you will be glad you spent $10 on one - though I'd go for the absolute cheapest I could find.

The optical drive - I hope you're going to stealth it!

Though it looks a pretty decent set up (though it also probably reads like I'm trying to slate it - I'm told my 'constructive criticism' is a bit too thorough at times). Looks like a great machine in the making!

HAHAHA no offense lamp but I dont agree with 1 thing you just said!

I was expecting a response like that - but if you're building a system with a strict budget, you have to cut some corners and upgrade what you can later.

Thats just my opinion. I guess if you are sure you arent going to overclock you could keep stock heatsink and fan, but you should definantly keep the Lian Li. I am stuck with a raidmax that is very hard to work on and I wish i had bought the lian li. Do you agree with me on the memory lamp?

No experience of the memory you're talking about I'm afraid - I've never built a computer on anything other than the tightest of tight budgets, and memory has always had to be either a generic or value variety to keep costs down.

What i wanna know is.... where is the guy who started this post!!!?!?!?!?!

Not everyone sits on the computer all day waiting for responses to posts made in forums
He might be at work, at the pub, watching TV...

Anyway, I should get back to writing this essay, or I will fail my degree.

Lunar_Lamp said:

Not everyone sits on the computer all day waiting for responses to posts made in forums
He might be at work, at the pub, watching TV...

Anyway, I should get back to writing this essay, or I will fail my degree.

Click to expand...

I think i just got called a geek

Poly15 said:

I think i just got called a geek

Click to expand...

Me too...

All i do all day is eat, sleep, sit on computer, Marching Band practice.

Hehehe eat sleep surf and sit at the computer

Sorry, I did have to go do some stuff after I had posted this.
Anyways, I think i'd rather stick with some good RAM, just because...I guess i'm a bit paranoid I'd rather stick with stuff I know is good. I may look into getting a 3000+ instead of the 3200+, i'll have to make up my mind on that one...And the X800 was a video card I had considered getting, but I probably wont need it that terribly...I don't do a LOT of PC Gaming really. Usually i'm on consoles. And I think I can stand the performance difference more than likely between the X800 XL and 6600GT. I will consider it some more, however
As far as the case, i'll see if I can find any cheaper things I like...But a lot of stuff i'd see would always seem a bit...I don't know, I guess i'm just more of a plain guy when it comes to my computer case I don't want lots of different lights and designs and such. But I will look some more.
I also know I will be keeping the floppy drive...I mean, I see no real reason to NOT include one, and I mean, what's $10? Especially when the total rig is around $1000 ANYWAYS? Also, I had wanted to get a Blue Storm, but didn't see any on newegg.com when I looked before (I want to get all my stuff from them, since i've done business with them as well as several people that I know, rather than go somewhere i've never dealt with before). However, I did find one there now, FSP Group (Fortron Source) AX500-A ATX12V 500W Power Supply 115/230 V. Doesn't say it's a Blue Storm in the listing itself, but the box does show it being a blue storm.
Anyways, anymore comments or suggestions? I still need to find some fans, at least one 120mm one to go with the heatsink, and at least two 80mm ones. Can anyone suggest any? Also, I may do some overclocking, not sure yet...If I DID do any, it probably wouldn't be anything too great.

if you arent doing to much overclocking just get whatever fans you want. They will be good enough for you.