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Project: Smart Saving

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Ashikaa

Registered
Joined
Sep 15, 2006
Project: Smart Saving 4 Quality

The reason I call it that name is because I want to get best stuff for cheapest price in Australia. The currency I am using in this log file is AU $. And I am sorry if you think my English is bad.

Since I do not have any stuff to modify stuff for my own there are not many choice for me other than buying all parts out there. Let's start.

The first one is the case. After searching around in half month I am only happy with Thermaltake Armor Tower. However there are few stock in Australia and the one without PSU is almost out stock in AU market. Its price is about AU $230. The case with PSU is about AU $250, very few quantity. Every over clocker know the PSU included in this case is not good and not enough. I am going to buy better one. Then suddenly I have an idea. I bought Thermaltake with PSU plus shipping for AU $260. And I sell the PSU on ebay for AU $50 quickly. Wow, it is like AU $180 for Thermaltake Armor Tower case is the best price at least in AU. :eek:

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It is very heavy like 20kg. I need my friend's help to lift it up and take it to my house.

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PSU

Next step I need another PSU to perform enough power and overclocking later. It is also hard choice among so many branch. Alright it must be PFC Active, SLI and equal or over 500W but I still have a long list. I read a guide about all PSU and Silver Stone is the on the top branch for price and quality. Still one problem left that's is single or dual rail? Searching again helps me to chose dual rail and its price is also cheaper and on special discount for AU $140.

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PSU was installed in the case

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DVD Drive

Well these are the most easy part. I just grab ASUS black one to suit with my black armor case for AU $50. The ASUS badge from mobo makes it cool. :)

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And the Western Digital 250GB SATA II 3g/s for AU $110. I will upload image later for this hdd. It is now in my old DELL system. By the way I would suggest you forget about DELL if you do not care much about pocket. :beer:
 
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Mobo

Well I am going to use Core 2 Duo and only mobo in my head is P5W DH Deluxe. However it is not cheap. AU $380 is the best price I could find. Time to come back Ebay hunting. :bang head

After more than a week I got a good deal, AU $300 for one like new. It was used for testing for some hours and the warranty is 3 years left. I am so happy with it. Everything is almost 100% new when I opened the box.

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Mice & Keyboard

Oh I am gamer and designer. I always play online game like Guild Wars, WoW and sometime shooting game. Need a mice with better DPI and a keyboard to help my fingers and aps. Razer mice and Zboard is my choice. Razer Krait 1600 DPI costs AU $69 for new one. Too bad no one sells it on AU Ebay. I find some computer magazine and got it for AU $40 after negotiation, 1 week old. :beer:

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For the keyboard I had to buy a new one for AU $79.

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autolex84 said:
looking good man. Im glad i dont live in australia (no offense) but, I'd hate to pay those prices!

Yeah you are absolutely right. Sometime I don't understand how come AU is so poor in tech stuff. It does not make sense.
 
sephiroth_749 said:
pretty sweet

just was wondering is that the armor with the massive fan on the side


No it is not but you can buy the window side with 25cm fan separately. Actually I really want it but I ran out of money. Too bad!!

This is the PQI Turbo DDR2 5400 667. I could go for DDR2 800 if I did not use best stuff for water cooling. However I am also happy with this ram. This is new one one I got on Ebay. The total price is US $190 included shipping to Australia.

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Fan

Today all WC came to my door in the early morning while I was sleeping. 2 Fan:

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CPU water block

Swiftech Storm CPU water block. I really love it.

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Radiator

First I wanted BIX2 however the weight is problem then I get GST240 instead. It looks really cool but it is also dust trap. Well I will find a way to clean it later.

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Tube, Hose, Coolant, T-Line, Filler

The rest of other components. Nothing special here.

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Distilled Water

After I got WC part actually I do not know where to get the distilled water. I have no idea what is it too. Then I give up thinking about it and go to post office to send item on ebay and I noticed the store next to my house is selling all stuff about building, painting... I am just stupid. :bang head

I bought 5 lit one. Don't laugh at me because they don't have others.

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Now I am cleaning radiator and water block for leak testing. :D
 
Looking good man. Im not sure what the AU to CDN exchange is, but it seems like your paying a good amount of cash for that.


Edit: checked it out...1 Cdn dollar is worth 1.10 Au dollars.

And for you americans. 1 American dollar is worth 1.27 Au dollars. So it seems like he's spending alot more than usual but its a bit closer to the right price...Well I mean I cant say much...seeing as us Canadians get SCREWED for computer prices.
 
Looking good. What part of AU are you in? I've been down to Sydney and Perth. Very nice country. My only regret is that i didn't get to see the outback.
 
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