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OK, so it's about time to build a computer. My friend bought a customized system that is awesome, but I couldn't really afford the price tag. So using the information he gave me on his system, I went about to make my own. In the end I didn't use much of that info, mostly I used the Toms Hardware website.
My goal was to make a high end system, and then look for the cheapest place to buy the parts. I should end up getting it for about 1/2 the price, but a good amount of this is from importing parts from the US. Another great way to save some serious bucks by not getting the latest and greatest .. just get the second latest model. After all, in a few months, that's exactly what I would have anyway :-)
I need the system for work, so it's needs some CPU grunt, but I don't mind the odd game or two (and hence the video card!). Since I will use it for work, it will end up running Linux (probably Red Hat 9.0). More Linux specific information will follow.
Summary
US: PriceWatch.com US$417 (8/June/2003) Au: EYO A$770 (8/June/2003) Au: Razor Prices A$725 (umart and scorpian)(15/June/2003)
Also worth a look is the All-in-wonder Radeon 9700 Pro. It's actually a little cheaper, but has some cool TV and video features.
Strangely, this memory is not certified by the mother board. This is a possible source of some concern, and I'll let you know if there are any problems.
I'm trying to get an Antec 480W True Blue. But since I also want a good case, I'm still working on it.
I saw an Enermax tower with nice features like where the fans are in front of the drives, but it didn't have the front ports. I'm told the new version will. I could get an ASUS or SkyHawk panel to move everything to the front.
Damn .. it's tough to find a good case. features I think I want:
Antec Plusview 1000AMG ATX - A$141, good but no Audio at the front. (auspcmarket)
Antec Lanboy - Should be okay, but no audio at front, and only 350W PSU. (auspcmarket)
In Australia, you can use Razor Prices, although really, that guy should pull his finger out and finish the job. (In case you are the guy from razor: link direct to the product page, fix your DB errors, add categories like for each of the different Pentiums, Major Video Cards etc, arghh.. and your games one is worse).
Still need to get: DVD / CD-RW Case/450W power supply power cable/another sata cable?/cables? Monitor/Keyboard/mouse.
| Item | Unit Price | Quantity | Subtotal | ||
| 419.00 | 1 | 419.00 | ||
| 365.00 | 1 | 365.00 | ||
| 185.00 | 1 | 185.00 | ||
| 106.00 | 2 | 212.00 | ||
| 138.00 | 2 | 276.00 | ||
| Total Purchases | 1457.00 | ||||
| Shipping | 25.75 | ||||
| Tax | 0.00 | ||||
| Total for BuyXtremeGear.Com | 1482.75 | ||||
connections ----------- power (need 240v/60Hz) connect PSU to motherboard cd/rw dvd 2 sata drives (need special cable) CPU power At least 250W ATX12V. has additional power supply leads! Video card power fans? cpu fan case fans cd to audio? dvd to video card? leds? power/ hdd ?etc IDE cable - cd/rw? dvd? sata cable to hard drives (x 2)
Thu Jul 3 03:57:39 EST 2003 Sadly, I cancelled my order with Xtreme Gear. A couple of items where backordered, and I couldn't really wait any more. So "googlegear" here we come.
Item No. Description Price Qty Ext. Price 240304 Asus P4C800 Deluxe i875P P4 (800FSB) Skt478 DDR ATX Motherboard w/Audio, LAN, RAID/Serial ATA Retail ***(Free 2nd Day)*** . $187.99 1 $187.99 101436 Seagate Barracuda 7200.7 ST3120026AS 120GB Serial ATA 7200RPM Hard Drive ***(Free 2nd Day)*** . $131.00 2 $262.00 80661 Intel(R) Pentium(R) 4 Processor 3GHz, 800MHz FSB, Socket 478 Retail ***(Free 2nd Day)*** . $396.00 1 $396.00 320741 ATI Radeon 9800 PRO AGP 8X 128MB DDR Video Card Retail ***(Free 2nd Day)*** . $376.50 1 $376.50 80097-20 Kingston HyperX KHX3200AK2/1G 1GB Kit DDR400 PC3200 Memory w/Heat Spreader Retail ***(Free 2nd Day)*** . $218.00 1 $218.00 Sub Total: $1440.49 Discount: $0.00 Sales Tax: $0.00 Shipping: $0.00 ORDER TOTAL: $1440.49
Tue Jun 24 11:06:40 EST 2003
My order still hasn't shipped yet (US June 23rd) (was ordered (US) Jun 16th),
which is a little disappointing.
Their site said all the items were in stock, but apparently that is not true.
Their support was quite resonsive when I emailed them about it.
They mentioned that the shipment from the manufacturer was
delayed and should arrive June 27.
A reasonable reason, but perhaps it shouldn't say "in stock" when it's not.
Wed Jun 18 21:32:09 EST 2003
Okay, so the order is in. I tried to add some case screws, a cable
and a mouse pad to the order, but the shipping cost went up $24.
So forget it. Actually, I thought that was kinda wierd, but still can't
argue with the other prices I got. Total shipping is $24.75, so US$1482.75.
Pretty good price if you ask me.
Go visit Buy eXtreme Gear.
Now I need a case, power supply and a monitor.
Tue Jun 17 03:21:18 EST 2003
Today (yesterday), I went to thediscshop (both stores) and gamedude.
Both have good prices, although I liked thediscshop better since you could
get in and look around at stuff. Much better since I was looking at
features for my case.
Also I did a little impulse buying at the discshop, which wasn't really
possible at Game Dude. There are some posted warnings about warranty
service from both these stores. Given this info, it doesn't bother
me to buy from these places,
I know my rights, and I'll make sure to keep the receipts etc.
So the bottom line is, I'm no closer to picking a case. The Thermaltake(sp?) are absolutely huge, and absolutely heavy. Solid front panels, solid all round. Expensive, and pretty hard to justify, you certainly wouldn't want to lug this around to a lan party. And they say 19kg's , but really, that's heavy for an empty case. On the bright side, it comes with fans, and pretty much all the features. For overclockers (which I'm not, so don't listen to me), it seems quite good cause of the number of fans (7) including a top-side fan. I imagine that a top side fan is quite good and removing excess heat in your case. The audio plugs are on the top. I'm not sure if I like that or not, but sure beats the back. For some peoples setup, that would be ideal, but I tend to have my computer under the desk.
In currently tending towards getting a generic case with a 400W PSU, or getting the Antec Sonata which has a 380W PSU in it. Or perhaps a clone case. We'll see if I can find a good one. Another thought was getting just any old case PSU, and get a good one when I head the US soon.
Hmm.. Actually there's a point. If you buy a top of the range computer system here, you are looking at somewhere around A$5g (well, including someone putting it together etc). You could buy most of those parts in the US for definately less than A$3g, leaving you around A$2g to fly to the US :-) Okay, so it's not comparing apples and oranges, but it's a nice way to justify a trip if you wanted to go :-).
Last Change: Monday, 10-Jan-2005 07:43:23 EST
Disclaimer
The information provided within these pages is provided AS IS, and without any
warranty. Following these directions may (but not limited to)
crash your computer, delete all the information on your hard disk, open up security holes or cause your house to burn down.
I made these pages to provide some information about the setup that I have done,
but I did not proofread it for correctness, and in most cases did not test it.
There are commands in these pages that would definately delete or corrupt all
the data on your computer (especially the dualboot section). In fact it happened
to me....
So you are on your own!
