for the comp guru's... buying a new comp...

[AccordPower]

Hey all...

Thinking of buying a new rig... I went to www.cyberpowerpc.com

ok messed around for a bit and came up with the following:

$1419.00
(before all applicable rebates)
CASE: CoolerMaster Praetorian 730 RC-730 Aluminum Tower 420W Case (Silver Color)
CPU: (Socket AM2) AMD Athlon™64 X2 3800+ Dual-Core CPU w/ HyperTransport Technology
MOTHERBOARD: (Socket AM2)Asus M2N-SLI Deluxe nForce 570 SLI MCP Chipset DDR2/800 MBoard w/ Dual PCI-Express
MEMORY: (Req.DDR2 MainBoard)2GB (2x1GB) PC6400 DDR2/800 Dual Channel Memory (Corsair XMS2 Xtreme Memory w/ Heat Spreader)
VIDEO CARD: NEW !!! NVIDIA Geforce 7600 GS 256MB PCI Express x16 Video Card
VIDEO CARD 2: NEW !!! NVIDIA Geforce 7600 GS 256MB PCI Express x16 Video Card
LCD Monitor: NONE
HARD DRIVE: Single Hard Drive (300GB 7200RPM SATA2/300 16MB Cache)
Data Hard Drive: NONE
Optical Drive: (Special Price) 16X DVD±R/±RW + CD-R/RW DRIVE DUAL LAYER (BLACK COLOR)
Optical Drive 2: 16X DVD ROM (BLACK COLOR)
SOUND: HIGH DEFINITION ON-BOARD 7.1 AUDIO
POWER SUPPLY: Enermax EG565P 535 Watt Power Supply (SLI-Ready)
CPU COOLING: CoolerMaster Liquid CPU Cooling Fan System Kit + 2 EXTRA CASE FANS

After tax it came out to be... $1536.07

And it has a 3 year warrenty through this local manufacturer what do you guys think?

[SuperAkuma]

Kinda pricy. Does that include a LCD monitor?

I dont have time to break down the parts for the price, but they are charging you about $400 to build the unit if you compair the price to if you buy the parts yourself.

[Squirrel]

not bad... but you could probably build that same computer yourself for cheaper

[GameTraveler]

^ +1

Price for parts per NewEgg:

CASE: CoolerMaster Praetorian 730 RC-730 Aluminum Tower 420W Case (Silver Color) = $145 w/o PSU
CPU: (Socket AM2) AMD Athlon™64 X2 3800+ = $160
MOTHERBOARD: (Socket AM2)Asus M2N-SLI Deluxe nForce 570 = $147
MEMORY: 2GB (2x1GB) PC6400 DDR2/800 Dual Channel Memory (Corsair XMS2 Xtreme Memory w/ Heat Spreader) = $290
VIDEO CARD: NEW !!! NVIDIA Geforce 7600 GS 256MB PCI Express x16 Video Card = $89
VIDEO CARD 2: NEW !!! NVIDIA Geforce 7600 GS 256MB PCI Express x16 Video Card = $89
LCD Monitor: NONE = $0
HARD DRIVE: Single Hard Drive (300GB 7200RPM SATA2/300 16MB Cache) = $95
Data Hard Drive: NONE
Optical Drive: (Special Price) 16X DVD±R/±RW + CD-R/RW DRIVE DUAL LAYER (BLACK COLOR) = $29
Optical Drive 2: 16X DVD ROM (BLACK COLOR) = $17
SOUND: HIGH DEFINITION ON-BOARD 7.1 AUDIO = $0
POWER SUPPLY: Enermax EG565P 535 Watt Power Supply (SLI-Ready) = $90
CPU COOLING: CoolerMaster Liquid CPU Cooling Fan System Kit + 2 EXTRA CASE FANS = $90

If the case came with a 420W PSU, do you get credit for not using it with your spec'd out system?

Price for parts from NewEgg before tax = $1241 or $1343 after tax
Caveat Emptor

If you have the time, want to learn more about computers, then I'd recommend building it yourself with parts from a higher rated vendor like NewEgg or Mwave (since I'm guessing you're in California).

For the major parts, I've bought from Mwave since they've had a good return policy. I bought my recent Opteron from Flickerdown.com because I could pick the week and specific processor build.

Also, I wouldn't put much stock in a 3 year warranty. You're spec'ing a PC with SLI, so I'm guessing you're either running high resolutions, building a gamer machine, or both. Much of the parts in the machine will get upgraded or replaced before the 3 year warranty is up, and each part has their own manufacturer warranty--particularly for the 1st year, if it doesn't break for the first month of hard use, it probably won't break over most of the 3 years.

My $.02

P.S. If you build it yourself, skip the coolermaster CPU water cooler, and save the money. You can get a better air-only cooler for half the cost or less.

[Rev ATARI]

His build it could is pretty close to the just buy it cost, so assuming he does not have a legit copy of windows to install he will need to buy it as well.

[GameTraveler]

Hmmmm, forgot that part...here:

Minority owned software from Colorado with free 2 day shipping

Reseller Rating

$95 to $140 for the Windows XP legit copy.

And still less than the cost from CyberPowerPC.

[gurusan]

yup, or you could download a vista rc-1 and use that as your default os! hehe.

I'd keep everything in gametravelers build except change out the video card, cpu, and mobo for these....it's about 40 bucks more but you will get more for your money...and if you want more performance you can just OC your 6300...many people are getting to 3.0-3.2ghz on stock volts with the DS3 motherboard.

Even at the stock 1.86ghz it will outperform that 3800x2 dramatically, especially in combination with the x1900gt (which can easily be ocd to x1900xt speeds)

CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E6300 Conroe 1.86GHz LGA 775 Processor Model BX80557E6300 = $180
GIGABYTE GA-965P-DS3 Socket T (LGA 775) Intel P965 Express ATX Intel Motherboard - $147
VIDEO CARD: SAPPHIRE 100189L Radeon X1900GT 256MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16 (RoHS) CrossFire Video Card - $196

CPU, Mobo, Vid card if you go with AMD and 7600GS SLI setup = $487

CPU mobo, vid card if you go with Core2duo and x1900gt setup = $526

The latter setup is MUCH better.....u choose

[Nathan123]

Yeah... two 7600s is NOT the way to go.

[gurusan]

yeah 7600gs sucks a nut.

[AccordPower]

Thanks all...

You guys have been very helpful...

I ventured away from Dual cards... and I was thinking of using 1 x 7950 instead...

And no I am not getting a monitor cuz my 19' LCD is still pretty new.

I would build my own but my working schedule really prevents that. I have built my own in the past and lately I just dont have the time.

So the general consensus is that the core 2 is > 64x2?

Thanks again...

Jeff

[Nathan123]

Am I the only person that thinks maybe it's best to hold off a month or two and see how the Geforce 8800 looks?

[GameTraveler]

Originally Posted by Nathan123

Am I the only person that thinks maybe it's best to hold off a month or two and see how the Geforce 8800 looks?

Sounds like a good idea. If he's waited this long to get a good machine, it won't hurt to wait until mid-November to see what nVidia is planning on dropping.

The only other thing to consider, is that the machine will be playing Oblivion, I'm reading that the ATI cards are better suited for that (much as I wouldn't part with my 7950 right now).

BTW, the current processor on top for OOB (out-of-box) performance are the Intel Dual cores. Best thing that could happen for any of us, is the competitive nature of Intel and AMD...which keeps dropping the prices!

[Squirrel]

Originally Posted by Nathan123

Am I the only person that thinks maybe it's best to hold off a month or two and see how the Geforce 8800 looks?

http://nvnews.net/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=77395

id hold off it they werent gonna be so damned expensive... the 8800gt alone is gonna cost $450~$500 >.<

think when the time comes... im gonna try to get a hold of 2 7900gtos if not... then a pair of gts

[AccordPower]

yeah i can hold off...

I just pre ordered the new battlefield and dawn of war dark crusade... so I kinda wanted some new toys to display those games...

I dunno maybe another alternative is update my AGP for now lol

I dont want to cuz i think its a waste of money...

Currently im thinking core 2.... for sure...

Now should I go for SLI or no SLI on the mobo...

[Nathan123]

Originally Posted by Squirrel

http://nvnews.net/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=77395

id hold off it they werent gonna be so damned expensive... the 8800gt alone is gonna cost $450~$500 >.<

think when the time comes... im gonna try to get a hold of 2 7900gtos if not... then a pair of gts

I don't just mean to buy the new card (although that is a possibility, if it kicks total ass)... with a new card comes lowered prices on old cards. And within a couple months Ati will come out with it's competition which will drive prices down further. It's kinda like a month before Core 2 Duo came out... it wasn't smart to buy ANYTHING then, AMD or Intel.