Best computer Deal.

[gumbyman]

I want to get the fastest computer possible for under 1200$... It need all the things I have listed below.. does anyone know of a place (Specific web site) I can beat these prices??? Should I build, or go to factory?

Intel Pentium 4 Processor 2.53GHz 533FSB
259.00
512MB PC2100 DDR RAM
122.00
ATX MBD P4 S478 DDR-533FSB VID SND 6PCI
109.00
Maxtor D740X 40.0GB Hard Drive
86.00
VisionTek Xtasy GeForce4 MX420 64MB AGP
84.00
TDK VeloCD 48x16x48 CD-Recorder
104.00
Asus 16X DVD/48X CD-ROM Drive
64.00
Teac 3.5" 1.44MB Floppy Drive
22.00
Samsung Syncmaster 750S-B 17" Monitor
126.00
Creative Labs Modem Blaster 56K V.92 PCI
39.00
Microsoft IntelliMouse Optical 1.1
32.00
Microsoft 123-key Internet Keyboard
19.00
Enlight 7250-0AZ Mid-Tower Case, 300W
49.00
total: 1115$

 

[Karl Blessing]

I cant give you a specific web site to check out. but If you want a custom configuration, to build it youself would be cheapest, provided you get most of your parts from a single distributor to avoid paying extra in shipping.

Here are two sites to help you along the way.

pricewatch.com , use this site to search for the lowest prices on the parts you want.

resellerratings.com , use this site, to determine wheter or not the sites you found on pricewatch are known to have good ratings from previous customers. Karl Blessing aka kb244{fastHACK}

 

[ANFPS26]

http://www.newegg.com

Best prices, service, and shipping. (IN USA) "A little knowledge is a dangerous thing....."

 

[Karl Blessing]

Newegg doesnt always have the best prices, and certain companies may even have better service than them. Personally I like monarchcomputer.com , but their prices are slightly higher than others.

Also I rarely see newegg as one of the lowest price offers on pricewatch. Karl Blessing aka kb244{fastHACK}

 

[ANFPS26]

You have to add shipping to ALL prices and then compare the totals. Newegg can't be beat there. I can buy RAM for two dollars with $20 dollars shipping what have you saved? Most things on Newegg are listed as free shipping so you don't have to add it into the price. Most sites hide their shipping until you are ready to check out--Newegg doesn't. Also it is one of the few sites that lets you comment and rate each item. I say again Newegg can't be beat. "A little knowledge is a dangerous thing....."

 

[dvornik]

I don't think there's anything special about newegg. I bought from them, they are allright. So are dozens of others I bought from.

I would highly recommend buying RAM directly from manufacturers like Mushkin or Crucial. Price is not the main concern with RAM, quality is. And customer service in case there are problems with it.

 

[Karl Blessing]

I looked around at newegg, is it just me, or are alot of their items often time used, generic, and out-of-stock. Also I didnt find any spectacular prices , they're pretty much like least 20 other sites out there. Also noticed the lack of products as well, for example they only have 80mm fans for most of the manufactures. Also in the handheld and pda section they only have a single older sony clique and a single sharp zaurus both out of stock.

however far as actually getting stuff from them ( if you arnt picky and actually find what you want ) , resellerratings marks them as one of the higher resellers out there, bout a 9.5 out of 10 in the past 6 months.

http://www.resellerratings.com/seller2121.html

Karl Blessing aka kb244{fastHACK}

 

[Karl Blessing]

Oh btw , if you get all your parts, and ready to put in some case fans, i recomend looking at plycon.com, one of the better sites with a large variety of fans, including a couple 120mm I'm looking at with upto 131CFM of airflow, also they sell custom fan grills.

Also just a sugestion, dont spend less than 100$ on a case thats going to house a very hot 2.5Ghz P4. Check out coolerguys.com for some nice cases (especially the custom cheming case)

My sugestion, buy all the cooling and case equipment from coolerguys or plycon, then get the parts and internal components from newegg. Tho on memory I would recomend maybe buying directly from crucial since you do get free shipping from them 2-days.

A note however, coolerguys may have some of the best cases and fans avalible, however they nip the bud when it comes to shipping. But its my sugestion that you dont want to go cheap-o when with the case and cooling if you are getting that fast of a machine. Karl Blessing aka kb244{fastHACK}

 

[Karl Blessing]

Also , 300Wats for that setup might be a lil weak, probally pick up an Antec 430W or so. Also you can get 3" Floppy drives for bout 10$, and to save cost on burner+dvd , I recomend a Samsung 32x10x40x12 CDrw/DVDrom combo , you can obtain this in best buy for 120$ ( cheaper than if you got them seperate, and price is quite possibly cheaper online )

Karl Blessing aka kb244{fastHACK}

 

[dvornik]

Nah, don't kill yourself over a case. $50 for a Chieftec will get you an Alienware/Antec tower. Get a decent power supply for sure. Antec trupower like kb244 said or enermax whisper.

Enermax adjustable 80mm fans are very good. Work as case fans and on large heatsinks.

I think plycon and coolerguys are somewhat overpriced. You can get the same stuff cheaper.

 

[Karl Blessing]

might wana list another site that offers same equipment, might be beneficial to us moders. However just make sure you get a decent case. Also make sure that its not one of those cases with half a zillion intakes, but only one exhaust, cuz if your exhaust CFM totaled, doesnt match your intake CFM totaled, you're just spinning blades and not moving any air, basically.

When I mentioned plycon and coolerguys, its the brand and speeds of the fans I was interested in, Plycon for example seems to be a nice place to grab a collection of high performance cooling stuff, thinking about getting one of those 120mm 130CFM fans they have for 7$ , thing is tho, it has no tail, you have to wire your own 4 pin molex ( they dont recomend 3 pin due to the high power draw ) , But I guess I could just splice connect it to an existing fan adapter , like one of my older unused fans.

A word about power supplies. In my case I have an Antec TruePower 550Watt, now you dont have to kill yourself getting all the wattage, but for that setup I would recomend least a 400 to be safe. Antec TruePower PSU are nice because every voltage on the PSU is indivisually regulated , and the fans inside are designed to be quiet yet effective. Basically they advertize quietness with performance. I cant vouche on the Enermax, but I know several buddies that use them, but most of them will swear by Antec. Antec is a bit expensive tho, but its also one of your more important parts. Karl Blessing aka kb244{fastHACK}

 

[dvornik]

I didn't mean to disrespect the sites you've mentioned. I like them. But they are targeting a certain market and a more mainstream user doesn't have to go there to get the standard parts.

I've tried to use the special case fan connectors on my antec truepower and it was really silent but the temperatures were higher than I would want them to be. So I decided I'd rather control the fans speed manually. It's still a very quiet case.

 

[gumbyman]

I found an even better deal:
Intel D845GBV Motherboard, Intel Extreme Video, 4xAGP, 6PCI, USB2.0, 533FSB $103.00 1 $103.00

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080207 Pentium 4 2.40B Ghz/478pin w/512K cache 533MHZ FSB $210.00 1 $210.00

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220136 PC2100 512 MB DDR DIMM 266MHz $120.00 1 $120.00

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420270 nVidia GeForce3 TI-200 128MB, AGP 4X $115.00 1 $115.00

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075039 Aopen 40x12x48 CRW4048 OEM w/Justlink $51.00 1 $51.00

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070005 Aopen 16x DVD / 48x CD-ROM $56.00 1 $56.00

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100000 3.5 Floppy Drive $10.00 1 $10.00

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600051 40GB 7200rpm, ATA 100 8.7ms 2M $74.00 1 $74.00

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150039 MS Internet Keyboard / IntelliMouse Combo Pack $25.00 1 $25.00

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------------
Item Total
$764.00

Shipping $26.45

Sub Total $790.45

Tax $0.00

Grand Total $790.45

 

[Karl Blessing]

Hrm nice, you cut your original budget nearly in half. I do notice you removed a couple items from your list though, you already have the other parts needed to build the machine? Karl Blessing aka kb244{fastHACK}

 

[dvornik]

You know, going back to the original post, what are going to do with your PC? GF3 Ti is definitely better as far as 3d goes.

"Fastest" for what purpose?

 

[dvornik]

Oh, the keyboard. Here's my all-time favorite:

http://store.yahoo.com/directron/dell104.html

Used to be $7, damn...

 

[Karl Blessing]

Well consider this, Gf3 Ti200 is better pricewise, I have an abit Siluro GF3 Ti200 128Meg. For example, the cost of a GF4 MX420 at about 120$ you can get the Gf3 Ti200 for the same price, but getting the GF4MX would be nonsense since the GF4MX is nothing more than a slightly higher GF2 MX , as a result it doesnt even deserve the name Geforce4 , as even Carmack himself said.

Funny too cuz i just noticed that was in your original list. My brother got the MX420 ( currently in the family machine ) and it is utter crap compared to the GF3 Ti200.

Surprised i didnt catch your vid card listing earlier, i thought you listed a GF4 Ti4600 or something. Karl Blessing aka kb244{fastHACK}

 

[Sylva]

Consider also your local computer show. I saw a $22 floppy drive in your list. This is plain ripoff. At your local show this goes at around $10. Surely, it's generic, but so what? I am running my computers all made up of generic parts and not a problem. 430-460W power supply? For what? You bet, the processors are gobbling up 75-85 watts, but till 460W there's lots to go. If you have a dual PIII then it would be more than understandable. How long are you going to keek your wizzbang machine? 2 years, 3 years? On the other hand, such powerful supply is a good investment for the future as processors become more power hungry. Those who advocate building versus buying are 100% right. New name brand computers from any manufacturer are a bad investment for individuals who get around the technology.

John

 

[ANFPS26]

This one has some good prices on some things.

http://www.ocsystem.com/index.html

"A little knowledge is a dangerous thing....."

 

[ceh4702]

I think the modem price is too high. An internal PCI OEM Modem should run about $20.00.

I would spend more on the Video card. If you do not you will be sorry.

You can get a GF4 TI 4200 for around $130.00
Gainward GeForce4 Ti4200 (64MB)
$126.95
$129.00
-$2.05
GameVE.com
FREE
CNet Pricing
RTL

Check out the

http://www.anandtech.com

weekly Memory, CPU, and Video card pricing guide.

If you are willing to settly for an MX420 video card, you could just get a motherboard with the video on the motherboard and save $80.00. If you ever plan on using a cable modem or dsl for internet access you will need integrated or separate Ethernet card. The point is moot if you plan on using the modem. You can probably buy an external USB modem for the price you mentioned.

If you do not like my post feel free to point out your opinion or my errors.