A build for under $1K CDN

[David]

Originally Posted by detn8r

Dave, the WD Raptors are a little pricey.. but with the money I'm saving I MAY just buy one as a secondary HDD.

Well - that isn't really the point. You can get away nicely with one of the 80gb variants. The idea is that you boot off of it, and install most of your applications to it. That way the OS stays nice and snappy, while the data resides on the slower, larger disk. I wouldn't spend the money on one if you don't plan to use it as the primary disk.

[AwesomeSauce]

Very nice choice of graphics card, Detn8r. The Nvidia 8800GT happens to remain a great performer for a great price. As far as I know, EVGA is a reliable brand as well.

I'm not sure what kind of cases you like, but perhaps you might want to consider the Coolermaster CAC-T05 Centurion. It's simplistic, but still very pleasing to the eye. It's a good size, and with only a couple fans and vents it has very good airflow as well. For $50 I don't think you can go wrong with it. It's the one I'm getting for my new machine, and it happens to be one of the top cases on Newegg as well.

[detn8r]

Alright, so with some final recommendations it looks like I have my final system in place to purchase, check it out:

Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium - $111.62 (went with w/ NCIX so that I could get the free shipping)
Western Digital WD3200AAKS 320GB - $66.96
Powercolor Radeon HD 4850 - $209.99
Corsair VX550W - $84.00
Samsung 203S Trudirect Dvd Writer - $26.99
ASUS P5Q ATX - $136.99
Coolermaster Cosmos - $179.28

NCIX.com
YOUR TOTAL: $481.53
DirectCanada.com
YOUR TOTAL: $375.09
----------
$856.62 (including all taxes and shipping)

[Jeff]

Makes me want to upgrade MY computer. It's really showing it's age.

I've done the build-your-own route before (we have a couple big Fry's stores in southern California -- and they have tons of deals on motherboards, processors, ram, and other components. It can be rewarding to put it all together (or frustrating when something goes wrong).

Last time, I did as Dave suggested and bought a preconfigured PC (a Sony Vaio). It's served me well, although I eventually upgraded the video card. Often you can get a good deal on these as well, and they come fully equipped and fully preconfigured (that's worth something, too).

Anyhow, let us know how the build goes and have fun with your new PC.

[sarahtowny]

Yes have fun with it, you are very brave. I just go into the shop and buy the pretty one hehe.

I should not belittle myself really, I have upgraded mine over the years, but never built one from scratch. Best of luck!

[detn8r]

This is going to be my third computer. The one I have now has lasted me about 4 or 5 years now. It was bought pre-configured and since then, I've upgraded a few parts like my video card, sound card (both of which were on-board), DVD-RW drive, CPU heat sink fan and PSU.

It's just almost at the point where enough is enough and it's time for a new one. I was going to pay someone to build it for me, but now with all the research I've been doing and all the recommendations from people, it's gotten me into a mood to do it all my self. Fun times!

[Philip]

Yes, fun times indeed. I've been building Intel-based systems for clients for over 10 years now, and let me tell you det, it has been gratifying...every time I power up a new system, whew! That's an adrenaline rush for me.

Good luck on your new build. Remember to give yourself lots of time, patience and don't forget to chant a mantra to the computer gods first Just kidding, you'll do fine.

[Gandalf]

Very cool. Be careful not to bend the pins on the processor! That happened to me once. It sucked.

[AwesomeSauce]

Alright, so I think I have the final specifications for my first computer building experience. I've been changing the components in my wishlist a lot over the past while, but I think it's going to stay the same from now on and I should have it as soon as next week. It can be viewed on Newegg right here. (FYI, Newegg has this funny problem where it may randomly delete things off my wishlist, and when I keep readding the same item over and over, it eventually shows up again in ridiculous quantities. There should only be one of everything.)

I'll transpose the basic specs for my new machine here:

Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Wolfdale 3.0GHz Processor
G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 RAM
XFX GX260NADF9 GeForce GTX 260 896MB 448-bit GDDR3 graphics card
ASUS P5Q LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Intel Motherboard
Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 250GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive
SAMSUNG 20X DVD±R DVD Burner with LightScribe SATA
CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX 750W ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply
ARCTIC COOLING Freezer 7 Pro 92mm CPU Cooler
Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound
Acer AL2216Wbd Black 22" 5ms Widescreen LCD Monitor
Microsoft Comfort Curve 2000 B2L-00047 USB Keyboard Mouse
Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium SP1 64-bit
COOLER MASTER Centurion 5 CAC-T05-UW ATX case

There... that's pretty much covers everything, including outside of the actual PC.

...I'm stoked.

[Philip]

detn8r and AwesomeSauce, how goes the computer building?