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hereIgoAgain... computer shoppin'
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| SgtFoo |
Where does every1 shop for thier computers??
I'm looking at the possibility of a new desktop PC and don't wanna pay thru the roof with large companies, but still need good specs.
I'm in Richmond Hill, but can travel anywhere in the GTA to get a really good price for a machine.
on a side note.. i need this...
-P4 3.2 or 3.4 ghz w/ HT
-motherboard capable of 4 gb ram, PCI-Express (is it backward compatible with PCI??), AGP 8x/16x (whichever is newest), and many pci/-express ports.
-fastest frontside-bus available (if within budget)
-SATA or IDE ?? (which is faster??)
-160 gb or 250 gb hard drive or 120 gb x2
-1 gb of ram, 400mhz, either 2x 512mb or 1x 1gb... whichever is cheaper
-no firewire or USB ports if it can save me cash (I have a PCI card already with them)
-cdrw or dvdrom drive (whichever is cheaper)
-no floppy drive, no monitor, no keyboard, no mouse
-integrated sound & video (I will add these later)
-integrated 10/100 network
-full-size tower case for easy access.
I've done several configs of similar systems on various computer retailers' websites and have found that I can get such a system for something under $1200 CDN, if that much. |
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| rabbitjoker |
| quote: | Originally posted by SgtFoo
-SATA or IDE ?? (which is faster??)
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Go SATA. |
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| r5a |
| quote: | Originally posted by SgtFoo
Where does every1 shop for thier computers??
I'm looking at the possibility of a new desktop PC and don't wanna pay thru the roof with large companies, but still need good specs.
I'm in Richmond Hill, but can travel anywhere in the GTA to get a really good price for a machine.
on a side note.. i need this...
-P4 3.2 or 3.4 ghz w/ HT (Why don't you consider AMD?)
-motherboard capable of 4 gb ram, PCI-Express (is it backward compatible with PCI??), AGP 8x/16x (whichever is newest), and many pci/-express ports. (PCI-E is not backwards compt. afaik. most mobos can handle 4GB max nowadays, no worreis there, since you want both, get the ASRock motherboard, best 'hybrid' board there is)
-fastest frontside-bus available (if within budget)
-SATA or IDE ?? (which is faster??) (sata is faster)
-160 gb or 250 gb hard drive or 120 gb x2
-1 gb of ram, 400mhz, either 2x 512mb or 1x 1gb... whichever is cheaper
-no firewire or USB ports if it can save me cash (I have a PCI card already with them)
-cdrw or dvdrom drive (whichever is cheaper)
-no floppy drive, no monitor, no keyboard, no mouse
-integrated sound & video (I will add these later)
-integrated 10/100 network
-full-size tower case for easy access.
I've done several configs of similar systems on various computer retailers' websites and have found that I can get such a system for something under $1200 CDN, if that much. |
See my comments in the quote...
If you want I can build you a solid PC for a really low price, I'll link you to the parts and you can buy em and essemble them. |
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| daves |
- most pci-x boards contain one or more of the pci-x slots and still contain some pci legacy slots
- unless you can think of something that you absolutely need an intel chip for I would suggest going for an Athlon 64 (make sure it's a socket 939 not 754)
- if so, an nforce 4 based board may be a good fit |
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| Shade |
I tend to look to tigerdirect for building a computer
www.tigerdirect.ca
And I second the "Why not AMD?" question -- IMO you're much better off going with AMD than Intel |
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| r5a |
Case: http://ncix.com/products/index.php?...nufacture=ANTEC
$126.27
Mobo: http://www.ncix.com/products/index....ufacture=ASRock
$95.20
CPU: http://www.ncix.com/products/index....manufacture=AMD
$393.24
RAM: http://www.ncix.com/products/index....facture=Samsung
$45.99 *2 = 91.98
HD: http://www.ncix.com/products/index....ufacture=Maxtor
$120.13
DRIVE: http://www.ncix.com/products/index....G%20Electronics
$27.86
TOTAL: &854.68 (+ Tax/Shipping = ~950)
Very solid computer, it will run QUICK. You can cut down on the price by finding a cheaper case, and a smaller HD.
The motherboard I put is the best (on the market currently) PCI-E/AGP combo board, however, it's limited to 3 PCI slots. Very solid board, check out the reviews on the site, its highly recommended, I use it myself and I'm loving it.
Opterons are build with solid parts and are good overclockers and stable. Espically this one, I've seen people reach 2.6-2.8 on stock fans. This has a 2MB cache (which will help you alot in programs, espically if you multitask and run alot of programs) over the X2s which are about 50 dollars cheaper or so and have a 512k-1MB cache. Solid processer for the price.
As for the site, very quick processing, great prices IMHO, very professional and smart looking, nice cust features and an OKAY cust. service.
[EDIT] I see you require an ONBOARD video. I don't belive there is any PCI-E/AGP combo with intergrated video AFAIK, You'll have to do either the board above, or PCI-E, or AGP. |
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| iLiptikalOrbitZ |
| quote: | | -motherboard capable of 4 gb ram |
- Almost any newish board is capable of this, go with DDR2
| quote: | | PCI-Express (is it backward compatible with PCI??), AGP 8x/16x (whichever is newest), and many pci/-express ports. |
PCI-E boards will have regurlar PCI slots, but most likely not an AGP (they are out there, just rare). An SLI board will have multiple PCI-E slots, so you can bridge 2 PCI-E video cards...look for the price to jump with this. BTW make sure it is PCI-E 16x, and not PCI-E 1x.....2 very different slots.
| quote: | | -fastest frontside-bus available (if within budget) |
probably 800
| quote: | | -SATA or IDE ?? (which is faster??) |
SATA
| quote: | | -160 gb or 250 gb hard drive or 120 gb x2 |
I'm a big fan of multiple HDD, because it makes reformatting so much easier. I'd say go with a 40-60gb HDD for your OS, and programs, and then whatever size you want for pure storage. Then when you want to format, you don't have to spend hours on end backing everything up. I'd also advise you do buy/aquire Norton ghost. Basically you install all of your programs, then Ghost will make an "image" of your drive. Then when you want to format, you don't have to find all your programs discs again, and sit there waiting for stuff to install. Ghost will do the whole process for you.
| quote: | | -1 gb of ram, 400mhz, either 2x 512mb or 1x 1gb... whichever is cheaper |
2x 512mb will be cheaper
| quote: | | no firewire or USB ports if it can save me cash (I have a PCI card already with them) |
I can almost assure you that with all the other stuff you want on your MOBO there will 8 USB2, and Firewire ports. but you can always add your PCI USB's anyways....IMO you can never have enough.
| quote: | | -cdrw or dvdrom drive (whichever is cheaper) |
go with a DVD/RW drive....If your like me I use my computer for everything under the sun, including watching/burning movies so I don't know how I'd live without a DVD/RW.
| quote: | | -integrated sound & video (I will add these later) |
integrate video you may have a problem with...I havn't seen many PCI-E motherboards with integrated video, although they do exist.
| quote: | | -integrated 10/100 network |
that's a given on any new MOBO
| quote: | | -full-size tower case for easy access. |
You can probably get away with a mid-tower case too. I have all the stuff you list here plus more, and I still have tons of space.
I usually deal with Canada Computers or Tiger Direct. Both have competative prices, but the advantage with Canada Computers (over Tiger) is that you can go to thier store to check stuff out, if you want to see it before you buy.
*edit* PM me if your looking for a cheap video card. I can get you a PCI-E ATI X850 XT 256mb card for around $175. note they sell for $500 retail. |
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| VERTiG0 |
Get an Athlon64x2 based system. yes, dual core true 64-bit computing. you, Intel.
Andrew... Any hookups for high-end AGP cards like that? I've got an Athlon64 3200+ on an Asus K8V SE Deluxe mobo with 1GB Samsung DDR400 RAM but my Radeon 9000 Pro 128MB is long in the tooth (eg. it ING SUCKS).
Also yes I second CanadaComputers, I ordered my DVD burner from them on Friday but for some reason didn't enter my shipping address (I'm retarded) so they called me yesterday to get it and I got it today.
Oh yeah, SATA-300 RAID-0 would be deliciously fast. |
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| Shade |
| quote: | Originally posted by iLiptikalOrbitZ
I usually deal with Canada Computers or Tiger Direct. Both have competative prices, but the advantage with Canada Computers (over Tiger) is that you can go to thier store to check stuff out, if you want to see it before you buy.
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Errrr... Tiger Direct also has an actual store ;)
Disadvantage of Canada Computers (though I have bought some things from there) is that all warranties are US based.. so you're going to have to mail anything you have problems with to the US and wait quite a while before you get even a reply in most cases. |
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| iLiptikalOrbitZ |
| quote: | Originally posted by Shade
Errrr... Tiger Direct also has an actual store ;) |
LOL, see I've been told this before, but I have yet to find the address on their site, or locate it elsewhere.... |
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| daves |
tigerdirect has at least a mississauga and markham location... markham one is on woodbine just barely south of hwy 7
miss. one I don't remember what street it's on... i'm not very familiar with mississauga - i think it was near sherway gardens, near a jack astors and some other stuff
tigerdirect has a lot of good deals most of the time, but their regular prices usually leave something to be desired |
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