Looking for a new PC

[yomullethead]

Looking to buy a new pc that is already put together, I've built a few and don't have the time or patience to put one together right now. Just wondering if anyone has seen any good prices on a system while surfing the net out there? Don't need all the crap some people try to sell as package, ie: keyborad,mouse and monitor just need the case,motherboard,Processor,Ram,video card etc. Looking to spend around $1000.00 for the best bang for my buck. Any suggestions?

[Bluetiereign]

For $1000.00 I'd find a inexpensive Dell, eMachine or HP model with a graphics port and room to upgrade your RAM - then spend what you save on those two things. Oh, and try to get, at the least, a 2x64bit processor. My FX60 is still chugging along quite well on my other computer... with nothing slowing it down.

I know you may do better online, but the reason I'm saying this - you can find these retail and take it back to the store if things don't work out - unlike ordering online - where you will have to get into shipping.

[yomullethead]

Found this one but may have to spend a little more than a grand. lol
Any Thoughts.




Motherboard ASUS P5E Deluxe Intel X48 ATX

Processor Intel Core 2 Quad Q9650 3.0GHz Quad Core

Memory 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR3 1333 (PC3 10600) CRUCIAL (Check Motherboard)

Case Thermaltake ArmorPlus(Armor+) Aluminum/Steel ATX Full Tower

Power Supply CORSAIR 750W ATX SLI/CrossFire Ready Active PFC

Operating System no operating system installed

Cooler ZALMAN CNPS10X Extreme 120mm 2 Ball

Video Card SLI GeForce 9800 GTX+ 512MB GDDR3 PCI-E 2.0x16 BFG (2 cards)

Hard Disk 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache Seagate Barracuda

Optical Drive 24X DVD Recorder Dual Layer SONY optiarc Black

3.5in Drive no 3.5" Drive Selected

Sound Card Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Xtreme Audio 7.1

Speakers no speakers selected Keyboardno keyboard selected

Mouse no mouse selected Monitorno monitor selected

Wireless Network 802.11b/g/n 32bit PCI Wireless Adapter Up to 300Mbps Data Rates Edimax

[Bluetiereign]

Well, when you start pulling the cap on the amount you want to spend, the sky is the limit. Your first post indicated you wanted both convenience and a low price.

Aside from last generation graphics - and no operating system, it looks nice.

You should get MasterX to weigh in on your build. He goes even further than I do when building. I build my own - but he gets into modding them.

[wildman2]

I agree with blu.Those 9800's are the weak link in that build,even if they are sli'd. If you plan on overclocking the pc then the ram may hold you back a bit.

[Charger]

Bad news and good news. I've been running a 9800 GTX+ (from EVGA) for the past eight months. Great card, ran flawlessly till a few days a go it decided to take a permanent nap. I'm in the process of getting a replacement though.

I bought my card from its reviews which all seem pretty decent so I'm thinking I just happen to get that one bad apple in the bunch. Since the 8800's have been deleted it's the next best thing at this level unless you get into the two or three hundred plus dolla'range, which I can only fantasize about right now...

The thing I don't understand is why anyone would want to get a bare bones system when you'd pay way less if you parted it out, plus you have the advantage to mix and match differnt varibles with each componant.

I'm sure theres advatages to either. I've had my fill of bundled systems that offerd nothing for upgrades and cost way more then their worth...jmo

[yomullethead]

Well I'm down to Two choices and it looks like I'm going to spend a little more than I first thought. Both are priced right around $1700.00.


CASE: NZXT Khaos Black Full Tower Case w/ Side Panel Mesh
Extra Case Fan Upgrade: Default case fans
POWER SUPPLY Upgrade: 800 Watts Power Supplies (CyberPowerPC XF800S Performance ATX 2.0 Power - Quad SLI Ready)
POWER SUPPLY Upgrade: 800 Watts Power Supplies (CyberPowerPC XF800S Performance ATX 2.0 Power - Quad SLI Ready)
CPU: AMD Phenom™II X4 955 Black Edition Quad-Core CPU w/ HyperTransport Technology
COOLING FAN : Asetek Liquid CPU Cooling System (Extreme Cooling Performance + Extreme Silent at 20dBA)
MOTHERBOARD: MSI AMD 790GX-G65 AM3 DDR3 1666+ CrossFire Chipset Mainboard
MEMORY: 4GB (2GBx2) PC1333 DDR3 PC3 10666 Dual Channel Memory
VIDEO CARD: ATI Radeon HD 4890 1GB DDR5 PCI-Express Dual DVI-I & TVO (Major Brand Powered by ATI)
VIDEO CARD 2: ATI Radeon HD 4890 1GB DDR5 PCI-Express Dual DVI-I & TVO (Major Brand Powered by ATI)
MULTIPLE VIDEO CARD SETTINGS: Xtreme Performance in SLI/CrossFireX Gaming Mode Supports Single Monitor
HARD DRIVE: Single Hard Drive (1TB (1TBx1) SATA-II 3.0Gb/s 32MB Cache 7200RPM HDD)
Optical Drive: Lite-On IHOS 104 4X Blu-Ray Player
Optical Drive 2: 16X DVD ROM (BLACK COLOR)
SOUND: HIGH DEFINITION ON-BOARD 7.1 AUDIO
NETWORK: Onboard Gigabit LAN Network
KEYBOARD: Xtreme Gear (Black Color) Multimedia/Internet USB Keyboard
MOUSE: XtremeGear Optical USB 3 Buttons Gaming Mouse
Wireless 802.11B/G Network Card: PCI Wireless 802.11g 54Mbps Network Interface Card
Flash Media Reader/Writer: INTERNAL 12in1 Flash Media Reader/Writer (BLACK COLOR)
USB PORT: Built-in USB 2.0 Ports
OS: Microsoft® Windows Vista™ Home Premium w/ Service Pack 1 (64-bit Edition)
Windows 7 Upgrade Coupon: None



Next:


Model:Gamer Xtreme 1024Recommended UsageGaming
Processor:Intel Core i7 870(2.93GHz)Processor Main Features64 bit Quad-Core Processor
Memory:8GB (4x2GB) DDR3 1333Hard Drive1TB SATA-II 3.0Gb/s 7200RPM HDD
Optical Drive: 1Blu-Ray Player Drive
Optical Drive :222X DVD±R/±RW Dual Layer Drive
Graphics:NVIDIA GeForce GTX295 1792MB PCI Express Video CardAudio
Sound card - IntegratedEthernetGigabit LAN
Power Supply:800W
Keyboard: Xtreme Gear USB Keyboard
Mouse:Xtreme Gear USB Mouse
Operating System:Windows Vista Home Premium 64-bit
(With Windows 7 Upgrade Coupon)
Special Features:NZXT Beta Gaming Case With Side Window
Motherboard
Chipset:Intel P55CPUCPU TypeIntel Core i7Installed Qty1CPU Speed870(2.93GHz)L3 Cache Per CPU8MBCPU Socket TypeLGA 1156CPU
Main Features64 bit Quad-Core Processor
GraphicsGPU/VPU TypeNVIDIA GeForce GTX 295Graphics InterfacePCI Express 2.0 x16MemoryMemory Capacity8GB DDR3Memory SpeedDDR3 1333
Memory Spec2GB x 4Memory Slots (Available/Total)0/4Hard DriveHDD Capacity1TBHDD InterfaceSATA IIHDD RPM7200rpmOptical Drive
Optical Drive TypeBD-ROMOptical Drive SpecBlu-Ray Player Drive
Optical Drive 2 TypeDVD±RWOptical Drive 2 Spec22X DVD±R/±RW
Dual Layer Drive
Audio Chipset IntegratedCommunications
LANChipset IntegratedLAN Speed10/100/1000MbpsFront Panel Ports
Front USB
2Back Panel PortsPS/22Rear USB8Rear IEEE 13941RJ452 portS/P DIF1 x Optical S/PDIF Out

1 x Coaxial S/PDIF OutExpansionPCI Slots (Available/Total)3 x PCI Express x16

2 x PCI Express x1

2 x PCIMouseMouse TypeUSB MouseKeyboardKeyboard TypeUSB Keyboard

[Bluetiereign]

:thumb:

[RED BARON]

Way to go ~DOC~

[MasterX(BKC)]

First of all this is what says i know my stuff, I took first place at Intel DB8 Casemod Contest, my system is the third, far right on this page, i am Brentt Graeb:
http://www.checkpointdelta.net/modules/News/showarticle.php?threadid=4871

Secondly at the bottom im posting what i have done, with the case i have recommended for you in my list below, it is the exact same case that i started with.

on the aformentioned budget try this on for size!

$327 - BFG Tech GeForce GTX 285 - Lifetime Warrantee - i have this, impossible to lag it
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814143190

$169.99 - ASUS M4N82 NForce 980A SLI Board - great OC - RAID - uses cheaper ddr2 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131383

$189.00 - AMD Phenom II 955 Black Edition - i have this, overclocks to 3.7~8 24/7
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103674

1 or 2 x $49.99 - PQI Turbo 4GB 2x2gb DDR2 6400 5-5-5-15 (get 2 of these for 8GB)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820141366

1 or 2 x 49.99 - Seagate Barracuda 320GB Hard Drives for RAID 0, 16mb cache each
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148469

94.99 - Antec EarthWatts 750W Power Supply
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371026

30.99 - Samsung DVD-RW drive
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827151187

169.88 - The Original Thermaltake ARMOR, STEEL not plastic and aluminocrap
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811133021


with everything there with the 8gb ram and the dual hard drives it is

$ 1183.00 + S & H

Knock off the extra hard disk and ram and you get

$ 1083.00 + S & H

As for the 2 systems you posted above i can pick those apart pretty sadly.

System 1:
1. CyberPower power supplies dont pop on a regular basis, but unlike most antecs, when the CP pops kiss your videocard and MB goodbye, it will blow them as well.
2. Asetek watercooling, i do all number of systems with watercooling, i have never heard of them in any circles, and if they were good there would be reviews floating around, i smell proprietary crap.
3. MSI 790GX-G65 motherboard does not support native crossfire at full speed, videocard 2 will be running at HALF POWER, why even have it if you cant fully use it????
4. A single 1TB hard drive while having fast continuous read speed and big capacity is gonna slow to a crawl once fragmentation sets in. get smaller drives and RAID 0 them for double speed.
5. Windows Vista Home Edition, omg, need i say more. get Windows XP x64 untill 7 comes out, hopefully it is better than the beta that crashed after 15 days at my IT office. fail

System 2:
1. AMDs Phenom II 955 will BLOW the Intel I7 870 to hell.
2. A single 1TB hard drive while having fast continuous read speed and big capacity is gonna slow to a crawl once fragmentation sets in. get smaller drives and RAID 0 them for double speed.
3. Intel P55 chipsets are midgrade. you can get better stuff even at the same price.
4. As much as i like NVIDIA, the GTX 295 videocard is junk, it is 2 GTX 260s with failed pipelines slapped onto a card, and it doesnt have 1792 memory like they claim, each weakened GPU has 896 and they cannot share it. So for all games that dont support SLI you get to play as if you have a GTX 260 with 896 memory, and instead of each GPU being 512 bit, both are 448 because they have failed pipelines.

Its your PC pay for what you want, but if your paying 1700 for those machines your going on a wild goose chase, only this goose seems to be quacking.

The machine i proposed doesnt come built, but it saves you lots of money, and delivers much better performance per price value. and if you decide to go dual videocards, the motherboard i listed supports both videocards at full 2.0 x16 speed per slot. none of the x8 half speed crap from the first systems motherboard.

I would project the machine i proposed beating the top machine you posted marginally mostly due to the motherboard, and beating the second machine considerable due to the slower 870 cpu and the limitations on the GTX 295 for non-sli applications.

As for operating systems, at this point with windows 7 dropping very soon, dont buy vista, and my real recommendation is let me loan you a CD key for XP Pro x64 and just borrow it untill you eventually buy windows 7 x64, i upload an ISO of my disc, and send you 1 of the several keys i havent used yet. If you prefer to buy your own copy of Windows XP Pro x64 here is the link for newegg. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116378

BTW the GTX 285 Videocard i recommended has NO failed or cut pipelines, has a full 1GB of memory and it is true 512-bit.

And as for what my Thermaltake ARMOR looks like now, here we go:

[MasterX(BKC)]

Here are my Specs:
System Name: Power of }{
Processor: AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition Watercooled(214.4x18cpu=3859Mhz)
Motherboard: Asus M3N-HT Deluxe NForce 780A
Cooling: Custom Watercooling by Swiftech and DangerDen
Memory: 8 GB Corsair XMS2 DDR2 6400 (4-4-4-12) (214.2x4=857)
Video Card: BFG Tech GeForce GTX 285-OC 1GB
Harddisk: SSD + 2 x Seagate Baracuda 160GB 16MB cache SATA2 - RAID 0
DVD Drive: Sony DVD-RW 18X
Monitor: 28" Hanns-G 3ms 1920x1200 + 22" Samsung 5ms 1680x1050
Case: Thermaltake ARMOR Extreme Edition Modded
Sound Card: Logitech USB
PSU: Antec Quattro 1000w
Software: Windows XP Pro X-64 Edition

[wildman2]

Master while I agree on several points you make I disagree on a couple.
To begin with he just wants to purchase one not build it.Building would be better for sure.
Raid 0 doesn't give you double speed across the board not in Sata,ssd's that's a different story.
There is not a video card on the planet that will saturate a pci-2 8x slot.It wont be running half speed.
That TB hard drive has a higher density so it it already going to be quik.A couple of partitions and it will be easy/quik to defrag. The 32 mb cache versions are as quik as or faster than Raptors..

[MasterX(BKC)]

before i upgraded to my current motherboard i had bought a second GTX 285 and put it in SLI on a x8 2.0 slot, it hardly made a dicernable difference in FPS, i tried BF2, L4D, passmark, 3dmark06 all to no avail, the x8 slot was killing my second card. the previous board was an NForce 750A SLI board. I returned the second GTX 285 and got the new Motherboard instead. i didnt really need the second card yet anyway so now when the time comes and i buy a second one i will have full bandwidth for it.

My raid 0 in HDTach comes out close to double the read and write speed of the drives individually.

and the cache on the drives is for write operations. and i have a SSD, patriot warp 32gb.
it is quicker than **** but the price points dont make it worthwhile yet to get large ones.

the 1tb drives are quick but on HD Tach my RAID was kicking them by about 15%. Otherwise i would be running them now!

[wildman2]

What stripe size are you using?
Ive got an 8x8 pci-e motherboard may pick up another 4870 just to see if it will limit them.I get 12000 stock and almost 16000 overclocked in 3dmark06.
Pci-e 2 should be 500 x 8 thats 4 gb a sec of bandwidth rite?
From the research I've done raid 0 didn't dbl the speeds it was faster than single drive but not dbl.I don't use raid 0 but if it does give the performance you get I may give it a try..That's why I'd like to know the stripe size you use.