Buying a Computer

[whateverjames]

Anyone know of a reputable online store that builds computers? I've been looking at hewlett packard's computers on their website but I want to customize the computer more. It was a 2.4 ghz pentium 4, with a 40gb hd, 256mb ram, and XP Pro for about $650.

I found a website where you could order exactly what you wanted and leave out what you don't want to save money, but I read a lot of bad reviews about them :(

If I can get it cheaper than $650 without an operating system, cd-roms, hard drives, floppy drive, mouse and keyboard, I'd rather save money or put it towards a faster processor. Know of any online stores that will do this?

[nas240man]

check out pricewatch (http://www.pricewatch.com) for hardware, always good deals on there, barebones kits also. for systems check out microcenter (http://www.microcenter.com), they sell a brand called powerspec, i've had 3 powerspecs over the years and have never had problems with them(i.e. no dying onboard or slot hardware problems)

[DSC]

I build mine using mostly newegg as well...
however, if you didn't want to go that route I'd trust dell or ailenware (http://www.alienware.com)
:cool:

[s13driver]

Originally posted by James
ECU $150


i think he meant CPU

[ca18guy]

If you want someone else to build it, there is www.ibuypower.com and www.myjackrabbit.com

I built myself a computer using random www.pricewatch.com stores and www.newegg.com If I had to do it all over again I would have used new egg for all the purchases, its alot easier then working with a bunch of different shops and they have the best service.

EDIT: Don't forget that you can overclock your processor when ever you get it. That 2.4 can easily become 2.8+ :cool:

[DuffMan]

My computer is built entirely from stuff that friends or family memebers didn't want anymore, and stuff i had that was old.

So bug your friends and family members for computer parts!

[019]

building your own computer's definitely the way to go. i regret buying my dell... but then i'm gonna get rid of it soon. it also depends on what you wanna do with your computer. i know my next computer's gonna be a shuttle. those are great if you're tight on space and don't really need a lot of drives and stuff. you could also check out www.gamepc.com . they got some pretty nice stuff there and fully customizeable, but they're a little expensive.

[ca18guy]

Here, I built you a computer at new egg :)

Qty Product Item # Unit Price Qty x Price

CHIEFTEC Chasis (Mini-Mid Tower) BLACK Model DH-01B 450W
450W AMD approved Power Supply, Powered by Foxconn (Austin)
Specifications:
Material: 1.0mm SECC
Form Factor: Fits different size M/B, including 12"Wx 13"L XEON motherboard
Drive Bays: External 3 X 5.25" - 2 X 3.5" Internal 3 X 3.5"
Expansion Slots: 7
Fans: 1 X 80mm (rear)
Dimensions: 18.5" (L) X 8" (W) X 17" (H) more info-> N82E16811125856 $47.00 $47.00


ROUND, 10-Inch, Floppy drive cable. Booted, 2-Connector. ( BLUE ). Please see the image. more info-> N82E16812103013 $5.00 $5.00


ROUND, 12-Inch, True ATA133/100, IDE Cable. 2-Head. ( BLUE ). For IDE Hard Drives, CD ROM, DVD ROM or CDRW, 66/100/133, 12 Inches Long. Please see image for the actual look. 21AT-R1212-BU more info-> N82E16812104124 $6.50 $13.00


Asus Motherboard for Intel P478 Processor Model P4S8X-X Retail
Specifications:
Supported CPU:Socket 478 for Intel Pentium4/Celeron
Supports 1.4 GHz ~ 3.06 GHz (Hyper Threading)
Chipset:SIS 648/963
FSB:533/400 MHz
RAM:3x 184pin DDR PC1600/2100/2700 Max 3GB
IDE:2xUltra DMA 133/100/66 up to 4 Devices
Slots:1x AGP (8X) and 6x PCI 32-bit Slots
Ports:2xPS2,1xCOM,4xUSB, and Audio Ports
Onboard Audio: AC'97 Compliant 6 CH
Onboard LAN: Sis 963 Intregrated 10/100mbs Lan
Retail box (see pictures for details) more info-> N82E16813131454 $89.99 $89.99


GAINWARD/CARDEXPERT GeForce 3 Ti200 64MB (NVIDIA GeForce3 Ti 200 GPU),ower Pack Golden Sample, ( 4ns. 64MB DDR. ). TV-Out. GF3TI200 TI450. Overclocking enhanced performance mode.
Specifications:
GPU:Nvidia Geforce 3 TI-200 256-bit 2D & 3D graphics architecture
MEM:64MB 4ns DDR
Support high resolution up to [email protected]
Build-in 350MHz RAMDAC with gamma correction
Support Composite & S-Video TV-Out resolution up to 800x600
OS Support: Windows® 2000, NT® (all) Windows 9x, Windows ME,XP
Ports: DB-15 VGA + Svideo out Retail box.(Comes with driver software and Svideo-RCA cable) Please see images. Mfr's P/N: V87TI200 more info-> N82E16814128111 $74.00 $74.00


Intel Pentium 4 / 2.4BGHz Northwood 512K Socket 478 Processor 533MHz Processor Bus OEM
Specifications:
CPU: 2.4 GHz
Type: Pentium 4
Cache: 512K
BUS: 533MHz
Socket: 478
OEM (Processor Only) more info-> N82E16819116140 $157.00 $157.00


KINGSTON KVR266X64C25/512 512MB DDR PC2100 - OEMCL2.5 Six Layers High Quality Board 32x64 Requires DDR supported Motherboard - - Lifetime Warranty. more info-> N82E16820144001 $67.00 $67.00


SAMSUNG 1.44MB BLACK FLOPPY DRIVE Model# SFD321B/KEB - OEM, DRIVE ONLY
Specifications:
Capacity: 1.44 MB Connector 34 Pin Standard Floppy
Works With All Standard 1.44MB & 72OKB 3.5 Floppy Diskettes are compatible with all industry standard 1.44MB and 72OKB 3.5 floppy diskettes.
Easy to Install! Just Plug & Play! * For IBM5 & 100% Compatible Computers .
1 Year Warranty more info-> N82E16821103203 $10.00 $10.00


►On Sale! WD WESTERN DIGITAL EIDE HARD DRIVE 40GB 7200RPM MODEL # WD400BB -CAVIAR OEM, DRIVE ONLY
Specifications:
Size: 40 Gigabytes
Interface: IDE ULTRA ATA100
Seek time: 8.9ms
RPM:7200
Cache 2MB
OEM(Drive alone) 1 Year Manufacturer Warranty --* Works With PC & Mac *-- more info-> N82E16822140118 $67.00 $67.00


Samsung SW-252BENB 52x24x52 Black CDRW Bulk- OEM
Specifications: Data Transfer: Read CD : 52X (7,800 KB/sec),Record CD : 52X (7,800 KB/sec),Rewrite CD : 24X (3,600 KB/sec)
Burst Transfer Rate PIO Mode 4 (16.6MB/sec),UDMA Mode 2 (33.3MB/sec)
Buffer Memory 2MB
Interface EIDE/ATAPI
Average Access Time 110ms
Size: 148.2 x 42 x 184
OEM Bulk Package (see pics for details) more info-> N82E16827151021 $51.00 $51.00




Subtotal » $580.99

[KiDyNomiTe]

wow nice comp ca18guy, looks like newegg is the way to go for me. I'll be builing my comp soon.

go to www.arstechnica.com there are some smart peopleon the forum there, and pretty friendly, but very advanced. But they have some good tutorials for everything, even video capturing :D

[DuffMan]

Intel roolz!!!!!

Actually i had an amd fry on me, they have a tendancy to do that.