Just a shout out to our members! Forum News Discuss Just a shout out to our members! in the Vista Babble News forums; Great crabby. I knew it was for the 975, but you have provided other insights about the board definitely worth having. I know that a very similar Dell is mega $ ...

[Znod]

Great crabby. I knew it was for the 975, but you have provided other insights about the board definitely worth having. I know that a very similar Dell is mega $ higher in price. I feel very good about the system given your affirmations. I don't want to get into AMD territory at this point, but, yes, I would be very, very interested in knowing what you think you could build the machine for. I like the pound too; it has a very nice heft.

[felix8406]

One thing about building a PC is understanding that you'll have to buy the software, if you don't already have it. When you buy a PC, it comes bundle with software, a lot of junk too I may add, but overall, you don't have to worry about buying separate software...software can be expensive. Just take a look at prices for Vista or Office 2007.

[crabby]

Until Vista came along I would have said... so what... to the software issue. When building PCs, many of the components can be used more than once. Hard Drive and Optical drives live on in new PCs, as do power supplies, graphics cards, cases and even RAM. I got XP on its release which was 4 PCs ago (making it about £50 a PC). But with the transfer limitation of vista I can see that changing.

I will 'create' a PC for Znod anyway and incorporate the price of software into it... There goes my Quad Sli Theoretical builds are fun

crabby

(BTW, my PC cost less than $600, this is last Apr remember )... AMD Athlon64 3500+, Nforce4 motherboard, 2GB heatsinked DDR2 RAM, Geforce 7900gt, 250GB SATA hard drive, Thermaltake Tsunami dream case, $70 of cooling (fans + controllers), 550W power supply)<- what I purchased, I had other hard-drives and stuff hanging around.

[Znod]

Originally Posted by crabby

Until Vista came along I would have said... so what... to the software issue. When building PCs, many of the components can be used more than once. Hard Drive and Optical drives live on in new PCs, as do power supplies, graphics cards, cases and even RAM. I got XP on its release which was 4 PCs ago (making it about £50 a PC). But with the transfer limitation of vista I can see that changing.

I will 'create' a PC for Znod anyway and incorporate the price of software into it... There goes my Quad Sli Theoretical builds are fun

crabby

(BTW, my PC cost less than $600, this is last Apr remember )... AMD Athlon64 3500+, Nforce4 motherboard, 2GB heatsinked DDR2 RAM, Geforce 7900gt, 250GB SATA hard drive, Thermaltake Tsunami dream case, $70 of cooling (fans + controllers), 550W power supply)<- what I purchased, I had other hard-drives and stuff hanging around.

Hi crab:

Please ignore the software costs and make the machines comparable. I have all the software I need/want for now.

[crabby]

ROFL, ok... I will 'build' it tonight, after work / squash, so expect it around 10/11 my time? Yeah, that'll be about right

crabby

[Znod]

I added a few periperal things. So, my total price turned out to be about $3k. Below are some snips showing what you are shooting for--about $2570.80. The only necessities left out are:

Belkin DVI Flat Panel Connector with Right Angle Connetor--$35
Logitec X-530 Dolby 5.1 70 Watt Speakers (including subwolfer)--$94
Heigth-Adjustable Flat Panel Stand with 4 Port USB Hub--$61

Obviously, you can leave these items out of your build price. On the other hand, the system price (below) of $2570.80 includes some extras which can be ignored except for XP Pro.

[crabby]

Right... first things first... that spec you could purcahse for under $1800... I have been called out, so may have to postpone the ultimate build til tommorow. I will try and sort something tonight anyway

crabby

[crabby]

Buggers cancelled on me So i have a spec!

I kept the same processor (coz it is rather a hefty jump up to the nesxt one), bettered the motherboard, switched the 4GB 5300 RAM for performance 5400 heatsinked DIMMs, bettered the power supply to a 550W modular model, yanked the graphics card up to a GeForce BFG 7950 GT with 512 MB, bettered the audio card to a SB X-Fi XtremeMusic edition, bundled logitech wireless keyboard + mouse + x530 speakers + PRO5000 webcam, got a hefty case (with great circulation and noise reduction) complete with card reader and 21" widescreen 8ms display for $2500!

I will make up a spreadsheet for you Znod, and link them to reviews and prices... if I come against anything better I may alter it slightly tomorrow.

But as you can see... you can get a proper BANG for you buck!

crabby

[Znod]

Originally Posted by crabby

Right... first things first... that spec you could purcahse for under $1800... I have been called out, so may have to postpone the ultimate build til tommorow. I will try and sort something tonight anyway

crabby

Thanks crabby:

What is included in your $1,800 figure.

[Znod]

Originally Posted by crabby

Buggers cancelled on me So i have a spec!

I kept the same processor (coz it is rather a hefty jump up to the nesxt one), bettered the motherboard, switched the 4GB 5300 RAM for performance 5400 heatsinked DIMMs, bettered the power supply to a 550W modular model, yanked the graphics card up to a GeForce BFG 7950 GT with 512 MB, bettered the audio card to a SB X-Fi XtremeMusic edition, bundled logitech wireless keyboard + mouse + x530 speakers + PRO5000 webcam, got a hefty case (with great circulation and noise reduction) complete with card reader and 21" widescreen 8ms display for $2500!

I will make up a spreadsheet for you Znod, and link them to reviews and prices... if I come against anything better I may alter it slightly tomorrow.

But as you can see... you can get a proper BANG for you buck!

crabby

Very cool crabby. Are you doing a spreadsheet on my actual system--the one for $1800? When I retire, I'll probably get around to building my own.