How much did you pay?

[Undertow]

Here is what I've put together on a budget:


AMD Duron 650 - $80
Asus A7V - $160
Hercules Prophet2 MX - $140
256MB PC133 CAS2 (generic) - $160
Western Digital 20GB 7200RPM ATA100 - $150
SBLive! Value - $60
Kingston NIC - $20
Asus 50x CDROM - $60
RICOH 12/10/32x Burner - $200
Cooling System** - $120
300w AMD-certified PSU - $45
Baybus - $50!!!
Fong Kai Mid-Tower - $170
SAMSUNG SyncMaster 950p (19") - $350
Microsoft Natural Pro Keyboard - $50
Intellimouse Explorer - $60
Altec Lansing 5-point Surround - $75


All of this for about $1900 bucks. I don't feel like I got ripped off but I think I could have done it for a little less. You certainly wouldn't get all that if you went out and bought a prebuilt system. It's not the best system, but every month brings another upgrade. Next month: the claw!!!! I can't wait to get this little puppy. For those of you who've never heard of the claw, check this out: www.claw.com.au (http://www.claw.com.au) . I think it'll be a fun little toy. As you can tell, I stole these pics from the places I bought them from, but I'll have my own pics of my modified FK320 as soon as I get my digital camera back. Pretty cool case tho eh? I didn't just post this to show off my budget shopping, but rather to show off my system http://sysopt.earthweb.com/forum/smile.gif Actually I think this could bring hope to others out there who are also on a budget. I don't think I'm doin too bad so far off my scrappy wages. Oh yeah, if you want, you can take a look at the web page (http://www.geocities.com/nondongler) I've just started, there's nothing there really but you can get an idea of what it's gonna look like. I'm still figuring out compatability problems with Netscape, but it works perfectly with IE. Personally I think Netscape 6 is screwed...oh well. If you want any details about any of my components, feel free to ask. Oh yeah, I'm sure you're all dying to know...my 3DMark2000 score was just over 5200, lacking due to the "MX", which is OCed to 210/200, will be replaced by an "Ultra". My Duron, which is now OCed to 840, will eventually be replaced by a T-Bird 1+Ghz which will also recieve a healthy dose of overclocking.

**The cooling: (3) 40mm fans, video card and motherboard. (1) high-output 80mm fan in the PSU. (3) 92mm high-output 80CFM fans, 2 intake, 1 exhaust. (2) 120mm by 35mm high-output 108CFM fans, 1 intake, 1 exhaust. And naturally a GlobalWin FOP38 sittin on top of my Duron. I estimate 550CFM total.

<IMG SRC="http://www.geocities.com/nondongler/950p.gif" border=0>

<IMG SRC="http://www.geocities.com/nondongler/fk320.jpg" border=0>

<IMG SRC="http://www.geocities.com/nondongler/fk320in.jpg" border=0>

Some would say extreme, others would say ametuer, my budget would say "God help me!!" http://sysopt.earthweb.com/forum/smile.gif



[This message has been edited by Undertow (edited 12-01-2000).]

[rowan]

Not bad at all, and it even looks good!

You'de be amazed, though, what you can get in a premade box. Check out www.axissys.com (http://www.axissys.com) and look at the Terra systems. Some great prices out there. Like a 1Ghz Tbird, ATI RADEON DDR 64 MB (a fantastic 32 bit card), 30 gig 7200 rpm HD, VIA KT133 mobo, 128 MB SDRAM and 17" monitor for about $1300! You can get the DDR version for about $30 more.

Still, nothing like building your own!

R.

[gyoung]

Here's what I recently did and how much it cost me.


AMD Duron 600 - $85
Abit KT7-RAID - $155
ATI Radeon 32MB DDR - $148 ($178 before $30 coupon)
320MB PC133 CAS3 (generic) - $83 ($142 before rebates)
IBM 75GXP 30GB 7200RPM ATA100 - $135 ($165 before $30 off coupon)
Diamond MX300 - $64
Linksys NIC - $4 ($14 before $10 rebate)
Pioneer 16x/40x DVD - $133
I/O Magic 2/2/6x Burner - $99 ($169 before $60 rebate)
Antec Mid-Tower - $69
AMD Approved PS - Free with case
Optiquest Q95 (19") - $355
Microsoft Internet Pro Keyboard - $39
Intellimouse Optical - $24
Altec Lansing w/sub - $49


The monitor, soundcard, speakers, burner and 128MB of memory all came from a previous computer that I bought in May 1999. The memory price somes from a 64MB stick that I got for $1.99 after rebates and a 128MB stick that I got for $81 after rebates.

Total Price = $1442 cost to me (includes previous purchased components)
Total Price of upgrade using previous components = $875 after rebates & savings. This is the price I recently paid to upgrade my system from a K6-2 400Mhz to this Duron that I am running at 850Mhz.

[This message has been edited by gyoung (edited 12-01-2000).]

[Ed_S]

There's really no way to compare the satisfaction of building your own to buying one "off the rack". That's priceless, as is the experience gained.

BUT - If you insist on doing a comparison based on dollars spent, then you've both left out a major expense that's included in "store-bought" -the software!
Seems a lot of folks forget to factor that in!

As to myself, I haven't a clue what I've spent on this thing as it's evolved over the years. Actually, I'd be afraid to figure it up since I've been adding & upgrading this same box for years!!

[mudoggy]

You HAD to raise that spectre, didn't you Ed?
hahahaha

It's true though! Although I have had far more software fail to meet my expectations than hardware. End result still the same: Bye Bye money! http://sysopt.earthweb.com/forum/smile.gif