Buying a new computer, like some input!

[Philliesfan980]

Yeah, I'm planning on getting the WD 120 GIG 8 meg cache. The 200 meg with the 8 meg cache is not priced correctly (megabite for megabite) so thats why I'm going with the 120.

[Anrhydeddu]

I assume it is a 7200rpm ATA-133 drive that will be connected to an UltraATA card?

[Philliesfan980]

I believe that the motherboard I'm getting supports 133 without a card.

[Anrhydeddu]

That was what I thought as well when I got my ASUS. I believe the MB has the 133 bus structure but you still have to have the card to make the connections. In my case, I have two HDs and instead of daisy-chaining, I connect each one separately to the UltraATA card to maximize throughput. Just recalling from memory from last summer.

[Philliesfan980]

So basically I need the card to even use the HDD? Or just to maximize it with the ATA-133 Capabilities?

[cartman]

Originally posted by Philliesfan980
Does anyone know of a good CRT monitor that I can get? I'd prefer a 19 inch, but a 17 inch is okay too. What are the best available monitors out there?

The model might be a couple of years old, but I have been very happy with my Viewsonic P95f. It's a 19 inch flatscreen Trinitron tube, can push a high resolution (max is 2048X1920), but looks best at 1280X1024 at 100Hz.

As for DVD Burners, the best one, IMHO, is the Sony DRU-500AX. It burns any DVD format you can think of.

Here's the specs for the new computer I just built:

Asus P4S8X motherboard
Pentium4 3.06Ghz
3 pieces of DDR 1GB 333MHZ
Asus V8420 Deluxe Video Card (GeForce4 Ti4200)
3ware Escalade 8500-4 Serail ATA RAID controller
4 Maxtor DiamondMax Plus 9 Serial ATA 120GB HDDs
Pioneer DVD-106S (DVD-ROM)
Sony DRU-500AX
SoundBlaster Audigy 2 Platinum
Microsoft Wireless Optical Desktop for Bluetooth
Samsung 172B 17 inch LCD monitor

It surfs the web quite well...

[Anrhydeddu]

Or just to maximize it with the ATA-133 Capabilities?

This is my experience and understanding. (You can use the HD without it obviously, but with the added performance benefits.)

[Philliesfan980]

Cartman;

Holy crap!! What did that run you like 3500? thats an awsome machine though

[Anrhydeddu]

You'd be surprised. Unlike the assembly manufacturers of low bid parts, putting together a custom PC with the best parts is significantly cheaper. For example, my custom PC from last summer was 40% cheaper than Gateway and Dell, and 60% cheaper than Alienware - all with better parts (particularly the MB).

[cartman]

Originally posted by Philliesfan980
Cartman;

Holy crap!! What did that run you like 3500? thats an awsome machine though

It was something in that range, but a little lower. Since I'm an American in Europe, I can get things tax-free, if I work the system right. Which I do quite often, since the VAT rate in Italy is 20%!!!!

But I must confess, I don't only use the computer for entertainment. I do a lot of testing for work using VMWare, and it needs a lot of memory in order to run multiple sessions simultaneous. At least that's the story I told my boss, and I'm sticking to it!!!

[Philliesfan980]

Well Guys, I finally priced this stuff out. All prices were from pricewatch.com. Most of this stuff is OEM stuff, I really don't need the directions or software that comes with the hardware.

System Board: ASUS A7N8X-DX DELUXE $113
Case: LANBOY w/ 350 W $100
Processor: AMD 2700 $178
Cooling Fan: Fan+Heatsink $15
Memory: Samsung (512x2) pc3200 $140
Hard Drive: WD 120 gig 8 meg cache $115
Video: All in Wonder 9700 pro 128 $350
DVD: Sony 16x DVD Silver $35
CD-RW: 48x16x48 Samsung $47
Sound : On board $0
Network: 10/100 - on board $0
Floppy: Generic $10
Keyboard: USB - Generic $15
Mouse: USB Logitech - Optical $12
CRT MONITOR: Viewsonic 19 inch fscreen $250
OS: Microsoft XP Pro - Full $207
Cables: Misc Floppy/HDD $30


IBUYPOWER.COM cost (mom & pop pc builder) = $2,131
MY BUILD COST = $1,708

I'll build it myself since I'm saving about $400 bucks. I feel that this is a pretty good deal. Sorry for the formatting on prices.