Doh! I still use floppies for flashing BIOS's and firmware updates etc... but you are right! VoXie could save another $11 .Originally posted by saaya
actually i meant that you dont really need a floppy at all nowadays... the few times i needed to do something while i boot i made a bootable cd...
It does look like he has a chance to build a good computer and stay within budget.
Once again GBR I appreciate all the work you put into your posts. Before my last post I went to Newegg and "tallied up the numbers" for the speakers, hs/fan, etc. I chose a few things different from yours (e.g., Labtec Pulse speakers for $36, the Logitech Deluxe Desktop (Deluxe Keyboard & S69 Mouse) - OEM for $19, etc.), but still came up with higher numbers. I believe this was because you didn't add in the cost of a heat sink/fan and wireless NIC into your total. With these essentials added in, the total comes to around $860, a full $110 over the maximum my friend is able to spend. One place I'm sure I can save money on is the monitor. I know from experience that I can get a good 17 inch refurb with a 3 year warranty for $80-$100 at a local computer show. Although I'd rather not save money at the expense of graphics quality, I may have no choice but to go with a cheaper video card that can save me up to $60 off the total cost. Still, I'm gonna continue to play with the numbers and see if the 9500np is viable. BTW, I can say from years of experience with Newegg that they truely are the best vendor out there, bar none!
http://www.excaliberpc.com
ABIT NF7 V2.0 Motherboard
$87.00 _ _
Thermaltake TR2 M2 (A4002D)
$11.99
Sub-Total: $98.99
Combo Discount: $0.00
Global Discount: $6.00
Shipping $10.00
$102.99
This is a decent heatsink, and it ends ups adding $1.98 for the same motherboard buying here vs newegg
================================================== =
http://www.newegg.com
ANTEC SOLUTION SERIES MODEL SLK3700AMB w/ANTEC SMART POWER 350W P4/AMD POWER SUPPLY ATX12V - RETAIL
$64.99
Lite On 52x24x52 CDRW Model LTR-52246S Retail $44.99
$44.99
WD WESTERN DIGITAL 40GB 7200RPM EIDE HARD DRIVE MODEL # WD400JB - OEM
$69.00
Logitech Deluxe Desktop (Deluxe Keyboard & S69 Mouse) - OEM
$19.00
KINGSTON KVR333X64C25/256 256MB 32x64 PC2700 DDR RAM (better than 2100 2400)
$38.00
Samsung SOHO Series SyncMaster 750S-Ivory 17" CRT monitor - Retail
$129.00
AMD Athlon XP 1700+ Thoroughbred /266 FSB Processor CPU 1700+/ 1.47GHz -OEM
$45.00
Labtec Pulse-420 3 Piece Speaker - RETAIL
$36.00
Sapphire ATI OEM RADEON 9500 128MB DDR BULK
$142.00
Subtotal »
$587.98
Shipping and Handling Charge » $15
Grand Total »
$ 602.98
Excaliberpc $102.99
Newegg $602.98
Amazon $58.95
========================
$764.92
Last edited by GBR; 07-13-2003 at 08:31 PM.
You might also consider the Shuttle AN35N Ultra MB @ NewEgg.......$61 and has the new nfoece2 Ultra chipset. I read some reviews, it's a stripped down board, but will do well over 200FSB.
You can get some awsome Panaflo L1a's here for $3.75 right now if the case you choose does not have fans. They also have an sk7 for $15. Pick up a Panasonic/Panaflo 12U, or 12H for the heatsink and your cooling will be perfect.
Still gotta have that wireless PCI card or USB adapter to connect the new computer I'm building to another one in the home. Amazon has them, but for around $60 each. Cheapest on Pricewatch is $24 for a PCI card and $31 for a USB adapter. Gotta check Resellerratings.com to see how reputable some of these companies are though.
Check netgear.com for rebates and see if you can find a deal on the MR-814 [or MR-314 ] and a MA-101 USB adapter? Sometimes there are rebates and also coupons for retailers like Staples , or Office Max, Best Buy, or Amazon.
And watch the flyers for these stores.
This guy sure wants a lot for his money!
Yeah...in the past I just passed along my old stuff to his family and generally gave them a good deal for their money. Now he wants the system and wants to share the broadband connection. I saw this for $39 at Newegg but I haven't a clue whether it's worth the money:
Blitzz Wireless LAN PCI Card, Model BWI605 - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/app/viewproduc...fer=pricewatch
Let me know what you think. And thanks again for all the expert advice.
So, what did you finally go with?
Had to make some sacrifices, because the guy wanted an LCD. I got him a 15" monitor on ebay for $200 ($20 shipping) and spent another $120 at Best Buy on the wireless router and USB adapter (although he gets $50 back in rebates). Since he'd given me a total of $720, this only left me $380 to build the rest of the system. I ended up going with an Enlight case with a 300watt power supply, a 1700+ cpu (retail), 256MB of Buffalo memory, a Soltek NForce2 MB w/ integrated graphics, a Samsung 52x CDRW, a Maxtor 30GB hard drive, a Logitech keyboard and mouse and Creative 2 piece speakers. I bought them all at Newegg and am fairly pleased with the results (with the exception of the graphics, which I'll try to talk him into upgrading ASAP). Unfortuantely, a few days after the LCD arrived, it developed problems (i.e., a thin red vertical line that goes from the top to the bottom of the screen and remains visible from the time the monitor is turned on until it is turned off). While Viewsonic already gave me an RMA for the monitor, it still sucks to pay the additional shipping costs and to wait 7-14 business days for them to fix it. Still, I've grown to expect such things when it comes to computers and I have a 17" monitor as a backup. Once again, thanks for all the advice GBR!!
wow gbr great work!
hmmm voxie you should tell them you want the shipping costs back. i think you have a right for that!
ibm for example has a pick up service world wide where you give them your address and they tell you when ups is knocking your door to pick it up and send you a replacement asap, sometimes you even get the replacemtn BEFORE ups picks up the rma drive! now THATS service! too bad ibm doesnt sell hds anymore... well actually it was the only step since their latest drives were all crap, not performence wise, but they died really quick.
well id ask them, i mean you havent done anything wrong, so what should you pay money for?
Seem like you did pretty well! You never know how it all turn out, especially when the budget is bit unrealistic, or how the end user will like it.Originally posted by VoXie
[B]Had to make some sacrifices, because the guy wanted an LCD. <snip>B]
He wanted the world for his $720, BTW!
I'm not a big fan of integrated graphics, at least at the GF4 MX level....but I bet you its still a very good system!
Hopefully you'll get good customer service on the LCD! Thats why I am Ebay allergic!
Originally posted by saaya
wow gbr great work!
Thanks Saaya! I tried!
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