1600.00 TO spend on system.what would you get

[SHAGVIRUS]

Hi guys...just got some tax $$$...looking to upgrade...looking into a SLI system for further upgrading in future..

also what is the deal with those A64 chips..the 90nm and stuff?

good places to buy quality barebone parts or complete desktops with top of the line parts..

looking to game on this RIG.

thx all

 

[TransientBen]

Read through a lot of the information on the main Anandtech site to find out what the deal is with the A64 chips and other hardware.

http://www.anandtech.com/cpuchipsets/showdoc.aspx?i=2242

You may want to head to the Video forum to read some overviews of SLI to determine whether or not its actually worth it.

Good online stores:

NewEgg.com
ChiefValue.com
ZipZoomFly.com
MonarchComputer.com

 

[SHAGVIRUS]

THX...

thread got alot of looks but no replys...

i guess ill read up

thx mate

 

[century child]

With a budget that high, I'd get the same board and RAM you see in my sig, an FX CPU, and a 6800 Ultra (2 if there was enough money left over). Newegg generally has a good reputation to buy from.

 

[Tarrant64]

I dunno know if the FX is really all that worth it. He'd be able to save some money if he just went with a 3800 or 4000. He can get another stick of memory(add onto the 512 you already have). Get a 74 gb raptor for you main drive, and a 300gb for storage(if you've got the money, why not, right?). A good 6800GT for pci-e. A nice dual layer dvd player maybe. There's a bunch of stuff you can get with 1600, just look for what you want the most out of your system, and splurge on those particular parts.

Good luck.

 

All your questions are answered HERE.

 

[stickybytes]

get yourself a nice 21" or 23" flat screen lcd monitor and that oughta set you back 700+ bucks.

 

[Gamingphreek]

Originally posted by: century child
With a budget that high, I'd get the same board and RAM you see in my sig, an FX CPU, and a 6800 Ultra (2 if there was enough money left over). Newegg generally has a good reputation to buy from.

Considering he is getting an entire computer 1600 is not a lot to work with especially since the FX costs >1/2 his max price.

M/B: DFI Nforce 4 SLI Motherboard- $170 at www.monarchcomputer.com
CPU: Athlon 64 3200+ Sckt 939 Winchester- ~$170
CPU Fan (If you want to OC at all): Zalman 700 Series - $40
Video Card: Nvidia 6800GT ~$400
Soundcard: Audigy 2ZS - ~$100
Memory: (Not OCing) Corsair Value Select 1gig - $130
HDD: Seagate Barracuda 7200.8 120gig SATA w/ NCQ - $100 Newegg
Monitor: Samsun 910T- $400 Newegg

I assume you already have a case if you are upgrading, but if you dont:
Coolermaster Stacker - $170
OCZ Powerstream series PSU - $100-$140 OR Seasonic S12 series 500Watt ~$110
______
$1510 after rebates, unless you dont have a case already. Dont get much better system out there for that price.

-Kevin

 

[jamesbond007]

This is what I did with my $1600:

Dell!

This is with a 40% off coupon, though. I have no regrets going with Dell at this point and I would do it again in a heartbeat!

 

[Gamingphreek]

Originally posted by: jamesbond007
This is what I did with my $1600:

Dell!

This is with a 40% off coupon, though.

Do not utter those words in this sacred place

You can do much better than a dell for that amount of money... MUCH better.

-Kevin

 

[homercles337]

Originally posted by: jamesbond007
I have no regrets going with Dell at this point and I would do it again in a heartbeat!

[yoda] Regrets in future you will have. [/yoda] Just wait until your first call to tech support! :laugh:

 

[jamesbond007]

Originally posted by: Gamingphreek

Originally posted by: jamesbond007
This is what I did with my $1600:

Dell!

This is with a 40% off coupon, though.

Do not utter those words in this sacred place

You can do much better than a dell for that amount of money... MUCH better.

-Kevin

Considering most enthusiasts here in this board have a Dell LCD of some sort (2005fpw, 2001ft, etc) I wouldn't go saying Dell sucks.

At any rate, it was a nice change to be on the receiving end of having someone build a computer for me. I do not care for any of the AMD64 solutions at this time so that left me going with either Apple or Intel. Apples are fun to use and to eat, but they don't do me much good. I couldn't build a similiarly-spec'd machine for the cost at which I got this Dell at. I really adore the case the most as it is massive, cool, clean wiring job, and the PSU is on the bottom, which is great because it doesn't make the machine very top-heavy.

 

[jamesbond007]

Originally posted by: homercles337

Originally posted by: jamesbond007
I have no regrets going with Dell at this point and I would do it again in a heartbeat!

[yoda] Regrets in future you will have. [/yoda] Just wait until your first call to tech support! :laugh:

Unless I need a replacement, I will never have to contact them. I've owned 3 Dell laptops prior to this desktop and have never once had to call them for service or any repairs.

In regards to any company, you only hear about the bad things; never the good. The bad experiences are always highlighted and rarely forgotten.

When you have to make your calls to some foreign motherboard manufacturer with a non-800 number, let's see who laughs last! :laugh:

 

[Gamingphreek]

I never said Dell sucks. The Dell LCD IIRC isn't manf by dell. Dell simply modifies a design a bit.

Why dont you "care" for any of the AMD solutions? Computers are not what looks cooler or what feels cool, it is how it runs. THe PSU on the bottom would be a good idea except the fact that heat rises.

Again you can do MUCH MUCH better than dell for that price.

-Kevin

 

[jamesbond007]

Originally posted by: Gamingphreek
I never said Dell sucks. The Dell LCD IIRC isn't manf by dell. Dell simply modifies a design a bit.

Why dont you "care" for any of the AMD solutions? Computers are not what looks cooler or what feels cool, it is how it runs. THe PSU on the bottom would be a good idea except the fact that heat rises.

Again you can do MUCH MUCH better than dell for that price.

-Kevin

The screens are manufactured by Samsung, we all know that. Still, a Dell LCD comes from a Dell manufacturer somewhere in the world, so it's still a DELL LCD! My 1704FTP is constructed more sturdy and feels more durable than a Samsung 172N (I think that's the right model #) my buddy just bought. The Dell feels more rugged, hands down.

I do not care for nVIDIA's nForce4 right now simply because I do not feel it's mature enough. Care to take a look at all the issues in the Motherboards section here? "HELP! Problems with my Gigabyte NF4 board!" or "ASUS A8N-SLI Deluxe issues!". The list goes on and on. I'm not an overclocker, so none of those features appeal to me in the first place. All I want is stability and Intel has been in the chipset game much longer than nVIDIA has. A NF2 board with an AMD XP chip sounded tempting, but I felt it was out dated and I wanted to jump aboard the PCI-express bandwagon. How many Intel chipset issue threads do you see floating in the Motherboards section?

As for the PSU being on the bottom and heat rises, yes we all know this too, but there is a reason there are two fans on the PSU of my Dell and it is also enclosed seperately from the actual tower itself. There are two physical boxes inside one giant case. Thus, the XPS Gen4 tower!

 

[ahurtt]

Originally posted by: jamesbond007

Originally posted by: Gamingphreek

Originally posted by: jamesbond007
This is what I did with my $1600:

Dell!

This is with a 40% off coupon, though.

Do not utter those words in this sacred place

You can do much better than a dell for that amount of money... MUCH better.

-Kevin

Considering most enthusiasts here in this board have a Dell LCD of some sort (2005fpw, 2001ft, etc) I wouldn't go saying Dell sucks.

Most enthusiasts in here do not build their own monitors. [yoda] A little more involved than cramming cards into a motherboard would that be, mmm?? [/yoda]

 

[jamesbond007]

ahurtt, when did I state that the people of this forum build their monitors? LOL! I did say that a lot of people here do have Dell LCDs/monitors in general. I'm merely stating that they do have other options, like the more expensive Samsung-branded alternatives, ViewSonic, etc. etc.

 

[akugami]

Dell doesn't manufactor the LCD, it simply assembles it. Although it does have parts like the housing for the LCD with their logo on it built specifically for them. Assembling it is hardly building it. The problem with Dell computers as opposed to Dell LCD's is that they seem to choose the crappiest and cheapest parts possible with the computers while the LCD's at least have some decent parts in them.

 

[jamesbond007]

Originally posted by: akugami
Dell doesn't manufactor the LCD, it simply assembles it. Although it does have parts like the housing for the LCD with their logo on it built specifically for them. Assembling it is hardly building it. The problem with Dell computers as opposed to Dell LCD's is that they seem to choose the crappiest and cheapest parts possible with the computers while the LCD's at least have some decent parts in them.

You can't complain when most users want to spend as little as possible. If they want top-quality parts, they would be better off with a higher-end Dell, like my XPS. My XPS has Crucial RAM, Seagate harddisks, MASSIVE heatsink with fans that spin so quietly it's barely audible, and my DVDRW is a Philips.

To be frank, most of Dell's customer base is probably your average joe who wants the most bang for their buck. IMHO, Dell does an awesome job at compromising some decent parts for a good price.

In regards to their LCDs, who do you think makes the on-screen menus? Oh right, they just throw their Dell logo over the Samsung one, which I might remind you, is completely different. Lets not forget construction quality and build. IMHO, my 1704FPT is built better than my buddy's Samsung counterpart. Sure, they may just 'assmble' the LCD in your words, but they do it with better components than the name brand alternative.

 

[SHAGVIRUS]

ill post a system i am looking into

whats the deal with that raptor drive only 70gig?? whats so great about it?? (been out of the into loop) school me plz..

need case...i have one but building another one to lan at home so i need the whole deal.

thx for looking

 

[SHAGVIRUS]

Monarch Furia Custom Desktop with SLI $49.00
Case: 100552 - No PS - Thermaltake VB1000BWS Soprano ATX $85.00
Power Supply: 100874 - PS 560W - Thermaltake W0023RUC ATX 12V Po $107.00
Case Fan: None
Motherboard: 110397 - Gigabyte GA-K8NXP-SLI nForce 4 SLI Audio/ $190.00
Processor: 12A422 - AMD Athlon 64 3200+ 512K 90nm (939 $186.00
Thermal Grease: None
Heat Sink Fan: 130150 - Thermaltake A1772 AMD Recommended for Opt $49.00
Memory: 140866 - DDR (400) 3200 - 1 GB (2 pcs 512) Corsair $272.00
2nd Memory: None
Hard Drive: 150037 - SATA - Western Digital (WD1600SD) 160 GB/ $110.00
2nd Hard Drive: None
RAID Setup: None
RAID Controller: None
CD-ROM/DVD-ROM/CD-RW: 160802 - DVD-RW - Lite-On SOHW-1673 16x8x16-DVD-RW $95.00
CD-RW/DVD-RW: None
Floppy Drive: 170101 - Mitsumi 1.44 MB 3.5" Floppy Drive $15.25
More Storage: None
Sound Card: None
Video Card: 190482 - BFG GeForce 6800 GT OC 256MB GDDR3/PCI-E/ $415.00
Modem: None
Network Card: None
Wireless Network Card: None
Add-On Card: None
Case Function Add-On: None
Round Cables: 270156 - Round Cables UV Kit 2-24" IDE 1-18" FDD 1 $22.00
Operating System: 800008 - None - Barebone /No Software Support /1 Y
Additional Software: None
Antivirus: None
Warranty: 800007 - 1 Year - Parts & Labor - Barebone (No Sof
Hot Rush: None - Standard Order ( ships within 8-13 business
Far Cry Promotion: 270846 - FREE Full DVD Version of Far Cry - 39.95
Napster Promotion: 270136 - FREE Napster Music Download for 4 Months
Half Life 2 Promotion: 27F854 - FREE Half Life 2 Full Version Coupon with
CD-RW Software: None
DVD-ROM Software: 210601 - Cyberlink PowerDVD 5.0 (OEM) $6.99
Subtotal for 80390 with your selected options: $1,602.24

What can i tweak to upgrade a little more but to stay in same price range..Motherboard isnt my choice i rather the DFI sli one.

 

[ribbon13]

For $1600 I would buy a Lian li tower, PCP&C 510AG, Thunder K8WE, an opteron 244, and 2 sticks of CMX512RE-3200LL, and a XFX 6600GT.

The upgradability blows any desktop away like a humming bird in a hurricane.
Upgrade in this order
2 more sticks of ram
BFG 6800GT and sell 6600.
another opteron 244 (2 sticks ram each now)
another 6800gt
15krpm SCSI drive.

All your friends will be pwned.

 

[SHAGVIRUS]

THX for post...few questions

why an OPT ?? & 6600? 512 ram?

i want best i can get not not worried about upgrades soo soon

 

[TheInvincibleMustard]

If you're looking at that system from Monarch that you posted above, may I strongly suggest that you steer yourself away from that Thermaltake PSU?

A <$1600 custom system from Monarch that I just put together:
Lian-Li PC61 Aluminum (Black) -- $115
Enermax 535W EG565P -- $90
ASUS A8N-SLI Deluxe -- $169
Athlon64 3200+ w/retail HSF -- $191
1GB (2x512) OCZ4001024PDC-K -- $188
Seagate ST3200822AS 200GB SATA -- $129
NED ND-3520A DVD-RW -- $64
Ahead Nero 6.0 -- $6.99
Cyberlink PowerDVD 5.0 -- $6.99
Mitsumi 1.44MB 3.5" Floppy -- $20 -- Holy Fnark, they rip you off on the floppy!
BFG GeForce 6800GT OC 256MB -- $415
Microsoft WindowsXP Pro with SP2 -- $156
1year Parts & Labor -- $0.00
Standard Order -- $0.00
Free DVD of FarCry
Free Napster
Free Half-Life 2

Price as configured: $1599.98

That'd be my choice if you're going to go with Monarch and have them build the system for you. If you're looking at building it on your own, however, I'd have different recommendations, and could make those if you're interested, instead.

 

[SHAGVIRUS]

thx


well i dont need an OS...

cases alot like the lan li ?

dont like the dfi sli mobo?

cant decide if i wanna build or them...