Originally posted by: ai42
Using newegg.com pricing scale as most forum users will tell you they are the best.
I disagree. Most users will tell you that if you're set on ordering everything from one place, Newegg is the best. However, if you want to find the best prices, go to
Pricewatch.com. I know that sometimes you can save on shipping by going with one carrier, but you could save an extra $100 or so by going there and spending the time to look around.
Also, please don't waste money on that Audigy. Get the Philips Acoustic Edge instead. It sounds AT LEAST as good (IMO better), has 5.1 sound, and costs $63 shipped from
CruxWorks, Inc. The biggest bonus are the incompatibilities that you won't have with the AE. Many of you may not have had this problem, but me and three of my friends have. It's a pain, and Creative Labs simply doesn't care. Actually, if you don't need that extra card (and I doubt most people do), that Soyo board has the best integrated sound in the industry. Don't waste the money (not that Soyo isn't the best, but...) on a board with all that stuff on it if you're not going to use any of it. Seriously, the C-Media chip is a really nice chip; don't waste it.
Next, you're wasting money on the burner as well. The Lite-On drive is better quality (I won't put IMO here because this is fact) and cheaper. It also will get around more copy protections than any other drive; EVEN PLEXTOR'S! The 40x is
here at Emicroworld for $54, while the 48x is
here at Maxim PC for $64. I personally wouldn't waste the money for the 48x, but to each his own.
The next thing I wouldn't waste money on (IMHO) is that vid card. Now the Gainward is clearly the choice I'd go with, but as for the Ti4400 chipset, you guessed it, it's a waste. First off, I'm not even sure that Gainward makes it any more as I can't find it anywhere. Second of all, you'll never notice the difference between a Ti4400 and a Ti4200. If you truly think that you are that anal, then get the Gainward 4200 and O/C it to a 4400. There is no difference besides the clock speeds. I found the Gainward Golden Sample GF4 Ti4200
here at Gameve for $152, but you can also find good prices at
Newegg.com for all of the Gainwards across the line. There are VIVO, TV, Ultras, etc. I honestly don't know the difference because there are so many, but find the one that suits your needs and get it. If you HAVE to overclock, that Golden Sample at Gameve is equipped with 3.3ns RAM that will O/C nicely. If, on the other hand, you want it to play UT2003 down the road with ease, you'll need 128MB of RAM because UT2003 (along with many other games after it) will come with 128 megs of textures (is that the right? textures?) that will be loaded to the card for faster response. I think textures is the thing I'm looking for, but regardless there was soemthing that will be loading into the card's RAM that is nearly 128MB. Anyway, you can find that card at the Gameve site for $161.50. Personally, I'd go with the 128MB card, as it will run newer games much faster.
Now that I've saved you money (you'll have to look at Pricewatch for the best prices on the rest of your stuff), you can spend more on RAM. Corsair has BY FAR the best PC3200 DDR RAM in the industry as of now, and the only CL2-rated chip, period, as far as I know (most people don't even know that IT exists). The cheapest you can get that is $186 from
Googlegear. Personally, I'd get the PC2700 from
BuyXtremeGear.com for $144. Until the Athlon XP goes to a 400MHz FSB (and they're not even to 333 yet, mind you) the extra bandwidth goes mostly (not completely, but mostly) wasted.
Very quickly, for the rest, go to the following places (all from Pricewatch.com)
Athlon XP 2000+ - $93 from
pcboost.com
Soyo KT333 Ultra Platinum Edition - Stick with Newegg.com
Pioneer 16x DVD - $41 from
Maxim PC
WD 800JB - Again, stick with Newegg.com
By the way, both of thoe prices are shipped. Let me know if you need me to back up any of the other prices. I don't look for XP or mice because I don't want to. By the way, before I get flamed, I will admit that AFTER the incompatibilities of the Audigy I am a little biased, but I personally wouldn't buy them, and I can guarantee that you'll save money and time spent working on it.
Edit: After looking at the size of this post, I can only come to one conclusion: I should be a hardware reviewer. Anand, you know my e-mail address. I'd be happy to join you.
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