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Best System under $1200

P

Ph33zy

Senior member
I want to build a system for my friend but he has set the cap at 1200 including monitor...I think AMD is the best route to go...but i have no experiece with AMD stuff. Can anyone help and list some products w/ links. Any help would be great.
 
i would definitely recommend www.newegg.com. i bought my entire system from them, except for the monitor and ram. You can get your ram from crucial, because they have good prices and free shipping. Since you want a monitor also, i would look around the hot deals forum because there are usually deals on monitors posted. If you want an idea of the system i got from newegg, just look at my system in my sig.
 
newegg.com

epox 8K7A 120
AMD Thunderbird 1.33GHz 266MHz Processor 135
Enlight Case Model EN-72370X3 50
ENERMAX EG465P-VE 431W 81
Leadtek WinFast GeForce2 MX 85
TOSHIBA DVD ROM, 16X DVD 56
Thermaltake VOLCANO II Heatsink 8
Plextor 16x10x40 CDRW 160
IBM 40GB 7200RPM Deskstar 60GXP 108
Creative Lab sound blaster 128 PCI Sound Card 30
Viewsonic GS790 19 inch monitor 309
nic card 20
modem?
keyboard/mouse/ speakers ?
crucial.com
crucial ram 256MB 50

comes out to about 1200
spend moolah on your monitor
you can probably find it cheaper if you shop around
check the reccomended systems

here
 
Estimate w/o shipping

Antec SX1030B - $100
Quality heatsink/fan - $30
arctic silver 2, $9
AMD athlon 1 GHz - $86
some mobo - $140
crucial 256 ram - $50
40GB IDE 7200RPM ATA100 HDD (IBM 60gxp) - $110
Kyro II 64mb - $120
NIC or modem - $10
quality keyboard - $40
quality mouse - $40
hercules theater xp sound card - $110
more 80mm high output fans for fun - $10 each
19 inch monitor in deals form - $300


Go for 1GHz and O/C to 1.4GHz.
 
isn't ubid.com poor service? i'm not trying to crap or anything i was just wondering cuz i think i read it was poor service but their prices are so cheap
 
ubid rips you off on shipping,, if you're gonna bid on that site do it during early morning or late night when few people are awake...
 
I agree use newegg...especially on all the free shipping items or deals. Then go over to www.tcwo.com get the processor there with their recommended fan (better then volcano in my experience). It will be cheaper then at newegg...


Mcveigh, my comments on your suggestion....

Geforce 2 mx with 1.333ghz tbird???? Vid card will be the total bottleneck in this system in game play...If you don't want to play games then get a radeon for the superior 2d picture quality. otherwise at least get the geforce 2 pro 32mb ddr for 132.00 at newegg.

Stay away from the toshiba...Pioneer/ Aopen are faster in almost all the categories plus the toshiba can only rip dvds at 2x.

CL 128 PCI...yikes!!! might as well get onboard sound...get a santa cruz card at mwave for 70.00 bucks.

Add s&h and you are over the 1200 dollars in that system...I see plenty of waste lile in that PS.

I would drop down to the 1.2gig (sweet price) get the geforce 2 pro and save money by getting the aopen 1232a 12x10x32x cdrw at newegg for 99+7.00 for sh then get the aopen 12x40x dvd-rom for 41+10.00 for sh. IBM 40gig good suggestion.

You do not need to spend 131 dollars for a case and power supply solution...you especially do not need to get a 430watt PS....quality 350 should be more then sufficient, even for minor ocing if needed.

PM me if you need some more help...I have a system listed at home right in that range that includes all the bells and whistles...
 
Well, I recommend you get a nice case, for $100, since that's what you'll be looking at the whole time. I mean it's like a car, would u want to buy a viper engine and dump it in a civic?

Well that was kinda stupid, but u get the point. It's true you can go w/ the enlight case, but I don't think it's that great.
 
um looking at the case the entire time? i would think you would be looking at your monitor.... i would have to disagree with you there. i think the 7237 is a great case, and i'm sure many people on this forum would agree with me. but then again, if you have the money, a nice case would definitely be a good investment.
 
Yea, but like when you drive the car, do you see the exterior of the car? I don't think so. So the monitor is like the interior.
 


<< Yea, but like when you drive the car, do you see the exterior of the car? I don't think so. So the monitor is like the interior. >>



Wouldn't inside the case be like the interior of the car? Cause people don't see it when you're driving it around...😛

Nevertheless, I know what you ment. Flashy cases appeal to lots of people. I opted for a case 1/2 that price with my own built in cooling solution.

 
Duvie

I did that system up in about 5 minutes all on newegg, just to give him a starting point. half was from memory as I am workin on a new system for myself. I almost chose the G450 as I don't play games or listen to music, I didn't choose the Live! b/c of probs some people have, I almost did go w/ the santa cruz but was trying to keep the cost down. Also their inventory changes constsntly. I didn't want to reccomend the 450watt PS also but that was the only enermax listed (and yes I could have gone w/ generic) I like to buy quality after getting bit by hardware probs too many times. And I don't claim to be the hardware guru🙂

Any who, I was interested to see you say the GeForce2MX would be the bottle neck in the system as I am thinking of the epox 8K7A w/ a 1.2 or 1.33 Tird and I already have the 2MX, but like I said I don't game much and wanted something fast w/ good linux support

just my 2 cents (after COLA adjustments)
 
check here
thats the current hotdeals computer conglomerate. use a better video card and check around hot deals for the monitor. should leave about $400 for the monitor.
 
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