Building a home computer for a guy from work

[AgeOfDiscovery]

He wants a high-performance computer that can fit in his price range, including buying an OS and monitor. He has a 160gb HDD already, which should be fine enough. He does some (light) graphics editing and some gaming. He plays a racing game online alot in particular (forget the name), and is having problems getting the FPS he wants. He'll also need a new case...nothing too flashy (like a teenage Lanparty case or something similar) but not low-budget looking either. He himself doesn't know how to overclock, so I *might* be overclocking for him, if the budget allows me to get the right components. The main thing is that he doesn't want to have a high-maintenance computer -- just a decently fast, solid build.

Please suggest:

*Fast but good bang-for-the-buck processor
*Fast, stable motherboard
*Fast 1GB stable memory
*Quality 19" LCD with fast response time
*High-performance video card, preferably 256mb
*Reasonably stylish, modest case
*Reliable power supply
*Good price on XP Home/Pro (Pro is not necessarily needed, but if the price is right...)
*Still have to ask him about sound...not sure yet whether on-board sound would be good enough or whether he needs a better solution.

 

[bob4432]

run, order him a decent dell and then put in a ati x800xl. seriously, do you want to be tech support for him? not trying to be a d!ck but if you have to ask here, you definately don't want to learn on somebody elses dime when they are going to hold you accountable for any issue the machine has.

 

[dclive]

Originally posted by: bob4432
run, order him a decent dell and then put in a ati x800xl. seriously, do you want to be tech support for him? not trying to be a d!ck but if you have to ask here, you definately don't want to learn on somebody elses dime when they are going to hold you accountable for any issue the machine has.

Absolutely. There's just no point in making your own anymore for most people. Dell has P4/3.0 systems with good components and a 19" LCD monitor for $480. Add an ATI graphics card, and you're in business for under $800...with a GREAT, fast, *RELIABLE* system, and a great 19" LCD monitor.

 

[DavidoFoo]

Originally posted by: dclive

Originally posted by: bob4432
run, order him a decent dell and then put in a ati x800xl. seriously, do you want to be tech support for him? not trying to be a d!ck but if you have to ask here, you definately don't want to learn on somebody elses dime when they are going to hold you accountable for any issue the machine has.

Absolutely. There's just no point in making your own anymore for most people. Dell has P4/3.0 systems with good components and a 19" LCD monitor for $480. Add an ATI graphics card, and you're in business for under $800...with a GREAT, fast, *RELIABLE* system, and a great 19" LCD monitor.

LOL, what an outrageous statement.
I agree with the Dell part though.

 

[bob4432]

Originally posted by: DavidoFoo

Originally posted by: dclive

Originally posted by: bob4432
run, order him a decent dell and then put in a ati x800xl. seriously, do you want to be tech support for him? not trying to be a d!ck but if you have to ask here, you definately don't want to learn on somebody elses dime when they are going to hold you accountable for any issue the machine has.

Absolutely. There's just no point in making your own anymore for most people. Dell has P4/3.0 systems with good components and a 19" LCD monitor for $480. Add an ATI graphics card, and you're in business for under $800...with a GREAT, fast, *RELIABLE* system, and a great 19" LCD monitor.

LOL, what an outrageous statement.
I agree with the Dell part though.

why would you say it is outrageous? if you don't game or do some other specialized computer work, why not get a dell? i feel this way and i have been building machines for about 8yrs or so. if i needed a machine to just surf the web, do some m$ office work and that was it i would definately buy a dell, they make good machines.

 

[Bona Fide]

Dell 9100 w/ FREE 19" LCD Monitor

 

[imported_itr]

like everyone said, if anything goes wrong in his computer, the first person he'll look for is you.

 

[Pr0d1gy]

Originally posted by: itr
like everyone said, if anything goes wrong in his computer, the first person he'll look for is you.

Agreed. I built my own but have had enough issues trying to get it to run right to know I wouldn't build one for someone else.

 

[bob4432]

Originally posted by: Bona Fide
Dell 9100 w/ FREE 19" LCD Monitor

nice deals get the ~$1000 one, add the extra 512MB of ram and then get him a x800xl and you will be set and still be under $1500.

 

[dclive]

From 15-Sept GotApex.com:

HOT! Still Good! DellHome - Dimension 9100 with 3.0Ghz P4 630 HT, 512MB DDR2 SDRAM, 80GB S-ATA, 16x DVD-Rom, 48x CD-RW, Win XP Media Edition 2005 for $1000 with FREE 20" LCD! (Posted by: Apex)
Though set to expire 9/14/05, Dell Home has their high end Dimension 9100 with FREE Dell UltraSharp 2001FP 20.1" LCD monitor for $999, with no rebates to send in, is still good for some reason! It comes with a 3.0Ghz Pentium 4 630 HT processor, 512MB of DDR2 SDRAM at 533Mhz, 80GB S-ATA HD, 16x DVD-ROM, 48x CD-RW, 128MB ATI Radeon X300 SE PCIe x16 Video Card, 7.1 channel audio, Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005, and a 90 day warranty (upgrading to 1 year costs just $29). DELL DIMENSION 9100 DEAL

Update: The price is now just $1 more now at $1000. There`s also a Dimension 5100 with 2.8Ghz P4 521 HT, a full 1 GB of dual channel DDR2 SDRAM, 48x CD-RW/DVD combo, and 19" LCD monitor for just $699, as well as a Dimension 3000 with 2.8Ghz P4 and 15" LCD for $380. Just follow the link above and customize the one you want.

 

[dclive]

Originally posted by: DavidoFoo

Originally posted by: dclive

Originally posted by: bob4432
run, order him a decent dell and then put in a ati x800xl. seriously, do you want to be tech support for him? not trying to be a d!ck but if you have to ask here, you definately don't want to learn on somebody elses dime when they are going to hold you accountable for any issue the machine has.

Absolutely. There's just no point in making your own anymore for most people. Dell has P4/3.0 systems with good components and a 19" LCD monitor for $480. Add an ATI graphics card, and you're in business for under $800...with a GREAT, fast, *RELIABLE* system, and a great 19" LCD monitor.

LOL, what an outrageous statement.
I agree with the Dell part though.

Why is that outrageous? $480 for a great system. Want faster video? Plug in an ATI X800 XT PE, like the referb I got for $240 or so... that's $720 for a great, fast, modern system. What's the problem?

 

[DaveSimmons]

Another vote for NOT building it yourself.

Have him order a Dell (see coupons at GottaDeal) and he can pay for a long warranty and even on-site service.

Otherwise you will be expected to provide endless support, including when he does stupid things like get virus, spyware, trojan infections.

 

[bob4432]

Originally posted by: dclive

Originally posted by: DavidoFoo

Originally posted by: dclive

Originally posted by: bob4432
run, order him a decent dell and then put in a ati x800xl. seriously, do you want to be tech support for him? not trying to be a d!ck but if you have to ask here, you definately don't want to learn on somebody elses dime when they are going to hold you accountable for any issue the machine has.

Absolutely. There's just no point in making your own anymore for most people. Dell has P4/3.0 systems with good components and a 19" LCD monitor for $480. Add an ATI graphics card, and you're in business for under $800...with a GREAT, fast, *RELIABLE* system, and a great 19" LCD monitor.

LOL, what an outrageous statement.
I agree with the Dell part though.

Why is that outrageous? $480 for a great system. Want faster video? Plug in an ATI X800 XT PE, like the referb I got for $240 or so... that's $720 for a great, fast, modern system. What's the problem?

don't you just love your x800xtpe? i sure love mine, best $221 i have spent in a long time

 

[dclive]

I'm pleased with it. It's running in my AMD XP 2.3ghz + Shuttle board; works well. A good step up from the 9700 Pro.

 

[bob4432]

Originally posted by: dclive
I'm pleased with it. It's running in my AMD XP 2.3ghz + Shuttle board; works well. A good step up from the 9700 Pro.

yes, i went from a 9800pro, major improvement

 

[shoRunner]

dell sucks

 

[dclive]

Why? They don't fail, they don't have PSU issues, they don't have voltage issues, they use rock-solid Intel-made motherboards, Intel CPUs, and name-brand video, HDD, CDROM, etc.

I see *so* many posts on here in these forums from people who've built their own PC (often for far, far more money than the PCI-E equipped Dells with 19" LCD monitor for $480, last time Dell had their 4700 sale) and are having nothing but problems. Why would anyone choose to go through this, in this day and age, for anything outside of specialized (SLI, AMD X2, etc.) needs ^B^B^B^B^B wants?)

 

[DaveSimmons]

Originally posted by: shoRunner
dell sucks

This isn't building for yourself, it's choosing between building for a co-worker or making them buy a prebuilt PC that you don't need to provide any support for.

If you scan through older threads on this both here and in Off-Topic, you'll see dozens of horror stories of people who thought it would be fun to help out an acquaintance by building them a PC. A gaming PC is even worse since you'll be blamed for driver issues and game coding bugs.

Trust the people with experience, it's a bad idea.

 

[everman]

"Run Away" was my first thought, run far far away! He's going to hold you responsible for everything that goes wrong with it for life!

 

[bob4432]

Originally posted by: shoRunner
dell sucks

nice contribution:thumbsdown:

 

[DavidoFoo]

[/quote]
Why is that outrageous? $480 for a great system. Want faster video? Plug in an ATI X800 XT PE, like the referb I got for $240 or so... that's $720 for a great, fast, modern system. What's the problem?
[/quote]

Did I not say I agreed with the dell part? I called the BOLDED outrageous.

 

[Twofootputt]

Originally posted by: bob4432
run, order him a decent dell and then put in a ati x800xl. seriously, do you want to be tech support for him? not trying to be a d!ck but if you have to ask here, you definately don't want to learn on somebody elses dime when they are going to hold you accountable for any issue the machine has.

"I forgot my password, I know it's 3 AM, but could you come over & help me out?"

 

[wallsfd949]

Originally posted by: bob4432
order him a decent dell

 

[bob4432]

Originally posted by: DavidoFoo

Why is that outrageous? $480 for a great system. Want faster video? Plug in an ATI X800 XT PE, like the referb I got for $240 or so... that's $720 for a great, fast, modern system. What's the problem?
[/quote]

Did I not say I agreed with the dell part? I called the BOLDED outrageous.
[/quote]

even for most, a dell would be better.

 

[DaveSimmons]

I'll also disagree slightly with bob: do not offer to install a graphics card or memory to a cheap Dell.

Doing this will save money, but will also leave you open to being blamed and forced to offer endless tech support for anything that ever goes wrong with the Dell.

If you crack open the case, you will be expected to support all the hardware inside.

If you do any software setup, you will be expected to support the OS and all installed software.

Trust no one!