Buying parts on Monday...

[the wombat]

First off Happy Easter for tomorrow everyone! Well I'm going to Canada Computers on Monday to pick up all of my stuff. (I already reserved all the components, but its not written in stone so I could change some stuff if it makes sense to me.) What would you guys change in the following system? (Budget is firm btw, parents dont want to poor a lot of money into this project...)

Case Thermaltake Tsunami W/Window

PSU OCZ Modstream 450w

Mobo DFI Lanparty UT NF4 Ultra-D

Processor AMD Athlon 64 3000+

RAM Corsair Value Select 1GB Kit

Hard Drive Seagate 120GB SATA

Optical Drive NEC ND3520A DL DVD Burner

Floppy Drive Mitsumi Floppy Drive W/ Card Reader

Graphics Card MSI GeForce 6600GT

Keyboard/Mouse Logitech Cordless Desktop LX300

Monitor Envision 17" Flat CRT

Speakers Logitech X-530 5.1


Thought, concerns, advice for my first system build? Thanks in advance for all your help everyone!

 

[MercenaryForHire]

My knee-jerk reaction is that you're getting the shaft. Hard.

Lemme calcuate and see.

- M4H

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Those all look like solid choices.

I'm not so sure on the pricing though as I don't know the conversion rate, or how much the price differences are in canada.

 

[CheesePoofs]

I've heard there are issues with corsair value select and the dfi ultra-d. You might want to look into that though, because I'm not positive on it.

 

[MercenaryForHire]

Originally posted by: YOyoYOhowsDAjello
Those all look like solid choices.

I'm not so sure on the pricing though as I don't know the conversion rate, or how much the price differences are in canada.

1.00 USD - 1.21815 CAD

And after a review, it actually will be that expensive.

- M4H

 

[the wombat]

Whoa, really? Ultra-D and CVS dont play nice? That sucks... About pricing...tell me if you want me to tell you what the individual components cost.

EDIT: Posted at same time as M4H...methinks prices are in line with other canadian retaillers/etaillers

 

[RussianSensation]

Originally posted by: MercenaryForHire

1.00 USD - 1.21815 CAD

And after a review, it actually will be that expensive.

- M4H

Prices on computer parts are more expensive in Canada. You cant simply compare what you can build in US vs. Canada by using the exchange rates. Also there is a 15% sales tax. I suggest you also look into www.pccanada.com or www.ncix.com for lower prices.

If your goal is to play videogames, scrap that expensive motherboard and get something for $50 cheaper. Also I'd rather get a cheaper case and save another $50. See if you can get an Enermax PSU for cheaper. OCZ is good though. Try to save some $$ and step up from 6600GT to X800XL. Get AT LEAST a 19inch CRT. 17 inch in 21st century is a joke. Viewsonic G90F or Samsung 995 should run $300. Also do you really need a 120gb HDD? I've never filled my 80GB, but that's up to you.

PCCanada.com:

A64 3000+ = $195
512mb DDR PC3200 x 2 = $65 x 2 = $130
Asus® A8N-E, Socket 939, NVIDIA nForce®4 Chipset w/ PCI Express x16 - $165
80GB Seagate SATA - $85
Floppy Drive - $10
Logitech® Cordless MX? Duo, Black/Metallic - $80 (I wouldn't go cordless since the mice are too heavy for gaming and batteries imply you'll be wasting $$$ later)
NEC ND-3520A - $85 (you can get excellent LG-4163 for $5 less)
Logitech® X-530 - $80
Antec® Sonata Piano Black Quiet Mid Tower w/ TruePower 380Watt - $135
Samsung DynaFlat? 997DF-Silver/Black 19in SVGA 0.20hdp N.I. 1920x1440 MPR-II and ENERGY STAR® - $290
Sapphire® Radeon? X800XL - Radeon? X800XL VPU w/256Mb GDDR3 & PCI Express x16 TVO - $450

Total: $1705

I am not sure if the total you included was with taxes or not so I am assuming it was without.

EDIT: I see you mentioned taxes were included. Then I guess $1705 + taxes is a bit stiff. If you are content with a 17 inch monitor you should keep it but I find that too be way too small. I built my first computer in 2001 and out of all components, I've kept the Monitor and Speakers. So I think investing more money into a monitor is worth it. However, if you keep 17 inch monitor, there is no need to get an X800XL and 6600GT will be fine for 1024x768 4AA/8AF. PCCanada.com is what I consider local:

3311 Lakeshore Blvd W.
Etobicoke, Ontario M8W 1M8

 

[the wombat]

Oh yeah-forgot to mention that price includes taxes. I've looked at both pccanada.com and ncix.com and was impressed by some stuff but I'd rather buy locally. 6600gt>x800xl is more like $200 upgrade, not enough money As for the mobo, I really wanted to go for NF4 ultra and all the boards based on that chipset are around $185. (DFI is $189)

 

[MercenaryForHire]

Originally posted by: RussianSensation
Prices on computer parts are more expensive in Canada. You cant simply compare what you can build in US vs. Canada by using the exchange rates. Also there is a 15% sales tax. I suggest you also look into www.pccanada.com or www.ncix.com for lower prices.

Username: MercenaryForHire
Province/State: Ontario
Country: Canada

No sh*t, eh?

- M4H

 

[the wombat]

I really only think I need a 17" CRT. I don't think that's a joke. A 19" would be more than double the cost...

Yeah...I tend to use a lot of space on my computers....music, web dev stuff, some 3d rendering stuff...it all adds up

 

[the wombat]

M4H is Canadian? :thumbsup:

 

[MercenaryForHire]

Originally posted by: the wombat
M4H is Canadian? :thumbsup:

Yep. There's a lot of us here. Come poke around in Off-Topic - if you dare.

- M4H

 

[the wombat]

17" CRT @ 1280x1024 max res. Probably doing most stuff @ that. Canada Computers is local for me, etobicoke is pretty far. I didn't even consider that I needed batteries for my cordless stuffin...Might consider corded now.

Edit: Rechargable batteries! I actually like heavier mice...they feel better in my hand