Critique My System

[CastorTr0y]

Sorry for the popular thread title. I'm going to buy this system in 1-2 weeks, so price could change a little, maybe. Well the system is $2466 from ibuypower.com. Yea, I know it's a lot of money, but I have like $3000 to spend, and don't have any other use for my money. So here we go with the specs:

First off its the Titanium XP from ibuypower

ASUS P4C800 i875
Raid-Com 8-Bay Aluminum Case + See-Thru Window
Blue sound activated cold cathode neon light
Standard 420 W PSU
Thermal Temp LCD Display with 3x fan controller
P4 3.0 ghz
Certified CPU Fan, Heatsink, 2 extra 3-led lighting case fans
2 x 512 meg Corsair PC3500 RAM + Heat Spreader
120 gb 7200 RPM HD
Radeon 9800 Pro 256 mb w/dvi + TV OUT
16x DVD-ROM
52x24x52 CD-RW
Creative Labs Sound Blaster Audigy 5.1 X-Gamer
Klipsch Promedia 5.1 GMX
1.44 MB Floppy Drive
Combo Multimedia Internet KB & Mouse
MS Windows XP Pro Edition
Free 2003 Norton AV
Rounded Cables for Floppy/Hard Disk/DVD/CD-RW Drives
Standard 2x USB 2.0 Ports

Tell me what you think!

Edit: Forgot ViewSonice Perfect Flat 19 in CRT Monitor

 

[minendo]

If you are laying out that much cash, why not spend a little more and get a dvd burner?

Better yet, why don't you do the build yourself?

 

[CastorTr0y]

my parents already have one at home that I can use, if i ever need it. but we have it now, and I don't use it

 

[minendo]

Originally posted by: CastorTr0y
my parents already have one at home that I can use, if i ever need it. but we have it now, and I don't use it

Just saw that you are leaving for college. Take some advice from someone that has been there. Don't go blowing 3 grand on a computer for college. Spend roughly half that, build it yourself, and save the rest for school. The extra $1500 will be quite helpful.

 

[CastorTr0y]

meh, I have an all-you-can-eat meal plan and I'm going to be working part-time. don't see how extra money would be that big of a difference

 

[minendo]

Originally posted by: CastorTr0y
meh, I have an all-you-can-eat meal plan and I'm going to be working part-time. don't see how extra money would be that big of a difference

You'll soon find out.

Have you considered doing your own build though? Much cheaper and you can really get to know how a system goes together, etc.

 

[CastorTr0y]

yea, i've considering building. if i wanted all the same specs, I'd save about $100 tops, not really worth the risk. I already know my way around a pc anyway, i've assembled a pc from barebones before, so i've gotten my feet wet

 

[dexvx]

Originally posted by: CastorTr0y
yea, i've considering building. if i wanted all the same specs, I'd save about $100 tops, not really worth the risk. I already know my way around a pc anyway, i've assembled a pc from barebones before, so i've gotten my feet wet

I'm sorry, but that system, though nice, is not worth the $2500 price tag. You could get far better with $2500, including U320 SCSI, Audigy 2, Kliptsch 5.1 (instead of the GMX) amoung other things.

 

[CastorTr0y]

ive searched around newegg for similar specs, and I haven't been able to find a system for less than 2400. but that's considering i'm putting in all those lights and monitoring things and stuff...

 

[lameaway]

As I always say, you pay so much extra for the extra 20% of performance with the very top-end stuff that its just crazy. With that kind of money you can build a great desktop _and_ buy a nice laptop to boot.

If you insist on spending all that cash on a desktop system, here are my thoughts. For that kind of money it ought to have a very good chassis and power supply.... the botique RAM with heatspreaders is useless unless overclocking - even then, heatspreaders don't help... as is 256mb on your graphics card. In a properly-designed system, you shouldn't have to screw around with a fan controller - it should stay quiet and thermally stable even when floored. If it's going to change its fan speeds, that ought to be done automatically, which it can be for less money. If you're going to be living in a dorm, noise is something you probably should lend some thought to....

 

[Ionizer86]

Yea, I'd cut 600mhz off the P4 and get a cheaper video card, maybe a 9700NP. That'd save like I estimate $500 right there.

While you're at it, there's tons of hard drive hot deals this week. Check out on getting a Maxtor 120 Ultra for $60 or a Maxtor 160 Ultra for $80.