Did I get my moneys worth? Part 2

[ohdamniskev]

I promised to update when i got my computer so.....

http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview...atid=27&threadid=1688677&enterthread=y

I bought a computer for $699.99 + $45 shipping, the total coming out to $745.00. I was a bit skeptical since it was Ebay. Took the computer approximately 1 month to get to me but it's here nonetheless.

Here's a link to the auction:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi...&rd=1&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWN%3AIT&rd=1

What it was supposed to come with:

Case: Antec 1650B Black Tower
Power Supply: 350 Watt ATX
Motherboard: ASUS A8NE-FM / PCI Express / 1GHz HyperTransport Bus
Processor: 3500+ AMD Athlon 64 / Socket 939
Memory: 1GB (1024MB) DDR 400 SDRAM (PC 3200) / 3 GB Max
Floppy Drive: SONY Black 1.44MB
Hard Disk 1: 74GB Western Digital Raptor 10,000 RPM SATA
Hard Disk 2: 160GB Western Digital Caviar SE 7,200 RPM SATA
Optical Drive: Pioneer A09
Other Drive: Multi Format Flash Card Reader
Video: 256MB NVIDIA GeForce 6800 GT PCI Express Video Card
Sound: 6-channel Realtek Audio
Network: 10/100Mbps Ethernet Adapter
Ports: High-speed USB 2.0
OS: Windows Media Center Edition with License and CD (to be installed by customer)

Now when he sent the computer, it was a little different due to some incompatibilities.
Here's what I actually got:

CASE: 1650B Antec Black Tower
POWER SUPPLY: 350 ATX Antec Trupower
MOTHERBOARD: A8NE-FM
PROCESSOR: Venice 3500+
MEMORY: Nanya 1024GB DDR 400 SDRAM (PC 3200) 2x 512 DIMMS
VIDEO CARD: XFX 6800 GT
FLOPPY DRIVE: Black Sony Floppy Drive
HARD DISK 1: Hitachi 400gb Deskstar 7k400 7,200 RPM
OPTICAL DRIVE: Pioneer 110D DVD RW/R
OTHER DRIVE: Multi Format Flash Card Reader
OPERATING SYSTEM: Windows XP Professional
BUNDLED SOFTWARE FOR DELAY: Battlefield 1942, Prince of Persia, Madden 2004, Command Conquer Generals, Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2004, Nero Burning Software, Norton AntiVirus 2005, and Power DVD

Now, I'm pretty sure I got my moneys worth but now I have a few questions.

1) Originally I thought the Asus A8NE-FM was actually the Asus A8N-e and just a mistype. However, it's different as it's regular nForce 4 chipset and not ultra. I want to overclock so would it be best to switch motherboards or would I be fine using this?

2) Nanya Technologies.... never heard of them! The memory, is it quality RAM? If not, I plan on switching to Corsair or OCZ.

3) I'm pretty sure the 350 Antec ATX PSU isn't enough if I plan on OC... any reccomendations?

4) Originally, the computer was supposed to come with a 74gb Raptor and 160 WD 7,200 RPM hard drives. Instead, it was swapped with a Hitachi 400gb 7,200 RPM. Is it a good enough trade off? Maybe since the mobo is nForce4 and not ultra it's not supported?

5) Any reccomendations on what I should change or switch up within the computer? Let me know thanks!

 

[stevty2889]

Looks good for the price, athough I'd be a bit suspicous with parts being changed from what was in the auction. Never heard of Nanya memory myself, but as long as it passes memtest and runs stable, I wouldn't bother switching.

Is the new drive still a SATA drive or IDE? There is nothing incompatible about the 2 original hard drives with the motherboard. If I was suppposed to be getting a raptor, and got something else instead, I wouldn't be happy.

Yeah, if you want to OC, you should probably get a bigger PSU, but it wouldn't hurt to try with the current PSU first. I was able to OC a 2.8ghz prescott to 3.5ghz, with dual raptors and a 6800GT with a 350w enermax.

 

[AmberClad]

Originally posted by: ohdamniskev
2) Nanya Technologies.... never heard of them! The memory, is it quality RAM? If not, I plan on switching to Corsair or OCZ.

They only make OEM chips + RAM modules. IIRC, their customers include Dell, Mushkin, Kingston, Corsair, and some others who just rebrand the Nanyas. Can't remember who OCZ and Crucial get their chips from (Samsung?). I suspect Dell pull in this case since Nanya doesn't usually sell to end users, AFAIK. In any case, it seems slightly pointless to switch to Corsair RAM.

 

[d2arcturus]

Originally posted by: AmberClad
Can't remember who OCZ and Crucial get their chips from (Samsung?).

I believe so, also Winbond, etc...

Yeah I'd rather have the Raptor and Caviar, I'd demand some compensation for the speed (space is obviously made up for).

 

[Corporate Thug]

i think thats an excellent deal

 

[GuitarDaddy]

I agree I'd rather have the raptor and the wd160, but dollar wise it's an even swap.
And there should have been no compatability problems with that board, the vanilla NF4 boards support sata.

But for $699 you got a steal, bet he was none to happy shipping that one off

Basically you paid retail for the CPU,GPU & HDD, and got the rest for free

 

[Nutdotnet]

Looks like you got a great deal!

But, as GuitarDaddy said, I'd rather have the two drives as opposed to the one. With two drives you can have a backup if the other craps out on you.