For $1000.....

[thawolfman]

...what kind of system would you build? I've got a buddy who's looking to me to build him a system, and his father's giving him a budget of $1000 to build one. As it stands now, I'm looking at the Samsung 955DF and an Antec SX830(both retail) for like 245 shipped free from emscomputing, which I think is a pretty damn good deal. With that in mind, what would you guys use to build him up a system...he's going to be living on campus in the fall so he wants something for standard gaming/surfing/schoolwork, etc.

We were previously working w/ a budget of $600 so I did the best I could and parted it out to this with stuff from NewEgg(prices include shipping):

ECS K7S5A(onboard LAN & sound) - $59
Gainward GF3 Ti200 - $119
56X CDRom - $26
OEM AthlonXP 1600+ - $66 (still need a kinda cheap/quiet HSF)
Maxtor 40GB D740X - $78
Keyboard/Mouse - $33
256 PC2100 from Crucial - $67
56K Modem - $25
Floppy - $13

That's $486 right there, and if you factor in another $250 from EMS computing, it comes out to $736 total, which leaves us $264 to spend, and we still need speakers.

If anyone could go through and upgrade some of the pieces that they think need upgrading, and maybe recommend a good HS/F, I'd appreciate it

 

[MrHappyMonkey]

look around the hot deals forum a bit. A fast CD-RW can be had for ~$30 and a 40 gig drive can be had after rebate for ~$50. I would also bump up the ram to 512mb, again look on hot deals for pricies.

 

[SWirth86]

Why aren't you getting a CD Burner? Lite-Ons are pretty cheap.

Also, Seagate Barracuda IV 60GB 7200RPM is available for 88 at Newegg.....10 bucks for 20 gigs more....

For speakers, maybe the Creative Labs Inspire Slim 2600 2.1 system? 60 bucks retail.

What kind of keyboard/mouse?

Looks pretty good

 

[amnesiac]

- More ram. 512MB would be better.
- Better mobo. IMO the ECS is ass. Go for an MSI KT3-Ultra for like $18 more.
- Get a GF4 TI 4200 for $40 more
- CD-RW instead of CDROM.

 

[thawolfman]

thx so far, anyone else?

 

[LordMaul]

I'm bumping this because he promised me some m4d man sehcks.

 

[zzzz]

get the speakers form EMS as well. Logitech z560/ Altec lansing 641. They are both about $150 and free shipping. Dont know if you can find cheaper shipped though.

 

[UlricT]

Well... if the guy is gonna be living on-campus, you might wanna take out the 56k modem coz most dorms have links into the university T1/T3 lines right? Also, You might wanna add more storage to that config of yours, coz you never know how much pr0n he'll be dnlding...

Hey... don't you wanna count software into the budget as well??? hmmmmm?????

 

[mchammer187]

i would go with an Intel setup esp if his dorm is not A/C ed you do not want him to drive his roomate crazy with a delta black label to get decent temps

i would go this route



Abit BG7 $120
512 MB DDR $60 AR (wait for a PNY memory deal and hand pick some samsung chips)
350 Watt Antec PSU $50 (unless the case has one)
GF Ti4200 128 MB $170
80 GB Cuda from dell $90
CDRW from hot deals $20 AR
Turtle Beach Santa Cruz + Logitech z540 $80 at Compusa this week
$15 intel NIC
+ case + monitor

get keyboard free AR

get an optical mouse

doh forgot the cpu 1.8 A northwood $170

 

[Rhombuss]

My suggestion would be to get an ATI 8500LE (while they still last), which is about $20 cheaper than the GeForce 3 that you listed, and faster. Also, I would get an 80GB HDD rather than a 40GB. The cost per GB is cheapest right now with an 80GB so technically it's a better deal.