House burgled...computer stolen need help.

[fishmonger12]

i'd build a 1.5k gaming rig (more than enough for everquest 2) and buy a 1.5k laptop. no reason to spend 3k on one system.

 

[Chinoman]

buy 3x1k systems and have a LAN with him and one other buddy!!!

 

[GuitarDaddy]

DFI NF4 Ultra D $152
Silerstone Temjin $168.50
AMD 4000+ Retail Box $655
Patriot Dual Channel 1GB $183
Leadtech 6800 Ultra $649
WD 74GB Raptor $180
WD 200GB SATA $178
Athena Power 550 EPS12 $84
<a target=_blank class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?
description=27-152-038&depa=1">Nec 3520A DVD burner $63</a>
Lite-on DVD $24.50
Viewsonic 20.1" 16ms LCD Monitor $698.99

Grand Total $3,036.55 plus shipping

 

[iamskew]

MSI "K8N Neo4 Platinum" NVIDIA nForce4 Ultra - $159.00
NVIDIA GF6800U-256-B - BFG Tech GeForce 6800 Ultra O.C. - $490.00
SILVERSTONE Black Mid Tower-ATX Case, Model "SST-TJ01" - $88.00
Lite-On Black 52X32X52X16 Combo Drive, Model SOHC-5235K BLACK, OEM - $38.00
NEC 16X Double Layer DVD±RW Drive, Black, Model ND-3520A BK, OEM - $61.99
<a target=_blank class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="http://www.newegg.com/app/viewProductDesc.asp?description=22-144-160&catalog=23&manufactory=BROWSE">
Western Digital Raptor 74GB 10,000RPM SATA Hard Drive, Model WD740GD, OEM Drive Only - $180.00</a>
<a target=_blank class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="http://www.newegg.com/app/viewProductDesc.asp?description=22-148-040&catalog=23&manufactory=BROWSE">
Seagate 80 GB Barracuda 7200RPM SATA with NCQ Hard Drive, Model ST380817AS, OEM - $69.00</a>
http://www.newegg.com/app/viewProductDe...-145-480&catalog=23&manufactory=BROWSE"> Corsair Value Select Dual Channel Kit 184 Pin 1G(512MBx2) DDR PC-3200 - Retail - $138.00</a>
<a target=_blank class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="http://www.newegg.com/app/viewProductDesc.asp?description=24-002-038&catalog=23&manufactory=BROWSE">
NEC/MITSUBISHI FE991SB 19" SuperBright Diamondtron CRT Monitor ?RETAIL - $245.00</a><a target=_blank class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="http://www.newegg.com/app/viewProductDesc.asp?description=17-104-934&catalog=23&manufactory=BROWSE">
Fortron Blue Storm 500W ATX12V V2.0 Power Supply with 120mm Fan, P4 and AMD ready, Model "AX500-A" -RETAIL - $89.00</a>
Microsoft Windows XP HOME Edition With Service Pack 2 -OEM - $92.25
edit: forgot the most important part:
AMD Athlon 64 3500+, 2.2 GHz, 512KB L2 Cache 64-bit Socket 939 Processor - Retail - $280.00
And that still leaves you withalmost $1000 to play with for speakers, a printer, scanner, tv tuner card...another monitor...etc...

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

How "computer-ish" do the purchases have to be?

If it were me, I'd spend $1500 on the real computer + monitor and then spend the other half on a HT sound system to go with it. If he's not going to need SLI or huge storage and doesn't want a big LCD, it would probably be silly to spend $3k on it.

You can get some really nice sound equipment for $1500.
something like
$400 sub
$400 receiver
$700 on speakers

mmmm... droool

spending $1500 on a HT set is going to keep its value longer than $1500 in cutting edge computer parts. He'd get a lot more enjoyment out of a quality sound system than getting the performance gains going from a $1500 system to a $3000 system I'd imagine, especially if he was playing on a 3 yr old computer.

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

ok, quick check on what you could get for around a 50/50 split with computer and sound system

Computer:
CPU: AMD 3200+ 939 = $193
Vid: Geforce 6800 GT = $450
Case: Antec Sonata = $99
Drive: NEC DVD burner = $62
Floppy: whatever = $8
HDD: WD 74gig raptor = $180
Keyboard: Logitech Elite = $26
Mouse: Logetech MX1000 = $62
RAM: Corsair value select 2x512mb pc3200 = $138
MB: DFI Lanparty NF4 Ultra = $152
Sound: Chaintech AV710 = $25


so, total is under $1700 shipped. I don't want to annoy anyone with the following comment, but performance should be pretty close to a system you spent considerably more on to get bleeding edge stuff.

So, that leaves about $1300 for sound system.
Receiver: Pioneer 1014 = $400
Sub: SVS PB10 = $450
Speakers:
Onix rockey ELT pair on sale @$129 x 3 = $387
or
Fluance SX-HTB = $269
total: $1200 to $1300 about

I kinda went overboard on the sub and receiver on that... it would be a better idea to spend more on the speakers compared to the other two that I just did, but you get the idea.

Maybe Ascend Acoustics CBM-170s x 5 = $800
or
Paradigm Titans and a CC-270 center for about $750

add in a $200 receiver and $300 sub...


Well, you don't have to spend that much on the sound either. Maybe add in an Onkyo HTIB from Circuit City for $500 and you'll have something better and more versitile than computer speakers. If you're going to spend $3000, might as well.

 

[ribbon13]

$124 - Enlight EN-8950
http://us.enlightcorp.com/products/server/detel.php?kind=servercases&serial=23
http://www.buy.com/retail/product.asp?s...55094&Type=PE&Category=Comp&dcaid=1688

$200 - PC Power & Cooling Turbo-Cool 510 AG
http://pcpowercooling.com/products/powe...formance/turbocools/index_hp_atx-2.htm

$580 - Tyan Thunder K8WE S2895UA2NRF
http://tyan.com/products/html/thunderk8we.html
http://www.8anet.com/merchant.ihtml?pid=2416&lastcatid=5&step=4

2x$205 - AMD Opteron 242 Retail
http://www.amd.com/us-en/Processors/ProductInformation/0,,30_118_8796,00.html
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=19-103-389&depa=0

4x $175 - Corsair CMX512RE-3200LL
http://www.corsairmicro.com/corsair/xms.html
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=20-145-462&depa=0

$540 - Seagate Cheetah 15k.3 ST373453LW
http://www.seagate.com/cda/products/dis...es/marketing/detail/0,1081,548,00.html
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=22-111-138&depa=0

$192 - eVGA 6600GT 128-P2-N368-TX
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=14-130-214&depa=0

$62 - NEC 3520a
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=27-152-035&depa=0

$8 - NEC FD1231H-302
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=21-152-005&depa=0

$200 - NEC/MITSUBISHI AS900-BK
http://www.necmitsubishi.com/products/P...lassificationFamily=1&Classification=1
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=24-002-248&depa=0

$3016

 

[ribbon13]

For the love of not wasting your money, if you do buy a reciever get a Denon.
http://www.mydigitaluniverse.com/category.asp?DID=3

 

[Patrick Wolf]

Wow, some of you find the worst prices for stuff. Don't forget NewEgg isn't always the best, usually far from it. I've never ordered anything from NewEgg, I've always found much cheaper prices on other sites, (ex: zipzoomfly.com).

Go to pricewatch.com or pricegrabber.com to find the best prices.

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Originally posted by: ribbon13
For the love of not wasting your money, if you do buy a reciever get a Denon.
http://www.mydigitaluniverse.com/category.asp?DID=3

Have you even heard of the Pioneer 1014? I'm assuming by your comment that you think it's a waste of money.

 

[Zepper]

Great minds wallow in the same gutter eh, overclock...

.bh.

 

[hugekebab]

DONT get a logitech mx1000 if youre an fps gamer. if you lift the mouse sometimes the laser shuts off causing horrendous lag.

 

[ribbon13]

Originally posted by: YOyoYOhowsDAjello
Have you even heard of the Pioneer 1014? I'm assuming by your comment that you think it's a waste of money.

Being snide and then assuming? Batting a thousand!

I've heard the 1014 and on speakers whose F10 wasn't 90Hz The 1014 is awesome for the price, but I'm thinking that if he had a stereo, he's getting seperate insurance money for that. In that case I would seriously consider a Denon AVR-2805 or 3805 instead of a Pioneer.

 

[hugekebab]

with that money you may aswell go for silence too.

get the new antec p180 to aid system silence it will be out very soon. buy damping material. get a thermaltake xp-120 heatsink, with a panaflo 120mm. use panaflos 120's all in the case for cooling to aid system silence.

for the raptor get a drive cage to silence and aid cooling. add a samsung spinpoint with a nidec motor as a second storage drive (very quiet).

get the galaxy 6800 gt or gu, this has the artic cooling quieter cooling system which will a. remove hot air from the case, and b. is much quieter than the stock fan.

get a SilenX 600w iXtrema Pro PSU. check before that its compatible for sli, cus you need hefty rails for tht.

get a Thermaltake Hardcano 12 fan controller.

processor wise forget the 3800+ its gonna suck up so much of the budget for little gain, and with the thermal right hs you are gonna be able to overclock the 3500+ like crazy. btw get the winchester core, someone gave you a link to a newcastle.

dfi lanparty sli mobo is a fanatastic new motherboard.

go for corsair cas 2 pc3200 will cost £260 for two gig.

 

[ohnnyj]

Originally posted by: mwmorph
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=13-130-487&depa=1
MSI "K8N Neo4 Platinum SLI-$189
http://www.newegg.com/app/viewproductdesc.asp?description=14-130-196&DEPA=1
eVGA nVIDIA GeForce 6800 Ultra Video Card-$439 <--SLI=878

Originally posted by: iamskew
MSI "K8N Neo4 Platinum" NVIDIA nForce4 Ultra - $159.00
NVIDIA GF6800U-256-B - BFG Tech GeForce 6800 Ultra O.C. - $490.00

Neither of these video cards will work with the posted motherboard, PCIe needed.

Get couple of these instead.

 

[mustap]

hm.i should put someone rob me too.

another vote to 1pc+1laptop configuration
thumbs down to sli

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Originally posted by: ribbon13

Originally posted by: YOyoYOhowsDAjello
Have you even heard of the Pioneer 1014? I'm assuming by your comment that you think it's a waste of money.

Being snide and then assuming? Batting a thousand!

I've heard the 1014 and on speakers whose F10 wasn't 90Hz The 1014 is awesome for the price, but I'm thinking that if he had a stereo, he's getting seperate insurance money for that. In that case I would seriously consider a Denon AVR-2805 or 3805 instead of a Pioneer.

hehe.

Well, I agree that if you're going to bump the budget up to the 2805 or 3805 range, they are very nice receivers. I thought you meant getting the pioneer 1014 (and it seemed everything else in the receiver market) was a waste of money vs. the $400 denon options...

 

[iamskew]

johnny...i forgot to double check...the link i clicked when i picked it said pci-e

 

[ohnnyj]

Originally posted by: iamskew
johnny...i forgot to double check...the link i clicked when i picked it said pci-e

No biggie, just he would have a tough time trying to force those $500+ cards into a PCIe slot .

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Originally posted by: ohnnyj

Originally posted by: iamskew
johnny...i forgot to double check...the link i clicked when i picked it said pci-e

No biggie, just he would have a tough time trying to force those $500+ cards into a PCIe slot .

Yeah, that would suck big time if he broke something trying to jam it in there

Well, while anandtech was down for a while I decided to see what some options might be for sub / receiver options for $500 total.

Seems like the JBL E250 is a good option for a sub at $200

That leaves $300 for the receiver, and at that point maybe an Onkyo 502 would be a good choice at $200... maybe a 602 for $300 too.

You could also go another route with getting a really nice sub and a cheapo receiver, or getting a nicer receiver and a cheapo sub.

nice sub w/ cheapo receiver could be an SVS PB10 or an HSU model with a Sherwood as a receiver....

nice receiver with cheapo sub option might be the Pioneer 1014 with a dayton 10" sub from partsexpress

 

[jjsbasmt]

This is my first post. Glad to be in the company of such computer savy people. Why hasn't anyone thought of spending some of that insurance money on a good alarm system to prevent future thefts? I'm disappointed at all of you. (smiles) I await your responses.

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Originally posted by: jjsbasmt
This is my first post. Glad to be in the company of such computer savy people. Why hasn't anyone thought of spending some of that insurance money on a good alarm system to prevent future thefts? I'm disappointed at all of you. (smiles) I await your responses.

If he gets $3000 to replace a computer that's not worth $3000 when it gets stolen, why have an alarm system? hehe.

I'd love it if someone stole my computer and I got $3000 to replace it with new stuff

 

[ribbon13]

The best subwoofer that $350 can buy
The 12" Titanic MKIII Subwoofer kit
The 15" Titanic MKIII Subwoofer kit

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

I like how this thread has changed from "make my friend a $3000 computer" to "diy subwoofer"

edit: hope that doesn't come off as something against you ribbon, i mean i started it heh

 

[ssvegeta1010]

Originally posted by: mwmorph
http://www.newegg.com/app/viewproductdesc.asp?description=11-133-132&DEPA=1
Thermaltake VA3000 Dream Tower Black-$112
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=20-141-198&depa=1
PQI POWER Series 184-Pin 1GB DDR PC-3200-149.99<--buy 2=$300

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=17-103-478&depa=0
Sparkle 550W-$109

^
Get this Sparkle, it has 2 less Amps on the 12V rail, but has a powerful single rail (which ive heard is actually better than dual or triple rails)
Also costs less.


http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=19-103-465&depa=1
AMD Athlon 64 3800+, 512KB L2 Cache, 64-bit Processor, Socket 939-$425
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=13-130-487&depa=1
MSI "K8N Neo4 Platinum SLI-$189
http://www.newegg.com/app/viewproductdesc.asp?description=27-101-632&DEPA=0
BenQ 16x, Dual Layer DVD+/-RW-$52 <--BUY TWO=104
http://www.newegg.com/app/viewproductdesc.asp?description=14-130-196&DEPA=1
eVGA nVIDIA GeForce 6800 Ultra Video Card-$439 <--SLI=878
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=22-144-366&depa=1
WD Raptor Series 74GB-$229
http://www.newegg.com/app/viewproductdesc.asp?description=37-102-153&DEPA=6
Microsoft Windows XP Professional With Service Pack 2-$143
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=23-126-114&depa=0
Logitech Elite Keyboard USB/ PS/2 104keys-$26
http://www.newegg.com/app/viewProductDesc.asp?description=26-104-158&DEPA=0
Logitech Laser Cordless Mouse (Blue/Black), Model "MX1000"-$62
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=24-116-282&depa=0
ViewSonic G90FB 19" PerfectFlat CRT Monitor-$209
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=36-121-121&depa=0
Logitech Z-5300e 5.1 THX Certified Speaker System-$143.50
TOTAL:3019.50
minus 90 for a cheaper PSU, with about the same specs.