I got $1000 to build my little brother a computer... Need guidance!

[zbose]

My parents want me to teach my little brother how to build a computer (he will use it for boarding school). I am very competent in hardware, only problem is I haven't been on top of prices/peformance lately because I have been totally addicted to paintball for the last 8 months. So, I wanted to get some advice from you guys as to what I should order for him. I want it to perform, but to also be in the sweet spot for price. If you guys could help me find a cheap place to get this stuff that would be great too. My price cap is $1000.

Something like:

Cool looking black case (anyone know where to get a good one?)

via kt133a chipset motherboard, maybe with raid (kt7a raid?)

1ghz T-Bird (doesn't need to be overclocked)

512 MB pc 133 ram

Fast HD, 7200 RPM ~25 Gigs

8x or better cd-burner (doesn't need to be ultra fast)

4x or better DVD (also, just for watching movies, no ripping)

Geforce pro or ultra video card? I am totally unsure of this one, where is the best bang for the buck right now?

Sound card? I have always use whatever i had lying around... this just needs to do stereo and play mp3s.

Optical mouse w/ ratpad

LMK!

-zbose

 

[GameQuoter]

<< My parents want me to teach my little brother how to build a computer (he will use it for boarding school). I am very competent in hardware, only problem is I haven't been on top of prices/peformance lately because I have been totally addicted to paintball for the last 8 months. So, I wanted to get some advice from you guys as to what I should order for him. I want it to perform, but to also be in the sweet spot for price. If you guys could help me find a cheap place to get this stuff that would be great too. My price cap is $1000.

Something like:

Cool looking black case (anyone know where to get a good one?)

via kt133a chipset motherboard, maybe with raid (kt7a raid?)



1ghz T-Bird (doesn't need to be overclocked)

512 MB pc 133 ram

Fast HD, 7200 RPM ~25 Gigs

8x or better cd-burner (doesn't need to be ultra fast)

4x or better DVD (also, just for watching movies, no ripping)

Geforce pro or ultra video card? I am totally unsure of this one, where is the best bang for the buck right now?

Sound card? I have always use whatever i had lying around... this just needs to do stereo and play mp3s.

Optical mouse w/ ratpad

LMK!

-zbose >>



newegg.com

pricewatch

 

[Maverick]

look in the hot deals/for sale forums for help with where to find this stuff. As for recommendations...

Get the 8x phillips burner thats in the hot deals...I think its down to like $30
Get a Geforce Pro for $150...another one thats in the hot deals.
Get a Santa Cruz sound card...I think its lke $62 in a For sale thread.

Go to the forums on Fat Wallet and look for one of the dealers who sells brand new optical mice at very discounted prices...he's an excellent dealer.

Thats all I can recommend so far.

 

[pillage2001]

With that amount of cash, you could prolly build a better than 1Ghz system for your bro. Go with the GTS ultra. Then, get a 1.2Ghz and a A7V133. You want a cool looking black case?? ANTEC sx1030B is the case for ya. It's 1030 model by Antec but not sure if the SX is there.

GO look around in the Hot deals forums and you'll be surprise to see what you can get for 1000 bucks!

 

[zbose]

Well I was also wanting to know if I was picking anything that was not good value for the price right now (especially video cards). When i got my vid card a gts was the thing to have, now what is it?

-zbose

 

[zbose]

WHoops, you replied as i was replying Ill go see what i can find there!

-zbose

 

[circut16]

WD 30 gig 7200
plextor 12/10/32
Aopen 12X DVD
GF pro OK
sound blaster live value

 

[Maverick]

<< you'll be surprise to see what you can get for 1000 bucks! >>



No kidding. I remember like 2 years ago before AMD came onto the scene a 1000 bucks didn't get you crap. Now you can get a high end 1.4 ghz machine for that much!

 

[GameQuoter]

<<

<< you'll be surprise to see what you can get for 1000 bucks! >>



No kidding. I remember like 2 years ago before AMD came onto the scene a 1000 bucks didn't get you crap. Now you can get a high end 1.4 ghz machine for that much! >>



No sh*t for $1200 2 1/2 years ago I got a p2 350 with 64mb of ram with onboard sound and video on a crappy pcchips motherboard complete with crappy case. But I didn't know jack about computers back then and I was excited that it could play Diablo smoothly.

 

[LuNoTiCK]

Black case from Directron.com

Epox 8k7a DDR mobo newegg.com

1ghz t-bird from newegg.com

Taisol CGK 760 heatsink w/ arctic silver 2 from compuwiz1

512mb DDR from crucial

EDIT: IBM 40GB 60GXP HD newegg.com

Keyboard/Mouse http://www.us.buy.com/retail/product.asp?sku=10270283&amp;loc=14809

Yamaha burner from hot deals in staples

Toshiba or Pioneer DVD drive newegg.com

If you dont mind going with another company because if they arent playing games I would suggest getting a radeon or a kryo II vid card. They can also be found at newegg.com

Ratpadz from u know where.

Turtle Beach Santa Cruz from dell.com or mwave.com


Thats a lot of places I see but they seem to all be reliable places.

 

[Helznicht]

&quot;before AMD came onto the scene a 1000 bucks didn't get you crap&quot;

&quot;No sh*t for $1200 2 1/2 years ago I got a p2 350 with 64mb of ram&quot;


BOOOO, 2.5 years ago $1000 bucks got you near top of the line PC if you built it yourself. Nothings changed...

For the last 2 years when ever people asked me how much for a custom built, high performance PC, the answer was always, $1000.

AMD has brought competition to the CPU arena forcing shorter lifespans and quicker discounts.

 

[Mikendi]

I second the directron case - the &quot;Hydralic&quot; one so you don't have to look at mis-colored CD/DVD/Floppy disks. Here is a link:Black case stuffThey've added a nice list of black drives, and well - black everything. ON the other hand - by the time you get everything black you'll be out of money so why not just go beige and buy really good hardware? Good luck

 

[mcveigh]

Texthttp://forums.anandtech.com/messageview.cfm?catid=40&amp;threadid=488595
that is a thread on antec sx1030b black case for $84 its the same one I have and includes a 300watt power supply

 

[LuNoTiCK]

Seriously why get black stuff when all it's going to do is end up costing you more money? Black components are pretty expensive.

 

[zbose]

Well, I just thought he would enjoy a black case. Could always spray paint the components to make them match

-zbose

 

[zbose]

Ok, this looks like where I am headed:

Abit KT7A Raid - 130
1.33 GHZ T-BIRD - 135
Kryo II - 129 (with vid out)
2 Maxtor DiamondMax Plus 20GB 60 Ultra DMA 100 - 154 each
Plextor PlexWriter 12x10x32 Internal EIDE CD-RW - 145
Pioneer 16X DVD Model 106S, 40x CD-ROM, 512k buffer SLOT - 60
Creative Lab sound blaster Live Value PCI Sound Card - 40
GLOBALWIN's CAK38 - 31
512mb PC133 Mushkin Basic w/IBM 64x4* - 79
Case - Undecided

Keyboard and mouse - pick one up from work for now

Totaly so far:
$938 shipped to my door.

Everything but the ram and the case are being ordered from newegg.com... I know its not the cheapest way to go, but it will be much more convienent for me. If there is anything that I could obtain VASTLY cheaper anywhere else, than let me know

 

[Snoop]

Why pc133? The DDR memory and motherboards are just as cheap and they give a fair performance boost.

 

[zbose]

i thought ddr was still the spendy way to go?

-zbose

 

[Jasonh100]

things have changed

 

[WarCon]

Was wondering where monitor and speakers come in? Or don't you need them?

 

[zbose]

well i have an extra 17 &quot; monitor, and speakers... well he has my dads big stereo system to use at home for now

-zbose

 

[Gustavus]

zbose
You are paying too much for too little for the harddrives. You can get the Maxtor 30.7Gig 7200 RPM drives for $100 each at several places. If you have a CompUSA near you they are often available there which will save shipping, but a quick check on PriceWatch showed them for $99 just now. You may as well get 50% more capacity and pay 33% less.

The $100 you save will pay for the speakers.

No modem?

 

[LuNoTiCK]

You can get the ibm 40gb 60gxp hard drives for like 110 dollars each from newegg. Definately go with DDR from crucial. Go with the Epox 8k7a+ if you want to do the raid. Thats way to much for the plextor cdrw drive. Go with the aopen 1232a from newegg.com its cheaper and it's about equal to the plextor, but I still think the yamaha is the better way to go. Since you dont want to do it that way. All my suggestions are being ignored or something? Go with the santa cruz from dell.com or mwave.com. So much better. And again go with the Taisol cgk 760 from compuwiz1 with some arctic silver 2.

 

[Dark4ng3l]

well get yourself an extra cdrom with that dvd rom. I dont know why im saying this but ive always though dvd and cdrw drivers were crappier cd readers than normal cdroms.