Is this a good deal?

[yenzoon]

I'm currently looking to spend less than a grand on a budget gaming computer and somebody I know who works at a local computer shop offered to build me the following system for $850. Now, I've been out of the loop for a while, last time I remember researching hardware was in the pentium 4, Radeon 9800 pro days 🙂

Anyhow here's the specs:

Intel Core 2 Duo E6750
2 GB DDR2 667 RAM
500 GB SATA HDD
Dual Layer DVD+/-RW
Geforce 9600 GT

As for the case, PSU and mobo he said he would use whatever's in stock at the shop, he assured me that they would all be high quality components

As for the OS I can choose between XP Pro SP2 and Vista Home Premium SP1, I'm not quite sure which to go with, perhaps you guys can give me a few pointers on this? I know that XP is less of a resource hog and you get a slightly higher framerate in most games as a result. Then again, I'm intending to use this as my main rig for the next couple of years, so I would like to go as future proof as possible. I'm kind of leaning towards Vista at the moment, since I'm afraid that XP might get phased out and microsoft might stop supporting it in the future and Vista will only get better with more updates and perhaps another Service Pack right?

Anyhow I was intending on building my own pc, but the video card on my desktop just fried yesterday and I need a working computer ASAP. At this point I don't really have the time to buy all the parts and build my own, since I need to get back up and running ASAP. The video card that fried was my trusty old Radeon 9800 Pro by the way ;( I was thinking of getting a cheap video card just to get back up and running, but since I have about $900 saved up anyways I figured I might as well go with a new system altogether since my old system is quite outdated.

Anyways, the guy is willing to back up the system with a 2 year warranty which is pretty nice (at no extra charge) 🙂

So...as the topic states is this a good deal? Anandtech's always been a good place for advice (I used to browse this place religiously 3-4 years ago..unfortunately I am now an out-of-the-loop nincompoop).

P.S. for those of you wondering how I am typing this, I'm on one of those sluggish public use computers at the library -_-

..Long post..hopefully you guys have some coffee at hand 🙂

Edit: So basically to sum things up..

1. Is the above system a good deal at $850

2. Should I get Windows XP Pro SP2 or Vista Home Premium for the OS?

 

[Arcanedeath]

850 Seems a bit much w/out knowing what motherboard PSU or Case cost wise what you have breaks down as follows
Intel Core 2 Duo E6750 (not a good choice get a Q6600 or E8400 @ 200ish) 189
2 GB DDR2 667 RAM ~ 35 depending on brand and timings
500 GB SATA HDD 90ish
Dual Layer DVD+/-RW ~30
Geforce 9600 GT ~135-150 (pny one is 135 after rebate @ newegg)

Xp or Vista OEM is about another 100 or possbly less depending on which your getting
so total worst case you've got $594 leaveing $256 for the rest and this is based on newegg prices for the most part you can do better if you shop it. Now on the upside they put it together for you and test it so that is worth something but w/out knowing the 3 missing components we can't really tell you if its a good deal or not.

edit: OS is whatever your prefrence is w/ only 2GB you may want to stick w/ XP

 

[nerp]

No, not a good deal, imho. You could get 4GB DDR2 memory, a better E8400 or X3110 for much less and add in a decent case, PSU, find a good deal on a 500GB HD and burner, and you'll probably be a bit lower than $850 and I can promise you you'll have better components in many cases.

BUT.

Are you willing to build it yourself? Sometimes letting someone else build it is worth the added cost.

 

[yenzoon]

Well, that's the thing, I need to get back up and running as quick as I can and it would take me at least a week to purchase all the parts and build my own system. I think I forgot to mention that the pricing is in Canadian dollars and I think parts are more expensive here than in the US in general. So from what I understand the price is reasonable, but not that great right?

 

[yenzoon]

By the way arcanedeath are those prices including sales tax and shipping? Because, wow those are great prices!

Computer parts are getting so cheap these days 🙂

 

[Arcanedeath]

I don't live in a state newegg taxes. Check the hot deals forum most of what I listed can be found there or even cheaper for the most part it does not include tax or shipping but in most cases shipping was free or reduced. The CPU is from microcenter though 🙂

 

[DSF]

Considering that you need the computer immediately and it comes with a 2-year warranty it's not a terrible deal. It's not a great deal though. I wouldn't agree to that price without knowing what the motherboard, case and PSU are at the very least.

 

[Rockhound1]

Originally posted by: DSF
Considering that you need the computer immediately and it comes with a 2-year warranty it's not a terrible deal. It's not a great deal though. I wouldn't agree to that price without knowing what the motherboard, case and PSU are at the very least.

I agree with DSF. The price isn't that bad if it is $850 Canadian, you get the computer quickly, and you get a 2-yr warranty. But, like DSF said, I would want to know what the motherboard, case and PSU are...