Custom Computer for a low price..

J

josherz

CAGiversary!
I have like 800$$ and i need to know what to buy, i cant build my own im not very smart but i need one really bad i have half life 2 and i cant even PLAY IT on my gay computer so please post where or if u can build id love to hear what u can do for no more than 800$$.;)
 
Actually, building a computer is quite easy. All you need is a couple of hours (for your first time, of course) and a couple of tools. I'd say that the hardest part of building a computer is picking the right components, and you would have to do that anyway if you purchased from iBuyPower.
 
Thx for the ibuypower.com but i dont feel like learning how to put it together are their any other sites?
 
Building a computer is insanely simple. You can build your own for about half the price you would pay for a name brand PC.
 
If you own your own OS from a previous pc you can get a no-os system from tiger direct or other sites. This way you don't have to bulid it yourself and your not wasting cash on "free" bundled software from the big boys. You get more machine for the $$$ this way.
 
www.ibuypower.com builds the computer for you. Other than that all major computer companies alow you to customize computers now, but price is variable and usually only reasonable after rebates. I personally got my media center from office depot during a big sale payed about 1000$ after rebates (with 17 inch lcd monitor) and the nice part is i bought it in september and they are still charging more than i payed for it :) which usually doesn't happen.
 
i just need os... no monitors, mouses, keyboards deals just the computer... ^_^ i hope that makes the thing a bit cheaper because i have a nice mouse and all that i just need a better computer.
 
I bought all my parts from newegg.com for about $1000 about 6 months ago. Plays HL2 just dandy. Sold my 3 yr old alienware for $500 so made the deal even sweeter
 
It's not really a hot deal but Circuit City has a pretty nice Sony VAIO (3Ghz 512 Meg of RAM) for $650.00 after rebate. However I think you would need to add a video card and more memory to really sizzle and that would probably put you over the $800 mark.
 
These are the parts id want:


CASE : X-BLADE Mid-Tower 450W W/ WINDOW & LCD Temperature Display + FAN CONTROL
CPU : Intel® Pentium® 4 CPU 630 CPU w/HT Technology 3.0GHZ 800FSB 2MB Cache, 64 Bit
MOTHERBOARD : MSI 915P COMBO F I915P CHIPSET SOCKET775 PCI EXPRESS MB W/ SATA, GIGABITE LAN & 7.1 SOUND
MEMORY : 1024 MB PC3200 400MHz Dual Channel DDR MEMORY (HARD DRIVE : 160GB 7200 RPM ATA 100 HARD DRIVE
VIDEO CARD : NVIDIA Geforce 6200 Graphics with TurboCache supporting 256MB 16X PCI Express VIDEO CARD
Optical Drive : 16X DVD ROM
Optical Drive 2 : CD-RW 52X32X52
SOUND : Creative Labs SB LIVE 24.bit 7.1
 
Does Ibuypower use the best parts? Would it just be good to "customize" a PC on that site and then use the same parts and build your own?
 
Hmm... I'm looking at the following.

AMD 64 San Diego 3800+ (or 3700, whichever comes in San Diego, I forget) retail
1GB DDR400 PC3200 (need recommendations for a good model + brand)
120-200GB SATA hard drive (whichever was the best deal, I forget, I found one)
GeForce 6600GT PCI-E
$80-99 motherboard with PCI-E/nforce 4 chipset/SATA
Sony $50 dual-layer/format DVD-RW
generic DVD-ROM
Lian-Li PC-60USB case (should I spend $99 on the case, or get the PC-60+ for $129, which upgrades 2 of the fans to 120mm, do I need that much cooling, I don't plan on overclocking)
Antec 480W powersupply
SoundBlaster Live (their cheap 24-bit 7.1 one)
Um... I hope I didn't forget anything (I'll just buy whatever for the mouse/keyboard).

I plan on getting everything from newegg...

If you guys wanna look at that, I'd appreciate it...

Also, I don't have a lot of confidence. I tried to install RAM on an old PC I have, and couldn't even do it, because there is no tray that comes out for the motherboard, and the RAM slots were blocked by the drive cage, but the drive cage screws were blocked by the motherboard.

If I can't do that, how do I know I won't have problems getting things to fit in the case in my built PC?

Also, I looked at tons of custom-build places on the web, at resellerratings.com, and I can't find a single place without tons of horror stories, including ibuypower.
 
Those are some okay parts, but I would skip the sound card and put that money into a better video card. The video card is more important and you can always add the sound card in later. I would get the 6600 or the 6600 GT. I also thought the case was a little flashy, but that is my opinion. I liked the Wavemaster better.

And, if you want more hard drive space, check the sunday paper. Places like bestbuy, circuit city, OD, OM, and Staples all have hard drives on sale at least every other week. Last week my dad picked up an 80 gig hard drive that was $20 after rebates.
 
[quote name='erehwon']Those are some okay parts, but I would skip the sound card and put that money into a better video card. The video card is more important and you can always add the sound card in later. I would get the 6600 or the 6600 GT. I also thought the case was a little flashy, but that is my opinion. I liked the Wavemaster better.

And, if you want more hard drive space, check the sunday paper. Places like bestbuy, circuit city, OD, OM, and Staples all have hard drives on sale at least every other week. Last week my dad picked up an 80 gig hard drive that was $20 after rebates.[/QUOTE]

Yeah, I agree. Dump the sound card for a 6600. And if I was buying that system, I'd get an AMD processor.
 
[quote name='BlaseDeviant']Hmm... I'm looking at the following.

AMD 64 San Diego 3800+ (or 3700, whichever comes in San Diego, I forget) retail
1GB DDR400 PC3200 (need recommendations for a good model + brand)
120-200GB SATA hard drive (whichever was the best deal, I forget, I found one)
GeForce 6600GT PCI-E
$80-99 motherboard with PCI-E/nforce 4 chipset/SATA
Sony $50 dual-layer/format DVD-RW
generic DVD-ROM
Lian-Li PC-60USB case (should I spend $99 on the case, or get the PC-60+ for $129, which upgrades 2 of the fans to 120mm, do I need that much cooling, I don't plan on overclocking)
Antec 480W powersupply
SoundBlaster Live (their cheap 24-bit 7.1 one)
Um... I hope I didn't forget anything (I'll just buy whatever for the mouse/keyboard).

I plan on getting everything from newegg...

If you guys wanna look at that, I'd appreciate it...

Also, I don't have a lot of confidence. I tried to install RAM on an old PC I have, and couldn't even do it, because there is no tray that comes out for the motherboard, and the RAM slots were blocked by the drive cage, but the drive cage screws were blocked by the motherboard.

If I can't do that, how do I know I won't have problems getting things to fit in the case in my built PC?

Also, I looked at tons of custom-build places on the web, at resellerratings.com, and I can't find a single place without tons of horror stories, including ibuypower.[/QUOTE]

There are lots of good RAM manufacturers, but I'd recommend looking at Newegg's reviews. If a lot of people have a lot of positive things to say about a particular memory, it's probably worth getting. Since you aren't overclocking, I wouldn't recommend any high-performance RAM. For the average user, premium RAM is just a waste of money.

I have a couple of other suggestions: Get the cheaper Lian-Li case, it'll stay cool enough (and probably make less noise). If you want to save some cash, get a Thermaltake PSU instead of the Antec. They're cheaper, and IMO more reliable. I've never had trouble with a Thermaltake. Also, don't bother with the sound card unless: 1) You have a set of 7.1 speakers, or 2) The MB doesn't have anything built-in. It won't sound much better than onboard anyway, so don't worry about it.

Lian-Li cases are supposed to be really easy to work with, so I don't see you having a problem there. Building a PC is quite forgiving, so don't get too nervous about it.

P.S. Don't forget to purchase an OS!
 
i see...thx guys for the info.. i may practice on this shitty computer see if i can take it apart and put it back together b4 i purcahse nething i may get a cheaper case to save some moneyand get a better graphics card.. and i defiantly realized i messed up on picking the graphics card im gonna try and get a 6600 gt and ill go with the amd processor(thx erehwon and gregory kimball). i think ill go with newegg with the parts. i owe all of u that gave me info and site regarding building pcs and where to get parts i think with all that im getting ill be spending about 600 to 700 dollars... yay i saved myself 100$$ not bad :p ill let you know if i succeed in building it it may take awhile so be patient.
 
If you're building a computer for gaming, AMD Athlon 64 chips blow Intel out of the water. Intel is good for video production and things of the like. Definitely go AMD Athlon 64.

Here's what I would buy if I were you:

That's what I would recommend if you want to build an Athlon 64 system. Now, if you want to build an older, but still very powerful Athlon XP system, I could draft one of those too.
 
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