Author Topic: My New Gaming Rig (for < $1000) (Read 6884 times)

jitspoe · « **on:** January 03, 2006, 03:03:54 PM »

It was discussed in this thread, but I figured I'd make a new one with the prices and all of that:

eVGA 7800GT + mobo + Quake4: $355.69 + $4 shipping
Opteron 144 (64bit, 1.8GHz, 1MB L2 Cache): $149.99 + $8.07
Transparent case: $36.99 + $16 shipping
Thermalright Xp-90 Heatsink, Panaflo fan, and shipping: $40.95
SeaSonic S12-500 ATX12V 500W Power Supply: $124.99 + $6.99 - $25.00
Lite-On DVD Burner ~$40 (already have one)
2x512 (1GB Dual channel) OCZ PC3200, $55 AR
250GB Seagate: $129.99 + $7.99 + $9.66 - $60.00

Total: $901.31
What I actually paid: $501.62 (already had the burner and got the mobo/vid card for Christmas).

nXe · « **Reply #1 on:** January 03, 2006, 04:26:38 PM »

excrement enjoy the 7800 GT + mobo + opteron combo!

I can't decide whether to upgrade my current rig... or buy a laptop...

jitspoe · « **Reply #2 on:** January 03, 2006, 04:33:17 PM »

A laptop will easily be twice as much. I got one and hardly ever use it, but a friend of mine got one and uses it for lan parties and such, so... *shrug* I guess that doesn't help your decision much, but I'd go for the desktop, personally. Cheaper and easier to upgrade.

Excalibur · « **Reply #3 on:** January 03, 2006, 05:12:38 PM »

i just upgraded my computer from 64 mg vid to a 120 mg and also doubled my ram from 512 to 1 gig. the vid card i got was a gefprce fx 5500 i know its not the best but i got it for $20 so

nXe · « **Reply #4 on:** January 03, 2006, 07:45:05 PM »

that's a very good deal excalibur

jits: Idk... I have a decent rig right now... I think ill start a new thread asking for advice on my comp situation so that I dont hijack your thread... also be interesting to hear what you guys have to say

jitspoe · « **Reply #5 on:** January 04, 2006, 05:41:31 PM »

Sweet. My case and CPU came in today.

jitspoe · « **Reply #6 on:** January 05, 2006, 11:07:32 AM »

Got the memory in, and the power supply should be here later today. Then I'll have to decide if I want to try building it with the stock heatsink, or wait until tomorrow for the better one.

IronFist · « **Reply #7 on:** January 05, 2006, 11:09:25 AM »

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jitspoe · « **Reply #8 on:** January 05, 2006, 11:37:05 AM »

I'm an arctic silver kind of guy. That is... if I can find it. Power supply made it, btw. Heh, I guess they just read the note on my door and delivered it to the office w/o ringing the doorbell, that or I was asleep when they came. I checked the tracking and it was already in my city at like 7am, so when the doorbell rang, I was expecting UPS, but, no, "Exterminators." Kinda threw me.

Excalibur · « **Reply #9 on:** January 05, 2006, 02:49:15 PM »

i hate ups i worked for them for 2 weeks before i quit. they pay jack for the work you do. and they just toss boxes around.

jitspoe · « **Reply #10 on:** January 05, 2006, 04:49:22 PM »

Hmm, I probably should have thought about the case more before I bought it, because...

a) It's all acrylic, which means nothing is grounded by contact with the case.
b) You barely have to touch it to scuff it up and leave permanent marks.
c) I have to unscrew like 8 small screws, some of which are different sizes, just to get the side of the case off.
d) I've just started assembling it, but I don't think the motherboard fits. It sits up too high and doesn't align with the holes in the back. I hope I don't have to bring out the dremmel...

nXe · « **Reply #11 on:** January 05, 2006, 07:29:01 PM »

lol- that sucks.

i hate case shopping. i made the mistake of buying a full tower case. the thing is a beast... weights like 40 lbs... loud as hell...

it fits one of three hard drive cages alongside the PSU on the same plane... that's how wide this mofo is... it's a beast! If I keep my desktop when i go off to college i gotta scale back to a mid-tower and some quieter fans...

Murdock · « **Reply #12 on:** January 05, 2006, 10:15:38 PM »

Quote from: Excalibur on January 05, 2006, 02:49:15 PM

i hate ups i worked for them for 2 weeks before i quit. they pay jack for the work you do. and they just toss boxes around.

The employees toss packages around, and don't get paid well for it? I can't seem to figure that one out..

agent-hwk · « **Reply #13 on:** January 06, 2006, 02:37:53 AM »

what do you guys think about those sonys? im thinking about getting one.

IronFist · « **Reply #14 on:** January 06, 2006, 11:08:22 AM »

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S8NSSON · « **Reply #15 on:** January 06, 2006, 12:05:40 PM »

I'll be upgrading soon...

What i have listed so far...
$200.85 AMD Athlon 64 3500+
$80.43 GIGABYTE MB
$157.59 X800GTO 256Meg
$145.22 2 x DDR400 1gig/64x8
$66.95 SB Audigy
$292.52 19" LCD
$134.93 300gig SATA
$67.98 Plextor CDRWDVDRW+_+_+ (the works in one unit)
$166.86 Dragon sumthinorother case (500W)
$138.02 XP Pro

$1451.26 total

will probably get XP from work here for free though.

jitspoe · « **Reply #16 on:** January 06, 2006, 01:00:57 PM »

Personally I'd stay away from ATI right now. On top of their typical suckiness, they're doing a rush job to compete with nVidia's SLI (crossfire) and doing a terrible job of it. What core are you getting on that AMD? Heh, I'm amazed that Plextors are that cheap now. Not long ago, you'd have to pay like $200.

As for my stuff... I just got the heatsink and hard drive in today, woot! That means I can work on it over the weekend. I didn't think it would all make it in time. This heatsink is a monster. I'm glad I didn't go with the bigger one. It's crazy, though -- if you just touch it, it feels like ice. It is light, which I like. I had a smaller one in my older computer that weighed like 3x's as much.

The case... well, let's just say it's going through surgery right now. I got the dremmel out last night, and to put things simply: the motherboard fits now.

I sure hope this all works when I turn it on...

agent-hwk · « **Reply #17 on:** January 06, 2006, 02:04:55 PM »

so i hsould try to fin dsomething less exspensive and jus upgrade it

IronFist · « **Reply #18 on:** January 06, 2006, 02:37:08 PM »

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jitspoe · « **Reply #19 on:** January 06, 2006, 04:35:08 PM »

Benchmarks mean nothing if your computer locks up all the time because of heat problems and/or bad drivers. Also, crossfire looks like it limits you to 1 video output.

Well, I tried to put my heatsink together. The motherboard mount was easy (the heatsink actually fits on a P4 mount, but includes a mount that fits on an AMD mobo), but when I went to put the fan on, the snap didn't fit. Most fans are like this:

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(cross section, on the side). The heatsink snaps into the screw holes where the stars are. However, the fan I got has the screw holes on the top and bottom encased in solid plastic, like this:

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Time to bust out the dremmel again tonight, I guess. :\