The lights in the case isn't necessary but why not? 1000W PSU is planning for
the future (I tend to do a frankenseries on PCs lol) overclocking is something
I enjoy..how much torture can it take before it breaks?? Floppy drives are a
thing of the past but I'm nostalgic ;) the speakers are for my kid...i'll be
using my Klipsch 5.1 surround sound...
I own office 2003 but figure why not upgrade the software while I'm at it? I
haven't looked at openoffice yet but I will be soon. I have an old laptop it's
a K5 processor lol that's running a linux firewall might just load the
openoffice on there and check it out. My current PC came from ibuypower and
it's like 5 years old now. I seem to have a recurring technology refresh
plan,,,every 5 years I plunk down a good 3-4 k for a souped-up rig. Of course
I'm a gamer and do video editing, etc so high-end graphics are a must as you
know ;)
Thanks,
Tommy Holden
-----Original Message-----
From: pctech-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx [
mailto:pctech-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx] On
Behalf Of Jones, John (US)
Sent: Friday, May 18, 2007 11:33 AM
To: PC Technical Discussion for iSeries Users
Subject: Re: [PCTECH] I'm looking to buy a new PC so I gotta ask...
I configured a system similar to what I listed for myself, starting with the
Gamer BTS, and it was $2500. For an almost $600 difference I can build it
myself. I actually wanted to buy a pre-assembled system but didn't find
anything that had exactly what I wanted at a reasonable price. Reasonable
being $100-200 more than the parts cost.
Comments on your config:
I just don't get the whole lights-in-the-case thing. :)
I wouldn't do the Extreme processors. Their performance isn't _that_ much
better and doesn't justify the 'extreme' price bump.
1000W PSU is a waste. Too much excess capacity in the PSU leads to
inefficiency; you'll waste more electricity v. buying a right-sized PSU. Right
sized = just what the system needs + 20-30% overage to accommodate initial-draw
surges & some future growth.
Liquid cooling is only needed for overclocking. Extreme overclocking even.
I'm not thrilled with Asus motherboards; got burned by a past experience that
showed their QC was sub-par.
No problem with nVidia graphics; I went ATI as I run Folding@Home and there's a
GPU client for ATI chipsets.
Floppy? In 2007 all floppies should be fed through shredders. Use a thumb
drive.
Except the floppy, all cables are thin/round nowadays; no need for "Case Round
Cable" as you get that by default. I didn't see if this was an extra charge.
There are better audio cards than Sound Blasters. For that matter you've got 6
channel audio on the mobo; why buy a card?
With a 600W speaker system will this be used as a Home Theater PC? If so,
another reason to ditch the neon light.
If you have kids buy an educational copy of Office. Same functionality for a
cheap price. Or ask your employer to join MS Home Use; I bought a full copy of
Office 2003 Pro for $19.95 from MS through the Home Use program. Or try Open
Office for free.
With all of that, if you drop the dough on that rig it'll scream. But I think
you can get 90% of the performance for probably over a grand less cash.
midrange.com
