2008 Computer Notes (advice welcome!)

[VLSmooth]

Bought heatsinkfactory stuff for $223.70 after S&H. Will update OP later.

The new year beckons!

[Dave]

Finish this computer for ~$500

I have so far:
GTX280

[Jonathan]

Interesting. I'll get to this in a bit.

[VLSmooth]

2008-12-31: heatsinkfactory purchase breakdown

• (2x) Nexus 92mm Real Silent Case Fan - DF1209SL-3 --- $12.99 each
• (3x) Noctua NF-P12-1300 Ultra Silent 120mm Fan --- $20.99 each
• (1x) Thermalright T-Rad2 VGA Cooler --- $49.99
• (1x) Noctua NH-U12P SE1366 Ultra Silent CPU Cooler --- $67.99
• (1x) Arctic Silver ArctiClean 60ml --- $5.99

Subtotal $212.92
Shipping $10.78
Tax $0.00

Total $223.70

[VLSmooth]

2009-01-03: newegg purchase breakdown

• (1x) VGA SAPPHIRE 100259-1GL HD4870 1G R - Retail $244.99
• (1x) TOOL ROSEWILL|RTK-002 ANTISTATIC R - Retail $3.49
• (1x) CASE ANTEC|P182 BK RT - Retail $169.99
• (1x) CPU INTEL|CORE I7 920 2.66G 45N R - Retail $294.99
• (1x) MEM 2Gx3|GSK F3-10666CL7T-6GBPK R - Retail $169.99

Subtotal: $883.45
Tax: $0.00
Shipping and Handling: $31.01

Total $914.46

[VLSmooth]

Updated original post (OP) with purchase status and prices.

[VLSmooth]

Will decide on buying another 6 GB of RAM after testing "only" 6 GB of RAM.
(hopefully prices will drop too)

[George]

Why in the world do you think you need 12 gigs of memory?

I think your real mistake is spending so much on the graphics card. You could save a few bucks by getting a Radeon 7000 instead, and all you'd lose is a few FPS in games released after 2000.

[VLSmooth]

Why in the world do you think you need 12 gigs of memory?

Pre-caching and porn; more or less.

I think your real mistake is spending so much on the graphics card. You could save a few bucks by getting a Radeon 7000 instead, and all you'd lose is a few FPS in games released after 2000.

Can I soft-mod it into a Radeon 4870 x2 2 GB?



ps. For those that don't get it, I soft-modded a Radeon 9500 np into a 9700 np.

[Dave]

Get a 1080p projector! 200" wall! 4x PiP!

[George]

My projector can almost do 1080, just in the wrong dimension.

[Jonathan]

Finish this computer for ~$500

I have so far:
GTX280

K, thought I was going to have more time to go over this at leisure, but alas. This is hard because you have to spend so much on the PSU for this graphics card.

This is a nice chart:
http://www.anandtech.com/cpuchipsets/sh ... =3492&p=19
Pick dual core or quad core:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6819115017 - Q6600 @ $189
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6819115037 - E8400 @ $165

4 GB DDR2 -http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6820231122 $40
Cheap LGA 775 DDR2 mobo, probably P45 (like so http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6813128345) - $100
Use existing disks and drives, and probably case too.
Buy a 550W PSU. The GTX280 requires 550W at minimum. Probably $120.

If you don't want to cannibalize, you can get an older LGA 775 mobo and maybe a bin down dual core. Keep the memory capacity; slower memory is OK.

[Dave]

Lol yea, I was making a few random pics at newegg and picked the following

HD 640GB - $75
2x2Gb Ram - $55
Gigabyte p45 mb - $120
E8400 - $165
Antec 650W + 300 Case - $150

Total ~$550 unless I want to get an OS... was gonna try Windows 7 >_> But I guess I might just wait for another price drop. I'm also keeping an eye out for a good 1080p TV... so I can I demote my current 'gaming' pc to my TV pc and my current TV pc to my bedroom tv pc, but until I get a BIGASS™ tv to replce my current 32" tv which would become my bedroom TV I probably won't buy a this... (kudos if you understood that gibberish)