23 replies to this topic

[JC05]

I'm am thinking of building a custom computer. And this is what I have. What do you think?

Case: Sonata II Piano Black Quiet Super Mini Tower, SmartPower 2.0 450W ATX12V v2.01 Power Supply

Video card: Radeon 9250 Video Card, 8x AGP, 256MB DDR

OS: WindowsXP

Hard Drive: Ultra16 500GB Hard Drive
7200RPM, Internal, ATA/133

Motherboard/Processor: MSI K8 ATX Socket 754 Motherboard and AMD Athlon 64 3000+ Processor Bundle

Memory: 2GB PC3200 184pin DDR DIMM Memory Kit (2-1GB Modules) for PowerMac G5 1.8GHz, Apple Compatible

5.1 Surround sound system.

Drive: Sony DRU-820A 16X Internal Dual Layer & Dual Format DVD Drive

What do you think is a good price?

Edited by JC05, 03 April 2006 - 05:04 AM.

[savge17]

Well I like to spend ALOT of money on my computers, I need the latest technology for the type of games I play. It really dpends on what you are planning to use for your computer. Are you going to use it for games? For work? Etc. Let me know these things and ill be glad to help you out. Those system specs look fine to me as for a work/media computer.

[truefusion]

I'd say a fair price is around $1,800, based on what you've mentioned. A monitor may bring it up to the 2k-pricing range. Over all, that's a pretty good computer.

[JC05]

I'm going to build this computer for whoever wants it. But the Mods don't want people to sell stuff like this. Just PM me and I'll give you my email.

[wild20]

Hmm. I think it seems like a fair price, but I don't know what you are getting the parts for. If you got them around $1500, I wouldn't take more than a $250 profit, if that. But like I said, it all depends on the price you get the parts for. For the time it takes to put a computer together, which is about 2 hours with software and everything, a $100 dollars an hour seems pretty fair. You won't get a lot of people buying these anyway, so naturally you will want a higher profit for your work. Overall? I would rate this computer 8/10, since it is quality, and the price is a moderately fair deal all around. Good luck to you!

[JC05]

Yeah, I guess. I think I'll see how it goes once I have a website. I'll have to see what it costs to build different models and calulate from there. Thanks for your help people. Keep posting.

[Cool_Freaker]

To be honest, that's more of a budget computer in my opinion. It's still using the old 754 socket, rather than the 939 one. The video card is VERY basic; the 256mb memory on it is a gimmick rather than an indication of performance. I believe it's the lowest performing ATi card widely available now, not to mention it's using an AGP slot, rather than PCI-e (which limits upgrade potentional, as AGP GPU's are starting to slow in production).

For a computer like this (especially as socket 754 doesn't support dual channel), you probably don't need more than 1gb RAM - 2gb is on the higher end these days, and is more for higher end computer (which this one doesn't seem to be).. also is it just for Macs? Case choice is excellent though, Antec make good cases, as well as good PSU's. Also good is the large HDD size, though personally I'd be more inclined to get 2x250gb drives, so one can be backup if one fails, or you can put them in a RAID array (RAID 0 for striping which makes it faster). Sony DVD-RW drives don't have the best reputation; a BenQ or a Pioneer would probably be better.

Any information on the 5.1 speaker system? They can range from the cheap - Logitech X530's (AU$99) to something more than 5x that.

As it stands I wouldn't be looking at more than about AU$1000 for it...

[amhso]

mine costed less than 600 bucks, and it's a good performing machine.

amd 64 3000+
1 gb ram
9800 pro OC'ed (saves lots of money to overclock)
2 7200rpm harddisks (parallel)
2 DVD drives (1 burner)

anyways i can play hl2 and other games on max details, while still having 40-50+ fps.

[wild20]

I think the point is, is that this computer is custom. I actually got a price list on all this stuff, he isn't making more than a few hundred dollars. And a lot of time goes into a custom. With the stuff being pout on, it looks like it will cost around $1600-$1800 US dollars to do this. And the price can be adjusted to make him a decent profit while at the same time saving you from work. Just my opinion.

[JC05]

For one I don't know where to get wholesale parts. And this is not just for Macs, I made quite sure of that. The speakers that I would put(but you could choose) is by Creative. They are 50 bucks and I have them. They work really good. And in (AU$99) what is AU? Does anybody know where to get wholesale or cheap NEW computer parts? What would you suggest for a good gaming computer Cool Freaker? Every ones opinions on the matter are greatly appreciated. Thanks again every one!

[JC05]

O.k. then. What do you think now?

Case: Same

Hard Drive: 2-250GB

Sound card: 7.1 Dolby Digital Live Surround PCI Sound Card

RAM: 1GB

Motherboard/processor bundle: Biostar Geforce 6100-M9 NVIDIA Socket 939 MicroATX Motherboard and an AMD Athlon 64 3200+ 2.0GHz OEM Processor

Xmdia GeForce 6600 512MB PCIe
Xmdia GeForce 6600 / 512MB DDR2 / PCI Express / DVI / VGA / HDTV / Video Card

Logitech X530 Speakers
Logitech X530 70-Watt PC Multimedia Home Theater Speakers

Microsoft Windows XP Media Center


I have changed some stuff like the Cpu and video card, but left the case the same.

[Cool_Freaker]

Much better this time JC05. ($AU = Australian Dollars - these days it's hovering at about AU$1 to about US$.072)

It would depend though on what you've got to spend on your computer as to what I recommend.

Budget (yours is quite good - but this would be my recommendations):
- AMD Athlon 64 3200+ (Venice) socket 939
- ASUS A8N-E s939 Motherboard - Asus is quite well known for their motherboards which are generally fairly good with some overclocking potential. Also has the nForce4 mobo chipset which is said to be good for gaming.
- 1 x 1gb DDR400 RAM - Just one stick for now, so you can get another stick later when you upgrade - then you can run your RAM in Dual Channel (brands, most are fine, just don't get Generic)
- Leadtek 128mb 6600GT PCI-e - Budget card (getting on in age), but still one of the good value cards around - Leadtek is 6600GT's with a fan - good for overclocking again, not to mention it comes with a good software bundle
- 2 x 250gb Seagate NCQ 7200.9 HDD's - Seagate is a good brand, try and get the ".9" ones - they're SATA II. (Though it's still a lot of HDD space)
- Antec Sonata II Case (and PSU)
- Logitech X-530 Speakers

You won't need a sound card, as I think the ASUS has decent on board sound - anything that sounds better than that would cost you quite a bit, and the Logitech X-530's are good, but are still budget, not high end and a good sound card would be wasted on them.

The 512mb GeForce 6600 is a bit of a gimmick? I guess it depends if you need the HDTV - if it's just for games the 6600GT is much better. Instead of the 6600GT you could also go for a 6800GS which is about AU$80 more, but offers a worthwhile performance boost, or if you want to go to the high-midrange get a 7600GT.

Again, if you have the cash, a dual core processor like the AMD X2 3800+ is getting cheaper and will be good for future applications, multitasking, and is currently used in games such as Quake 4 and Call of Duty 2. You could also change the motherboard to something like the ASUS A8N-SLI if you had plans to get a second (note it has to be the same) graphics card for another performance boost - though generally it's not recommended for the price.

[JC05]

WOW! You must be an EXTREME gamer or something. Compare this monster to my computer now, and the monster would eat mine! The website I have started has a place were you can tell exactly what you want in the computer if you want it totally custom. But I think most people would drool for something like this. I could build the one your looking at here for about $1500 US. Do you think that's a good price? Or should I shop around some more?

[Cool_Freaker]

Nah, I'm not an extreme gamer - I'm on a budget gaming system as well, with a 6600GT. As for price, I think $1500 is quite steep, even if you're not getting wholesale. Definitely shop around more. I know my computer from 5 months ago is similar (albiet one less hard-drive, and with a cheaper case) cost AU$1200, which should be less than $1000 USD (Try getting it about $1000). That is, of course, if you're not including the monitor in the price - are you? (What monitor, by the way?)

Oh and as for the GFX card, it seems the good budget buy these days is the 7600GS - try looking for that. It's cheaper than the 6800GS, but performs better than the 6600GT.

[JC05]

O.k. But What I really want to know is what someone would buy this for. I don't want it for myself. I'm starting a business you see. I and I need to know what to sell for. I mainly what suggestions. So what would you buy something like this for?

[Cool_Freaker]

Oh, then you should be able to buy wholesale price... in which case just put on a % markup?

Is there going to be a keyboard/mouse and monitor included as well?

[JC05]

Yes but the price will have to be raised if I include a mouse, Keyboard, and monitor. What do you mean I should be able to buy at wholesale price? I don't know of any place to get really good deal except Tigerdirect.com And there not whole sale. Do you know of any places? Anyone that knows of any place, Your info is very appreciated.

[Cool_Freaker]

Well, from what I gathered you want to start a computer shop? In which case you should be able to buy wholesale - what kind of shop buys at retail prices?

As a package you'll probably need to include a keyboard, mouse and monitor. Go for a cheapy mouse/keyboard combo, and chuck in a 17" LCD like the BenQ FP71G+S.

[JC05]

Sound good. I am actually starting a custom computer thing online. So people fill out a form and send it to my email and I build it and ship it off. But does anybody know WHERE to buy wholesale? Soon as I figure THAT out, I can start building.

[JC05]

Hey guys. I wasn't sure if i should start a new topic or just reply in this one so i am replying in this one. I am thinking of selling my computer and was wondering what a good price is for it. These are the specs:

Quote

Dimension 3000
intel celeron D 2.40GHz, 533FSB.
XP home edition.
1.25 GB RAM
40GB HDD
Dell Quitekey Keyboard.
Logitech Wireless optical mouse
17in CRT monitor
Integrated Intel Extreme Graphics 2
Integrated 10/100 Ethernet
56K PCI data/fax modem
dual drives. DVD top. CD-RW bottom.
Mad Dog Multimedia 5.1 surround sound card
creative 5.1 surround sound speaker system

What do you think? I think thats about it. I might have forgoten something but that is the basic's.

[Zabb]

thats a $800 pc and I wouldnt look twice w/ a video card thats not supported for most newer 3d games. the new radeon x series is pretty nice but I'm still a nvidia fan.

[JC05]

Oh, do i have a taker than? that seems like a good price. I don't think i would put a graphics card in though just to sell it. If some one requested it and was willing to pay 800 for it than I would do it in a second. But I don't know where to advertise. I don't want to spend the money. I guess I'm cheap in that area. Unless it is somthing big. But 800 seems like a fair price. Thanx dude! Anybody else? Opinions are welcome. I need lots of suggestions. thanks.

[Cool_Freaker]

Intel Dual Cores have dropped in price, by almost 50% I've heard. You may be better off building Dual Core PC's and touting their multitasking abilities.

[JC05]

Hey Cool Feaker is back on the topic. This is the computer that i'm using. My old one. Like, I want a new one? Get it. I really don't want to build one or upgrade this to a dual core just to sell it. But anyway, what do you think? I would like to get a notebook. So I think I want to sell this puppy. That is what the specs are for. So take another look and then tell me.