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GuruMeditation

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May 7, 2005
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Finally, got some money and can buy an SFF machine. However money will remain an object for a while. Priority is to have a hassleless machine that can deliver as much power to the pound as possible in the short term whilst leaving the window open to add components to eventually end up with a beast. :D However this will be the first computer I've built in about 3-4 years (and I swear, the withdraw symptoms from not having your own computer and needing to mooch off the wifes computer becomes quite unnerving) so would appreciate any advice :)

Computer would be used for webdesign and gaming.

Shuttle SN25P - $380 - I love the look, and peoples opinion of this machine. Only thing I'm certain of. :)
Sony DVD Burner - $50
Geil Ultra 1Gb DDR 400 - $91 - Cheap 1Gb and it seems to have a decent punch to it.
AMD Athlon64 3000+ Venice - $149
Chaintech 6200 256Mb PCI-E (Refurb) - $58 - I may be wrong, but it seems like this may be one of those cards that can be turned into quite a beast for the price it is.
WD 80Gb 7200 RPM SATA150 HD - $58
Logitech Elite KB - $26
Artic Silver products - $14

Total - About $850 with shipping.

Extras aleady owned : Wacom Intuos tablet with Serial connection. Unless I can "steal" the Intuos 2 from the iMac w/o the wife killing me.

As far as I can tell I can push this kit nicely beyond it's appearences, stay in a nice budget (money saved now is money spent on a NICE Apple display later) and have a nice looking and quiet sounding system. But I'd appreciate anyones advice before I splurge.

Thanks in advance for any opinion :)
 
About the refurb - it could be that someone has already found out the card doesn't overclock very well and so returned it to newegg. There's 6600 refurbs for a bit more which have better guaranteed performance.

You could also get a hard drive refurb from the egg. Give it a thorough testing when you receive it, add $8 for a possible RMA and they're not a bad deal (I got a 200gb SATA for $90 including the RMA shipping.)

Everything else on your list looks nice - possibly switch that sony for an NEC drive and think about a winchester cpu if it's cheaper - there's only a small difference in stock performance, and you probably won't get a phenomenal overclock in a SFF anyway.
 
1. '6200' and 'beast' do not belong in the same sentance. 6600gt's work well enough for most games and respectable resolutions, and I would consider that the minimum for gaming.

2. Western Digital hard drives, especially with the older technology used in the 80gb model, are the inverse of what you would want in an SFF- they are loud, power hungry, and generate lots of heat. At this level, Seagate, Maxtor, and Samsung are far advanced- performance vs. price vs. reliability leans in favor of Seagate. Quiet, 5-year OEM warranty and respectable performance win here. Oh, and 'hard drive' and 'refurb' also do not belong in the same sentance. This is your stuff man, handle with care, not junk.
 
Thanks for the replies :)

Good points. Size of the HD isn't really an important factor because most stuff gets saved to a network shared USB drive on the iMac. However switching to the Seagate. Less noise is good :)

Winchester and Venice are the same price at newegg, so staying put with that.

As for the gfx card, well the one I originally added ran out of stock. So plumping for the ASUS 6600GT.

All in all remains a respectable price :)
 
The 6200 to a 6600GT is a very wise decision and even if you game rarely you will be glad you went with that 6600 when you do get away from the wife to game.
 
tree_ said:
The 6200 to a 6600GT is a very wise decision and even if you game rarely you will be glad you went with that 6600 when you do get away from the wife to game.
Click to expand...
Yah .... but part of me thinks that with a nice enough graphics card she'll be stealing the PC until we can afford to get a second one ... Especially when we buy the new monitor :D ... anyway, placing order. Thanks again for the replies :) Will fiddle with the machine when I get it ... and finish drooling at it.
 
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