http://www.computerfest.com/

So it's coming around that I'll need to build a new PC that I'm not afraid to have connected to the internet. Like with this PC, I'm planning on attending ComputerFest (a HUGE computershow that's held annually in Dayton, OH) to purchase my components.

The show isn't for another 199 days, (September 10th and 11th) so I have some time to plan. But I got bored a bit ago, and decided to see what I would buy RIGHT NOW if the fest were tomorrow. Here's what I've come up with.

I have an existing system that has some salvagable parts that I can use to lower costs until a later date when I can more readily replace them. Things I *won't* have to buy:

Optical drives
Hard drives
Sound card
Power supply

Things I *will* have to buy:

Motherboard (ASUS A8N-SLI DELUXE $199)
Processor (AMD Athlon 64 3000+ socket 939 $149)
RAM (PC3200 1GB around $130 - $150)
Video Card (ATi X600XT or X700Pro PCI-X16 around $130 - $200)
Case (Cooler Master Centurion 5 w/ 350 watt PS $79.99)

In all, it looks like I'm going to be spending between $678 and $778 or so at this show on a new system. I'm planning to bring around $900 with me to cover some extras (perhaps a 10000RPM 37gb SATA drive for example)

My end product should list out something like this:

Cooler Master Centurion 5
450 watt Enermax PS
AMD Athlon 64 3000+
ASUS A8N-SLI Deluxe
1GB DDR3200
ATi X600XT (or X700pro)
Creative Audigy 2 ZS Platinum
*37GB 10000RPM WD Raptor
300GB 7200RPM 16MB Cache Seagate
and everything else on board. (lan usb etc)

Not bad for <$900

I assume I'll be getting everything cheaper than I found on NewEgg anyways, so I'm stoked. Anybody else planning on going / might be able to go to ComputerFest? There's going to be a group of about 8 of us going together, but it'd be sweet to meet up with some Massassian's at the show. They haven't released ticket prices yet, but last time I went it was around $20 for both days.. And there were 5000+ vendors!! All volunteer vendors, none paid to show up. So you know it's going to be the best prices you can find... And it's an awesome time.

So... Post if you might be able to come, post your rig, or post your soon-to-be rig.

A. I used to go, and they usually have a spring showing now also.

B. The place sucks for new equipment. They have NOTHING cheap for new PCs. NOTHING. I ended up saving 300+ by using Newegg.

C. It's boring as hell. There's tons of absolute junk, and the same vendors with the same junk show up every time.

D. If you are looking for 400mhz PCs, your good to go. They're ubercheap. But otherwise, don't bother.

E. I'd go, but I skipped last year simply because of the above reasons. It's a freakin fleamarket for computers, nothing good.


---

F. Your PC is bass ackwards. Look, here's the breakdown:

Cooler Master Centurion 5 <--- okay
450 watt Enermax PS <---- Meh okay
AMD Athlon 64 3000+ <---- NO
ASUS A8N-SLI Deluxe <---- You aren't getting dual video cards? WHY GET SLI!?!?!?! Waste. Of. Cash.
1GB DDR3200 <--- Of what company?
ATi X600XT (or X700pro) <---- Right. Sure. Get at LEAST an x700 :p
Creative Audigy 2 ZS Platinum <---- You get a junk video card, but an over-the-top sound card. I see priority problems.
*37GB 10000RPM WD Raptor <----Waste of cash. Only useful for servers with tons of hard drive accessing. Your effective FPS increase will be nil, and loading times would be the only thing really increased, and not by too much. Not to mention massively overpriced, and WD < Seagate.
300GB 7200RPM 16MB Cache Seagate <---Much better
and everything else on board. (lan usb etc) <---mmk.

Fixed, because CM messed up a bit. Trust me on the hard drive thing...they're NOT meant for servers...or anything close.

Oh, and get at least a 6600GT. By then, 6800s will be like 200, because hell, they're already 220 in some places. Trust me.

And I know, it's hard to swallow to go with nVidia, but they did indeed beat ATi, so unless ATi comes out with the new set by then being SLI compatible and/or something diff/better, and has SM3.0....don't bother with ATi.

:\

Yay another argument.

Tell me how do you justify spending over 3x the price for a similar sized hard drive (actually bigger!) that has a smaller RPM?

A. You only see improvements when copying files, usually on large files.

B. It provides no FPS improvement whatsoever ingame. Once a game is loaded, the hard drive is rarely if ever accessed, that's what ram is for!

C. As I said, it's for PCs that are doing serious data movement, like video editing, or need rapid access, such as servers.

As for nVidia, he's definately right. nVidia > ATi at this time.

A8V needs to die, seeing how it has VIA chipsets. (I am biased, I've had 4 mobos with vias, all problems. Sorry to anyone who likes them, but they're ****)

I agree with CM on the hard drive issue.

The Audigy 2 ZS Platinum is a great sound card. I have the Platinum Pro, and I don't regret the extra money at all.

Don't buy a video card at all now. ATI's new R520 core is coming out March or May I think, and it's going to be awesome. It will blow away it's current cards. At the very least it will decrease the price of current cards. 24 pixel pipelines, PS 3.0 and SLI support, life will be good. It'll be a completely new core as opposed to a R350 with a face lift like the X---XT line is now. (Yes the ATI fan boy is excited.) :p
The X---XT series was so obviously a stop gap measure.

A. Hype is fun! (Refers to nvidia 5x00 series debacle)

B. new core + new 90nanometer production == new fun bugs!

C. Pixel pipelines still aren't confirmed.

D. Actual estimated release date is Q2 2005, which by ATi standards, means ~Q4 2005.

E. It'll cost an arm and an elbow, most likely.

---

In other words, we'll see :p

The only reason I'm buying a videocard at all right now is because I want PCIX-16 slots. The board has ALL the features I want PLUS SLI. the SLI isn't why I'm getting it. To be honest, the thing that pushed it over is the dual gigabit lan. I have a T1 fiber line plumbed through my house. I need Gigabit to facilitate it.

and furthermore... Why *not* get a 64 3000+ 939 socket? I already have the best PC of anybody I know. A friend of mine has ties to ASUSteK, so I've already got a system that's NEVER on the internet because of its awesomeness... Dual Ath64FX51 processors. I'm confused as to why it's just a NO



did you miss that part?

If you have an FX-51, why are you upgrading this?

Plus, the 3000+ would not be much of an improvement over that P4 really...



Finally, T1 is not even at 10baseT speeds, much less gigabit... I think you might be confused. They run at 1.544Mbps... nowhere near the theoretical 100Mbps limit of current adapters. Not that it matters much, as long as you have a gigabit network, might as well get gigabit ethernet.

the FX51 machine will never be on the internet. I'm upgrading my online gaming box. And where do you see a P4? I never use intel processors.

and to clear one thing up... I'll never buy another motherboard with a via chipset as long as I live. They're just as bad as SiS boards in my experience. I've never had anything but trouble. So I'll go N and stick to ATi.

CM--The 3000+ is just for an average box. Trust me, I know Yecti, this is going to be for average online gaming and browsing. He doesn't need something awesome, just something adequate. I just say 6600GT because it costs less than the X700 and performs better...makes sense, neh?

And RAPTORS make perfect sense, especially if you're talking about playing MMOs, which is a pasttime of Yectis I know

Or heck, any game. Why not? They're not THAT expensive, and they were made for gaming, not servers (don't know what gave you the notion that a 37.4 gb drive would ever be used for any kind of server.)

And why do you say ATi is crappy at meeting deadlines? So far they've been more than fine. 9800's and X800s launched just fine.

So yeah...no

Here's a bit of reasoning...

The power supply is going to be an Xconnect 550 watt like what I have in my big box. But to cut down on costs (another 200 power supply when I have a working 450 seems silly) I'm not buying it just yet. The videocard is only out of necessity. In all actuality, I'll probably splurge a bit and get a MUCH BETTER CARD (x850 or the likes) but I was going for a conservative build based on what tech is out and reasonably priced RIGHT NOW.

Chances are by September I'll still be getting that board. But the rest of it will most likely change.

The brand of the memory is yet to be discovered. I'll most likely go with Corsair or Kingston Hyper X ram. But I'm not sure yet, so I just posted prices..

The HDD is to take advantage of general speed throughout opsy use. It's going to be a system drive. This is going to be my "daily driver" of sort, and I want a FAST system drive. It won't have any games installed on it at all. That's why I have a 300GB drive already. :p

*remembers four-month wait for X800 after ordering*

Producing ten of the damned things and saying "Oops, we ran out of RAM or something and can't make any more for the next seven years; sucks to be you" doesn't exactly constitute "launching just fine".

Sorry if this seems overly aggressive... it's not directed at you, it's directed at ATI.

I found supposed specs on that

Looks like I am gonna be stuck getting that 6800 Ultra after all, there is no way that mother is gonna support AGP

Sorry, I was thinkin of another thread.

But geez, you gotta have some serious cash to be getting another box like that, on top of an FX-51 system...

True, but they're not really KNOWN for doing that, and the same thing happened with nVidia, they just recovered more quickly.

It's been a long time since I've upgraded my midrange box.

Currently it specs out like this:

AthXP 2500+
1GB Kingston ValuRam 2700
120GB WD 7200RPM Caviar
300GB 16MB Cache Seagate 7200RPM
Audigy2ZS Platinum
Radeon 9600XT
ASUS A7A266

So an upgrade is sorely needed. I have my LAN box, and that's all well and good. But when I'm not at a PRIVATE LAN party (private meaning at this lan party there is NO internet connection on the LAN) then I don't use it very often. The internet is bad for computers.

Umm, that system is better than mine, and mine runs games fine. In other words, your freakin rich. :p

My goal is to get BOTH of my machines to run DooM III at over 90FPS in HIGH mode.

Not really. The box is really...mid range.

Especially if you want some hardcore online gaming, you'd want to upgrade that. AA and AF make all the difference.

yep

I love my 9600XT *purrs*