New Computer

[Park Kraken]

I don't have all the parts in yet, but I went for an economy gaming computer, and everything plus shipping ran me about 800$ total, and this is what I got -

3.0 GHz Dual Core Processor - AMD Windsor model
2GB Corsair RAM - Cas Latency 4 (4-4-4-12)
EVGA 8600GT 256MB Graphics Card
ASUS Motherboard
X-Navigator Midtower case (Midtower, yet it dwarfs my old fullsize case)
500W Power Supply (came with the case)
250GB SATA 3.0/Gbs 7200 RPM Hard Drive
Plus a flash drive for uploading pictures.

I have a very new CD/DVD Rom drive than I'm salvaging from my old computer, and the motherboard's onboard sound is much better than my sound card.

I kind of messed up on mail in rebates though. I bought this right at the end of August, and by the time I went to get the rebates printed out to mail in, it was September, and the forms won't let you mail in a rebate for an August purchase, so that's about 125$ in rebates I won't be getting back. Oh well, little lesson learned there - print out your rebate forms on the same day as purchase.

[Morgan Evanar]

You got screwed :(

[Yog]

^^ Morgan is right... even after rebate, it was not much of a deal. :(

Here is something I might have built if I were going bang for the buck.

- Antec Sonata III 500 Black 0.8mm cold rolled steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case 500W Power Supply - Retail (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129024)
Case does not include a front 120mm fan. Needs one.
$89.99 (after $50 mail in rebate)

- GIGABYTE GA-EP35-DS3L LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128337)
$84.99

- EVGA 512-P3-N801-AR GeForce 8800 GT 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Retail
(http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130318)
$119.99

- Intel Pentium E5200 Wolfdale 2.5GHz 2MB L2 Cache LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor - Retail
(http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116072&Tpk=Intel%20Pentium%20E5200)
Monster overclocker from hell. Lazy OC to 3.75Ghz without turning up the voltage much.
$89.99

- Mushkin 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model 996558 - Retail (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820146693)
$73.99

- Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD6400AAKS 640GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136218)
$84.99

- SAMSUNG Black 22X DVD+R 22X DVD-R 16X DVD-ROM 2MB Cache SATA 22X DVD±R DVD Burner with LightScribe - OEM (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827151173)
Cheapest DVD burner I can find that has really good reviews.
$25.99

- ARCTIC COOLING Freezer 7 Pro 92mm CPU Cooler - Retail (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835186134)
$24.99

- Antec 761345-75120-9 120mm Case Fan - Retail (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835209005)
This case needs the optional 120mm fan for the front. It only has a rear fan. This is a tri-cool fan.
$9.99

Total: $604.91

This box would absolutely MURDER the setup you have, and for a lower price... and this without even looking for good rebate deals etc.

[Compare that with the next generation nehalem bloomfield that everyone talks about, and coming out next year (nehalem may turn to be Intel's biggest bust since the Prescott). With a ~$700 cost just for the mb/2.66ghz cpu/memory, you're talking about a bare minimum ~$1100 system.]

[Park Kraken]

I admit I got screwed up on the graphics card, but everything else I have is just as good as what you put together Yog, here are the links -

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103773
Processor

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145034
RAM

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130085
Graphics Card

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131172
Motherboard

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811144168
Case+Power Supply

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136055
Hard Drive

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824009094
Monitor

Plus about 75$ for shipping. Other than the Graphics card, I don't think I got ripped too badly.

[Yog]

Well, the case *looks* good. A friend of mine had an Apevia X-alien case (almost the same), and he was not too enthused about it. He complained it was flimsy built, and it was the "noisiest damn case ever" due to those 80mm fans. My biggest concern though is the PSU. You are not seriously going to use that, are you? It WILL fry your motherboard one day...

Other than that, my setup has twice the amount of memory, 390GB more haddrive space, and the CPU is about the same speed, except it can be clocked 60% faster.

The monitor is a plus though. You did not mention that in the first post.

Basically, it boils down to:
- wrong CPU, AMD dual core. A 90nm cpu in this day and age... :x You should have gotten a 45nm dual core Intel.
- crappy GPU.
- last generation motherboard chipset, microATX for limited expandability.
- Apevia X-Navigator when you could have gotten an Antec Sonata III, higher quality and includes a good power supply, for less money. I wouldn't even trust the power supply in the X-Navigator enough to turn it on once.
- a $70 250gb hard drive when you could have gotten a 640gb for $15 more.

:(

[Park Kraken]

He complained it was flimsy built, and it was the "noisiest damn case ever" due to those 80mm fans.

We've already assembled the computer and tried it out with the old harddrive. My older drive wasn't compatible of course, but everything else worked like a charm. You can adjust the speed of the fans, but even at full speed the fans were extremley quiet. It's certainly not flimsy either, it's a very well built case, and the stands are a nice touch to prevent rocking back and forth.

[Yog]

It's certainly not flimsy either, it's a very well built case, and the stands are a nice touch to prevent rocking back and forth.
In the reviews at newegg, a lot of people commented on the flimsy front door (especially the plastic hinges).
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductReview.aspx?Item=N82E16811144168

I guess that might not be a problem if you handle it carefully, but it's worth being aware of.