Built Theresa a new PC.

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Tom Schindler

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Got the insurance check in the bank from the Escort GT smash-up, I decided to get Theresa a new system running for her.



We went to MicroCenter.



Here is what we ended up with...



9850 AMD Phenom quad core 64 bit CPU.

4 GB Memory

700 Watt Power Supply

ASUS Motherboard

1.5 TB (1,500 GB) Seagate SATA HDD with 32 MB buffer

Cooler Master case

18X DVD DL Burner (SATA)

Windows XP Professional (My cousin is M$ Alumni so I get software cheap...really cheap)



So far, we are really please with its pefomance. Night and day difference from her old Athalon 64 she has been using for many years.





Tom
 
Nothing too shabby there.



I'm seriously considering building my next PC and many of the parts I was looking at are on that list, none of which I'm real familiar with, good to know they aren't total crap brands.
 
Good stuff. I like AMD processors too, and I have built several PC for home that were all AMD based and they ran very well, and cost me about half of what a Intel Pentium machine would cost. In fact, it's about time to build another



...Rich
 
Around $600.00 for everything...including the OS.



Memory was $27.00 (Yes that is 4 GB of Memory)

The CPU was about $145.00.

Case was $60.00 and PS was around $50.00

HDD was around $130.00 (For a 1.5 TB drive, I was shocked)

DVD Burner was $19.00 (Pioneer to boot)

Motherboard was around $100.00



I still need to find a 120 MM case fan...cheap. It already has one in it, but I like lots of fans.





Tom
 
Actually, I read that the larger hard drives are now cheaper than the smaller ones because it costs less to make them. :blink: Go figure! Sounds like a nice setup! :cool:
 
Sweet! Those are good specs too. I always like to hear when a handbuilt machine is made. AMD's are good processors. I think that machine will run well for many years to come!
 
The harddrive was cheap, and it should be it is a total POS! I bought one from newegg a couple months ago and within a month it took a crap. Sounded like a blender when turned on.



I wouldn't fill it up too much, or keep a daily back up a seperate drive, just a heads up.
 
Justin, others,



The thing about HDD is to try to figure out the density of each platter. If you have a certain size HDD that you are looking for, you are better off getting a drive made with a lower density and more platters than the other way around (higher density, fewer platters).



Often when a HDD storage barrier is broken (120GB, 250GB, 500GB, 1TB) it is often broken first by simply increasing the density of storage on each platter.



I'm not saying Caymen made a bad choice. I'm just presenting something to look for as you are considering which HDD to buy.



With that said, another common piece of advice is to not buy more storage than you need. It's better to get a lower density, lower storage HDD and have that the primary system partition with OS; then install all your apps, etc., on a secondary drive, again, only as big as reasonably needed. Smaller drives use less power, generate less heat, and fail less than larger, more dense drives.



Oh, and store the stuff you rarely ever use (photos, vids, etc) on an external HDD, and backup anything vital through Carbonite or similar offsite backup.



Caymen, thanks for letting me piggy back on your thread.



TJR
 
Oh, and store the stuff you rarely ever use (photos, vids, etc) on an external HDD, and backup anything vital through Carbonite or similar offsite backup.
Click to expand...



I have seen more external HDD's fail than internal HDD's.



I do have a home server with 2 1 TB HDD's in it for long time storage and back-up. The price for a 750 GB HDD was $99.00. With as much stuff as Theresa does, a 1.5TB HDD will be plenty for years to come.



Back in 1997, I built my first PC. I got a 4 GB HDD. "You are crazy, you will NEVER need that much storage". A short time later, my cousing puts a 6.4 GB HDD into his PC because his 2.5 GB HDD was too small. A few years later, I build another PC. This time I go with a 45 GB HDD> "You are crazy. Too big. You will never fill it and you are buying the wrong hardware".



My Laptop has a 160 GB HDD and it is too small. I buy the biggest I can buy because I will need it. The next one I buy will be 4+ TB's and it will not be big enough.



As I said before, external HDD's are nice, but IMO and my experience the failure rate is too high to ever consider as data storage.





Tom
 
+1 on the fact that external HDD's fail more often. I've had a 320GB external fail for no reason, and a friend of mine had a 1TB external for her home office that failed. I didn't have anything important on mine, but she had all of her financial information, taxes, bookkeeping, etc. on hers. She's still trying to recover information.
 
One thing about external HDD that I forgot to mention is to ONLY use them when needed (in other words, turn them on, use them, turn them off). Yes, leaving an external HDD on all the time is a bad thing. Most of their enclosures lack appropriate ventilation. And, of course, they are not backup storage, as I said.



Caymen, as for 1.5TB not being enough, I guess you download a lot more than me, or make large, digital home movies. I couldn't possibly generate enough content to come close to using all that, not in the next 10 years. Download content...sure. If I were a prOn addict. ;)



TJR
 
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Tom, sounds like a great machine. I may come to you for some assistance when I build one here shortly. My old dell desktop is about 5 years old and it is time for a newbie.... I fix these things all the time, but have never built from scratch -- I guess now is the time to learn. It's that old dog, new tricks thing. ;)
 
Not too bad.....

I loved building my own machines, IT was a good feeling, But



About 3 months ago I got a deal and a 1/2 from Dell on my Vostro..... Their Business line..



1) 500 GB HD

2) 3 GB memory

3) 256 Radeon Video card

4) Sound blaster XFI extreme audio card

5) Intel Core 2 Quad 2.66

6) 16X DVD RW DL Drive

7) 16X DVD Reader

8) Front panel Media card center with 4 Extra USB front ports

9) Vista 64 Bit Home Premium



No clue on power supply



And it came in their new Piano Black case...



Not too bad for $475 shipped to my door.....



IT is nice to "know" people....





I am glad your happy, and like I said I used to love building my own, but if you get a deal, jump on it...



Todd Z
 

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