Becoming a "system builder"

[RascalJones]

Well, mom liked the fact that I built my own PC, and decided dad needed a new one for Christmas. She gave me a check for $400.

I think I got a pretty good deal, as dad won't be gaming, so video card is not a major concern.

Cooler Master case with 300w PSU included $50.
Asus M2N-MX SE Plus MicroATX motherboard (On-board video and sound)
AMD Athlon X2 2.7 GHz Dual-Core CPU
2GB OCZ DDR2-1066 RAM
500 GB Seagate Barracuda Hard Drive SATA
DVD Burner SATA
Windows XP (Not going to even consider getting Vista for him....took him long enough to figure out XP)

So far, I'm at $390. I plan on adding a memory card reader for them, but it's not a real big deal.

Had problems right away. Turned it on.....no video. Googled the problem, and found that it was common on the motherboard - it didn't like 2 sticks of memory. Had to clear the CMOS (something I'd never done), install both sticks and restart. All is well now. Go me!

Don't have the OS yet, that will be here later in the week.

[dragonshinobi]

wish my mom was that kind

i play on my dads comp and for gaming it sucks

my bro's plays halo 2 like a movie

[Comadevil]

Too bad, would have taken a board with 780g Chipset.
Quite more powerful for onboard graphics and it isn't really much more expensive. But for ur Dad it is ok i think

[StrokeyBlofeld]

[quote=""Comadevil""]Too bad, would have taken a board with 780g Chipset.
Quite more powerful for onboard graphics and it isn't really much more expensive. But for ur Dad it is ok i think[/quote]

Agreed, also I amy have chosen the intel route as being better bang for your $$$ at the moment. (Hate to say it as I prefer AMD but it is true).

[Comadevil]

IMO Intel is only interesting for gamers, developers etc.
For Office PCs i still prefer AMD because their idle power consumption is much lower than Intels.

[StrokeyBlofeld]

I see your point, but intel do have power saving options, and for less money you can get a chip that will perform as good or better with pretty much similar power consumption.

I always prefer AMD and hate admitting intel are better, but I must be fair.

[Comadevil]

The problem isn't only the CPU also Intels Chipsets have much higher power consumption. Also Intels CPU don't reduce their speed as much as AMD when idle
So in the end AMD is much better concerning powersaving.
With some tricks (notebook PSU, 2,5" Harddisk and a bit of undervolting the CPU) some members of a german forum achieved to run a Dual Core AMD Computer with 16-18 W idle powerconsumption.
Usually with 3,5 " Drive and 330 W PSU around 35 W

[StrokeyBlofeld]

[quote=""Comadevil""]The problem isn't only the CPU also Intels Chipsets have much higher power consumption. Also Intels CPU don't reduce their speed as much as AMD when idle
So in the end AMD is much better concerning powersaving.
With some tricks (notebook PSU, 2,5" Harddisk and a bit of undervolting the CPU) some members of a german forum achieved to run a Dual Core AMD Computer with 16-18 W idle powerconsumption.
Usually with 3,5 " Drive and 330 W PSU around 35 W[/quote]

Pretty impressive. As for AMD being a lot lower in consumption, they are lower overall, yes. AMD's "cool & quiet" feature is quite good, I only wish it was enabled as default as I suspect many users just don't enable it.