Update on birthday build for awesome son

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laurieny

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Utah
I can barely contain my excitement over the build for my sonÂ’s birthday and I just had to post today to share it with people who will understand. While I love my hubby dearly, he has little appreciate for the beauty of this system, though the guys at work have been properly envious. He pretty much looks at computers as black boxes with which I already spend way too much time. Of course, he is still living in the garage and consumed by playing with the Tormek grinder I got him for Christmas, so I have to excuse his lack of focus.

I did make some adjustments from my original post for multiple reasons, but the part that I am most happy about is the case. I agonized over this decision more than any other component, but I think this will be darn near the perfect case. Of course, it figures that this is the last part not yet hiding in the closet (not counting the video card). I got everything else from Newegg and their prices and shipping have been great. But the case is out of stock and not due in until 1/23. That will be cutting it close (D-day, or B-day in this case, is 2/4) but I think that should be okay. I am going with the existing ATI card he has for right now, and will be buying the eVGA GeForce 7800 GTX 512MB when it shows up on Newegg-not even listed on the site yet. I am dying to open up some of the boxes but trying to restrain myself, and keep the drool from getting any of the components too wet. We have a rule about not opening birthday presents until after dinner, but I am pretty sure that I will have to break this rule this year, as I canÂ’t see waiting through a whole Saturday to get going on this build. Cross your fingers that we donÂ’t screw any of this up when we actually get going. Three weeks and counting.

Last note, I just configured a pretty much exact copy of this on Falcon and it came up to $4500K. While no one would say this build is “cheap” it is the least I have ever spent on a computer and the money saved by building it ourselves makes me grin idiotically.

:D :D :D

Purchased:
Price: $1729 ($2479 with the card probably)
Shipping: $56
Total: $1784

MB: ASUS AMD A8N32-SLI Deluxe ($245)
CPU: AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+ Dual-Core ($322)
HSF: ZALMAN CNPS9500 PSU ($62)
PSU: ENERMAX Liberty ELT620AWT ATX12V 620W ($175)
Memory: OCZ Platinum 2 GB (2 pcs 1GB) PC-3200 ($240)
HD1: WESTERN DIGITAL 74 GB SATA 10K Raptor ($155)
HD2: SEAGATE BARRACUDA 300GB 7200 RPM ($131)
DVD: SONY DRU-S810A ($59)
FD: MITSUMI Floppy 7-in-1 ($22)
Mouse: LOGITECH MX518 ($38)
Case: CM STACKER 830 ($279)

Recycled:

Sound: CB Audigy 2 Z
Speakers:Logitech Z-340 5.1
Video: ATI 100-435513 Radeon X800XL 256MB
Monitor: 22" Mitsubishi Diamond Pro 2060u CRT
 
Looks awesome; when you're done with the video card I'd be happy to take it off your hands :)
 
Trotter : LOL Okay, if I decide to adopt you are first in line!

003: No, I just looked up what a similar system would cost at Falcon Northwest. So I could tell my hubby that I "saved" him over $2K.

PcMe-If the card ends up in the recycle pile, I will think of you!
 
Ooh. That is a nice rig. I would love to be your son. Do you play games too? You do sound excited about this.

Hope you and your son enjoy it :)
 
Poison Porkchop: I AM excited, and as it is a surprise for my son, I haven't been able to share the "shopping"with him, which for me is more than half the fun.

Sevoma: Yes, I occasionally play WoW and CoD with my son, but mostly just so I can "talk the talk" with him. He is way too good and I suck, so I watch him play more than anything. I enjoy surfing and forums more than games, though seeing as I was thrilled as a child one Christmas when we got Pong and I am in software development, I do appreciate the incredible games available today. Really I am just a gadget freak and my family is thinking of starting a 12 step program for me!
 
laurieny said:
He is way too good and I suck, so I watch him play more than anything.

You just need to play more. It's like riding a bike really. When you first get on a bike, you have no clue what you are doing, everything seems so wierd. Where to put your feet, hands and how to operate it. Forget the balance...

Learning how to play PC based video games is the same. You can figure out the keys, where do I go in level, how do I do this??? It's confusing at first... But, over time, as you play, you're brain will learn. Adults have a much harder time learning then children, this is the nature of humans. When your a kid, your brain is a sponge. When your an adult, your brain is more like a rock. Just give it time. Practice & Patience....

Put it this way, my mother and father are 55 years old. I gave them a PS2 and a few games... They were both uninterested at first, but now... they can't get enough of it. They play pretty much all the games i play on PS2 and are pretty freakin' good.

I'd love for them to play more PC games, but their PC isn't much for gaming...

Point is, gaming is for everyone...
 
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