Ethereal_Dragon
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So, my brother texted me a link to a computer on Amazon the other day, and asked for my thoughts on it. I told him that in my opinion it sucks, and that he can do MUCH better for the same price if we build it ourselves. So he gave me a $1000 budget, and I put ANOTHER build together (See Need help with a PC build for my old man...).
Here is initially what he sent me:
Microtel AMTI9041 on Amazon. (I have never heard of them). I am not going to bother listing ALL the specs, but I noticed that has an AMD Phenom II 965 in with, with 12 Gigs of ram.... But AMD doesn't use Tri channel, so they must just be a 12 gig tri channel kit, or 3 random sticks of 4 Gig. Whatev.
Here is the list of components that I have picked out to get him to about where I think he should be given his budget.
Upfront cost: $989.88
After MIR: $944.88 + $15 New Egg gift card
I think that it is a pretty decent setup. I am NOT 100% sure if the fan controller will work with the case fans, as they are the same ones I have in my Antec 900. Blue LED case fans with their own speed controller on them. I figure if I switch them all to High on their dedicated fan switches, the controller should work no problem. I told him if it doesn't work I will buy it from him for the $15.
I don't really think there is anywhere else that we can cut costs for him, other than saving $40 by going from the 6 core to the 4 core CPU, but I am waiting on him for that one to see what his thoughts are.
This setup should offer some good upgradability to go with the 8 core (or 6 core if he chooses the 4 core) in the future, 2 open RAM slots, an open PCIex16 slot for CROSSFIRE should he feel the need, and plenty of space for extra drives. I told him I will give him a 500 Gig drive of mine to save him money, and because drives are SOOO expensive lately since the flooding in Thailand.
Here is initially what he sent me:
Microtel AMTI9041 on Amazon. (I have never heard of them). I am not going to bother listing ALL the specs, but I noticed that has an AMD Phenom II 965 in with, with 12 Gigs of ram.... But AMD doesn't use Tri channel, so they must just be a 12 gig tri channel kit, or 3 random sticks of 4 Gig. Whatev.
Here is the list of components that I have picked out to get him to about where I think he should be given his budget.
- Case - Antec Three Hundred Illusion - $69.99
- Power Supply - OCZ ModXStream Pro 600W - $74.99 (+$25 MIR, and $15 Newegg promo gift card)
- CPU - AMD FX-6100 - $149.99
- Motherboard - GIGABYTE GA-990XA-UD3 - $139.99 (+$10 MIR)
- MEMORY - Crucial Ballistix 8GB (2 x 4GB) - $54.99
- GPU - HIS H679F1GD Radeon HD 6790 - $129.99 (+$10 MIR, and free copy of Dirt 3)
- Optical - LG Black Blu Ray RW - $64.99
- Monitor - ViewSonic VX2450wm-LED - $179.99
- Fan Controller - Sunbeam RHK-BA - $14.99
- SATA Cables - BYTECC 18" Serial ATA-150/300 Cable - $1.83 x3
- ATX 8 Pin extension - OKGEAR 12" ATX 8 Pin Extension Cable - $4.49
- OS - Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium OEM - $99.99 (Comes with free wireless mouse)
- HDD - 500 Gig Seagate Drive - $0 (I am giving him a spare I have)
Upfront cost: $989.88
After MIR: $944.88 + $15 New Egg gift card
I think that it is a pretty decent setup. I am NOT 100% sure if the fan controller will work with the case fans, as they are the same ones I have in my Antec 900. Blue LED case fans with their own speed controller on them. I figure if I switch them all to High on their dedicated fan switches, the controller should work no problem. I told him if it doesn't work I will buy it from him for the $15.
I don't really think there is anywhere else that we can cut costs for him, other than saving $40 by going from the 6 core to the 4 core CPU, but I am waiting on him for that one to see what his thoughts are.
This setup should offer some good upgradability to go with the 8 core (or 6 core if he chooses the 4 core) in the future, 2 open RAM slots, an open PCIex16 slot for CROSSFIRE should he feel the need, and plenty of space for extra drives. I told him I will give him a 500 Gig drive of mine to save him money, and because drives are SOOO expensive lately since the flooding in Thailand.