Hey guys I still don't have a new PC yet!
I found it easier to get a job when I was 14, now at 17, it seems most of the supermarkets and that near my house aren't as eager to employee more people for casual/part time positions at the moment, especially when a couple of them switched from a face to face interview with a resume to an online application (which will take a while). Oh well, I'm determined to work anywhere and work my ass off for a new PC so I'm still applying.
Anyway.
I learned a great deal from being a part of the CF community and reading and I'm grateful for the advice I received from members: Kage, Muz, Freestyler105, ISOwner and MattieDaShark83 in particular. I was pretty confident about doing the research and selecting parts for my first build but my uncle recently recommended a shop in my city called DIY-IT and I checked out their pre-built custom packages… they're pretty sweet.
Take a look for yourself here (Intel Power Package) but they've recently changed the one I was looking at by adding a printer, different monitor and Norton which added to the price but it doesn't matter because I took a screenshot of the November model and its price at that point.
By the way things are going, I don't think I'll start work for another few weeks if I'm lucky but the main point here is: I'm not going to be spending this price bracket as the hardware is updated, I will be seeking the same pre-built model which will slowly drop in price by the time I can pay for it.
Here is the gaming PC I am currently thinking of and the price at the time.
You can see I've chosen 2 of the optional upgrades and I may also choose to run XP instead of Vista because I heard it performs better when it comes to gaming? I checked the monitor out and it looks pretty kool, things like the mouse and keyboard will eventually get replaced by better products but the speakers in the package will no doubt be different in a few months time.
I've spoken to the staff before and they'll basically just customize it to what I want so I was originally thinking of going with the NZXT Apollo case but I've decided the Thermaltake Soprano looks so much cooler, that's basically what I'm after in a case, looks, I guess haha. This will also be playing FPS games such as Crysis, CoD4 and CS:S mostly, then no doubt others in the future, mostly FPS though, I've kinda lost touch with the RPG stuff and I never played RTS.
I browsed Australian websites and basically did an estimate of what it would cost to buy the same parts myself and build it and here's most of the system, I tried to be accurate and I also provided 3 different currencies to make it easier whether you're English, American or Australian, like myself. Please remember: this is not from my local store, this is an estimate of the online excluding shipping charges too.
Intel Core 2 Duo E6750
Australia: $255
USA: $224
England: £110
Gigabyte Intel Motherboard
Australia: $100-$350
USA: $88-$308
England: £43-£152
2GB DDR2 667 RAM
Australia: $75-$90
USA: $65-$80
England: £32-39
Western Digital 320GB SATA2
Australia: $217
USA: $190
England: £94
Pioneer DVD Burner
Australia: $55
USA: $50
England: £24
GeForce 8500GT 512MB
Australia: $120
USA: $105
England: £52
400W ATX CPU
Australia: $15-$45
USA: $10-$40
England: £8-£20
BenQ 19†Widescreen LCD Monitor
Australia: $280
USA: $245
England: £121
Hard to confirm the price difference when the description isn't all that specific but I think it's worth paying that little bit extra to be built by an experienced person and to also come with a warranty. I also can't see myself upgrading much in the future, any income would be going towards my music commitments, pretty much.
I wanted to hear the opinions from any CF members and all discussion is welcome but I have a couple questions of my own:
What do you actually think of this particular system?
Would the extra $45 I spent on the E6750 instead of the E6420 have a noticeable impact as much as say, $50 extra towards a video card? Also, much money do you think would be especially worth the difference when it comes to either a CPU or Video Card?
When it comes to DDR2 RAM, would do you think about the difference between 800Mhz and 667Mhz chips? I feel compelled to upgrade to a higher number hahaha but I have seen some Crysis demos run really well with 1-4GB 667Mhz RAM.
I found it easier to get a job when I was 14, now at 17, it seems most of the supermarkets and that near my house aren't as eager to employee more people for casual/part time positions at the moment, especially when a couple of them switched from a face to face interview with a resume to an online application (which will take a while). Oh well, I'm determined to work anywhere and work my ass off for a new PC so I'm still applying.
Anyway.
I learned a great deal from being a part of the CF community and reading and I'm grateful for the advice I received from members: Kage, Muz, Freestyler105, ISOwner and MattieDaShark83 in particular. I was pretty confident about doing the research and selecting parts for my first build but my uncle recently recommended a shop in my city called DIY-IT and I checked out their pre-built custom packages… they're pretty sweet.
Take a look for yourself here (Intel Power Package) but they've recently changed the one I was looking at by adding a printer, different monitor and Norton which added to the price but it doesn't matter because I took a screenshot of the November model and its price at that point.
By the way things are going, I don't think I'll start work for another few weeks if I'm lucky but the main point here is: I'm not going to be spending this price bracket as the hardware is updated, I will be seeking the same pre-built model which will slowly drop in price by the time I can pay for it.
Here is the gaming PC I am currently thinking of and the price at the time.
You can see I've chosen 2 of the optional upgrades and I may also choose to run XP instead of Vista because I heard it performs better when it comes to gaming? I checked the monitor out and it looks pretty kool, things like the mouse and keyboard will eventually get replaced by better products but the speakers in the package will no doubt be different in a few months time.
I've spoken to the staff before and they'll basically just customize it to what I want so I was originally thinking of going with the NZXT Apollo case but I've decided the Thermaltake Soprano looks so much cooler, that's basically what I'm after in a case, looks, I guess haha. This will also be playing FPS games such as Crysis, CoD4 and CS:S mostly, then no doubt others in the future, mostly FPS though, I've kinda lost touch with the RPG stuff and I never played RTS.
I browsed Australian websites and basically did an estimate of what it would cost to buy the same parts myself and build it and here's most of the system, I tried to be accurate and I also provided 3 different currencies to make it easier whether you're English, American or Australian, like myself. Please remember: this is not from my local store, this is an estimate of the online excluding shipping charges too.
Intel Core 2 Duo E6750
Australia: $255
USA: $224
England: £110
Gigabyte Intel Motherboard
Australia: $100-$350
USA: $88-$308
England: £43-£152
2GB DDR2 667 RAM
Australia: $75-$90
USA: $65-$80
England: £32-39
Western Digital 320GB SATA2
Australia: $217
USA: $190
England: £94
Pioneer DVD Burner
Australia: $55
USA: $50
England: £24
GeForce 8500GT 512MB
Australia: $120
USA: $105
England: £52
400W ATX CPU
Australia: $15-$45
USA: $10-$40
England: £8-£20
BenQ 19†Widescreen LCD Monitor
Australia: $280
USA: $245
England: £121
Hard to confirm the price difference when the description isn't all that specific but I think it's worth paying that little bit extra to be built by an experienced person and to also come with a warranty. I also can't see myself upgrading much in the future, any income would be going towards my music commitments, pretty much.
I wanted to hear the opinions from any CF members and all discussion is welcome but I have a couple questions of my own:
What do you actually think of this particular system?
Would the extra $45 I spent on the E6750 instead of the E6420 have a noticeable impact as much as say, $50 extra towards a video card? Also, much money do you think would be especially worth the difference when it comes to either a CPU or Video Card?
When it comes to DDR2 RAM, would do you think about the difference between 800Mhz and 667Mhz chips? I feel compelled to upgrade to a higher number hahaha but I have seen some Crysis demos run really well with 1-4GB 667Mhz RAM.
