Are these good prices?

My cousin is willing to sell me the following three items for $230:

Abit IS7 motherboard
He said that it looks like the following motherboard:
http://www.megapass.co.kr/~bjhwang0/is7-e/is703b.jpg
He said that the motherboard doesn't have onboard video. He also said that the onboard sound doesn't work, so I'll have to get a sound card. He also said that the box just says Abit IS7 and doesn't have any letter after it.

P4-C 2.4GHZ with an 800MHZ FSB
It also comes with a very good fan and heat sink.

ATI Gigabyte 9600 XT video card with 256 MB of DDR2
I tried to Google this one, but I couldn't get an exact match, due to the DDR2 versus DDR.

He told me to find the prices for the above parts and knock 25% off of that price. We used Google and got $60, $147, and $110, respectively. It came out to $237.75, but he said that he'll accept $230.

He is a gamer, but I am not. I do want a faster system than the one that I have. I would like to use this new computer to use photo and video editing programs on. I also have a lot of programs on vhs tapes that I want to put onto DVDs.

I'm going to get at least two 512MB DDR PC3200 400MHZ sticks for $35 each, after rebate.

I am also going to have to find an atx case with, at least, a 350 watt power supply.

I need to buy a sound card, but I can't afford an expensive one.

I am also trying to find a DVD burner. Should I wait for the blu-ray?

I also want to get two 300GB drives for $90-95, after rebate. Can someone help me decide between these 4? I like the 5-year warranty from seagate.

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicat...&Tab=2&NoMapp=0

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicat...&Tab=2&NoMapp=0

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicat...&Tab=2&NoMapp=0

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicat...&Tab=2&NoMapp=0

Is a larger HD buffer better than a faster seek time, in regards to the four HD links?

I thank you for any help that you can give me.

 

Check out

www.zipzoomfly.com
and
www.newegg.com

Zipzoomfly has FREE 2 day shipping on anything except cases and monitors, and alot of ZipZOomFly's stuff is cheaper than new egg, AND it comes with rebates...But check newegg also incase there is something cheaper...I bought my Processor off Newegg, and my Motherboard and Video Card off ZipZoomFly

I know ZZF has a $50 or something Audigy 2 Sound Card WITH a $25.00 Rebate....how can you beat that Also...Newegg has a Liteon DVD Burner for $38.00....dont think you can beat that either, lol. Check it out. Best of luck.

 

I didn't realize that there's no editing after five minutes from posting? Can somebody please replace the links in my previous post with these working links?



Here are the correct links for the four hard drives that I mentioned in the first post:

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1121653&Tab=2&NoMapp=0

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1197385&Tab=2&NoMapp=0

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1388892&Tab=2&NoMapp=0

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1121653&Tab=2&NoMapp=0

 

wow! $90 for a 300 GIg SATA? Okay....definaltey stick with SATA if you can. They are faster, and just overall better drives. I would go with one of the Maxter Drives....however...im noticing that the first, and last links...are the same....in any case, I would definately go with the Maxter SATA drives.

 

I messed up. One of those Maxtor links should have been this:
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1487962&Tab=2&NoMapp=0

I just talked with my cousin and he said that the video card is only 128MB DDR and we found it for $91. He also suggested that I go with one of the Maxtors, since 16MB of cache versus 8MB is more important than two extra years of warranty.

 

I think Serial ATA has a little bit faster Transfer Rating than the IDE. Overall ive heard very good things about SATA vs IDE. So I would definately go with the Maxter SATA 300 Gig.....infact.....im going to order one, right now, lol

 

I'm now trying to decide between the two Maxtor HDs. The only difference is that the IDE has .5msec lower average seek time. They both have the same price, spindle speed and buffer memory. I'll probably get the IDE unless someone has a good reason for me to choose the SATA.

Does anyone concur that the CPU and video card a good price?

 

I just saw your post. How is the transfer rate related to the seek time(please, see my previous post)?

 

I appreciate your opinion. However, I got the opposite opinion about which drive to choose, from two other people. They both said that the extra cache was the reason to choose. I was originally going to go with that particular Seagate for the same reasons that you mentioned, but I'm not so sure now.

 

Thanks for the links.

 

Please ignore delete the post in quotes. Thank you. I realize the difference. Where are the edit and the delete key when you need them?

 

To reiterate the first post, my cousin wants $110 for the P4 "C" CPU that is 2.4GHZ and has an 800MHZ FSB, and $45 for the Abit IS7 motherboard that doesn't have sound or video included, and $68 for the ATI Gigabyte 9600 XT with 128 MB of DDR.

I've had one person tell me not to get any of these items, so I ask if anyone sees any similar items on the Internet (preferably around the same prices). I'm not trying to bump this post, but I don't know enough about choosing motherboards or video cards.

I have decided on the hard drive, sound card, memory and case that I want, but I need help with the three items above.

 

Nice dvd burner for pricehttp://www.ecost.com/ecost/ecsplash/shop/detail~dpno~609760.asp

Motherboard price : http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...&Category=0&minPrice=&maxPrice=&Go.x=0&Go.y=0

 

processor price : http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819116171

Gfx card price : http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...ice=&MaxPrice=&SubCategory=48&Submit=Property

His prices arent that bad, just make sure everything is compatible than its up to you if you want to go with him or new or better

 

Tony,
compared to the barebones systems on NewEgg and ZipZoomFly, no, that price doesnt sound so great. Your could take money from the case/sound/power supply and buy more memory or a better graphics card

If thats serious, and you plan to use a firewall and/or antivirus, have you considered a dual processor system? Now would be the time to spend the extra dough.

just 2 ¢

 

Thank you both for helping me decide.

 

I would rather just buy new parts and get exactly what you want.

Your cousin is only selling them new less 25 percent?

That's not a good price for used goods, especially considering he is related to you.

What you are doing is buying someone else's leftovers or spares and trying to build a system around that.

Not a good way to go.

Figure out how much you have to spend, then buy the parts according to your use.

You say that you are not a gamer, so a decent motherboard with onboard sound and video (with an AGP or PCI 16x slot if you ever want to upgrade) would be fine.

 

Does anyone think that that price on those hard drives will be gone until after Christmas? Shouldn't the drives continue to get cheaper?

I found out that one of my drives is still under warranty. It's my Western Digital 120GB. I'm going to get it replaced for free. I have a 40GB and two 120GB drives. The 40GB has my OS and all of my programs on it. My 120GB drives are duplicates of each other and contain everything else. I'm wondering if I should not get the 300GB drives, since they'll cost $300 up front. I like that they're only $90 each after the rebates, but I can't afford them if I get everything else.

I'm not sure what to do yet, but knowing about the possibility of those Seagate hard drives being on sale for $90 again will help me decide. Does anybody have an opinion on this?

 

Can someone tell me the difference in these two ATI 9600 XT cards?

http://www.laptops4me.com/product_info.php/products_id/4590

http://www.showwow.com/videocard/item.asp?itemid=9208sw048888888810&VCode=google9600xt

Are they the same except for the 128MB versus 256MB? I think that my cousin's is like the first link, since it only has 128MB.

 

So far, I've deals on the following items to make a faster system:

Powmax Beige ATX Mid-Tower Case with a 450Watt Power Supply, Windows XP, two sticks of 512MB PC3200 DDR (400MHz), Creative Labs Sound Blaster Audigy LS PCI sound card, and an NEC Black IDE (dual layer and double layer) DVD Burner Model ND-3540A.

If I can find a way to afford them, I'd like to get two of the Maxtor DiamondMax 10 300GB (7200 16MB ATA-133) EIDE Hard Drives.

Again, my cousin is offering me the Gigabyte ATI 9600 XT (128MB DDR) video card, the Abit IS7 motherboard (no sound or video), and the Intel P4 "C" (2.4GHZ 800 MHZ FSB) CPU and fan for 25% off of the going rate. I'm still working on finding the cheapest links.

I have to talk to him, but I think I can get these three items for $196, under his condition.

Currently, I can get the case w/PSU, memory and sound card for $175.67 and get $40 in rebates.

Currently, I can get the dual layer/double layer DVD burner for $40 and free shipping.

Currenty, I can get the 300GB hard drives for $135 each and $90 in combined rebates.

 

I have searched for many hours, over the past several days, for the cheapest prices for the stuff he's offering or alternatives to them. I can't find a cheaper alternative than accepting his offer. In regards to the motherboard, today, he said that he's never tried the onboard sound, because he prefers video cards. He also said that he was told by some people on PC forums that the sound on the IS7 can crackle occasionally. This means that the motherboard works fine, but still requires a video card. I'll probably still get that SoundBlaster card, because that's a really nice price. At least, I won't have anymore worries about the motherboard.

I am curious about a similar video card. I found that ATI RADEON 9600 XT 256MB AGP8X Video card for $91 and $5 for shipping, but I don't know if it's as fast as his video card. His card has only 128MB of memory, but it has a core clock speed of 500 MHz and a memory clock speed of 600 MHz. The link to the other card is in a previous post. Does anybody know if that card one is as fast as his? If so, is it worth the extra $28?

I know that most people have told me not to buy his used parts, but I can't really find a better deal. So, I'm going to go with his offer.

Here are the current prices that he's willing to sell them at:

P4 CPU (2.4GHZ 800MHZ FSB) with a Zalman heatsink and fan - $90; motherboard (800MHZ FSB) - $45; and video card (500MHZ) - $68

That adds up to $203 for his stuff and $216 for the rest of the PC, minus the 300 gig hard drive. I really want to take advantage of that price, though, so I'm probably going to find the money to include it. That will be another $135. I hope that it's all worth it.

I have a 30GB (5400 2MB) drive and two 120GB (7200 8MB) drives. The 30GB is only for my OS and installed programs. I'm only using 16.5GB of that hard drive's space. My 120GB drives are duplicates that store everything else on my PC. I'm considering backing up the data from one of the 120GB drives onto the 300GB (7200 16MB) drive, and then using the two 120GB drives in RAID level zero. I’d also like to partition the 300GB drive, so that I could back up the 30GB drive as well as the 240 Gigs, from the RAID drives. I would like to know if this is all possible and how to use Norton Ghost or something better to back the drives up bi-monthly.

I saw that the 300GB drive is IDE 133, but the motherboard only has 2 Ultra DMA 33/66/100 Connectors. I searched for an ATA 133 IDE controller, so that I could get the full speed potential from the new hard drive. Most of the controllers were over $40, but I found one for $13 plus $7 shipping. However, after talking to my cousin, I'm not sure if it will be worth buying. My cousin said that I won't gain anything from an ATA 133 controller, because the drive won't get up to 133. Does anybody agree?

Along with the RAID, partitioning, and bi-monthly backup, I would like to overclock the motherboard and the video card.

Here's a quote about overclocking the motherboard:

"Overclocking: Most ABIT motherboards we have tested in that past were good overclockers. The same goes for the IS7. The SoftMenu III makes overclocking very easy. The board allowed our 2.4C to be overclocked to 3.2 GHz which is over 1 GHz FSB. The voltage options are very good even though we think the DRAM could have gone a little higher. Other than that, overclockers will not be disappointed with this board in terms of overclocking."

http://www.extremeoverclocking.com/reviews/motherboards/ABIT_IS7_1.html

My cousin doesn't think that the Ultra brand is good enough to overclock the motherboard, but I hope that he's wrong. Here's a quote from Ultra:

"Ideal for Overclocking!
Ultra Overclocking Memory offers Compatibility, Reliability and Speed because it has been rigorously tested to comply with our discriminating standards. Exhaustive triple testing ensures a quality product. No guessing games, no surprises — Ultra Overclocking Memory offers 100% compatibility, guaranteed."

Does anybody think that the memory will be good enough to overclock the motherboard?

I hope that some of you tech gurus can help me on these final thoughts. I thank you, in advance.

 

Here are some new choices that I would love some help with:

I may choose an SATA-150 hard drive, since the IS7 motherboard supports the following:

Serial ATA RAID

- On board 2 channels Serial ATA 150MB/s data transfer rate

- Supports RAID 0

However, the motherboard only has one set of SATA RAID connectors. Does that mean that it will only support one SATA-150 hard drive? Does that mean that I don't need a raid card? Can I still have the two EIDE drives in the PC with the SATA-150 drive?

SATA Dual Layer DVD±RW Writer (Access Time: 150 ms Cache Size: 8 MB) for $119 including shipping
PLEXTOR DUAL 16x8x16x/DVD+-RW 48x24x48x/CD-RW (#PX-716SA/SW)

V/S

IDE Dual Layer DVD±RW Writer (Access Time: 160 ms Cache Size: 2 MB)
ND-3540A 16x/8x/16x DVD+RW, 16x/6x/16x DVD-RW, 8x DVD+R DL 4X DVD-R DL, 48x/32x/48x CD-RW for $42 including shipping

Which one looks like the better deal to you?


HYPOTHETICAL CHOICE: Is 250GB (300 Mbits/sec with 8MB) better than 300GB (133 Mbits/sec with 16MB)? I remember that people told me to choose a 16MB drive, but that was before I saw SATA-300. It doesn't matter, unless I get a motherboard that supports 300Mbits/sec.

Here are the best choices that I found:

250 GB Serial ATA-300 (7200 8MB) <8.5 - $119

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1433488

300GB EIDE 133 (7200 16MB) <9 - $90 after rebate

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1487962

300GB Serial ATA-150 (7200 8MB) <8 - $95 after rebate

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1197385

250 GB Serial ATA-150 (7200 16MB) <9 - $105

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1487963

250 GB Serial ATA-150 (7200 16MB) <9 - $105 (same specs and price, as above, but different model #)

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1511642


Do you think that 50GB more hard drive space better than 8MB of more memory?

Can I overclock my motherboard with either of the following brands of memory?

PNY 512MB PC3200 DDR 400MHz Memory - $10 after rebate

Ultra 512MB PC3200 DDR 400MHz CL3 Memory - $35 after rebate

 

I wish that the ability to edit wasn't disabled after 5 minutes, because I've found the perfect hard drive, for me.

300GB / 7200 / 16MB / SATA-150 - $135 ($89.99 after rebate)

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1121653&sku=TSD-300M

 

Does anybody think that this copper heatspreader will fit on the PNY memory and if it will allow me to overclock the motherboard? It's only $2.95 plus shipping UPS ground.

http://www.coolerguys.com/840556041436.html

Here's what the site says:

Copper Heatspreader
High conductivity thermal pad
Easily instals with the provided spring clips
Fits PC100/133 and DDR memory modules
Cools down your memory module for consistent performance
Avoid system crashes by RAM overheat
DDRMAXX available in Aluminum and Copper

 

Am I alone on this thread? What happened to the good ol' days?

 

I think no one wants to interrupt the conversation you are having with yourself.


Too many questions, remarks and posts for anyone to even bother reading. I certainly haven't.

If you want an answer to something, make it short and to the point or you will lose people.

 

I didn't know that there was a limit to the amount of questions.

 

By the way, I didn't find your humor amusing. I thought that this was a help site.

I don't mean to offend the readers of this site, but can anybody recommend a site that likes to answer detailed threads like mine? I would really like answers to my questions. Thanks.

 

I never said there was a limit, however, you are overwhelming people and destroying your own thread.

Do you really think people have the time to read pages of thoughts?

Don't blame this site, it's the best around, and we help plenty of people.

No forum likes pages of questions and jumping from one topic to another.

Rather than take what I said as constructive criticism, you simply took it as criticism.

And just one more snippet of advice, when you are the one wanting help, it's not very clever to try and be a smart @rse as well. It doesn't help your cause.

Anyway, I'll leave you alone. Good luck.

 

I already said that I wasn't trying to be rude. Are you saying that I should have started multiple threads for each question?

 

No, I'm saying no one is going to read all that, it's too overwhelming.

The best way to get answers is to ask short, brief and poignant questions.

Anyway, I'm not helping your cause so I'll leave you to it and wish you all the best.

 

I apologize about the thread. It was due to part excitement and part worry over the rebate deadlines. I was hoping that there would be more participation. I guess I'm on most of the readers' ignore lists, so I'll go with what I've learned and do my own research next time.

 

I just want to add that I get the message.

I apologize for being verbose. I will try to do more of my own research, next time. I will also be more concise when posting a message. Lastly, I will work on my patience. Thanks to all who posted answers. I've learned from and appreciated your posts.