Since I'm waiting for the rest to come in... what do you guys think?

[LoXish]

Well, my current system is sitting at 1.8ghz AMD Athlon XP, 256MB of DDR 2700, 40 Gig HD.. etc. So I started rebuilding. Letting you know I work at Best Buy so if it says (Discount) it'as beucase I bought taht for discount and if it says (Employee Purchase) than I got it through Intel's Employee Purhcase program. Tell me what you think.

Mobo: Intel Desktop Board D915PBL (http://intel.com/design/motherbd/bl/index.htm) -- 111$ (Employee Purchase)

Processor: Intel Pentium 4 550 (3.4 Ghz, Prescott, HT) (http://intel.com/products/processor_...info.htm#p4htt) -- 111$ (Employee Purchase)

Case: Dynex High Performance Mid Tower w/ 500W Allied Power Supply -- 67$ (Discount)

RAM: 512MB of Mushkin DDR2-4200 (http://www.newegg.com/app/viewProduc...146-368&depa=1) -- 140$

Hard Drive: 200Gig Maxtor Diamondback 10 SATA HD (http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/Produc...tCode=100713-1) -- 119$

Video Card: Chaintech DeForce 6600GT PCIe (http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/Produc...uctCode=323275) -- 190$

Keyboard: Saitek Gaming Keyboard (http://www.saitekusa.com/usa/prod/gamerskey.htm) -- 35$ (Discount)

Mouse: Logitech MX1000 Laser Mouse (http://www.logitech.com/index.cfm/pr...CONTENTID=9043) -- 53$ (Discount)

Monitor: Samsung 997DF 19" CRT (http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage....&ref=03&loc=01) -- 174$ (Discount)

DVDRW: HP DVD530i (The drive itself is made by NEC) (http://www.hpstore.hp.co.uk/section?...22&secid=17523) -- 50$ (Discount)

I think that's all. Total came to about 1050 -- planning on buying a speaker set and dropping another 100$ or so... and eventually another 130 on 512 more RAM...

Not bad imho.

[Yuanji]

just wondering, why get such expensive ram? http://www.newegg.com/app/viewProduc...factory=BROWSE 2 sticks of 256 for 100. 2 sticks would help you because of dual channeling. i have seen other brands sell 512MB sticks for around 110. Allied also makes bad PSUs. get a better one. you need ATX 2.03 because you are using LGA775

[LoXish]

I liek Mushkin RAM -- and I dind't wanna do dual-channel 256s, becasue I hope to bup to 2 gigs within the next months and there are 4 slots... hence 2 sets of 2 512s... I can deal with the lower bandwidth for a few.

And all the research I've done says Allied make great reliable PSUs... is there any basis for the criticism on this?

[Yuanji]

Originally Posted by LoXish I liek Mushkin RAM -- and I dind't wanna do dual-channel 256s, becasue I hope to bup to 2 gigs within the next months and there are 4 slots... hence 2 sets of 2 512s... I can deal with the lower bandwidth for a few. And all the research I've done says Allied make great reliable PSUs... is there any basis for the criticism on this?

corsair makes a 512 stick for 103 http://www.newegg.com/app/viewProduc...145-529&depa=1
http://forum.pcmech.com/showthread.php?t=98650 that's the source of my criticism. Saw allied on the bad list

[LoXish]

Eh maybe it's just me, but I need to have a bit more than a list of names to base my decisions off of... and this give sit to me:

http://www.bigbruin.com/html/allied500w.htm

[LoXish]

Is Corsair all you use?

I've used Corsair, Crucial, Mushkin, GeiL... and I really like how ym Mushkin performed, so I'm gonna stick to that.

[Yuanji]

Originally Posted by LoXish Is Corsair all you use? I've used Corsair, Crucial, Mushkin, GeiL... and I really like how ym Mushkin performed, so I'm gonna stick to that.

well yes because this is the first rig i've built. it's cheaper though. if you like mushkin, by all means go with your choice. i'm hoping to get some OCZ or Gskill TCCD so i won't have only used Corsair. this baby OCs decently for Value tho. 226 FSB so far no increase in volts and i havn't reached it's wall yet.

[LoXish]

Ya see, I'm not that interested in OC'ing this rig -- I'll build an AMD rig if I wanna OC.. I just want a steady, reliabel machine tog et me few the next few years. And ya -- I checked out some OCZ, but it's pretty expensive stuff. Same with the Corsair Performance RAM which is hot as hell. ****ing LEDs on the RAM itself. Lol.

[Yuanji]

Originally Posted by LoXish Ya see, I'm not that interested in OC'ing this rig -- I'll build an AMD rig if I wanna OC.. I just want a steady, reliabel machine tog et me few the next few years. And ya -- I checked out some OCZ, but it's pretty expensive stuff. Same with the Corsair Performance RAM which is hot as hell. ****ing LEDs on the RAM itself. Lol.

OCZ is basically RAM for Overclockers or extreme enthusiests. Corsair XMS ram is hawt. the Mushkin ram that you picked out will probably do very well in your sys. probably would perform better after you get a second stick of that.

[LoXish]

I completely agree -- that's the plan. And hopefully, like I said, leave room to jump to 2 gigs if needed. But ya -- I wouldn't go with anything but OCZ in an OC system... OC is a whole nother market in itself.

[Yuanji]

intel employee discounts are nice =) 3.4Ghz for 111, boy i wish i could get a 3.0C for that price. build looks good otherwise.

[LoXish]

Ya -- their Employee Purhcase Program gave me that Mobo which supports PCIe, SATA, 7.1 High Def Audio, DDR2, the 3.4 550 Proc and Windows XP Professional all for 200$

222 after shipping.

Not effing bad.

[Yuanji]

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProduc...116-182&depa=0 it's worth it on CPU alone. ahh the perks of working for souless corperations

[LoXish]

hey hey now, I don't work for Intel -- I only sell their products to middle-class families that really can't afford them...

I suppose that works also.

[HAL9000]

No offense... but my personal take;

Get rid of the Allied power supply... they're not that good.. just looking at the heatsinks inside the thing says we're cutting corners.

Samsung did make a good monitor, but they have changed hands and service and quality have been slipping. I sold a ton of their 753DF's with very little problems, but had problems with at least 50% of the 19" monitors I have sold.

Now I can't speak directly from experience on the DVDRW, but you mentioned that it is made by NEC which bothers me. NEC has cut back a lot of their support and outsourced it. I had nothing but problems getting warranty on two monitors that each failed three times during their warranty period.

[LoXish]

No worries -- well I already bought the monitor and my mom's been using a 753 for yearas in the basement and we've never had a problem and I sell the 997s like hot cakes and haven't had one returned yet... I love the monitor, that's not going back.

I haven't heard any real negative first hand accounts with Allied, just he said she said speculation -- how can you learn about a new brand without trying first? I'll try it and if I see things aren't working out -- I can always replace a PSU.

I don't need NEC support, I buy for product and I support the product myself. NEC makes good product and I got a great deal on it. I rarely do anything my DVD burner besides burn backups every now and then and installing software.

Thanks for your take and I'll keep your opinion in midn when I'm runing into problems I'll be able to say "DAMMIT HAL TOLD ME TO DO THIS, HE WAS RIGHT"

But I'm a budget spender... I mean I don't go alll out cheap, but a deal is a deal.

[shadowbreaker513]

I can always replace a PSU.

As well as the rest of the componants it can take out with it.

P.S. You lucky S.O.B, I wish I could get an MX1000 that cheap.

[LoXish]

No no, I wouldn't put a POS PSU in and just throw the dice, until I see factual evidence that the Allied is indeed a bad PSU or has had problems, I'm going to go with it. And I'll pay close attention, there are ways to see if things aren't going as well as they should be,

[LoXish]

What I mean is, I've only read good reviews -- nothing negative. When building my first computer I didn't know any any brands, but I trusted reviews and it all worked out.

[Cricket]

Allied is associated with DEER. So is L&C and Austin. Although glc said Allied is probably the best of these, he still wouldn't trust one in his computer. I wouldn't either.

There are other power supply brands that have much better reputations than Allied, DEER, L&C and Austin.

But this is going to be your computer so it's really your choice.

Cricket

[LoXish]

Agreed -- and I already have it -- and I will take my cautions, but I don't see why I can't give it a try. A lot of guys from my department are using the samae mobo & processor and the same case/PSU -- and everything has been working fine. So, I'm going to give it a try.

[Moose on the Loose]

I don't have time to check right now, but why are you going with PC4400 DDR2 RAM? If you want to stick with Mushkin, go ahead but since you have an 800 FSB processor the RAM to match it is PC3200. DDR2 offers no performance increase over normal DDR.

[Yuanji]

Originally Posted by Moose on the Loose I don't have time to check right now, but why are you going with PC4400 DDR2 RAM? If you want to stick with Mushkin, go ahead but since you have an 800 FSB processor the RAM to match it is PC3200. DDR2 offers no performance increase over normal DDR.

it's because his board only supports DDR2 and he's saving a lot more money with that employee discount then buying a MoBo online and DDR memory,

[HAL9000]

Originally Posted by LoXish What I mean is, I've only read good reviews -- nothing negative. When building my first computer I didn't know any any brands, but I trusted reviews and it all worked out.

I generally don't trust reviews... think about it... these people are either being paid or being given freebies... they get a good review and even better, traffic to their website which generates revenue. I always go with people have experienced with a product combined with my own experience to make my selection.

Heck, even Deer, the lowest of the low is on AMD's approved power supply list....those things shouldn't even be approved to be a paper weight.

Originally Posted by LoXish Eh maybe it's just me, but I need to have a bit more than a list of names to base my decisions off of... and this give sit to me: http://www.bigbruin.com/html/allied500w.htm

That's not much of a review to go by either... all he did was tax his processor which really doesn't place high physical demands on the power supply. Proper testing would have loaded it to the 500w output capacity and beyond to find out where the voltages start to ripple... and all Deer and Deer knockoffs start to ripple way BEFORE their rated wattage while higher quality units ripple at at least 10% over their rated wattage.