# $1200 or slightly more to spend on a computer **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 10, 2005, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1200-or-slightly-more-to-spend-on-a-computer/316387 "2005-08-10T02:51:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![chaoticbear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f07891/32.png) [@chaoticbear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chaoticbear)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2005, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1200-or-slightly-more-to-spend-on-a-computer/316387/1 "2005-08-10T02:51:59Z")
I wanna build a computer, not because I need one, but because I want one. Let’s say that I’ve budget 1200 USD to do this. I’d love for my computer to have the following: DVD burner Lotsa hard drive space Much faster processor than I actually need More RAM than I really need (A gig? I’d like some room for further upgrading, though. Don’t some mobos support up to 4 gigs?) A better video card than I really need, but let’s not go crazy. I’ll spend 100, maybe 150 on the video card. I don’t really play any games on it. Features I’d _like_ to have, but aren’t necessary TV tuner card Umm. That’s it. Is this remotely possible? One of my computery friends tells me that I could build a system for 700 dollars that would kick WoW, etc’s ass. But what can I get for 500 dollars more? 🆒 For reference, this will happen in mid-September. ---
**Author:** ![Gorsnak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gorsnak/32/7587_2.png) [@Gorsnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gorsnak)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2005, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1200-or-slightly-more-to-spend-on-a-computer/316387/2 "2005-08-10T03:56:14Z")
Is the $1200 to include a new monitor, or will you be using your existing one? ---
**Author:** ![TimeWinder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bcef8e/32.png) [@TimeWinder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TimeWinder)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2005, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1200-or-slightly-more-to-spend-on-a-computer/316387/3 "2005-08-10T04:15:44Z")
You should be able to do this. Using (arbitrarily) [zipzoomfly.com](http://zipzoomfly.com) for reference, motherboards are in the $130 range, video cards anywhere, but let’s use your $150 figure. 3Ghz CPU about $175 (Pentium 4. A 2Ghz Athlon XP is around $100). DVD burners in the vicinity of $100. Case $50 (That will come with a 300 watt power supply, but let’s bump it to 400 for another $80). For those following along at home, that’s about $680. 160 GB hard drive adds $100, and a gig of memory is about $100 as well, so you’re up to $880. Let’s call it $900, since some of these prices will vary depending on your exact config (for example, your motherboard may require more expensice memory. $300 left huh? Let’s splurge. That TV Tuner will cost $100 or so, (and might be free, a few video cards have this capability built in). With your $200, you’ll need an OS if you don’t have it. OEM XP Home runs $90. Sound and networking will likely be on the motherboard, so that’s probably all you need. **Gorsnak** mentions a monitor. 17" LCD’s run about $225. We’ve only got $110 left, so we can make up the difference if necessary by leaving out the TV tuner, using the smaller power supply, cheaper video card, and/or going AMD instead of Intel on the chip. These are middle-of-the-road prices, though, so you could go cheaper and still do it. ---
**Author:** ![Gorsnak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gorsnak/32/7587_2.png) [@Gorsnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gorsnak)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2005, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1200-or-slightly-more-to-spend-on-a-computer/316387/4 "2005-08-10T04:36:00Z")
Go AMD. At the moment it’s kicking Intel’s ass in terms of price:performance. My advice is to look at the arstechnica buyers guide. Take the [Budget Box](http://arstechnica.com/guides/buyer/system-guide-200506.ars/2) recommendations, bump the RAM to 1GB, add a video card with a tuner, a DVD burner, and maybe a bigger hard drive. Should come in under $1200 easy, unless you want a shiny new lcd monitor. ---
**Author:** ![Gorsnak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gorsnak/32/7587_2.png) [@Gorsnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gorsnak)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2005, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1200-or-slightly-more-to-spend-on-a-computer/316387/5 "2005-08-10T04:37:02Z")
That should have been price : performance Stupid vCode grumble grumble ---
**Author:** ![TLDRIDKJKLOLFTW](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/51bf81/32.png) [@TLDRIDKJKLOLFTW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TLDRIDKJKLOLFTW)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2005, 5:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1200-or-slightly-more-to-spend-on-a-computer/316387/6 "2005-08-10T05:31:23Z")
If you already have a monitor and keyboard and mouse (you mentioned that you didn’t need this computer, so I’m assuming you already have one w/ those things), you can build a _motherfucker_ of a computer for that. I just put one together for a friend of mine that came in a little over $800, and that was above and beyond what you’re asking for. Go with the AMD64 socket 939 chip - a 3500+ (equivalent to or better than a Pentium 3.5ghz) one. ---
**Author:** ![DougC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7feea3/32.png) [@DougC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DougC)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2005, 7:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1200-or-slightly-more-to-spend-on-a-computer/316387/7 "2005-08-10T07:04:47Z")
- - - Ummm… yep. — “DVD burner” - LiteOn DVD±RW for about $70, OEM. Nero and Alcohol software are about $60 each. Nero is good at general burning; Alcohol is for ripping and burning copy-protected CD’s. — “Lotsa hard drive space” - $110 gets you a Seagate 7200-RPM 8mb cache hard drive. — “Much faster processor than I actually need” - I would budget for an Athlon-64 3000/939 at first, and then increase that later if the money is there. What matters more for general computing is adding RAM and having a faster hard-drive. The hard-drive is by far the slowest part of a PC, and having more RAM means less seeking on the hard-drive, so improving both those things helps quite a bit. — “More RAM than I really need” - 1 Gb is the general advice, 2Gb is “a lot”. More than that won’t show much of any improvement running 99% of all software out there. - “A better video card than I really need, but let’s not go crazy. I’ll spend 100, maybe 150 on the video card. I don’t really play any games on it.” - $150 is enough. Either AGP 8X or PCI-E will do, as long as they fit in the mobo you got! — “TV tuner card” - I don’t know a whole lot about these, so I’ll skip it. Prices I found: An Athlon-64 3000/939 is about $150 (a -3500 is about $70 more, a 3800 is about $180 more) A motherboard is about $100 (many choices, in AGP or PCI-E) 1Gb RAM is about $90 (generic house brand) Your undecided videocard is $150 (let’s assume here) Seagate 200Gb hard-drive is about $110 (partitioned 15/5/50/remainder) Your floppy drive is about $10 (you will need this to install SATA drivers during OS install!) 😃 Don’t say nobody warned you! the DVD-RW is about $70, with Nero it’s $130. Case: I like the Antec SLK3800, with a 400W PS is $90 An OEM copy of WinXP Home is about $82 —Total so far = $912. (no monitor included) …Now if you _really_ wanted to make things faster, I would recommend buying two 1-Gig sticks of Ram instead for 2Gb total (this adds about $100), and adding a Raptor hard drive ($180). The Raptor should be partitioned 15Gb/5Gb/48Gb, and install the OS on the 15Gb, use the 5Gb for the paging file and install all the programs in the 48Gb. Keeping the three segregated (and also separate of the file storage, on the other 200Gb drive) will _greatly_ reduce the amount of file fragmentation, and help the computer run faster all the time. And if you spring for the Raptor, then you can just leave the 200Gb drive as one single partition. ## And that just about kills your budget. If you want a fast computer, spending for the fastest-CPU is a waste if it is hampered by other components. You are better off to get the slowest CPU there is and get as much RAM as possible and the fastest disk you can. A faster processor with less RAM and a slower hard-drive does work faster _when its working_, but then it also spends a greater percentage of its time just waiting around to read and write to the hard drive. ~ ---
**Author:** ![chaoticbear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f07891/32.png) [@chaoticbear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chaoticbear)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2005, 11:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1200-or-slightly-more-to-spend-on-a-computer/316387/8 "2005-08-10T11:34:13Z")
Is it against the EULA to install Windows on more than one computer? I have a XP Home copy already that came with my laptop. ---
**Author:** ![chaoticbear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f07891/32.png) [@chaoticbear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chaoticbear)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2005, 11:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1200-or-slightly-more-to-spend-on-a-computer/316387/9 "2005-08-10T11:52:57Z")
Ok, so we’re looking at: Processor: 334 dollars, AMD Athlon 64 3800+ Processor (Venice) Socket 939 Retail [http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=80721-5](http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=80721-5) Mobo: 109.95 [http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=246478](http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=246478) (except for the 250 gig part. What does that mean in mobos? Biggest supported hd? Hard drive: I have a 200 gig Maxtor right now that’s in an enclosure that I’m using as an external one. Let’s use it for generic storage of files, and add another one. The 74 gig Raptors are 183 dollars at newegg, which seems like a ripoff to me, but so it goes. It’ll be a big upgrade from my 5400 rpm laptop drive, if it’s even that fast. Stupid Dell. Ram: Start off with one gig. I’m not sure that [this](http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=85018-16) is the right kind. My processor says it only handles up to PC3200? WTH? Video card and case: Umm, I don’t know anything about these, guys. :o I know that I want a box to put my computer in. Heh. ---
**Author:** ![chaoticbear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f07891/32.png) [@chaoticbear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chaoticbear)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2005, 11:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1200-or-slightly-more-to-spend-on-a-computer/316387/10 "2005-08-10T11:56:43Z")
The stuff I listed comes to about 700 dollars, +150 for video card=800. Even if I spend $100 on the case, and $75 on the dvd burner, I still don’t see where you guys are spending the rest of my money. Keyboard/mouse/monitor I can find, unless I want an LCD or something (which I may later, cuz they’re pretty) ---
**Author:** ![RandomLetters](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8edcca/32.png) [@RandomLetters](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RandomLetters)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2005, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1200-or-slightly-more-to-spend-on-a-computer/316387/11 "2005-08-10T13:25:07Z")
> [@chaoticdonkey](#): > > Ok, so we’re looking at: > Processor: 334 dollars, AMD Athlon 64 3800+ Processor (Venice) Socket 939 Retail > [http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=80721-5](http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=80721-5) > > Mobo: 109.95 [http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=246478](http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=246478) (except for the 250 gig part. What does that mean in mobos? Biggest supported hd? > . I would go with a cheaper [Athlon 64 3500+](http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=80717-5) for $226 - there isn’t much of a performance difference between the 3500 and 3800, and you would be much better off throwing the $100 saved towards a better video card. The motherboard you linked too won’t work either of these processors though; you probably want a socket 939 CPU, while that DFI board you linked to is a socket 754 board. FYI, the 250 Gb part is just part of the chipset number. [This DFI nforce 4](http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813136160) board would probably do the trick, for $89. If you don’t want to go crazy on the video card, something like a [Geforce 6600GT for $165](http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814130214) or a [Radeon x800 for $175](http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814102529) would be your best bet. ---
**Author:** ![chaoticbear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f07891/32.png) [@chaoticbear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chaoticbear)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2005, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1200-or-slightly-more-to-spend-on-a-computer/316387/12 "2005-08-29T04:26:34Z")
Ok, here’s how things shook down. I… umm… paid someone else to get everything up and running for me, because the thought of getting drivers going from scratch scared the crap out of me. Ended up going cheap, because I only had about half the amount of money that I thought that I would to spend. I plan on upgrading to a Raptor hd at some point, along with a faster processor, and more RAM. AMD XP 3000+ (Accidentally got it instead of the AMD64.) nVIDIA gFORCE FX5500 w/256MB & TV-OUT/DVI 1 gig of generic RAM Random cheap 80 gig hd, because I’m updating it in the spring, and I’ve got a 200 one staring me in the face 450w power supply 16x DL DVD burner (+ and -) 5.1 surround sound, apparently, even though I don’t really need it. It sounds impressive to my non-audiophile ears. Cool case that looks eerily like Strong Bad. [Heh.](http://i8.ebayimg.com/02/i/04/b5/aa/b4_2.JPG) I… umm… got raped on shipping. 79 dollars, but I was so tired of computer shopping that I didn’t care. All in all, shipped, assembled, everything: 515 dollars. Hot. ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2005, 11:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1200-or-slightly-more-to-spend-on-a-computer/316387/13 "2005-08-29T11:47:52Z")
I don’t know how the AMD processors compare to Pentiums, but it sounds like you did pretty well. An 80 gig hard drive ought toe last you a while. I’ve been using one for a couple of years now, and it’s nowhere near full. Yeah, $80 for shipping sucks, but that price ensures that you don’t get a couple of Neanderthals tossing your computer around like it was a sack of flour. ---
**Author:** ![chaoticbear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f07891/32.png) [@chaoticbear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chaoticbear)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2005, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1200-or-slightly-more-to-spend-on-a-computer/316387/14 "2005-08-29T14:57:19Z")
> [@Diceman](#): > > I don’t know how the AMD processors compare to Pentiums, but it sounds like you did pretty well. An 80 gig hard drive ought toe last you a while. I’ve been using one for a couple of years now, and it’s nowhere near full. > > Yeah, $80 for shipping sucks, but that price ensures that you don’t get a couple of Neanderthals tossing your computer around like it was a sack of flour. The idea is that the “3000+” is comparable to a P4 3.0. ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2005, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1200-or-slightly-more-to-spend-on-a-computer/316387/15 "2005-08-30T00:25:13Z")
Rather than go the “really extremely cool harddrive” route that some have suggested, you might want to consider getting a simple RAID card and an additional cheap hard drive. Two cheap hard drives in RAID 0 will outperform even a quite expensive hard drive on reads, with the benefit of protecting your data against hardware failure. ---
**Author:** ![Shalmanese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shalmanese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shalmanese)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2005, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1200-or-slightly-more-to-spend-on-a-computer/316387/16 "2005-08-30T02:06:19Z")
> [@DougC](#): > > The Raptor should be partitioned 15Gb/5Gb/48Gb, and install the OS on the 15Gb, use the 5Gb for the paging file and install all the programs in the 48Gb. Keeping the three segregated (and also separate of the file storage, on the other 200Gb drive) will _greatly_ reduce the amount of file fragmentation, and help the computer run faster all the time. And if you spring for the Raptor, then you can just leave the 200Gb drive as one single partition. > ~ Why the hell would you need 5GB of page file if you get 2GB of RAM? ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2005, 7:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1200-or-slightly-more-to-spend-on-a-computer/316387/17 "2005-08-30T07:09:23Z")
> [@chaoticdonkey](#): > > AMD XP 3000+ (Accidentally got it instead of the AMD64.). This was a major mistake: the PC world is turning 64-bit. ---
**Author:** ![chaoticbear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f07891/32.png) [@chaoticbear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chaoticbear)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2005, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1200-or-slightly-more-to-spend-on-a-computer/316387/18 "2005-08-31T01:55:16Z")
Come spring, I’ll have an AMD64 3500+, at least. I just need something that’s computery right now. Would someone explain that whole RAID thing to me? I Know that that it has something to do with multiple hard drives. ---
**Author:** ![TLDRIDKJKLOLFTW](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/51bf81/32.png) [@TLDRIDKJKLOLFTW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TLDRIDKJKLOLFTW)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2005, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1200-or-slightly-more-to-spend-on-a-computer/316387/19 "2005-08-31T02:35:52Z")
> [@chaoticdonkey](#): > > Would someone explain that whole RAID thing to me? I Know that that it has something to do with multiple hard drives. The basic idea behind RAID is that your system treats multiple hard drives as one, spreading (or “striping”) the data across them in some particular way. There are different RAID configurations with numbers like 0, 1, 2, etc. - one of them is for redundancy or security, so if one of your hard drives fails, you don’t lose your data and the system keeps chugging along (I think this originated in servers, in order to keep them up?). Another RAID configuration is for performance - since the software can effectively access two different hard drives at once, you get better performance with things that involve streaming huge chunks of data in realtime, like audio or video editing. ---
**Author:** ![Shalmanese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shalmanese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shalmanese)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2005, 11:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1200-or-slightly-more-to-spend-on-a-computer/316387/20 "2005-08-31T11:53:54Z")
> [@Quartz](#): > > This was a major mistake: the PC world is turning 64-bit. Not really, I can’t name a single windows program that is not availible in 32 bit and it’s doubtful that you would use 8GB of RAM. By the time you get your new computer, 64 bit might be essential. Right now, it basically boils down to there being no compelling reason not to go 64 bit rather than any inherent goodness of 64 bit. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1200-or-slightly-more-to-spend-on-a-computer/316387.md?page=2)