PC under $2,000, FREE LAPTOP!

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fudpeX

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Jul 21, 2009
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Okay, here's what I'm looking for.

I'm looking at spending $1,500 on a laptop, but i don't like the thought of spending that much on something i cant upgrade.

If you have a range of under $2,000, and you could build or buy the PC you want, what would you get?

Keep in mind, I also need a Monitor, keyboard, and mouse because I have nothing. Cant spend all the $2,000 on just a tower. think of it as your starting from scratch.

If I like your build, and its a reasonable price, or best pc with lowest price, and I decide to take it, I will buy the PC and mail you this Dell Inspiron 1514 Laptop, reformatted with windows 7 64-bit with all the cd's it came with and everything. pretty much a brand new laptop.

The same laptop I'm using on my youtube videos, check the link on my sig if you want to see the laptop. Feel free to add some things to it, like a portable hard drive, or anything you want. try and use up the $2,000 if you can.

RECAP

- Under $2,000
- I need EVERYTHING, not just the tower
- Build what YOU would want, what YOU think is the best. Don't ask me if I want this or that.
- Either send me links, shopping carts, or just write down the specs with links to them. and the Total Price of course.​

Here is an example

CASE
Cooler Master RC-932-KKN5-GP HAF 932 Advance Full Tower Case - ATX, Black, SuperSpeed USB 3.0 139.99

PROCESSOR
AMD A8-Series AD3850WNGXBOX Quad-Core A8-3850 APU - 4MB L2 Cache, 2.9GHz, Socket FM1, Radeon HD 6550D (400 Cores), Dual Graphics Ready, DirectX 11, Fan, Retail 139.99

CPU FAN
Cooler Master Hyper N520 CPU Cooler - Socket LGA 775, AM2, AM2+, 1156, AM3, 1366 29.99

HARDDRIVE
Seagate ST1500DL003 Barracuda Green Hard Drive - 1.5TB, SATA 6Gbps, 3.5" 5900 RPM, 64MB 59.99

KEYBOARD MOUSE SPEAKERS
Logitech 920-001200 Cordless Desktop EX100 and Speakers S150 - Keyboard, Mouse, Speakers, Easy USB Connectivity, Black 24.99

MEMORY
Kingston KHX1600C9D3B1/4G Desktop Memory Module - 4GB, PC3-12800, DDR3-1600MHz, 240-pin DIMM, 9-9-9-27 CAS Latency, 1.5V, Non-ECC, Unbuffered 27.99

MOTHERBOARD
MSI A75MA-G55 AMD A Series Motherboard - Micro ATX, Socket FM1, AMD A75 Chipset, 1866MHz DDR3 (O.C.), SATA 6.0 Gb/s, 8-CH Audio, Gigabit LAN, SuperSpeed USB 3.0, AMD Dual Graphics Ready 99.99

POWER SUPPLY
Corsair CP-9020002-NA Enthusiast Series TX650M Modular Power Supply - 650W, 80 Plus Bronze, Single +12V Rail 104.99

SOUND CARD
Creative Labs 70SB088600002 SoundBlaster X-FI Titanium Fatal1ty Pro PCIe Sound Card 109.99

VIDEO CARD
PNY VCGGTX580XPB GeForce GTX 580 Video Card - 1536MB GDDR5, PCI-Express 2.0, Dual DVI, Mini HDMI, SLI, DirectX 11 419.99

MONITOR
Acer G215HV 22" Class Widescreen LCD Monitor - 1920 x 1080, 16:9, 20000:1 Dynamic, 60Hz, 5ms, DVI, VGA, Energy Star 129.99

Total: $1287.89

and the reason why i'm doing this is because I haven't looked at or upgraded a PC in over 4 years. So I'm a little rusty on whats good and whats not. So I'm looking for some young guns who know their hardware. and for their efforts, giving them my laptop I'm using this very second.

Let the shopping begin.
 
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Underlord, your link won't work as it's tied to your newegg account. Save the list as a public access list, or take a screenshot.
 
Here's the tower, OS included.
holy crap ram is so cheap nowadays o.o

http://i.min.us/il4NgG.png

And here is your accessories. Newegg doesn't have that many good ones, imo.

Speakers: Swan M10 2.1 Speakers

Keyboard: Leopold, get whichever you want. Brown switches are quieter, but blues feel better to type on (in my opinion). Or if you want a full sized keyboard, [ame="http://www.amazon.com/Filco-Majestouch-2-Keyboard-FKBN104M-EB2/dp/B004VKUSG6"]Filco Majetouch 2[/ame]. Or, if you want to try a full-sized blue switch keyboard, get [ame="http://www.amazon.com/Das-Keyboard-DASK3PROMS1-Professional-Wired/dp/B003M567V6/ref=sr_1_3?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1312909889&sr=1-3"]Das Keyboard[/ame].

You can get whatever mouse you want. That is pure preference.


About the build, I know I could have saved money on some things, particularly the power supply, but it's just such a good unit. Plus you said it's what we would buy for ourselves. I would definitely splurge on that. :P

If you want it to be cheaper, lmk.

Links
Case
Hard drive
Graphics Card
Power Supply
RAM
Windows 7 HP x64
Processor + Motherboard

fake edit: Crap, I forgot the monitor. This one is pretty good: ASUS VH232H. 1080p 23" display. Super cheap. My 24" 1080p monitor was $230 a few years back.

Also, if you want to overclock, find a Cooler Master Hyper 212+, but don't buy it if it's over $30 after shipping.
 
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http://i.min.us/ijsyQI.png
here is my attempt.

I'll just run through it real quick.

1. DVD burner, some people need it some people don't i just picked a reliable one that many people use. Really, they are all pretty much the same

2. Lian-Li case. I don't really know what your style is, so i picked the lian-li which is pretty neutral. If you don't like it you can swap it out.

3. 2 x Samsung Spinpoint. In my vision, these would be in RAID1 to protect your storage. You could also do a JBOD array if you need the 2TB of space.

4.Dell U2211H. It may look pricey from the outside, but actually, it is 100% worth it. Unlike most LCD panels on the market, this panel is made with an IPS panel, rather than a TN panel. IPS offers much more accurate color reproduction than TN. Once you start using IPS, you won't want to go back.

5. 2 x MSI GTX 560Ti. Originally I was going to go with a single 580, since i am more in the thought that it is good to get 1 stronger card than 2 weaker ones so you could add to the single one later. BUT, since it sounds like you want to keep this build for a long time, i figured you wouldn't be upgrading any time soon. So for the price of a single 580, I went with 2 560's, which will be faster, but less upgradeable as you cannot add a third. Again, i don't see this being a problem as it sounds like you don't upgrade too often.

6. Logitech G110. I don't really know what you like in a keyboard, so I just picked the Logitech G110. I use a G15, and i love it, the G110 is very similar, so I feel comfortable recommending it.

7. Logitech G500. Again, This is the same mouse I use, and I love it, so i feel it is a solid recommendation. Mouse preferences vary a lot between users, so you might want to go try some out and decide for yourself.

8. Intel 320 120GB SSD. Any system of this caliber would not be complete without an SSD. I chose the Intel 320, since this generation of SandForce drives seem to be having many firmware issues and the like. Intel has allways been a solid brand with SSDs. I use a 40GB Intel SSD in my system.

9. COMBO: Corsair HX750 & Corsair Vengeance DDR3 8GB. At the time of writing, the HX750 was the best value in the price range. 750w is way more than this build needs, but I wanted to get something solid since your budget allows.

The DDR3, corsair has always been a solid brand, and the vengeance series is no exception. Went with 8GB, because it is enough for pretty much everyone right now. It is only 2 Dimms so if you feel the need for more, you have 2 slots open, and you can add more later.

Note: the above is a combo, it gives a $25 discount.

10. COMBO: MSI Z68A-GD80 & i5 2500K. I love MSI motherboards. My personal board was a P67A-GD55, and it was great. Some people like to think that MSI isn't a good brand, but when i'm sustaining 5.4GHz overclocks through 3dmark, i would tend to disagree. I've also had great luck with them in the past. My P55-GD80 brought my i5 to 5.57GHz without breaking a sweat. The Z68-GD80 gets great reviews, and being one of the higher end models, it is packed with features.

The Core i5 2500K kinda goes without question. It is undoubtedly the best processor for the money right now. Since it is overclockable very easily, most people are able to reach speeds of over 4.5GHz. With 4 cores at that kind of speeds, you shouldn't need to upgrade for many years.

11. One thing i forgot on the list:
Cooler Master Hyper 212+
This cooler will help keep the i5 cool when overclocking. For $30 it is the best value available right now.

Total: ~$1966 before shipping.

If you have any questions, feel free to ask. If you would like to see it with something altered, i can do that too.

Amendment: Since Sound was not listed in the OP, but is in the sample, I'll recommend a headset.:

12. Razer Carcharias A lot of people own an love this headset. Headsets are a lot like mice, you need to try some and see what you like as it is a lot of personal preference. Personally I cannot stand gaming with speakers, so that is why i recommend a headset.

If you remove the DVD drive, you will come in at just about 2000$.
 
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UnderLord said:
http://secure.newegg.com/Shopping/ShoppingCart.aspx?Submit=view
Try that on for size

It has everything you'd ever need and should run like a dream, its the PC i'd get if I could afford it =)
Click to expand...

It's Going to my empty shopping cart

Phobos, I like your machine. The price range is nice.
Reflex, I liked yours until i saw the mouse you chose :P

haha im kidding Im not going to be that picky. So is Dual Graphics cards really worth the extra money? I always fiqured spending a few more hundred bucks is worth less heat in the PC, and with 1 card it doesnt use up as much processing power. but more importantly the heat issue.

I also noticed none of you are getting sound cards. I dont know about you guys, but those are almost as important as video cards if you wernt aware.
Audio takes up a lot of processing power in games. having a seperate unit to manage just that increases performance tremendously, not to mention increases your skill because you have pinpoint audio tracking.
 
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fudpeX said:
It's Going to my empty shopping cart

Phobos, I like your machine. The price range is nice.
Reflex, I liked yours until i saw the mouse you chose :P

haha im kidding Im not going to be that picky. So is Dual Graphics cards really worth the extra money? I always fiqured spending a few more hundred bucks is worth less heat in the PC, and with 1 card it doesnt use up as much processing power. but more importantly the heat issue.

I also noticed none of you are getting sound cards. I dont know about you guys, but those are almost as important as video cards if you wernt aware.
Click to expand...

E-mailed it to you since every attempt I tried didnt work to well. Also I forgot to add in a DVD drive =\
 
fudpeX said:
It's Going to my empty shopping cart

Phobos, I like your machine. The price range is nice.
Reflex, I liked yours until i saw the mouse you chose :P

haha im kidding Im not going to be that picky. So is Dual Graphics cards really worth the extra money? I always fiqured spending a few more hundred bucks is worth less heat in the PC, and with 1 card it doesnt use up as much processing power. but more importantly the heat issue.

I also noticed none of you are getting sound cards. I dont know about you guys, but those are almost as important as video cards if you wernt aware.
Click to expand...

Yeah, dual GPUs offer so much more frame rates. Go ahead and look up some HD 6950 crossfire reviews. You'll probably be able to play BF3 on high @ the monitor's max resolution. The cards that I picked (as well as the ones reflex picked) have excellent coolers. Heat will be no issue.

Did you want a sound card? Motherboards nowadays have built in sound cards that are good enough for the average consumer. I can modify my build to accommodate one, if you want.
 
The MSI board I chose, uses the top-end realtek audio processor, the THX cert helps too...., so a soundcard would kinda be pointless unless you have a really discerning ear.
 
yes, sound card is a must. the less work the motherboard has to do with integration, the better. and sound cards have ram on them as well. if you can obsoleet motherboard integration, i would be pleased.

hmm.. about the msi motherboard. could you link me to it?

Underlord, I havent recieved an email. what address did you use?

Phobus, if heating isint an issue, im going to look into yours some more.
 
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could you guys resize or crop those pictures? this thread has been butchered.

i looked at the motherboard, deffinatly needs an audio card. Intigrated sound devices use the ram you put in it to operate the audio. theres no dedicated ram just for audio. just like an integrated video card would use ram and processor to run graphics. thats why graphics cards come with ram and processor now. same exact reason why you always want an audio card.
 
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Here's the new build:
Picture.

I changed the graphics to a cheaper version of the same card (the ones before were 100% custom, these just have custom coolers) Graphics Cards
The Asus Xonar DX is one of the best sound cards you can buy for the money.
After reading a few reviews, I noticed that I overestimated the power consumption. You can do fine with a 750W unit. Power Supply.
Here is the CPU cooler I was talking about. CM Hyper 212+.
I also threw in a disc drive. You kinda need one to install Windows from a disc. :P
 
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