How much better can I do for the same price of the following computer:

http://www.amazon.com/HP-Pavilion-Elite-HPE-570f-Black/dp/tech-data/B004G5ZV4K/ref=de_a_smtd/192-7055698-5821346

I am just trying to get a good gauge and sense of what money can buy in terms of building your own PC.

Thanks for any advice.

3/29/2011 9:03:20 AM

the machine that was on woot yesterday is a better deal. wait for it to come back (should be within the next 3 weeks on sellout)

[Edited on March 29, 2011 at 9:20 AM. Reason : building that yourself shouldnt be more than 800]

3/29/2011 9:19:17 AM

Woot! I'll try to keep in touch with woot then. Thanks.

3/29/2011 9:33:35 AM

Yeah you could easily do a Core i5 2500K build with an nvidia 560i or something for under $1000.

3/29/2011 9:36:43 AM

Ah I think you are right. This combo looks tempting:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboBundleDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.620612

3/29/2011 9:41:08 AM

Only thing it doesn't come with a hard drive. I am not worried about an OS since I got a copy of W7 64-bit that I can put on it.

3/29/2011 9:45:39 AM

haha that's almost exactly the one I just built for you except I think mine is a tad better and comes with a HDD:

http://secure.newegg.com/WishList/PublicWishDetail.aspx?WishListNumber=15858352

-ok fixed it. Sandybridge mobo.

You could go cheaper on the PSU and case but I think that's a good build.

963 with 500GB Western Digital Caviar Black

Can always add a sub $100 SSD for the OS and a second Nvidia 560i down the road for cheap.

[Edited on March 29, 2011 at 10:04 AM. Reason : s]

3/29/2011 9:52:12 AM

So why is your's cheaper? I could add another 4gb of the same RAM i suppose. I might cop this LOL.

[Edited on March 29, 2011 at 9:58 AM. Reason : Its the case that makes it a little cheaper.]

3/29/2011 9:54:58 AM

If you're spending this kind of scratch I'd consider getting an SSD for your OS/Programs and a conventional hard drive for data

3/29/2011 10:05:25 AM

I ran a magnetic drive in mine for everything for a couple years, then upgraded to 64 bit and put in an SSD for the OS. Holy crap is that thing fast now. I would highly recommend putting aside a few bucks for a 64Gb SSD and using that for the OS. Boot times and app load times are much, much improved.

3/29/2011 10:08:48 AM

yeah. Sub that 500 WD I had with a Vertex 2 or other SSD and add a TByte or 2 HDD for storage depending on how much you want. That would bump the price to $1150-1200 though but completely worth it. You'd be amazed at how much an SSD improves overall performance.

3/29/2011 10:10:00 AM

I forgot I only got upgrades keys for Windows 7. Fudge. Also, on the SSD, they are kinda expensive though right?

I will consider a SSD at a later date though, but then again, just for the OS and games a 64gb might come in handy. I'll think on it. I just want a new PC with a lot of hard drive space, and this is pretty good for now I think if I decide to buy it. I do a lot of recording with FRAPS and man those videos are huge.

[Edited on March 29, 2011 at 10:15 AM. Reason : /]

3/29/2011 10:10:10 AM

upgrade keys dont mean anything. you can still do a clean format and install from an upgrade cd and then put the key in later.

3/29/2011 10:23:36 AM

Quote :

"just for the OS and games a 64gb might come in handy"

naw son, an SD to USB adapter 'comes in handy'. A Vertex 2 SSD will change your computing life Seriously they make everything run faster...have you ever used a computer with an SSD? For this kind of money I'd dial back on a few of your components if needed to spend the $120 towards a 60GB Vertex 2.

Ntm once you ditch the 500GB WD black you can get a 1TB drive for less money

3/29/2011 10:28:23 AM

Ah, I got the keys from the student program when I was at NCSU, so I just download and burn an ISO from Digital River and install it, then put the key in later and not have to buy another key?

^ So you are say I should get a 60gb SSD for the OS only and get an external hard drive for everything else?

[Edited on March 29, 2011 at 10:31 AM. Reason : /]

3/29/2011 10:30:21 AM

so how much better is an SSD over a WD Raptor HDD? is it worth it to buy an SSD or to reuse a Raptor if already have one?

3/29/2011 10:31:24 AM

Quote :

"So you are say I should get a 60gb SSD for the OS only and get an external hard drive for everything else?"

No not an external, most cases have plenty of room for 2 internal drives (but make sure before ordering). There might be something faster out now, but when i was in the market about 4-5 months ago the vertex 2 was the fastest.

Quote :

"so how much better is an SSD over a WD Raptor HDD? is it worth it to buy an SSD or to reuse a Raptor if already have one?"

Wayyyyy faster. It's all about the seek time being close to 0. Buy an SSD, sell the Raptor.

http://www.guru3d.com/article/ocz-vertex-2-ssd-review/1

3/29/2011 10:42:35 AM

I am also thinking about going with a GTX 460 as well.

3/29/2011 10:43:09 AM

^^^The original raptor? I actually have one of those and upgraded to a 60gig Vertex 2 for my OS then ran two raptors in raid0 for my programs/games. I'll eventually upgrade all my programs/games to SSD but for the mean time 2 of those in raid0 are quite fast. Sequential reads/writes are decent. Still shitty compared to an SSD but much better than a traditional 7200rpm.

Raptor's in RAID0:



I know this isn't really relevant but if anyone has them sitting around they're worth doing a raid0 setup. The read/writes come close to lower end SSDs.

^I love them although now I'd shoot for the 560's.

Also I know we're having fun in here but we should kind of be in here:

message_topic.aspx?topic=472002

[Edited on March 29, 2011 at 10:52 AM. Reason : s]

3/29/2011 10:44:00 AM

I am probably gonna get this hard drive http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822145304 ? and a SSD for the OS.

3/29/2011 10:55:43 AM

Quote :

"Also I know we're having fun in here but we should kind of be in here: message_topic.aspx?topic=472002"

Yeah I was thinking the same thing

^ that's more like it I'd just get the 60GB Vertex 2 unless anyone has any other suggestions...

3/29/2011 10:56:04 AM

OK one last question. If I have upgrades keys, I can do a clean install of Windows 7 and use these keys?

3/29/2011 10:57:22 AM

I believe so.

Although I might stay away from the newer Vertex 2's. They're 25nm and slower. OCZ is actually doing replacements as they kind of screwed up. Luckily I looked and I have one of the older 32nm ones in my desktop but I think the one in my laptop is a newer 25nm. Don't really care in the laptop though. It's still quite fast.

http://www.storagereview.com/ocz_vertex_2_25nm_review_oczssd22vtxe60g

[Edited on March 29, 2011 at 11:46 AM. Reason : s]

3/29/2011 11:17:51 AM

OK I have never assembled a PC before, so what should I expect and what should I look out for in terms of pitfalls and whatnot?

3/29/2011 1:11:52 PM

lets move this to the actual perpetual PC build thread and lock this one. We can discuss it there.

3/29/2011 1:31:16 PM

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/searchtools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=6472004&SRCCODE=GOOGLEBASE&cm_mmc_o=VRqCjC7BBTkwCjCECjCE >>> shitty ssd

3/30/2011 9:40:28 AM

^that kind of is an SSD. But without TRIM support.

How is it better? Have you seen the latest SATA3 SSD's? They're just as good if not better.

3/30/2011 1:45:38 PM

I think that if your budget is over a grand you can save a bit of money and get the exact specs you want if you build your own. If you are spending underneath that you might save yourself 50-100 bucks.

3/30/2011 10:33:43 PM