Is $1,951.17 a good price for the specs?

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/searchtools/configdetails.asp?Base=1480594




AMD Athlon 64 X2-4400+ Dual Core Processor
Microsoft Windows XP Professional SP2    
2GB DDR400 PC3200 Dual Channel Memory (1GBx2)
74GB 10K SATA150 Hard Drive
Serial ATA (SATA) Hard Drive 200GB (7200 RPM) - 2nd drive
16X DVD+R/RW-R/RW Dual Layer Drive
9-in-1 Card Reader Black
56K V.92 PCI Modem
10/100/1000 Gigabit PCI Adapter
SoundBlaster Live 24-Bit Sound Card (no game port)
GeForce 6800GT 256MB PCI Express Card
3-Port Firewire PCI Card w/ Internal Header
No Software Bundle Selected    


Any recommendations or changes?

personally i find the price of those new processors absurd and would not spend the money on one.  but thats me.  probably not a bad price

edit:  biggest question and probably the most important.  what motherboard?!

-56k modem? heh

another thing:  i bet if you went on newegg.com and bought all the parts it'd be cheaper to build.  as always.     i'd go try and prove it, but i just took an 8hr practice MCAT and i dont want to do anything.

if you're getting that much stuff, why live with a lowly single 6800gt??

at least get two in sli.  although i think nvidia has newer, faster stuff coming out now.  but why not spend the extra $300 or whatever and get another 6800..


edit, nevermind, i'd never buy anything from tiger direct.  you'd also be better to get 2x 36gb raptors instead of 1x 74gb, run in raid.  also, the minor price upgade from a sb live to an sb audigy 2 would probably be worth it as well.  why bother with a modem, or are you one of the graced ones that can only get modem-powered internet services?

Quoted: Is $1,951.17 a good price for the specs? http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/searchtools/configdetails.asp?Base=1480594 AMD Athlon 64 X2-4400+ Dual Core Processor Microsoft Windows XP Professional SP2     2GB DDR400 PC3200 Dual Channel Memory (1GBx2) 74GB 10K SATA150 Hard Drive Serial ATA (SATA) Hard Drive 200GB (7200 RPM) - 2nd drive 16X DVD+R/RW-R/RW Dual Layer Drive 9-in-1 Card Reader Black 56K V.92 PCI Modem 10/100/1000 Gigabit PCI Adapter SoundBlaster Live 24-Bit Sound Card (no game port) GeForce 6800GT 256MB PCI Express Card 3-Port Firewire PCI Card w/ Internal Header No Software Bundle Selected     Any recommendations or changes?

really depends on what you want to do with it. I game a lot so I would dump the 200gb drive and put the $ towards a better video card. I would probably dump a gig of memory as well to put to the video card. anything past 1GB doesnt really make a difference on gaming.. Dump 56kmodem, dump firewire

I want to get into computer animation.

then make sure you get a really good display.  the one i've been looking at is one of the nec/mits 21", can get it with and without software color calibration.  you should get 80hz or higher.

also, sony makes some nice crt's, but they're pretty up there in price.

I don't see a motherboard listed...

Quoted: I don't see a motherboard listed...

the site doesn't say other than socket 939 with hyper transport technology

Here's a copy of a similar system, from Newegg. You'd have to build it, but the parts are of higher quality than the shit Tigerdirect would use...very similar price. ($1983).

I'd get a better video card than the 6800GT, but that's just me. There isn't a huge difference between the 6800GT and the 6800 Ultra, so you'd do best to move on up to the 7800 series. More expensive though.

Some games want more than 1GB memory (Battlefield 2 comes to mind). 2GB isn't overkill for what you want to do with it.

Stay the hell away from TigerDirect; they suck. See here: www.resellerratings.com/seller1983.html

Versus Newegg: www.resellerratings.com/seller2121.html

This isn't intended as the parts you should get, but more as a guide as to what you could get for that price level. You'll have to do your own research on which motherboard, which case you want, etc.


Cables
Qty. Product Description Unit Price Savings Total Price
1 AMC 8" 4-Pin Power Cable Splitter Model Y Power Cable - OEM
Model #: Y Power Cable $5.00 -$5.00 Sale   $0.00
CD/DVD Burners (RW Drives)

PLEXTOR Beige IDE DVD Burner Model PX-740A-BP - OEM
Model #: PX-740A-BP
$85.99 -$15.00 Instant rebate
  $70.99

ATX Computer Cases
Antec LifeStyle SONATA II Piano Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case 450Watt SmartPower 2.0 ATX 12V V2.0 for AMD & Intel systems Power Supply - Retail
Model #: SONATA II
$104.00   $104.00

Internal Hard Drives
Western Digital Caviar SE WD2000JD 200GB 7200 RPM Serial ATA150 Hard Drive - OEM
Model #: WD2000JD
$98.00   $98.00

Western Digital Raptor WD740GD 74GB 10,000 RPM Serial ATA150 Hard Drive - OEM
Model #: WD740GD
$20.00 Mail-in Rebate
$183.00   $183.00

Modems
Encore ENF656-ESW-NDPR 56Kbps Internal Fax Modem(NetoDragon) - Retail
Model #: ENF656-ESW-NDPR
$6.50   $6.50

AMD-compatible Motherboards
ASUS A8N-E Socket 939 NVIDIA nForce4 Ultra ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail
Model #: A8N-E
**This item is warranted through the product manufacturer only. what's this?
$120.00   $120.00

Video Cards & Related Devices
Leadtek PX6800GT TDH Geforce 6800GT 256MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16 Video Card - Retail
Model #: PX6800-GTTDH
Remove item from Cart Remove  Save Save  Move To Wish List
$319.00   $319.00

Sound Cards
CREATIVE Sound Blaster Audigy 2 Value SB0400 8 (7.1) Channels PCI Interface Sound Card - OEM
Model #: 30SB040000000
$49.99   $49.99

Card Readers
Atech Flash PRO-9 BLACK 11-in-1 USB 2.0 Internal/ External Card Reader - Retail
Model #: PRO-9 BLACK
**This item is warranted through the product manufacturer only. what's this?
$29.99   $29.99

Add-On Cards
GWC PCI to 1394a Card Model EC-120 - Retail
Model #: EC-120
$12.49   $12.49

Memory - System
CORSAIR ValueSelect 1GB (2 x 512MB) 184-Pin DDR SDRAM DDR 400 (PC 3200) Unbuffered Dual Channel Kit System Memory Model VS1GBKIT400 - Retail
Model #: VS1GBKIT400
2 kits (2GB) $86.99   $173.98

Processors
AMD Athlon 64 X2 4400+ Toledo 1GHz FSB Socket 939 Dual Core Processor Model ADA4400CDBOX - Retail
Model #: ADA4400CDBOX
**This item is warranted through the product manufacturer only. what's this?
$669.00   $669.00

Operating Systems
Microsoft Windows XP Professional With Service Pack 2 - OEM
Model #: E85-03013
**Software delivered damaged and/or defective may be returned for an identical replacement.  
$146.95   $146.95
  Subtotal: $1,983.89

Shipping?

  Total(before tax, no shipping): $1,983.89
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Quoted: Quoted: Is $1,951.17 a good price for the specs? http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/searchtools/configdetails.asp?Base=1480594 AMD Athlon 64 X2-4400+ Dual Core Processor Microsoft Windows XP Professional SP2     2GB DDR400 PC3200 Dual Channel Memory (1GBx2) 74GB 10K SATA150 Hard Drive Serial ATA (SATA) Hard Drive 200GB (7200 RPM) - 2nd drive 16X DVD+R/RW-R/RW Dual Layer Drive 9-in-1 Card Reader Black 56K V.92 PCI Modem 10/100/1000 Gigabit PCI Adapter SoundBlaster Live 24-Bit Sound Card (no game port) GeForce 6800GT 256MB PCI Express Card 3-Port Firewire PCI Card w/ Internal Header No Software Bundle Selected     Any recommendations or changes? really depends on what you want to do with it. I game a lot so I would dump the 200gb drive and put the $ towards a better video card. I would probably dump a gig of memory as well to put to the video card. anything past 1GB doesnt really make a difference on gaming.. Dump 56kmodem, dump firewire

It depends on what you intended to do with your computer.

If you plan an doing any video editing, 3D/graphics the 2GB of memory will be used as will the 200GB HD. I have a machine with 600GB in HD space full up.

Also if you are doing development and IT testing the memory is need if you want to run virtual machines.

I have a couple of axioms for me…

No matter how big the hard drive I will have it full in 90 days or less.
And no matter how much memory I can use more.

I have been hearing of alot of issues with the new AMD dual core CPU's.

Not so much the CPU - But the BIOS having problems running both cores.

I would wait a while before going dual core.

Oh yeah - Ditch the Big drive in favor of 2 smaller drives in RAID.

Only thing wrong is the AMD!

Quoted: my first question is why do you need something that overblown for home use? VERY little software gaming or otherwise won't run on a properly setup 2ghz base machine with 1gb ram and decent video card. The bleeding edge hardwrae days are over. spec what you want this thing to do then price it out. unless you are doing 3d rendering and animation you don't need that much system.

You can easily eat up that much power in some of the games out today.

All of that shit just to read ARF and look at pron.

Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: my first question is why do you need something that overblown for home use? VERY little software gaming or otherwise won't run on a properly setup 2ghz base machine with 1gb ram and decent video card. The bleeding edge hardwrae days are over. spec what you want this thing to do then price it out. unless you are doing 3d rendering and animation you don't need that much system. You can easily eat up that much power in some of the games out today. funny i have yet to find anything that will not run efficiently on a base 2ghz machine with good video. the key is quality components and proper configuration. Software is WAY behind the hardware curve now. mike

There are MANY games that will drag a 2GHZ machine to its knees. Being able to run a game is not the same as running it high resolution and with high antialias... Which is the goal of high end gamers.

unless you have sensitive data ditch the raid. performance suffers greatly and 99% of home users don't need it.

Unless you're using garbage like some of the IDE controllers that call themselves RAID but are really just a software driver for Windows XP, then that's not true.

Why would you say home users don't need RAID?  The cheap QIC drives you used to often see home users use are just no longer big enough.  Very few people spend the money on tape drives, so they need some sort of way of protecting themselves against a hard drive failure.

raid with 2 drives is horribly inefficient and slow.

No.  With a descent controller or software driver reading can be twice as fast.  Example with a single drive:

amd64:/root# hdparm -t /dev/hda1
/dev/hda1:
Timing buffered disk reads:  138 MB in  3.01 seconds =  45.81 MB/sec

With pair of drives running RAID 0:

amd64:/root# hdparm -t /dev/md1
/dev/md0:
Timing buffered disk reads:  268 MB in  3.00 seconds =  89.26 MB/sec

RAID 0 with two drives is 1.95 times faster than the single drive on this system running Linux 2.6.  This is with a very low-end $14 SATA controller and two 10k piece of junk IDE drives.  It's not even SCSI.

Actually 2 drives is NOT raid.

That is wrong.  Two drives can be a RAID array.  You can have a RAID 0 or RAID 1 array with just two drives.

a minimum for raid is 3 drives.

Where did you come-up with this bit of misinformation?  Microsoft?z

Quoted: raid levels 0 and 1 are not true raid with parity striping as i recall. it's been awhile since i've worked on the pc side of that stuff.

Parity is not a requirement to be redundant, the R in RAID.  Here's a good explanation:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Redundant_array_of_independent_disks

Now that disks are getting cheaper and larger, there are more people running RAID 0 (striped) on top of RAID 1 (mirrored).  There's no parity to calculate like with RAID 4 and 5 which helps write performance.  Read performance is very good since the same data is stored on more than one drive.  You can lose any one drive and several combinations of multiple drives.  For our database servers, software RAID1+0 with piece of junk IDE drives is slightly faster than our $1,500 Mylex hardware RAID controllers running RAID5 with expensive SCSI drives.  Running RAID with calculated parity is getting less and less popular.z

If RAID wasn't faster - I wouldn't have 3 here at home.

Trust me - when you start transfering folders of DVD.iso files you can REALLY see the speed difference.

RAID speed depends on what type of RAID and how executed.

If you are executing software RAID 0 will be slower, If you are executing hardware RAID 0 and have a good controller it can be much faster.

RAID 0 (Striping) writes to 2 drives at once, RAID 0 is not fault-tolerant and has no parity calculation. Performance can be greatly increased in RAID 0 as the load can be spread across the drives and channels.

RAID 0 is good for any application that requires high throughput and the data is not critical. Video, graphics, games, ect.


RAID 0 (Striping)
RAID 1 (Mirroring)
RAID 2 and up have some sort of parity or error checking and are slower.

In some circles RAID 0 is not consider true RAID as it has no fault-tolerance.

Quoted: I have been hearing of alot of issues with the new AMD dual core CPU's. Not so much the CPU - But the BIOS having problems running both cores. I would wait a while before going dual core. Oh yeah - Ditch the Big drive in favor of 2 smaller drives in RAID.

This is a crock of shit. I'd like to see you backup these claims of "AMD dual core issues" with links to CREDIBLE sources reporting these problems.

BTW, No problems with my AMD dual core system:

4GB - think you have enough RAM there?

Quoted: Quoted: I have been hearing of alot of issues with the new AMD dual core CPU's. Not so much the CPU - But the BIOS having problems running both cores. I would wait a while before going dual core. Oh yeah - Ditch the Big drive in favor of 2 smaller drives in RAID. This is a crock of shit. I'd like to see you backup these claims of "AMD dual core issues" with links to CREDIBLE sources reporting these problems. BTW, No problems with my AMD dual core system: members.roadfly.com/agent7/dual_core_desktop.jpg

Search TechNet and also the Shuttle support forms.  If I can find the links when I have a chance I will post them. I did NOT say that this was an issue with ALL MBD's.