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here is what im going to buy next month. All of this stuff is off of newegg Smiley face separetes item from price. : )


(case) Antec Nine Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case 99.99
Item #: N82E16811129021

(hard drive)Western Digital Caviar Black WD1002FAEX 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive 79.99
Item #: N82E16822136533

(video vard)EVGA SuperClocked 01G-P3-1461-KR GeForce GTX 560 (Fermi) 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP 199.99
Ready SLI Support Video ...
Item #: N82E16814130661

(Pwr supply) Antec EarthWatts EA-650 GREEN 650W ATX12V v2.3 SLI Ready CrossFire Certified 80 PLUS BRONZE 59.99
Certified Active PFC Power Supply
Item #: N82E16817371044

(memory) CORSAIR Vengeance 4GB 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory (x2) 28.99(x2)
Model CMZ4GX3M1A1600C9
Item #: N82E16820233141

(motherboard) ASUS P8P67 PRO (REV 3.1) LGA 1155 Intel P67 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard 169.99
Item #: N82E16813131771

(processor) Intel Core i7-2600K Sandy Bridge 3.4GHz (3.8GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core 314.99
Desktop Processor BX80623I72600K
Item #: N82E16819115070

(optical drive) SAMSUNG CD/DVD Burner Black SATA Model SH-222AL LightScribe Supp (free with order)
Item #: N82E16827151235

(replacement cooling fan) ZALMAN CNPS9900ALED 120mm 2 Ball Low-noise Blue LED CPU Cooler 56.24
Item #: N82E16835118046

(Boot drive) OCZ Solid 3 SLD3-25SAT3-60G 2.5\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" 60GB SATA III MLC ) 99.99
Item #: N82E16820227728



Total price, 1,106.00 + tax and shipping. well within your budget, and a BADASS system.







As far as your question about the cores of a processor... intel has the advantage right now. The I7 processor benchmarks WAY WAY WAY above the phenom.

take a look for yourself.


processor benchmarks

Sounds cool. Still wary of assembling my own system though, but the list of components is very helpful to decide if I'm getting a good deal when looking at various prebuilt systems. From the components I actually recognize this seems more or less comparable to the Dell system I'm considering so far -- except that the Radeon 6870 the Dell comes with seems to be a grade below the GeForce GTX 560 you're getting, especially if you are doing some sort of overclocky thing with it. >_< I wonder if I can find a pre-built box with a comparable card? On the plus side, I think I can get 12 GB of DDR3 RAM from Dell within my price range thanks to some helpful back-to-school discounts. (And no shipping fees...)

Thank you for reassuring me about the i7. I guess that's one less thing to worry about.

Actually I'll just join the listmania and post what I'm looking at now as a possible choice: This is a Dell XPS 8300.

PROCESSOR Intel® Core™ i7-2600 processor(8MB Cache, 3.4GHz)
MEMORY 12GB Dual Channel DDR3 SDRAM at 1333MHz - 4 DIMMs
HARD DRIVE 2TB - 7200RPM, SATA 3.0Gb/s, 64MB Cache
MONITOR No Monitor
GRAPHICS CARD Single AMD Radeon™ HD 6870
OPTICAL DRIVE Blu-ray Combo Drive (8X BD-R, DVD+/-RW) with DVD+R double layer write capability
2 USB 3.0 ports

This is for $1,388.98 thanks to various discounts, before taxes, no shipping fees.

This goes down by more than $100 if I replace the hard drive with something called "1TB Performance RAID 0 (2 x 500GB SATA 3Gb/s 7200 RPM HDDs)". I have no idea what this means, except that someone told me this "raid 0" thing will effectively give me a faster! 500GB drive that may also be less reliable. (?)

Edit: One alternative seems to be the Velocity Z40, configurable here. I am actually kind of intimidated even just by this configuration page, as I don't know what a lot of this stuff does (well, specifically, I don't know if I should do anything about the motherboard and power supply). Cnet claims this is a better deal than the Dell, though. To me it seems that if I change the processor and graphics card options to match the Dell, and the RAM up to 8 GB, the price difference is actually very small -- and here I will have to pay for shipping, so... probably about the same.

raid 0 is 2 physical disks that act as one to the computer. The advantage is they pick up data faster because 2 cheap disks are reading at once, rather than 1 much more expensive one, for about the same performance

Girly

Buying a pre-built means someone with knowledge configured the pieces and parts to work together. Usually it isn't an issue for a shade tree mechanic because they don't mind tinkering and replacing things. Its an interesting phenomeon amongst enthuasists.

I'll use cars as the example to tamp down the blow back. I've heard more times then I can count someone who has a garage full of tools and works on cars tell me how much better his 15 year old car is then the "new junk", how much cheaper it is to own, and then regal me with stores of "throwing in" a rebuild kit on his transmission that weekend, and rebuilding his cylinder heads a month ago.

I quietly nod and think how much more he is paying in his own time, components and tool purchases along with the endless hassle of having a car he needs to keep maintaining. He quietly thinks how much better off he is without a car note, and the peace of mind that comes from knowing the details. No one is wrong because they are both happy with their approach.

In your case I wouldn't build the tower since you aren't looking to become a shade tree mechanic. PLUS you get a warranty that comes with someone else fixing the thing if it goes kapow. Ive bought exactly four computers in 15-20 years of continuous use and NEVER had a problem until they were replaced. The first I built, the rest I bought as a bundle. This lappie has a missing zero key and the paint is wore off the e too. Other then buying a new keyboard it handles things without issue, its about three and half years old, bought at big box warehouse store, and an HP built during the bad old days. Its fine for me and I use it for "hardcore" applications involving number crunching work stuff on occasion

Buy the touchscreen cause you want it but only after putting into the hopper Count's comments that its a bell and whistle that may not get alot of use. Asking for approval on a purchase of anything isn't generally going to be useful since it's the rare person who can give advice for YOU rather then give advice filtered through their own uses. The best you can hope for is a general warning on the quality of a product but even then it usually is heavily covered in fanboy spore.

You've got buyers pre-remorse is all, now go out there and buy something all ready

Broodwich wrote:QUOTE (Broodwich @ Aug 28 2011, 01:26 AM) raid 0 is 2 physical disks that act as one to the computer. The advantage is they pick up data faster because 2 cheap disks are reading at once, rather than 1 much more expensive one, for about the same performance

That's true but if one of drives breaks all data is lost on both drives. So for 2 drives configuration speed is doubled as well as probability of malfunction. But in my case I have 4 WD 250GB RE4 in a single RAID0 array because I need speed the most and all my data is temporary. That was the cheapest way to get 1TB with 500 Mb/sec burst read/write.

The smaller diameter of the HDs would play a part in the speed in which they are read me thinks... no matter the number of heads or RPM the disk travels it takes a longer time for the data to reach the head simply due to the travel distance. When you are talking shaving millisecond and microseconds a real consideration... me thinks

edit:

Ok I've went and putzed about a bit on this, but just a bit, because I went and am officially invoking a shennanigans on the idea that Girly needs a 650 watt power supply

Here is a comprehensive listof CPU/GPU consumption numbers and unless there is something more technical showing they are wildly wrong I'll take it at face value

An article on the subject including real world data here and graph now too

But MrChaos some will say why not go with *said as Tim Allen* moah powah huh huh huh
Cause you'll never use it and it will still produce a bucket load of heat anywhere from almost 25 to 50% of the overall heat dependent on your chip set for absolutely no benefit... matter of fact it is a significant contributor to lowering your MTBF numbers (lower is worse... and Mean Time Between Failure)

Commandah101 and be gentle

Thank you for the advice MrC. Those were roughly my thoughts about building my own, also -- while it seems like it'd be an interesting experience, and I would like to learn more about computers, I have no real desire to become an expert, or do a lot of tinkering with my machine... Getting something out of the box really does seem more appealing, both for less hassle, and for more peace of mind. I still have an ancient Dell Vostro 1000 sitting around that works fine...

Also I keep remembering this one time I decided to take a computer engineering class in high school (... yes), and I literally melted a microprocessor while working on my final project. O_o I'm not sure how. All the magic smoke flew away and then it didn't work and I think the teacher only let me pass the course out of pity.

I can definitely see why many people would love building their own PCs, though. Maybe someday in the future, when (if) I have more free time and a bigger budget for potential screw-ups and meltiness...

"Buyer's pre-remorse" is a good way of putting it. I need a new computer, and I want to get something decent, but I keep dithering back and forth between the different options available to me, fearing future regrets. Sometimes it seems like a no-brainer to just get a good tower that will stay current for a few years (and hey, if I really want to, maybe I can save up and get a nice big touch-screen for it someday later ). Sometimes, though, I ask myself "do I really need the fastest processor and the most RAM and all the best specs I can buy?" and then I think if I'm going to buy something basically for fun and enjoyment, I might as well get the all-in-one, even if it's not a very rational purchase, just because it's something that appeals to me. (Thinking about it, I doubt I'd ever want to use the touch-screen for hours at a time anyway, thus hopefully avoiding "Gorilla Arm" -- it'd just be a nice, if not entirely useful, "bell and whistle" to have and use once in a rare while. ) I mean, if I want to make a totally rational purchase, all I "need" is something cheap and reliable, and I've already decided I'm not stopping there this time...

Right now I'm leaning heavily towards the XPS 8300, though, as it seems like a fairly good deal for a pre-built system, from what I've learned so far.

Also, thank you Brood and Botz for the information on what the heck a Raid 0 array is. I am thinking I'll stick with a standard drive instead, given the concerns about reliability, as I seem to be too lazy and incompetent to make back-ups more often than once every few months anyway.

Does this price include monitors and peripherals?

Unfortunately the Dell price only includes an entry-level mouse and keyboard, and no monitor. I do have an old monitor that I am hoping to re-use. Does that make this a less-good deal than I thought?