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[Keetmanshoop]

I've been scouring Newegg and other sites for the past month trying to work within a rather limited budget to build a PC that will last me around 6 years instead of 2 as I've been doing for the past six years (mostly the technology hadn't been around to futureproof myself for that long). I kept deciding on one processor and then working from there but it always got too damn expensive when I was done with just the CPU, mobo, and RAM that I wouldn't be able to get a new hard drive.

Monday night I pulled the trigger on this:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.543262

I picked each out individually and put them on a very short list of possibilities but then I saw the combo deal and decided I couldn't pass it up (even with potential Black Friday/Cyber Monday deals a few days away). I added an after market fan/heatsink and with shipping the total price was $153.

Same case, same DVD and CD drives, same power supply, same RAM, same HDD (for now).

The best part is I should be able to unlock the fourth core and overclock to 3.0 GHz so I'll get a $140 processor for $70 and if it doesn't unlock, I still have a triple-core that I'll overclock to 3.0 anyway.

/end geek

[EG NeoMorph]

Holy crap that's cheap...

I really need to get a good gaming PC... I want to get into Flight Simulation stuff again. And then again, maybe Valve will finally release episode 3.

[Keetmanshoop]

I added this: http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=2795126&Sku=TSD-500AAKS

500GB hard drive for $40? Yes, please. I saw a lot of 1TB or higher hard drives for nominally higher but they had enough negative reviews to push me away.

And now my PC build for the next few years is done. I might add more RAM around Xmas for the sales but I'm completely content now.

[EG NeoMorph]

Dude, wait until AFTER Xmas... what with the state of the economy I will bet there will be a lot of unsold stuff leading to loads of good deals.

[Keetmanshoop]

In my experience, prices are best on Black Friday/Cyber Monday and the last few days leading up to Xmas. The headset I bought was $10 before Xmas and $40 for the month after and then it went back up to $70.

I don't want to order it after Xmas and wait beyond the new year to build this PC. Plus, I'll be using my old components to build my mom a computer as she's been using the same PC since 2002.

[EG NeoMorph]

Ahhh... we don't have Black Friday in the UK... We have the January Sales instead...

[EG NeoMorph]

Well I really, REALLY need a new gaming PC... In fact I am considering starting a flight simulation cockpit project (I know, geek alert time).

The reason I need a new PC is instances like a cool landing I was just about to pull off... I'm in a 2 engine turbo prop plane.... one engine blew up and I'm coming in on one engine... humongous crosswinds... coming in fine... just about to land and then... PC FREEZES for 2 seconds...

Next second my plane is 90 degrees on its side with the wing embedded in the runway... DOH! 

Framerate is way too slow anyway. I need to get a good PC to run the visuals and the core and then use other PC's to run things like the panels...


 

[Keetmanshoop]

Before


During...also when I noticed the blue theme


Sort of final result


You can kind of see the ridiculous way we had to get the IDE cable to work, it's pretty ridiculous. I also have the new SATA drive in, so that lovely blue SATA cable from the second photo is also plugged in and completes the inadvertent blue theme.

Also, I was able to unlock the fourth core. $140 processor for $65.

[EG NeoMorph]

Not many slots in that Mobo I see... oh and I guess that it's not a modular PSU.

Clever about unlocking the extra core dude... how did you do it? It's been so long since I've built a PC that I really need to catch up with all the current tech. What are the specs for your current machine Keet?

[Keetmanshoop]

If the motherboard supports unlocking (Southbridges numbered 750 or 700), it's possible but won't always work. AMD uses the dies they cast for quad cores to make their triple cores but sometimes a triple core is a quad that had one imperfect core. If you get one of those, you're boned. I was lucky and got a quad that they limited to three so they could mark the price down and still sell it.

Yeah, not modular, which always gets me but at least my PSU didn't break like I thought it had.

CPU: Link
Video Card: eVGA 9800GT, stock
HDD: 80GB IDE, 500GB SATA
RAM: I picked this up in 2007 for $5 cheaper

And an older DVD drive that works, compared to my old drives...which were causing my computer to freak out in the first place. We stuffed them with fireworks and cardboard and lighter fluid and watched those sons of bitches burn.

[EG NeoMorph]

Nice thing about modular PSUs is you can unplug the wires you aren't using and the build looks neater and there is better air circulation.

One thing I will bee looking at is having a multiple monitor setup for my flight sim. It's been so damned long since I've PC gamed though that I have spent ages just looking up how you do it. Some of the layouts though cost more than my car did lol.

Here is one of the simpler ones...

IVAO FSLanPArty 2	Small | Large

..and here is one that goes OTT...

St. Maarten 737 Cockpit Takeoff (Home Simulator)

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