Cheap places to buy hardware.

[evulish]

Ok, I've been digging around through pricewatch looking for reasonable prices for hardware and vendors that seem reliable.

My list of wanted hardware:

NVidia Geforce2 64MB (found it for 95$ at accubuy.net)
Soundblaster live platinum (found it on accubuy.net for 91$)
ATX mobo w/ DDR for a 1.4ghz Athlon (haven't found one yet)
1.4ghz Athlon (havent found one)
heatsync (havent found one...)
256mb DDRAM (havent found it...i'd like to pay 100 bucks or so for it, non-generic)

The case I'm about to buy has a 300w power supply and fans and things. I already have a DVD-rom, speakers, monitor, NIC card, floppy and stuff)

Recommendations, sites, and/or prices would be very helpful! Also, if you know a site sucks bad, tell me please :)

Otherwise, thanks!

BTW...the case I'm getting is here: http://www.directron.com/sx1030b.html

Is that cool or what? :)

Also, a site about putting heat syncs on or putting the cpu in would be nice...never done anything like that! (Don't really wanna blow 180 bucks on a broken athlon!)

[evulish]

Ohh, I have 500 bucks to spend right now (and possibly 200 more soon)

[hamking]

YO YO YO... linux, I dont know to well, but hardware... Im your man. I just upgraded myself :(all these prices are with the shipping included)
1.33ghz t-bird +
optimized ddr mobo +
silicon jel(its crap...)- $211 total off pricewatch.com
Geforce2 GTS 32MB- $82 off ubid.com
128mb DDR2100- $33 pricewatch.com (mushkin.com)
and then I got an ok cooling fan(new, of coarse) for 18.00 bucks off ebay, but it came with a free case fan, and I needed one. REALLY though, on the higher end athlon processors you should have a good cooling fan.(Im gunna buy a new one myself) THE best ones are made out of copper, or at least have a copper base plate. You can check out more at kd computers (http://www.kdcomputers.com)
under cooling, or cpu cooling or somthing like that. Aperently their server is having some sort of internal error right now(probably running windows), but check back in a day or so, I was just on their site last night. I would also recommend using some of this quick silverII cooling jel. Or cool silverII cooling jel(cant remember what its called). They have a deal on it right now on the front of the page(I think its still there). Its supposed to work really well with the heat transfer to the heat sink. Also a word of warning, when you install your fan(the processor's easy, it just drops in and you click the little thing down), be carful. The more expensive the fan, the more force its gunna take to click it on. Amd says you need at least 14-20lbs of preasure on the friggin thing for good heat transfer. So the high end coolers give you just that! Your probably gunna need a screw driver to get it to click. But the high end coolers will definatley allow you to overclock(if you want), or just have a cool cpu. They will keep your cpu temp(the good ones)under 40cel. thats only about 100farinheit. You take showers hotter that that. Also, check ebay, but dont buy any fans off of it. and dont get any fan that has the word 'orb' in it. They all suck. Ubid.com is pretty good for video cards, and I hear they're overstocked right now, so you might find a deal on somthin. I got my GTS for $82 total when the cheapest I could find on pricewatch and ebay was above $120, so... also egghead.com...but I haven't been there in a while so..., I hope that helps, and good luck to you. :)

[hamking]

why do I have a :( in my post? huh... its supposed to be a period... :confused: oh well

[hamking]

ok. ddr ram is real cheap on pricewatch right now. As far as I've looked(and I have looked far), price watch has the best selection of ram with the ceapest prices. A thing about ram. I doesn't matter if its generic or not. If it works with your motherboard Its fine. anything thats been recommended isn't gunna run any faster. And most mobo's, especially ddr mobo's are going to work with pretty much any generic ddr ram you can get, because Its so new, there hasn't really been time for things to get out of wack with most of the newer chips being compatible with the newer mobo's. My good buddy has done alot of research on the whole generic ram thing, and for one, hardly anyone really knows what their talking about, but he finnaly found a couple people that set him straight. And this goes for all ram: If it works with your mobo, then its compatable. And therefore no better, or no worse than the stuff thats recommended. They just recommend it because Its been tested to work. Thats all.
Also, the fan/heatsink to get would be one of the higher end GlobalWIN fans. A real good value would be the GlobalWIN WBK38, or higher(i.e. more expensive)fan/heatsink. But, if you find a heatsink/fan thats square(the orb ones suck)that has a copper base, or is made out of copper entirely(they get really expensive), with a fan that is atleast 6500 rpm's, or can move more than 30 CFM(cubic feet/minute), Its a good buy. They do get really loud, but if your gunna use that cool server case as a server, Im geussing your gunna have it tucked away some where, so It wouldn't bother you. But thats a geuss. Anyways, the reason for the copper, is because copper is more conductive of heat than aluminum is, because its denser. So if it has a copper base, its better that one that doesn't, but not as good as a solid copper one. But those are well up and over $50 just for the heatsink alone. All in all, a big fat old aluminum GlobalWIN with no copper base and a powerfull fan will still keep your processor nice and cool for aroud $30-40(total w/shipping). And If you don't like my advice, get out there, and search around for some reviews on higher end cooling fans/heatsinks. You really learn how important it is for your processor. Ok, Im going to bed now, because its 4:50am, and my fingers hurt from typing. So, again, good luck, and good night :)

[Screamin' Soulman]

That's cool... I have just migrated all my stuffs (Athlon 1.33, KT7E, etc) into a SX1030B today. :D This is my first session since I got it.

I got it yesterday locally for $98. So far my CPU temps under load have dropped from 54C to 49C. I'm using 2 80mm Panaflo's exhaust & 2 80mm Panaflo's intake.

Tip: If you get your case before your other stuff arrives, go ahead and get your floppy and 5.25 bay panels popped out for the drives you'll use. I found this to be much more difficult and time consuming than with any case I've ever used before. And while the fit and finish on this case is very good, I got a bloody knuckle doing it (Fight Club II).

Tip2: If you have a fetish for clean, unobstructed cooling, do this: remove the back panel (behind the mobo tray), route the power wires (and any flat ide cable from the top bays) over the outside of the back reinforcemnt bar and through the gap between it & the mobo tray. Looks much better too than a nest of wires blocking your airflow.

When using pricewatch be very aware that the price leader may also have a bodacious shipping charge that offsets the perceived 'savings'. I like z-buy.com. I got my mobo with them and Fedex Express Saver shipping is included with the price. Scenario: the best price on pricewatch for my mobo was $88 + 14.95 shipping UPS Ground. z-buy sold it for $98 including the above Fedex shipping. I got it in 3 days.

Have fun and watch those knuckles!

[ 22 July 2001: Message edited by: Screamin' Soulman ]

[hamking]

hey thanks for the tip on z-buy.com. Im always looking for more pages where I can find harware for cheap. Ill check it out. :)

[evulish]

Ooh. z-buy.com IS nice! Prolly buy some of my stuff from there. Thanks

[evulish]

From the stuff on z-buy, I think I'll get a nice box (1.4 ghz, 256 ddr) for 640 bucks...

[Jnaslund]

www.newegg.com (http://www.newegg.com) has pretty good prices and great customer service. If you might need to RMA be careful buying from the lowest priced store on pricewatch.

[Sinus]

tcwo.com

[MGP]

After finding prices on pricewatch.com, my next stop is always www.resellerratings.com. (http://www.resellerratings.com.)

At least you'll get a heads up if the vendor is really really bad. ;)

[Sawz]

MGP - do we operate on the same mindset or what. Thats the next place I go after spotting something goow on pricewatch as well!

:)