ready2buy.... but EGG=ROT! $80 +$30 = $110: Antec Case w/430W PSU!!

pianoplayer88key

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First... a link to the topic I was discussing my prospective build in... I decided to just start a new topic cause I've just about decided what to get, and the other one was getting cluttered.


Ok... here goes.... (paste from Notepad...)

Ok... I'm about to pull the trigger...


CASE: Antec NSK6580 w/430W earthwatts PSU
NewEgg = $109.99, free shipping. CHIIIIINNNGGAAA AL HUEVO PODRIDO VIEJO QUE COMÍA CACA!!!!.... missed the $79.99 deal that apparently ended at midnight! :fou: :fou: :fou: :fou: :fou: :fou: :fou: :cry: :cry: :cry:
Froogle search results - several sellers have it for equal or less than NewEgg had it before they rotted their eggs and upped the price.
Here are a few others from Froogle's results:
securemart.com = $59.34 + 32.58 ship = $91.92
provantage.com = $67.96 + 25.20 ship = $93.16
compsource.com = $93.00, free shipping
Problem with the above places is they're only rated in the 7s on resellerratings.com, whereas NewEgg is in the upper 9s.

Also, the case supports 2 optional 92mm front fans and an 80mm side fan. Any recommendations?

Or... can you suggest a case and PSU that's at LEAST as good as that Antec that's no more than $80 shipped, not including tax, and before rebates?


MOBO: Gigabyte GA-MA69G-S3H AM2
NewEgg = $84.99 + 6.33 ship = $91.32
a couple that were $3-4 less were on Froogle, but I don't think it's worth it.
I decided to go with a full-size ATX board.

CPU: AMD Athlon X2 4000+ 2.1GHz 2x512k 65W AM2
NewEgg = $59.99, free shipping
no better prices on Froogle (except one in UK)

RAM: G.SKILL 2GB (2x1GB) DDR2-800
NewEgg = $44.99, free shipping (original price $84.99)
no better prices found on Froogle

DVD: Lite-On Black 20X SATA
NewEgg = $29.99, free shipping
Froogle search for lightscribe versions turns up a few in the $30 range

Video (if needed): SAPPHIRE 100164L-64 Radeon X1650PRO 256MB
NewEgg = $39.99, free shipping
The board has on-board video, but is this a good buy / good quality, and should I jump on it?


Ok... a few thoughts on Windows XP Home vs Professional...

The linked site has a comparison chart. Here are a few features (and comments) that are only in XP Pro that I might like to have:
Internet Information Services - my ISP won't let me do this, otherwise I'd definitely want it.
Access Control - might be nice to have, but then... well, on my parents' Win 2000, sometimes if I borrow the comp while one of them is logged in, create a file, then even if I save it to a "public" (read: not in C:\Documents and Settings) folder, I still may be able to see it when I'm logged in, but can't copy or modify it.
Roaming user profiles / Remote Desktop - ok, maybe I should mention this here - I'm more like thinking I'd like a roaming XP installation. For example, install the OS on an external hard disk, then take it with me when I go to other computers, and boot off of it.

Now... should I stay with 2000 for now (preferred only due to price), get XP Home and live without the Pro features I'd like to have (or get some free 3rd-party open-source software that would enable me to do those things), or bite the bullet and get Pro?

Also, where should I get it? I can get Home for $82 or Pro for $124 at a local store, but I'd also have to buy some hardware from them. Or, should I spend the $89.99 for Home or $139.99 for Pro on NewEgg?


So... besides the case, which NewEgg upped the price by $30 on before I could pounce, should I buy everything from them, or are there other places I should get the parts at (at lower prices, or better components for the same price)? (For some components, I linked to Google search results for the items. Others were so close to Egg prices that I didn't think it was worth saving a few bucks.)

I really would like to purchase everything from one place, though.
 

pianoplayer88key

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Ok... so maybe I should bite the $ and get XP Pro. I think I'll try to hold out and use 2000 at first, but if I need to, or within the next 6-8 weeks (whichever is sooner), I'll get XP.


Also, I need a case!! I want that Antec NSK6580 with the 430W PSU, but NewEgg jacked the price from $80 to $110! I wonder if there's any chance I call them that they might let me order the case for $80? (btw.. anyone know how to access newegg's online live chat feature, or am I reading their website wrong?)
What case and PSU should I get? It should be every bit as good as the Antec, and NO MORE THAN $80 (including the PSU) shipped to southern Calif. Price doesn't need to include sales tax, but the vendor will get extra points for not being located in California, so long as it gets to me no slower than NewEgg would have shipped it.

If I can't get a good deal on the case, I may as well f**k the idea of buying a computer... but I REALLY need one! (Also, would I be more likely to get a quicker/more responses :p if I didn't post at 2 AM?)
 

pianoplayer88key

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It wasn't? It looked like it had the features I'd want in a case for that price, and I've heard good things about earthwatts power supplies. What was not good about it?

Can you suggest a better case and power supply for under $80 shipped?

I don't care about the looks of the case, but I would like plenty of room for drives, side vents/fans, etc...


I just saw that the Earthwatts 500-watt PSU is now $54.99 with free shipping, which leaves $25 for a case. I'm currently browsing the egg right now, after which I'll edit with any I've found, unless you guys can find me a good non-PSU case for $25 or less shipped that at least has the same or better specs the Antec case has.
 
I was more or less talking about overall build quality. Its not the best case in the world. But it was a good deal at $80 with the PSU.

I dont cheap out on parts any more. I already made that mistake once, and regretted it for months.

My advice: spend a little extra, and get something good.

 

zenmaster

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XP Pro is not more stable thatn XP Home.
Home is perfectly fine for home use.

The primary differences are the lack of support to Join Domains and easy access to advanced File System Permissions.

Neither are really a big deal.
 

nvalhalla

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Since when is pro more stable than home?? HA!

Just get home, I doubt the added features of pro will ever be used in a home setting. Or, you can do even better and pick up Vista Premium 64bit OEM for $110. Then you won't have to spend more money for a new OS in a year or so.
 
I was just talking from personal experience... of course this was pre SP2

Q3 would occasionally crash and send my desktop to 640x480x8 requiring a restart to return to normal. Q3 crash in XP pro simply crashed to the desktop.
 

pianoplayer88key

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Hmm... k.... (I'm not willing to pay $140+ for "the best case in the world").....in that case, including the PSU, I could maybe go up to $125 shipped, but it MUST be a BETTER deal than the Antec was, AND must include (even if I have to purchase it separately - that's OK, too) at least a 430W PSU (500W or better if it's over $95 shipped, 600W or better if over $110 shipped) that's no worse than Tier 3 (except that post is a year and a half old!).

I would be willing to buy it from some place other than NewEgg, but it MUST have at least a 95% customer satisfaction rating.

Would buying it for $96.82 shipped & taxed be a $#!+ty deal, or would it be ok? (I just don't like that the shipping is > $30 on it, even though the case by itself (with PSU) is < $60.

NewEgg does have what looks like a couple good deals on PSUs. The Antec Earthwatts 500W is $54.99 (down from $89.99), and the Antec NeoPower 550W is $74.99 (down from $109.99).
Unfortunately I was unable to find a good case for a reasonable price. Mail-in rebates don't count for me, btw.
If anyone could suggest one, though... here's my requirements (I couldn't find anything satisfactory on NewEgg):
* - Price under $70 (if I get the Earthwatts 500W PSU), or under $50 if I get the NeoPower 550W, or under $120 if a PSU AT LEAST as good as the above mentioned 2 is included. price MUST include shipping!, MUST BE BEFORE REBATE!, but does not need to include sales tax (extra points if vendor is not located in California).
Retail (not OEM). Extra points if it's at least $35 or 40% off regular before-rebate price. (However, must be at least $10 or 15% off regular price, or its regular price must be low enough as to make it a spectacular deal (for example, using HDDs as an example, I got a WD 750GB AAKS for $129 at a local store. If purchased today, I'd also consider a shockproof (meaning you can drop it from the top of a 2-story house onto a hard floor while it's seeking/reading/writing and it won't damage it) 1TB with 32MB buffer and 10k rpm for $140 a decent deal (slickdeals.net had a Dell 1.5TB external HD for $76 shipped a couple weeks ago, but it was a price mistake. That would have been an adequate deal, though, and has set my new standard for how good a deal needs to be, considering they actually apparently honored that price on some shipments.))
* - ATX full tower case preferred, but mid tower is ok, too.
* - If it includes PSU, must be at least Tier 2, although a few Tier 3's might be worth considering. (In any case, the PSU, if included, must match or beat the Antec Earthwatts 430W for capability and quality)
* - Must have at least 9 combined 5.25" external and 3.5" internal drive bays, with no fewer than 4 of any one type.
* - must have front USB and audio ports, plus either firewire or eSATA (or both), and not mounted near the bottom of the case.
* - Must have places for at least a 120mm fan on the rear, 1 120mm or 2 80mm fans on the front, and 1 80mm with included side duct or 120+mm without side duct on the side. (Also a 100+mm mount on top would be nice, but do I really need it? I'm not going to OC my system, but If I could have it consistently run under 40C under load that'd be nice, but I absolutely don't want it running over 48C, except for maybe a few minutes at a time once or twice a day.
* - Front fan/temp gauges and speed controls would be nice, but I won't require that.
* - I don't care if it has a side panel window, but if not, it MUST have a side air duct.
* - MOST IMPORTANT!! MUST be AT LEAST as good as the Antec case deal was, and MUST be as good or better deal than the NSK6580 at $80 shipped!!

Also, while I'm at it... I looked briefly for a good deal on a quad-core-capable AM2 or 775 board, and couldn't find anything with at least the specs of the board I'm looking at for under $110.


Ok... so looks like I can probably live with Home.



I'm not ready for Vista yet, and probably won't be for at least a year or two, or until service pack 5 comes out, whichever is later.


 

mlaporta

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I heard this is one of the BEST & inexpensive Optical DRIVE(s):

Samsung SH-S203B SATA

(Get the "Retail" version of the optical drive in order to get software with it. This will include the decoder you'll need to watch movies on it.)
 

pianoplayer88key

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On NewEgg, the Samsung is actually a few bucks more expensive than the Lite-On I'm looking at, if you factor in the shipping.



They don't have the Antec NSK6580, and the NSK 4480 that orangegator suggested doesn't have enough room for expandability, and the PSU is too weak. I must have forgotten to mention I already have 2 IDE 7200RPM HDDs, might be adding a X1650PRO video card in the near future (possibly when I buy the system if it's highly recommended), a few USB devices, and I want some room for expandability.


Hmmm... looks like a somewhat decent deal at $49.99, but $20.47 ground shipping bumps it up to $61.46... and... is 380W, 3 ext 5.25" and 3 int 3.5" bays enough? Let me check with the NewEgg PSU calculator...

Current proposed scenario:
CPU: AMD Athlon 64 X2 (65nm)
Mobo: High End - Desktop mobo (should I choose regular? it would need 26 fewer watts, but would I be limited to no-name micro-ATX boards?)
VGA Card: integrated
Memory: 2 sticks 1GB DDR2
ODD: 1 DVDRW
HDD: 3 7200rpm 3.5"
In this case, recommended PSU wattage = 375W. That looks like it's cutting it close...
And, if I add the Radeon X1650Pro card, that takes me to 395W, more than the 380W that PSU has.

Once I start adding more components, though....

CPU: same (calculator doesn't support Phenom yet)
Mobo: high end again
VGA card: (keep the X1650Pro - I expect that when I go high end (8800 series, or other line's equivalent) or SLI, I'll probably be getting a whole new system by then.)
Memory: 4 sticks of 1GB DDR2
ODD: 2x DVDRW
HDD: 5x 7200rpm 3.5"
Then, it goes up to 543W. Actually, though, I think by the time I start adding all that in, I'll be getting a better PSU anyway, but I want to start with at least 430W.



Side note... I notice in this (and several other forums I frequent) that people will just paste the link into the text, resulting in, in some cases, a very long link spanning more than the width of the screen. Is it because we're too lazy to use the a href or url tags and put a few-word descriptive title on the link?




Also, I called NewEgg about the NSK6580 case that I had seen on their website for $79.99, and the girl that eventually answered said it had been at $109.99 for several months. I still have the window open that shows it for $79.99, though.
 

rallyimprezive

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Yes exactly.

There are based on the same EXACT kernel, Hardware Abstraction Layer, and GUI. INDENTICAL. Home simply lacks the features mentioned by znemaster.

Heck, you can even tinker with Home and enable all those features.
 

bliq

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curnel_D

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Try some of the Coolermaster cases. I've used them in dozens of builds. The airflow is great, and they look stunning for the price. My favorite is the Centurion 5 case.
 

orangegator

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That's a good deal too. It's has 33A vs the Antec 34A on the 12V rails. Not much different. I'm currently using the earthwatts 500 and it works fine. But Corsair is a little better brand. Plus I like the 120mm fan vs the 80mm of the Antec. I'd choose this over the Antec for the same price.
 

pianoplayer88key

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As for the case.. no place to put a side fan and no side duct. It does have enough expansion capability, but I want better airflow.
I always price things BEFORE rebate, but even so that TT looks like it might be a decent deal.... actually NOT! Only 18A on the 12V rail! I would like at least 25 on a single, 35 on a double, or 45 on a triple rail.


Too few drive bays.


I'm considering that earthwatts. Would only 34A (2 x 17A) on the 12V rails be enough for my build, plus a few other components (I'm not getting 2 8800GTS cards anytime in the forseeable future)?
Should I go with the NeoPower 550W for $25 more?
Even though it has 1 fewer drive bay than I want, and doesn't have firewire or esata, should I consider it anyway? Could I mount a 120mm fan on the side and either a 120mm fan or 2 90mm fans on the front?


That one looks like it might be decent.

edit: just saw gator's post... so the corsair's a good one?


Also... how's this case?
Sunbeam Transformer IC-TR-BA - $75.99 shipped - it has quite a bit of room for expansion. But.. at only $10 off, I don't know if it's that good of a deal, or is it? And, I'd rather have the fan on top, if there is one, take up almost all the width of the case. And, I'd prefer a single larger (120-140+mm) fan on the side as opposed to 2 smaller (80mm) fans.
Also, if I end up getting a case that has a lighting system included, is there a way to run the computer with the lights off? Or do I not need to worry about it (i.e. the lights don't come with the cases, even though the pictures on NewEgg show the lit-up cases)?

Is this Aplus CS-Monolith II case for $59.99 shipped ok? it has a 25cm side fan, enough drive bays, places to put more fans in the front & rear.
 

mlaporta

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Samsung SH-S203B SATA

(Get the "Retail" version of the optical drive in order to get software with it. This will include the decoder you'll need to watch movies on it.)
 
I recommend this PSU instead of the one you choose. Its good quality and name brand.
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.aspx?item=N82E16817701007

I also recommend this case instead of the one you chose.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119137

By replacing those 2 items, you shave off a little bit of cash.

Here is my wishlist if anyone is interested. :). This is my next order, hopefully next week.

https://secure.newegg.com/NewVersion/Wishlist/PublicWishDetail.asp?WishListNumber=6939991&WishListTitle=Next+Order