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Subject: 
Re: Looking to buy a gaming rig - any thoughts?
Newsgroups: 
lugnet.off-topic.geek
Date: 
Thu, 12 Jul 2001 05:13:06 GMT
Viewed: 
134 times
  
In lugnet.off-topic.geek, Mike Stanley writes:
In lugnet.off-topic.geek, Jon Palmer writes:
I looked at them as well, and I agree that they were too expensive.

(Falcon)

Definitely.  I figure being willing to spend $1500-$2000 on a machine to be
used for nothing but games is "bad" enough - I can't justify going higher
than that, especially when I know it'll be the same parts.  I don't need to
support Falcon's advertising budget.

   They like to be on the bleeding edge.  Granted, they get
   points for having the stablest AMD-based rigs around, but
   unless you've got money to burn (who does anymore?), look
   elsewhere.

Second I looked at Alienware (http://www.alienware.com).  Good machines,

Here ya go. This is where I decided to order from and I was very happy.
Heres my comp's rough stats and price:

1.3 Athelon
256 Ram
GeForce 2 Ultra 64mb
SB live
60 gig HD
dvd rom
cooling unit for 3d card
modem
nic
No monitor

Thats most of it. In march this machine was $1800 or so. I went to

How on earth did you get that system for that price from Alienware?  I can't
even price it out at less than $2200 now using those spects.  Maybe I'm
doing something wrong but here is what I am configuring at Alienware right now:

   It's a 1.3 Athlon, not a 1.33, that might have something
   to do with it.  I saved bu-ku (or beaucoups, if you want
   to get technical) bucks when I upgraded by going to the 1.2
   with a 200MHz bus--the catch is that it can't take the DDR
   memory, only the PC-133 SDRAMs.  Check that BUS speed and
   type of memory--it changes things dramatically.

1400 Athlon (1300 is only $31 cheaper, so why not)
Plain black case ($49 cheaper than the painted ones, although they are cool)
256mb RAM (which is cheaper now than it was in March by a good bit)
(no keyboard or mouse)
40GB HD
GeForce 3 (2 Ultra is only $6 cheaper - wish they offered the 2 Pro)

   Huh?  There's a 2 that comes anywhere near the $400 GeForce3 in
   price?  That's twisted.  Most good 64MB ultras I've seen are now
   below $250 by direct mail.

KoolMaxx Video Cooling System
SB Live! Value (I'd prefer the 5.1 X-Gamer for the bundle)
16X DVD
(no modem or speakers)
NIC
$49 for FedEx Shipping

and that is coming out to $2115.  Did they offer some kind of awesome deal
in March or have their prices shot up that much?  I remembered reading a
couple of people commenting on their prices going up.

   They may have.  Alienware's been on a blitz worthy of Falcon NW,
   but I think another reason is that they've been going for better
   components.  (You know, the stuff that they don't give brands and
   specs for--when balancing high-end AMD systems, using a cheap
   board, cheap memory, or a cheap NIC can really flummox things.)

An almost identical system at Hypersonic-pc.com (including the better SB but
going with the GeForce 2 Pro to save $214) comes out to $1467 including $50
or so for shipping.

I don't mind going up to $2100 or so, but if you could get a more stocked
1.3 gig Athlon in March for $1800 and add the painted case and a modem which
I don't need I'd hate to spend $350 more than that now to get the 1.4 gig
Athlon system I'm configuring with less expensive options.  :/

   Ask the memory speed, the maker of the HDD, the maker and model
   of the MB, and any other components that are merely a "spec."
   Unless they use integrated boards or print their own, these
   things are important and will really affect what kind of
   performance and compatibility you get between components.
   Getting an Etronics board, for example, is going to be worse
   than an Abit or ASUS board (usually).

   best

   Lindsay (the piecemeal builder, who upgraded for cheap this year!)



Message is in Reply To:
  Re: Looking to buy a gaming rig - any thoughts?
 
(...) (Falcon) Definitely. I figure being willing to spend $1500-$2000 on a machine to be used for nothing but games is "bad" enough - I can't justify going higher than that, especially when I know it'll be the same parts. I don't need to support (...) (23 years ago, 12-Jul-01, to lugnet.off-topic.geek)

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