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Number crunching :
Where did you get your system?
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ThePhantom86 Send message Joined: 30 Jan 02 Posts: 268 Credit: 1,970,082 RAC: 0 |
I'm looking for links to sites that sell computers. Mostly desktops is what I'm looking for. Would you care to share with the group? |
Captain Avatar Send message Joined: 17 May 99 Posts: 15133 Credit: 529,088 RAC: 0 |
<blockquote>I'm looking for links to sites that sell computers. Mostly desktops is what I'm looking for. Would you care to share with the group?</blockquote> Are looking to Build your own or by one off the rack so to speak. Depending on your budget, Dell, HP/Compag seems to be very competive almost cheaper than Building one. I have several old Units that I just upgraded one at a time, A part here a part there. I did buy a unit off the shelf from Staples (Compaq, AMD 3100+, DVD +-, Media inputs and 512 memory)... for 350.00 after rebates only cause I could not build one for that price. Hope I helped.... |
mlcudd Send message Joined: 11 Apr 03 Posts: 782 Credit: 63,647 RAC: 0 |
I get most of my stuff from tigerdirect.com As a large assortment of things from accessories to desktops/laptops/MB/Processors. Rocky www.boincsynergy.com |
Tigher Send message Joined: 18 Mar 04 Posts: 1547 Credit: 760,577 RAC: 0 |
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FloridaBear Send message Joined: 28 Mar 02 Posts: 117 Credit: 6,480,773 RAC: 0 |
I'll put in my two cents here and endorse Newegg.com--they have never let me down in terms of their speed and service. I have ordered many thousands of dollars' worth of items through them, and I've never been disappointed. They mostly concentrate on computer components, but I'm sure you can find some barebones systems with them... |
ampoliros Send message Joined: 24 Sep 99 Posts: 152 Credit: 3,542,579 RAC: 5 |
I have to agree with FloridaBear, Newegg.com is one of the best out there. Their prices are some of the lowest, but their customer service may be the best and delivery service is definately the best. For the past three years I've ordered almost all my personal and business gear from them. Total of maybe eight or nine grand and have only had to return one thing... A stick of memory; Newegg.com made good on the whole thing. They do have barebones systems, but if you want the good stuff you have to build from scratch. 7,049 S@H Classic Credits |
karthwyne Send message Joined: 24 May 99 Posts: 218 Credit: 5,750,702 RAC: 0 |
if y ou want good stuff, don't buy a built system. As Paul Buck can attest to with 2 systems that are exact but for the mobo and gets highly different runtimes... i have to concur with newegg.com as having the best overall pricing, so if you are building a system, or buying many parts at a time it is a great place to go. if you need only a single part, you might want to check other sites (pricewatch.com and ebay come to mind) but be SURE to check on the seller before ordering. you can also check outpost.com but newegg will beat them 90% of the time. and you can always look in your local area, i still tend to get the best prices locally, especially when watching weekly sales ads (fry's tends to have some great buys). good luck phantom happy crunching Micah S@h Berkeley's Staff Friends Club |
ampoliros Send message Joined: 24 Sep 99 Posts: 152 Credit: 3,542,579 RAC: 5 |
Oh, one more thing to add... If you want to save money by buying cheap and upgrading later: Don't skimp on the motherboard! You can always changeout to a faster processor, add more RAM and the like, but it's hard to switch a motherboard without having to switch other components as well. Buy the best motherboard you can. 7,049 S@H Classic Credits |
Paul D. Buck Send message Joined: 19 Jul 00 Posts: 3898 Credit: 1,158,042 RAC: 0 |
<blockquote>if y ou want good stuff, don't buy a built system. As Paul Buck can attest to with 2 systems that are exact but for the mobo and gets highly different runtimes... </blockquote> Not only do I attest to that ... I have numbers to indicate that this is so. If you want to overclock, which I personally do not recommend, you have to look for the "premium" brand components to achieve the best effect. My last computer was a dual Xeon with 3.4 GHz chips (2M Cache - though BOINC Says it is 1M), 1G RAM, and 10K RPM disk was about $3,600 walking out the door. I don't think I could have assembled it for much less (I shopped the parts at the places most recommended below). So, with a close enough price from Dell ... that is where I went. My next will be another Apple Power Mac, likely the dual 2.7 GHz so, again, that will be assembled. I do upgrade some based on parts. so, the candidate there is my one 2.8 GHz Intel ... probably to another Intel though as the run-time numbers are lower than AMD, the throughput numbers are higher. If you have to go cheap, get a good case first with a Powersupply that has "room". Next, the fastest CPU you can afford. Then Memory, then Disk Drive. Replace as you can with better parts. I assembled 10 computers one case at a time, then started an upgrade cycle with replacing the MB, CPU and Memory with top end components. One of my last cycles I bought two 3.2 GHz CPUs, but could only get one high end MB ... giving me that insight above. Now both systems run with a high end MB and I get much better results. |
RPMurphy Send message Joined: 2 Jun 00 Posts: 131 Credit: 622,641 RAC: 0 |
Agree with above, I've had great success with NewEgg.com, and we have a local brick and mortar MicroCenter here. ZipZoomFly.com is another one I've been pretty happy with. Have built 7 systems from scratch so far, and of all the parts I've ordered, only one DIMM stick was DOA, and it was replaced in a matter of days. |
Heffed Send message Joined: 19 Mar 02 Posts: 1856 Credit: 40,736 RAC: 0 |
ThunderboxPC |
keeleysam Send message Joined: 17 Dec 03 Posts: 133 Credit: 60,478,373 RAC: 0 |
Building your own -- Newegg.com Pre-Built -- Dell w/ coupons |
dblEagle Send message Joined: 3 Apr 99 Posts: 136 Credit: 45,641 RAC: 0 |
I buy DELL, never had a problem with then. I've also built my own. The performance increase you can get this way is not very great. IMHO The computer I have now will do a WU in about 2 hrs.. I'm satisfied with that. |
Murasaki Send message Joined: 22 Jul 03 Posts: 702 Credit: 62,902 RAC: 0 |
Sorry, can't help with sites. In the PC realm, I've always put together Frankenstein computers, using whatever I can get in the local area. I agree with Ampoliros that you should get the best motherboard you can and other things can be swapped over time. I'll caveat that I've never changed out just a processor due to the pricey nature of them, and I generally try to buy the fastest I can afford the first time, so it tends to be near the max of what my motherboard can handle anyhow. |
BarryAZ Send message Joined: 1 Apr 01 Posts: 2580 Credit: 16,982,517 RAC: 0 |
<blockquote>I'll put in my two cents here and endorse Newegg.com--they have never let me down in terms of their speed and service. I have ordered many thousands of dollars' worth of items through them, and I've never been disappointed. They mostly concentrate on computer components, but I'm sure you can find some barebones systems with them... </blockquote> I agree regarding NewEgg -- they are a primary source for me -- I live too near a Fry's Electronics though -- so I go there when they are running good deals on motherboard CPU combinations (example -- ECS 755A2 motherboard + Retail AMD 64 3200 (754 socket) -- $190). Sometimes Fry's has other excellent deals -- but one must be careful in choosing there. With NewEgg, they have been very solid with excellent pricing, selection and service, plus reasonable shipping costs and very fast shipping. I also use eBay for some items -- again, with care regarding what I purchase there and which sellers to use. By the way, the AMD 64's with the 754 socket and retail package actually have nice heatsink/fan combinations and unlike the XP+ series run quite cool -- a good 15 to 20 degrees cooler than the XP+ CPU's in the same case with the same power supply. |
BarryAZ Send message Joined: 1 Apr 01 Posts: 2580 Credit: 16,982,517 RAC: 0 |
<blockquote>Oh, one more thing to add... If you want to save money by buying cheap and upgrading later: Don't skimp on the motherboard! You can always changeout to a faster processor, add more RAM and the like, but it's hard to switch a motherboard without having to switch other components as well. Buy the best motherboard you can.</blockquote> Another good point -- and I know a fair number of techies that think of ECS as cheap and low end stuff. They do have some of that and I've learned to avoid some of their designs, but the 755A2 is quite nice (the earlier 755A1 was not). |
BarryAZ Send message Joined: 1 Apr 01 Posts: 2580 Credit: 16,982,517 RAC: 0 |
I build and service PC's at client sites -- in many cases I find I can build a better computer than folks can purchase. But I've been in the computer consulting business for 12 years or so and have been building my own (for myself as well as my clients) as one of those hobby things on the side -- used to work with a local builder, but the margins for local builders are brutal these days. For some clients, I find having them go with Dell works -- especially if they are inclined to go with Windows XP (I still prefer Windows 2K for a number of reasons if we are running Windows OS). That being said, one sad thing about Dell (and other OEM's for that matter) is they really don't do a good job of laying down the OS for the installs. That is one reason I tend to 'roll my own' -- I feel my clients end up with a better match of configuration including the OS setup when I do that as opposed to the 'one size fits all, plus 'proprietary'r'us' aspects of the major computer builders. |
FloridaBear Send message Joined: 28 Mar 02 Posts: 117 Credit: 6,480,773 RAC: 0 |
<blockquote>I'm looking for links to sites that sell computers. Mostly desktops is what I'm looking for. Would you care to share with the group?</blockquote> Err, one more comment here. There may be one brand I lean toward when I buy pre-built systems...perhaps this picture of my farm may be a clue... |
davidmcw Send message Joined: 28 May 99 Posts: 47 Credit: 388,756 RAC: 1 |
Errmmmmm, Sun? |
FloridaBear Send message Joined: 28 Mar 02 Posts: 117 Credit: 6,480,773 RAC: 0 |
<blockquote>Errmmmmm, Sun?</blockquote> LOL...Yeah well...that one would probably take about 40 hours to complete a WU. I only use it for occasional development work. |
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