best comp possible, under $1G

[The Terminator]

Well, I figure that if anyone can gimmie advice on best comp possible for under $1000, you guys prolly could. Well, wadda think? List the best computer tower you could build for under 1 grand. No monitors,keyboards,mice,speakers. Also, no gfx card or sound card.

 

[i8yourparents]

Using Newegg, and going for the cheap...

generic, used $1 case
2 74g Raptors in RAID

(As for the processor, I traditionally hate AMD's, but they are cheap) so: P4 2.8C or some AMD 3200+ or whatever

Oh yes, and their respective ASUS P) Mobo's

thats actually probably about $800

 

[Asus]

Powersupply 70-120$. A good brand (Enermax/Antec) 400 watt or more.
Board 125-180$ Athlon 64 (VIA chipset) or P4 board.
CPU 220-750$ depending on the parts.
If you get a Case w/PSU included that should cut some cost. You can get a 70-120$ case with a 400watt PSU included.

Honestly the best right now over all is the FX 51. The 3400+ is out and it might be better for gaming or the same and a lot easier on the wallet.
The new FX 53 is soon to be out.
P4 3.2ghz is great if you perfer Intel.

That would be under 1000$.

 

[The Terminator]

what about ram, cd rom drives etc?

 

[Asus]

Go for a 3400+ then (instead of FX51) and you will have funds for 1gb (2x512mb) PC3200 DDR Corsair XMS or Mushkin Lvl2 memory...along with a CD-RW drive.
If you need to add more parts onto the order downgrade to a Athlon 64 3000+ or 3200+. They are basicly the same but if you would like the extra cache it will cost you ~60$ over the 238$ price of the A64 3000+ (300$ for a A64 3200+) Retail of course.

The P4 3.2ghz 800fsb is 400$ yet the A64 3400+ is also 400$.

 

[ImJacksAmygdala]

Ya I know its a little over $1,000, but I don't think you could find a better performing system at this price. I went to monarch computers and went through the barebones setups. None of the components here are low quality either. This barbones system is prebuilt for $15 which isn't a big deal considering they test the system for you so you won't have any dead on arrival parts. The prices are as good as Neweggs, and their shipping is cheap too. Plus they even offer a 3 year warranty if you are interested in something like that... Monarch computers is also in the top ten at resellerratings.com. Sure I could make a system there for well under $1,000, but this system offers amazing performance... These are also all retail parts.

Pre-Tested and Setup AMD Athlon 64 Barebones System $15.00
Case: - PS 380W - Antec Sonata Piano Black Quiet $102.00
Motherboard: - MSI K8T NEO-FIS2R K8T800 SATA/R/A/GBE/139 $148.00
Processor: - AMD Athlon 64 3400+ $404.00
Memory: - DDR (400) 3200 - 1 GB (2 pcs 512) TWINX1024C2 XMS Pro (with LED display) $243.00
Hardrive: - Seagate 80 GB Barracuda 7200RPM 8MB Cache SATA $83.00
CDRW: - Lite-On CD-RW 52X32X52 (Black) (I think it comes with Nero free) $69.00
Warranty: - Motherboard-CPU Warranty - 3 Year on site $29.95
Order Total: $1,093.95

 

[FictiousWill]

That's a great setup. I shall utter the eternal words suggesting you wait for prices to drop, but you know all about that, and by then it'll be only so-so, etc etc. Go nuts, buy it all.

 

[ImJacksAmygdala]

For $61 more dollars you can get the Abit K8V-MAX3 VIA K8T800 which I recommend over the MSI board, but thats just my preference. If you have a strict budget of $1000 I think either of these two options are worth slightly splurging on. You also need to figure in shipping costs and I only recommend Fedex 2nd day air for systems like these. It would only cost me $68 to ship it Fedex 2nd day air from Georgia to North Carolina, which I think is very good.

 

[Asus]

That Abit board does rock. That is why it bares the MAX3 name.

 

[RandomPING]

I tend to plug this site a lot, but it often is on topic when people are looking for good stuff at great prices. Check out www.pricewatch.com, then of course before you buy from the company check them out at www.bbb.org and www.resellerratings.com.

With 1 grand you can probably do pretty well for yourself. Personally i picked up a nice case/psu(400W) combo for 30 bucks at my local microcenter, so if you have any good computer store near you might wanna check it for overstocked items, sometimes i find the best deals offline.

 

[ImJacksAmygdala]

I wouldn't worry about that 380watt Anted True Powersupply either. I normally recommend over 400watts aswell, but it will power that system just fine. Go read the reviews at newegg about it and read the systems specs people have used it with.

 

[Asus]

Yeah, Antec makes a good PSU and gives each rail enough power and doesn't skimp.