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| The Moditory's Post Holiday Purchase Guide |
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Unfortunately, our plans for a full week of price guides fell through; for those who were looking forwards to viewing the article, we offer our profound apologies. However, today we offer you a full $1000 to $2000 computer buyer's guide for you Do-it-yourselfers who need help heading off in the right direction. All of these parts were selected with careful research, advice from peers, and with an eye on the effect on the end user's wallet. Enjoy the guide, and make wise purchases, fellow computer users; its time to spend that Holiday cash!
Select your Budget and go!
- $1000
- $1100
- $1200
- $1300
- $1400
- $1500
- $1600
- $1700
- $1800
- $1900
- $2000
- Processor: AMD Opteron 144 - $140 CompSource
- Heatsink: Zalman 7000 B Al/Cu Radial heatsink/fan - $29.99 Newegg
- Motherboard: Asus A8N SLI-Deluxe - $160 Xtreme Gear
- Graphics Card: 7800 GT - $299 ZipZoomFly
- Memory: Corsair Value Select - $76.25 Newegg
- Hard Drive: Seagate Barracuda 7200.8 SATA 150 250 GB - $104.50 Newegg
- Case: Aspire X-dreamer Black $49.99 Newegg
- Power Supply: Silverstone ST56F 560 Watt - $113.99 Newegg
- Optical Drive: Pioneer 16x DVD Burner - $39.99 Newegg
- Total: $1013.71
- Processor: AMD Opteron 144 - $140 CompSource
- Heatsink: Zalman 7000 B Al/Cu Radial heatsink/fan - $29.99 Newegg
- Motherboard: Asus A8N SLI-Deluxe - $160 Xtreme Gear
- Graphics Card: 7800 GT - $299 ZipZoomFly
- Memory: Crucial Ballistix 2 x 512 MB kit - $119 NewEgg
- Hard Drive: Seagate Barracuda 7200.8 SATA 150 250 GB - $104.50 Newegg
- Case: Thermaltake Soprano - $74.99 Newegg
- Power Supply: Silverstone ST56F 560 Watt - $113.99 Newegg
- Optical Drive: Pioneer 16x DVD Burner - $39.99 Newegg
- Total: $1081.46
- Processor: AMD Opteron 148 2.2 GHz 1MB L2 - $207 Monarch
- Heatsink: Zalman 7000 B Al/Cu Radial heatsink/fan - $29.99 Newegg
- Motherboard: Asus A8N SLI-Premium - $169.89 Monarch
- Graphics Card: 7800 GT - $299 ZipZoomFly
- Memory: Crucial Ballistix 2 x 512 MB kit - $119 Newegg
- Hard Drive: Seagate Barracuda 7200.8 SATA 150 250 GB - $104.50 Newegg
- Case: Thermaltake Soprano - $74.99 Newegg
- Power Supply: Silverstone ST56F 560 Watt - $113.99 Newegg
- Optical Drive: Pioneer 16x DVD Burner - $39.99 Newegg
- Total: $1188.35
- Processor: AMD Opteron 148 2.2 GHz 1MB L2 - $207 Monarch
- Heatsink: Zalman 7000 B Al/Cu Radial heatsink/fan - $29.99 Newegg
- Motherboard: Asus A8N SLI-Premium - $169.89 Monarch
- Graphics Card: 7800 GT - $299 ZipZoomFly
- Memory: Crucial Ballistix 2 x 512 MB kit - $119 Newegg
- Hard Drive: Two Seagate Barracuda 7200.8 SATA 150 250 GB - $205 Newegg
- Case: Thermaltake Soprano - $74.99 Newegg
- Power Supply: Silverstone ST56F 560 Watt - $113.99 Newegg
- Optical Drive: Pioneer 16x DVD Burner - $39.99 Newegg
- Total: $1292.85
- Processor: AMD Opteron 148 2.2 GHz 1MB L2 - $207 Monarch
- Heatsink: Zalman 7000 B Al/Cu Radial heatsink/fan - $29.99 Newegg
- Motherboard: Asus A8N SLI-Premium - $169.89 Monarch
- Graphics Card: 7800 GT - $299 ZipZoomFly
- Memory: Corsair XMS 2x1GB CAS 3 RAM - $208 Newegg
- Hard Drive: Two Seagate Barracuda 7200.8 SATA 150 250 GB - $205 Newegg
- Case: Thermaltake Soprano - $74.99 Newegg
- Power Supply: Silverstone ST56F 560 Watt - $113.99 Newegg
- Optical Drive: Pioneer 16x DVD Burner - $39.99 Newegg
- Total: $1381.85
- Processor: AMD Opteron 165 1.8 GHz 2x1MB L2 - $320.25 Atacom
- Heatsink: Zalman 7000 B Al/Cu Radial heatsink/fan - $29.99 Newegg
- Motherboard: Asus A8N SLI-Premium - $169.89 Monarch
- Graphics Card: 7800 GT - $299 ZipZoomFly
- Memory: Corsair XMS 2x1GB CAS 3 RAM - $208 Newegg
- Hard Drive: Two Seagate Barracuda 7200.8 SATA 150 250 GB - $205 Newegg
- Case: Thermaltake Soprano - $74.99 Newegg
- Power Supply: Silverstone ST56F 560 Watt - $113.99 Newegg
- Optical Drive: Pioneer 16x DVD Burner - $39.99 Newegg
- Total: $1461.11
- Processor: AMD Opteron 165 1.8 GHz 2x1MB L2 - $320.25 Atacom
- Heatsink: Zalman 7000 B Al/Cu Radial heatsink/fan - $29.99 Newegg
- Motherboard: Asus A8N SLI-Premium - $169.89 Monarch
- Graphics Card: 7800 GT - $299 ZipZoomFly
- Memory: Corsair XMS 2x1GB CAS 3 RAM - $208 Newegg
- Hard Drive: Two Seagate Barracuda 7200.8 SATA 150 250 GB - $205 Newegg
- Case: Silverstone TJ06 - $141.49 Newegg
- Power Supply: Silverstone ST56F 560 Watt - $113.99 Newegg
- Optical Drive: Plextor 16x DVD Burner - $79.99 (Before $20 Mail in Rebate) Newegg
- Total: $1576.69
- Processor: AMD Opteron 165 1.8 GHz 2x1MB L2 - $320.25 Atacom
- Heatsink: Thermalright XP-120 - $58.99 Newegg
- Fan: Acoustiproducts 120mm Silent Acoustifan - $25.95 Quiet PC
- Motherboard: Asus A8N SLI-Premium - $169.89 Monarch
- Graphics Card: 7800 GT - $299 ZipZoomFly
- Memory: Corsair XMS 2x1GB CAS 3 RAM - $208 Newegg
- Hard Drive: Two Seagate Barracuda 7200.8 SATA 150 250 GB - $205 Newegg
- Case: Silverstone TJ06 - $141.49 Newegg
- Power Supply: Silverstone ST56F 560 Watt - $113.99 Newegg
- Optical Drive: Plextor 16x DVD Burner - $79.99 (Before $20 Mail in Rebate) Newegg
- Total: $1668.64
- Processor: AMD Opteron 165 1.8 GHz 2x1MB L2 - $320.25 Atacom
- Heatsink: Zalman 7000 B Al/Cu Radial heatsink/fan - $29.99 Newegg
- Motherboard: Asus A8N SLI-Premium - $169.89 Monarch
- Graphics Card: Biostar 7800 GTX - $449 Newegg
- Memory: Corsair XMS 2x1GB CAS 3 RAM - $208 Newegg
- Hard Drive: Two Seagate Barracuda 7200.8 SATA 150 250 GB - $205 Newegg
- Case: Silverstone TJ06 - $141.49 Newegg
- Power Supply: Silverstone ST56F 560 Watt - $113.99 Newegg
- Optical Drive: Plextor 16x DVD Burner - $79.99 (Before $20 Mail in Rebate) Newegg
- Total: $1770.60
- Processor: AMD Opteron 165 1.8 GHz 2x1MB L2 - $320.25 Atacom
- Heatsink: Thermalright XP-120 - $58.99 Newegg
- Fan: Acoustiproducts 120mm Silent Acoustifan - $25.95 Quiet PC
- Motherboard: Asus A8N SLI-Premium - $169.89 Monarch
- Graphics Card: Biostar 7800 GTX - $449 Newegg
- Memory: Corsair XMS 2x1GB CAS 3 RAM - $208 Newegg
- Hard Drive: Two Seagate Barracuda 7200.8 SATA 150 250 GB - $205 Newegg
- Case: Lian Li PC-75B - $225 Newegg
- Power Supply: Silverstone ST56F 560 Watt - $113.99 Newegg
- Optical Drive: Plextor 16x DVD Burner - $79.99 (Before $20 Mail in Rebate) Newegg
- Total: $1900.06
- Processor: AMD Opteron 165 1.8 GHz 2x1MB L2 - $320.25 Atacom
- Heatsink: Thermalright XP-120 - $58.99 Newegg
- Fan: Acoustiproducts 120mm Silent Acoustifan - $25.95 Quiet PC
- Motherboard: Asus A8N SLI-Premium - $169.89 Monarch
- Graphics Card: Biostar 7800 GTX - $449 Newegg
- Memory: Corsair XMS 2x1GB CAS 3 RAM - $208 Newegg
- Hard Drive: Two Seagate Barracuda 7200.8 SATA 150 250 GB - $205 Newegg
- Case: Lian Li PC-75B - $225 Newegg
- Power Supply: Enermax Liberty 620 Watt - $174.99 (Before $20 Mail in Rebate) Newegg
- Optical Drive: Plextor 16x DVD Burner - $79.99 (Before $20 Mail in Rebate) Newegg
- Total: $1961.06
$1000 Computer; high end gaming at a low price
The AMD Opteron 144 is the reigning King in the value segment of the market; with excellent gaming performance, low power consumption, and a low price, this is an excellent value CPU which gives you high end performance. Socket 939 Venus" Core. No heatsink included. Currently on 1-3 day Backorder.
Zalman is famous for their high quality heatsinks. Offering excellent performance for a low price, the Zalman 7000 is one of my personal favorites, and helps keep my computer, and many of my friends computers, cool. 92mm Aluminum and Copper heatsink and fan.
Arguably one of the best motherboards on the market, the Asus A8N SLI-Deluxe is one of the most popular, and most powerful, motherboards on the market. With SLI capabilities, 8 SATA ports, and space to fit massive heatsinks, this board will do its job right without serious hassle, and it comes at an excellent price. Socket 939, Nvidia Nforce 4 SLI chipset, 4 PC 3200 DDR slots, two PCI Express x16 slots (2x8 in SLI Mode).
The most important part of any gaming machine is its graphics processing unit; Nvidias GeForce 7800 GT is one of the best graphics processors on the planet; packing almost twice the punch of a 6800 GT, this graphics card comes in at only $30 more expensive. Should you decide later you want more graphics processing power, you can add a second 7800 GT later and nearly double your graphics processing power. PCI Express x16 video card, 256 MB GDDR 3.
Corsair is the undisputed king of low cost, performance memory, and their Value Select 2x512 megabyte kit is their best value RAM-but it doesnt offer lightweight performance. This is the perfect option for a budget gaming machine; it gives you the performance you need and it wont break the bank. Two 512 Megabyte sticks, CAS Latency 2.5 DDR RAM.
Need reliable data storage? Seagate is the only hard drive maker to offer a five year warranty on their full range of products and their hard drives earn it. Inexpensive, well made, and very quiet, these are the drives to get. 250 Gigabytes of space on SATA 150 will work quite well for holding all your games and tons of media! 250 Gigabyte SATA 150 7200 RPM Hard disk drive.
The Aspire X-dreamer is a case I personally used on my first computer; an inexpensive, high quality steel case, this is the perfect case for a budget gaming machine. Though you probably wont be using the included 420 watt power supply, its always good to have a backup. Steel ATX Computer chassis.
Silverstone is a common feature of Moditory Reviews, but their quality and reliability is not common for a relative newcomer to the industry. The ST56F will provide clean power to your computer for years to come, and be able to be carried over through virtually all hardware upgrades. ATX Power Supply unit; 560 Watt rated output.
Pioneer is a longtime electronics maker, and their experience shows in this inexpensive, high quality DVD burner. Used by many of my peers and colleagues, this drive will duplicate your media without creating coasters! 16 x 8 x 16 DVD/CD Writer/Re-writer/Reader IDE optical drive.
