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As easy as it gets... building a quality, affordable PC
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Welcome to Fast PC! Building or upgrading your own PC is not as difficult as it may seem, and my goal is to help you find the best parts to use and guide you through assembling them. I've tried to make everything as basic and easy-to-follow as possible, as I know it can be a little intimidating. My site contains:
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Buying Rules of Thumb
Because of Moore's Law, which states that processor speed doubles every 18 months, some PCs can quickly become outdated. The best thing one can do when buying components for a computer is to buy components which have been on the market for at least half a year. This should be your goal as prices tend to fall drastically because of the rapid pace of development; all the bugs tend to have been figured out in software/hardware, and it could prevent you from making a regrettable investment; the market usually has decided on the best respective components by then, with reams of magazine articles and posts on Internet forums about the item, helping you decide if/how well you could use the component. Below, I've made several lists of quality parts that should work very well for you as you build your Fast PC. I tried to place myself in the same situation again, buying parts all over, as I put together the lists of possible components for your computer. For each item, the price shown is the lowest price you can find today from a reputable merchant. As the PC was originally designed by IBM to be assembled quickly from off-the-shelf components, all of these components are compatible and work with each other. |
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Recommended Parts
The Case And Power Supply
| Description | Vendor | Today's Price | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|
| Antec Sonata III 'Quiet'
Super Mini Tower w/ 500W power supply |
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$108.60 | Free shipping! This case is devoted even more to being one of the "quietest" and "coolest" (literally) around. It includes 3 specially designed fans and is optimized for power computer users. One of the best around! |
| Cooler Master Elite 335 Black ATX Mid-Tower | |
$49.99 | One of the more popular cases on Tiger Direct; is an attractive yet simple case with several front connections on your case (audio, USB). Note you will need to buy a power supply. |
| Aluminum Cases Mid-tower Cases Assorted Cases
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Varies |
Don't like any of my recommendations on cases 100%? This site tends to have lots of quality cases with a good selection; I bought a generic one from here and enjoy it. |
'If I Only Had a Brain': The Processor and Cooler
| Description | Vendor | Today's Price | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|
| AMD Phenom 9500 X4 (Socket AM2+) Quad-core processor, 2MB Cache | |
$89.97 |
Retail box. Includes standard processor cooler. This is a great bargain that also includes a 2MB cache, which is important in processors (read my Processor breakdown for more info). |
| AMD Phenom 9650 X4 (Socket AM2+) Quad-core processor, 4MB Cache | $129.99 |
Faster processor speed than the above recommendation; this is incrementally better than the other processor. This is notably better in an important area for all processors, the processor cache, with double the capacity. | |
ZEROtherm Butterfly CPU fan (works with Socket AM2+) |
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$49.99 | This cooler works with my recommended pick, the Socket AM2+ processor. Even though the processors above include a fan, the much higher air-flow and quieter operation is definitely worth the money. If you are on a very tight budget, skip this. |
| Ultra Performance Silent 120mm Dual Bearing Case Fan | $14.98 |
Hard to argue with this price, given the amount of airflow while staying dead quiet. You will realize a cooler and longer-lasting machine by using 2 fans in your machine; refer to my Case Fan section for more info. |
The Motherboard
| Description | Vendor | Today's Price | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|
| Socket AM2+ Motherboards | |
Varies | Lots of high-quality motherboards, which all work with the recommended processors. Make sure to read my information on Motherboards first before purchasing any board. |
| Asus M3A78-CM Motherboard - (Socket AM2+) | $79.99 |
This is definitely the board to get with the recommended processor. Almost too much to list here...RAID, PCI Express 2.0, serial ATA, advanced AMD chipset... the list goes on. Awesome board! It also gives you the flexibility of going with an even smaller case than the ones listed above, if you desire. | |
| Motherboard Bundles | |
Varies |
This section usually has several deeply discounted board & CPUs here. This is also the easiest option if you're still confused about Motherboards and CPUs, as everything packaged will be compatible. I've bought several combinations here that have ended up saving me $75+. |
RAM
| Description | Vendor | Today's Price | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|
| OCZ Fatal1ty Dual-Channel (DDR2) 4 GB PC2-8500 | $61.99 |
OCZ is a great, reliable memory brand. Significantly, this RAM operates at a higher clock speed (-8500 vs the -6400 below), giving you an even better deal. | |
| OCZ Vista Gold Edition Dual-Channel 4 GB (DDR2) PC2-6400 | $52.99 |
Another quality 'brand' name of memory. This gives you a whopping 4 GB of premium, optimized memory for your machine at a great price. | |
| More RAM / Memory | |
Varies | Tiger also has a wide selection of other fast and high-performing memory available. |
Video Cards - See the Light!!
| Description | Vendor | Today's Price | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|
| Galaxy GeForce 9400 GT - 512MB DDR2 | $44.99 |
PCI Express 2.0. I recommend this for budget-conscious gamers. Plus, it is also is an HD-enabled card with dual DVI outputs. | |
| XFX GeForce 9600 GSO - 768MB DDR2 | |
$79.97 |
PCI-e 2.0. This card is faster than the above card with a newer chipset; it is also HDTV capable. If you're thinking gaming, this should be a 'minimum' card. |
| Sparkle GeForce 9800 GT Video Card - 1GB DDR3 | |
$119.99 |
PCI-e 2.0. It also happens to have the fastest, most efficent memory for video cards (GDDR3). This card IS one of the top video cards on the market right now. It 100% supports DirectX 10, Vista, and is just about everything you'd want in a card. |
| More Video Cards | |
Varies | None of the previous cards strike your fancy? Check out the hundreds of other amazing cards available! |
Hard Drive - Preserve even more pictures of your pets!
| Description | Vendor | Today's Price | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|
| Seagate 250 GB SATA-II 8MB buffer | |
$44.96 | This is an AMAZING deal, with this drive currently as cheap as an 160 GB drive, but giving you much more hard drive space. |
| Seagate 500GB SATA-II 16MB buffer | |
$59.99 | I view this as the mid-level drive, with the appropriate amount of storage that most people will need. Note the larger buffer versus the above drive, which will speed up access time on your drive. |
Seagate 1TB SATA-II 32MB buffer |
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$89.99 | If you are looking for sheer storage capacity, this drive should do it for you. This drive is a beast, plain and simple. HUGE buffer, large capacity, quality brand... this is the drive I would get in a heartbeat. |
Listen Up: Sound Cards, Speakers and Headphones
| Description | Vendor | Today's Price | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|
| Creative Soundblaster
Audigy SE Surround Sound Card | | $33.55 | The Audigy Sound card is very adequate for most users. It, in fact, is one of the best available today; it also supports 7.1 Surround Sound. |
| Description | Vendor | Today's Price | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|
| Logitech X-240 3-Piece
Speaker System |
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$32.35 | A compact, 5-star rated speaker set from a quality manufacturer, Logitech. Also includes an MP3 cradle for simple connectivity to your portable music player. |
| Logitech X-2300 THX Certified 2.1 3-Piece System | |
$107.37 | Sometimes, less is more. This system is THX Certified, meaning it will reproduce sound just like a movie sound engineer designed it to sound! Great system. |
| Sony MDR-NC60 Noise Canceling
Headphones | |
$125.60 | Sound is much more detailed and much more directional with headphones like these, especially with the amazing noise-canelling technology. The difference is stunning. |
CD-RW and DVD
| Description | Vendor | Today's Price | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|
| LG CD Burner/ DVD Burner | |
$29.99 | This is my current recommendation for a basic DVD burner; it provides you with the functionality to burn DVDs at an affordable price. |
| Samsung SH-S223Q"Lightscribe"
DVD Burner |
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$30.99 | This is the DVD burner to buy if you're considering them at all. This burner supports not only both of the single layer formats (the '+' and '-' formats) but also supports the dual-layer burning technology. Note that this is an IDE (not Serial ATA) drive. |
Networking: A skill that will amaze your friends
| Description | Vendor | Today's Price | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|
| Linksys WRT54G Wireless-G Router | $54.99 |
This is the fastest approved wireless router out there. Linksys is also known to work well with other manufacturers' wireless cards, so you don't have to worry about it not working with another system. | |
| Belkin Wireless G (USB 2.0) Adapter | $25.20 |
If you plan on running a wireless network, your PC will need a wireless adapter. The USB option allows you much more flexibility and potentially a better connection (See Networking for more info). |
Monitor - Seeing the Big Picture
- Since monitor deals change very rapidly, day to day, I decided it is best to let Amazon keep you up to date on the best deals out there.
Point-and-Click: Keyboard And Mouse
| Description | Vendor | Today's Price | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|
| Logitech Cordless Desktop EX110 Keyboard and Mouse Combo | |
$31.32 | Free shipping! This is similar to what I got for Christmas, and it is amazingly convenient. It is cheaper than buying each cordless item separately and works very well together. |
| Microsoft Optical Wheel
Mouse |
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$14.46 | Free shipping! The basic optical mouse is a must-have, as it lasts forever, and you don't have to clean it anymore! |
| Microsoft Digital Media
Pro Keyboard |
$16.95 |
The conventional keyboard, with all the regular Windows HotKeys |
Bill Gates' World: Software
| Description | Vendor | Today's Price | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|
| Windows Vista Home Premium Edition | |
$99.99 | It's official. For gamers out there, I now recommend Vista. For everyone else, especially the budget-conscious, I still recommend XP (read my Windows breakdown as to why). |
| Windows XP Home Edition with Service Pack 2 (Retail Box) | $94.99 |
Standard Retail Box version. This version also includes a coupon for Vista. | |
| Microsoft Office Home & Student 2007 | $88.99 |
Free shipping! If you're not willing to try out the free Open Office software, this is your next best bet. Includes Excel, Powerpoint, Word and OneNote. |
Did you "Graduate" from this site and build your own, Fast PC? Congratulations! You have officially broken free from the grasps of Dell and can tackle climbing Mt. Everest next! Make sure to visit this site frequently to stay updated on the latest in the PC universe!