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As simple as it gets...
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:
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Because of Moore's Law, which states that processor speed doubles every 18 months, some PCs can quickly become outdated.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 |
|
$129.95 | Free shipping! This case is devoted even more to being one of the "quietest" and "coolest" (literally) around. It has a slightly more powerful power supply, coupled with an aesthetically pleasing case (of course that's just a subjective opinion). |
| Cooler Master Centurion Mid-tower w/ 430W power supply | |
$69.99 | One of the more popular cases on Tiger Direct; is an attractive yet simple case with all the front connections on your case (audio, USB, FireWire) you could possibly need. |
| Aluminum Cases Mid-tower Cases Assorted Cases
|
Varies |
This site tends to have lots of quality cases with a good selection; I bought a generic one from them and enjoy it. |
'If I Only Had a Brain': The Processor and Cooler
| Description | Vendor | Today's Price | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|
| AMD Athlon 64 X2 4200+ (Socket AM2) Dual-core processor, 1MB Cache | |
$60.99 |
Retail box. Includes standard processor cooler. Slightly slower than the two processors below, but still dual-core and packing a lot of power. |
| AMD Athlon 64 X2 5200+ (Socket AM2) Dual-core processor, 2MB Cache | $109.99 |
Retail box. Includes standard processor cooler. The perfect balance of the two other processors; is still a good bargain but also includes a 2MB cache, which is important in processors (read my Processor breakdown for more info). | |
| AMD Athlon 64 X2 5600+ (Socket AM2) Dual-core processor, 2MB Cache | $129.99 |
Retail box. Includes standard processor cooler. Faster processor speed, plus doubling the cache to 2MB yields one powerful processor! | |
Thermaltake Max Orb CPU fan (works with Socket AM2) |
|
$49.99 | This cooler works with several AMD processors, including 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. |
| Masscool 80mm Sleeve Bearing Case Fan | $2.99 |
Hard to argue with this price; provides a good amount of airflow while staying relatively 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 | Tends to have quality yet cheap motherboards (I bought mine from here), but read my information on Motherboards before purchasing any board. |
| Asus M2N-SLI Motherboard (Socket AM2) | $99.99 |
This is definitely the board to get with the recommended Athlon 64 processor. Made by a quality manufacturer, it includes PCI Express, an advanced nVidia chipset, serial ATA, RAID, and many other advanced features. | |
| 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Crucial Ballistix Dual-Channel (DDR2) 2 GB PC2-6400 | $49.99 |
Crucial is considered one of the best brands of memory around. Also included with the Memory is a free heat-spreader, which will allow your RAM to operate coolly and efficently. | |
| Ultra Dual-Channel 2 GB (DDR2) PC2-6400 | $49.99 |
Another quality 'brand' name of memory. Ultra is not considered as premier as Crucial, but a good choice nonetheless. | |
| 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| EVGA Geforce 7600 GS 512MB (SLI-ready) | **$69.99 |
Price w/ rebate; PCI Express & SLI-ready. I recommend this for budget-conscious gamers. Plus, it is also is an HD-enabled card. | |
| Nvidia GeForce 8600 GT 512MB DDR2 (SLI-ready) | |
**$74.99 |
Price w/ rebate; PCI Express & SLI-ready. This card is faster than the above card; it is also HDTV capable. If you're thinking gaming, this should be a 'minimum' card. |
| BFG GeForce 8800 GTS / 640MB GDDR3, HDTV, Dual DVI | |
**$219.99 |
Price w/ rebate; PCI Express & SLI-ready. 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, with performance that should last many years. |
| 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 160 GB SATA-II 8MB buffer | |
$49.99 | This is an AMAZING deal, with this drive currently as cheap as an 80 GB drive, but giving you twice the hard drive space. |
| Seagate 250GB SATA-II 16MB buffer | |
$64.99 | 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 400GB SATA-II 8MB buffer |
|
$74.99 | If you are looking for sheer storage capacity, this drive should do it for you. It does not have as large of a buffer as the above drive (read my Hard Drive info for more), but is still a quality Seagate drive, which is pretty much the only brand I've ever used. |
Monitor - Seeing the Big Picture
| Description | Vendor | Today's Price | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|
| Acer AL2016WBBD 20" 20" Widescreen LCD Monitor, | |
$199.99 | For all those wishing to watch movies or simply increase the amount of 'workspace' on your monitor, this is a solid choice. |
| Acer AL1716Fbd 17" LCD Monitor | $169.99 |
This LCD is pretty standard in size, resolution, and price. It also has a faster (5ms) refresh time than many available 17" widescreens. |
Listen Up: Sound Cards, Speakers and Headphones
| Description | Vendor | Today's Price | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|
| Creative Soundblaster
Audigy SE Surround Sound Card | | $28.95 | Free Shipping! 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Altec Lansing VS2421 3-Piece
Speaker System |
|
$39.99 | A compact, 5-star rated speaker set from a quality manufacturer, Altec. |
| Altec Lansing VS3251 5.1 6-Piece System | |
$59.99 | This is a great system. It provides surround sound byAltec, an awesome manufacturer, for a relatively low price. |
| Sony MDR-NC6 Noise Canceling Headphones | |
$39.99 | Free Shipping! 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lite-On CD Burner/ DVD-ROM Drive | |
$24.99 | This is my current recommendation for a CD burner; it provides you with the functionality to watch DVDs and still burn CDs. |
| Lite-On Super-Multi LH-20A1L-06 "Lightscribe"
DVD Burner |
|
$39.99 | 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 a SATA drive. |
Networking: A skill that will amaze your friends
| Description | Vendor | Today's Price | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|
| Linksys WRT54G Wireless-G Router | $44.99 |
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 | $29.99 |
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). | |
| Hiro V.92 56K modem (Vista-ready) | |
$9.99 | While dialup is slowly on the decline, if you're still using it, this modem will work wonderfully for you (and it's quite inexpensive too). If you don't dialup anymore, you won't need one. This version has the latest modem standard, V.92. This standard offers many improvements, such as support for faster data transfer speeds. |
Point-and-Click: Keyboard And Mouse
| Description | Vendor | Today's Price | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|
| Logitech Cordless Desktop EX110 Keyboard and Mouse Combo | |
$29.99 | 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 |
|
$16.94 | 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 |
$29.95 |
Free Shipping! The conventional keyboard, with all the regular Windows HotKeys |
Bill Gates' World: Software
| Description | Vendor | Today's Price | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|
| Windows Vista Home Premium Edition | |
$109.99 | 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) | $89.99 |
Standard Retail Box version. This version also includes a coupon for Vista. | |
| Microsoft Office Home & Student 2007 | $109.99 |
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? Congratualtions! 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!