PC business first 2 orders!

[Vitter]

w00t! I just got my first 2 orders to build some PC's.

One has a budget of 1200 and the other has a budget of 1500. They both want gaming machines. No monitors, speakers, or peripherals needed.

Ill prepare the builds shortly once I can pull myself away from the in-laws (wedding planning, bleh). Likely i'll stick with an Asus-P4C-ATI-SB-OCZ build just because im familiar with it.

[Rbstr]

I'd go with a P4p-800 to save money(its everybit as good) and some Corsair XMS LL Pro memory.

[NoSurrender]

yea you can pick up 9800pros for $200. Im gonna pick either that or Steel Battalion : LOC

[Vitter]

You guys are on the same thought path as me. I already placed my orders for the P4P800 and the 128mb Radeon 9800 Pro's. Also getting SB Audigy 2 ZS Sound Card's, 120gig 7200RPM SATA Seagate HD's, and most likely going with Antec power supplies (probably in the 400 wat range).

Rbstr, about memory. I'm looking to get them a gig of memory that will be good out of the box. I won't be overclocking their PC's and they won't be doing any of it either.

Right now i'm looking at the OCZ EL Series Dual Channel DDR400 PC3200. It has timings of 2-3-2-6 T1 and 3.2GB/s bandwitdth. It goes for $255.

Meanwhile the Corsiar XMS LL Pro you recomended goes for $365 for a gig of matched 512's. The timings on them are 3-3-3-8, which is a good deal slower than the OCZ.

I currently have a gig of OCZ DDR500 PC4000 EL Dual Channel. I can attest to the reliability and performance of OCZ products. I fail to see the merit in paying over $100 more for a gig of memory that has slower timings.

Oh, and the heatspreaders on the OCZ model are better too. Corsair uses fuking aluminium. I guess all that extra money goes into those 3 LED's they put on their memory. Pfffft.

One other thing Rbstr. Asus has OCZ as being compatable to their MB's. Corsair is no where on the list.

Sorry i didn't get back to this thread earlier. Was at a huge mothers day weekend thingy.

[Rbstr]

Oh sorry these are the ones i'm talking about

http://www.buyxtremegear.com/twin2.html

[Vitter]

Not bad Rbstr. Not bad at all. Those look to be the exact same as the OCZ.

However, despite the fact that they are $2 cheaper, i'd rather go with the brand that is certified Asus compatable. Especially since i am currently using OCZ and I can attest to it's rock solid reliability and extreme performance.

[Vitter]

I'm wondering if anyone has suggestions for disc drives?

I was thinking of putting the following into both computers.

Lite-On Lite-On 52X32X52X16 Combo Drive
Read Speed: 52X CD-ROM, 16X DVD-ROM
Write Speed: 52X CD-R, 32X CD-RW
Extra: SMART-BURN avoiding Buffer Under Run error
Price: $50

Lite-On 8X DVD+/-RW Drive
Read Speed: 40X CD-ROM, 12X DVD-ROM
Write Speed: 8X DVD+R, 4X DVD+RW, 8X DVD-R, 4X DVD-RW, 40X CD-R, 24X CD-RW
Extra: SMART-BURN avoiding Buffer Under Run error, VAS to reduce vibration & noise during recording & reading
Price: $90

Total: $140

They looked good to me and got good reviews. Tell me what you think.

[dscytherulez]

I tried to start my own pc building business, but couldn't get anyone that wanted a new system.

Edit: I hate Lite-Ons.

[Electrofreak]

Vitter, I want your job. :(

I once had a job interview for a small business that builds computers... I think I kinda messed up the interview (tip: don't get so nervous that you babble aimlessly) and they didn't hire me. :( Pity too, thats like my dream job right now.

/me sighs...

[Vitter]

Well.. we'll see if it will get off the ground.

What's wrong with Lite-On's? Should I go with Plextor?

[Rbstr]

i like the asus drive i have, i probably soudn like a helpless fanboy but i have never had a problem with anything from them.

[Daleon]

I don't see much reason in having 2 drives anymore. Why waste the money on a combo drive. The latest dvd burners burn cd's at a good rate, read cd's and dvd's rather fast, etc. Most users don't sit and burn 20 cd's a day where that difference in speed makes a big difference.

The liteon dvd burners are decent. I like the NEC's at newegg. Extremely accurate burners. The plextor's that support 8x dvd-r are prolly one of the best but about dbl the price. But if you cut out the combo drive your still close in to your old price.

AT has a great review of all the 8x dvd burner's.

Just remember, the more you spend on the components = less money you'll make. Obviously you want good quality machines but build to the customer's needs and don't over shoot to much. You're already getting close to max'ing that $1200. Also you gonna build both to the same specs?

[Vitter]

Daleon, thanks for the advice. They both requested dual disk drives so they can put a music/dvd CD in one drive and copy it with the other.

As to the specs, yeah, they'll both be about the same. They both wanted gaming machines. The second wanted me to include norton, windows XP, Microsoft Office, and EZ CD Creator, hence the extra money.

[Electrofreak]

I WOULD build computers but I can't seem to find buyers... :-\