what to get for $200 or less...

b-man1 · Post by **b-man1** » Tue Aug 17, 2004 8:15 pm

my current rig:

(dell 8300 desktop)

p4 2.8 800fsb
768mb ddr
dvd-rom
4x dvd-rw
9700pro
120gb hd
60gb hd
19" samsung lcd
a couple usb 2.0 external hd's
logitech z-540's

what would you get for up to $200? it's a gift from someone and i just need to pick it out...but can't think of anything i am missing or "need" to upgrade. kinda sad...but everything works perfectly and i am having trouble coming up with any ideas!

dadx2mj · Post by **dadx2mj** » Tue Aug 17, 2004 8:41 pm

What kind of case do you have?

b-man1 · Post by **b-man1** » Tue Aug 17, 2004 8:44 pm

it's a dell 8300...so upgrading components is not much of an option...

DoPeY5007 · Post by **DoPeY5007** » Tue Aug 17, 2004 8:54 pm

DVD Dual layer RW for under $100

xsiled · Post by **xsiled** » Tue Aug 17, 2004 9:03 pm

^^^

and a new mobo.

nitro237 · Post by **nitro237** » Tue Aug 17, 2004 9:42 pm

$200 should get you a nice case and mobo

d_b · Post by **d_b** » Tue Aug 17, 2004 9:57 pm

Beer?

A crt monitor. dual monitors!

canton_kid · Post by **canton_kid** » Wed Aug 18, 2004 2:18 am

I have about the same problem here

Is a happy birthday in order perhaps? Mine is coming up soon also, nothing left to drop hints for, geuss instead of computer stuff I will have to drop hints for new auto tools.

Hey there ya go, case modding tools! You could do wonders with a torch or plasma cutter

marscheese · Post by **marscheese** » Wed Aug 18, 2004 10:01 am

Originally posted by d_b
dual monitors!

Cantankerous · Post by **Cantankerous** » Thu Aug 19, 2004 11:12 am

I'd pick up a new case and mobo. You don't even need a high quality case but get a high quality mobo. Get a $50 case and a cheaper 875 mobo.

nexus_7 · Post by **nexus_7** » Thu Aug 19, 2004 1:06 pm

spend the $200 on blank dvd's best gift around.

Greg

b-man1 · Post by **b-man1** » Fri Aug 20, 2004 6:05 pm

well...i ended up ordering a 74gb raptor 10k rpm drive. i talked myself out of everything else because of the following:

--upgrade case/mobo...since it's a dell i would have needed a different (or wanted i should say) power supply too. that got expensive quick...and wouldn't leave much room for upgrading later anyway (from a p4 2.8 to maybe a 3.4?...not enough of a difference to me)

--dvd burner. i still have tons of 2.4x blanks and a faster one won't do me much good for now. i'll just skip to the blue drives eventually.

--10k sata drive. figured this would be the biggest bottleneck breaker in my current rig. i'll install the OS and common apps to it to take advantage of its access speed. i'll keep the other drives for data storage and ghost images, etc.

one question is will the built-in sata and IDE controllers play nicey-nice with each other or is it one or the other? i haven't looked in the BIOS yet, but i assume they can all be used at once.

DoPeY5007 · Post by **DoPeY5007** » Fri Aug 20, 2004 6:49 pm

yes you can use both @ one time, you NEED to for now ( not many CD-Rom drives are SATA )