[dba-Tech] Build vs. Buy a PC

In this day and age, you can buy one for far less than building one on your 
own.  However, building one allows you to choose exactly what you want, and 
it's a heck of a lot of fun.  Just built one here:

Asus P5K WS motherboard
Intel core 2 duo 3 Ghz
3 Gb RAM (dual channel 1333 FSB)
2 1x2 Raid 1 arrays.. one 300Gb, one 500Gb (all drives are SATA)
      (one drive from each array is accessible from the front panel - 
Kingwin Hot Swap shelves)
2 SATA cd/dvd R/W
Asus PCI Express x 16 Video card Nvidia GeForce 7300 based (I'm not a gamer)
The MB has 8 Channel hi def audio on board
The MB has dual Gigabit LAN controllers
The MB supports 12 USB 2.0 ports
The MB supports 2 IEEE 1394 ports
The MB supports 1 standard serial port
I added a PCI Express x 1 parallel port card
I have 2 unused PCI slots, 1 unused PCI Express x 1 slot, 1 unused PCIX x 1 
slot
Cooler Master Elite 330 Case

But it cost about twice what your dell is going for...

Don B.


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Dan Waters" <dwaters at usinternet.com>
To: "'Discussion of Hardware and Software issues'" 
<dba-tech at databaseadvisors.com>
Sent: Saturday, October 13, 2007 7:40 AM
Subject: [dba-Tech] Build vs. Buy a PC


>I need a faster desktop PC.
>
> Dell has what I would like for about $1140 (Optiplex).
>
> It would have:
>
> Intel Core 2 Duo 2.33 Ghz, 4Mb, VT, 1333Mhz FSB
> Windows XP Pro
> 2 Gb RAM
> 160 SATA HD (I only use 30 Gb now)
> 48X32 CDRW/DVD Combo - with Roxio Creator and Cyberlink Power DVD
> 256 Mb ATI Radeon 2400 XT, Dual Monitor DVI or VGA
> Data/FAX Modem (I need to fax some documents)
> Audio Card (I assume)
> 3 yr on-site warranty
> No Floppy disk
> No Accessories
> No extra software
>
> Could I build a similar system for a lower price or build a better system
> for about the same?  I would enjoy selecting components and assembling and
> I've ordered a book on how to do this, but if the answer is no then I 
> should
> just order this from Dell and get it faster.
>
>
> Thanks!
> Dan
>
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