When you buy any package deal, the vendor is going to sneak in whatever profit they can, especially on things like this.  It is a little risky to assemble all the pieces yourself, but it's really much easier than it ever used to be.  The only really scary bit is usually putting the CPU fan on top of the CPU once it is installed, otherwise it's all very low-effort stuff.  All the plugs only fit one way, and are very hard to plug in backwards.  

The CPU itself is very safe to install, with a Socket 775 processor (like the Q6600) - it does not even have any pins on it, it's a completely flat surface with nothing you can easily break.  The chip has slots cut into it so that it is very difficult to install at the wrong angle.  It is all about as complicated as putting Lego pieces together.  Only the fans require some muscle and some stress, because the CPU fan is under a lot of tension and pressure to keep the heat sink surface squeezed up very tight atainst the CPU.

You can save yourself a lot of money just finding the lowest price for the parts you want from any vendor, and assembling the PC yourself.  You can also be certain that no cheap substitutes are slipped into your dream computer, as can often happen with a package dea.  Something for you to consider, anyhow.

If you have any local computer nerd frends you can very likely get some help assembling it and installing all the operating system and driver software.

*        * Quote *- "If you have any local computer nerd frends you can very likely get some help assembling it and installing all the operating system and driver software."
*For all my friends, a Socket 775 Processor could be a sock brand, and a Q6600 the friend mech of R2D2 in StarWars... So no help from this side.

I had looked on the side of Doitbyyourself computer, but i'm a little afraid of this. It's already hard for me to find the right place on my car to fill with oil, so inside a computer... :scared:

**FINALLY!!!!

**I ordered the beast, and will receive it next Tuesday or Wednesday!

Here is what i ordered:

Case - Elite 330
Power supply - 430Watts Cooler Master
Ventilator Zalman
Memory - DDR2 1024Mo PC533 DANELEC -D2D533- X3
DVD Pionner Dual 110
Video card - nVidia 8500GT SILENT/HTP/256M ASUS
Motherboard - ASUS P5LD2-SE-C V2.X
Hard drive - SATA II 320Go P80SD
Processor - Intel Quad Core Q6600
Windows XP Home

Price - around 1000/1100€

I originally went for 4Gb Ram and XP Pro 64bits but the price won over me... :unsure:

So what about these specs, does it worth the price??

Hmmm, I hope the power supply is enough to run that, I would have suggested a 650 watt.  With my dual core Pentium 4 and an NVIdia 7800GTX, it turned out that I needed more wats than 500.  Overall the proce is very good I think.

Quote - Hmmm, I hope the power supply is enough to run that, I would have suggested a 650 watt.  With my dual core Pentium 4 and an NVIdia 7800GTX, it turned out that I needed more wats than 500.  Overall the proce is very good I think.

Wow! I don't want it to burn :scared: Seriously, what is the risk if the power supply is not enough?

The 430watt psu is no where near the psu that you need.....

using a psu calculator and the rough specs you gave i calculated your wattage requirements to be around 516watts.... so you would need a 550 - 600 watt psu.....

As for the dangers of using a psu that cant cope with the system, well the best senario would be the computer wouldnt start or would run in a slow underclocked mode, the worst case senario would be the psu would burn out.... the ultra worst case senario would be the psu burns out and takes out other pc components with it !!!!

if i were you i would send that 430 watt psu back and get a higher wattage one shipped.... ohh and dont go for a cheap high wattage psu, get a decent brand one.... seasonic make quite good psu's (though they can be pricey)

Ohh also is that 3 1gb memory modules that you ordered ??? if so send one back or buy another one, if you have 3 modules then the computer wont run in dual channel memory mode which will affect the memory speeds !

heres a good psu calculator so you can check it out for yourself !

www.extreme.outervision.com/psucalculator.jsp#footnote4

Well, as far as the computer will be built only tuesday or wednesday, i will phone to the vendor to tell him to put a 550 or 600 Watts psu instead of the 430 Watts.

That would be wise :)

Oops, I had not noticed - are you plannying to get quantity 3, of 1GB memory modules?  I think there is a good chance that will not work at all.  I strongly recommend either 2 1GB modules, or 4.

Oh, memory modules only work by pair?
I'm really thinking now the vendor i saw isn't good at all!!

So i could only have 2 1GB modules or 4 1GB modules, that's it? I want the max advices as i will phone him tomorow morning!

Attached Link: 2 x 2 gig sticks

(just to confuse things a bit more)

(scroll down on the link)

I can't find information on your exact motherboard - this is pretty close but not quite it.
http://usa.asus.com/products4.aspx?modelmenu=2&model=515&l1=3&l2=11&l3=185&l4=0

Do you have the detailed specs on the motherboard you are going to buy?  The P5LD2 is dual-channel with respect to memory, and I think it is likely the machine will not boot with an odd number of memory modules, or the odd one will be ignored.

It seems to be this one, as i don't have more details on the motherboard.

For the memory issue, i think 2X2GB is more expensive than 4X1GB? But which one works best??

I will phone to the vendor in about 2 hours.

From looking at the ASUS documentation, it seems that the P5LD2 maxes out at 4GB of memory, so 4x1GB is the safe bet.  Even if it works with 2x2GB, the motherboard doesn't seem to support any more memory, although you might still check with your vendor.

I have this one, the P5W DH Deluxe, and would recommend it to anybody, although it costs more money.  It maxes out at 8GB, but its technology is getting a bit stale - good in that it has been around quite some time and is very "mature" (stable), but not so good because there are better options that may even be less expensive.

If I was building a new machine and I didn't care about hardware RAID - which is expensive - I would think very hard about this motherboard, the ASUS P5K-VM.  Max mem of 8GB in 4 slots, so 2x2GB in that case.
$86US at Newegg:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131187R

Yikes!  The P5K-VM has integrated video, which is sometimes a very bad idea, and is not really likely to benefit you since you have budgeted for that very nice Nvidia 8500GT graphics card.  The vanilla P5K is a safer choice.

It's more more expensive though!

I think i will stay with the P5LD2 for the moment, and 4X1GB RAM.
It will still be a hard improvement compared to my actual machine! And i am already up from my initial budget :scared:

two things...

1. love the new, but keep the old
2. poser not taking advantage of 64-bit may be ending.

why?

PoserPro, to be released this fall. If it performs as promised you'll be able to NetRender a still image...you could hook your old reliable up to the new boy and engage both on the same scene.

Also, EF is promising that the render engine will be 64-bit based.

::::: Opera :::::

"released this fall"

and

"if it performs as promised..."

HAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHA