Seeing as how my computer recently gave up the ghost, I needed a new workstation. My last full system upgrade took place because of a game – Final Fantasy XI – and I had hoped to time my second upgrade with another game – Starcraft II – but ’twas not to be.
My computer is old enough that replacing a defective part with a modern part entails replacing the part it was attached to, which leads to replacing yet more parts, and so forth. So I figured if I’m going to bother, I may as well go for a brand new system.
Amusingly, the cost of the new computer is 75% of the cost of the computer it replaces, and is far better in every measurable capacity. What a difference 3.5 years makes… and perhaps some smarter shopping habits: online, out-of-province, and (sigh) assemble-it-myself.
I didn’t shop around between vendors much. I’ve found Canada Computers to be consistently cheapest, or at most one or two percentage point away from it. NCIX provides an excellent, competitive selection, and out-of-province sales tax benefits.
I ended up going with NCIX, as they had the latest processor I wanted (Intel 3GHz at 45nm instead of 65nm). They also had several sales going on, coincidentally ending today. I wanted to order one of their preconfigured systems (it’s so much hassle to assemble!), but oddly it was much cheaper for me to order all the parts individually, due to sales and rebates.
Here’s the order:
- Intel Xeon E3110 Dual Core Processor LGA775 3.0GHZ Wolfdale 1333FSB 6MB Retail
- Corsair XMS2 DHX TWIN2X4096-6400C5DHX 4GB DDR2 2X2GB PC2-6400 DDR2-800 CL 5-5-5-18 240PIN Memory Kit
- Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3L ATX LGA775 P35 1333FSB 1PCI-E16 3PCI-E1 3PCI SATA2 Sound GBLAN Motherboard
- EVGA E-GEFORCE 8800GT 600MHZ 512MB 1.8GHZ DDR3 PCI-E Dual DVI-I HDTV Out Video Card
- Antec Sonata III Black ATX 16IN Mid Tower Quiet Case 3X5.25 2X3.5 4X3.5IN 500W 120MM Fan
- (two) Samsung 226BW 22IN Widescreen LCD Monitor Glossy Black Finish 1680X1050 3000:1 2MS VGA DVI-D HDCP
- (two) Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 3.5IN 500GB SATA2 8.5MS 7200RPM 32MB Cache NCQ Hard Drive
