So, I see this one on sale at Future Shop (refurbished) $699

http://www.futureshop.ca/en-CA/product/hewlett-packard-hp-pavilion-2nd-gen-intel-core-i7-2600-computer-h8-1124-english-refurbished-h8-1124/10199602.aspx?path=78592219e06545d62bea206f7443e85een02
 
And think it's a great deal. However, looking over at Newegg..... http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883157355  ($549!!)

Reason behind this... my computer for the last 2 days has decided it doesn't like when I game (BF3 especially!) and cuts out. No warnings, no beeps, no overheating alarms. Just. Goes. DEAD. Took it to a local computer repair guy, first thing he says is "motherboard about to go" Almost ALL of the capacitors are popped up. So we checked the power supply- which I thought was the problem in the first place- red main warning light comes on, and one of the power lights doesn't even flicker...

My computer now is 4 years old, running on it's second power supply. It is an Acer M5620 , with blu-ray disc (coming out, I think!) and an Socket 775 Intel G33t-am motherboard. It's running on ddr2, 6mbs - there goes THAT investment.

So, what do the gurus have to say?

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I'd say the Newegg one is a better deal, overall. The GPU is about equal, but will run cooler adn use less power. And the Futureshop  model has the 2600 (CPU) variant that is not overclock-friendly. Plus if you don't nedd the Hyperthreading it has, that's about 100 bucks that you'll be wasting over the 2500k. If you're wanting to play newer games, I'd strongly recommend a GPU with 2gb.

Then turn your current PC into an HTPC.

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-- Of all the soles I've ever tasted, his had the most   ....cumin. --

Well, that didn't take long.

Computer was cold this morning... hit the blue *Activate* light, it warms up for 3 seconds...the goes awaaaaayyyyy.

Okay, we'll see what happens later. Later happens. Hit *activate* again. Blue light special! "Windows shut down improperly" Well, duh! "Would you like to start windows in x,y,or z mode?" Lets go with "Normal"

Computer is alive!! Go for cup of tea. Computer is dead!

*phone phone phone* "Yes we have power supplies,only $39.95" So, 80 kms/50 miles later (round trip) the computer gets a new heart. Hit *activate* once more. Blue light...of death. Guess the capacitors are gone as well. But will bring the doorstop to the local guy tomorrow, have him look at the power I just bought, and have the time of death noted.

In the meantime.... I look on NewEgg once more, type in the motherboard I have.... and the magic number of $51.95 pops up. So the doorstop may become a zombie, and grace my brother's room for a few years. The MB... http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157173 The one in the doorstop now is a 775 Socket, running on DDR2 chips.

Once again, I ask the techies... good to go?

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I just went through all of this with someone else, helping them build up a system.  Instead of looking at systems that you can buy, tell us what you are top dollar price is.  Im sure you will get enough ppl looking at this and they will find you the best deal possible.

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ya Ted helped me biuld mine. Rather easy seeing I dont have any experince in computors

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I doubt that you can build a system equal to this one in price and performance, but if it can be done, it will have to be quick.

AMD chipset..not sure on the upper limit, but at the very least an A6
8+ Gb ram
1Tb hard drive should be plenty.
Windows 7
Good video card, partial towards ATI/AMD
5.1 -8.1 surround sound, but I think thats built in now.

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What do you have for audio output devices, Rad? Onboard audio is fine for regular headphones, but if you have fancy headphones pr want surround sound, you're better off with a dedicated audio card. Sounds would argue the point but I found my 5-year old mid-range sound card soudns far better than the near-best onboard Realtek my motherboard has...

So you just need internal components? Mobo/RAM/CPU/GPU/HDD? And yes, your budget would help.

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-- Of all the soles I've ever tasted, his had the most   ....cumin. --

I have a set of Zalman surround sound headsets, but find the realtek to be quite sufficient. For the components, I was just listing off what I'd like, still would need the case,fans,power,etc.

Budget would be the price of that assembled one, under $600.

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