The Peterbilt (Part 1)

Now that our custom computer is up and running, I thought I'd tell you a bit about the process of buying the components for it and putting it together (in Part 2). I'll tell you right now that the system is running great and everything just seemed to work right out of the box for the most part. I actually had really expected to get one of the Vista editions as they were on the shelves and available when we were buying. But after talking with a guy at Fry's it seemed like it would be best to stick with XP for now, and give Microsoft even more time to get the bugs out of Vista.

Some of the resources I used as sources of information for this project were the videoguys and their DIY articles (thanks for sharing your stuff...your a great resource!), newegg, Repairing and Upgrading Computers DVD by Scott Mueller, friends Garrett and Logan, my dad, and employees at Fry's. This computer will primarily be used for video and photo editing, web design, and Dad's simulations.

We ended up giving Fry's Electronics (Cambell, CA) our money. My dad had a business trip to the bay at the time when we thought we were ready to make the purchase, so I went along with him to be dropped off at the store. I spent a total of about twelve hours there over the span of two days. Expecting the prices to be higher than the online store I was planning on buying from (newegg), I went to Fry's with the mindset that I would handle the stuff and ask questions, then buy online. But after I did some price comparison, I soon found that the prices there were very competitive.

As well as the OS being different than what I had expected to get, we also got bigger hard drives because of a special ($99 for 400GB?! That's 25 cents a Gig!). Also the monitor was a bigger one than I thought we'd purchase...thanks Dad!

Here's what was in our shopping cart at the end of the day:

Case:------------- Antec NSK 6500 (430W power supply, 1X120mm fan, 9 bays, mid)

Motherboard: ---Intel DG965WH (G965 chipset)
Processor: i--i-- Intel Core2Duo E6600 (2.40GHz, 4MB Cache)
Memory: ------i--Patriot 2GB DDR2 PC6400 (2x1GB, 800MHz)
Video Card:--ii- PNY 7900GS 256MB (PCI-E 16X, 2xDVI)

Hard Drive 1:--i Maxtor 200GB SATA/150 (7200RPM, Boot)
Hard Drive 2a:i Maxtor 400GB SATA/300 (7200RPM, Raid 0)
Hard Drive 2b:i Maxtor 400GB SATA/300 (7200RPM, Raid 0)
Optical Drive:-i Sony DRU-120C (DVD 16X, CD 48X)

OS: -------------- WindowsXP Pro SP2B (OEM)

Display:----------Viewsonic Vx2235wm (22in widescreen, 700:1, 5ms, built-in speakers)

And: --------------Various other odds and ends

Additional items ordered from newegg:

--------------Samsung SH-S183L optical drive (DVD 18X, Lightscribe)
--------------2 SATA power adapters (the power supply didn't have enough)
--------------2 Antec 92mm fans for the front of the case

Total w/o tax: $1909.23