I've been planning on building a new computer for a while, but recently, I've stepped up my efforts. I'm getting closer to having the funds available for the computer so I've started to seriously look into different stores for buying the parts. Right now, I just have to decide between MonarchComputer.com and ZipZoomFly.com. The positive for Monarch is that they'll put the basic parts together and burn them in so I know I'm getting a good motherboard, CPU, RAM, hard drive, etc. whereas if I order from ZipZoomFly, a single part could be DOA and it'd take time to diagnose and replace. Plus, ZipZoomFly doesn't carry the case I want and I only save $20 by assembling it all myself. Newegg, my usual store of choice is $50 more than Monarch due to that pesky state tax, otherwise, they'd be my store of choice.

For those who are curious, here's my parts list with comparative prices at the three stores. It'll be a very nice computer with a 939 AMD XP64 3700+ processor with the brand new 'San Diego' core sporting an extra 512k of L2 cache along with 2 GB of Corsair XMS RAM and a Western Digital 10k RPM 74 GB Raptor serving up the files. I had considered only getting 1 GB of RAM, but that would only leave me with room to expand to 2 GB, whereas if I start out with 2 GB, I can easily expand to 4 GB at a later time (most likely with an upgrade of the processor to one of the sweet dual-core AMD 64's). The power supply is the Antec Neopower modular power supply which I currently have in this computer and I absolutely love and the case is a sweet Lian-Li PC-V1000B Plus. I love my current case, the Lian-Li PC-6070 Plus and though I like the 1000B with the nice air in-take up front, I am also considering the PC-V1100B Plus - make sure you view the cool flash animation on how the three-tier cooling system works.

I just need to decide on the video card to get now. Basically, I want a budget card and I figure the 6600 GT would be more than powerful enough for the basic games that I play - though the system offers more than enough upgrade potential (e.g. 2 6800 Ultras in SLI mode).

		Monarch	Newegg	ZipZoomFly
CASE	Lian-Li PC-V1000B	189	205	N/A
	Lian-Li PC-V1100B	219	250	N/A
PROC	AMD XP64 3700 "San Diego" Core	315 (oem)	333 (retail)	329 (retail)
RAM	TWINX2048-3200C2PT	265	265	243
	TWINX2048-3200PT	265	267	240
MOBO	ASUS A8N-SLI DELUXE	175	176	170
HD	Raptor 74GB 10000 RPM	189	184 20 MIR thru 6/18	183
POWER	Antec NeoPower 480	114	116	113
GFX	eVGA GeForce 6600 GT 128 MB	173	172	184 30 MIR
	eVGA GeForce 6800 256 MB	300	289	280
	eVGA GeForce 6800 GT 256 MB	359	359	350
	eVGA GeForce 6800 Ultra 256 MB	420	445 30 MIR	450 30 MIR
SUB-TOTAL	BASE PRICES - NO VIDEO (1000B/C2PT)	1247	1259 AR	1227
TAX		0	99.12	95.09
SHIPPING		45.50	34.31	0
BUILD FEE		49	0	0
TOTAL		1341.50	1392.43	1322.09

URL: MonarchComputer.com: All Furia Systems