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Computers: Build your own vs. buying a Dell
Posted July 11, 2010 by Nick Vogt in Computer Hardware
Please note that products and prices reflect what was available in early 2011 and may not be up to date with current offerings.

This is a price and feature comparison to determine the value of building your own PC versus purchasing a Dell. Dell's generally offer a good value in the low to mid range and represent the most common OEM-bought PCs.

Some things to note: The Dell prices include the tax and flat-rate shipping fee Dell charges. The custom-built prices include shipping, which could vary by $5-10 based on your location. Also, the custom-built PC prices include the full retail cost of Windows 7 Home ($99). If you have an operating system already, or can get an inexpensive copy through school, it will increase the value proposition of the custom-built PC considerably.

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Hard Drive Cost/GB Chart for July 2010
Posted July 2, 2010 by Nick Vogt in Computer Hardware
Hard drive comparisonThis is a comparison of desktop computer 3.5" SATA hard drives. Prices were obtained at Newegg and include shipping and instant rebates where applicable (mail-in rebates not included). All drives shown have a 70% or greater 5/5 egg rating. I consider the ratings to be a good indicator of how many people are receiving drives DOA or are having drive failures. I chose the best priced and rated drive in each size category. The Ratio is the number of gigabytes each dollar purchases, so naturally the higher the better.

DriveSizeCacheRPMPriceRatio
Seagate Barracuda 7200.1080 GB8 MB7200 RPM$42.281.89
Western Digital Caviar Blue160 GB8 MB7200 RPM$45.283.53
Seagate Barracuda250 GB8 MB7200 RPM$44.995.56
Western Digital Caviar Blue320 GB8 MB7200 RPM$47.996.67
Samsung Spinpoint F3500 GB16 MB7200 RPM$54.999.09
Western Digital Caviar Black640 GB32 MB7200 RPM$54.9911.64
Western Digital Caviar Black750 GB32 MB7200 RPM$79.999.38
Hitachi Deskstar1 TB32 MB7200 RPM$69.9914.29
Western Digital Caviar Black1.5 TB64 MB7200 RPM$117.2712.79
Seagate Barracuda2 TB64 MB7200 RPM$199.9910.00


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Unlocking Results: AMD Phenom II X2 555 & ASRock M3A785GXH/128M AM3
Posted March 10, 2010 by Nick Vogt in Computer Hardware
As you are probably aware, there is quite a bit of hype surrounding AMD's current X2 and X3 processors. The idea is that many of them are perfectly functioning X4's that have had one or two cores disabled to meet X2 and X3 demand. Read this Anandtech post for more information on this and some better analysis.

Long story short, I purchased a Phenom II X2 555 processor and ASRock M3A785GXH/128M motherboard from Newegg a few weeks back (see this post) in the hopes that I could also get an X4 on the cheap. While I am very satisfied with my upgrades for the price I paid, I unfortunately did not have any luck unlocking the extra 2 cores on the Phenom II X2. Read on for the details.

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Computer upgrade
Posted February 15, 2010 by Nick Vogt in Computer Hardware
It's been a year and a half since my last computer upgrade. I have been using a first-gen Phenom X3 overclocked to 3.0ghz, 2 x 1GB of DDR1066, and a good yet not great overclocking Gigabyte motherboard. I also have two hard drives and will be adding another to the mix along with a new case, since my old one is chopped up and modified to pieces.

There were some excellent deals going, including free shipping on the case. Here's the list of components:

Cooler Master Elite Case
Seagate Barracude 7200.12 500GB Hard Drive
ASRock M3A785GXH/128M Motherboard
A-DATA 2 x 2GB DDR3 Memory Kit
AMD Phenom II X2 555 Processor

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Hard Drive Cost/GB Chart for February 2010
Posted February 5, 2010 by Nick Vogt in Computer Hardware
Hard drive comparisonThis is a comparison of desktop computer 3.5" SATA hard drives. Prices were obtained at Newegg and include shipping and instant rebates where applicable (mail-in rebates not included). All drives shown have a 70% or greater 5/5 Egg rating. I consider the ratings to be a good indicator of how many people are receiving drives DOA or are having drive failures. I chose the best priced and rated drive in each size category. The Ratio is the number of gigabytes each dollar purchases, so naturally the higher the better.

DriveSizeCacheRPMPriceRatio
Seagate Barracuda250 GB8 MB7200 RPM$44.995.6
Western Digital Caviar Blue320 GB8 MB7200 RPM$47.996.7
Samsung Spinpoint F3500 GB16 MB7200 RPM$49.9910.0
Western Digital Caviar Blue640 GB16 MB7200 RPM$69.999.1
Western Digital Caviar Black750 GB32 MB7200 RPM$79.999.4
Samsung Spinpoint F31000 GB32 MB7200 RPM$89.9911.1
Samsung Ecogreen F21500 GB32 MB5400 RPM$109.9913.6
Samsung Spinpoint F32000 GB32 MB5400 RPM$179.9911.1


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Hard Drive Cost/GB Chart for January 2009
Posted January 5, 2009 by Nick Vogt in Computer Hardware
Hard drive comparisonThe hard drive is one of the most common computer upgrades consumers perform, and it is no secret to some that the more gigabytes you buy the less expensive (per gigabyte) the drive is. I have compiled a list of the most common drives in each size category, and created a cost-per-gigabyte comparison chart. I have shopped NewEgg.com for these prices, and have given a link to each drive. I generally chose the least expensive of each size category and have also listed the cache size next to the model. The higher the Ratio the better, as it indicates how many gigabytes each of your dollars is purchasing. Also, one last thing to keep in mind: Most of the drives have free shipping, but if they do not it will decrease the ratio.

DriveSizeCostRatio
Western Digital Caviar SE 8MB80GB$34.992.29
Western Digital Caviar SE 8MB160GB$41.993.81
Western Digital Caviar SE 8MB250GB$49.995.00
Western Digital Caviar SE 8MB320GB$49.996.40
HITACHI Deskstar 16MB500GB$59.998.33
Western Digital Caviar 16MB640GB$69.999.14
Seagate Barracuda 32MB750GB$79.999.38
SAMSUNG Spinpoint 32MB1000GB$99.9910.00
Seagate Barracuda 32MB1500GB$129.9911.54


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