This computer is meant for enthusiasts and those that simply MUST have the fastest computer out
there! This computer is going to ABSOLUTELY blast away ANY game you could possibly thihk of.
EVERY component is near to the BEST, most POWERFUL you can get your grubby little hands on! Now,
I haven't included speakers with this. But rest assured that if you wanted the best surround sound
speaker set you'd better be prepared to part with another $1000.00. This PC will impress you and
your fiends with its sexy looks and it's ABSOLUTE power. The Lian LI case will certainly catch
people's attention and prove a point of great interest with it's clear window on the side allowing
you to see whats going on inside the PC. I have UV lights inside mine which make things look ultra
cool. You can spend no end in cash making up a kick ass PC. But you must realise that if you were
to spend 7 grand on this PC you'd have to accept that money as lost to you. TOP END pc components
reduce in value EXTREMELY quickly as soon as they become superseeded, which is happening all too
quickly these days. But! A PC such as this is going to LAST you for an age. Perhaps up to TWO
YEARS before you might have to think about upgrading again. Usually I have to upgrade once a year
because I buy middle of the range components when I upgrade. That said, it is IMPOSSIBLE to tell
where the fickle world of PC's will head next. Look, 2 GHz cpu's could be old hat within 6 months.
AMD is already planning their 3.2 GHz releases as INTEL is wondering when to unleash their 3 - 4 GHz
cpu's on the world. Anyhow. The computer below is simply out of reach for most people, and represents
what I would do if I had money to burn. See what you think. And don't forget to mail me if you have
any questions. Just click on my name in the members list on the main page to go through my info for
my email address. I'd be happy to offer advice for a PC or component you might need.

CPU

AMD ATHLON XP 2200+ THOROUGHBRED CORE : $450 from www.auspcmarket.com.au. As of now (18th July 2002) the 2200+ is only listed in a few stores Australia wide. Therefore people are only posting up approximate prices for the 2200+. Rest assured though, it will be AT LEAST $450. Likely more. We are expecting the 2400+ and 2800+ to follow in the coming months until the introduction of the BARTON core which will feature more L1 and L2 cache as well as support a higher FSB. With DDR 400 (200mhz FSB) boards already in the pipeline these are only months away. For now the 2200+ is all the punch you're going to need and then some.

MOTHERBOARD

EPOX 8K3A+ Socket A KT333 DDR (PC2700), ATA133, 6xPCI slots, 3 x DDR DRAM slots, RAID, onboard audio. Well that really is an impressive list of stats. Huge opportunity for upgrades with 6 PCI slots and of course an AGP (Accelerated Graphics Port) slot to fit your video card into. IT uses the new standard of ram, PC 2700. The new ATA 133 standard for IDE interfacing (faster Hard Drives) and has the newest Northbridge from VIA, the KT133. This is an excellent board for a mid range computer, some would even consider it for a top end computer. (EDIT) and so I have. This board has the LEGENDARY EPOX support. Epox only need to sniff a small problem with thier boards and they issue a bios update. A good price from Austin Computers at
$249

RAM

512mb CORSAIR PC3200: Thats right PC 3200! This is EXTREMELY FAST ram from CORSAIR who quickly built a reputation for themselves for producing the highest quality ram. You will notice the heat spreaders on the stick which are required to cool the chips underneath. Only considered for insane computers like we're building here! $374 from www.auspcmarket.com.au.

HARD DRIVE

MAXTOR VIPER 80 GIGABYTE HARD DISK DRIVE. ATA133 IDE. 7200rpm : Maxtor is probably THE name in Hard drives at the moment. They are extremely popular and sell for good prices. At 80 gigabytes the drive offers a HUGE amount of space for you to install programs and store data. With games now beginning to ask for disk space in terms of GIGABYTES you really need to start cranking up your HDD size for extreme gaming rigs. $236.50 from Austin Computers and MCG Technology.

CD BURNER

RICOH MP12OA 2.4 x DVD BURNER! PLUS! 12x10x32 CD BURNER ALL IN ONE!!! Thats right! A DVD and CD burner all in the ONE drive! Whoah!! $850.00 from Austin Computers.

DVD

PIONEER DVD drives are a popular standard for computer enthusiasts today. You can buy FAR more expensive drives than Pioneer but the gain you get REALLY costs you. Pioneer are a well known brand when it comes to electronic gear, and the same goes for their DVD drives, offering a good quality of DVD playback for the money paid. The Pioneer Drives will also play your normal ole cd's. Austin Computers now sells them for $149.00 for the slot loading type pictured.

POWER UNIT

TOPOWER 520watts. ATX FORM FACTOR POWER SUPPLY. Can power up to 10 HDD's, and TWO Floppy Drives. Power supply's are the LEAST considered piece of hardware when you buy a PC. Usually PC retailers will only sell a Power Supply Unit (PSU) included with a case. I tend to shy away from this as you are often stuck with 250 - 300 watt power supply's if you do this. That can be a problem if you later decide to add extra drives and cooling fans to your PC. The TOPOWER 520Watt PSU is an extremely good unit with 3 fans featuring gold grilles to cool itself so it won't overheat. 520watts is going to allow for any extra upgrades you might want. TO get one, you will have to visit AUSPC MARKET on the net and order one from them. They are GOLD coloured and also have power connectors for a Petium 4 board if you ever find the urge to INTEL. Currently AusPC MArket are selling them for
$209.00.

CPU COOLER

SWIFTECH MCX462: Living in Australia, with Australian summers hitting 40 degrees in the shade we need to be careful about how hot our CPU's get. I find that stock coolers can find it difficult in the middle of summer, sometimes pushing 60 degrees Celsius. To ensure a good CPU life it is a good idea to spend a few extra dollars on a better CPU cooler to keep the CPU temps down in the heat of the Aussie summer. Cpu coolers can hit way over $200 here in Australia due to their copper content and the fact that most are imported. The Swiftech MCX462 has a solid COPPER base with grooved ALUMINIUM rods coming out of it. It has been around for a while now but STILL offers the best cooling for EXREMELY fast processors producing heat of any kind. Beware! the MCX462 is LARGE and requires BOLTING to the motherboard through the use of the 4 holes that are around the cpu socket on modern boards. Fear not, the cooler comes with ALL you need to install it and can be purchased from PC COOLING AUSTRALIA at www.pcca.com.au for
$160.00

FLOPPY DRIVE

FLOPPY DRIVE: With the advent of bootable cd's and rewriteable cd's, the floppy drive is fast becoming a thing of the past. But not quite yet. Still good for storing written documents and any other office related data. You also find that some new components will still come with drivers on a floppy. Austin Computers has them for
$29.00.

VIDEO CARD

LEADTEK WINFAST TITANIUM 4600: Perhaps the hottest topic in computers today is which video card to put in your system. The geforce 4 family from NVIDIA are the undisputed KINGS of the Graphics accelerator card market. Sitting at the top of the tree at the moment is the TI 4600. Leadtek's card features a 300mhz core and 128mb of fast DDR memory. Plus the card looks absolutely KICK BUTT with its HUGE silver heatsink sitting on the top of the card cooling the GPU and memory modules. PLUS! another HUGE heatsink on the other side to cool the components there! Currently AUSPC MARKET has them for
$759.00.

SOUND CARD

CREATIVE AUDIGY PLATINUM EX!! PCI Soundcard with 5.1 surround sound outputs along with firewire ports. External drive with front mounted input and output plugs plus REMOTE CONTROL!!!! PROFESSIONAL home studio with high end music creation tools. Stunning 24 bit multi channel performance and 100DB SNR for high definition audio. Advanced Environmental Audio Extension 3D Enhanced surround sound. I don't gotta say more!! Any Pc shop should have these!
$511.00.

CASE

LIAN LI PC75 FULL TOWER SERVER CASE WITH SIDE WINDOW: Front mounted USB ports. High intensity blue and red LED's for power and HDD activity. SIX 51/4 inch CD-ROM drive bays. THREE 3.5 inch floppy drive bays. TWO exhaust fans at rear of PC below PSU. TWO input fans at the front of the PC with included air filter. Room for two more fans above PSU. FOUR swivel feet on the bottom of the case. BARE METAL polished aluminium construction throughout. Included Motherboard and drive mounting screws (polished) with spares included. NO more fidgeting around with no room to work. HUGE case that will house ANY motherboard, ANY drive or ANY pice of computer hardware. Order from AUSPC MARKET for
$528.00.

MONITOR

SONY G520 21 INCH FLAT SCREEN TRINITRON MONITOR: 21 inch is generally the largest monitor you can buy these days. The Sony flatscreen trinitron will give you an image that will be far superior and LARGE to boot! Up to 2048x1536 @ 75hz. Or a maximum refresh rate of 85hz at 1800x1350. Very high quality monitors from a veteran of electronic technology. AUSPC HAVE THEM for
$1925.00

KEYBOARD

MICRO$OFT INTERNET KEYBOARD: You can get keyboards for around $20 from your local PC dealer. But these can be small and fragile. For a little extra you can dip into Micro$ofts range of products which actually have the reputation of being quite well designed and sturdy. Austin Computers is selling them for
$45.00.

MOUSE

RAZOR BOOMSLANG 2000DPI: Revolutionary in design. Made for those that take gaming seriously. 5 fully programmable buttons and scroll wheel. Able to detect the slightest hand movement, but is completely configurable if you find it too sensitive. HUGE button 1's and 2's for those finger twitches that were meant to fire a rocket. EXTREMELY good mice. You must order them from WWW.RAZORZONE.COM and wait generally a MONTH for them to arrive. But well worth the wait!
$180.00 AUS (depends on exchange rate)

OPERATING SYSTEM

WINDOWS XP PRO: Your system won't be complete without an operating system to handle everything. Windows XP is the newest offering from Micro$oft and it really pays to get the most recent operating system you can afford when you buy a new computer. Plus, all components I've listed here have corresponding Windows XP drivers available. MCG Technology has Windows XP HOME for
$219

CPU----------------------$450.00
MOTHERBOARD-------$249.00
RAM---------------------$374.00
HARD DRIVE------------$236.00
CD-ROM------------------$850.00
DVD DRIVE-------------$149.00
POWER UNIT-----------$209.00
CPU COOLER------------$160.00
FLOPPY DRIVE----------$29.00
VIDEO CARD-----------$759.00
SOUND CARD------------$511.00
CASE----------------------$528.00
MONITOR---------------$1925.00
KEYBOARD---------------$45.00
MOUSE--------------------$180.00
WINDOWS XP PRO----$418.00

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                                     $7072.00
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