Ever built your own system?
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Over the past 2 days I've been getting parts for a new system for my mom (and now she's going to have a better system than me! :mad: ) so I thought I'd ask the Lounge lizards - do you build your own systems, or order them pre-built from someone like Dell, Gateway, or a local shop? I personally like tinkering with hardware and building systems. I'm not a hardcore overclocker, though - I got my Celeron 533s up to 600 and I was satisfied. :) I built my first system about 3 years ago, and I was actually surprised at how easy it was to do. The hardest part was making sure none of the motherboard pins were touching the case. My system now has so many cables & fans & stuff that it's a total rat's nest! --Mike-- http://home.inreach.com/mdunn/ #include "buffy_sig"
I've heard so many problems from friends who have had ready-built systems; poor quality components, shoddy build quality etc. You supposedly pay more for the technical support and peace of mind that what you get is a system that is known to work properly... this doesn't seem to be the whole truth, of course. I've always built my own systems; it's always worked out cheaper, and you get exactly what you want in the system, not what some company thinks you might want . You can pick and choose and pay the extra for better brands in the departments that are important to you. Building your own machine used to be a bit of a task, but nowadays it's much simpler, with standardised cases (ATX) and so on; it's just a matter of screwing the motherboard into the case (first matching up and removing any extra spacers there may be in the case compared with the holes in the motherboard), slotting in the cards and CPU (those square CPUs with the hundreds of pins could be a real pain if any were slightly bent; are the FCPGA flip-chip things back to being like that now?), plugging in the various power leads, IDE cables and floppy drive cables (they all only fit in one way, except for the floppy drive lead, which I always put in the wrong way the first time round :eek: ), then finally the ATX power lead from the PSU to the motherboard. Lots of cables, but all very straightforward. And you get a better feel for what might be the problem when things go wrong. It's much more satisfying powering up a system you've built yourself and seeing it work (well, at the third or fourth attempt anyway ;P) than a ready built system.
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Over the past 2 days I've been getting parts for a new system for my mom (and now she's going to have a better system than me! :mad: ) so I thought I'd ask the Lounge lizards - do you build your own systems, or order them pre-built from someone like Dell, Gateway, or a local shop? I personally like tinkering with hardware and building systems. I'm not a hardcore overclocker, though - I got my Celeron 533s up to 600 and I was satisfied. :) I built my first system about 3 years ago, and I was actually surprised at how easy it was to do. The hardest part was making sure none of the motherboard pins were touching the case. My system now has so many cables & fans & stuff that it's a total rat's nest! --Mike-- http://home.inreach.com/mdunn/ #include "buffy_sig"
Hey Mike, I'm a builder from way back :) Every year or so when it comes around to new system buying time, I'm usually tempted to get a shiny new Dell system instead of the standard box full of parts. I try to fool myself into thinking that all of the quirky little problems that come up with my hand-built system (like the weird effect my SoundBlaster Live! has in combination with my VIA-chipset motherboard and EverQuest :mad: ) just won't happen with a brand name. But at some point my better judgment kicks in and I order a box with the best parts I can. It's been a few years since I've had hands-on experience with a brand name system, but each and every one of the experiences I've had have been painful. Compaq's use of "proprietary" screws on their cases in the 80s, IBM Aptivas and Thinkpads that require literally dozens of specialized drivers to run (and usually not very reliably), old Xerox PC's that required you to discover and memorize that himem.sys (or was it emm386 :confused: ) required the arcane /machine-id:12 switch, etc., etc. I think it was IBM that shipped systems with DSP chips that "simulated" everything from your sound card to your modem, and ran everything through really poor emulators. Man I hated anything that tried to emulate a Sound Blaster X| 6 or 7 years ago a client had an IBM PS/2 that needed a new motherboard. It was a 286. White box 286 motherboards at that time cost $125 (with the CPU), IBM's price: $1280 It was cheaper to upgrade the whole machine. That's crazy... 1 year ago I inquired as to the cost of replacing the TFT screen on one of our IBM Thinkpad laptops as it had a dead line of pixels. Cost of the new version of the same laptop: $2850. Cost for the TFT screen: $2350 + labor. Obviously the same folks are in charge. That's why I buy (and build) whiteboxes.
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Over the past 2 days I've been getting parts for a new system for my mom (and now she's going to have a better system than me! :mad: ) so I thought I'd ask the Lounge lizards - do you build your own systems, or order them pre-built from someone like Dell, Gateway, or a local shop? I personally like tinkering with hardware and building systems. I'm not a hardcore overclocker, though - I got my Celeron 533s up to 600 and I was satisfied. :) I built my first system about 3 years ago, and I was actually surprised at how easy it was to do. The hardest part was making sure none of the motherboard pins were touching the case. My system now has so many cables & fans & stuff that it's a total rat's nest! --Mike-- http://home.inreach.com/mdunn/ #include "buffy_sig"
MY first PC was a DX4-100 ( which means I've only owned one Intel processor, my 200MMX ). It was an Acer, and I remember nearly wetting myself when a friend pullit it apart to install something ( it was a desktop case, always an ugly mess inside ). The point is, like everyone else, I guess, I have built all my own machines since then, about to embark on doing the same again, as it happens ( I have a 700 Athlon, and the 1 gig processors are at about the point where I figure I deserve one :) ). Actually, my first building experience was in the mid eighties. I had an Apple ][, and considered myself a leet hax0r, because I knew a bit of 6502 and had 'cracked' one game ( it was an Activision title called Space Shuttle, bought with the proceeds of winning a programming competition, and was *so* bad, no-one would accept a copy of it. Probably also why the protection was so lame that I could defeat it.... ) Anyhow, the 6502 has a command called a non-maskable interupt. The idea is NOTHING can stop an NMI call, you will always exit to the * command prompt. I discovered that causing two pins on an interface slot to connect sends an NMI. Tandy in the US sold blank Apple interface cards, not so here. So I found a card at the market that looked like it would fit, cut it to shape, cut off all the tracks that connected it to what *was* on the card, soldered two wires to the right spots and then to a switch, plugged it in, and basically achieved something similar to putting a knife into the slot so that as many pins connected as possible.... boom. X| Which is why I got a Commodore 64, followed by many Amigas and finally my PC. I guess the upshot is that if I had not done that, I'd probably be into Macs today. :eek: Christian #include "std_disclaimer.h" People who love sausage and respect the law should never watch either one being made.
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Over the past 2 days I've been getting parts for a new system for my mom (and now she's going to have a better system than me! :mad: ) so I thought I'd ask the Lounge lizards - do you build your own systems, or order them pre-built from someone like Dell, Gateway, or a local shop? I personally like tinkering with hardware and building systems. I'm not a hardcore overclocker, though - I got my Celeron 533s up to 600 and I was satisfied. :) I built my first system about 3 years ago, and I was actually surprised at how easy it was to do. The hardest part was making sure none of the motherboard pins were touching the case. My system now has so many cables & fans & stuff that it's a total rat's nest! --Mike-- http://home.inreach.com/mdunn/ #include "buffy_sig"
My PC is like grandfathers axe. I bought it years ago, and I've rebuilt it so many times that I think the only that that is still orginal is the floppy (even the case has been replaced). I still think of it as the same PC I bought way-back-when though :) cheers, Chris Maunder
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Over the past 2 days I've been getting parts for a new system for my mom (and now she's going to have a better system than me! :mad: ) so I thought I'd ask the Lounge lizards - do you build your own systems, or order them pre-built from someone like Dell, Gateway, or a local shop? I personally like tinkering with hardware and building systems. I'm not a hardcore overclocker, though - I got my Celeron 533s up to 600 and I was satisfied. :) I built my first system about 3 years ago, and I was actually surprised at how easy it was to do. The hardest part was making sure none of the motherboard pins were touching the case. My system now has so many cables & fans & stuff that it's a total rat's nest! --Mike-- http://home.inreach.com/mdunn/ #include "buffy_sig"
I have always built my own computers, but at work we goes with HP. I love to build my own workstation (at home) because I get exactly what I want, but in a business I really love HP's Vectra models. I used to be network-admin in a business where we hired aprox. 5 people every month, and the HP's was great because the desktop guys could just make a disk-image, put it on a bootable CD-Rom, and install a new workstation in about 15 minutes... Before we got the HP's, we spend way too much time dealing with different configurations. For servers I always goes for Compaq... (They always work) - Anders Money talks, but all mine ever says is "Goodbye!"
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I have always built my own computers, but at work we goes with HP. I love to build my own workstation (at home) because I get exactly what I want, but in a business I really love HP's Vectra models. I used to be network-admin in a business where we hired aprox. 5 people every month, and the HP's was great because the desktop guys could just make a disk-image, put it on a bootable CD-Rom, and install a new workstation in about 15 minutes... Before we got the HP's, we spend way too much time dealing with different configurations. For servers I always goes for Compaq... (They always work) - Anders Money talks, but all mine ever says is "Goodbye!"
>Money talks, but all mine ever says is "Goodbye!" No wonder if you only go for HP and Compaq ;-) Christian Skovdal Andersen
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>Money talks, but all mine ever says is "Goodbye!" No wonder if you only go for HP and Compaq ;-) Christian Skovdal Andersen
ROTFL Well, actually I get both Compaq and HP for (almost) the same price as "home made" ones ;) - Anders Money talks, but all mine ever says is "Goodbye!"
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ROTFL Well, actually I get both Compaq and HP for (almost) the same price as "home made" ones ;) - Anders Money talks, but all mine ever says is "Goodbye!"
:confused: That sounds like a very expensive "home made" PC !!! Oh, now I get it. Did you make your own PC's out of parts from the HP and Compaq spare parts catalog ??? I recently had to add a 10GB disk to a clients HP-Vectra. Called HP for a price, $710 :eek:. Purchased a 20GB disk from local supplier for $190 ;P. The Vectra is a nicely built box but....... Good luck.
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Over the past 2 days I've been getting parts for a new system for my mom (and now she's going to have a better system than me! :mad: ) so I thought I'd ask the Lounge lizards - do you build your own systems, or order them pre-built from someone like Dell, Gateway, or a local shop? I personally like tinkering with hardware and building systems. I'm not a hardcore overclocker, though - I got my Celeron 533s up to 600 and I was satisfied. :) I built my first system about 3 years ago, and I was actually surprised at how easy it was to do. The hardest part was making sure none of the motherboard pins were touching the case. My system now has so many cables & fans & stuff that it's a total rat's nest! --Mike-- http://home.inreach.com/mdunn/ #include "buffy_sig"
I've been building my own systems for the last 5 years, after my Packard Hell 4DX33 ran out of upgrade options. I started out with a Super Micro P55CWA MOBO with a Pentium 100 and 8MB of EDO DRAM. I had absolutly no problems getting it to work. Ever since this I basically have been upgrading my system a piece at a time. About half the parts below I obtained on auction, the others mostly oem. My last 3 computers have been dual processor machines and I don’t think I’m going to make a PC for myself that contains any less than 2 processors in the near future. I've been waiting it seems like an eternity for a dual processor athlon system. I may as well wait for clawhammer, my current processors pack all the punch I currently need. I also design build all the computers for my department at work which is at about 20 NT boxes to date. Most of the recent ones have been Athlons because of their better price / performance. Here are the specs of my main system at home: Hardware: 1 Antec 18 Bay Server Case 1 Expox K6BS Dual Processor MOBO 2 Intel Pentium III 750 Mhz Processors 1 WD 4.7 GB UW SCSI 3 AV Optimized HD 4 WD 9.1 GB UW SCSI 3 AV Optimized HD in RAID 0 2 Segate Barracuda 9.1 GB UW SCSI3 in RAID 0 1 Plextor 40 Plex 1 Plextor PlexWriter 12/10/32 S 1 Ercix 66GB VXA tape drive 1 Adaptec AAA-133 RAID 3 channel UW SCSI 3 RAID Card 1 Adaptec 2940 UW SCSI3 1 Creative Labs AWE64 1 Radio Card 1 Matrox G400 MAX DualHead Card 2 ViewSonic P815 21inch monitors in each 1280 X 1024 resolution 2 256 MB Crucial PC133 ECC SDRAM DIMMS 1 Laptec Voice Recognition Headset 1 Logitech Eyeball Camera 1 Cannon 620U USB Flatbed Scanner 2 3COM 100TX 3C905C TX NICS in 100 mode connected to my home network by 5 port 100 base switch 1 QMS Magicolor DeskLaser Color laser printer networked OS: Win2k SP 2 Red Hat Linux 7 My other 3 systems contain mostly parts that were removed from my main system when I upgraded. John
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:confused: That sounds like a very expensive "home made" PC !!! Oh, now I get it. Did you make your own PC's out of parts from the HP and Compaq spare parts catalog ??? I recently had to add a 10GB disk to a clients HP-Vectra. Called HP for a price, $710 :eek:. Purchased a 20GB disk from local supplier for $190 ;P. The Vectra is a nicely built box but....... Good luck.
My private pc's is built from different parts, that I can find cheap and I know works. At work we only use HP and Compaq. - Anders Money talks, but all mine ever says is "Goodbye!"
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I've been building my own systems for the last 5 years, after my Packard Hell 4DX33 ran out of upgrade options. I started out with a Super Micro P55CWA MOBO with a Pentium 100 and 8MB of EDO DRAM. I had absolutly no problems getting it to work. Ever since this I basically have been upgrading my system a piece at a time. About half the parts below I obtained on auction, the others mostly oem. My last 3 computers have been dual processor machines and I don’t think I’m going to make a PC for myself that contains any less than 2 processors in the near future. I've been waiting it seems like an eternity for a dual processor athlon system. I may as well wait for clawhammer, my current processors pack all the punch I currently need. I also design build all the computers for my department at work which is at about 20 NT boxes to date. Most of the recent ones have been Athlons because of their better price / performance. Here are the specs of my main system at home: Hardware: 1 Antec 18 Bay Server Case 1 Expox K6BS Dual Processor MOBO 2 Intel Pentium III 750 Mhz Processors 1 WD 4.7 GB UW SCSI 3 AV Optimized HD 4 WD 9.1 GB UW SCSI 3 AV Optimized HD in RAID 0 2 Segate Barracuda 9.1 GB UW SCSI3 in RAID 0 1 Plextor 40 Plex 1 Plextor PlexWriter 12/10/32 S 1 Ercix 66GB VXA tape drive 1 Adaptec AAA-133 RAID 3 channel UW SCSI 3 RAID Card 1 Adaptec 2940 UW SCSI3 1 Creative Labs AWE64 1 Radio Card 1 Matrox G400 MAX DualHead Card 2 ViewSonic P815 21inch monitors in each 1280 X 1024 resolution 2 256 MB Crucial PC133 ECC SDRAM DIMMS 1 Laptec Voice Recognition Headset 1 Logitech Eyeball Camera 1 Cannon 620U USB Flatbed Scanner 2 3COM 100TX 3C905C TX NICS in 100 mode connected to my home network by 5 port 100 base switch 1 QMS Magicolor DeskLaser Color laser printer networked OS: Win2k SP 2 Red Hat Linux 7 My other 3 systems contain mostly parts that were removed from my main system when I upgraded. John
>Here are the specs of my main system at home Braggart (just kidding, ha ha ha :-D ) No wonder we're called "computer nerds." Man, you need help... ;P I built my own system, back in 1998 but then bought a pre-built laptop from Gateway recently. There were no local parts stores around anymore; big pre-built "Best Buy" and "CompUSA" and other box stores sprung up and squeezed the little guys (part dealers) right out of town. It pissed me off. :mad: :mad: :mad: Oh well...
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:confused: That sounds like a very expensive "home made" PC !!! Oh, now I get it. Did you make your own PC's out of parts from the HP and Compaq spare parts catalog ??? I recently had to add a 10GB disk to a clients HP-Vectra. Called HP for a price, $710 :eek:. Purchased a 20GB disk from local supplier for $190 ;P. The Vectra is a nicely built box but....... Good luck.
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I've been building my own systems for the last 5 years, after my Packard Hell 4DX33 ran out of upgrade options. I started out with a Super Micro P55CWA MOBO with a Pentium 100 and 8MB of EDO DRAM. I had absolutly no problems getting it to work. Ever since this I basically have been upgrading my system a piece at a time. About half the parts below I obtained on auction, the others mostly oem. My last 3 computers have been dual processor machines and I don’t think I’m going to make a PC for myself that contains any less than 2 processors in the near future. I've been waiting it seems like an eternity for a dual processor athlon system. I may as well wait for clawhammer, my current processors pack all the punch I currently need. I also design build all the computers for my department at work which is at about 20 NT boxes to date. Most of the recent ones have been Athlons because of their better price / performance. Here are the specs of my main system at home: Hardware: 1 Antec 18 Bay Server Case 1 Expox K6BS Dual Processor MOBO 2 Intel Pentium III 750 Mhz Processors 1 WD 4.7 GB UW SCSI 3 AV Optimized HD 4 WD 9.1 GB UW SCSI 3 AV Optimized HD in RAID 0 2 Segate Barracuda 9.1 GB UW SCSI3 in RAID 0 1 Plextor 40 Plex 1 Plextor PlexWriter 12/10/32 S 1 Ercix 66GB VXA tape drive 1 Adaptec AAA-133 RAID 3 channel UW SCSI 3 RAID Card 1 Adaptec 2940 UW SCSI3 1 Creative Labs AWE64 1 Radio Card 1 Matrox G400 MAX DualHead Card 2 ViewSonic P815 21inch monitors in each 1280 X 1024 resolution 2 256 MB Crucial PC133 ECC SDRAM DIMMS 1 Laptec Voice Recognition Headset 1 Logitech Eyeball Camera 1 Cannon 620U USB Flatbed Scanner 2 3COM 100TX 3C905C TX NICS in 100 mode connected to my home network by 5 port 100 base switch 1 QMS Magicolor DeskLaser Color laser printer networked OS: Win2k SP 2 Red Hat Linux 7 My other 3 systems contain mostly parts that were removed from my main system when I upgraded. John
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Over the past 2 days I've been getting parts for a new system for my mom (and now she's going to have a better system than me! :mad: ) so I thought I'd ask the Lounge lizards - do you build your own systems, or order them pre-built from someone like Dell, Gateway, or a local shop? I personally like tinkering with hardware and building systems. I'm not a hardcore overclocker, though - I got my Celeron 533s up to 600 and I was satisfied. :) I built my first system about 3 years ago, and I was actually surprised at how easy it was to do. The hardest part was making sure none of the motherboard pins were touching the case. My system now has so many cables & fans & stuff that it's a total rat's nest! --Mike-- http://home.inreach.com/mdunn/ #include "buffy_sig"
I love building my own systems:). I think just like programming that building your own system gives you that secure feeling of being in control, but then again it could be an illusion:confused:
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I've been building my own systems for the last 5 years, after my Packard Hell 4DX33 ran out of upgrade options. I started out with a Super Micro P55CWA MOBO with a Pentium 100 and 8MB of EDO DRAM. I had absolutly no problems getting it to work. Ever since this I basically have been upgrading my system a piece at a time. About half the parts below I obtained on auction, the others mostly oem. My last 3 computers have been dual processor machines and I don’t think I’m going to make a PC for myself that contains any less than 2 processors in the near future. I've been waiting it seems like an eternity for a dual processor athlon system. I may as well wait for clawhammer, my current processors pack all the punch I currently need. I also design build all the computers for my department at work which is at about 20 NT boxes to date. Most of the recent ones have been Athlons because of their better price / performance. Here are the specs of my main system at home: Hardware: 1 Antec 18 Bay Server Case 1 Expox K6BS Dual Processor MOBO 2 Intel Pentium III 750 Mhz Processors 1 WD 4.7 GB UW SCSI 3 AV Optimized HD 4 WD 9.1 GB UW SCSI 3 AV Optimized HD in RAID 0 2 Segate Barracuda 9.1 GB UW SCSI3 in RAID 0 1 Plextor 40 Plex 1 Plextor PlexWriter 12/10/32 S 1 Ercix 66GB VXA tape drive 1 Adaptec AAA-133 RAID 3 channel UW SCSI 3 RAID Card 1 Adaptec 2940 UW SCSI3 1 Creative Labs AWE64 1 Radio Card 1 Matrox G400 MAX DualHead Card 2 ViewSonic P815 21inch monitors in each 1280 X 1024 resolution 2 256 MB Crucial PC133 ECC SDRAM DIMMS 1 Laptec Voice Recognition Headset 1 Logitech Eyeball Camera 1 Cannon 620U USB Flatbed Scanner 2 3COM 100TX 3C905C TX NICS in 100 mode connected to my home network by 5 port 100 base switch 1 QMS Magicolor DeskLaser Color laser printer networked OS: Win2k SP 2 Red Hat Linux 7 My other 3 systems contain mostly parts that were removed from my main system when I upgraded. John
I do the same thing. I have a main system and three others connected to a LAN (and I wired my computer room so that all network connections plug into the wall and dump out in the closet where a cable modem and Linksys router/switch live. Main System: Abit KT7 AMD 1ghx Thunderbird 256mb RAM (CAS2) ATI Radeon 64 NetGear FA310TX Adaptec 2940 Ultra 4gb SCSI/2 drive 9gb SCSI/2 drive 32x SCSI/2 CD-ROM 4x write SCSI/2 CD writer 8gb SCSI/2 tape drive Jaz 1gb SCSI/2 removable drive 6gb IDE drive 10gb IDE drive 15 gb IDE drive Umax 610s SCSI flatbed scanner 19-inch Radius monitor All remaining systems are Abit BX6/R2 mainboards and a P3/500 or better, all with at least 128mb RAM and approximately 20gb of hard drive space each.
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MY first PC was a DX4-100 ( which means I've only owned one Intel processor, my 200MMX ). It was an Acer, and I remember nearly wetting myself when a friend pullit it apart to install something ( it was a desktop case, always an ugly mess inside ). The point is, like everyone else, I guess, I have built all my own machines since then, about to embark on doing the same again, as it happens ( I have a 700 Athlon, and the 1 gig processors are at about the point where I figure I deserve one :) ). Actually, my first building experience was in the mid eighties. I had an Apple ][, and considered myself a leet hax0r, because I knew a bit of 6502 and had 'cracked' one game ( it was an Activision title called Space Shuttle, bought with the proceeds of winning a programming competition, and was *so* bad, no-one would accept a copy of it. Probably also why the protection was so lame that I could defeat it.... ) Anyhow, the 6502 has a command called a non-maskable interupt. The idea is NOTHING can stop an NMI call, you will always exit to the * command prompt. I discovered that causing two pins on an interface slot to connect sends an NMI. Tandy in the US sold blank Apple interface cards, not so here. So I found a card at the market that looked like it would fit, cut it to shape, cut off all the tracks that connected it to what *was* on the card, soldered two wires to the right spots and then to a switch, plugged it in, and basically achieved something similar to putting a knife into the slot so that as many pins connected as possible.... boom. X| Which is why I got a Commodore 64, followed by many Amigas and finally my PC. I guess the upshot is that if I had not done that, I'd probably be into Macs today. :eek: Christian #include "std_disclaimer.h" People who love sausage and respect the law should never watch either one being made.
I'd regard that as a lucky event. Stephen Kellett -- C++/Java/Win NT/Unix variants Memory leaks/corruptions/performance/system problems. UK based. Problems with RSI/WRULD? Contact me for advice.
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Over the past 2 days I've been getting parts for a new system for my mom (and now she's going to have a better system than me! :mad: ) so I thought I'd ask the Lounge lizards - do you build your own systems, or order them pre-built from someone like Dell, Gateway, or a local shop? I personally like tinkering with hardware and building systems. I'm not a hardcore overclocker, though - I got my Celeron 533s up to 600 and I was satisfied. :) I built my first system about 3 years ago, and I was actually surprised at how easy it was to do. The hardest part was making sure none of the motherboard pins were touching the case. My system now has so many cables & fans & stuff that it's a total rat's nest! --Mike-- http://home.inreach.com/mdunn/ #include "buffy_sig"
I built my own system, though I did look in to Dell for an upgrade PC. The reason: Dell is the only pre-built computer seller (that I know of) that doesn't build almost everything in to the motherboard. The system that I'm typing this message on is a Dell Dimension XPS B866. The only thing built in to the motherboard is the standard video circuitry. The graphics accelerator, sound card, network card, etc. are all plug-ins. Obviously, I'd prefer ALL systems to be plug-in (including the video), but for a pre-built system, it's still pretty flexible. Jamie Nordmeyer Portland, Oregon, USA
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>Here are the specs of my main system at home Braggart (just kidding, ha ha ha :-D ) No wonder we're called "computer nerds." Man, you need help... ;P I built my own system, back in 1998 but then bought a pre-built laptop from Gateway recently. There were no local parts stores around anymore; big pre-built "Best Buy" and "CompUSA" and other box stores sprung up and squeezed the little guys (part dealers) right out of town. It pissed me off. :mad: :mad: :mad: Oh well...
> There were no local parts stores around anymore; big pre-built "Best Buy" and "CompUSA" and other box stores sprung up and squeezed the little guys (part dealers) right out of town. I got all of the components online, some from online auctions. I picked up the 21-inch monitors at an auction for about $450 each (including shipping). The only item I remember buying at a local store was some thermal paste. John
