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Well, for the first time in many years I decided to build a new computer.  This was brought on by the purchase of a game, Bioshock, which I got on sale for $25.  I installed the game on my old computer, a highly modified HP m7334n (I had 2GB RAM, an ATI X850XT video card installed, a Creative Lab Soundblaster X-Fi Xtreme Music sound card, and two additional hard drives), and had no cursor, which made the game impossible to play.  So, I figured my video card just wouldn't handle game.  After a little research I settled on an ASUS EAH3870 video card, cost $280.  Now my $25 game has cost me over ten times that in parts, just so I could play it.  I installed the Asus EAH3870 into the HP m7334n and found that one of my two processors was constantly maxed out.  After a little research it was determined that my problem was most likely the PSU (Power Supply Unit) in the computer couldn't handle the new video card.  Since the case was very cramped already with all of the additional features I added the chances of a new PSU fitting properly into the case were slim and none.  Rather than transferring everything out of the old case and into a new case I decided to build a new computer, also see my laziness out matched my cheapness.

So, I ordered the parts from Zip Zoom Fly where my video card came from.

Here are the parts:

COOLER MASTER COSMOS RC-1000-KSN1-GP Full Tower Case - $159.99

COOLER MASTER Real Power Pro RS-750-ACAA-A1 750W Power Supply - $99.99

ASUS Maximus Formula Core 2 Quad Socket 775 1600MHz PC2-9280 (DDR2-1160) ATX Motherboard - $255.98

Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Quad-Core Processor 2.4GHz, 1066FSB, LGA775, 8MB cache - $277.00

CRUCIAL TECHNOLOGY BL2KIT12864AL663 2GB PC2-5300 (DDR2-667) DDR2 Memory - $84.99

ASUS EAH3870/G/HTDI/512M Radeon HD 3870 GDDR4 PCI Express x16 Video Card - $269.98

LITEON LH-20A1L-06 20X SATA DVD Burner Black - $34.99

Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3750640AS 750GB Serial ATA (3.0Gb/s) 7200RPM Hard Drive w/16MB Buffer - $169.99

So, my $25 game has cost me $1402.43 (parts plus tax, title, and destination fees) or 56 times what I paid for it.

You may notice that the prices currently on the web site don't match what I paid, that is due to the volatile nature of computer hardware.  The more time that passes the less these parts will cost.  My hope is at least three years will pass before I have to upgrade again.

Click here to see the machine as it was built.