So this is what it feels like to be in Heaven... errr... Gaming Heaven i.e :P
Finally after months of sweating, researching, disappointments, exhilaration and deal hunting, my top of the line gaming system is online! Got the best parts I could get for my needs, splurged on an ultra slim monitor, pinched dollars on stuff I could afford to and achieved my target of staying under $1000 with change to spare that too! Woot!
The worst part of building "Arrow", as the I solemnly christened it, was the hits, misses and the wait! Started off with the 15% cashback on Tigerdirect... found an amazing deal on the Power Supply, Case, RAM and Monitor only to have the cashback roll down to 8% the day I finally decide to buy it :| ... aal izz well... aal izz well... Took the bite anyway as there was no telling if it would return in time before the MIR's expired on the items. Turns out it was back after a week or so but by then the MIR's had been lost and the original prices were up so I didn't take a huge beating. Next I found a reeeeeeeeeeally awesome deal on the Motherboard I'd been eyeing for a while and it lowered even further after I bought it. Luckily one of the advantages of residing in the US is that the smart consumer is the king. Got the price match and I was good to go. Saaaweeeet! For the processor, god bless good 'ol Microcenter! Those guys sell processors as it they were sown in their own backyard, watered by the rains and fertilized by natural nutrients. A regularly priced Intel i5-750 processor retailing for $200 was priced at $150. Now for the uninitiated, let me tell you that CPU prices do not fall this way unless they get outdated after prolly a good number of years. I think I did a little dance the moment I got my hand on one of those babies. I am El-Geeko what did you expect?
The final piece to the puzzle... the video card. Weeks of hunting finally paid off with a decent deal on the Radeon 5850 DX 11 card. Retailing for $300, I snagged one for $270 which agreed isnt all that great, but considering top of the line GPU's follow the same priceline as CPU's it was a good enough deal. Thats when the wait started. I had everything setup and ready to go with 5850 being the only missing piece. It took a little over a month for me to get my hands on it cuz of manufacturing shortages. One full agonizing month of waking up to my shiny new system knowing that I could not fire it up. Frustration led me to call Dell and what do you know! They offered me a $20 discount! Final price $250! :D:D:D Now THAT my friends was feaking awesome! You think CPU's never fall in prices? Try high end graphic cards! Finally the day arrived when it blessed me with its presence. It felt as if I was high on grass... time itself slowed down to a trickle as I reached out for the package with a content smile on my face. I have no recollection of having smiled that big a smile ever.
Before you could say Jiminy Crickets, everything was in its place and Arrow was online! I have been at peace since.
Arrow
Intel i5-750 2.67Ghz Quad Core Processor
MSI P-55 GD65 Motherboard
VisionTek Radeon 5850 1GB DX11 Graphics Card
4GB OCZ Platinum DDR3 RAM
Samsung Spinpoint F3 7200RPM 1TB HDD
NZXT Lexa S Tower
ASUS MS226 21.5" Widescreen Ultra Slim Monitor
OCZ ModXstream Pro 700W Power Supply
Win 7 Pro x64
