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 ATI Radeon X800Pro
Video Card
As low as 
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Want the ultimate PC? The best way to do it is build it yourself, or at least upgrade your existing computer with top-of-the-line components. You'd be surprised at how inexpensively you can build a screamer. But what hard disk, DVD burner, monitor, processor and more should you buy?
Start off with the ultimate graphics card, the ATI Radeon X800Pro Video Card for as low as . It sports a lightning-fast video processing unit, comes with a whopping 256 MB of video RAM, is an AGP 8X card, and can handle resolutions of up to 2048 by 1536 and has a maximum refresh rate of 85 Hz. It also includes TV-out support, and has a DVI port for digital flat panel support.
You'll want a great monitor to go with a great graphics card, so get the Hewlett Packard L2335 Silver LCD Monitor for as low as . It’s a flat panel LCD monitor with a huge viewable 23-inch area. It offers a resolution of up to 1920 by 1200, and its 16: 9 wide-aspect screen instead of the traditional 4: 3 square display lets you choose an extra-wide landscape display. With a super-bright screen, 350: 1 high contrast ratio, superior scaling/image processing, and 170-degree viewing angles, you'll be hard-p0ressed to find a better monitor.
If that monitor is a bit too rich for your blood, get the best-selling LCD monitor on PriceGrabber, the Princeton LCD19D for as low as . IT features a 19-inch, crisp display, resolution of up to 1024 by768, .294 mm pitch, and a 60 Hz refresh rate.
The brains of your PC is its processor, so get a super-speedy one, the Intel Pentium 4 with hyperthreading Technology for as low as . It runs at 3.6 Ghz, has an 1-MB L2 cache, an 800 MHz system bus and supports hyperthreading.
If you're building your system from scratch, you'll need a motherboard. The Intel D875PBZLK Motherboard for as low as $140.00 is a good bet. It support Intel 4 processors, has an 800 Mhz system bus and offers native Serial-ATA 150 with Intel RAID Technology support.
What case to put it all in? Get the Cooler Master STCT01UW CM Stacker Extended ATX Mid-Tower for as low as . It supports Extend ATX, BTX and can hold a dual power supply, so it's designed to hold whatever you'll put in it. It's called a "cooler master" for a reason – it has a cross-flow fan, and supports up to eight regular fans, so your PC shouldn't suffer from overheating.
For your DVD writer, get the NEC ND-3500A Dual Layer DVD±RW Writer for as low as . You won't find better performance anywhere. The specs say it all: 16x/4x/16x DVD+RW, 16x/4x/16x DVD-RW, 4x DVD+R DL, and 48x/24x/48x CD-RW. PriceGrabber customers give it a five-star rating. Says one: "Great speed, great price and burns multiple formats." Says another: "Fast, reliable, and easy installation."
If you're instead looking for an external DVD writer, get the Plextor PX-708UF External DVD±RW Writer for as low as . It also features top-notch specs: 8x/4x/12x DVD+RW, 4x/2x/12x DVD-RW, and 40x/24x/40x/ CD-RW. It connects via Firewire or USB, and also garners five-star reviews from PriceGrabber customers. Says one " Wow, what speed. I was amazed."
If there's only one size hard disk for you – big – then you want the Hitachi Deskstar 7K40 for as low as . It comes with a whopping 400 GB of space, so will fit your entire MP3 and movie collection with ease. With an 8 MB cache and 100 Mbytes-per-second transfer rate, it's a speedy performer as well.
If you prefer an external drive, you can get an even bigger one – the LaCie Big Disk Extreme 300871 for as low as . Try this on for size – 500 GB. It uses a Firewire connection for speedy transfer rates, and includes 8 MB of cache.
The iRiver PMP-120 Portable Media Center for as low as is probably the most stylish-looking of the bunch, with a nice set of hand controls on either side of the screen. Like the other units, it comes with a 20-gigabyte hard disk. It has a 3.5-inch TFT display, and its rechargeable battery is good for up to 10 hours of battery life when playing music, or 5 hours of battery life when playing videos.
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