Fun

… is building imaginary computers I can’t afford. Building real computers I can’t afford was also fun – but then I had to let the people who could afford them but knew not what to do with them (that is because those people have spent their time making money instead of learning about computers) treat those beautiful machines badly. The trick is to build a value rig in the price/performance sweet spot – one that won’t be obsolete too soon and when its optimal time to be replaced comes, the financial investment of its purchase won’t make it too painful. It must be possible to order from reputable local merchants featuring next day next to free delivery and easy RMAs. Technical specs are preferred to brand loyalty, underdogs are supported and overclocking possibilities are speculated about with great fervor. The poor Israeli PC enthusiast’s wet dream:

Part	Brand	Model	Price per unit	# units	Total price
CPU	AMD	Athlon 64 3000+ (socket-754, retail)	1420	1	1420
Motherboard	ASUS or Abit	K8V Deluxe or KV8-MAX3	850	1	850
Video card	ATI	Radeon 9600XT 128MB	1130	1	1130
RAM	Infineon	DDR-400 512MB	470	2	940
Hard drive	Maxtor	DiamonMax Plus 9 SATA (7200rpm, 8MB) 120GB	620	1	620
				Total:	4960

Prices are in New Israeli Shekels. Contact info of supplier withheld because I don’t work for them.