BlasterPC Kit (Creative MB + case + PS + live Platium 5.1 + FM tuner + remote +...) for $149

[Wei2Cool]

Just got an email for this deal from TigerDirect, the case looks cool. Slot 1 BX MB though.

Link

Now it's only $149 when you check out...

 

[Stoney]

This would be an awsome deal if the soundcard wasn't built into the motherboard.

 

[ii49ersii]

Whoa cool lookin case, is this worth it though?

 

[aGeNt73]

oh man its built in??? noooooo id buy it if it wasnt..what if we just want the case? haha can we use our existing sb live card? hehe

 

[yodayoda]

that is the live 5.1 version, i checked. too bad it is a POS intel mobo. would have almost had something there if it were a socket A mobo.

 

[Midnight Rambler]

<< too bad it is a POS intel mobo >>

Obviously you are mistaken. Have you ever even used Intel motherboards to build systems? I doubt it. If it is indeed an Intel-made motherboard, then it is definitely of high quality. Intel makes some of the very best motherboards, period. Sure, they are not overclockable, but that does not make them bad. The reality is that, component-wise, and stability-wise, Intel mobos have few, if any, peers.

 

[Slash3]

The Intel mobo motto is pretty much:

&quot;It works.&quot;



May not be able to do much tweaking with them, if any (ie, only official FSB speeds), but they're usually pretty stable once running. There are always exceptions of course, but in general they work pretty good.
Good for little servers and web boxes and stuff.

 

[zzzz]

I think he meant &quot;pentium&quot; not intel. Now is this for slot processors or socket?
Thanks.

 

[chrisbest01]

from the picture, it's a slot 1.

 

[NoFish4U]

Not all Intel Mobos are good.

I got a couple of Intel made OEM 810s that sucked big floppy donkey d****.

I mean they were horrible..... Win 98 ......hardware hell...... win 2k...even worse.

 

[CyBrShRk]

All Intel motherboards are NOT great as I remember the great 810 fiasco.

 

[Wei2Cool]

At $149 it's something different. Remember, you can't use any existing ATX case or PSU if you intend to go for P4 later, and by the time you do the upgrade, there will be something newer than Platium 5.1...

 

[noload]

OEM boards suck by their nature, and it was the 820 fiasco, the 810's were ok for system builders/oems

 

[djkball]

so is this mother board good or not ?

I was really thinking of buying this

 

[djkball]

so is this mother board good or not ?

I was really thinking of buying this

 

[domiguy]

would this be good enough for a celeron 500? .... and would the MB be better than my ABIT VA6?

 

[impulse]

I would shy away from this setup.

 

[impulse]

I would shy away from this setup.

 

[mikeford]

I did a little snooping, but lack the tech knowledge to make a judgement pro or con. The whole thing is from Creative in Asia, and this page at the bottom has some links to manuals for the various versions of BlasterPC, which is what Tiger is offering minus cpu, ram, and hard drive.
Creative Asia manuals

When I try to look at the info my download window shows files called redir.asp, but I get nothing out of them. I am guessing my browser doesn't like whatever is going on. It would be real nice if somebody could sort this deal out a little better.

 

[TimberWolf]

So, let's see - an SB Live! Value card would cost you about $45, any decent BX mobo would be at least $50, and most ATX mid-tower cases set you back around $50 (or more) after shipping charges.

Stick a Radeon or GeForce MX card in it and add a DVD drive, and you've got a low-budget entertainment / game node for the home network. Sounds like a deal to me . . .

Tiger also has a 700 Mhz Celeron FC-PGA with fan / 'sink and Slot adapter for $99

 

[Guinness]

Isn't that the PLATINUM Live setup though? If so, add 100-150 bucks to your 45 dollar estimate. Doesn't seem bad, but it's nice to have every part separate.

 

[Wei2Cool]

this is actually live platium 5.1

sound card alone
live! value ~ $50
live! platium ~ $100
live! platium 5.1 ~150

Sound right?

 

[Danzilla]

I got a lot of use from my BX motherboard, but I also upgraded from it some months ago. This is not the latest and greatest. I'm actually surprised that it's the platinum 5.1 being used with this older chipset.
Hmm, if only we could separate the audio and use it on a new motherboard.
D.
CL Motherboard

 

[mikeford]

After chasing down the link to the creative Asia site I put in a previous post, I figured out the .asp files I was getting were actually zip archives of pdf documents. Apparently Creative has been making motherboards with integrated Live 5.1 sound for about 3 years, and the boards at least listed on the site go from M000 to M011, with about 3 versions of the case. The M004 used the BX440 chipset, and the M010 used the BX820 chipset, but neither seems to be an exact match for the board TigerDirect is offering (which says agp is 2x).

I hope somebody that knows more about intel PCs goes to the creative asia site and figures out more. One point I noted is that this unit is more than the normal Live 5.1, it includes the digital I/O panel (the upper row of connections) which Compgeeks wants another $29 for (live drive appears gone from the geeks). Another point is that many of the connectors require adapter cables which don't appear to be included (midi and digital optical for example).

Bottom line for me, and I am still wobbling, is no.
I want a Live 5.1, but I want it in my FAST new game system, not some old Pentium II/III running 100 mhz fsb. The notion of $150 my cost of sound card that I can't move to another system just eats at me. Better to buy a Live value and the geeks I/O panel.

 

[Kingofcomputer]

Could it be oem factory leak?
Creative doesn't have such product called &quot;The Blaster kit&quot;, though it looks same as BlasterPC.
What about the warranty?

Don't forget it's just a bx mb integrated with the emu2k chip, and a special case integrated with live drive and fm tuner. The price is ok for these 2 things, I won't say it's a hot deal. May be good for someone who needs to build a new cheap computer.

The total value $375 is kind of marketing gimmick, you can't say this thing has live platinum that already worth $150. I'd say the total value is at most $200 - $100 for the emu2k integrated bx mb, $100 for the live drive integrated case.

Also, any sb live with sdpif out connect to DD 5.1 ready receiver or 5.1 ready speakers, using software dvd player with DD 5.1 software decode will get DD 5.1 result.