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Thinking about getting a new comp.

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Mar 30, 2007 Cunjo link
Talked to Eddie (local computer shop owner) and he says he can cut me a bargain on a new rig.

Spec:

MGE Red Dragon ATX Chassis with Carrying Handle, Firewire and 2x USB
Gigabyte SLI Motherboard with Hi-Def Audio, Firewire and 6x USB
AMD Athlon 64 X2 4200+ Dual Core CPU
NVIDIA GeForce 7600 GT Overclocked Edition GPU
2x 1GB DDR2 DRAM (2GB RAM)
2x 250GB HDD (500GB Storage)
DVD±RW/CD-RW Combo Drive
17" Flat Panel LCD Monitor

$1,195 after tax

Think that sounds like a good deal? I'm not entirely sure what kind of performance to expect out of a 4200+ AMD or an overclocked GeForce 7600.
Mar 30, 2007 Surbius link
It all looks good and stuff but the taxes you can do without.

Newegg.com is IMHO a good site to go to. Depending on which state you live in there wont be any taxes. Plus it gives reviews from actual buyers on what they thought about the product.

The case you picked doesn't come with a PSU and I don't see a PSU on your list so where is the power?

500GB seems a bit much IMO, but everyone has their own fancy.

A 7600 might be good, I'm not completely sure but from what I experience is that Nvidia and ATI have this numbers game with the highest being the best. Generally on the ATI side the *800 half of their cards start picking up with more power but I'm not sure about Nvidia. Someone here must know a bit more about this.

AMD IMHO is better for games. The X2 series adds to it with the 4200 being 2.2GHz in each processor.

I just recently made up a computer from Newegg.com that includes all the necessary parts to run and it comes up to $1,016 including shipping.

Specs:

ASUS M2N-SLI Deluxe Motherboard
A-DATA 2x1GB DDR2 800 PC2 6400
Gigabyte GeForce 7950GT 512MB with Zalman Fan
Western Digital SATA HDD 160GB 3.0GB/s
Antec SmartPower 2.0 500W
Antec SLK-3000B ATX Mid-Tower
ASUS DVD+/-Burner (goes both ways with DVD/CD)
AMD Athlon 64 X2 4600+ Windsor AM2 2.4GHz
Windows XP Professional SP2 OEM
Mar 30, 2007 Cunjo link
Eddie includes a free PSU in his systems. Budget PSUs for the low-end desktops and quality ones for the performance rigs.

I'd rather have someone else build it for me, and $78 in tax isn't a bad deal for that. Besides which, I don't have to wait for the parts to come in, and I know I'm getting a good deal on the hardware, only a small markup from at cost (for example, I'm only paying $75 for that case, and it's listed online for as high as $150)

I have a 200GB HDD right now, and it's 98% full. I need more space.
Mar 30, 2007 Surbius link
Stop the pr0n download!
Mar 30, 2007 LeberMac link
I like mine better.

Some parts arrive soon! Schweet!
Mar 30, 2007 moldyman link
Jeez looise... o_o

Anyway, Cunjo, the stuff you put up seems good for mid range gaming. Ie, you'd have to not be the type to cry if Anti aliasing isn't at max and everything isn't at max settings in all games. So a decent comp all around.

While not getting a desktop, I'm building a server, and it comes out to under $700.

- MachSpeed MSNV-939 NVIDIA Socket 939 ATX Motherboard / Audio / PCI Express / 10/100 Ethernet LAN / USB 2.0 / Serial ATA
- AMD Opteron 144 Venus 1.8GHz 1MB L2 Cache Socket 939 Processor - Retail
- 2x Kingston 512MB 184-Pin DDR SDRAM ECC Registered DDR 333 (PC 2700) Server Memory - Retail
- Power Up / 550-Watt / ATX / 120mm Fan / SATA-Ready / Power Supply (8 Molex Connectors)
- 2x Netgear - FA311 - 10/100Mbps PCI Network Adapter (Recertified)
- Trendnet / TEW-443PI / 108Mbps / 802.11g / PCI / Wireless Adapter
- 3x Western Digital Caviar SE WD2500JS 250GB 7200 RPM 8MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM
- Maxtor DiamondMax 20 STM3160812A 160GB 7200 RPM 8MB Cache IDE Ultra ATA100 Hard Drive - OEM
- HP NVIDIA Quadro 55 NVS / 64MB DDR / PCI / DVI / TV Out / Video Card
- LIAN-LI EX-34A SILVER 5.25" 120MM ALUMINUM EXPANSION HARD DISK COOLER KIT

Total: $649 before shipping

I already have a DVD burner and another 250 gig SATA drive :) Oh and the case and fans from my G5, which took a bit of work to work with the PC components. This is just a nice fileserver for myself, the Sata drives in a RAID, the IDE drive as a boot and backup drive of the important stuff... and a router, both wireless and wired. It should be nice :D
Mar 31, 2007 Malicious link
Lebermac, I bought a 8800 GTS 320 last week, and sent it back to the store: my framerate with settings maxed in VO was already high enough with my 7300 GT. I bought the card to be able to play 1080p movies, but since the nvidia linux drivers do not support hardware decoding of h264, I had no improvement whatsoever. So if you are buying it for VO, you can do with a much cheaper card. (Oh, you are a graphics artist right? might have some use for that..)

Cunjo, I would suggest taking a slightly more expensive but newer processor. For the Harddrive, a Samsung 500gb drive is for sale for about 120 euro and since you already have another drive, you might want to consider taking that one. According some review I read it's fast and cheap :P

Edit: Lebermac, why not an widescreen monitor?
Mar 31, 2007 Cunjo link
Pfft, Intel fanboy Leber?

Mal, the drive I have is an external drive, and I plan to replace it with the new computer, since I won't be able to fit it on the desk anymore once I get the new comp anyway.

EDIT: and I DO plan to play more than VO! Half Life 2 FTW!
Oh, and Crysis would be cool, too. Exactly what processor do you recommend?

https://secure.newegg.com/NewVersion/Wishlist/PublicWishDetail.asp?WishListNumber=6009168&WishListTitle=Cunjo+%28Intel%29
Mar 31, 2007 LeberMac link
LMAO.
Cunjo called me an "Intel Fanboy." That's fuckin' priceless.

Nope, just going with the recommendations of some people whose opinions I respect regarding motherboards, processors, and videocards.

I'll be using it (hopefully) for much MUCH more than VO. Although I do admit to purchasing the 8800 GTS for some gaming... hehe. This computer will allow me to do more video-style work and perhaps even 3D work besides my normal web & print design projects. Plus it's about half as expensive as a similarly-configured Mac Pro. It'll just cost me some $$ to upgrade my software to the PC versions. Actually, the upgrade to Adobe Creative Suite 3 Design Premium is only $600 and M$ Office is only $260 so I'm still coming out ahead.
Mar 31, 2007 moldyman link
Leber switched to Windows? You are not a Mac anymore!
Mar 31, 2007 who? me? link
leber is a looser! hahaha mac boy falls out
Apr 01, 2007 Cunjo link
he must now change his name to LeberDoze
Apr 01, 2007 LeberMac link
I'll have to make an evil (Serco) character called LeberPC.
Apr 02, 2007 Cunjo link
Apr 03, 2007 LeberMac link
Wow. That'll be nice.

Mind if I hit you up for some system-building tips, Cunjo? This'll be my first build-from-scratch.

LeberDoze || LeberPC || LebIntel || ???

The choices are endless...
Apr 04, 2007 who? me? link
i just did some looking around at parts and came up with these:

e4300
gigabyte GA-965P-DS3
250GB HD
1GB PC6400 ram
x1950 pro
wireless keyboard/mouse combo
floppy drive
some cheap dvd r rw dl thing
cheap case
600w power supply

do i need to get anything else?
Apr 04, 2007 Surbius link
Linux for OS I'm guessing and make sure not to go OEM on the major parts.
Apr 04, 2007 who? me? link
nah i was gonna actually use a pirated copy of some sort of windows os.
Apr 04, 2007 Surbius link
good luck with that
Apr 05, 2007 who? me? link
and if that didn't work then i'd buy it.