Well, screw Dell, I want power.

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demonofaj
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Well, screw Dell, I want power.

Post by demonofaj » Fri Jul 21, 2006 5:30 pm

Well, me and my dad have been thinking, and I (and him) think it's time to smack this crap 2400 Dell, which we paid 1000 bucks for and is just a PoS now...good bye. Well, I just need your guy's help to get a new computer, as in I well, want to make one. I've read on the web on how to make one basically, but I want to come here to make sure. I need kind of like a product list, from Newegg, if possible. Well, for specs, I want a rather fast computer around the 3-4 GHz range, so speed for multitasking is what I need. Also, this is a gaming rig, so I need a video card that can handle most Source games such as CS: Source, DoD: Source, Portal, all the current games and some umph at least for six more months of new games, and a processor that also meets these requirements. Err, about the CD drive, I need a dual drive, as in one is normal, and the other is a DVD drive/ burner. And harddrive, moderately cheap, also, the one odd thing I need, I need my comp. to be able to hook up to a VCR, or some kind of exterior unit, so I need I think a VCC (Video Capture Card) and I guess that's all, err, a case, I definetely need you guys help on this. Thanks again, and I look forward to see a computer :)
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Post by bicostp » Fri Jul 21, 2006 6:21 pm

Well, I can't give you specific hardware links, I can offer some advice for parts:

You said you do a lot of multitasking and gaming, so I'd say a buttload of RAM is more important than the fastest processor you can get your hands on. If you do run a ton of programs all the time, go for at least a gig of RAM; most motherboards can handle 2 gigs now. Get what you can; RAM's a cheap and effective upgrade.

For storage, I'd go for at least 200 gig so you have plenty of room for games, utilities and whatnot. I'm starting to fill up my 160 gig drive, but I do have tons of videos... Meh go with what you think you need. If you get an SATA drive you can free up a space on the EIDE bus.

For the case, get a standard full size ATX case, even if the motherboard will fit in a minitower. Get one that has several drive bays that are front-accessible, and hard drive bays filling up the rest. This will offer plenty of expandability for more hard drives, optical drives, or whatever you need. I wouldn't waste money on a fancy case; it will most likely live under your desk in the dark anyways. Mine does. :P Hell my optical drives are white on a black case, and the floppy drive is a medium grey (It's from an OLD HP)! I don't care; it works doesn't it?
If you don't plan on keeping or selling the old PC, you can reuse parts from it in the new computer. Hook up the hard drive as a slave device, and move the Windows swap file onto it. (keeping it on a seperate physical drive can boost performance a bit for when it's needed; which isn't too often with 2 gigs of RAM.) Also pull the optical drives. If the floppy drive is the way I think it is (behind some curved, custom bezel to blend in with the rest of the case), don't bother with it. A floppy drive is only $14 retail, and who knows if you'll need one anyways? You can re-use internal cables, like the IDE cables and the wire that goes between the CD drive and the motherboard/sound card.

Get an internal PCI video capture card and add a VCR. This will, in effect, give you TV tuner capability with a remote control. Or for a slightly less cheapass method, get a TV tuner card with remote that has AV inputs. (However the latter will require a VCR anyways if you want to copy your old home movies to DVD...) If you do get a TV tuner, I highly suggest you dual-boot both Windows (for your everyday stuff) and Linux. Why Linux? Because you can use programs like MythTV or Freevo to get TiVO functionality on your PC. Yes, rewind, fast foward and play back TV shows. Pretty sweet, huh? :P Actually, come to think of it, if you do anything with the old PC, get a TV tuner card and a video card with TV output for it. Fit it with another hard drive, or leave its hard drive in place (copy all your stuff off it first). Now leave at least a CD-ROM drive in it. Install a Linux distro that has DVR software, such as KnoppMyth, on it. Hook it up to your TV and add a wireless keyboard and mouse. Voila! TiVo without the service fees!

So basically...

At least 1 gig RAM
200+ gig HD more if you want to copy high quality videos. Maybe that new 700+ gig perpendicular drive...
re-use parts from the old PC
Don't waste your money on a fancy case.
Dual-boot with Freevo or MythTV if you get a TV tuner
Maybe pick up a second TV tuner and some additional hardware to turn the old PC into a TiVo box

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Post by vb_master » Fri Jul 21, 2006 6:22 pm

iBUYPOWER. Check it out.

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Post by sam » Fri Jul 21, 2006 6:51 pm

First off, I would suggest if you are planning to get a 4Ghz comp, you wait for about a month for good decent motherboards to come out for the Core 2 Duo, codename: Conroe. While the specs are in and you can OC a 310$ CPU from 2.4(maybe 2.6) to like 3.6 with a great CPU heatsink (50$). Also, Dont think that zomg its 3.6 Ghz it will crush anything, for the past little while, Ghz have been meaning less and less. (I'm not saying its useless)

ANYWAYS back onto this, I know everyone thought that AMD would always reign supreme in the world of Gaming, but Intel has made a move and is coming out with far superior CPU's. Next on my list, most computers CAN handle 4 or more GB of ram. Dont get 4GB. Get good ddr/ddr2 ram if you want. Look for decent timings on mushkin, OCZ, Kingston, and a few more brands and you should be sitting pretty. Expect to pay a little more than 200$ on ram (not much more though)
Video Card: 7900 KO or 7900 CO (small difference in fan or something) One of the best for the price GFX cards on the market.
Hard Drive: I cant stress this enough, I bought a 320 GB 16MB cache hw for like 130. Spend the littlel extra and get a big enough one so you dont have to buy another in the near future.

My advice, wait a little bit to have good mobos come out for conroe.
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Post by *o* » Fri Jul 21, 2006 6:55 pm

my 3D computer has:

3.66ghz intel whatchamadooby proccessor

4gig ram

2x 512mb graphics

1TB hard disk space (4x250gb all at 7200rpm)

total cost: $4400AUD

render times reduced by 80% my short film took 1 night!
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Post by demonofaj » Fri Jul 21, 2006 6:56 pm

Wow, thanks for the quick replies guys. Hmmm, just a thing about Linux, I'm booting our old computer with it, I'm basically making this one our primary family computer, and all my other crap like graphics designing, flash, on the old one. About the whole TV/VCR thing. All I really just need is something to hook it up to...but I'm afraid, that there may be no more ports left, I'm gonna look into Bicostp's options and I'm checking VB's site, Sam, those cards are awesome!
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Post by *o* » Fri Jul 21, 2006 7:00 pm

sorry my post posted before i was explaining it...

i suggest go for ram rather than processor go for a 3.2 or 3.0ghz proccessor and use the extra money to buy a better MOBO and have more ram also i suggest spending the money on a 512mb graphics card
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Post by vb_master » Fri Jul 21, 2006 7:04 pm

demonofaj wrote:Wow, thanks for the quick replies guys. Hmmm, just a thing about Linux, I'm booting our old computer with it, I'm basically making this one our primary family computer, and all my other crap like graphics designing, flash, on the old one. About the whole TV/VCR thing. All I really just need is something to hook it up to...but I'm afraid, that there may be no more ports left, I'm gonna look into Bicostp's options and I'm checking VB's site, Sam, those cards are awesome!
Check out the specials, they are GREAT deals.

I wouldn't do Linux for games though. Just run VMWare Player and emulate it on top of Windows XP so you can still play all your Source games.

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Post by sam fisher » Fri Jul 21, 2006 7:06 pm

My 2.8ghz pentium D can reach 4.0 with excellent cooling, yes, it rocks.

copulate knows how stable it would be though and it might nto achive quite that well as other have.

I am pissed off as the Conroe core was meant to be Backwards COmpatible with other Pentium D models.

Now they have scrapped pentium D completely and called it Core Duo which pisses me off as I am pretty sure its not compatible. So Now I have to buy an all new mobo.
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Post by sam » Fri Jul 21, 2006 8:21 pm

sam fisher wrote:My 2.8ghz pentium D can reach 4.0 with excellent cooling, yes, it rocks.

screw knows how stable it would be though and it might nto achive quite that well as other have.

I am pissed off as the Conroe core was meant to be Backwards COmpatible with other Pentium D models.

Now they have scrapped pentium D completely and called it Core Duo which pisses me off as I am pretty sure its not compatible. So Now I have to buy an all new mobo.

Patience has its virtues.
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Post by timmeh87 » Fri Jul 21, 2006 11:25 pm

first of all, i believe that conroe uses the same socket as pentium-D's. lga775? or something.

second of all. i used to deny this, but i have learned that pentium-Ds really really suck. they run hot and preform poorly.

demonofaj - if you dont wait for the conroe (there may be shortages untill fall...) then get a 64 bit AMD processor.

but i reccomend waiting for the conroe ;)

heres a review:
http://www.anandtech.com/cpuchipsets/sh ... spx?i=2795

hese a random graph ;):
http://images.anandtech.com/graphs/core ... /12575.png
(if you notice, clock speed does not really indicate power at all)

as an ending note (and if you read that whole review you will know) that the conroe will be compatable with ATI dual-card setups before it supports SLI. this has something to do with ATI being friendly with intel while Nvidia is not.
sam fisher wrote:Now they have scrapped pentium D completely and called it Core Duo which pisses me off as I am pretty sure its not compatible. So Now I have to buy an all new mobo.
the core duo is a completely new architechture. the pentium D has ran its course. it cannot compete with the new AMD chips.
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Post by Electric Rain » Sat Jul 22, 2006 12:38 am

Well, if you can make a cryogenic cooling system for your processor, you could always do this.: http://www.engadget.com/2005/08/11/how- ... k-to-7ghz/ :twisted:
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Post by sam fisher » Sat Jul 22, 2006 4:21 am

Pentium D's aren't that bad. They overclock well and mine doesnt go a degree over 41 degrees, when my room is almost that hot and its using stock cooling put in by some crappy company that probably hires monkeys. If it still uses the LGA-775 then a bios upgrade might suffice.
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Post by sam » Sat Jul 22, 2006 8:20 am

Pentium D's have been proven to run hot, and overclock poorly.
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Post by gamecube6 » Sat Jul 22, 2006 8:42 am

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