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Knightrous
Site Admin
Joined: 15 Jun 2004
Posts: 8511
Location: NSW
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Computer Parts and Recommendations
I'm thinking about upgrading my computer hardware by adding a 4th system to my room.
Currently I'm limiting myself to a $1500 budget.
Here the parts I've picked out, if anyone (Brett, Jake or Jeff) has any advice on the parts, it would be appreciated
*System Specs*
Intel Pentium 4 540J 3.2Ghz 800FSB 1MB Cache S775 CPU (Want some serious power here, would like the 3.8ghz, but budget dis-agrees)
ASUS P5S800-VM Pentium 4 MotherBoard S775 (Had a quick look at the specs, it seems okay, con is it only has 3 PCI slots)
1Gb Geil DDR PC3200 RAM (Was chasing 1GB stick of KingMax ram, but they are only selling DDR2 ram)
250GB Seagate 7200rpm HDD 8M Serial ATA (Was told Seagate is better then Western Digital)
Gigabyte 128MB FX5200 AGP Video Card (Same as what I have in my current workhorse, not really important)
Antec SmartPower SL350S 350 Watt Power Supply (I just need power for the unit plus some extra cooling)
Microsoft Multimedia Keyboard Black (My personalised parts)
Microsoft Intellimouse Optical Mouse USB 5 Button (My personalised parts)
Creative Sound Blaster Live DE 7.1 (It's cheaper then an Audigy 2)
240w Stereo Speakers (I needed some sound)
ASUS WL-138g PCI Wireless LAN Card (I have no idea about this card, I just looked for the ASUS with pci in it)
GST Inclusive Price: $1435 (not too bad, if you know where to get these parts cheaper by around $100 or more, shout)
Other odds and ends I'll just be sharing (Monitor, I love my LG FLATRON 795FT Plus) or building myself (Case, 6-10mm Polycarb) _________________ https://www.halfdonethings.com/
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Wed Feb 23, 2005 8:44 pm |
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Spockie-Tech
Site Admin
Joined: 31 May 2004
Posts: 3160
Location: Melbourne, Australia
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If you want an out-of-the-box machine, then Dell would probably be one of the best of the "name" brands that I know of..
Most of the others (HP, Compaq etc) have a bad habit of using custom parts that you have to buy from them (at very inflated prices) in the future if you want to do upgrades..
But if you dont mind your machine not having a badge on the front and know what you want, you'll always get more grunt for your $ with a "clone" machine. They're cheaper, faster, and if you use quality parts just as reliable - I've seen just as many name brand failures as I have clones.
The publics perception is that the brand machines will be more reliable, but in fact if you look inside a brand you will see they all use exactly the same parts that a clone does (WD Hard Drives, Intel CPU, Hyundai Ram, Nvidia video or whatever).. so they are subject to the same component failure rates.
It takes big name manufacturers 6-12 months to combine the newest tech into their custom-cased machines, get the assembly line rolling, package them up, ship them around the world, market and promote them and so on..
The DIY clone machines are only weeks behind the latest gear coming out direct from the silicon guru's..
Of course you need to know what gear you want (or else buy one of the small computer shops premade packages..) 'cause if you order a combination of parts that dont really "click" together and mesh into a nicely running system, most of the little shops wont question you (assuming you know what you want) and you might end up with a machine slower than it needs to be..
Computers are like cars.. to perform well, all the parts need to match up.. theres no point stuffing a big block under the hood if you have skinny little tyres down the back.. and most "HotRod DIY'ers" like to dial-their-own customised machine.. Mom and Pop can go buy the factory stock Toyota Camry from the dealership.. _________________ Great minds discuss ideas. Average minds discuss events. Small minds discuss people
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Thu Feb 24, 2005 12:03 pm |
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Valen
Experienced Roboteer
Joined: 07 Jul 2004
Posts: 4436
Location: Sydney
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i woudlnt really bother too much wrt future proofing
it used to be you could go a top of the line mbo and upgrade the cpu in it as time went by but it seems like that is past.
the development cycle is just too fast, i'd go the AGP (its going to be around for quite a long while) SIS mbo should be ok but if you can go a late model chipset intel or via.
by the time your computer is "out of date" for everything except games it will be too big a step to upgrade, in 12 - 18 months time (average half life of your average PC) your going to need a dual core CPU, a mbo that supports that and DDR3 ram for it. while your at it you'll put in a 1 Tb hdd and a blue ray DVD.
to my mind areas worth spending cash on.
screens, your going to be looking at it for a long while and it wont get out of date (19" DVI LCD $550 or so, go DVI on a screen if you possibly can)
storage, iits like money you will never have enough, look at the price increments though and make sure you arent paying more for fewer megabytes, 250 is probbly too big atm might have better value with a 200 but check it out.( and when they come down in price RAID them for more space and performance)
graphics, now dont go crazy here, but get on the new wave, get an x800 (or cut down version) or a nvidia 6600 (personal preference is nvidia over ATI, seen loads of stability problems with ATI and the nvidia has better performance now anyway)
3.2 is a good CPU speed, not too expensive but quite zippy.
might consider cutting down to 512 mb of ram because that is easy and cheap to upgrade later. _________________ Mechanical engineers build weapons, civil engineers build targets
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Fri Feb 25, 2005 1:11 am |
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