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advice on my new pc
gamefoo21 - Jun 11, 2002
  gamefoo21 Jun 11, 2002
ok, i am looking at a nice custom built and i do mean custom who has can claim to have a pc that runs at about -18c or lower pc. but i have some concerns about its innerds. should i use dual or single cpu? which brand of hd's(always had luck with fuji's - maxtor = crap)? what type of hd's scsi vs ide? and what type of sound card? and what brand of mobo? yes i am basically trying to slam about 5 grand+ into this machine, i want it to last so yea any advice is highly appreciated when i go to my whole saler.

 mtxblau Jun 11, 2002
Very, very simple.

www.alienware.com...

Let them handle it. Best Computer your money can buy.

 Curtis Jun 11, 2002
1. Don't waste time with dual CPUs. Both the applications and the OS need to be optimised for use with dual CPUs for them to be useful. Only a handful of apps are optimised.

2. Personally, I've had no trouble with IBM drives, but I have heard some people complain about them. I've also heard to steer clear of Wester Digital drives (my friend calles them Western Dodge-ital), but I've had no practical experience with them.

3. SCSI is expensive, and not really necessary if you are not doing real-time non-linear video editing. The HD's are also much more expensive.

4. Go with one of the Creative Audigy cards - they can be cheap and cheerful, or expensive-as-hell and cheerful and they sound fine, unless you want to do some pro-level recording with your computer (even then you could get by).

5. For mobos, I like ASUS. It is more important to get a decent shipset though. Mine is an Intel 815EP (good for celerons and p3's) and it is usually best to stick to the big name brands here (Intel for P4's, Via for AMD's). Don't waste time with el-cheapo chipsets (SiS... * shudders*)

 antime Jun 11, 2002
Even if the apps can't take advantage of multiple CPUs, the OS can run different apps on different CPUs. Most apps are also multithreaded which should enable them to run on multiple CPUs without explicit support. It might show some bugs that don't manifest themselves when running on a single CPU, but that's careless programming.

 Curtis Jun 11, 2002
It is still an expensive waste of money for very little gain...

 mtxblau Jun 11, 2002
If you're really going to put in $5+ grand into this, seriously look at this....

It's quite possibly the fastest and best PC for that price. CD/RW and DVD/RW? 240GB of Hard Drive space? (Those two jump out at me) And you can't beat the custom paint job and the monster cooling they put in there.

But that's just me. If I had $5K+ I'd rather drop it into something like this that has tech support (if you need it) rather than possibly lose my fingers to a dremel.

 Dyne Jun 11, 2002
alienware are nice but waaaaaaay overpriced for what you get. for a lot cheaper you can build your own (which i do) with better parts. but if you really need to go pre-made id take falconnorthwest or voodopc over alienware.

 gamefoo21 Jun 11, 2002
my mom is built in tech support and i have built my last 3 machines(all bargain basement machines *shudders*) and i won't have a umm standard case. heavy duty frost free freezer and well it may be big but i'll be oc happy. thanx for the advice so far i am slapping together a rough parts list.

 Agent21KGB Jun 12, 2002
Make sure you get a damn good video card. That is the weak point in most of the dell, gateway stuff. I would also go with asus for the mobo, I got a A7M266 a year a go and it will go as fast as AMD can make a socket A go. Asus also constantly updates the bios. I also love the Geforce series. Their drivers are stellar and I got a 10-20% increase on my Geforce 2 Pro with just the detonator drivers.

 mtxblau Jun 12, 2002
Aim for the Geforce4. It is not as expensive as I had expected, and since you can afford it, go for the best. And basically Nvidia is whom everyone designs for, so you wouldn't have any issues w/ compatability. But as a side note, on the horizon ATi is releasing another video card, it was used to demo Doom3 at E3 (just a thought )

As far as processors go, it seems the P4 has outgunned the XP processors, based on benchmarks. I could be wrong, but I've seen similar numbers at a variety of sites. But if you do choose AMD, get it with the new Via KT333 chipset. Via's chipsets run rings around the competition.

Always put Asus at the top of your list - everything of their's is top notch. Tyan is also good, I've had nothing but good experiences with them.

If I were spending that much money, I'd like a SCSI HD - even though you might not see the difference it's still cool for bragging rights. Of course, if you don't, you could get a RAID board and buy a bunch of HDs, and host a huge FTP for SX.

 Link Hylia Jun 12, 2002
or if you are really into it, put a Sega Genesis or some other console(s) in there as well. took Yoshi a week to do so for his:

http://www.techtv.com/screens....00.html...

 Gear Jun 13, 2002
For a new system, stay away of any less than a geforce3 and radeon 8500... and the geforce4mx

Buying a good video card is extremely important for perfomance and to reduce updates, so don't go for video-integrated motherboards. I wonder if with $5000 you can afford an agp8x motherboard/video card.

Stay away from anything SIS, it is pure evil.

For ram, just accept ddr ram for amd cpus and intel's rimm ram for intel cpus (yes, stupid; but you never know.... )

Personally, I would go for an athlon xp 2.2ghz cpu instead of a p4, and a motherboard with amd chipset.

 gamefoo21 Jun 13, 2002
i dunno that new matrox card looks sweet. and there is an amd that runs at 2.2????? heh i think i'll just get 3 120's. 2 raided(games ) and 1 for ftp and storage just for you guys. and i hate sis grr evil card my old sis had support for 15bit color but not 16. right now the P4 is winning the fight but i will watch and see what happens with amd.

 antigov Jun 13, 2002
"and there is an amd that runs at 2.2"

No, their fastest chip out at the moment, the XP 2200, is only 1.8Ghz.

 malr Jun 14, 2002
But it likes to perform the same as competing 2.2ghz processors.

 antime Jun 14, 2002
That's just marketing-speak. It means nothing.

 Curtis Jun 14, 2002
Actually, I'm of the opinion that all clock speed above 1 Ghz means nothing. It all becomes fairly irrelevant if you can play Q3 and 90 FPS or 290 FPS...

 MasterAkumaMatata Jun 14, 2002

  
	
	

		
		

			Originally posted by Curtis@June 14 2002,07:10



Actually, I'm of the opinion that all clock speed above 1 Ghz means nothing. It all becomes fairly irrelevant if you can play Q3 and 90 FPS or 290 FPS...


Yeah, your monitor wouldn't be able to refresh at 290 Hz anyway, LOL!