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Displaying 1-25 of 27 messages in this thread.
Posted ByDiscussion Topic: Building system - need advice
PeterDragon
posted on 05-22-2002 @ 2:13 PM      
O&A Board Regular
Registered: Jan. 01
I think I'm going to finally jump into the water and build myself a system. I'm very comfortable changing parts, but the last motherboard I changed was a 486DX2, so a few things have obviously changes.

I'm figuring to get a Gigabyte 7DXR Athlon (viaKT333) motherboard with a Athlon XP1800, and put it into an Antec case (maybe 1060 or 860).

Questions-
Is it worth getting OEM processor and say a Volcano heatsink, or just get a boxed processor?
Does it really matter what kind of thermal paste you get, and does the boxed processor require it?

In Your Opinion, is it worth it to get the PC2700 memory or just get the PC2100? I'm getting the KT333 mostly for USB 2.0 & ATA 133(and there is little price difference)
I'm not looking to overclock anything, just looking for good system to do DV video capture




2002 Crack Committee Objectives: (You gotta believe....)
1. 94 Wins and NL East Title by the Mets this year
2. Hate the Braves with PASSION
3. All 5 Starters have winning records this year
3a.Have team not finish below 10th in team hitting
4. Mets win World Series
Bloody Anus
P.L.F.
Portugese Liberation Front- Liberating Status' everywhere from the Tyranny of Portugal
HYBRID THINKS I'M A GENIUS		posted on 05-22-2002 @ 2:44 PM      
O&A Board Regular
Registered: Jul. 00
From my experience, the boxed heatsink works just fine. I've only used Intel so far, but as long as you're not OC'ing, I think the boxed heatsink should be ok. I don't really know shit about DDR, except to steer clear of generic.

What video card are you getting for DV capture?




I think my mask of sanity              is about to slip


2002 Crack Committee Objectives:
1. 94 Wins and NL East Title by the Mets this year 2. Hate the Braves with a passion
3. All 5 Starters have winning records this year 4. Mets win World Series


barch97
BBTB
The barch gots lots a dick
Theoretically, if I were to smack you in the face with my penis, it would leave a bruise in the shape of a mushroom.
I kind of enjoy my anonymity on the board
WOW Forum Ambassador		posted on 05-22-2002 @ 2:50 PM      
O&A Board Veteran
Registered: Jul. 00
Haven't you heard?

Hewlett Packard and Compaq have merged? There's no need to build your own anymore.





Long Live the "Syndication Underground"
The more things change...
The more they stay the same.
PeterDragon
posted on 05-22-2002 @ 4:32 PM      
O&A Board Regular
Registered: Jan. 01
quote:
What video card are you getting for DV capture?


Well, I was planning on just using the firewire connection and Studio 7, but not sure what video to buy (I'm currently only using voodoo3). Looking at GeForceTi4200, again not sure it is worth spending for gainward & its VIVO, or just go plain Ti4200; also wondering if ATI AIW8500-DV would just make life easy - 64 MB about $225.

quote:
Hewlett Packard and Compaq have merged? There's no need to build your own anymore

[sarcasm]Oh I LOVE those HP machines; I opened one yesterday at work and it had a whole 100 Watt for its power supply [/sarcasm]

2002 Crack Committee Objectives: (You gotta believe....)
1. 94 Wins and NL East Title by the Mets this year
2. Hate the Braves with PASSION
3. All 5 Starters have winning records this year
3a.Have team not finish below 10th in team hitting
4. Mets win World Series

This message was edited by PeterDragon on 5-22-02 @ 4:43 PM
Bloody Anus
P.L.F.
Portugese Liberation Front- Liberating Status' everywhere from the Tyranny of Portugal
HYBRID THINKS I'M A GENIUS		posted on 05-22-2002 @ 5:21 PM      
O&A Board Regular
Registered: Jul. 00
I've got the AIW 8500DV and it's pretty sweet. I haven't done any DV capture yet, but I've done a lot of TV capture and it works great. The remote is really cool too. The only thing that sucks is that the video out is pretty useless, (to me)because of fucking macrovision. But it's a great card overall, I'd recommend it (especially now that it's $100 less than what I paid for it 3 months ago)...




I think my mask of sanity              is about to slip


2002 Crack Committee Objectives:
1. 94 Wins and NL East Title by the Mets this year 2. Hate the Braves with a passion
3. All 5 Starters have winning records this year 4. Mets win World Series


JGNYC
Mirc's Dalnet #opieanthony		posted on 06-02-2002 @ 1:18 PM      
Psychopath
Registered: Sep. 00
I am dying to build one too. But the thing is, I am clueless when it comes to hardware. I can install hardware but, I am no good at picking out motherboards, etc. I am looking to get the best for my $$. Would it be possible for someone to e-mail me, or send me an instant message at JGNYC5 for a little help? I would really appreciate it. Thanks in advance.




Can I help you? E-mail me.

#OpieAnthony on Dalnet

PeterDragon
posted on 06-02-2002 @ 2:05 PM      
O&A Board Regular
Registered: Jan. 01
I haven't done my system yet (I'll get to that in a minute), but if no one emails you, you can get info from a number of sites.
Tom's Hardware Guide Amdmb.com Anandtech.com ExtremeTech
Build or Buy web site are a couple. Also check the discussion groups in each.

you might also want to read thisBuild or Buy article

1st thing is to decide what you want - amd or intel, if you need raid, usb2, etc.
I was all set to buy gigabyte 7vrxp, until one gigabyte usenet group had some complaining about the board and GeForce4 video cards. I can't yet tell if it is this one guys problem, or a real problem with their boards.


2002 Crack Committee Objectives: (You gotta believe....)
1. 94 Wins and NL East Title by the Mets this year
2. Hate the Braves with PASSION
3. All 5 Starters have winning records this year
3a.Have team not finish below 10th in team hitting
3b. Learn how to run the bases
4. Mets win World Series
JGNYC
Mirc's Dalnet #opieanthony		posted on 06-02-2002 @ 3:35 PM      
Psychopath
Registered: Sep. 00
Thanks for the info. I made a list of what I would like, I chose AMD because of their lower cost, and supposedly faster chips.
Someone on IRC recommended I get an 1800 or 1900 XP Chip with this board:
745 Ultra



Otherwise, I am clueless. I look at tomshardware.com quite often, and I will check out the others, but if you have more info to share I would really appreciate it. Thank you again!




Can I help you? E-mail me.

#OpieAnthony on Dalnet

BIV
G.O.O.F.B.A.H.G.S.
Xenophobe Defense Brigade
totally lacks teh funney
Brine shrimp is more interesting than I am.
The only thing that will get rid of my shitty status is another board wipe or a series of blowjobs.
I am one uninformed hound.		posted on 06-03-2002 @ 3:21 AM      
Psychopath
Registered: Mar. 02
Great, and I thought I was cluless before. My broken 386-66 isn't going to cut it anymore (gee, ya think?) and I'm trying to decide how to go about buying a computer.

The only advice I've been able to get is not to use any of the pre-made companies. (Dell, Compaq, Gateway, etc.) Unfortunately I have no concept what I need for what I want.

I'll try the sites listed above, but if anyone is feeling charitable or bored, I'm going to list what I am looking for and maybe you could E-mail me with suggestions. (or just reply)

onabiv@yahoo.com

*High end processor - at least Pent. 4 at 2.40 GHz
*Memory - Not sure, I think at least 512 MB
*High end video card
*At least an 80GB hard drive
*Need advice on network cards
*At least a 56K modem.
*Drives: Will a 16x DVD-ROM and a 40x cdrw drive serve the same purpose as a 8x/4x/32x CD-RW/DVD combo drive?
*High end sound card
*Good speakers

What am I missing? Where should I start?
I need fast access to the internet, high end video and audio capabilities and memory for audio, pic and video files.

What do I do now?


Thanx to Rageparty for the SigPic!
I really don't give a flying fuck what you think about me.
I'm still a sad, poor bastard without a computer.
THE BIV



This message was edited by BIV on 6-3-02 @ 3:44 AM
Jack Meehoff
Teh funny blah blah absent blah blah teh blah		posted on 06-03-2002 @ 5:14 AM      
Psychopath
Registered: Jan. 02
Here ya go. Ultimate Computing Power!!!




In the end it doesn't even matter
May Teh Funny Be With You

 

Lord Slug
posted on 06-03-2002 @ 1:52 PM      
Psychopath
Registered: May. 02
WHERE THE FUCK DID YOU FIND THAT?!?!?! HAHAHA :-D :) :-D

"Evil will always triumph, because good is dumb"
Bloody Anus
P.L.F.
Portugese Liberation Front- Liberating Status' everywhere from the Tyranny of Portugal
HYBRID THINKS I'M A GENIUS		posted on 06-03-2002 @ 2:15 PM      
O&A Board Regular
Registered: Jul. 00
BIV if you're as clueless as you sound (something tells me you are), you may be better off just getting a Dell rather than trying to build one yourself. Based on your specs you're looking at spending in the area of at least $2000-2500, depending on how you go. But if you do insist on building your own, here's some other stuff you'll need:

-Motherboard (usually helpful)
-Power supply (at least 400W)
-A good case with plenty of fans
-Floppy drive (optional, but for $5 I always throw one in)
-monitor/mouse/keyboard
-Surge protector or UPS

-Pretty much any network card you pick up should be fine, as long as it is 100-base, which most are. Why do you want a network card and a modem though?
-I prefer having a separate DVD and CD-RW drive
-I'd throw in at least 1GB of memory, just for the fuck of it.
-What OS are you planning on using?
Pricewatch is a good place to start looking for stuff.




I think my mask of sanity              is about to slip


2002 Crack Committee ObJectives:
1. 94 Wins and NL East Title by the Mets this Year 2. Hate the Braves with a passion
3. All 5 Starters have winning recorDs this year 4. Mets win World Series


PeterDragon
posted on 06-03-2002 @ 3:50 PM      
O&A Board Regular
Registered: Jan. 01
As bloody Anus put it,
you might be better off buying a complete system, unless you are comfortable f'in around.

Besides the Dell, Gateway, Micron, etc.,
you can try some secondary supplier/builders like ABS systems, xicomputer.com, etc.

go to PC world top 15 home pc's
PC Mag guides

And don't forget; the smaller companies won't charge sales tax unless you live in their states.

JGNYC - you hear good things about the sis boards as opposed to via?


2002 Crack Committee Objectives: (You gotta believe....)
1. 94 Wins and NL East Title by the Mets this year
2. Hate the Braves with PASSION
3. All 5 Starters have winning records this year
3a.Have team not finish below 10th in team hitting
3b. Learn how to run the bases
4. Mets win World Series
goatweed
I've Got A Vagina With Teeth.
G.O.O.F.B.A.H.G.S.
Dragoon Battalion
My friends call me Weed 		posted on 06-03-2002 @ 4:19 PM      
O&A Board Regular
Registered: Jan. 01
I'm a big fan of Dell PC's. I think they're well built, solid parts, and are fairly trouble-free (so long as you don't fuck with things that you don't know about).

It sounds to me you're looking for a gaming machine - have you considered an Alienware Machine? Sure, you could go to Falcon Northwest, but you might as well buy a car for the prices they'll charge you, and Alienware is starting to become known as the "buying-conscious gamer's machine".

Personally, I would just a buy a decent Dell machine for around $1500 - get a GF2 card, 40 gig drive, get 256 Ram, and try to get a sweet 19" monitor.

Then, you can get a second drive on your own (like a 60 gig or higher), you can add more Ram on your own (crucial.com) and you can get a GF3 Ti200 or 500 card (because I personally feel the GF4's are way too powerful for any game out there, and you can get a GF3 for a sweet price online).

You'll save some cash and get that gaming rig - all with a little installation here and there instead of doing it from the ground up. You'll also get a 3 year warranty from Dell on the machine (just don't tell them about the upgrades) and if it ever fucks up, they'll either send you replacement parts or they'll send someone with the parts to hook you up (can you tell this is what I did ? LOL).

I would love to build a machine from the ground up, but only because I want to learn how to do it - esp. since I already have a solid machine, so if I fuck up, I've got something to fall back on. Since it sounds like you don't and you aren't too technically-inclined, don't pass on a Dell - or even an Alienware.


Do you wanna kill a kitten? Click me!!


You can reach me through AIM or email. I really don't give a fuck as to which one you use.

Wanna play with my wood....panelling?


JGNYC
Mirc's Dalnet #opieanthony		posted on 06-03-2002 @ 5:28 PM      
Psychopath
Registered: Sep. 00
quote:
you hear good things about the sis boards as opposed to via?


The only thing I know is that I don't want to spend a lot of money. Someone on IRC mentioned the above board. Another person mentioned this board: Abit NV7M nFORCE 420 Athlon (XP) Duron Socket A DDR mboard which includes a video card. I am still trying to find what I can, but I am not doing too well.





Can I help you? E-mail me.

#OpieAnthony on Dalnet

PeterDragon
posted on 06-03-2002 @ 8:33 PM      
O&A Board Regular
Registered: Jan. 01
Key is to figure out what you want
(which is incredibly hard for me).
nforce boards have built in video & sound, but you'll probably want to get a separate video card anyway. There are 2 flavors of nforce - one with the built in video and one without. Also, one type requires memory in pairs in order to get benefit of dual memory pathways (or some such thing - my brain aint working too well right now)
I think Anandtech had a detailed explanation.

Sis boards have one chip (as opposed to via which has a north and south bridge) so they are cheaper; however they act a little cheaper too.

The biggest problem is things change so damn often. I'm looking to make sure board has usb 2.0, which I can see as being big in future. unfortunately, the boards with USB 2 come with built in audio (which I'll disable), and RAID, which I won't use (maybe I'll use them as add'l IDE controller, but....)

I always did what Goatweed suggested - start out with a good solid system and add in, but this time I think I'll grow some balls....


2002 Crack Committee Objectives: (You gotta believe....)
1. 94 Wins and NL East Title by the Mets this year
2. Hate the Braves with PASSION
3. All 5 Starters have winning records this year
3a.Have team not finish below 10th in team hitting
3b. Learn how to run the bases
4. Mets win World Series
av8er
OA.com's taint with wings.
The only person to have a 20 double post
posted on 06-03-2002 @ 10:05 PM      
O&A Board Regular
Registered: Oct. 00
4 words: Tyan dual AMD board

That's what I just went with, dual Athlon MPs and 2 gigs of DDR ram.




Av8er Radio
[AIM] [ICQ] [E-Mail]





AMY IS MY BITCH!



JGNYC
Mirc's Dalnet #opieanthony		posted on 06-03-2002 @ 10:22 PM      
Psychopath
Registered: Sep. 00
quote:
4 words: Tyan dual AMD board
That's what I just went with, dual Athlon MPs and 2 gigs of DDR ram.


Yes, I would like that too. But, you have $$, I don't.




Can I help you? E-mail me.

#OpieAnthony on Dalnet

PlasticMan
G.O.O.F.B.A.H.G.S.
Dhalsim-Style Hand to Hand Specialist		posted on 06-04-2002 @ 11:58 AM      
Psychopath
Registered: Mar. 02
When I went motherboard shopping, I researched for a couple of months, ended up finding
This Website
Which was very helpful.

Ended up getting an Epox 8KHA+ (for AMD processors) and I've been thrilled with it. The board itself has a diagnostic display that tells you if you screwed something up. For instance, I didn't have the ram seated just right, it was all locked down and looked okay, but just not right, and the board basically told me, "Hey dickhead, where's the RAM?"

Yahoo sucks. Just picture a baby flipping you off here.
It wasn't lies, it was just...bullshit.

This message was edited by PlasticMan on 6-4-02 @ 4:06 PM
The Brain
He's good at teh rhyming questions
posted on 06-04-2002 @ 12:04 PM      
O&A Board Regular
Registered: Feb. 01
quote:
That's what I just went with, dual Athlon MPs and 2 gigs of DDR ram.

The 2 GB of RAM sound sweet, but was the dual-processor setup a bit of overkill?

There are virtually no games out there that will even take advantage of a second processor, and few applications outside of maybe video/audio editing programs will use it either.

Are you pondering what I'm pondering?


"ARE YOU PONDERING WHAT I'M PONDERING?"

I think so, Brain...

I'll conquer the world long before Kingpin ever finds "Pinky"
Now, I must return to the Lab to prepare for tomorrow night...
goatweed
I've Got A Vagina With Teeth.
G.O.O.F.B.A.H.G.S.
Dragoon Battalion
My friends call me Weed 		posted on 06-04-2002 @ 4:19 PM      
O&A Board Regular
Registered: Jan. 01
quote:
I always did what Goatweed suggested - start out with a good solid system and add in, but this time I think I'll grow some balls....
So your'e saying I don't have balls? ;)

Building a system from the ground up is fairly easy - the MoBo and CPU are your hardest choices. Good luck with the research, and once you make a decision, let us know. I'm really considering building one just for the hell of it, so I'll be looking into MoBo's myself. I'll probably be going with an AMD config as well - nothing against Intel, but since it's more of a pet project for me, I'd like to give AMD a try.

And if you plan on running XP as youre OS, get Professional (NOT Home), of which several ISO's of a cracked (read : no need to activate) version are readily available on MIRC, be sure to max out the RAM - the os absolutely LOVES it :-D.


Do you wanna kill a kitten? Click me!!


You can reach me through AIM or email. I really don't give a fuck as to which one you use.

Wanna play with my wood....panelling?


Albadabing
Hey...gimme a break, I'm still trying to figure out these HTML Buttons		posted on 06-04-2002 @ 5:10 PM      
Psychopath
Registered: Oct. 00
As a fellow tech, I prefer Intel..............
AMd's are good but they tend to run hot. Even when properly cooled. (Fans, Heat-sinks, etc.)
I build them and I can tell you from experience the intel processors rarely cause hardware failures from heat.......The AMD's do!!!!!
Go with a P-4 1.6 or 1.8.....256mb ram minimum.
I personally prefer running 512 to a gig, but 256
will "get you in the game". Also another overlooked thing is the hard-drive. You want one that is 7200rpm. Do not use 5400, they suck. I also use the ATI radeon 7500 64 mb video card. It's loaded with the same features you find on those $200+ cards for under $100. I use a supplier in Great Neck (NY). I usually pay about $75.Visit this Website
I don't have my parts shipped, cause it is too expensive. Sometimes the prices are even better when you get there, which is always a nice surprise......If you need some help let me know!!!!!! :-D

Bloody Anus
P.L.F.
Portugese Liberation Front- Liberating Status' everywhere from the Tyranny of Portugal
HYBRID THINKS I'M A GENIUS		posted on 06-04-2002 @ 5:43 PM      
O&A Board Regular
Registered: Jul. 00
quote:
The 2 GB of RAM sound sweet, but was the dual-processor setup a bit of overkill?

Nah.. I'm running the Abit VP6, dual P3 1GHz with 1GB RAM. It's true that not many programs utilize SMP, but it is very good for multitasking and overall system performance. (Not to mention Quake 3)

Visit this Website





I think my mask of sanity              is about to slip


2002 Crack Committee ObJectives:
1. 94 Wins and NL East Title by the Mets this Year 2. Hate the Braves with a passion
3. All 5 Starters have winning recorDs this year 4. Mets win World Series


av8er
OA.com's taint with wings.
The only person to have a 20 double post
posted on 06-04-2002 @ 7:44 PM      
O&A Board Regular
Registered: Oct. 00
I look at it this way, it cost me $239 for the system board, and $139 a piece for the CPUs. I used all my old hardware for the rest. So, for a little over $500 I have a machine that will last me quite a while til I have to build a new one and I can do as many things at once as I feel the need to.

Overkill? Probably. I basically just built it to have it.

**EDIT**

JGNYC, Check out EconPC.com I've bought a ton of parts from there. They have great prices and wide selection.




Av8er Radio
[AIM] [ICQ] [E-Mail]





AMY IS MY BITCH!





This message was edited by av8er on 6-4-02 @ 7:55 PM
JGNYC
Mirc's Dalnet #opieanthony		posted on 06-04-2002 @ 8:33 PM      
Psychopath
Registered: Sep. 00
av8er, thanks for the site. Would you recommend any barebones systems from them or anyone else?




Can I help you? E-mail me.

#OpieAnthony on Dalnet



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Displaying 1-25 of 27 messages in this thread.