lokoike
-
Posts
1,153 -
Joined
-
Last visited
Posts posted by lokoike
-
-
Circuit City has a HP for $719, new in the box, that's nice. Needs a graphics card.
For Lokoike, it's got a Athlon 64bit 4200 dual-core processor.
Wow, for the price, that definitely isn't bad! The proc alone is worth $350.
Plus, that HP has a free PCI-E 16x slot, so you can put in a brand new video card.
I would certainly keep the HP in mind, if you have the money.
-
its a refurbished PC. he got it 6 mo. ago.
brand new, hadn't even been out of the box.
Oooo...
Refurb isn't always my first choice. If it had been brand new parts, that would be one thing, but I'm always hesitant about refurbished hardware. I guess it's more of a personal preference than anything, but if I was you, I would make sure it still has some form of warranty.
i cant figure out how to get the total specs of the card.whats the run shortcut for that?
Well, at least to get a basic idea of what it has, click Start, then go to All Programs > Accessories > System Tools > System Information. Once System Information loads, expand the Components box on the left-hand side of the window, and then click Display. Post the "Name" and "Adapter RAM" listed.
-
probably not since i dont know what it is.
it has a S-video if thats what you mean.
is it good for the price?
i need to know by sunday night.
Why would he cripple a fairly well-balanced rig like that with a measily 75 GB HD? If you aren't worried about saving much audio and video on that computer, 75 GB should be alright, but still...
Is he building it new, or is it used? If it is used, I would ask him to throw in another 200 GB HD for free, since he isn't including a monitor, speakers, or any input devices.
Also, try to get detailed specs about that video card; that could make or break the deal.
-
I'm collecting parts for my first pc build. I'm getting WIndows XP - understanding I will upgrade to Vista at some point un the future. I know OEM is a lot cheaper than retail, and my understandng is that OEM would be limited to the pc I build and intall it on. Is that true? Are there any other pros and cons to OEM versus retail for Windows XP?
Yes, an OEM OS is limited to the hardware it is initially installed on. So if you swap out your mobo or replace a hard drive at any time after installing OEM Windows, you are then supposed to buy another copy of Windows. OEM is a great way to save a lot of money, but it is best for people who either:
1. Don't plan on changing their hardware
or
2. Plan on getting a different OS before they do change their hardware
Depending on when in the future you want to upgrade to Vista, that will determine whether or not to go OEM. If you will probably upgrade or add in new hardware components before you get Vista, you should get a retail copy of Windows. But, if you plan on getting Vista soon after it's release, you might as well just stick with OEM.
I personally stuck with OEM WinXP Pro for my computer, because I plan on upgrading to either WinXP 64bit Edition, Linux (not sure which v. just yet), or possibly (but most likely not) Vista.
-
...and some operations are slower than on mechanical disks I think...
Really? I don't see why that would be. I was under the impression that any Flash ROM address could be accessed instantaneously, while of course, hard drives have to spin to the addresses one by one. I guess I'll have to read up on that and figure out which is faster...
But yeah, Flash ROM totally rocks! I've heard that a Flash ROM drive only uses around 5% of the power consumed by a hard drive, so just think of how long a notebook battery could last! Pretty sweet.
As far as the limited number of writes, I sure hope they can up that number. For now, I would only use a Flash ROM drive as a backup, since backups aren't written to and read from as frequently as an OS or application drive.
I will note that I had a 256 MB Flash ROM stick that I filled and emptied daily for over a year, and it never had any troubles whatsoever. So hopefully the short life span issue is more hype than anything. I guess we'll find out soon enough...
-
Of course you could notice the difference between 800x600 and 1600x1200.
But most integrated sound chipset are of really good quality nowadays, sure if you're doing music and use it with external studio components then an high-quality sound card is needed. But you are probably not likely to notice any difference between a built-in soundcard and an X-Fi, it sounds pretty much the same. Someone would notice a huge difference between 16 and 256 colors, but not between 100 million colors and 100 billion colors.
I realize that my integrated 24-bit sound is very good. But I am fairly certain I would notice a difference upgrading, due to reviews I have read by people who chose to take the same route. And I've heard that the X-Fi offers unparalleled gaming audio, something that integrated audio has a much harder time reproducing. Most likely my CDs won't sound any different, but when there are multiple sources of sound of high quality sound (such as newer games), that is where the X-Fi really shines.
If nothing else, at least one can be certain that you would never have to worry about choppy sound anymore, since the X-Fi has it's own powerful dedicated processor (APU?). For now, the integrated is fine, but getting a standalone sound card is certainly a potential on my future upgrading list (more so than the second video card, actually).
Oh, and I have no intentions of getting a separate NIC, since my mobo already has dual gigabit eithernet.
@ zaph: I <3 the case on that rig, zaph! My favorite color! Nice specs, too!
-
S939 is Future-Proof? Why no AM2?
Here, read this.
At the time I was buying parts, there just wasn't much selection in AM2 mobos. I figured I'd be better off with a really good 939 mobo than a cruddy AM2 mobo. I'll deal with DDR1 until DDR3 comes out, and then I'll make the upgrade.
-
P4 here but may interest some AMDers.
Quote:
Intended for all owners of dual-core processors, AMD Dual-Core Optimizer is a piece of software that allegedly improves gaming performance by bypassing Windows' API in some specific situations.
Nice! I'm downloading it now. Thanks for the link!
-
...Btw, sorry for hacking it, but you wouldn't believe it if I wouldn't have prooved it...
Hmm... interesting.
Anyways, thanks a bunch for the coming version of CC, MrG. Sounds pretty sweet!
-
X-Fi or not, you most likely wouldnt be able to tell the difference from an integrated on-board audio chipset.
You wouldn't know because you don't own an X-Fi board, now do you?
Running a separate sound card not only takes strain off your other components, but it also produces a significantly better sound, whether or not you choose to believe it. I suppose you believe that nobody can tell the difference between 800x600 and 1600x1200 screen resolutions either, right? note the sarcasmYou can say you preparing for future, but in a month or two, your computer is old and there are new badass stuff to drool after.Quad-core ZOMG!!!!11 DDR3 ZOMG!!!111 nVidia GeForce 10000 ZXTXGTX 3D Pro eXtreme Fatal1ty FPS+ XP ZOMG!!!!11
Hmm... just a moment ago you were saying that I spent too much money on hardware that I would never use to its full potential, and now you're telling me it will be obsolete in a month. Which is it, Eldmannen? Is my computer too good, or too crappy?
Nothing will last forever, but I can say with confidence that my computer is far more "future-proof" than whatever crap you're running. Sorry if you don't like it, but then it isn't your computer, is it?
-
Yep have heard the 64 bit can handle up to 16 gig of ram but it may be a rumour.
Anyone know for sure?
Apparently WinXP 64 bit edition supports up to 128 GB of memory! Makes my 4 GBs seem kinda piddly, now doesn't it? But that is kind of strange, because I've heard that the 64 bit version of Vista only supports 16 GB... apparently one of my sources is wrong, or MS is just really stupid.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_XP_Pr...nal_x64_Edition
-
Some people have too much money to spend...
850w ?
You wont even use half that.
4 GB RAM ?
XP afaik can only handle 2 gb or so.
And you are not likely to even 1 gb of RAM most of the time.
Silly Eldmannen...
In fact, my Windows XP Professional 32-bit supports 3 out of the 4 GB, and I plan on getting 64 bit edition, which supports more than my motherboard can handle. And of course you would have no idea how much of that would be in use during my normal use, now would you? You see, unlike you, I don't freak when more than 200 MBs of my page file are in use, and start turning things off. I always have a dozen things going at once (P2P, audio, web browser, chat, console emulator, etc.), so I easily use up large amounts of RAM, which is why I bought that much.
As far as the PSU, during normal use in normal temperatures, obviously I don't use 850 watts. But I do plan on getting another large hard drive in the future, an X-Fi soundcard, and possibly another x1900XT and optical drive. Like I stated before, I built this rig with the future in mind. Also, I'm building it with extreme conditions in mind. On a hot day during a LAN party, the room temperature can easily raise over 80 degrees, and I don't want my components fizzling out due to a wimpy PSU. To me, a PSU is one of the most important and fundamental parts, so I made sure to get an excellent one that won't let me down, even in extreme situations.
-
The X1900XT =DDD
A little loud, though, didn't want to go a little bit higher and go for the 7900GTX?
The sound wasn't really an issue for me, because I replaced the stock VGA cooler with an Accelero X2 (see edited list). It runs very quiet, and cools better at 2k rpm than the stock fan. Kinda bulky, though!
I was planning on going with NVIDIA for this rig, but I chose ATI for 2 reasons:
1. At the time I purchased my CPU, Newegg was offering a combo deal that knocked $80 off the x1900XT if you buy them together! Couldn't really pass that up...
&
2. Maximum PC ran both cards against each other, and while the NVIDIA won most of the game tests, the ATI beat the living hell out of NVIDIA in the video tests. And since I plan on watching and editing a lot of video with this machine, I figured I could afford to give up a couple FPS in Obilvion...
-
Hi all,
A new release of CCleaner will be out this week to fix the IE7 uninstall bug and a few other issues. Will post a changelog when it's ready.
Also I've moved the Suggestions thread into it's own subforum. Thanks to TwistedMetal for that suggestion.
MrG
Ah, splendid.
-
"What would Artemus Clyde Frog do?" - The Great Eric Cartmen
-
Hi lokoike,
Really like your setup and will be upgrading to something similar in a year or two.
Couple of things I would change though.I would have DDR2 ram and a couple of 10,000 rpm raptors.
But a couple of years is a long time in pc tech.
At the moment this p4,3ghz,1gig ddr is holding up just fine.
Yeah, I was thinking about going the DDR2 route, but my processor and motherboard are both socket 939, which doesn't support DDR2. I could've gone with socket AM2 (which supports DDR2), but at the time I bought the parts, the AM2 socket had only been on the market for about 2 weeks, so there wasn't much variety in motherboards. That's the only problem with AMD: they took so long to adopt the DDR2 standard. Intel has been supporting it for many months now. I probably won't upgrade my RAM/CPU/mobo until DDR3 rolls around in desktops. I'll just skip over DDR2 so that I don't have to make two upgrade cycles.
As far as hard drives go, I'm not all that big of a fan of 10,000 and 15,000 rpm drives in general, because of storage constraints. See, I plan on filling my 2 320 GB drives up in a matter of months, so obviously the smaller Raptors wouldn't work out too well for me. But for people who do mostly gaming, they offer plenty of speed!
Out of curiousity (and slightly off topic), do you plan on using Intel or AMD? You'll have to post and/or email me your specs when you get them picked out.
Oh, and I have a few more little parts (fans, CPU and GPU cooler, etc.) that I got for my computer too, so I'll add them to the original list when I get the chance.
-
why not just buy a laptop with that kind of money?
lol, I've already got 2! Plus, when you buy a notebook, you spend more money for less power, and you can't do much about upgrading it in the future. My case will easily last me 10 years, because it supports both ATX and BTX motherboards. My PSU, assuming it doesn't die, will last me a long time as well, because it is 850 watts and supports up to 6 SATA hard drives and 2 video adapters. My hard drives both have 5 year warranties, the RAM has a lifetime warranty, the CPU is dual core, the video adapter has a fast core and half a gig of GDDR3... this was made with the future in mind. I don't plan on spending too much more on it for many years to come.
I figure I'm better off spending a lot on a computer that will last me a long time than spending $800 on some piece of junk and then having to buy a new one 2 years later.
@ oli: I will easily get $3k worth of utility out of it. How much you use it and what you use it for determines how much you spend on it. This computer isn't just my gamer; it is my multimedia powerhouse. I will use it for watching, storing, and editing video, music, images, documents, and anything else. It serves as my television, my stereo (and eventually my surround sound), my DVD player, my number cruncher, my video game console, my typerwriter, all in one box. What some people might spend on a motorcycle or landscaping, I spend on a new computer. Everyone has their passion, and this is mine. Sorry if you consider that a waste.
@ Andavari: Nice optical drive! I was gonna go with Plextor, but at the last minute I cheaped out and got a solid, but slightly slower Samsung.
-
around how much?
$2000?
$12000?
$100000?
Heh, a little more than the first one, and a whole lot less than the last two.
-
w0w, how much did that one cost ya?
Um... a lot.
-
In case anyone was curious, I thought I'd post the specs for the new computer I built for myself last week. All parts were purchased from Newegg.com .
Case: COOLER MASTER Stacker
Specs: ATX/BTX full-tower, aluminum, silver, side panels, 1 x 120 mm fan, 25.2" D x 9.8" W, 21.1" H
PSU: PC Power & Cooling TURBO-COOL 850
Specs: 850W continuous, 950W peak, dual PCI-E, 6 SATA, 24-pin main connector, NVIDIA SLI Certified, 85% efficiency, MTBF > 100000 hours
Motherboard: ASUS A8R32-MVP
Specs: ATX, dual PCI-E x16, socket 939, ATI XPRESS 3200 North Bridge, 6 SATA 3 GB/s, 4 GB mem. max, dual Gigabit ethernet
CPU: AMD Athlon 64 X2 4200+
Specs: 2.2 GHz clock, 2 GHz HT, 64-bit, 2x128k L1, 2x512k L2, socket 939, 90nm, 3-year warranty
RAM: Corsair XMS
Specs: 4 GB (4 x 1 GB), 184-pin DDR SDRAM @ 400Mhz, 2-3-3-6 timing, heat spreaders, lifetime warranty
Video Adapter: ATI Radeon X1900XT
Specs: 625 MHz core clock, 1450 MHz memory clock, 512 MB 256-bit GDDR3, 16 pixel pipelines, 48 pixel shader processors, VIVO, 2560 x 1600 max res., Shader Model 3, AvivoTM, CrossFireTM, DirectX 9, OpenGL 2, PCI-E x16
Hard Drive: Seagate Barracuda 7200.10
Specs: 640 GB (2 x 320 GB), 16 MB cache, 7200 rpm, SATA 3 GB/s, NCQ, Perpendicular Recording Technology, 5-year warranty
Optical Drive: SAMSUNG DVD Burner
Specs: DVD+R/-R 16x, DVD+RW/-RW 8x/6x, DVD+R DL/-R DL 8x/4x, DVD-RAM 5x, CD-R/-RW 48x/32x, ATA/ATAPI, 2 MB cache, LightScribe, black
LCD: BenQ FP202W
Specs: 20.1" widescreen, 1680 x 1050 max res., WSXGA+, 24-bit color, 300 cd/m2, 60W, 0.258 mm pixel pitch
Operating System: Microsoft Windows XP Professional SP2 OEM
EDIT:
Mouse: Logitech G5 Laser
Specs: Right-handed, 2000 dpi laser, 6.4 megapixels / second, 500 reports / second, 6 buttons, 1x wheel scrolling, 38 grams of weight
Keyboard: Microsoft B2M-00015
Specs: Ergonomic keyboard w/ integrated palm rest, 103 normal keys, 17 function keys, wired, USB, black
Case Fans: ASPIRE CF12SL-UGN
Specs: 4 x 120mm fans, 25 mm deep, 1800-2200 rpm, 77.26 cfm, 35.48 dBA, 4 pin power, clear green plastic, green LEDs
CPU Thermal Compound: Arctic Silver 5
Specs: 3.5 grams, conductance: >350000 W / m2 ?C, resistance: <0.0045 ?C in2 / W, 3-12 ?C temperature reduction
CPU Cooler: COOLER MASTER RR-UMR-P9U1
Specs: 92mm fan, 25mm deep, copper heatsink, 1800-3200 rpm, 26-36 dBA, rifle bearings, socket A / 370 / 462 / 478 / 754 / 939 / 940 / LGA775, 3-4 pin power
Video Adapter Cooler: ARCTIC COOLING Accelero X2
Specs: 2000 rpm, 9.82 cfm, 0.4 Sone, fluid dynamic bearings, aluminum heatsink, 6 copper heatpipes, 6-year warranty
-
CaPMan, I'm not so sure that heat could cause the graphics card to have lag... I have a FX5200, and can run Oblivion - and it runs fine, even though the fan on it is broken (leaving me with just a heat sink).
keithek2000, your random restarts would be much easier to fix if you would post your hardware specs. Also update your latest drivers - Windows Updates and graphics drivers for your graphics card.
Not to be argumentative, but actually an overheating GPU or CPU could very easily cause wrong calculations and / or crashes. When the silicon on a processor gets too hot, it starts to change form (liquify) and that means that the circuits within can temporarily short and cause a crash. If it is left too hot for too long, it can permanently damage that component. That is why people experience crashes when they overclock. Overclocking generates more heat, and heat is what causes the crashing.
If that is not the problem, keithek2000 I would check two other things:
1. Make sure your video drivers are up to date. If you have an ATI GPU, go here:
http://filehippo.com/download_ati_catalyst/
If you have an NVIDIA GPU, go here:
http://filehippo.com/download_nvidia_forceware/
2. The second suggestion I have (and make sure you've tried suggestion 1 before doing this one), is to make sure you have the most current BIOS installed. If you don't know about this one, post your motherboard information, and I'll see if I can find an update for you. Some BIOS manufacturers, such as ASUS, offer simple-to-use BIOS updating software, while others are much harder and more risky to use. If you are at all unsure of how to update your BIOS, please wait until you have all of the answers before trying it yourself!
I personally updated my BIOS on my new computer a couple days ago, and it resolved numerous video issues, so keep that in mind as a potential fix.
-
A stay in the freezer did him a world of good, followed by removal of the dangles.
Hmm... a ball-less catcicle... yeah, doesn't sound too intimidating.
-
Dumb question time, how do I do that when I can't see it?
Hey mps69_1999,
To view and edit all drives connected to your computer, go to Start > Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Computer Management. Then expand the Storage list and click Disk Management. All of your partitions should be listed in the section on the right.
The disk that is not showing up in My Computer should have a black bar above it (instead of the blue bar that shows up on your other drives). You can right-click the drive and select New Partition or Format, depending on the current status on the drive. If the partition hasn't been set up, do that first, and then format. Otherwise, just format. Your drive should now be recognized.
Let me know if that works out for you.
-
Just caught this on another forum, takes a second or so to load, but it's amazing
Very cool, hazelnut! I'll have to bookmark that.
hows this sound for $600?
in Hardware
Posted
Well, any computer with a DVD reader and audio outputs could be used as an HTPC. It isn't like you need anything special. You could also put in a TV tuner or cable card if you wanted, but still, even a no-frills PC could do the job.
That said, I do agree it is silly to include Media Center Edition as the default OS, since most people will probably only use their computer as... a computer. But you don't have to use the Media Center faceplate, and underneath of it is good ol' WinXP, so it isn't like you're losing anything with MCE.