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#74118 07/15/2001 8:41 PM
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What's up everyone? Well, I am in the neighborhood of buying a new computer but I need some ideas. I am looking for a computer that has a lot of space, can run alot of editing programs: images, flash, web design, video editing and such. But I am not sure were to start.

If you could just point me to maybe a couple companies.. I like Dell and sony. Seem pretty good.

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#74119 07/15/2001 8:49 PM
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I like Dell as well.... have bought ~15 pc's/servers from them in the last 4 years (we're hosted on a Dell as well). The video editing is what might hang you up on a desktop pc, maybe, depends on how much you plan to do and how deep in it you plan to get. A nice 8100 from Dell can do most general video work, some people need an avid tho smile


- Allen wavey
- What Drives You?
#74120 07/15/2001 9:13 PM
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If there's a Frys Electronics near you, I highly recommend the Build Your Own route.

They're currenlty running a special again, AMD Athlon 1.0G BYO system for $230.

It's a case with the motherboard already installed, along with a NIC and a modem. The board has onboard sound and video. It comes with the CPU chip which just needs to be plugged in, and have its fan mounted on top (takes all of two minutes).

Buy some memory, and cd-rom drive, and a hard drive, and pop those in and connect the cables. It's very simple.

Figure
$230 for the main components (case, board, modem, nic)
$120 for a 30G 7200 RPM drive
$30 for a 40x CD-ROM
$50 for a 256M stick of RAM

$430 for a nice system. Can't beat that. If you've never assembled one before, it might take you a couple of hours but its nothing difficult, especially since the motherboard is already installed.

My main computer took me about 2 hours since I had never done it before. My Unix box (which is basically what's listed above) took me less than an hour.

--mark


"Annnnnnnndd now, opening for Iron Maiden...... WYLD STALLYNS!!!" --Bill S. Preston, Esquire and Ted "Theodore " Logan
#74121 07/15/2001 9:58 PM
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Yea, a BYO system is best. Choose everything.
www.alienware.com has an AMD package. Check it out.

#74122 07/15/2001 10:10 PM
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Directron.com has all kinds of components, most OEM/whitebox, for really cheap. They're where I'm going to be purchasing my new computer parts from. (If you happy to live in the Houston area, you won't even have to pay shipping, since that's where their b&m store is. Lucky me! :D)

---Skorpion


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#74123 07/15/2001 10:33 PM
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MasterMind,

Went and looked at the site you showed me. Looks like a nice site I made a pretty nice system.

Skorpion,

Will look at yours next.


THANKS GUYS!

#74124 07/15/2001 11:02 PM
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go with Alienware if your gonna order a custom built one. they benchmark games on it for you before they ship it, and make custom manuals for your specific setup. laugh

#74125 07/15/2001 11:07 PM
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Quote
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Hey Skorp, where in Houston? I need to make a trip over there anyways, and can whack a few birdss with one stone smile


- Allen wavey
- What Drives You?
#74126 07/15/2001 11:14 PM
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Ok. Thanks for your help guys.

#74127 07/16/2001 11:18 AM
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If I were to get two harddrives whatelse would you recommend on the computer?

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#74128 07/16/2001 12:54 PM
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The absolute best place to get PC parts is www.newegg.com. This is where I will be getting all of my parts from for my new PC.

#74129 07/16/2001 1:12 PM
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Allen, Directron is located at 10641 Harwin Drive, suite 502. It's right off of highway 8 (or the Beltway, if that's what you wanna call it), in a shipping/industrial complex. Be careful, though - when I was there, they didn't have much in the way of advertising themselves. So look carefully at the suite numbers, because IIRC that's the only way you'll know which one is theirs.

You may wanna read this faq before you go, though. Their hours aren't very convenient for people with jobs . Luckily I work about five minutes away from them, so I have usually been able to make it in time. But if you're not very close, it may end up being more trouble than it's worth, unless you've got some weekdays off.

laugh Hope this helps.

---Skorpion


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#74130 07/16/2001 8:56 PM
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ive always like building my computers so i can tell u a company, i here gateway and dell are good =D

#74131 07/16/2001 10:39 PM
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Well, I am gonna use Alienware to build my new computer. Thanks MM.

#74132 07/16/2001 11:27 PM
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Just ordered my parts for my new computer today.

-EPoX EP-8K7A
-AMD Athlon-C Thunderbird 1.4GHz
-Crucial PC2100 512MB (2x256MB) DDR (received this today from UPS)
-Leadtek GeForce 2 Ultra 64MB
-IBM Desktstar 60GXP 40GB
-Mitsumi Floppy
-Cooler Master EP5-6I11 HSF
-Arctic Silver II

[ July 17, 2001 04:28 PM: Message edited by: GoTorankusuKu ]

#74133 07/16/2001 11:38 PM
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Sounds like a good computer!

[ July 16, 2001 11:39 PM: Message edited by: Tech-Ni-Kal ]

#74134 07/17/2001 8:55 AM
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Build your own.

#74135 07/17/2001 9:03 AM
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nononono... I HATE premade systems. Gateway and Dell are premade systems. Build your own. Most systems come with Intel not AMD which is why you should build your own.

Tech -- np, alienware's cool cases rule. You can choose anything..

#74136 07/17/2001 9:32 AM
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Just a little side-note here: Ordering one from Alienware is NOT building your own. It's customizing one and having them build it for you. And you can accomplish the same goal (with slightly lesser quality components) from Dell or HP or Gateway or any other major computer manufacturer.

Building your own, like what I'll be doing, is obtaining all the parts from somewhere like Directron or Newegg, and actually putting it together youself...

Just wanted to clear that up, before we get a bunch of n00bs thinking they're all 1337 from ordering an Alienware box. (Though that alone makes you at least partially 1337...) tipsy

---Skorpion


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#74137 07/17/2001 11:07 AM
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I knew that. Because it was all on the same page and it also said that it was pre built. When I visited newegg.com and directron.com I noticed you would build your own because of the way it was setup. But, Alienware is pretty kick@$$.

#74138 07/17/2001 1:01 PM
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Besides, with the money you spend on the AW computers, I can build myself 2 premium quality desktops tipsy

#74139 07/17/2001 2:06 PM
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Seriously?

#74140 07/17/2001 2:33 PM
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Heck yeah seriously!!

Just a quick rundown of a top of the line PC that I'll be building later this summer (prices from Directron - Newegg has most of the stuff even cheaper, I think, but I don't wanna pay shipping so I get mine from Directron):

Athlon 1.4ghz = $199
Iwill KA266 DDR mobo = 132
512MB PC2100 DDR ram = 132
60GB IBM HDD = 179 (I think)
16X Toshiba DVD = ~80
Floppy = ~20
Elsa Gladiac 920 (GF3) = 399 (that's retail; Directron don't have them)
GameTheaterXP soundcard = 149 (again, retail)
Antec SX1030B Case = 98

That all equals $1388; I know I got all the main components, give or take about $100 depending on other stuff you may want to add/remove. So you're looking at somewhere in the area of $1500 for a completely top of the line PC, and you'd probably pay close to $2000 to get it from any of the regular retail computer makers (HP, Dell, etc), even more than that buying from Alienware or the other major gaming box builders.

That doesn't amount to two whole systems, but I bet if you went for a higher-end medium system (say, 1.2ghz, 256mb ram, 40gb HD, GF2 Ultra), I bet you probably build two for the price of one retail box.

---Skorpion


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#74141 07/17/2001 2:41 PM
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Well, all that for $1500 I might as well go check out those places before going out and buying stuff. Test out what the best deal I can get and such. See I knew it was a good idea to start a thread asking instead of ordering from Dell or Sony or something. tipsy

#74142 07/17/2001 3:57 PM
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The stuff I bought yesterday had a $20 shipping which isn't all that bad for the savings you get from newegg o.O

#74143 07/17/2001 4:08 PM
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$20 isn't bad at all.

#74144 07/17/2001 11:50 PM
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hmmmm... the Alienware I just priced was more than the Dell I just priced and the AlienWare had lesser hardware and 2 years less warranty...


- Allen wavey
- What Drives You?
#74145 07/18/2001 9:46 AM
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Alienware is very similar to (shudder) Abercrombie, in that you pay a whole truckload of money for an inch-long label...

(Oh dear lord, I compared Alienware to Abercrombie... (I said that word twice in the same post, too...) Someone shoot me!!!!)

---Skorpion


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#74146 07/18/2001 10:02 AM
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I've been thinking of building my own PC too.

I put together a few bits I might put in there:-

MotherBoard: Abit KT7A (Socket A - AMD Thunderbird/Duron)
Processer: AMD Athlon Thunderbird 1.2GHz (Socket A) Guaranteed to 1.4GHz+
Case: Enlight Endura EN-7237 (250W PSU)
Power Supply: Macron MPT-301 300W ATX Power Supply - AMD Approved/Pentium IV Compatible
CPU Cooler: TaiSol CGK760092 CPU Cooler - Duron/Thunderbird (Socket A)
Hard Drive: IBM 60GXP 41.2GB UDMA100
FDD: 3.5 Floppy Disk Drive - OEM
CD-ROM: Teac CD540E 40x IDE CD-ROM - OEM
Sound Card: Creative Soundblaster Live! Player 5.1 - Retail
Graphix Card: ATI Radeon 64MB DDR VIVO (AGP) - Retail
Memory: Crucial 512mb 256mb x2

I have one question, which motherboard do you tink I should get the:Abit KT7A or 'I-Will KK266-R'??

I've heard they both good! has anyone here used either of them?

Can anyone suggested any good places to buy hardware online in the UK??

tipsy

#74147 07/18/2001 11:29 AM
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Well, I noticed that Alienware is like Abercrombie. It is alot of money. So I going to use either newegg or directron to purchase my computer parts. I like alienware's cases tho.

#74148 07/18/2001 11:39 AM
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coderjunkie: If you have or want a RAID setup, get the Iwill KK266-R. (The "-R" stands for RAID.) However, if you're not gonna use RAID, the -R version is useless. But just get the Iwill KK266 anyway, because it's a much better better mobo, especially if you want to OC your processor. It's very stable, the CMOS setup has all the overclocking options right there, and the Abit one you said has one of the capacitors in a location that is too close to the processor slot such that it gets in the way of some heatsinks.

---Skorpion


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#74149 07/18/2001 2:15 PM
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Any of you heard of ABIT's KG7-RAID? I have yet to find a vendor with this mobo.

#74150 07/21/2001 11:39 PM
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Do any of you think you could help me build a computer? I know what I want I just don't know what to pick from newegg.com or directron.com. Here is what I want. If you could be so kinid exactly what I should buy for each thing please post it. I have about 2,000 dollars to spend.

AMD Processor [1ghz]
Memory Stick at least 256
40-60gb hard drive
Cd ROm drive
Cdrw/dvd drive
Fan
Motherboard
Win ME
56k Modem
A case
Floppy drive
Sound Card-Good
Speakers-Good
Video Card


That's all I really need. It would be so helpful! Thanks!

#74151 07/22/2001 8:47 PM
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Anyone?

#74152 07/23/2001 11:21 AM
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Hey Tech.. check out gateway as a hot spot. They are really cool. Once you get your computer they have "Gateway GoBack" and that program lets you "goback" to an earlier date on your computer, if something was deleted or went wrong.

IE: Say I was working on an awesome UBB Title. Than I saved it. Than I was working on another one and accidently saved over the old one. *Happened before* frown Well just use GoBack and "goback" to the time before you saved over it.

Another helpful tool with gateway is that they give you these system restoration CD's. You can flip them into your CD-Rom drive and then re-install any damaged programs that you started out with and damaged or deleted.

Gateway is user-friendly entirely too. If you ever need any help talk to their live technical staff and they can help you a lot.

Hopefully this helped ya out, Tech-Ni-Kal

#74153 07/23/2001 11:55 AM
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1. Gateway uses cheap, low-quality components. Like, cheaper, lower-quality than most regular PC manufacturers.

2. It's a darn good thing Gateway's tech support is actually surprisingly really good, because the aforementioned cheap, low-quality components have a tendency to go haywire at alarming rates.

3. Have you ever tried to add new hardware to a Gateway? Not a pretty sight...

4. Last time I heard, I think Gateway was having financial troubles... Good support only lasts as long as the company is in existance.

Kenji Koopa, you may have gotten a decent experience with your particular system. But I know several people whose families/parents purchased Gateways due to their supposed ease of use and purchasing (none of my friends' own computers are Gateway, thankfully), and I've experienced and been told vicariously about lots of horror stories with that company...

---Skorpion


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#74154 07/23/2001 2:03 PM
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Woohoo, I finished building my new computer yesterday and it is blazing fast! One slight problem I ran into is that I can't restart automatically. It checks all the drives and just somewhat hangs, then I have to press the reset button to make it boot up again (ahh!)...

#74155 07/23/2001 4:29 PM
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Hmm, I dunno about gateway. My grandma has one and ahh is that hell... Oh well, any other suggestons would be great.

#74156 07/23/2001 8:33 PM
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I'd go with a custom,with LOTS of memory and in the range of 1 GHZ would be great.

#74157 07/23/2001 11:23 PM
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I was doing some overclocking on my GeForce2 Ultra and it runs stable at 305/510 (core/memory). I could run at 310/510 but it crashes like 10 minutes later -_-, also my CPU is gets real hot on full load (~55C-60C). Maybe time for a bigger HSF...

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