Pink Poogle Toy Forum

Nah, Al said to go with what you said among other stuff, "Jim is right"

But before you get a big head, he said not to listen to you on the RAID thing, he said that's for like servers and not necessary for a home PC. But we know why you'd probably use something like that and all the other things like the 400GB of space. And plus I think he was trying to get me to stop bugging him .

And you'll be glad to know that I ignored all of your drivel and the only reason I know what you posted was because Al read it and talked about it later. I'm glad though that I have your permission to ignore it

And please Jim, all this stuff about letting me do my own work, you are going to end up writing my report. Did I forget to mention that?
jkjkjk

I didn't realize that you were asking for everyone's input with the intention of just accepting advice from a single source - would've saved a lot of time if you had been up-front about that. Good luck with the project.



I know what I meant to say/type and there was no need to be condesending. Linux users do have a choice - infact, more so than Windows users in a way. Can't remember the last time I saw any decent open source drivers for Windows for any video card, but Linux users can choose either proprietary or open source drivers for ATI, NVIDIA and other hardware products. This means we don't get stuck with bad drivers in the event some large company is too busy to fix their own product. The ironic part is that I am currently running an ATI card (with open source drivers) on my Linux box.

It's not worth the "ego trip" if it is going to result in spreading false information, Jim. Made-up statistics don't help anyone in the long-run either.

I thought the purpose of this thread was to help with a school project, but it's not looking that way any more. I apologize if I hurt anyone's pride or tread on another's territory, as that was never my intent.

And you obviously aren't biased in any way.

Calm down please Linux. Nobody is being condescending. Neither myself, nor Charisma.

That's not what I'm doing or intend to do. The day that I listen to Jim will be the day, well it won't happen . My intention wasn't to make it seem like I'm disregarding your input, on the contrary, I've stated that I'm grateful for all of the advice, from anyone as it's much needed. You've helped confirmed my thoughts about the RAID thing and helped me with the ATI vs NVIDIA as well, thank you. I went to my partner with a copy of all that was posted on here at the time, for both of us to read and pick and choose what we thought you guys were trying to help us decide.

We've come up with some choices for parts and my sister suggested buying a combo. I would like to be able to post those parts and the combo and have as much input as possible too on what we can do to improve it etc. And thank you for the good luck wish, I'm sure we'll need it.

Its not hard though.

I built a new computer a few weeks ago, and it was the first time I've ever done such a thing. It essentially involves buying the stuff, plugging it in and switching it on. Very simple!

Okay instead of starting I new thread, as I posted before, I wanted to post what we came up with in the end and see your opinions on the items we picked for our PC. Let me know what you guys think and if you think the price is accurate for the items. We are trying to build an affordable but quite decent, if not a bit more than just decent, PC. I was thinking for gamers but she didn't want to do that and wanted to do a PC that we could do a lot of multitasking in. However, I think the professor thinks that is too general and we need to narrow our audience. If we were to go with gaming would this be fine or should we consider upgrading things like speaker, monitor, and graphics card? Anything we forgot? Any products you guys think are better? All input is appreciated, thank you guys in advance.

Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/app/viewProductDe ... 167&depa=0
Processor
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDe ... 390&depa=0
Case
http://www.newegg.com/app/viewProductDe ... 135&depa=0
Video Card-
http://www.newegg.com/app/viewProductDe ... 428&depa=0
Hard Drive
http://www.newegg.com/app/viewProductDe ... 014&depa=0
Cooling System
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDe ... 050&depa=0
Monitor
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDe ... 002&depa=1
IDE Cable
http://www.newegg.com/app/viewProductDe ... 112&depa=1
Network Cable
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDe ... 012&depa=1
Floppy Drive
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDe ... 005&depa=0
Ram Memory
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDe ... 062&depa=0
DVD Burner
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDe ... 251&depa=1
Keyboard & Mouse
http://www.staples.com/Catalog/Browse/S ... =IM1809120

Nice Computer! Do you mind if I have it? Just kidding, nice computer though!

Looks pretty sweet to me =) I steer clear of liquid cooling systems but it has it's fans *groan* =) I'll keep out of all the nvidia/radeon and pentium/AMD arguments though nvidia ?& AMD though, naturally

One thing that looks a little out of place to me is the monitor though. A lot of gamers shun TFT's and LCD's due to their shorter lifespan and ghosting that can occur. They're often not as responsive and in games like Doom 3 and HL2 it can make a big difference. Having said that the screen on my laptop runs games as well as our desktop (though without the awesomeness of the BFG GeForce 6800 the desktop has ).

But unless you can find reviews that specifically say that the LCD monitor handles high performance games without any ghosting I'd be inclined to pick a CRT monitor. Especially given the life span of a CRT compared to a LCD.

Also that LCD would be too small for most gamers, you want to get 19" at smallest, 21" is ideal but 19" is more affordable.

I'd also recommend an athlon 64 over an XP but that's maybe just me being biased =)

Hope that helps a bit

I'll echo the sentiments on the monitor. CRT's are still the way to go for a games machine unless you wish to pay the big bucks.

Also, Im not positive, but isnt the 9550 model of gfx card actually a cut-down version of the formerly excellent 9500? And almost comparable to the abysmal FX5200?

You can do better than the 9550 for your money. And with this being a games machine, I think you need to. A quick look lead me to believe you can easily pick up at least a 9600XT for a similar price. Looking further migh turn up even better results.


Please ditch the cooling system You really really really dont need it, and could use the money elsewhere.

Good luck Everything else youve chosen looks pretty good for your needs. Some of it is getting a little older now, but that doesnt mean it isnt still good kit to buy. You dont always need the latest and greatest. Especially if you dont like listening to your wallet cry at you

AMD is a good choice. Though you chose the 3200+, which is a solid processor, I would have experimented with a 64-bit.

I haven't built myself a new computer in a while because my setup is optimal. Though when the 64-bit prices go down, I may build myself a new system.

CRT monitors are the best for gaming. It can handle the high frame rates.

The Radeon 9550 cannot compare to the 9500. The 9500 has a better chip (0.13 micron I believe) than what the 9550 has, or even what the 9600 has. It was the same chip used in the 9700. Since the chips used in the 9600 can be cheaply produced, ATI stopped production of the 9500s and the 9700s.

Also, correct me if I'm wrong, (which i'm not) but from that list you've only bought the waterblock to go over the cpu. That will be about as effective as blowing on it tbh. You know you need a pump, special water (de ionised or something that will prevent rust) in addition to experience in PC building. You don't get a watercooling system for $15, so given that your current cooling system is physically unworkable, just buy a cpu heatsink and fan.

Watercooling is required only for people who want a near silent PC, eg people who leave it on all night in the room they sleep in, or overclockers. Given that you are neither of these, the expense of watercooling (which actually costs upwards of $100 for even the most basic kit) is ludicrous!

On your website, the cheapest is: http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDe ... 060&depa=0

Also, if you want to build the PC for gamers, I would suggest getting a radeon 9800 or at least a 9700, yes.

Also, your monitor is an LCD, which is poor for gaming - they have a slow response time which can lead to a blurring effect on the screen. AND they are expensive. AVOID. Buy a cheaper normal monitor, and you might have enough money to buy a big 21' screen or something. But DON'T buy the LCD one.

Okay thanks guys for the input .

Skullsplitter, we went with a fan instead. I don't think she noticed how much was going to be involved with water cooling, I know Jim's told me stuff about it but I don't really know much of it myself and thought she'd be able to pick out what she wanted.

I'm totaling up the price of everything and so far without the video card it's around 630 and some. I don't know much about what you guys are saying on the video card so I have to research this..unfortunately it's due tomorrow and I haven't had a chance to do work between my other things. I'm trying to finish up our powerpoint right now and adding up the prices without including shipping and handling or taxes...need to see if I can find them cheaper as well...almost midnight o_o.

We ended up going with CRT monitors since I went about search for what people who do gaming on their computers thought and they said the same as you gys...CRT are better unless you spend a lot of money. I don't know if the one we picked is good though maybe you guys can let us know. I went searching for a site that had the top gamming monitors but my search was fruitless. We also got some cheap speakers but I'm hoping they are fine, and this is for he college budget gamer lol , so it has to be affordable and yet decent.

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDe ... 231&depa=1

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDe ... 113&depa=0

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDe ... 032&depa=1

http://www.chiefvalue.com/app/productde ... 36-117-123


new links to the other things are those up there

thanks once again all, I really do value all the input. Okay, going back to researching the card thing.

Oh and for the graphics card...I found it for 79.00 that's why we were keeping it. However from what I'm reading the 9500 and the 9600 are better but I can't tell how much more the differnce is between the two and if the 9550 for 79.00 isn't a good value...I found the ATI Radeon 9600 PRO 256MB TV/DVI (OEM) for 109. however, even if that's better it's a considerable difference money wise. I need to know how much better it is and if it's worth the price diff..I'm still reading more on it, just so late I think I may head to bed.