I'm looking to buy a new comp...

[pbguy434]

Re: I'm looking to buy a new comp...

I like that keyboard, might have to blow some birthday moneyz on it. That, or maybe I won't. Either way, good pick, Razer rocks face.

 

[jrhather]

Re: I'm looking to buy a new comp...

Maybe a good pair of headphones if you are ever required to be quiet. I'm fairly loyal to Sennheiser in that department myself.

Unnecessary for me. Hence the over-the-top speaker system.

Peebles my dear. You've been extraordinarily helpful to me on this matter. REParations are in order.

So I should be just find with what I have listed? I plan on buying the monitors through a bigbox, the Razer products through their site and the other products I should be able to obtain via my local comp chopshop.

Thanks guys!!

 

[pbguy434]

Re: I'm looking to buy a new comp...

If you want great sound, get an actual speaker system. I love my setup, I have two tower speakers as the front channels, two smaller speakers on a shelves in the back of my room for the back channels, all running through a receiver to my computer. It sounds amazing and I wouldn't trade it for those little computer speakers. Basically all motherboards have a Digital In now, which is all you need.

 

[Dingus-demise]

Re: I'm looking to buy a new comp...

Decided to buy a laptop today. Figure it should be good for looking at pixellated boobs during school.

Hey big spender.

 

[pbguy434]

Re: I'm looking to buy a new comp...

15.4 INCHES?! YOU LUCKY BASTARD!

My dad won a lap top the other day. Good deal tbh.

 

[Nottheking]

Re: I'm looking to buy a new comp...

no i havent got that lucky yet :I

There are SO many ways to construe this. XD

douche.

its a correction, not an accusation.

Even if it WAS just a correction, it still wasn't done very nicely, judging by your choice of word.

I'm thinking of getting a solid TB of harddrive space. Is this affordable?

What would the best all-round video card be?

I've got 10k songs on my comp currently. What should I be looking at to provide the BEST sound possible?

Dual monitor, is this too much trouble/too expensive?

Peripherals: Wireless mouse/keyboard or what? What are the pro's and cons? Whats best? Infra or Optical? I was thinking THIS for a mouse.

I'm not planing on switching from XP Media Center Pro yet.... but is SP2 necessary? I've heard a rumor that it uses a lot of resources unnecessarily...

What kind of memory should I be packin'? 4GB DDR2-667 Kingston seems to be the most talked about recently, but I barely understand what it is.

I'm looking to connect this with my old Dell p.o.s. what kind of hub works best for a gaming L.A.N.?

Please keep the answers in English...I speak conversational Geek, I'm not fluent!

By the way, I wanted to mention that you guys are fuckin' stellar.

Answers:

• 1TB hard drives? Depends on what you mean by "affordable." They start at around $255, as like for thius Western Digital drive. Right now the cheapest "price per gigabyte" for hard drives would be found around the 500GB mark, with this Western Digital Drive for $100; 320, 400, and 750GB drives are close in what you get for your money, though.
• This depends on how much money you have to splash out. Here's roughly the best cards for the money: they provide the most bang for your buck. In short, I'd advise against spending more or less than the range of the list:
  • $120: Radeon X1950 pro 256MB - So what if it lacks DirectX 10 support? It's very powerful for the price.
  • $160: Radeon HD 2900 pro 512MB - Performance is comparable to the 3850 here, and it has 512MB of RAM. Downside? It's massive, runs very hot and noisy, and may require a particularly powerful power supply to run it.
    $170: Radeon HD 3850 256MB - Rather good and solid; runs pretty cool and quiet, probably moreso than the other cards listed here.
  • $190: Radeon HD 3850 512MB - Same as the one above though with twice the memory; depending on what games you play, this extra memory may be useless.
  • $240: Radeon HD 3870 512MB - Notably more potent than the 3850.
  • $280: GeForce 8800GT 512MB - While there are more powerful cards out there, they cost a LOT more, and are only a LITTLE more powerful. There may be a 256MB version out as well, but with this much power, you'll need all 512MB if you want to be able to use graphics settings that will truly allow you to appreciate how powerful it is.
• There are a variety of good speak sets out there. I don't think I can add anything on top of what the others have said.
• Well, do you think you'd have a REASON for a dual-monitor setup? Monitors aren't exactly expensive, at least on the cheap end. The main issue would be making sure you've got the SPACE for the second monitor.
• Razers are very good mice; I really doubt anything can top them. I'd note that the downside of wireless peripherals is that they require BATTERIES, which means that you occasionally have to recharge them, and they also weigh a bit more than their corded counterparts. For those reasons, I *personally* use corded ones, though others will prefer differently.
• SP2? Pretty much the main change it provides is that it adds in a crappy free firewall. If you're already using a firewall (as you SHOULD be) then there's no real reason for it, no. But I can't say that I've heard much on the resource usage of it.
• "DDR2-667" means that it's DDR2 RAM (as opposed to older DDR or newer and more expensive DDR3) and runs at 667MHz, roughly a middle-of-the-road speed. 4GB is a good quantity, but I'd personally go for DDR2-800; it costs about exactly the same, but as the name would tip you off, it's faster.
• All I can really say is: a wired one, like Ethernet. Don't use wireless networks for gaming, especially online: they slap on at least a good 100ms to your ping, if not more. (depending on how far from the hub you are)

I think you mean the GTS?? Here're the specs...which would be best?

No, the 8800GT. Amazing card for the money. (think $280 from NewEgg for starters, with other overclocked cards at some $290)

Note that in spite of the naming convention, the 8800GT is actually *faster* than the 8800GTS with 640MB or 320MB of RAM.

Anything I should add?

You're missing the following components:

• CPU - with such a good and pricey motherboard, I'd presume you'd want to use a powerful CPU.
• CD/DVD drive - Not too much difference between drivers here, aside from what types of disc they can read/write.
• Case - Not much difference worth noting between cases (aside from space and airflow) but note that unless it's an Antec Sonnata, expect to THROW OUT the Power Supply that comes with it.
• Power Supply Unit - Unless you get an Antec Sonnata, your case will come with a PSU that won't even be a good paperweight, and it'll likely burn out quick, cause crashes, and possibly risk damaging your other parts.

If you'd like, I can go into more detail on one or more of the above.

Decided to buy a laptop today. Figure it should be good for looking at pixellated boobs during school.

Let's hope you don't speak of your OWN boobs... It's that shiny.

 

[uome]

Re: I'm looking to buy a new comp...

• Razers are very good mice; I really doubt anything can top them. I'd note that the downside of wireless peripherals is that they require BATTERIES, which means that you occasionally have to recharge them, and they also weigh a bit more than their corded counterparts. For those reasons, I *personally* use corded ones, though others will prefer differently.
• All I can really say is: a wired one, like Ethernet. Don't use wireless networks for gaming, especially online: they slap on at least a good 100ms to your ping, if not more. (depending on how far from the hub you are)
• Power Supply Unit - Unless you get an Antec Sonnata, your case will come with a PSU that won't even be a good paperweight, and it'll likely burn out quick, cause crashes, and possibly risk damaging your other parts.

I would have to agree with not going wireless for the peripherals. I have tried ones with batteries and ones which are rechargable via a docking station and you really dont need the batteries runing out when your gaming.

Wired networks are much more reliable and much easier to set up. I use a belkin router with built in modem, again easier then having two seperate devices. I did try various budget ones but eventualy shelled out for a brand name product because of the ease of use and reliability.

It's always worth getting a good psu, they can be the cause of so many problems. Get one which can handle a lot more devices and power than you need. Make sure it has all the conectors needed for your board as quite a lot of boards now need some auxilary power conectors. But i'm sure most have these.

Your choice of speakes seems quite good. I use Logitch ones only a 2.1 system but they seem to provide a good sound at a reasonable price.

With the monitors i have to say i prefer the LG ones you suggested but why do you need two the same? Would it be best to have one large good quality widescreen monitor as your main one and your second one maybe even a 17 inch 4:3 format?

 

[uome]

Re: I'm looking to buy a new comp...

oops double posted.

 

[jrhather]

Re: I'm looking to buy a new comp...

Wireless? Fuck no. I've tried to play UO/UT on that before and I almost had an aneurysm. Never again.

UOME, you make a good point about the ratios...The monitors will be hooked up to two computers....so in effect, 3 monitors for two comps, one that is being shared between. I have an electrician friend that handles such intricacies.

NTK, price isn't a concern for me. I'm getting what I deem to be the best choice for my needs. I want quiet, durable, versatile products. If I end up paying 1k for each friggin' component to get that, then that is what I will do.

(at some point I want to run a mini test server of UO off my comp for my guild to fuck around on, and I want a machine that can handle a mere 6-7 other players on it.)

I want to thank everyone of you that answered my posts. You've all been a great help!!

 

[jrhather]

Re: I'm looking to buy a new comp...

I settled on:
Intel Q6600 CPU
Asus MAXIMUS FORMULA
4GB DDR2 800 RAM
Seagate 750GB HD SATAII
blueray/hd/dvd-rw SATA
standard 3.5 floppy....I had to have one
5.1 soundcard
nvidia 8800gts 512M
razer mouse/keyboard
logitech z5500 5.1 speaker system
dual 22" HP widescreen monitors
tv tuner card

I'm having it built for me, fun times. $3300 CDN all told...

 

[pbguy434]

Re: I'm looking to buy a new comp...

Should be epic.

 

[jrhather]

Re: I'm looking to buy a new comp...

Hells yes. Pics to be posted when she's all set up.

 

[VenusTheGoat]

Re: I'm looking to buy a new comp...

I settled on:
Intel Q6600 CPU
Asus MAXIMUS FORMULA
4GB DDR2 800 RAM
Seagate 750GB HD SATAII
blueray/hd/dvd-rw SATA
standard 3.5 floppy....I had to have one
5.1 soundcard
nvidia 8800gts 512M
razer mouse/keyboard
logitech z5500 5.1 speaker system
dual 22" HP widescreen monitors
tv tuner card

I'm having it built for me, fun times. $3300 CDN all told...

Beware of the beast in black, NIGHT CRAWLER My PC has roughly the same specs and I can guarantee that it is SMOKING fast Once again do not forget to buy a 64bit OS otherwise 1.25gb of your ram will not be recognized.

ps: IMHO instead of buying so expensive peripherals you should have bought a better monitor...Something like that I guess. Top of the line with a reasonable price: Samsung SyncMaster 244T

 

[p01n7e]

Re: I'm looking to buy a new comp...

Under "buy" Venus meant download a 64bit version of your preferred linux distro.

 

[jrhather]

Re: I'm looking to buy a new comp...

Beware of the beast in black, NIGHT CRAWLER My PC has roughly the same specs and I can guarantee that it is SMOKING fast Once again do not forget to buy a 64bit OS otherwise 1.25gb of your ram will not be recognized.

ps: IMHO instead of buying so expensive peripherals you should have bought a better monitor...Something like that I guess. Top of the line with a reasonable price: Samsung SyncMaster 244T

The 22" HP's I got will do just fine ;p

 

[jrhather]

Re: I'm looking to buy a new comp...

Under "buy" Venus meant download a 64bit version of your preferred linux distro.

That'd be helpful if I knew how to Use Linux...

 

[VenusTheGoat]

Re: I'm looking to buy a new comp...

Under "buy" Venus meant download a 64bit version of your preferred linux distro.

 

[jrhather]

Re: I'm looking to buy a new comp...

Hey Venus...you're not on the Danforth are you?

 

[VenusTheGoat]

Re: I'm looking to buy a new comp...

I'm actually on Rusholme Road...Its between Bloor and Dufferin and Bloor and Dovercourt (Very close to Ossington subway station) And you?

 

[jrhather]

Re: I'm looking to buy a new comp...

Just moved from Pape station to Scarborough. It's a wicked nice place
I work just outside Chester subway station, at Taste. Stop by sometime and say hi.