Getting a new computer. Need advice.

[fido123]

Originally Posted by MrRubix

That feels so weird to read.

I started out on Windows 3.1 or whatever, upgraded to 95, then 98, then ME (worst. mistake. ever.) then XP

XD

When I was a kid I only had a computer that ran on DOS. Thing is most youth around our age really started understanding computers (Or were at least influenced by people our age) was around the time XP was around.

[MrRubix]

Early windows had DOS -- I never had a computer that was strictly command-line, however. Although technically my very first computer was an old Apple II. Every time I wanted to play a new game, I'd need another huge-ass floppy disk. lmao.

[fido123]

Originally Posted by MrRubix

Early windows had DOS -- I never had a computer that was strictly command-line, however. Although technically my very first computer was an old Apple II. Every time I wanted to play a new game, I'd need another huge-ass floppy disk. lmao.

Same, but even Windows computer now have DOS, it's just been modified like 'deltree.*.' is replaced with 'RC /s /q' or something similar to that. The computer I had was command line only and I used to ask my dad to put the "magic words" into it to play a game.

[banditcom]

3.1.1 here...
90 mhz
4 mb ram, which we later upped to 8 mb ram
cd-rom drive!
sound card!!

[Emo_Saur_]

http://www.tigerdirect.com

Barebone kits, Desktops, all that jazz.

[ninjaKIWI]

My first computer was a VIC 20
I miss it, I think I'll gut it and put it in a milk crate. I still have it somewhere around here.

[MrGiggles]

Windows 3.1

I used to play Word Munchers on that thing. My God that was forever ago.

Everyone should do a hobo build at least once in their life. It's a really great conversation piece.

[darkshark]

Go to the nearest 3d production studio, and ask them if they have any old rendering stations they're getting rid of, chances are they will.

Tippet Studios was selling 8.8ghz quadcore Dells with 512mb graphics cards for around $300, and for a rendering station that's crap....considering most of today's single stations are anywhere between 24 and 40ghz.

I have the 8.8ghz model and it runs everything at max with zero problems.

[MrRubix]

Originally Posted by darkshark

Go to the nearest 3d production studio, and ask them if they have any old rendering stations they're getting rid of, chances are they will.

Tippet Studios was selling 8.8ghz quadcore Dells with 512mb graphics cards for around $300, and for a rendering station that's crap....considering most of today's single stations are anywhere between 24 and 40ghz.

I have the 8.8ghz model and it runs everything at max with zero problems.

Sweet jesus, what are the specs on such a thing?


And yes, the new computers also have "DOS" but it's really more of a "command line" shell -- back then I recall needing to reboot into DOS mode entirely, lol. I've never actually used a computer that was entirely command line, although I *think* the Apple II was? I can't honestly remember. I was really young and didn't use it for long, since we quickly got Windows and I started playing games like Lemmings, Commander Keen, Dark Ages, Commander Comic, Wolfenstein 3D, then Doom, Duke Nukem, etc etc.

Before that it was.... some polevaulting game, lmao.

[Red_Comet]

that's a sick idea DS, thanks for it, there's one right near regent university and I know how to get there even without mapquest or a nav system, might have to check it out this weekend.

[MrRubix]

Damn it, all the studios around here aren't getting rid of much.

[fido123]

Originally Posted by MrRubix

I've never actually used a computer that was entirely command line, although I *think* the Apple II was? I can't honestly remember.

Apple always had GUI. If it was command line it would be UNIX with like 80% of the commands removed.

[MrRubix]

All I remember is that everything was green -- the graphics, the text, etc.

[MrGiggles]

Workstation components aren't really optimized for gaming, but at $300 it's hard to care. Great buy.

Last winter Dell's European online store made a whoopsie and sold $2,400 Quadro FX cards for $24.00 each. The bastards canceled my order though once they found out. :<

[Tasselfoot]

hey guys... i had a corrupted HD a few weeks ago, and since getting my PC back from the shop, it hasn't been the same. i've got a little bit of extra cash, and it's been almost 3 years since i got this computer... so i'm considering buying a new tower.

i took the design based off of the earlier posted specs from newegg, although i went to cyberpowerpc directly. main differences are the dual-vid cards, little upgrade to tower, motherboard, warranty. price is almost 400 more though.

thoughts on the build... on whether everything will work together... on enough power/cooling for the whatnot. also, there was no option to RAID-0 the 2 1TB HDs... only option was for 2 250GB HDs, and that just isn't enough memory for me.



i can also sell my current tower for probably a nice piece of change, so that'll recoup some of the output. (i was thinking 800-1000?).

so, thoughts and advice?

-Tass

[virus003]

I didn't know this thread went for Tass's bank.

[MrRubix]

pretty much looks the same as mine although the two video cards are prob overkill -- i researched the singular model and it's going to chew **** out hardcore for a few years to come. By then it'll be cheaper to just get a better card than two of those cards now.

[Grandiagod]

Whoops I missed this thread

[MrGiggles]

I'm going to tell you the same thing I told Rubix. I'm assuming this PC is for gaming.

Super God machine gaming builds are horribly cost inefficient. I strongly recommend that you purchase a tower in the 1k-1.5k cost range if it's a premade, .7k-1.2k if you build it yourself. That will be more than enough for max settings on just about any game.

I don't really recommend SLI'ing two GTX 275's either, since a single card that's twice as powerful would be more efficient and probably generate a little less heat, which is always a good thing. Also it's ridiculous overkill unless your monitor is HUGE. One GTX 275 is pretty much more than enough for most monitors.

I'm divided on the use of i7's in gaming builds. i7's have more threads than any current video game can make use of. 4 cores, two threads per core. Most games utilize two cores (threads, really) to some degree, and maybe two or three games can utilize the four cores of a Core 2 Quad. So, as of right now, i7's just aren't cost efficient enough to be an obvious call. In the future, 8 threads will be great for gaming, and a good deal cheaper. But not yet. I think a upper-end Core 2 Duo would suit your needs just fine, although if you didn't downgrade anything else it would eventually become a bottleneck. As a side effect, the motherboard for a Core 2 Duo would be significantly cheaper. Dunno if CyberPower would find or have one for you. On the other hand, technology is advancing at quite a pace, and the recent trend in increasing cores leads me to believe that most games in the near future will use more than 2 threads, so Core 2 Duo is probably about to become outdated. In two or three years, maybe. They're much cheaper though.

Since it's a premade, you'll be all set on cooling and everything else that's really important like the power supply. 800W is probably barely enough for that setup, so if you want to upgrade to anything more power hungry in the future you'll have to upgrade the PSU as well.

12 GB of RAM is great, I'm of the opinion that since memory is so cheap getting as much as possible is a good idea. It's the only component you can really future proof with, and 12 GB will last like a decade or so.

I can't find any pics of the case with a quick google search, so I don't have any input on that yet. Trying to view images on an iBook G4 is pretty difficult anyway, so I didn't try hard.

EDIT: The first result from Grandia's search was kind of a ****ty site. It's also outdated, which makes it even funnier since it recommended a core 2 quad for gaming. Don't listen to it.

EDITEDIT: wall of TEXT
Went to the Raidmax site. Side vents r ghey. blue LED's help keep your system cooler, those are good.

The site doesn't really give me a ton of information, like if it has cleanable dust filters or other nice little things. Their idea of key features is that it has LED's, 120mm fans, and an e-sata port.

EDITEDITEDIT: rofls
I did a little more research, and I learned that Tom's Hardware compared two GTX 275's in SLI (Tass's setup) to a single GTX 295 (Rubix's setup).

What's interesting about this experiment is that a GTX 275 is exactly half as powerful as a 295. So, does 2 of them make one 295?

The conclusion was that two 275's are actually more powerful than a single 295. This is largely because of the increased PCI-e 16 bandwidth you get from using two slots, as opposed to the one slot the 295 would take up. The other reason is that 275's have a bit of a clock speed advantage over the 295. This easily makes up for SLI being an imperfect system. Who'da thunk it.

Unfortunately, two 275's use more power and generate more heat than a single 295, in addition to hogging a bunch of expansion slots that could be otherwise used for... stuff. They're also more expensive than a single 295, but only about $20 more.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/...-sli,2298.html

[Tasselfoot]

appreciate all the info. wish i had read it earlier. i went ahead and bought my machine listed above, with one difference. i did switch to the 1 295 instead of the 2 275s. it was 60 bucks cheaper, and it allows me to use 2 monitors instead of 1 (the SLI set-up apparently can only handle 1 monitor).

i would have upgraded the PSU beyond 800W though, had i read it. but i'll keep it in mind that if i upgrade something else, i should upgrade the PSU.

as far as my monitor... it's a 24" widescreen LCD by optiquest. it's pretty darn nice.

i'm perfectly fine spending 2500ish, because it'll last me 3 years. this machine lasted 3 years and i can still sell it for a few hundred, at least. which drops the effective cost lower than 2500 anyway. PLUS i found a 5% off coupon and the company is only 40 miles from where i live, so i'll drive and pick it up... save 130 on the coupon and another 70 bucks (and like 2-3 days) on shipping.