Going overboard building my new PC? - Page 3

StangFlyer · 03-05-2003, 02:17 PM

mustangman65_79,

Do you need the monitor and other stuff included in that, or will you use your existing monitor, keyboard, mouse, speakers, etc? If so, then you can actually build a really nice and fairly fast system for $1500. Do you have any preference between using a P4 or Athlon XP processor? I'm actually an Athlon fan, but right if you're look to build that absolute fastest (like this one I'm building) the high end P4's are currently king. But, for what you are doing perhaps the Athlong XP would be better since they are cheaper in price and still you can hit 2 Ghz.

Let me know your preferences...

Rice Hunter · 03-05-2003, 02:27 PM

Oh hey, got something else and want your opinion. I found that my laptop and tv (40some inch, I think, well, just plain big) both have an s-video input/output. I got an s-video cable (wow, pretty expensive for a cable) and hooked them up. I have a HUGE monitor now!

I was wondering if there is any drawbacks to using my tv as a monitor.... long term problems with the tv losing picture maybe? Or maybe the tv having too few colors to display things properly? Let me know, but for now, I think it's slicker than S##t!

StangFlyer · 03-05-2003, 03:03 PM

As far as I am aware of it should cause you any problems at all. That's what it's for. Once I get this new system built, I'm going to be running cabling through the basement to my big screen out in the living room, as the video card I'll have will do all the TV, video recorder functionality, etc... and has a wireless remote that lets you control it all (and the whole computer really). It can also be an video entertainment center...

lx5091 · 03-05-2003, 05:21 PM

rice hunter:
the only thing that COULD be a problem with using a tv as a monitor is the refresh rate of the TV, if it doesn't refresh fast enough it could cause a headache to look at for an extended period of time....but if that was the case you wouldn't be doing it! Some TV's though, just wouldn't work because of there refresh rate.

mustangman:
I use athlon XP's alot when building PC's because of the price....much cheaper and perform well. But for my personal PC's I use P4's because they just seem to process threads better. I couldn't explain it, I'm not a CPU engineer, but I find that when benchmarking similar xp and P4's that the XP chip will run some programs faster....but for overall use of your PC and mainly the functions of the operating system seem to gel better with the Pentium class chip.

all:
What most people don't realize is if they think their PC is outdated and want a new one....99% of the time their case and drives are pretty new and all you need is a motherboard, CPU and memory which could cost as little as $300 for a 2GHZ Athlon system! Instead they go to circuit city and spend $1000-$1500 on a whole new system.

StangFlyer · 03-05-2003, 05:24 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by lx5091
What most people don't realize is if they think there PC is outdated and want a new one....99% of the time their case and drives are pretty new and all you need is a motherboard, CPU and memory which could cost as little as $300 for a 2GHZ Athlon system! Instead they go to circuit city and spend $1000-$1500 on a whole new system.

Good point...

mustangman65_79 · 03-06-2003, 07:03 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Dan McClain
mustangman65_79,

Do you need the monitor and other stuff included in that, or will you use your existing monitor, keyboard, mouse, speakers, etc? If so, then you can actually build a really nice and fairly fast system for $1500. Do you have any preference between using a P4 or Athlon XP processor? I'm actually an Athlon fan, but right if you're look to build that absolute fastest (like this one I'm building) the high end P4's are currently king. But, for what you are doing perhaps the Athlong XP would be better since they are cheaper in price and still you can hit 2 Ghz.

Let me know your preferences...

Ok, here goes, I like the Athlon, so would like to use that, as for a monitor, mouse and keyboard, don't have one, but might get a used one, well, I am going to get a optical mouse. The speakers, I'll just use my stereo system, so I'd like to have the lastest and best version of sound blaster LIVE, I think it's what it is. I'm a little out of the loop lately on comps for that I used to follow them until I joined the AF, then I became mostly a car person. Oh, one last thing, it has to have a ethernet card, for that my friends and I always have a lan party(I use one of theirs).

StangFlyer · 03-06-2003, 11:06 AM

Well, for example you could build something like this:

BAREBONE SYSTEM W/ BIOSTAR M7VIP & AMD XP-2800+ (case, power supply, motherboard, CPU) - $475
512MB PC-2700 DDR333 BRANDED ECC REGISTERED RAM - $170
Ethernet Card - $20.00
Floppy Drive - $15.00
TOSHIBA 16X/48X DVD ROM DRIVE - $50.00
100 GB 7200 RPM ATA133 Hard Drive - $100
Radeon 9700 Pro Video Card - $330

The motherboard has on-board 6-channel digital audio already, so you won't need a sound card. This is also not really even shopping around big time for the best deals on every single component. I just pulled this off a place I've gotten bare bones systems from in the past. You can also drop down the price of the bare bones system over $100 by dropping down to the XP 2700 CPU. You can pick up a keyboard, mouse, and monitor on eBay used. In December I bought a mint 19" monitor on there for $130. If you really shop around the Net and everything, I'd say you can build this for $1000 to $1200 complete...

mustangman65_79 · 03-07-2003, 07:51 AM

How good is this Barebones system? I never even heard of them.

Also, how much for a second 50 GB hard drive?

StangFlyer · 03-07-2003, 08:59 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by mustangman65_79
How good is this Barebones system? I never even heard of them.

Also, how much for a second 50 GB hard drive?

Nothing wrong with them. Bare bones just means it's a PC already assembled minus the memory, drives, and peripherals. On the drive, a 60 GB one, you're looking at around $70.

mustangman65_79 · 03-07-2003, 03:55 PM

Now, if I can ever get off my lazy but, maybe I will get one when I get back home.

03-05-2003, 02:17 PM	#41
StangFlyer Founder Join Date: Jun 1995 Location: Michigan Posts: 19,326	mustangman65_79, Do you need the monitor and other stuff included in that, or will you use your existing monitor, keyboard, mouse, speakers, etc? If so, then you can actually build a really nice and fairly fast system for $1500. Do you have any preference between using a P4 or Athlon XP processor? I'm actually an Athlon fan, but right if you're look to build that absolute fastest (like this one I'm building) the high end P4's are currently king. But, for what you are doing perhaps the Athlong XP would be better since they are cheaper in price and still you can hit 2 Ghz. Let me know your preferences... __________________ StangFlyer 1991 Mustang GT - Supercharged 377 Stroker 2000 Ford Lightning - Project Lightning Hauler Media Center Gallery - View my member photos

03-05-2003, 02:27 PM	#42
Rice Hunter Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: The special place in your heart Posts: 388	Oh hey, got something else and want your opinion. I found that my laptop and tv (40some inch, I think, well, just plain big) both have an s-video input/output. I got an s-video cable (wow, pretty expensive for a cable) and hooked them up. I have a HUGE monitor now! I was wondering if there is any drawbacks to using my tv as a monitor.... long term problems with the tv losing picture maybe? Or maybe the tv having too few colors to display things properly? Let me know, but for now, I think it's slicker than S##t! __________________ Scott 453.9rwhp 387trq Lots of fun Convertible Penn State University Temple University School of Medicine (start August 27th )

03-05-2003, 03:03 PM	#43
StangFlyer Founder Join Date: Jun 1995 Location: Michigan Posts: 19,326	As far as I am aware of it should cause you any problems at all. That's what it's for. Once I get this new system built, I'm going to be running cabling through the basement to my big screen out in the living room, as the video card I'll have will do all the TV, video recorder functionality, etc... and has a wireless remote that lets you control it all (and the whole computer really). It can also be an video entertainment center... __________________ StangFlyer 1991 Mustang GT - Supercharged 377 Stroker 2000 Ford Lightning - Project Lightning Hauler Media Center Gallery - View my member photos

03-05-2003, 05:21 PM	#44
lx5091 Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: Fall River, MA Posts: 467	rice hunter: the only thing that COULD be a problem with using a tv as a monitor is the refresh rate of the TV, if it doesn't refresh fast enough it could cause a headache to look at for an extended period of time....but if that was the case you wouldn't be doing it! Some TV's though, just wouldn't work because of there refresh rate. mustangman: I use athlon XP's alot when building PC's because of the price....much cheaper and perform well. But for my personal PC's I use P4's because they just seem to process threads better. I couldn't explain it, I'm not a CPU engineer, but I find that when benchmarking similar xp and P4's that the XP chip will run some programs faster....but for overall use of your PC and mainly the functions of the operating system seem to gel better with the Pentium class chip. all: What most people don't realize is if they think their PC is outdated and want a new one....99% of the time their case and drives are pretty new and all you need is a motherboard, CPU and memory which could cost as little as $300 for a 2GHZ Athlon system! Instead they go to circuit city and spend $1000-$1500 on a whole new system. __________________ '02 Explorer XLT 4.0L --Nice Vehicle '97 Saturn SL1--Soon to be ditched for a Ford!

03-06-2003, 11:06 AM	#47
StangFlyer Founder Join Date: Jun 1995 Location: Michigan Posts: 19,326	Well, for example you could build something like this: BAREBONE SYSTEM W/ BIOSTAR M7VIP & AMD XP-2800+ (case, power supply, motherboard, CPU) - $475 512MB PC-2700 DDR333 BRANDED ECC REGISTERED RAM - $170 Ethernet Card - $20.00 Floppy Drive - $15.00 TOSHIBA 16X/48X DVD ROM DRIVE - $50.00 100 GB 7200 RPM ATA133 Hard Drive - $100 Radeon 9700 Pro Video Card - $330 The motherboard has on-board 6-channel digital audio already, so you won't need a sound card. This is also not really even shopping around big time for the best deals on every single component. I just pulled this off a place I've gotten bare bones systems from in the past. You can also drop down the price of the bare bones system over $100 by dropping down to the XP 2700 CPU. You can pick up a keyboard, mouse, and monitor on eBay used. In December I bought a mint 19" monitor on there for $130. If you really shop around the Net and everything, I'd say you can build this for $1000 to $1200 complete... __________________ StangFlyer 1991 Mustang GT - Supercharged 377 Stroker 2000 Ford Lightning - Project Lightning Hauler Media Center Gallery - View my member photos

03-07-2003, 07:51 AM	#48
mustangman65_79 My poor 79 RIP Join Date: Oct 2001 Location: Suisun City, Posts: 2,320	How good is this Barebones system? I never even heard of them. Also, how much for a second 50 GB hard drive? __________________ '84 mustang GT turbo '85 LTD '89 Camaro Irocz z28 '94 Lightning '96 Trans am

03-07-2003, 03:55 PM	#50
mustangman65_79 My poor 79 RIP Join Date: Oct 2001 Location: Suisun City, Posts: 2,320	Now, if I can ever get off my lazy but, maybe I will get one when I get back home. __________________ '84 mustang GT turbo '85 LTD '89 Camaro Irocz z28 '94 Lightning '96 Trans am

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