What computer stuff r u going 2 buy next & where (2 Viewers)

[Gilbert]

Forgive my complete ignorance... but what's so good about Unix? I'm guessing u can't play any games or sync with windows programs easily. I hope I'm wrong cos a second - hand iBook looks good if only for the battery life and stylishness

Hmm, either you have been hiding under a rock for 4 years, or you are so Windows centric that you think Longhorn is going to be most important thing this decade. In both cases you are wrong.

OS X is really where the action is going to be over the next few years. (Also Linux, Longhorn is too little too late) Most games have a Mac OS X (UNIX) port. Also, consider that Doom3 was developed and tested on OS X.......

I'm using a Pismo (Powerbook G3 500) in conjunction with a 2800 AMD 64, never had a problem with networking or gaming on the Pismo. As for windows sharing, it takes 4 mouse clicks to enable on OS X. Sheesh!

As for the next component I'm buying, its a 512MB PC133 SDRAM SODIMM for the Pismo. (Try saying that 3 times fast)

P.S. its iBook, not Ibook.

 

[HellVeN]

Cool thread.
I know very little about hardware. Mainly because I've had the same PC for years... It takes about 10 minutes to fully startup :O!

I'm thinking of getting a job so I can buy myself a better computer.
Is buying separate parts and assembling it yourself better than buying a whole premade pc? I want a strong gaming pc, capable of running hl2 and CS:S well.
I don't need a monitor.
I'd like a pretty big harddrive, 100GB would do ( It'd be better than my current 12GB and 3GB drives ).

What do you guys recommand? I need help cause i'm a real noob when it comes to hardware. My knowledge is limited. How much do you think a setup like i described above would cost, if I bought it all separatly and then assembled it myself.

Help meeee!

 

[Gilbert]

www.computermarkets.com
Cheap and reliable.

As for the comp, build it yourself definitely!
(Prices as of 2 months ago)
$150 Gigabyte K8NPro motherboard (Everything you will ever need onboard + linux drivers)
$320 2800 AMD 64
$145 160GB Western Digital HD 8MB cache, one of the best drives you can get. (Last weeks price)
$112 512 RAM DDR 3200
$72 9200 128MB ATI SE (yuck, but it was cheap)
$80 for a cool case with 550z PSU
$145 Pioneer A08 16x DVD-R 'Superdrive' (Last weeks price)
Total $1000ish

Counterstrike I play with max everything no probs, Doom 3 is a bit much for the 9200 (+ is more for Geforce cards). I think a 9800 512MB was about $600 at the fair, never really looked. Everything was colour-coded and well documented, it all went together no problems. Easy to build it yourself.

Goodluck.

 

[neuro_logik]

OS X is really where the action is going to be over the next few years.

Unix has always been where the action always was, all the way back in the 70's to our present day, but now it is moving into the hands of the average Joe or Jane... gradually. It just needs to become more user friendly (which Apple has done and it is great, but I'm speaking from the Linux perspective), and easier to use for the average person, as it is slowly progressing but it wil gradually get there soon enough. But stepping back to 1999 when i was new to *nix, it has changed significantly since then. But the average person needs to realise that you do not need to buy expensive software or Windows to run a machine. The Revolution has just begun

 

[HellVeN]

Thanks a lot for your advice Gilbert !
Over the next few weeks / months I plan to do a lot of research so I can improve my knowledge of hardware heh.
I was wondering Gilbert, are those your hardware specs also, do you run cs 1.6 or source and what fps do you get?

Thanks again.

 

[shiny]

www.computermarkets.com
Cheap and reliable.

As for the comp, build it yourself definitely!
(Prices as of 2 months ago)
$150 Gigabyte K8NPro motherboard (Everything you will ever need onboard + linux drivers)
$320 2800 AMD 64
$145 160GB Western Digital HD 8MB cache, one of the best drives you can get. (Last weeks price)
$112 512 RAM DDR 3200
$72 9200 128MB ATI SE (yuck, but it was cheap)
$80 for a cool case with 550z PSU
$145 Pioneer A08 16x DVD-R 'Superdrive' (Last weeks price)
Total $1000ish

Counterstrike I play with max everything no probs, Doom 3 is a bit much for the 9200 (+ is more for Geforce cards). I think a 9800 512MB was about $600 at the fair, never really looked. Everything was colour-coded and well documented, it all went together no problems. Easy to build it yourself.

Goodluck.

You can get an AMD 64 3200 for 300 bux (with motherboard purchase) at fluidtek right now. And let me tell you, fluidtek's mobos are a lot cheaper than anywhere else. For an extra $21, you get 40gb for your HDD. I've also heard that Seagate outperforms the WD HDDs, plus the WDs are more noisy

I'm so excited about getting a new comp *drools*

$172 Gigabyte-K8NS PRO
$300 AMD64 3200
$350 Radeon 9800 PRO 128 DDR
$166 200gb 8mb cache Seagate HDD
$145 512 DDR 3200 Geil (I'll grab an extra stick when I have more money)
$125 Pioneer 108D 16X Dual Layer
$210 Coolermaster Wavemaster Case (silver)
$90 Antec True Power 330W
$65 Coolermaster Hyper 6
$130 Logitech MX-Duo
$170 Flat 17" CRT
$98 Logitech z640 5.1
$50 SB Live! 5.1

If my parents are tightasses, I'll have to get the Thermaltake Tsunami with the PSU included

Edit: Almost all of the components are from fluidtek

 

[dritz2003]

Stop highjacking the thread !!!!!! grrrrrrrrrrr

Hey it's my thread I can jack it anyway I want so who do u guys think is hotter, Britney Spears or Jennifer Lopez?

you do not need to buy expensive software or Windows to run a machine

Who said anything about *buying* software, lol

$72 9200 128MB ATI SE (yuck, but it was cheap)

Oh no that is such a poor card to go with all that expensive kit, remember that u get the best price/performance in the mid range cards such as a
Sapphire ATI Radeon 9600XT 128MB for $240, check Ausprices for the best prices (online shops are ALWAYS cheaper than stores, even including delivery)

 

[shiny]

Or you could halve the 9600XT price and get the 9600SE for $120 (or less!) if you're not high on the latest games. In fact, 9600SE performs a shitload better than my current pos GeForce 4 MX440 *shudder*. And even that can play most of the games right now.

 

[neuro_logik]

so who do u guys think is hotter, Britney Spears or Jennifer Lopez?

hmm, Jennifer Lopez has a big ass and cant sing or act and also have been sleeping around, Britney Spears can't sing and doesnt have any brains in her, thats a tough one to choose. But based on body figure and stuff id go for both

 

[dritz2003]

Or you could halve the 9600XT price and get the 9600SE for $120 (or less!) if you're not high on the latest games

The 9600XT thrashes the SE in everything, and its not *that* much more if you buy a yum-cha brand like GeCube. Make sure they give you the right card and not some crap cheaper version cos they didn't have the stock. When u think about it, buying PC upgrades is cheaper than consoles, with a lot better graphics, and more in-depth game play, because u don't actually have to *buy* the games. By that I mean playing shareware games and demos of course.....

hmm, Jennifer Lopez has a big ass and cant sing or act and also have been sleeping around, Britney Spears can't sing and doesnt have any brains in her, thats a tough one to choose. But based on body figure and stuff id go for both

Wow that would make a good lezzo couple... :uhhuh:
Anyway Jennifer's big ass is a *huge plus*, and the fact that Britney isn't a squeaky clean virgin no more means that JLO gets my vote

 

[shiny]

Hmm... Seems like Gilbert is taking the lighter side of games, seeing that he didn't include a soundcard in his shopping cart. If he really wants a performance in games like Doom 3, then he might be lucky and pick up a 9800 Pro on eBay for only 300 bucks (340 at other places if he's unlucky)- double the pipes
I was initially going to go for the 9600XT, but I read some reviews and comparisons and decided to fork out an extra hundred dollars for next in the series.

 

[Gilbert]

Hey, neuro_logik see you at UOW next year. Got guarenteed placement in B. CompSci.
As for CS 1.6, no idea what the framerate is, powers out at the mo, so I'm on the laptop.
Oh and shiny, the Gigabyte K8NPro comes with a nice juicy Dolby surround soundcard built in. Who needs to waste $45 on a PCI soundcard? The better one is onboard. The games is an extra, but I'm pulling some good framerates thanks to the general speed of the MOBO, CPU and RAM.

BTW, this is what you can do with a good Fortron PSU. The silent PC ready for uni.

 

[shiny]

For an extra couple of bucks, you'd be able to get the Gigabyte K8NS Pro, based on the NForce3 250, instead of the predecessor, with the 150 series.

The mobo you intend to get has an integrated 6 Channel AC'97 RealTek ALC658 audio chipset, which produces 'decent' sound. However it is not up to nForce2 SoundStorm standards. So the onboard sound that might sound appetising to you, is not the be all end all of sound. Plus buying a sound card puts less stress on your CPU.
And from the words of an expert reviewer from ocfaq, "An add-in card is your best bet unless you really do not care about sound"

 

[neuro_logik]

Hey, neuro_logik see you at UOW next year. Got guarenteed placement in B. CompSci.
As for CS 1.6, no idea what the framerate is, powers out at the mo, so I'm on the laptop.
Oh and shiny, the Gigabyte K8NPro comes with a nice juicy Dolby surround soundcard built in. Who needs to waste $45 on a PCI soundcard? The better one is onboard. The games is an extra, but I'm pulling some good framerates thanks to the general speed of the MOBO, CPU and RAM.

BTW, this is what you can do with a good Fortron PSU. The silent PC ready for uni.

I hope to see you too, I hope I get my UAI of 75+, If I land in the 70's ill plea to the Informatics Faculty to let me in.

 

[rozzo]

120gig HDD from MSY @ Auburn

i need more ram
new vid card

 

[Gilbert]

"Plus buying a sound card puts less stress on your CPU." What a crock of poop! Maybe on a 33mhz. The only way to go is onboard. Unless you have the $$$ to waste on an unnecessary upgrade. I can understand a PCI sound card if you want MIDI, and extra channels for professional production. I agree with the GPU off the MOBO, but everything else on the MOBO is the best way to go. (As long as the manufacturer provides Windows/Linux drivers)

Got my 512MB PC133 SO-DIMM SDRAM, next up is a M7318 battery. $260 for 6+ hours of laptop life x2! Sweet!

 

[shiny]

From what i know about on-board sound, they suck much of the GPU resources, especially when the features like EAX are enabled. Apparently there is less burden on the processor if you use an actual card, less skipping etc. Cards don't rely on the CPU to make sounds.

The real point is if you actually are bothered to pay extra for a difference (big or small) for your music/gaming/video experience. If you are meticulous to sound (using good speakers), then the card is great. But onboard gets the "pfft. it sux" from all my friends.

 

[Grizzly]

im buying a laptop overseas...(hong kong) in december..
im also gonna buy an mp3 player and possibly a usb thumb drive...HK again...

Im guessing your ordering online from a HK shop ? (URL me those shops if so )
Or are you going there ?

 

[anti]

Hey, I've played a full 3d game with nothing more than the onboard gfx card. . yes. it sucks. it lags. but it is possible. I suppose it depends whether you play the game to look at it or for the gameplay .. im not sure why i play it

 

[dritz2003]

Hey, I've played a full 3d game with nothing more than the onboard gfx card. . yes. it sucks. it lags. but it is possible. I suppose it depends whether you play the game to look at it or for the gameplay .. im not sure why i play it

I know what 3D game it was..... Wolfenstein 3D..... well u don't play that for the graphics