Computer Stats

[Bilange]

<-- Looks like i'm signing or something

Ive had good results with an Asus A7V-133. Asus is another brand you don't want to ignore..

[Dantax]

Re: Computer Stats

Originally posted by JohnCho

I was looking at the VPR Matrix. Looks good, with good parts and affordable price.

This one doesn't look too bad.

http://www.bestbuy.com/detail.asp?e=...8&cat=0&scat=0

It includes what should be a nice keyboard and mouse, USB and Firewire ports, room for more expansion etc... It includes MS Works, so you'll have your word processor, but I don't know about any spreadsheet or database software. Some schools have software like that available for free or cheap. My friend at UF can legally download and install many different MS programs that the school provides.

The video card is a bit slow for my taste, but you may find it suitable for what you want to do. Throw in a TV Tuner for $50- $100 to watch TV and use your PS2 then you're good to go I think.

I couldn't tell you much about choosing a monitor, I'd say find one that looks nice and has a decent warranty. Most 17" monitors max out at 1280x1024. Refresh rates at the top end of the monitor are usually limited to 60hz. Most people run their desktops at 800x600 or 1024x768, so I'd make sure it can do 85 or 75hz at the minimum for the resolutions you'll be using. Unless you upgrade your videocard, you won't be doing too much gaming beyond 1024x768 anyways I think.

You'll need a printer too. Print quality probably won't be a big deal for most of them, what will be an issue though is the price of ink and whether or not there are 3rd party refill kits available if you want to be really cheap. Also pay attention to how much each ink cartridge contians, and make sure the printer can hold both color and black cartridges at the same time.

[Epinephrine]

John, if you want software I would hold off until you actually get to school. As a college student your school will likely of signed up with Microsoft for student discounts. You can get stuff like MS Office for 1/2 the price or even less.

Of course you could also "borrow" your programs from an anonymous "friend" over the internet, and since that "friend" shipping the CD is too hard, you could always just download

-Epi

[JohnCho]

Originally posted by Epinephrine

John, if you want software I would hold off until you actually get to school. As a college student your school will likely of signed up with Microsoft for student discounts. You can get stuff like MS Office for 1/2 the price or even less.

Of course you could also "borrow" your programs from an anonymous "friend" over the internet, and since that "friend" shipping the CD is too hard, you could always just download

-Epi

Will do Epi. I'm actually doing that www.microsoft/retail/training.com to see what I could get fer free.
I already have seemed to "borrow" ms office pro xp... I just gotta find the cd...

Originally posted by Dantax

The video card is a bit slow for my taste, but you may find it suitable for what you want to do. Throw in a TV Tuner for $50- $100 to watch TV and use your PS2 then you're good to go I think.[/B]

Really?.. What do you suggest? I need the tv-tuner already, so maybe get the ATi tv all-in-one-wonder? I heard those don't work well with XP though.

[JohnCho]

Oh yeah, I also forgot to ask another question.

Wouldn't it be a little bit cheaper to get a computer with the package?

I know some VPR Matrix has some packages that include 17" samsung monitor, canon boofoo but still ok printer, and some other things.

Since I am buying a whole other bunch of hardware and accessories, is it better to just buy the cpu & not the desktop package?

Ooh.. they have gotten rid of the old vpr packages, but are coming out with new ones with a diff look soon.
I think they are better than the hp's, compaqs, and god forbid the emachines.

Before, I was thinking about the sony vaio, but there isn't much space for more drives and stuff and it is expensive with no basic software and the hardware doesn't seem to be excellent for the price either.

[MetalKid]

I'll just go over my stats here quick...

-Athlon T-Bird 1.0 Ghz on a VIC Shuttle AK13 Motherboard
-384 Meg of Ram (Im waiting on the 512 mb stick I ordered a while back)
-GeForce4 Ti 4400 AGP w/ 128 meg DDR
-4 Maxtor HDs with sizes: 45, 13, 160, 160 (Yep, 2 160 gigs!)
-Sound Blaster Live! 5.1 Gamer
-3Com Network Card (not really important)
-350 Watt Power

(I have a Voodoo5500 sitting off to the side... Damn thing is useless without DirectX 8.1 drivers...)

[Dantax]

Originally posted by JohnCho
Really?.. What do you suggest? I need the tv-tuner already, so maybe get the ATi tv all-in-one-wonder? I heard those don't work well with XP though.

Over at www.newegg.com, you can get an AIW ATI Radeon 8500 64MB retail boxed for $230. The 128MB version, which is also a bit faster I believe, is $283. These both include a stereo TV Tuner on the card.

Or you can get an ATI TV Wonder PCI for $65, and a Geforce 4 TI4200 128MB for less than $200 and get better performance than the AIW cards.

http://www17.tomshardware.com/graphi...charts-02.html

The only issue is making sure the TV card will cooperate. At first mine caused frequent lockups during 3d games and when I tried to install the TV Guide software that would download program listings for me, it got even worse. After I removed all of the drivers and moved the TV card directly next to my Geforce 2 though, it's been fine. Haven't tried the guide software again though.

[Epinephrine]

Originally posted by JohnCho
Oh yeah, I also forgot to ask another question.

Wouldn't it be a little bit cheaper to get a computer with the package?

Since I am buying a whole other bunch of hardware and accessories, is it better to just buy the cpu & not the desktop package?

If you need a keyboard, mouse, monitor and speakers then it might be worth your while to get a package because it's just easier (not necessarily cheaper). The only problem with a package is that you have no control really over what components are inside and outside. They usually try to screw you with really cheap equiptment. So while if you build your own it might cost like $50 more, the components will all be high quality.

For monitor I'd recommend the Samsung 700NF or 900NF.

-Epi

[Arobas+]

I suggest you to buy All in Wonder Radeon for your video card...
Or buy Asus GF4 Ti4200 + Asus TV Tuner

Here its my baby

Intel Pentium III 800 Mhz
ThermalTake Chrome (CPU FAN)
Enermax 350 Watts EG365P-VE (POWER SUPPLY)
Asus CUV4X
256MB SDRAM
Maxtor DX50 20 Gig
Western Digital 40 Gig
Quantum Fireball AS 60 Gig
Asus V7700 GeForce 2 GTS 32MB Deluxe
Viewsonic EF70
Logitech Cordless Wheel Mouse Special Edition
Dvdrom Pioneer 16x slot
Yamaha 6416s (CDRW)
Adaptec 2914e (SCSI Card)
SoundBlaster Live Value!
Logitech QuickCam Pro
4 Extra Fan + Fanbus + Baybus
2 Mobile Rack + Fan

Full Tower NoName
Keyboard NoName
Speakers NoName

Im gonna update my cpu/board/mem soon

[Arobas+]

MetalKid... tell me what you do with your 360 Gig ?
I have only 120 Gig and its ok

[MetalKid]

Heh, honestly... That 360+ gig isnt enough! I have over 110 gig of Anime right now, but I can easily get more. Of my 2 160 gigs, one has under 3 gig left and the other has about 50. :/

[JohnCho]

Originally posted by Epinephrine


If you need a keyboard, mouse, monitor and speakers then it might be worth your while to get a package because it's just easier (not necessarily cheaper). The only problem with a package is that you have no control really over what components are inside and outside. They usually try to screw you with really cheap equiptment. So while if you build your own it might cost like $50 more, the components will all be high quality.

For monitor I'd recommend the Samsung 700NF or 900NF.

-Epi

Easier? heh I like easier. You all are taking about hardware that will cost me a lot more than I really need though. I'm not planning to be on it all day or setting up some e-business

Maybe I SHOULd buy them all seperate. The VPR Matrix comes with the keyboard, mouse, and some standard speakers.
Now... speakers.. altec lansing, logitech, or some other affordable brand that is good... which one?

[Puppet Master]

Originally posted by MetalKid
Heh, honestly... That 360+ gig isnt enough! I have over 110 gig of Anime right now, but I can easily get more. Of my 2 160 gigs, one has under 3 gig left and the other has about 50. :/

wow:eek:

[Dantax]

Originally posted by JohnCho


Easier? heh I like easier. You all are taking about hardware that will cost me a lot more than I really need though. I'm not planning to be on it all day or setting up some e-business

Maybe I SHOULd buy them all seperate. The VPR Matrix comes with the keyboard, mouse, and some standard speakers.
Now... speakers.. altec lansing, logitech, or some other affordable brand that is good... which one?

I like the logitech speakers, the black set with 2 satellites and a woofer. The quality is nice, but the main feature I bought it for was the headphone jack. Most woofer sets don't have a headphone jack.

[Ruby]

I tried to find a picture of my computer, it has water cooling, windows all-over, rambus controllable fans from the outside. All that cool shit.. but one thing is for sure: If you're going to buy a video card and want a cheap one at a good price, Radeon 8500 is much better then a GeForce3 Ti4600, and costs less. Also now they have drivers which improve the card's performance greatly. Also when Radeon's new line of cards come out, the older Radeon's will drop even more (60-70) while the Nvidia's GeForce 3's will stay at about 100, as right now they're 115-130. Radeon also has alot more overclocking potential, although you don't even care about that, so nevermind