Who could build me a computer?

[ChloroFiend]

Well, I'm a computer guy in Chicago who builds all his own boxes...

That being said, you'd likely be much better off buying something from Dell, if for nothing else than a cheap license of WinXP and the Tech Support/Warranty.

If you really do want help spec'ng out/building a box, i can likely lend you a hand, but keep in mind i'm a bit too busy to provide any kind of tech support aside from occasional stuff posted to a board like this ;-)

[Garrison]

I concur. However, my choice is an apple if it was my money.

[ChloroFiend]

Originally Posted by Garrison

I concur. However, my choice is an apple if it was my money.

Not gonna touch that argument ;-)

Tomasro-

Gigabit ethernet card...for online play...RIGHT. Considering no consumer broadband connection can even max out an old school 10BaseT card, GigE is completely overkill and a waste. CPU wars are as heated as PC vs. Mac, but the price/performance battle tends to be much better on the AMD side. As a disclaimer, i'm a staunch AMD user and their chips go in all my desktops. Laptops are all Pentium M's.

[tomasro]

Originally Posted by ChloroFiend

Not gonna touch that argument ;-)

Tomasro-

Gigabit ethernet card...for online play...RIGHT. Considering no consumer broadband connection can even max out an old school 10BaseT card, GigE is completely overkill and a waste. CPU wars are as heated as PC vs. Mac, but the price/performance battle tends to be much better on the AMD side. As a disclaimer, i'm a staunch AMD user and their chips go in all my desktops. Laptops are all Pentium M's.

Well the new Pentium E6300's are destroying performance benchmarks against AMD's top performers, and can OC on air at lower temps than AMD FX-62's ever could...but you are right about the ethernet thing. Gigabit ethernet is also a good measure of the board itself...if it has a better southbridge for the ethernet, then the board quality will be higher overall. But the dude will go with whoever he thinks has better ideas. AMD is good and cheap...but the new intels are ahead of the AMD curve.

[ChloroFiend]

I'm personally of the mind that all the integrated peripherals are insane. Give me a stripped down board, i'll drop in my own NIC, Audio, Video, etc. Take the load off the CPU, drop it onto the onboard cards. Also, if something breaks you can just swap out a card (*cough* my htpc's POS onboard nic *cough)

I've seen very few FX-series AMD chips in home computers....they sell for crap since they're quite expensive and to be honest overkill. The bread and butter of AMD's line is the A64 X2 series and that's still kicking ass and taking names...I remain skeptical, but i can't really refute your assertion as I haven't seen the H2H benchmarks for the new Core Duo's.

I will say that using overclocking potential as a main benchmark as to which chip is better is fairly fruitless, as there will even be wide variations among identical chip runs in regards to the OC capabilities....not to mention that if someone's having a computer built for them, overclocking is not something that should neither be done by or for the end user. Too many risks.

[striker_1818]

wahhhhhhhhhh

[wing_gundam]

Core Duo? you foggies! Core 2 Duo's are already on the market.....

or if you wait til next year the core 4 duo will be coming out I beleive.

a massive HD will slow down over time too. You prob want a couple of HD's and use a RAID or something.

RAM you want to make sure it matches your processor in terms of bus speed etc.

But you can prob get the best product from an OEM. Why? because when somone assembles the comp in his basement is gonna get dust in the parts. That's gonna reduce the lifespan of speed in the comp. It happens anyways over time, so don't let it happen before it needs to.

[Cybergypsy]

Originally Posted by Garrison

I concur. However, my choice is an apple if it was my money.

+1, the new core 2 macbook pro is what i am ordering.......

[ChloroFiend]

Originally Posted by wing_gundam

a massive HD will slow down over time too. You prob want a couple of HD's and use a RAID or something.

But you can prob get the best product from an OEM. Why? because when somone assembles the comp in his basement is gonna get dust in the parts. That's gonna reduce the lifespan of speed in the comp. It happens anyways over time, so don't let it happen before it needs to.

I'm sorry...but WTF? I've been working with computers for 20 years now and I've never even heard these absurdities before, so kudos to at least getting me to smile on a friday morning.

Mind explaining why a massive hard drive will slow down over time while a smaller one won't? Oh yeah, they won't. Drives will become fragmented but that's easily rectified and should be checked every month or two anyways. Every drive will eventually fail, but MTBF's of large drives and small drives are equal, if not in favor of larger drives due to newer technologies and manufacturing processes.

And yeah...moving parts in computers. I forgot those electron paths have a lot of air in them. Dust will get into the fans, cooling fins, power supply, and possibly the internals of an optical drive...but that's in any computer...not to mention that i've seen very few OEM computers with dust screens where as 90% of barebones cases come with some sort of intake filter. That's also assuming that big companies make their computers in clean rooms...which they don't. Canned air once a month (how about just after defragging your hard drive) works wonders.

[wing_gundam]

Originally Posted by ChloroFiend

I'm sorry...but WTF? I've been working with computers for 20 years now and I've never even heard these absurdities before, so kudos to at least getting me to smile on a friday morning

Oh, I'm sorry, you have been working with computers longer than I so that must make you the most qualified person ever to comment on them. I see from you vast knowledge that you know all about computers. Now If you do know about computers, good for you, but don't criticize something just because you have never heard of it.

Dust
1. Dust will slow down the heatsink fan. This leads to overheating and a lower productive capacity of the components. Just think of how effective the Pentium 4 works (without dust).

2. Dust can corrode the circutry on the board

3. Dust can conduct electricity. Who wants a wandering electric current in their computer where it shouldn't be?


Hard drive speed
Defragging will certainly help recluster components to make the system more efficient, but a larger hard drive will always run slower than a small hard drive.

The disks spin will slow down over time. There's nothing you can do unless you replace it. And heck, even dust can do this.

[striker_1818]

Guys i have a question!
My friend bought a dual core laptop but he's stuck with a Intel Accelerator 950. Is there a way to swap videocards?

[ethlar]

^ unfortunately 90% of laptops arent modular like desktops at best you can swap out hard drives and ram, most cases the graphics card is integrated and unable to be upgraded.

[striker_1818]

so whats the best thign to do for a video card upgrade?
swap motherboards?

[wing_gundam]

you can't swap motherboards in laptops...too specialized. The only way you'd find parts is if your OEM produces the same laptop in the same model year with another chip. Motherboards change a lot in laptops say, every 6 months when the improved chips come out.

[ethlar]

best bet would probably be to sell the current laptop and get something that meets your friends desired specs

[MADDOGSI]

jc21.
Yo, I would build you a system. Here is a pic of my latest.

[fa1]

Build one now before ram prices climb even higher.

[striker_1818]

Originally Posted by MADDOGSI

jc21.
Yo, I would build you a system. Here is a pic of my latest.

HOW MUCH?????????????
it's look sexy next to my lava lamp =D

[tomasro]

Originally Posted by striker_1818

HOW MUCH?????????????
it's look sexy next to my lava lamp =D

All those lights and such are just the fans and the $120 case....maybe 160 total for all those fans and lights, but that one isn't built especially well sinne the blow hole fan at the top is outside of the case (potential hazard), and really those LED lights are not as high performers (loudness and CFM movement specs) as others that spend less on lights and more on R&D.

Depending on the important stuff (CPU, PSU, RAM, HD, Drives, Cooling, etc) I could build a very similar case for about 500-800...depending on the interior that is.

[jc21]

the picture is hilarious of your desktop you built. I say that because a computer gaming place uses the EXACT SAME cases as you have for yours. For a second i thought you were sasa from CGC. I always wondered if they made the case cutting out the alien symbols or if they just bought it pre made. Now I know the answer.



Anyways, After reading all of your posts I doubt i'll be having a gaming desktop made for me. Little bit out of my price range. We'll see though once i move out to chicago if i have enough to blow on a gaming comp.