Computer Purchase Help!!

[Guest Birdman]

Hey Celerity, I'm not sure the motherboard you picked out will fit into the case you chose. I've never used any micro-ATX form factor stuff, but I'm pretty sure that those boards are smaller than the ATX motherboards. I would guess that an ATX motherboard would not fit into a micro ATX case, but that's only judging from the arrangement of the board vs. the layout of the case. Maybe someone else might offer some input if they have experience with them.

I had been a big fan of AMD for a while, but Intel's Core 2 Duo chips blow them away. I'd been using AMDs in builds at my office for the past couple years, but decided to go with Core 2 Duos in our latest batch of workstations. They are extremely impressive. I'm recommending them for now, at least until I get my hands on some of AMDs 65nm chips later this year. They are a bit more expensive, though. I'm told Intel price cuts are coming at the end of March (or at least "second quarter of 2007", whenever that might be), but who knows.

Something else you may want to consider is noise. Personally, I don't like working on a PC that sounds like a jet plane trying to take off.

[KRins]

2nd quarter is april-june. I've heard the Core 2 Ds are going to get those magical "the computer industry progresses too fast to make all the money they possibly could" around the Ides of April.

[Cycel]

STOP!

That video card needs more than 350W of power to run.

450W PCI Express-compliant system power supply with a combined 12V current rating of 30A or more.

Personally, I'd recommend looking to jump to a 600W, maybe more. Power is always nice, and when you factor in what the processor and RAM need, you'll need at least 550W.

[crackwilly21]

STOP!

That video card needs more than 350W of power to run.

Personally, I'd recommend looking to jump to a 600W, maybe more. Power is always nice, and when you factor in what the processor and RAM need, you'll need at least 550W.

Good catch. I noticed it earlier, but didn't think to look at the video card specs. Yeah, you need more power. YOU NEED MORE POWER!

[Celerity]

You should be able to find an adapter to hook your ps2 video feeds into your monitor without the extra box I would think.

Any more info on this? I'd like to get audio working as well. What kind of adapter are you talking about?

--

Ok, how about this case?

APEX TU-163 Black Steel ATX Full Tower Computer Case 350W Power Supply - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16811154041

As for noise, do you see this being a problem for me? If so, what can I do about that?

--

I had some fears about the included power supply, so that is why I asked earlier. Thanks! What do you think about this power supply?

Broadway Com Corp Okia-black-650 ATX 650W Power Supply 115/230 V cUL , UL , CSA - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16817162014

To get above 700w, the price seems to jump about 100$ :S.

--

Thanks everyone for the help so far! Up to about 1450$ now though :S:S

[Cycel]

I had some fears about the included power supply, so that is why I asked earlier. Thanks! What do you think about this power supply?

Broadway Com Corp Okia-black-650 ATX 650W Power Supply 115/230 V cUL , UL , CSA - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/product/produc...82E16817162014

To get above 700w, the price seems to jump about 100$ :S.

That powersupply is fine. Better than mine in fact (600W), and my computer is sporting an 8800 GTX XXX, so that should give plenty of output.

And really, for what you have, $1450 isn't that bad. Don't be disheartened. I payed roughly $1,700 for my computer - a similar setup to yours - before getting my new video card, and I didn't even have a sound system.

[Evangelion]

This is what I just purchased today.

Total came in at a little less than $1000.

Inspiron 1501            AMD Turion™ 64 X2 Dual-Core Mobile Technology TL-56


LCD panel        15.4 inch Wide Screen XGA Display with TrueLife™(glossy)


MEMORY           2GB DDR2 SDRAM at 533MHZ, 2 DIMM


VIDEO CARD        ATI RADEON® Xpress1150 256MB HyperMemory™ (Integrated)


HARD DRIVES        80GB Hard Drive


OPERATING SYSTEM(s)        Genuine Windows Vista™ Home Basic


Network Card and Modem        Integrated 10/100 Network Card and Modem


Adobe Software           Adobe® Acrobat® Reader 7.08


Combo/DVD+RW Drives        8X CD/DVD Burner (DVD+/-RW) with double-layer DVD+R write capability


Sound Card        Integrated Audio


Wireless Networking Cards        Dell Wireless 1490 802.11a/g Mini Card (54Mbps)


Office Software (not included in Windows XP)        No productivity suite- Includes Microsoft Works 8. DOES NOT INCLUDE MS WORD


Anti-Virus/Security Suite (Pre-installed)        McAfee Security Center 30-day trial


Primary Battery        29 WHr 4-cell Lithium Ion Primary Battery


Warranty & Service        1 Year Mail-in Economy Plan


Accidental Damage Service        Add CompleteCare Accidental Damage Protection to 1Yr Lim Warranty

[Talcian]

Thanks' date=' that was what I was thinking too, but I've never actually done it. Any recommendations on programs?[/quote']

Try looking for DVD Decrypter and DVD Shrink. They work well for me. Also, desktops are almost always better than laptops unless you just need to move around with it. They're cheaper and better.

[Rensvert]

It looks like you've got all of your basics covered on this computer like Cycel said your power supply to run that card should be right around a 600-700 watt and make sure you check the voltage on it to run that video card (excellent choice by the way) you are gonna need to have a power supply that can put out at least 24 watts 48 watts if you ever plan on running SLI (aka dual video cards) but your power supply should work if you only plan on running one. Best of luck with the new beast of a computer!

[goldbond]

no matter what you end up deciding on, waiting 2 months to do it is the smartest thing a computer shopper could do right now. the housing market is tanking right now, and retail is going to follow behind. that means inventories of electronics are going to build, which means ultra-massive price slashes of many brands are coming.

[Cycel]

If that means mortal men can finally afford a Core 2 Duo Extreme, then I like that very much.

[Kyzarius]

It looks like you've got all of your basics covered on this computer like Cycel said your power supply to run that card should be right around a 600-700 watt and make sure you check the voltage on it to run that video card (excellent choice by the way) you are gonna need to have a power supply that can put out at least 24 watts 48 watts if you ever plan on running SLI (aka dual video cards) but your power supply should work if you only plan on running one. Best of luck with the new beast of a computer!

make sure to run that card on a dedicated lead. DO NOT ever run a video card that requires direct connection from the power supply on a shared power lead. Problems might not become evident at first, but if you share it with something like your hard drives or even fans you will experience internal brown outs and components will fail and your money will get sucked into the machine.

[WarriorCleric]

I know it's a bit late to respond, but I don't come around these parts anymore so whatever.

Anyways, I recently built a computer myself, I spent ~1500 on it,

Skipping the boring stuff, and straight on to the fancy: I went with a core 2 duo, 2.13Ghz, 2gigs of RAM, and 2 GeForce 7950s at 512mb each for video.

I went with the Intel over AMD for a couple reasons, mainly that at the time AMD had nothing that compared, and that I just like how cool the core 2's run. I can run a marathon session of gaming and it doesn't even hit the idle temps of my old CPUs.

Any more info on this? I'd like to get audio working as well. What kind of adapter are you talking about?

As far as hooking your PS2 upto your monitor to play, I used a viewsonic thing for a while, and I got it for under 100 no idea why this is soo much now, but my new monitor is amazing and has all the hookups built in. Something to keep in mind is the video qaulity when you do so isn't going to be quite the same. You're monitor has a much higher resolution than a standard tv, and I don't know crap about HD converters and all that jazz, but the difference wasn't anything that kept me from enjoying my ps2 games on my old monitor.

What you'd do with this box it'd just plug in between your video card and your monitor. And your sound card and your speakers. And Then the PS2 would plug into the box as well.

If I want to burn DVDs to each other' date=' will I need two burners, or can I just burn it to the hard drive and then to the dvd?[/quote']

I don't know anything about burning straight from one dvd to another with copyrighting involved.

Here's how I back up all my dvds.

I use DVD Shrink to create and .ISO file on your computer

Then I use nero to burn the image to a dvd.

Step By Step

Your Case and Power Supply: I know nothing about IN WIN, but the companies that I really like because of the amazing quality in them, are CoolerMaster and Antec. Lian-Li is very nice too, but typically expensive. And I'd probably go with a larger power supply but I don't think you'll need anything more than 500w.

Your Motherboard: Seems like it'll do you good, but to keep in mind, the ATI CrossFire is ATI's version of Nvidia's SLI, or vice-a-versa. O don't think it'll be a problem when you use you're Nvidia card, but that's just a thought.

Your Video Card: EVGA is amazing stuff. I love the life time warranty. My cards are EVGA, so is my Motherboard, I love them. I've heard nothing but good things about the 8800s.

Your Processor: I don't know a whole lot about AMD other than I really like Intel's Core 2s a lot.

Your RAM: It's DDR2 667, and your board is DDR2 800, I don't think you'll notice a difference. I don't know anything about A-DATA as a company. I but Corsair and Cruicial, I've used Kingston and it worked for me. I have friends who swear by G.SKILL and PQI, but I've never used them, but with all those companies, I've not had a bad experience, nor have people whom I trust inside my computer.

Your Hard Drive: SUre.

Your Inputs: Sure.

Your Monitor: A lot of those SCEPTRE's, those logo on the screen glows blue when it's on, and Red when it sleeps. I looked at SCEPTRE only that far and that was enough for me to turn away. I just don't like big lights on my monitor. I know nothing about the company.

Sound Card: Embaressingly, I still use onboard sound. I don't hear a difference, but I don't think my ears are that decerning.

Cooler: I don't know if it's compatible with your video card. Zalmans site doesn't have it lasted as being so, be even so the card you have listed is built with the idea of keeping the cooling it has on it. You can mod it, but I think your video card should be fine as is without adding a an aftermarket fan.

WC

[brsingr]

Get a $5000 dollar alienware desktop. minus some high quality external gaming hardware, it has everything for buisness and gaming.