New Computer Blues....

[Gooch]

Well its time to get a new computer. I'm actually getting two. The wife is getting a new 20 or 24 screen iMac (waiting on today's iMac announcement)....and I am getting a new fangled PC.

I could use a few geeks opinion on the PC. I am leaning towards ordering from CyberpowerPC. I simply don't have the time to build my own, and I'm not enamored with Dell (was thinking of a XPS 710), with their track record lately, and fact for same price, I'd have to go lower on the processor and video cards.


Gamer Infinity 8800 Pro
Cost: $2300

# CAS: ($20 off Mail-in Rebate) RaidMax Smilodon Med-Tower 420W Case w/ Side-Panel Window

# CPU: (Quad-Core)Intel® Core™ 2 Quad Q6700 @ 2.66GHz 1066FSB 8MB L2 Cache 64-bit

# CD: (Special Price) 18X DVD±R/±RW + CD-R/RW DRIVE DUAL LAYER (BLACK COLOR)

# FAN: Thermaltake V1 Gaming CPU Cooling Fan (Excellent Overclocking + Silent Proof + Smart CPU & System Thermal Monitor)

# HDD: Extreme Performance (RAID-0) with 2 Identical Hard Drives (320GB (160GBx2) SATA-II 3.0Gb/s 8MB Cache 7200RPM HDD

# MOTHERBOARD: (Quad-Core FSB1333) EVGA nForce 680i SLI Chipset LGA775 FSB1333 DDR2 Mainboard

# MEMORY: (Req.DDR2 MainBoard)4GB (4x1GB) PC6400 DDR2/800 Dual Channel Memory

# NETWORK: Intel Pro Gigabite 10/100/1000 Network Card

# OS: Microsoft® Windows Vista™ Home Premium (64-bit Edition

# POWERSUPPLY: 750 Watts Power Supplies [+110] (($30 off Mail-in Rebate) **Recommended** Thermaltake ToughPower 750W - Quad SLI Ready)

# VIDEO: NEW!!! NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GTS 320MB 16X PCI Express (EVGA Superclocked Powered by NVIDIA

# VIDEO2: NEW!!! NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GTS 320MB 16X PCI Express(EVGA Superclocked Powered by NVIDIA

[HedCold]

you're getting a motherboard without a built in network card?

[Gooch]

you're getting a motherboard without a built in network card?

oops. it has network card built in ( 2 x 10/100/1000). Strike the extra card on that list. Thanks.

[HedCold]

its annoying that DDR2 ram is so cheap now, while i have to use regular DDR. i only bought a gig at the time figuring i'd buy more later. i want to go to 3 gigs but its probably not worth it

[Bloody Anus]

-For $2300 I'd want more HD space than that.
-I don't think any Microsoft OS other than Server will even recognize all 4GB of ram. I know XP doesn't, and pretty sure Vista doesn't either.
-For another $6 you should get a floppy drive, just in case you ever need to reinstall the RAID drivers.
-Is it a SATA DVD drive?
-I'm guessing the board has onboard audio
-I'm also guessing you already have a monitor. If not, I'd highly recommend getting one.

[Gooch]

-For $2300 I'd want more HD space than that.
-I don't think any Microsoft OS other than Server will even recognize all 4GB of ram. I know XP doesn't, and pretty sure Vista doesn't either.
-For another $6 you should get a floppy drive, just in case you ever need to reinstall the RAID drivers.
-Is it a SATA DVD drive?
-I'm guessing the board has onboard audio
-I'm also guessing you already have a monitor. If not, I'd highly recommend getting one.

HD: I already have two other HDs that I'd plug in for #3 and 4. One 350 gig, another 200 gig. Its the reason I'm desiring a full tower case, so I can plug in the old ones.

Floppy: RAID can't be saved on a CD?

Board has 7.1 audio built in.

SATA: yes.

I'm getting a LITEON 20x instead. I found a better rig, same price where i was able to upgrade DVD, case and save about $50.

Have a 20 inch LCD which will serve for now. I'm trying to upgrade the hardware, and think about a better LCD around the holidays.

[TheGMANN]

Gooch is gearing up for the new Warcraft expansion!

[Gooch]

Booya.


haven't played for a while, actually.

[Gooch]

Thanks for the input y'all. Bought the new 20 inch screen iMac that came out yesterday and ended up with this PC, which cost me the same that i listed earlier:

GAMER INFINITY XLC

* CAS: NZXT Zero Aluminum Full Tower 420W Case (Black/Silver Color)
* CASUPGRADE: 12in COLD CATHODE NEON LIGHT [+10] (BLUE COLOR)
* CPU: (Quad-Core)Intel® Core™ 2 Quad Q6700 @ 2.66GHz 1066FSB 8MB L2 Cache 64-bit
* CD: LiteOn LH-20A1H 20X Double Layer DVD+-RW Super Allwrite + Lightscribe Technology
* FAN: ($10 off Mail-in Rebate) Thermaltake V1 Gaming CPU Cooling Fan (Excellent Overclocking + Silent Proof + Smart CPU & System Thermal Monitor) [-2]
* FLOPPY: 1.44 MB FLOPPY DRIVE (BLACK COLOR)
* HDD: Extreme Performance (RAID-0) with 2 Identical Hard Drives (640GB (320GBx2) SATA-II 3.0Gb/s 16MB Cache 7200RPM HDD
* MOTHERBOARD: (Quad-Core FSB1333) EVGA nForce 680i SLI Chipset LGA775 FSB1333 DDR2 Mainboard
* MEMORY: (Req.DDR2 MainBoard)4GB (4x1GB) PC6400 DDR2/800 Dual Channel Memory (Corsair Value Select or Major Brand)
* NETWORK: ONBOARD 10/100 NETWORK CARD
* OS: Microsoft® Windows Vista™ Home Premium (64-bit Edition)
* PRO_WIRING: Professional Wiring for All WIRINGs Inside The System Chasis with High Performance Thermal Compound on CPU
* POWERSUPPLY: 850 Watts Power Supplies [+150] (NZXT 850 Watts Power Supply Quad SLI Ready [-4])
* SERVICE: STANDARD WARRANTY: 3-YEAR LIMITED WARRANTY PLUS 24/7 LIFE-TIME TECHNICAL SUPPORT
* SOUND: ON-BOARD
* SPEAKERS: NONE
* TEMP: Xion XON-ATC001B (Black) Multi Function Thermal Control Panel with All-in-one Card Reader, eSATA, and USB [+39]
* USB: Built-in USB 2.0 Ports
* VIDEO: NEW!!! NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GTS 320MB 16X PCI Express (EVGA Superclocked Powered by NVIDIA
* VIDEO2: NEW!!! NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GTS 320MB 16X PCI Express (EVGA Superclocked Powered by NVIDIA

[HedCold]

i don't think having a floppy drive is such a big deal because most motherboards can boot from a usb drive, but it was only a few bucks probably so whatever

[Gooch]

i don't think having a floppy drive is such a big deal because most motherboards can boot from a usb drive, but it was only a few bucks probably so whatever

yeah, at 5 bucks, i added it in. had to remove the fucking temp guages though...evidently Vista Premier 64-bit isn't compatible with them.

[HedCold]

how much are little side screens that use the vista side gadgets feature? do they even sell them yet? i have only seen that on laptops so far

[Gooch]

not a clue. never used vista before. just knew that on a quad-core computer with 4 gig, that the 64 bit would work well, and that i'd be able to fully utilize the OS. i'll let you know.

[lush]

Vista is probably the worst I've ever dealt with. When you buy a computer now, you are given the choice between XP or that crap.

Absolutely horrible and a bad rip off of Tiger.

[Gooch]

most system don't have enough under the hood to deal with Vista. I'm hoping that mine should offset it. And yes, Tiger is quite nice. Use it at work without much problems at all.

Back to Vista, luckily, I have XP Professional that I can load if it does indeed be a pain in my arse.

One of its biggest issues is that it is a graphically enhanced OS, which needs a good videocard to deal with it. And you also need at least 2 gigs of Ram to run well.

[Arpikarhu]

make sure your new system has those new-fangled automatic scuzzi cleaners.

[Gooch]

who finally dusted you off?