New Tower Case??

Papirrin · Joined: Dec 27, 2008 Posts: 10

drwho07 wrote:

I could make a few suggestions about the parts, but my first suggestion would be that none of them are from Dell. Wink

Oh, absolutely please do. If you guys have recommendations for parts that are good or that would make a kick ass pc, just post them here. I'd love to hear about all those components, that would make my pc way better than the one I have right now.

drwho07 · Joined: Nov 29, 2007 Posts: 1508 Location: Central FL, USA

When I built this system, I built it as a test bed for Vista Ultimate.
Since then I've had to put it into full service as my main PC, running XP-Pro-SP3.

But I didn't buy the most expensive mobo, or the fastest CPU chip, or even the most ram.

I got an MSI K8N Platinum motherboard, inexpensive yet rich in features.
I added to that the AMD Athlon, dual core, 3800+ CPU.
and just one gig of DDR2 ram.
I had just one 200 gig SATA2 hard drive, a LG CD/DVD burner and a floppy disk drive. I got a WinFast 128 meg video card, with standard and S-Video output.

It was a pretty basic system but ran Vista like a champ.
Since I started using this PC as my main system, I've added a multi-card reader, a five port USB card, Two more SATA2 HD's and an extra CD/DVD burner and I've increased the ram to three gig's......the most that XP will use.

For the HD's, the soul of the system, I prefer either Maxtor or Seagate.
I have both in this system.

With the addition of all the extra hardware, I swapped my 450 watt PSU for an Antec Earthwatts 650.

It's been a work in progress for the past two years, but it's been well worth it.

G'nite all!
Doc Cool

goretsky

Hello,

Selecting the hardware without thinking about how the computer is going to be used, what applications are needed and other considerations (ergonomics, special needs, costs and so forth) is not a good idea because you could end up spending a lot on a great computer, but one that does not meet your needs very well.

Determining the right hardware and software for a computer relies on a number of factors, because what might be best choice of hardware for a day trader might be the wrong for a gamer, day trader, web designer and so forth.

Here are a few questions you can answer in order to receive useful recommendations from the forum members:

What are the primary, secondary and tertiary uses going to be for the computer?
What software programs must run well on the computer?
What software programs would it be nice to run on the computer?
Do you have any special human interface needs with the computer, such as special pointing devices, a Braille display, screen-reader software or other equipment that might have strict prerequisites?
Are there any special environmental needs for the computer, such as being silent, low power consumption, sealed against moisture, used in an area with frequent power problems (lightning storms, power spikes and outages and so forth)?
What is your budget for the new computer?
Are you buying a fully-assembled computer, or building it yourself?
If building it yourself, do you plan on purchasing all the components at once, or over a period of time? If the latter, what amount of time?
If building it yourself, do you have any legacy computer parts you wish to recycle (re-use) in the building of the new computer?
How long do you intend to use the computer before replacing it?
What is your yearly budget for upgrading it?
Are there any additional purchases to go with the new computer (peripherals and accessories, new software and so forth)?

If you can answer all or even some of those questions, you should be able to get more great advice like DrWho07 has provided.

Regards,

Aryeh Goretsky

Papirrin · Joined: Dec 27, 2008 Posts: 10

Ok let's see,
1. Primary Use: Online Gaming
Secondary: Designing, web surfing and other office mumbo jumbo
Tertiary: Entertainment [mostly movies and mp3]

2. Photoshop, Illustrator, Corel draw, and Microsoft Office are a must.

3. I'd like every program to run nice.

4. Nope, none of those.

5. Being silent is good, low power consumption is good as well, and it has to be able to keep cool because I use my computer for loooooong periods of time. Sometimes I don't turn off the one I have for days. Oh yeah, and I need USB ports.

6. Since it's only the tower, I'll say maximum around $800

7. building it myself

8. If all the components are in my budget I'll get them all at once; if not then, I'll get the most important ones and buy the others in the next 1 or 2 months.

9. I want to recycle my 4 Hdds. 2 - 80 GB Maxtor SATA; 1 - 200 GB Maxtor ATA; 1 - 500 Maxtor SATA. My 2 Sony 16x CD/DVD burners, and the SATA cables too, because there's nothing wrong with them, right? And if possible my graphic card which is a NVIDIA GeForce 8500GT.

10. For a long time XD

11. Well if I end up with a really nice computer, why would I upgrade it every year? So I have no idea what to respond to this question.

12. Nope.

Well that's it, hopefully now you guys can give me more advices. Thanks you and have a great day or night.

goretsky

Hello,

Online gaming covers quite a big spectrum, since most games have some sort of online component, these days. Do you mean games that are played through a web site (you go to a web site to play) or video games that one typically goes and purchases at a store, and then installs on the computer.

Regards,

Aryeh Goretsky

Papirrin · Joined: Dec 27, 2008 Posts: 10

Hi, uff I been busy.
Well by online games I mean games that you buy > install > then play online.
Like world of warcraft and gears of war.

goretsky

Hello,

Modern video games tend to be pretty demanding on the computer graphics front, so you will want a discrete video card in order to play them at higher resolutions with more frames displayed per second than if you used a motherboard's integrated graphic controller. Built-in graphics are fine for day-to-day usage, but do not tend to handle video games that well, especially at higher resolutions.

Regards,

Aryeh Goretsky