BenKey Posted May 7, 2005 Author Report Share Posted May 7, 2005 What is the advantage of a PCI Express 16X video interface over an AGP 8X? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TexaSS Posted May 7, 2005 Report Share Posted May 7, 2005 The PCI express is the newest technology for video cards. It is replacing the AGP slots on newer mobos. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WisconsinSS Posted May 7, 2005 Report Share Posted May 7, 2005 Ask your kid they prob know the best! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LOUI1313 Posted May 7, 2005 Report Share Posted May 7, 2005 I have never built a computer before, but I do know that the guys at Alienware know how to build a really really fast computer. Maybe you could look at some of the parts they use and build your own off of that. Regardless they have a really cool case. Its just fun to look at becuase its the only liquid cooled case I have ever seen: Alienware Good luck with your computer buying! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zippy Posted May 8, 2005 Report Share Posted May 8, 2005 i will agree that alien ware does build one of the top pc's around and doesn't get enough credit. i'd take them over a dell anyday if i were to just buy one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TBSS Posted May 8, 2005 Report Share Posted May 8, 2005 Ben - My rec is that you get your stuff from New Egg, those guys are the best. Good prices, quickest delivery, excellent service and support. The best part about them is their rating feature. People who buy components from there rate the products they buy, so you get end-user reviews of most everything. This is a feature that gives you great info for buying. As far as motherboards, I like Asus, AOpen, and Epox. For RAM I get Samsung OEM or Corsair, the quality is extremely consistent. Like zippy said, ATI makes good video cards, I have 2 Radeons myself. The best 2D, and good 3D. For hard drives it's hard to go wrong, but I usually go to Storage Review and read up on disk drives there. Good reviews and a good forum, too. I like Samsung for all optical drives (floppy, CD, DVD, etc.). Antec makes good cases, but so does InWin and Enlight. I would reviews on cases and they have new ones all the time. As a final check, go to Anandtech Forums and post questions, the guys that hang out there are like the LS1 Tech guys for GM performance. Good luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SSThunder Posted May 8, 2005 Report Share Posted May 8, 2005 Any newer PC will work fine for what you plan to use it for. If you don't do any real gaming or video stuff, why go all out. I still use my Athlon 900 for most stuff. With the right config. you can make any PC run pretty well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BenKey Posted May 19, 2005 Author Report Share Posted May 19, 2005 Well, I finally got everything and it's all up and running. Here is everything I got: Case Processor CPU fan This thing rocks. motherboardPretty capable board, just not very well known. Really good reviews. Video RAM (2Gigs) Hard drive qty2- soon to be in a RAID 0 config. Can't beat their warranty. Hard drive ghosted back-up - found for $55 at Circuit City w/rebates. Pioneer Combo drive DVD/CD RW Sony CD-RW/DVD-ROM Operating system is WindowsXP Professional. Thanks for all the suggestions and especially links to newegg.com. Awesome site and very dangerous. Really relied on the reviews on the products. About 2wks ago, I didn't even know what a RAID array was, but plan to attempt a setup in the next week or so. Case is pretty cool - literally. Holds 7 fans. I have 6 case fans installed, a CPU fan, one on the vid card, and one on the motherboard. It doesn't stand a chance of getting hot. This was my first build. Pretty fun - so far. This was just an upgrade to my home pc. Nothing special in my mind. Plan to build another one in about 4 months. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zippy Posted May 19, 2005 Report Share Posted May 19, 2005 very cool. did you check into running the 64bit windows operating system? this is going to be quite an improvement over your last one for sure. i'm ordered my 64 bit stuff yesterday to get me by until the dual core processors come out. you need to run some benchmarks on it. it's like pc racing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BenKey Posted May 19, 2005 Author Report Share Posted May 19, 2005 very cool. did you check into running the 64bit windows operating system? this is going to be quite an improvement over your last one for sure. i'm ordered my 64 bit stuff yesterday to get me by until the dual core processors come out. you need to run some benchmarks on it. it's like pc racing. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Dual core Opteron AMDs are already out, they just cost like $2200. Go to Pricewatch.com. I wasn't too keen on the 64-bit OS, just yet. My printer drivers support it, just wasn't sure about other periphials like iPod. Just wasn't sure I was going to be hurting myself. Plus, the XP Pro didn't cost me. Considering my old system is a P4 1.7Ghz, 333 bus speed, 5400 rpm hard drive - this thing flies. Haven't gotten into the benchmarking yet, although I have downloaded SiSoft Sandra to do it. Only one so far. Not really into that yet. Although, I have it overclocked to 210. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TimC3 Posted May 19, 2005 Report Share Posted May 19, 2005 Looks like a pretty sound setup to me Ben.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TBSS Posted May 20, 2005 Report Share Posted May 20, 2005 Well, I finally got everything and it's all up and running. Thanks for all the suggestions and especially links to newegg.com. Awesome site and very dangerous. Really relied on the reviews on the products. About 2wks ago, I didn't even know what a RAID array was, but plan to attempt a setup in the next week or so. Case is pretty cool - literally. Holds 7 fans. I have 6 case fans installed, a CPU fan, one on the vid card, and one on the motherboard. It doesn't stand a chance of getting hot. This was my first build. Pretty fun - so far. This was just an upgrade to my home pc. Nothing special in my mind. Plan to build another one in about 4 months. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Glad you liked the NewEgg experience, they are the best, and yes, very dangerous. Congrats on jumping in with both feet on the RAID. Pretty fun stuff. The average person won't be able to take advantage of the speed of a RAID 0 array, but like blowers and cams, it's nice to have all that power at your disposal, "just in case". Yeah, that's it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TexaSS Posted May 20, 2005 Report Share Posted May 20, 2005 what do you mean dangerous? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TBSS Posted May 20, 2005 Report Share Posted May 20, 2005 what do you mean dangerous? <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Easy to drop a lot of coin there.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daves1996 Posted May 20, 2005 Report Share Posted May 20, 2005 What about a sound card? Computer time is much better with my 7.1 surround sound. All high end Creative stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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