| Author | Thread |
|
|
08/02/2007 10:43:22 AM · #51 |
Firewire is, of course, fairly standard on PC motherboards as well as Macs nowadays. It is 1.5-2.5x faster, but I would hardly say tons of time is saved (my 4GB CF card still empties in around 5 minutes on USB 2).
A Mac is unsuitable for the OP if he wants a high speed games machine. Even if you dual boot a Mac with Windows, the flexibility of PCs is not matched in Mac-land for gaming rigs.
|
|
|
|
08/02/2007 11:53:07 AM · #52 |
Originally posted by scalvert:
Originally posted by SamDoe1:
I don't have anything that uses firewire... |
If you buy a Firewire card reader, then you will. The first time you use it, the difference in speed will be so startling that you'll spew Mountain Dew all over your new computer, thereby rendering the rest of the specs a moot point as it goes up in a small mushroom cloud.
Edited for clarity. ;-) |
The motherboard I've picked out for now doesn't have on board firewire, but I do have a spare firewire card sitting on a shelft at home from my last PC. I'll just throw that in. Thanks for the heads up.
Dell refurbished monitors? I should have thought of that before, I'll definitely look into it. Thanks.
|
|
|
|
08/02/2007 12:07:39 PM · #53 |
Originally posted by SamDoe1:
Dell refurbished monitors? I should have thought of that before, I'll definitely look into it. Thanks. |
FYI... |
|
|
|
08/02/2007 12:12:47 PM · #54 |
Dell outlet has 20in widescreen monitors/TV's (inputs for everything in one) for $299. Probably going to snag one of those.
|
|
|
|
08/02/2007 12:21:31 PM · #55 |
Something to consider. I've built my own, and also had several computers built for me by independent system houses like JoEY computers, Kevin Chalkner's KC Computers. Those worked out well.
But I always check out the big vendors for a good deal, and this one seems to be close to your specs, for about the same money, including all the labor, a Quad core CPU, Vista Home Premium, and a hardware guarantee (I wasn't sure if you were stuck on the video card--this one was a lot more bang for the buck, but I'm not a gamer). I was looking at configurations a few months ago with the extreme quad QX6700 chip and I thought the overall system reviews were pretty positive ?(extremetech; here for the basic FX530). I believe my research (before) showed that Gateway uses an Intel mobo.
$1400 (before shipping):
Operating System Genuine Windows Vista® Home Premium (32-bit)
Processor Intel® Coreâ„¢ 2 Quad Processor Q6600 (2.40GHz, 1066MHz FSB, 8MB cache)
Customized Memory 3072MB 667MHz DDR2 SDRAM (2-1024MB modules & 2-512MB modules) [$210.00]
Customized Hard Drive 500GB 7200rpm Serial ATA II/300 hard drive w/ 16MB cache [$159.00]
Optical Drive 16X Super MFDVDRW/DVD-RAM+/-R Double Layer
Customized Video NVIDIA GeForce 8600GT 512MB Dual DVI w/ VGA adapter [$106.00]
Media Card Reader 9-in-1 Memory Card Reader
Customized Speakers No Speakers Selected
Application Software Microsoft® Works 8.5
Backup Media Cyberlink Power2Go (for Windows Vista® Home Premium and Ultimate)
Chassis Gateway® 7-bay BTX tower case
Chipset Intel® 975X Chipset with DDR2 Support and Intel® Coreâ„¢ Duo support
Color FX Logo Accent - Black Steel
Expansion Slots (3) PCI Expansion Slots, (1) PCI-E x4 Expansion Slot, (1) PCI-E x16 Expansion Slot.
External Ports (7) USB 2.0 (2 in front, 1 in media card reader and 4 in back), (3) IEEE 1394 Firewire (2 in front and 1 in back), (2) PS/2, (1) Microphone, front audio ports
Keyboard Gateway® Elite Keyboard (for Windows Vista®)
Motherboard Intel® 975X Chipset with DDR2 and Intel® Coreâ„¢ Duo support
Mouse Soft-touch USB Optical Wheel Mouse
Network Integrated Intel® 10/100/1000 (Gigabit) Ethernet
Operating System Backup Media Windows Vista® Home Premium Backup Media (32-bit)
Power Supply 700-Watt Power Supply
Warranty 1 Year Value Plan (Tech Support - Parts - Factory Labor)
Anyway, something to look at! I know some people don't like Gateway (or Dell), but I've had good luck with both.
Message edited by author 2007-08-02 12:21:45. |
|
|
|
08/02/2007 12:26:47 PM · #56 |
Thanks Neil, right now I have a similar set up (sub the dual core for the quad, 2gb of ram not 3gb, and 640gb of drive space not 500gb) for $1100. The video card is a must and the 8600gts cannot come close to the performance of the 8800 series. That would be a huge cost savings, but one that I cannot make. I am thinking of reducing my processor to a 2.33GHz C2D E6650 instead of the 2.66GHz C2D E6750. This saves ~$80.
|
|
|
|
08/06/2007 06:02:26 PM · #57 |
Originally posted by scalvert:
Originally posted by SamDoe1:
I don't have anything that uses firewire... |
If you buy a Firewire card reader, then you will. The first time you use it, the difference in speed will be so startling that you'll spew Mountain Dew all over your new computer, thereby rendering the rest of the specs a moot point as it goes up in a small mushroom cloud.
Edited for clarity. ;-) |
Firewire xfer rate=400mbs
USB2.0=480mbs
ummm usb 2.0 is faster |
|
|
|
08/06/2007 07:43:45 PM · #58 |
Originally posted by nemesise1977:
Originally posted by scalvert:
Originally posted by SamDoe1:
I don't have anything that uses firewire... |
If you buy a Firewire card reader, then you will. The first time you use it, the difference in speed will be so startling that you'll spew Mountain Dew all over your new computer, thereby rendering the rest of the specs a moot point as it goes up in a small mushroom cloud.
Edited for clarity. ;-) |
Firewire xfer rate=400mbs
USB2.0=480mbs
ummm usb 2.0 is faster |
If you look beyond the headline figures, it is not.
Unless you use a USB/firewire external hard drive, I would say it is not enough to worry about, though.
|
|
|
|
08/06/2007 07:56:09 PM · #59 |
Originally posted by Matthew:
Originally posted by nemesise1977:
Originally posted by scalvert:
Originally posted by SamDoe1:
I don't have anything that uses firewire... |
If you buy a Firewire card reader, then you will. The first time you use it, the difference in speed will be so startling that you'll spew Mountain Dew all over your new computer, thereby rendering the rest of the specs a moot point as it goes up in a small mushroom cloud.
Edited for clarity. ;-) |
Firewire xfer rate=400mbs
USB2.0=480mbs
ummm usb 2.0 is faster |
If you look beyond the headline figures, it is not.
Unless you use a USB/firewire external hard drive, I would say it is not enough to worry about, though. |
Agree by specs usb2 is faster but not by so much I would grab one over the other |
|
|
|
08/06/2007 08:34:53 PM · #60 |
Food for thought....
Overclocking is not the black art it used to be.... Most current motherboards make it very easy and safe. And these core 2 chips are very flexible....
Save your money and spend it on something else instead.
PS. 32bit windows can't use much more than 3GB of memory, so 4GB is a bit of a waste. No big deal, but every penny counts. Read more here. |
|
|
|
08/06/2007 08:35:09 PM · #61 |
| USB2 is only faster than Firewire when it comes to burst write and read.. for sustaind read and write (copying 2GB of photos) Firewire wins.. |
|
|
|
08/06/2007 09:25:33 PM · #62 |
Originally posted by scalvert:
Originally posted by SamDoe1:
Dell refurbished monitors? I should have thought of that before, I'll definitely look into it. Thanks. |
FYI... |
I have that monitor actually. Me likey. |
|
|
|
08/06/2007 09:27:37 PM · #63 |
Originally posted by hsolakidis:
Food for thought....
Overclocking is not the black art it used to be.... Most current motherboards make it very easy and safe. And these core 2 chips are very flexible....
Save your money and spend it on something else instead.
PS. 32bit windows can't use much more than 3GB of memory, so 4GB is a bit of a waste. No big deal, but every penny counts. Read more here. |
But overclocking can still be intimidating the first time out and a person has to make sure stability issues are ironed out which some people just dont want to mess with.
32 bit windows cant but 64bit can. I personally run Windows xp 64 bit edition and have not really had much issues (even though when I adopted it 2 years ago drivers were a pita to get). |
|
|
|
08/06/2007 10:14:48 PM · #64 |
If you want to save money get just one hard drive now and put off getting the next one for as long as you can. The cost/GB will be substantially less even 6 months from now.
Also if the system you want is stretching your budget to where 10s of dollars make a difference, maybe you should get something substantially cheaper or save up some money for a couple more months. Once you have a PC you'll want to spend more money on things you never thought of when you bought it.
|
|
|
|
08/07/2007 09:39:16 PM · #65 |
I say pah to over clocking. your forcing hardware to run faster and usually more voltage than its designed to. While MB manufacturers are making it easier they really arent doing anyone any favors by doing it. Bottom line is you want a faster system save the $$ and buy the actual hardware.
Now the concept of getting one drive and adding more later is a great idea. the overall benifit of a raid is usually not all that noticable on desktop applications. |
|
|
|
08/07/2007 10:02:09 PM · #66 |
| Hmm...maybe I'll just settle for the one 500gb drive...it'll save about $50. |
|
|
|
08/08/2007 07:10:57 PM · #67 |
Originally posted by nemesise1977:
I say pah to over clocking. your forcing hardware to run faster and usually more voltage than its designed to. While MB manufacturers are making it easier they really arent doing anyone any favors by doing it. Bottom line is you want a faster system save the $$ and buy the actual hardware. |
bollox! i've got a PPro 200 clocked to 233, and has been happily running at that 24/7 for the past 11 years! |
|
Home -
Challenges -
Community -
League -
Photos -
Cameras -
Lenses -
Learn -
Help -
Terms of Use -
Privacy -
Top ^
DPChallenge, and website content and design, Copyright © 2001-2025 Challenging Technologies, LLC.
All digital photo copyrights belong to the photographers and may not be used without permission.
Current Server Time: 08/18/2025 08:34:18 AM EDT.
