General Comments and Suggestions

[unmerged(15893)]

Originally posted by vcarter707
that sucks hope you can be able to respond

I know. I might be able to get on one of VMI's pub computers from time to time, but i'm hoping I can get my laptop working, and I hope my new "hobby" of building my own comp goes well!

 

[unmerged(10371)]

sorry to ask but VMI?

 

[unmerged(15893)]

Originally posted by vcarter707
sorry to ask but VMI?

Virginia Military institute. That's where I go to college, it's where I get my education and my military training. It's an O.K. school, and I'm in the Army ROTC.

 

[unmerged(10371)]

cool, someone in the army! i want to go air force however

 

[unmerged(15893)]

Originally posted by vcarter707
cool, someone in the army! i want to go air force however

Well, I'm a sophomore in college, so I've only had one summer's worth of ROTC-Army training.

 

[PackMan]

-MartyWolf
I might be able to get on one of VMI's pub computers from time to time, but i'm hoping I can get my laptop working, and I hope my new "hobby" of building my own comp goes well!

Let me know if you need any help on building that comp.
Look... somehow a picture of me ended up in the smilies section ---> :wacko:

 

[unmerged(11819)]

Originally posted by MartyWolf
I know. I might be able to get on one of VMI's pub computers from time to time, but i'm hoping I can get my laptop working, and I hope my new "hobby" of building my own comp goes well!

its a piece of cake really unless you are planning some fancy-pants rig. what are you hoping to build?

 

[unmerged(15893)]

Originally posted by bluemulva
its a piece of cake really unless you are planning some fancy-pants rig. what are you hoping to build?

Just a simple rig:

Antec LANBOY 350-Watt ATX Aluminum Super Mini-Tower Case - Silver (aluminum) 

AMD Athlon™ XP Processor 2000+ 

Soyo DRAGON Plus ATX Motherboard 200/266/333MHz (Socket A) 

Antec 3.125" SmartFan CPU Cooling Fan 

Kingston Technology 512MB DDR SDRAM Desktop Memory 

BFG Technologies Asylum GeForce FX 5600 256MB DDR AGP Graphics Card 

Lite-On IT 52x32x52 Internal CD-RW Drive - White 

Western Digital Caviar Special Edition 80.0GB Internal Hard Drive 

Samsung SyncMaster 19" CRT Monitor with DynaFlat Screen 

GE Power Keyboard 

Microsoft IntelliMouse Optical 

Total = 1150 (Approx)$

 

[unmerged(11819)]

Originally posted by MartyWolf
Just a simple rig:

Antec LANBOY 350-Watt ATX Aluminum Super Mini-Tower Case - Silver (aluminum) 

AMD Athlon? XP Processor 2000+ 

Soyo DRAGON Plus ATX Motherboard 200/266/333MHz (Socket A) 

Antec 3.125" SmartFan CPU Cooling Fan 

Kingston Technology 512MB DDR SDRAM Desktop Memory 

BFG Technologies Asylum GeForce FX 5600 256MB DDR AGP Graphics Card 

Lite-On IT 52x32x52 Internal CD-RW Drive - White 

Western Digital Caviar Special Edition 80.0GB Internal Hard Drive 

Samsung SyncMaster 19" CRT Monitor with DynaFlat Screen 

GE Power Keyboard 

Microsoft IntelliMouse Optical 

Total = 1150 (Approx)$

well im pleased you'll be going with AMD!
may i suggest an ASUS board? I used to use FIC but I switched to ASUS last time and have been quite pleased. Also, looking quick on pricewatch.com you can get an WMD..i mean AMD 2400 for less than 20 bucks more than a 2000? I like maxtor drives but WD is about the same really. Sounds not too bad tho!
I need to build a new one but not sure if i should wait for the 64 bit to come down in price..hmm...

 

[unmerged(15893)]

Originally posted by bluemulva
well im pleased you'll be going with AMD!
may i suggest an ASUS board? I used to use FIC but I switched to ASUS last time and have been quite pleased. Also, looking quick on pricewatch.com you can get an WMD..i mean AMD 2400 for less than 20 bucks more than a 2000? I like maxtor drives but WD is about the same really. Sounds not too bad tho!
I need to build a new one but not sure if i should wait for the 64 bit to come down in price..hmm...

I forgot to mention I got a Creative Audigy 2 ZS, and that's a great soundcard!

I got all my stuff from Bestbuy, and Bestbuy doesn't sell ASUS

Also, the 2400+ Athlon from Bestbuy cost like 2.5 times the price!

 

[unmerged(11819)]

bestbuy, pah!

if possible you should order online. what ive done in the past is order a few parts that i want from 1 place, and the rest from another (to cut down on shipping costs) because you get a far better price although one place may not have all the parts you want, but again the price difference is usually soooo much better. a couple places i keep in bookmarks but havent purchased from yet are www.avapc.com, www.superiorelectronics.com, and www.partspc.com, you might even be able to put together a whole computer at one place too. i could be telling you things you already know but i always like ppl to get the most bang for their buck!

 

[unmerged(15893)]

Originally posted by bluemulva

if possible you should order online. what ive done in the past is order a few parts that i want from 1 place, and the rest from another (to cut down on shipping costs) because you get a far better price although one place may not have all the parts you want, but again the price difference is usually soooo much better. a couple places i keep in bookmarks but havent purchased from yet are www.avapc.com, www.superiorelectronics.com, and www.partspc.com, you might even be able to put together a whole computer at one place too. i could be telling you things you already know but i always like ppl to get the most bang for their buck!

You are 100% correct, but there is 1 reason why I went with Bestbuy and not anywhere else. It's because Bestbuy has a good return policy, and at least I know they aren't trying to scam me or anything. Also, there was ZERO dollars for shipping. That's right, FREE shipping, so that appealed to me, too.

 

[unmerged(11819)]

Originally posted by MartyWolf
You are 100% correct, but there is 1 reason why I went with Bestbuy and not anywhere else. It's because Bestbuy has a good return policy, and at least I know they aren't trying to scam me or anything. Also, there was ZERO dollars for shipping. That's right, FREE shipping, so that appealed to me, too.

sales tax.

 

[unmerged(15893)]

Originally posted by bluemulva
sales tax.

I don't believe I had to pay sales tax

 

[PackMan]

AMD vs Intel

I hope you have better luck with your AMD then the ones I had Marty. The only good thing about the AMD if you ask me is the price. They generate so much heat I had to make a big hole in the side to keep the heat under 50 degree celsius in the box.

According to the salesman I spoke to when I got the spec for my next comp, he too have had nothing but trouble with his AMD. The AMD I have in my computer now is an AMD Athlon 1400+.

In general you always get the quality you pay for (that's why I think Intel is always a bit more expensive then AMD).
Now don't take my word for it, check around on the net yourself, it's just a heads up for ya.

 

[unmerged(15893)]

Re: AMD vs Intel

Originally posted by PackMan
I hope you have better luck with your AMD then the ones I had Marty. The only good thing about the AMD if you ask me is the price. They generate so much heat I had to make a big hole in the side to keep the heat under 50 degree celsius in the box.

Man, I wish I would have read this before I ordered my 2000+ processor

Well, hopefully things go well with the heat, but now I'm not sure

 

[unmerged(11819)]

What sort of fan do you have on yours, Packman? Are you sure its working correctly? I've never had a problem with any AMD processor, and on my system, a 1.33 overclocked to 1.4, i just have a modern AMD approved basic fan.

On a normal, not overclocked processor a decent fan with at least one case exhaust fan (besides the power supply fan) should be enough. I haven't had to open it in ages, but I believe i put in an additional case fan and one of those oldskool little processor fans (about 1.5x1.5 inches) blowing at my harddrives and ive never had a problem.

then again, there's always a bad apple in any bunch.

 

[PackMan]

I use a Zalman, bluemulva. (see link: http://www.zalman.co.kr/english/product/cnps5005Al.htm )

The heat never get's a problem if you got enough fans to cool it off. Since part of my goal of building my own computer was to make it as quiet as possible, using an AMD wasn't the smartest thing to do.

Just make sure you invest in a good expensive CPU fan Marty, and you'll be fine. If you want to make 100% sure there isn't going to be any heat troubles you could always compliment with a HD fan and 2 other fans for air coming in and out of the box.

If the BIOS supports it, make sure you set a limit to cut the power when the heat reach a certain level. That way you can avoid hardwear damages.

 

[unmerged(15893)]

Originally posted by PackMan

Just make sure you invest in a good expensive CPU fan Marty, and you'll be fine. If you want to make 100% sure there isn't going to be any heat troubles you could always compliment with a HD fan and 2 other fans for air coming in and out of the box.

If the BIOS supports it, make sure you set a limit to cut the power when the heat reach a certain level. That way you can avoid hardwear damages.

Thanks for the advice, guys! I bought a 20$ Antec Smartcool fan, and I have I think two power supply fans. The BIOS limit thing sounds like a good idea, so I'll check the BIOS and see if I can implement it.

 

[PackMan]

Minister Editor

Minister Editor!

OK I could not resist to convert the thing into a graphical tool!!
You will need Microsoft .NET Framework for it to work (I'm almost 100% sure it comes along with Win2000 and XP by default).
For those of you who have run a windows update from MS homepage would have got it from there.

The tool can be found here

As usual, comments and ideas are always welcome.
Since it's now ported to VB.Net anything is possible