The Official PC building thread!

Come up to CDR and ask around -- and while I do install LG drives onto systems I build for people -- it's only when (a) they specifically ask for LG or (b) they are going for the cheapest system they can possibly get. I've had two LG 48x24x48 burners go toast on me in less than 220 burns each (178 for the first and 217 for the second). Not to mention that LG burners are for the most part, 1-sheepers (and the ones that are 2-sheepers, tend to burn out hehe)

And for the price of the Litey burners -- theres not longer the price argument for LG
_X_X_X_X_X_[small]ASUS A7N8X-X, XP2500+ OC'd to XP3200+
Samsung 1024MB, PC2700 OC'd to PC3200
480GB [3x160GB, 7200, 8MB]
EVGA, GeForce4 Ti4600 128MB

Rules and Policies: http://forums.afterdawn.com/thread_view.cfm/2487[/small]

 

No worries, I'll clean up that thread in a sec.

Depends on who you're getting to build it.

AMD A64-3200 1MB - $310USD
ASUS A8VDLX - $200USD
Corsair VS1GBKIT400 - $180USD or Corsair VS1GBKIT400C3 - $160USD
Pioneer 107 - $100USD
Soundblaster Audigy2 - $65USD

.... now what did you have in mind for video? storage?

 

Well yes harddrive unless you plan to keep everything off CF cards or something ;-)

Well you've spec'd it for yourself

Depends on where you get stuff done: I know places that charge $10, 45, 90, 150 flatfee for assembly and setup. Other places charge $40/hour, 60/hour (minimum 1 hour) or in my case $120/hour (minimum half-hour).

Well the above adds to $865 or so and add on the cost of the harddrive and video card both of which you already know what you want. A fair price? I have no idea, I buy A32 and pay half of that; wont be moving to A64 till Novemeber

 

Major computer show in Canadal; I ususally buy enough parts for 6-8 computers and sell them over the course of the year.

 

Damn will you please stop making these ultra-broad statements???? True there are a lot of people who like to brag and even brag about their prices and such but those people dont represent everyone. If you are going to make broad statements like that -- and I welcome them -- make sure you at least know what you're talking about first -- and not making (seemingly) random claims. Why do I say this???? When you asked for a spec on an A64 system you failed to describe three things that are absolutely crucial to spec'ing it out for you (well ok maybe just two things): the video card and the harddrive capacity (and potentially the mobo -- "decent" mobo isnt a very informed description).

Are you sure? ;-)

Well you failed to notice that the FX53 will roast that comp -- and so will the P4EE. And from that "spec" they've included a lot of "filler" and crap (not that I blame them, it's just marketing -- and you seem to have fallen for it)
- Windows XP Professional ... whoopeee!
- ATI AGP Video 128MB .... wow that says a lot ... leaves room for like 6 possible cards -- and doesnt seem like you're gonna get a 9800Pro
- 1GB of memory ... yes one entire GB ... but did they spec the make? Or are they using stock RAM? If I spec'd stock RAM I could probably get 1GB for just over $100USD .... and wow... they're giving you PC2700 memory .... fancy ... especially since the A64 setups "prefer" PC3200.
- Huge 200GB harddrive .... okay so they've told you its 200GB and that it's 7200rpm ... but what about cache?
- 6 Channel Audio ... damn I'm surprised you fell for this one: in 99% of case with non-fancy, OEM systems "6-channel audio" means onboard and unless thats an NF3 chipset (which I wouldnt reccomend because of the crippled HT speeds) then its fairly worthless ... at least compared to the Audigy2 I spec'd out -- also worthless financially because you're paying for this "feature" when it comes standard with damn near every mobo out there now
- Firewire ... wow. They give you a plug for firewire on your mobo -- but do they give you the cable that connects to those jumpers? Or do they just mean firewire "capable"?
- 10/100 Lan ... OMFG ... wow.... a standard feature on damn near every mobo now (and to my knowledge, standard on every single A64 mobo -- which is why I didnt spec a NIC -- and unless im mistaken the mobo I spec'd is capable of gigabit ethernet)
- 7 in 1 media reader ,,,, a $20 dollar contraption you can pick up on the side ... how much of the total cost is it for this computer? We'll never know.
- Designer MidTower with 300W PSU .... dude the 350W PSU's are outdated. It's a shame because A64's really should be shipped in full-towers.
- 56K modem ..... I rest my case.

But the important information they leave out:
- What mobo are they running? ASUS? Abit? MSI? Soyo? ASROCK? ECS?
- As I've said before ... GPU? RAM?

- You have a job at Verizon .... they're computer people.... ask one of the technies there ... true computer prices in Canada are cheaper than in Indiana/US but the same trend appears worldwide.
- Also ask them if that system is the hottest PC to hit the market -- now unless Verizon techies are morons which I dont think they are, they will contest that either in favor of the FX53 or the P4EE both of which will give the A64 a lickin'

As for the fancy system you found on TIgerDirect ..... the system I spec'd out ... add some money for the HDD and a 9600Pro and it will give that TigerDirect OEM a serious brusin'. Also dont forget the TigerDirect system comes with stock cooling -- which, unfortunately, is not sufficient for the A64 chips

Fine I can drop to that level and spec you a system if you want.... enjoy:

- AMD A64-3200+ .. smokin speed!
- DUAL Highspeed LAN connections including blazing fast Gigabit Ethernet!
- DUAL Channel ultrafast memory support!
- DUAL SPDIF/Optical outputs for crystal clear sound!
- Ultra high performance 1600MHZ Hypertransport system
- 256MB ultra fast nVidia video! The 256MB of highspeed memory is perfect for high intensity videogmes!
- 1024MB of brandname blazing memory!
- High performance northbridge fan to keep things cool during a strenous workout!
- Pre-modded mobo -- perfect for those LAN parties!
- 250GB 7200RPM ATA133 harddrive .... perfect for keeping everything -- you'll never run out of space again!
- High performance LG52x24x52 cd burner -- get your CDs burnt in less than 150 seconds!
- High performance LG DVD±RW drive -- now you can make your own DVDs right at home!
- MS Windows and MS Software bundle included free!
- X-Dreamer II case with massive 350W certified power supply!

· Front mounted audio and USB ports so you'll never have to reach around behind the case again!
· DUAL ultra bright LED fans to keep your system cool and to light things up at LAN parties
· MASSIVE, fullsized case window with ALIEN fan grills so you can show off you hardcore rig

All for the amazing price of $800USD -- hundreds of dollars less than similarly spec'd systsmes! Amazing deal!!!


Note:
(a) The price tag of $800USD is actual cost. No profit factored in yet.
(b) For those wondering, that's an ECS mobo and Hyundi memory, CAS3, PC2700 running @ 3-5-5-8
(c) The video card is a GFX5200
(d) The only two decent things on the system are the HDD and the Processor (the HDD is a WD-250 with 8MB)
(e) "value"-wise I'd probably appraise the system for ~$600-$700 only because of the A64, the HDD and that it's got 1GB of (albeit slow), memory.



DAMN! I should get into marketing!

 

Newer games will definitely need the 256MB and 512MB (although I think they might have a 384MB step in there too). Hell dude, like ive said, Doom3 will easily choke out 800MB of system memory before getting to the main menu. Heehee, I would also think games like FarCry and UT2004 will benifit (although not so much because the texel count isnt as high) frm the increased memory.

Possibly and to a degree, most likely however if you consider a card like the GFX5200 -- purely budget and damn near no performance. RAM is cheap ... so why not try and milk as much performance as possible from the GFX5200 by giving it as much memory as you can? Then we goto the opposite end of the spectrum, say tghe 9800XT ... its leading edge and to give it absolutely every ounce of performance (at a premium), one doubles the memory count.

For mainstream cards however you are dead on -- there isnt a use for 128MB of video memory yet.

 

Yeah the biggie with video memory is the amount of texture a given frame is going to have (i.e., texel count, texel fill rate etc) ... with 128MB of memory, ideally 64MB will be set aside for general pixel operations and the other 64MB for texture -- which suddenly doesnt seem so "big" anymore ... consider UT2004 .... i've got no clue whatsoever but I would think its a fair estimate that any given "busy" (i.e., lots of action) frame may have upwards of 10MB of texture? (dunno the numbers just trying to convey an idea) -- this means that the video card can only hold up to ~5 more frames "in advance" and thus put a cap on the video performance.

Now things get really messy when you also have "light textures", "shadow textures" in addition to the regular "bump"- and "normal"-mapping... and then when you consider the implications of FSAA and multiple overlapping textures etc. It's not so bad now.... but it can and will get pretty bad later on