Buying New System.. What shuold i get? Alienware/Voodoo/Falcon/Dell/etc..

[pjay21]

Im lookin at customizing one of alienwares DV 2001 systems. I just returned my Apple G4 ~2600 , and im looking for a new pc around the same price or less for a Video Editing system. Heres what im looking for:

a real NICE lookin case
intel 2.8-3 ghz.. dual? im not really sure what i can for this price
RAID IDE or Scsi's
Dont really need a superior video card casue i dont play games
no monitor
audigy 2 w/ the external panels
dvd /cd burner
1 gb memory

mainly for producing/editing videos/producing music

I think im probably going for alienware.. i dont like the dells cases and the falcon and voodoos seem expensive.. any suggestions? thanx

edit: or should i wait .. for somethin better

 

[screw3d]

Build your own

You'll get one heck of a value compared to these "customized" systems.

But if you've got the cash to spare, I've got nothing to say

 

[human2k]

Dell.com.

 

[pjay21]

i dont know how lol

 

[boyRacer]

this months issue of CPU reviewed a Falcon HT PC system... $22,000 ...

Alienware, Voodoo, and Falcon NW are nice but very expensive... :Q Try abscomputers.com if you hate the Dell case and you have no interest in learning how to build one yourself...

 

[WejRepus]

Originally posted by: pjay21
i dont know how lol

a blind retarded monkey with arthritis in its not-quite-opposable thumbs could build a pc if it took the time and read a few walkthroughs and how-to's.
but, i know where you are coming from, fully. i bought an alienware system two years ago. then, after about 6 months my motherboard fried and they sent me a new one. i had one of the guys from the school tech crew come up to install it and i watched. the whole time thinking "i paid way to (^&&^*&% much for someone to build my pc for me." ironically, i thought this while i was installing a free mobo cause i had a warranty from alienware, something i wouldnt have had otherwise. anyway, i build my own now, and my advice to you is look up building your own.
it is however your money and it is your choice.

 

[Vonkhan]

seriuosly dude, build ur own. even if u pay my return ticket to whever u are and build ur system (i do tht stuff for free btw), u'll still save!!!

 

[psy44]

I bought one from ibuypower, mainly because they are cheap and have cool cases. I wouldn't get Alienware, Voodoo, or Falcon unless you've got a lot of money to blow. After I bought from Ibuypower, I noticed that I really should've built it myself, I'm probably just like you, don't have a clue how to put together a PC, so I just bought from them. I must warn you though, they got my order wrong the first time, but they were very kind and gave me some free stuff after I reordered, so I can't complain.

 

[mechBgon]

PCs are fairly modular, from a mechanical standpoint. The hardest part may be plugging in the case's wires for the Power Button, Reset Switch and the LEDs, which is easy enough if you look in the manual. The front-USB wiring may throw you a curve too, but you can get help here if the need arises. Even SCSI isn't that hard to deal with, just give each drive a unique ID and plug them in, and have the SCSI card's driver on a floppy diskette so you can install Windows onto the SCSI drives.

Software-wise, you would simply put your Windows or Linux CD into the drive and boot from it to install the operating system. After that there will be some updates to install, perhaps some drivers for your hardware, and your software of choice.

Before you go too far down the dual-processor road, be aware that Intel's multiprocessor CPU is the Xeon. Pentium4's aren't dual-capable. Almost all Xeon boards are dualies, and many have onboard SCSI, so if you're seriously considering a killer workstation, that's something to consider. Xeon boards are going to need Registered ECC memory. I saw a pretty good deal on 1Gb Corsair R-ECC PC2100 modules at Monarch Computer: $275, not bad and two of those would probably be the smart way to go for a dual-Xeon system.

 

[tommie]

im with the majority, build your own, in the past ive paid way too much for someone to build one. until 8 mo. ago i couldnt even get the rear connnections right. now ive got a basement full of parts and im on my 17 th build. my sister wanted me to upgrade the 1 .5 ghz p4 proccesor in her her 2 yr old gateway(as soon as i saw gateways tiny heatsink setup, i knew she was outa luck), it turns out she can only upgrade to a 2.0 ghz,she paid 2,400 for that POS.!! never would i recomend buying a pc from a company that has its sights set on selling you another pc in 2 yrs. #1 buy quality parts(product reviews)#2, take your time, check out all the pc forums, ask questions#3 have a good time&learn something

tommie j

 

[JSSheridan]

If you want an sound card for producing music, look into buying a Terratec DMX 6 Fire 24/96. Peace.

 

[ElFenix]

alierware is just too much $$ for what you're trying to do. dell workstations might be a bit better but at that hardware level you'll probably be quit a bit cheaper building it yourself.

if you do get a dell, remember to buy as little memory as possible from them and get it somewhere else. theres usually quite a bit of markup on the memory installed in a dell system.

 

[pjay21]

what would be faster:

Intel 3ghz 800mhz bus or athlon 3000?

also will xeon dual processor make a big difference?

 

[screw3d]

For video editing and encoding, you'll do much better with a P4.

 

[pjay21]

it seems like ibuypower is the cheapest with the most stuff.. are they a reliable company? has anyone had any expierences with them?

 

[mechBgon]

Originally posted by: pjay21
what would be faster:

Intel 3ghz 800mhz bus or athlon 3000?

also will xeon dual processor make a big difference?

Do you have the money for a dual-Xeon? Motherboards with the i7505 chipset are what you'd want (presently) and that puts you over the $400 mark just for the motherboard. Click for some possibilites A pair of Xeon 2.8GHz with 533MHz bus are about $950 at this time. And if you truly do what you're proposing then it might be a very powerful performer, given enough RAM and suitable drive setups to allow for your software to do its thing efficiently. I'm not a video pro, but there are some really knowledgeable folks who could offer recommendations if you put the name of your video software in your thread's title to attract their attention.

For media work, the P4 or Xeon will probably be a faster performer most of the time than the AthlonXP 3000+, especially if you get a really good platform for the CPU to work on (such as an RDRAM-equipped or dual-channel-DDR-equipped motherboard). Pairing up a P4 with single-channel DDR is going to hold it back somewhat.

 

[Headhunting55]

Take it from someone who's been doin' it for many years.....BUILD IT YOURSELF! You'll become intimately familiar with the components in your system, save some bucks, and have some fun.

 

[mjolnir2k]

DO build it yourself if you:
1. Like to "tinker" with electronics
2. Are interested in learning how a computer "works"
3. Have the time, patience and energy to solve the inevitable problems
4. Get enjoyment from doing it yourself
5. Can provide your own tech support
6. Are willing to become submersed in this culture of having to have the next best part every other day which leads to gross financial distress and loss of consortium with your spouse (Who has threated your life if you "Buy one more part for that GOD*AMN HUNK OF METAL")

DON'T build it yourself if You:
1. Have no patience for computer glitches
2. Get frustrated easily
3. Feel better if someone else does the work (Thus it's THEIR problem if something goes wrong)
4. Just want to plug it in and turn it on and have it work day 1 (See also DELL)
5. Are not ready to have no life outside of upgrading your computer

The truth is that you can build it for a lot less than you can buy it...but you have to be willing to out in the time to learn and do it yourself. Otherwise just let sleeping dogs lie and go buy a Dell.

Good luck in whatever your decision is.

 

[KhanAlf]

I purchased a computer from Ibuypower. I had problems for three months until I finally switched mobos and from there it has been smooth sailing (1 month so far). Throughout the entire, painful process of finding out exactly what was the problem, I realized two things...

1. I paid -way- too much for this.
2. Like all things, and computers break. Learning how they work is as inevitable as learning how to program a vcr, use an atm, use Excel, use e-mail (you get the idea).

You may not want to learn how they work, but when some odd, unknown error/breakdown occurs, what are you going to do? Akin to learning the mechanics of a car, in my opinion, learning how a computer works will be as important, not to mention fun. In the near future, a computer will be just as commonplace and as important to working as any tool. May as well go with the flow, and use it to your advantage. Besides, if you could build a car for two thirds the price and guarantee quality parts and workmanship, wouldn't you? Just my opinion

 

[Vonkhan]

ewww ... Dell, as crappy as they come!

I opened my 1.8GHz P4 Dell at work and I see PC133 RAM in it!!! Gross! This is where they save $$$ by stiffing uninformed buyers. All the layman sees is "P4 1.8GHz with 512MB RAM" ... they never mention the crap inside.

 

[Kingofcomputer]

No! Dell does mention what chipset and ram it uses. It's your company's IT manager's fault.

 

[Ryan]

If you're ever looking at buying a coputer coupled with a large LCD monitor, Gateway will even beat out you home builders price

 

[MikeMike]

ill build ya one! i wont supply 24/7 tech support, but i will put a warranty on it and all. Plus i would use high quality parts.

if you are looking for digital video, a dual proc system would be useful.

Some decent HD's not exactly scsi, but maybe sum 7.2k and 8mb cache HDS, in raid would help, or a Raptor HD

 

[AgaBoogaBoo]

Even a dual Xeon 2.5ghz setup will be faster than a P4 @ 3.00ghz. THIS applies ONLY if the program you use for video editing supports two processors. Usually, the good video editing programs support this, and with the Hyper Threading on the Xeons and dual Xeon chips, you can be editing video at very fast speeds.

IF your software supports dual processors, you'll get A LOT more speed out of a dual setup and if you can fit it in your price range.