Critique my rig

Reebdoog · Jun 25, 2003

how's this? Rig

Corporate Thug · Jun 25, 2003

all looks well, it looks like it is gonna be a OCer, you may want to grab a good HSF while your at it

Hanzou · Jun 25, 2003

unless i read wrong, you only have one stick of 512mb RAM. Get two to take advantage of the Dual Channel DDR.

ProviaFan · Jun 25, 2003

Good choice on the HDD. I have one of the same, and it's fast and relatively quiet (not that I could hear it over the A/C...

).

mattg1981 · Jun 26, 2003

Good setup .. but here are some things that I personally would look at.

1) For the price you are paying for your video card ... it will be worth it to add 10 bucks and get a Radeon 9500 pro

2) Better get 2 sticks of ram cause that RAM in particular with Springdale is a big heap of troubles (I speak from expierence). Corsair recommends the PC-3500 (I went with the PC-3000 and I love it)

3) I like that case, in fact I almost got it ... another really cool one that I like is at: http://www.newegg.com/app/viewproduct.asp?DEPA=&submit=Go&description=CF%2D2029SW%2DS (Looks just like a Lian-Li, but at a fraction of the price)

Gotta get the free paper weight

Lyfer · Jun 26, 2003

Here's what I would do-

1. Ditch the Enermax Case, I have the same one, the airflow sux. The PSU wasn't strong enough to power up my old Shuttle Kt266A board which is pretty picky on PSU's. I would get something like a basic Maxtop midtower, which looks similiar but has far better airflow and combine it with an Allied True 400W PSU, total would be $30 (case) + $33 (PSU) = $66. BTW I replaced my Enermax PSU with an Allied 300W, works fine now, and I also have an Allied Ture 450W powering my main rig, nothing but rock stability.

2. You can get two sticks of Crucial PC3200 256MB for $45 a piece, they overclock much better over Corsair, and can run timings up to 2-2-2-5. If you go with the Crucial, you'll save $29, you can add that to your video card budget

.

3. The Geforce TI 4200 performance is really getting "outdated", I would spend more and try to get a Radeon 9500 PRO OEM or even a Radeon 9600 PRO, both run for around $170-$180. Or an even better option would be getting an OEM ATI Radeon 9700 for $199 from mwave and overclock the crap out of it

. You can get an Abit Siluro TI4200 64MB for $84 at excaliberpc, and save up for a much faster video card.

Everything else looks good.

Reebdoog · Jun 26, 2003

thanks for the input guys, lyfer I like those suggestions. but the enermax case: I read in one of the reviews at newegg, some guy says he's running like 3 HDD's, 3 optical drives, 9700,more crap, and the psu runs it fine. so I don't know about that one

Chaotic42 · Jun 26, 2003

Originally posted by: Reebdoog
thanks for the input guys, lyfer I like those suggestions. but the enermax case: I read in one of the reviews at newegg, some guy says he's running like 3 HDD's, 3 optical drives, 9700,more crap, and the psu runs it fine. so I don't know about that one

Take those reviews on Newegg with a grain of salt. How long has he been running it? Is it infront of his AC? Does he live in northern Greenland? Does he have millions of fans to cool it down?

People post some very knee-jerk reviews on Newegg. If they buy the wrong parts, they'll give them low ratings and complain about them, and sometimes they'll buy things and rate them highly because just because they bought them.

RaymondY · Jun 26, 2003

Nice system, my recommendations would be:

- Add another stick of memory to take advantage of dual channel
- Get a difference case, it looks like a Compaq. Try the Antec SLK3700AMB or Sonata
- Get a Radeon 9600 video card
- May consider getting a better HSF, I'm planning on running a Zalman 7000AlCu HSF on my 2.6c and IS7

Nice HDD, my primary rig at work and home have 80JB as their primary HDD. Love them

mattg1981 · Jun 26, 2003

what ever you do .. dont get a radeon 9600 card like alot of people are suggesting ... they are more expensive than teh 9500 and dont performa as well

Schadenfroh · Jun 26, 2003

Originally posted by: mattg1981
what ever you do .. dont get a radeon 9600 card like alot of people are suggesting ... they are more expensive than teh 9500 and dont performa as well

they have other advanatages

Lyfer · Jun 30, 2003

Originally posted by: Schadenfroh

Originally posted by: mattg1981
what ever you do .. dont get a radeon 9600 card like alot of people are suggesting ... they are more expensive than teh 9500 and dont performa as well

Click to expand...

they have other advanatages

Radeon 9700 is only $199 at mwave.com. Only a little more than Radeon 9600 PRO, I dunno how you can skip this or unless you are really tight on budget.

squidman · Jun 30, 2003

why do people call computers "rigs"? I dont get it. Just a computer.

ProviaFan · Jun 30, 2003

Originally posted by: squidman
why do people call computers "rigs"? I dont get it. Just a computer.

Would your highness prefer that we refer to them as "boxen" instead?

WTF ever, it's just a unique way of referring to the objects of the hobby. It's kind of funny, anyway, IMHO; if you've got a problem you can just do a mental "s/rigs/computers" each time you see it.

Vonkhan · Jun 30, 2003

get 2 ram sticks

get a better vid card, 9700 non-pros are pretty cheap. if u wanna OC, get a 9600pro else a 9500pro

again, if u wanna OC - get a 2.6C instead of a 2.4

get a better power supply

Siddhartha · Jun 30, 2003

Originally posted by: Hanzou
unless i read wrong, you only have one stick of 512mb RAM. Get two to take advantage of the Dual Channel DDR.

maluckey · Jun 30, 2003

More RAM, I use almost all my 512 mb in some games. More power supply, and better CPU heatsink.

Do you OC? The Ti-4200 in 8x mode is as fast as the 9500, so unless you go 9500 Pro, or 9700, you'll see little difference. The Ti-4200 AGP 8x OC's to crazy stupid levels in many cases. It's best bang for the buck in my opinion.

sniperruff · Jun 30, 2003

my suggestions are:

1) get a case that you REALLY like, don't get a case because it's cheap. i suggest chieftec or antec but the dragon series can get a bit noisy, but has very nice air flow

2) com'mon be a man! invest $30 something and get the 1200JB! (better yet, grab anything big on ur local bestbuy/OM/OD/staples sale. staples is VERY RELIABLE for rebates IMO)

3) yes, 2 sticks of memoery. 512 should be fine for now.

4) get a 5.1 sound system. hint hint Z640 for $20 something more

5) i think there are cheaper GF4 4200's out there. go get them. ATI's are fine but i personally prefer the GF4.

and CDRW? CDR's are a dime a dozen so burn burn burn!

good luck and have fun and hope this helps

tom

bjc112 · Jun 30, 2003

Originally posted by: mattg1981
Good setup .. but here are some things that I personally would look at.

1) For the price you are paying for your video card ... it will be worth it to add 10 bucks and get a Radeon 9500 pro

2) Better get 2 sticks of ram cause that RAM in particular with Springdale is a big heap of troubles (I speak from expierence). Corsair recommends the PC-3500 (I went with the PC-3000 and I love it)

3) I like that case, in fact I almost got it ... another really cool one that I like is at: http://www.newegg.com/app/viewproduct.asp?DEPA=&submit=Go&description=CF%2D2029SW%2DS (Looks just like a Lian-Li, but at a fraction of the price)

Gotta get the free paper weight

Yes, definitely grab the 9500 pro... Your total was only 730.00 and you have the title as 800.00

GnomeCop · Jun 30, 2003

Originally posted by: squidman

why do people call computers "rigs"? I dont get it. Just a computer.

It makes "computers" sound cooler when you call them "rigs."
...and you know everyone wants to be cool.

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