please review my system i'm about to buy

[ypd1111]

thank you for reading, this is my first post. I would like to buy a new system, and this is what I came up with for a high-end system that was not overkill: newegg wishlist Please tell me what you think of it. I tried to go with the most cost effective P4C, but I also wanted to splurge on some things like the video card and the audio since i'm coming from a p2 300 (!). Yes, I have the worst system on earth, thank you. Anyway, recommendations would be great, especially on cooling, heatsinks, or other trick stuff. Thanks again.

 

[ypd1111]

for christ sake, bump

 

[AgaBoogaBoo]

Wow, its been some time since I've seen a ssytem for reviewing and it already had what I would choose. The only change I would do is remove that extra Thermal fan for the CPU. There is no need for it because you are getting the Retail cpu which comes with the HSF. As for the video card, I'd reccomend the Non Pro if you want to save some money... but then again it seems like you have the money. Also, do you really want a case with 7 fans? If I were you, I'd go for a quieter case. I have the Antec Sonata and its really quiet, quieter than all my systems at home except the tablet PC @ 1ghz Transmeta Crusoe CPU.

 

[Chaotic42]

I'd dump that case and get a normal one. Save yourself ~$150. Dump the Ratzpad, blue light thing, HSF, and bump down to XP Home. That's a total of like $300.

 

[ypd1111]

I kind of like the case. Fans are totally sweet, like a ninja. But besides that, I have a couple noob questions. What is the difference between XP home and pro, I haven't run either myself, only used them and I couldn't tell. Also, what do I lose by going with the non-pro 9800? Is this a good time to even buy a new system? thanks


P.S.-why ditch the rat padz? I heard good things.

 

[Chaotic42]

Originally posted by: ypd1111
I kind of like the case. Fans are totally sweet, like a ninja. But besides that, I have a couple noob questions. What is the difference between XP home and pro, I haven't run either myself, only used them and I couldn't tell. Also, what do I lose by going with the non-pro 9800? Is this a good time to even buy a new system? thanks


P.S.-why ditch the rat padz? I heard good things.

You like the case for $218? I hate colored fans and crap like that, so I won't bother trying to convince you not to get them.

These are the differences in XP Home and Pro. You likely don't need Pro. I wouldn't drop the money on a 9800Pro. It's not worth it, in my opinion. You probably won't be able to run Doom 3 well. It might make a difference for HL2, but not a $100 difference, especially if they can't make a work-around for the FSAA thing.

You're using an optical mouse, so I don't really see how much of a difference the Ratzpad will make. I use a $2 pad, and it's better with my optical than my $20 Everglide is.

 

[Regs]

Got the best that money can buy! I don't think you are being one bit conservative. And don't say your not just because your not buying a 80 dollar keyboard or 500 dollar sound system for it.

I say you should use the money for a down payment on a new car. The hell with a computer.

3,000 😕

 

[jacktesterson]

Go with XP Home

and why not use a Antec Sonata case? comes with a true 330 and awesome aluminum case.....half the price...or a antec lanboy? comes with a 330 as well, and a side plexiglass window that lights the whole system neon blue at nite.....both of these are half that price for your case

the only thing I'd say is drop the speakers and get the Logitech Z680's.....were talking awesome sounding speakers with power over 400 watts rms 🙂 for same price range


and if it was me, I'd slap a 2.4C, better yet, A barton 2500 with a nforce 2 ;-)

 

[Budmantom]

Why don't you save $2000 and go with Dell?

 

[Excelsior]

Lose the ratpadz, I had one, wasnt worth it. Lose the Thermaltake Xaser. Dont get the more expensive Corsair, they have Corsair PC3200 cas2 for around 110 not 127. Get an IS7 instead of IC7 and save a bundle there.

 

[ypd1111]

Originally posted by: Regs
Got the best that money can buy! I don't think you are being one bit conservative. And don't say your not just because your not buying a 80 dollar keyboard or 500 dollar sound system for it.

I say you should use the money for a down payment on a new car. The hell with a computer.

3,000 😕

Heh, I appreciate your concern, but I just bought a new car. And a new TV. The money for this computer came from selling my motorcycle and I promised myself that it would only be used for something unnecessary and fun (like a motorcycle). So I decided that I enjoyed computer games enough to treat myself to a new system. Why should I not get the best money can buy, I am not short on cash and this money was specifically designated for my entertainment. Enough with the sensibility.

P.S. - scrapped the ratpadz, went with XP home, and Ligitech Z-680s. Assuming I want to keep the Xaser case (I do), should I order this bad boy?

 

[MAW1082]

Yo I would def get XP Prof just for the remote desktop. that is the sh^&

 

[Chumpman]

Originally posted by: Excelsior
Lose the ratpadz, I had one, wasnt worth it. Lose the Thermaltake Xaser. Dont get the more expensive Corsair, they have Corsair PC3200 cas2 for around 110 not 127. Get an IS7 instead of IC7 and save a bundle there.

Hey I bought that ratpadz 😱

 

[Chumpman]

Originally posted by: MAW1082
Yo I would def get XP Prof just for the remote desktop. that is the sh^&

Or you could download the far superior tight vnc

 

[mst]

Good system, but not entirely to my taste 😉 I would change this:

1. Do you really want to spend 218 bucks for a case? Get it changed
2. Instead of combo CDBurner+DVD Reader I would prefer separate Cd burner (TEAC) and a DVD drive(Asus or Teac)
3. I wouldn't buy 21'' monitor, 19'' is fine for me
4. I would change the Audigy 2 Platinum with Audigy 2
5. Change the Radeon with GeForce5900 Ultra
6. Change the speakers - instead of Klipsch Promedia I would take Cambridge Soundworks Megaworks 610/510D (THX certified), great sound

Not that the system was bad, not at all, but I would prefer these changes to it

 

[ypd1111]

ok, this is what I got:

CD MS|WIN XP HOME w/SP1a % (Qty=1,Price=93.00)
VGA ATIOEM|RADEON 9800 128M 8X AGP% (Qty=1,Price=259.00)
S/W SIERRA|HALF LIFE Platinum 2 RTL (Qty=1,Price=25.00)
CPU P4/2.8CGHz 800M 478P/512K HT RT (Qty=1,Price=267.00)
DDRAM512M|64MX64 PC-3200C2PT COR% (Qty=2,Price=258.00)
MOUSE LOGITECH|MOUSEMAN DUAL OPTCL (Qty=1,Price=32.00)
MB i875P|5P1A4D IC7-G ABIT ATX RTL (Qty=1,Price=188.00)
S/W BLIZZARD|WARCRAFT III RTL (Qty=1,Price=27.00)
SOUND BLASTER|AUDIGY 2 PLATINUM RTL (Qty=1,Price=167.00)
CDRW 52x24x52|LITE ON LTR52246S RET (Qty=1,Price=43.99)
HD 120GB|WD 7200 WD1200JD 8MB (Qty=1,Price=127.00)
FD 1.44MB SONY MPF920-Z OEM (Qty=1,Price=8.00)
KB MS|NATURAL MULTIMEDIA PS2 OEM% (Qty=1,Price=26.00)
CASE MOD|COLDCT D0012 (BLUE)TT RT (Qty=1,Price=10.99)
LOGITECH THX Z-680 5.1 SPEAKER (Qty=1,Price=290.00)
CASE TT|10 ATXF XASER III V2420A RT (Qty=1,Price=218.99)
MNTR SONY|21"CRT CPD-E540/B RET (Qty=1,Price=468.00)


hard to read, but I did take you guys' advice and got the 9800 non-pro. to the post above this one, 19" may be good enough, but 21" is awesome. I want to say thanks for your help with getting the right speakers and ditching the rat padz. This system is going to be really cool. Please don't tell me I should have cut corners on stuff because I really don't care. I had 2 questions though: why do you say I should have a seperate DVD-rom and CDRW? I went with just a CDRW, but I had found one that played DVDs too and apparently that was a bad thing(?). Also, I only got one hard drive, a SATA 120 gig, should I have another one? I don't see how I could fill a 120 any time soon.

 

[mst]

Very good pc, really. I like it, except for the Radeon, but that's me 😉 It's not a bad thing to have a combo CD-RW+DVD. I just prefer two separate devices in two different IDE channels plus when I copy a CD I don't have to wait for the device to make a HDD image before the burning. I always play games, copy CD and stuff using the cd-rw and keep the DVD drive "clean" just for DVDs. It's not a bad thing, just a matter of convenience. I don't think you need another HDD except if you like to have a RAID (in that case it's recommendable that you have a second one which is exactly the same as the first one). As for me, I have two HDDs - I use the smaller for windows partition and backing up important stuff, the second one (larger) is where I install games, music (it's good to keep the windows partition clean) etc. Actually I keep the smaller HDD over the years with all the PCs that I have had. How fast you would fill up 120 Gb. depends on you.

 

[santaclaus]

please, don't get that hidious M$ keyboard. You mentioned you were going to play games, right? Get my drift?

Edit: Definitely go w/ the audigy 2, not the platinum. I made teh mistake of going with the platinum, and i have never used that useless front drive. As a matter of fact, i hid the drive in the case.