what oh what to spend my money on?

[themisfit610]

Hey folks,

So I've got a bit of extra cash - between 7 and 8 hundred, and had originally planned on spending it on a BenQ 24" Widescreen LCD.

Sounds all good, but then I got to thinking what else I could get for that much cash.

I wont deny I don't have much faith in my 7800gt being able to drive the BenQ in Oblivion or Supreme Commander - the only real games I play these days.

For about $800 I could get a big box upgrade, an E4300, DS3, 2 GB of 800 MHz DDR2, a Corsair 520W, and a 640MB 8800GTS. I would overclock heavily.

But then again, I dont even game all that often theses days. I've also heard rumblings of upcoming price cuts in the video card sector, possibly bringing the 2900xt down to a reasonable price.

I've also considered getting a headphone amplifier for my lovely Sennheisser headphones which so desperately need one.

Otherwise, I'm very happy with my electronics setup. An Xbox360 for Forza 2 would be nice, but I've also heard they're going to drop a bunch in price soon. I've heard the 360 looks fantastic on VGA

Sigh... I guess I'm being indecisive, and honestly my current setup is pretty damned good. The only times it feels slow is in Oblivion and Supreme Commander, both of which would benefit HUGELY from the big system upgrade, and both of which would be essentially unplayable without it - if I get the BenQ, since I would never run it at anything less than its native res. Damn LCDs.

I wish I had $2K

Give me your opinions. Convince me. I'm vulnerable and flush with cash lol...

~MiSfit

 

[themisfit610]

Dear god I just took the plunge.. Got a refurb BenQ 24" from benqshopper.com for under $500 shipped Apparently they sell stuff refurbed straight from Benq.

This could either be the best thing ever, or the worst thing ever. The company seems legit, they're on resellratings, and there's buzz on the web about it. We'll see.. If I get scammed, well then, I will scream bloody murder and make damn well sure everyone on the forums knows to stay away!

~MiSfit

 

[ForumMaster]

well then spend the rest on a better graphic card. perhaps a nice 8800GTS 320MB? the geforce 8 series does much better in oblivion due to better shaders.

 

[ShellGuy]

From what i read the 8800tgs 320 overclocks better than the 640 anyways.. goodluck with the BenQ



Will G.

 

[dealmaster00]

get some decent headphones! you can get koss ksc75 for $19 (free ship on $25+) on amazon. If you like the sound of those, get some Grado SR80 for ~$95 shipped (these can be had for about $80 used.). The ksc75 are a pretty amazing phone. At first, I hated their sound, but that was a few years ago. I have been dabbling in audio quite a bit for the past year and when I heard these again I was shocked. They are the best headphone that I've heard yet - and I've tried out sennheiser cx300, shure e2c, v-moda bass freq, audio-technica ck7 and a500, super.fi 5 pro, and a few others, totaling to about $500. If you like a lot of bass, either you will have to train yourself to the ksc75's lack of bass, mod them, or move on to a different phone. But the highs...the highs are amazing. They are better than the $250 super.fi 5 pro. Try listening to some rock music on you run-of-the-mill earbuds and the ksc75. The ksc75 bring rock music to life in a way I've never heard before. I don't even know how to describe it. Everything is so crisp, lush, and detailed. They bring your music to life. At any rate, if you like ksc75, the next step up is the grado SR80. They have a similar sound signature (I have some on the way so I can't give you my personal opinion yet) but are even better, from what I've heard. These are good headphones for listening to music. If you want good headphones for movies or gaming, I would recommend the audio-technica a500 for $90.

 

[themisfit610]

I've already got Sennheiser HD-580s No need for anything more!

 

[themisfit610]

So the BenQ shipped yesterday. I'm excited! Under $500 for a top notch 24" is a very good deal IMO. I will do a very thorough inspection, and let you all know if I have any problems! I set up a bunch of 24" HP LCDs today at work, and was giddy with the prospect of owning an even better one

~MiSfit

 

[Paul Anderegg]

You could also throw in a $60-100 HDTV PC tuner card.......would look SWEEEEET on tose monitors....I use my PC as Media Center, damn things hooked up to my living room TV and recording shows 24/7, love digital TV

 

[MarcVenice]

might as well get a 2900xt, that way he can drool on the graphics when he plays oblivion, and the integrated HDTV tuner will allow him to do whatever that HDTV tuner card can do. Btw, can't you get that toledo any higher ? Or is it the max voltage you're willing to run at, coz temps otherwise run to high ? I've got a toleda coming in, with a arctic freezer 64 pro, and I'm hoping to hit 2.6ghz !

 

[themisfit610]

I'm limited by my PSU more than anything else.. she's 3 years old and a bit underpowered. My system randomly shuts down for no apparent reason

My overclock is actually not currently effective, though it will be as soon as I replace my PSU.

I just got the BenQ. SO SO SO SO SO SO HAPPY!!! OMG it's amazingly good. Perfect quality from benqshopper.com refurbished. I would reccomend to anyone in a heartbeat!

I also got a Component out cable to match the PS2 to the BenQ and was pleasantly surprised by its 480p quality. MUCH better than S-Video through my 7800GT's VIVO.

/me = happy!!!

~MiSfit

 

[Blain]

Buy a good solid PS. One that's got good reviews, not the little Newegg snippets... REAL reviews. :laugh:

 

[themisfit610]

Well yeah.. I've heard GREAT things about the corsair 520.. I need to be able to run 4-5 hard drives, an 8800gts, and and overclocked Core 2 with no issues. I need room to grow (or have aged capacitors), and for it to be preferably quietly

~MiSfit

 

[lenjack]

Buy a box of floppies and send me the change.

 

[themisfit610]

ROFL I will get right on that..

I was actually kicking myself in the ass the other day for not having a floppy drive to install XP on a customer machine that I added Intel Matrix RAID 1 to... I had to build a custom XP ISO with the drivers slipstreamed.. total PITA, but it worked very well. One of the only things I actually liked about Vista...

 

[Elias824]

maybe you should save the money? we dont all have to fork out all our money for computer parts. if your happy with your setup then why bother? although a better psu might save you some time and money down the road.