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is this a good pc to buy?
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Junior Member
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29. April 2006 @ 20:02 |
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Is this it?
Athlon64 3200+ (Socket 939)
Asus A8N-E Motherboard
1024MB Single Module Corsair Value Select PC3200 RAM
250GB Samsung Spinpoint S-ATA 8MB Buffer Hard disk
Antec SP 450 Power Supply
ATI Radeon X800GTO Graphics
No Operating System or Case included in price which is already $700
Add that NZXT case for $75 and $90 for XP Home and you are at $900
Then add in what you will pay to have it all put together and installed and you may easily be looking at another $100 to $200
Points:
1. Video Card is a Sapphire (nuf said) The MSI i mentioned in Mine was within budget, great quality and support, and decent for gaming and has higher Memory clock than most 6600LEs (700 mhz)
2. The Spinpoint drive is okay but for the same money the WD comes with 16mb buffer.
3. Why single module RAM when no expressed interest to go beyond 2 gigs No interest to take advantage of a Dual Channel support and better timings you'll get with 512 modules?
4. The only difference between the A8N5X and the A8N-E is the first has the NForce4 chipset while the later has NForce4 Ultra chipset and the difference between those in performance (toms, anandtech, Dig Daily)..nada...the difference for you with the A8N5X is $10 for something else. Read the reviews on Newegg as well...both are just over 300 and yet the A8N5X maintains 5 stars while the A8N-E is chopped to 4.
5. The NEC 3550a is the best bang for your buck 16X DVD Burner out there. Compare it's 5 star 600+ reviews with the 24 reviews (4 star) the LG got. Price for an NEC 3550a is 35.99.
Bottom line: Is your budget $900?
If it is might i recommend a slightly amended offering that BLOWS what SAM (with all due respect) out of the water.
https://secure.newegg.com/NewVersion/Wishlist/PublicWishDetail.asp?WishListNumber=3189286&WishListTitle=RED+ICE+FINAL
Dual BURNERS, better Hard Drive, Far Better Video, 3500+ CPU
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Junior Member
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29. April 2006 @ 20:20 |
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sorry but i cannot help myself
OPTION 2 for $900 budget
https://secure.newegg.com/NewVersion/Wishlist/PublicWishDetail.asp?WishListNumber=3189326&WishListTitle=RED+ICE+FINAL+OPTION+2
Athlon X2 3800 with only one burner and different 7600GS video card with a rebate as well.
NOW THIS BABY will give a KICK!
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AfterDawn Addict
4 product reviews
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30. April 2006 @ 04:16 |
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Quote:
o ok i see. so i take it the BenQ drives are 2nd best to the Plextors PX-716As because i see around the forums and just about everybody has a BenQ drive or are getting them.
I think it might be because they're just so cheap. I personally don't buy Benq or Acer stuff because in the past the quality of their products was absolutely appalling but I hear they may be getting better.
Quote:
Video Card is a Sapphire
Who are pretty much the best ATI GPU manufacturer - no copmplaints about either of my Sapphire cards at all.
Quote:
The Spinpoint drive is okay but for the same money the WD comes with 16mb buffer.
Which is barely faster and a lot noisier.
Quote:
Why single module RAM when no expressed interest to go beyond 2 gigs No interest to take advantage of a Dual Channel support and better timings you'll get with 512 modules?
This is partly true, with dual channel, as long as you're only ever going to upgrade once, you'll be better off. However, you can still get 1GB sticks with as good timings as 512MB modules if you wish.
That system is better, although admittedly more expensive, and the X2 is a far better CPU, but the 7600GS is by no means a fast GPU, so "blows out of the water" isn't really an appropriate term.
Also, don't forget you'll need cables with the system as well.
Plus of course, that PSU may struggle with that CPU etc. Rails oscillating badly doesn't sound like a one off faulty scenario. A better Higher rated PSU would suit better, and that may push well over $900 ultimately.
How about
(I'm not US so I don't have a Newegg account)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819103562 - X2 3800+
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813131569 - Asus A8N5X
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817153023 - Thermaltake 430W PSU
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16822152025
Samsung Spinpoint 250GB HDD
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16827151092 - Samsung DVDRW
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811146015 - NZXT Trinity
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814102483 - Sapphire X850XT
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820145450 - Corsair XMS 1GB Dual Channel
Add say $10 for cables, maybe $20 for delivery and that lot comes to $912 all-in BUT there's about $40 worth of rebates in there, so it ends up at about $870. If that's too much, you can have an X800GTO for $30 less.
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redice
Senior Member
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30. April 2006 @ 07:48 |
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o ok
This message has been edited since posting. Last time this message was edited on 30. April 2006 @ 07:51
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Junior Member
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30. April 2006 @ 08:03 |
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Quote:Video Card is a Sapphire
Who are pretty much the best ATI GPU manufacturer - no copmplaints about either of my Sapphire cards at all.
I TRY TO COUPLE PERSONAL EXPERIENCE WITH PRODUCTS WITH REVIEWS OF MAJOR HARDWARE SITES AND RATED REVIEWS FROM ACTUAL BUYERS. THIS SAID, SAPPHIRE IS TO ATI what CHAINTEC and ALBATRON are to NVIDIA. THEIR SUPPORT IS AMONG THE WORST (they contract it out unlike most of those who make Nvidia Cards),,,,XFX and EVGA particularily have stellar records in that department.
Quote:The Spinpoint drive is okay but for the same money the WD comes with 16mb buffer.
Which is barely faster and a lot noisier.
CHECK THE SPECS, NOT A LOT NOISIER (in fact noted for being quiet) and MORE BUFFER RESULTS IN FASTER PERFORMANCE and have better power consumption than the spinpoint and this means less heat.
THAT SAID, I dont think either drive is bad to get, at least its not a Maxtor.
Quote:Why single module RAM when no expressed interest to go beyond 2 gigs No interest to take advantage of a Dual Channel support and better timings you'll get with 512 modules?
This is partly true, with dual channel, as long as you're only ever going to upgrade once, you'll be better off. However, you can still get 1GB sticks with as good timings as 512MB modules if you wish.
FOR MORE MONEY.
BUT THE NEW RAM you SELECTED was also a good choice.
That system is better, although admittedly more expensive, and the X2 is a far better CPU, but the 7600GS is by no means a fast GPU, so "blows out of the water" isn't really an appropriate term.
NOT MORE EXPENSIVE< REMEMBER, YOU DIDNT FACTOR IN CASE COST OR Operating SYSTEM WHICH WOULD HAVE YOUR BUDGET APPROACHING $900 easily
BLOWING OUT OF THE WATER IS THE WHOLE SYSTEMS...EITHER of my options are easily more desirable than the one you propose.
Also, don't forget you'll need cables with the system as well.
HE HAS ONE DVD AND ONE HDD AND BOTH THOSE CABLE ARE INCLUDED WITH THE MOBO ACCROUTRAMENTS.
Plus of course, that PSU may struggle with that CPU etc. Rails oscillating badly doesn't sound like a one off faulty scenario.
SPEND SOME TIME IN THE HARD OCP FORUMS AND READ THEIR PSU GUIDE AND YOU WILL FIND THAT FORTRON IS TOPS WHEN IT COMES TO BUDGET POWER SUPPLIES...i wouldn't be buying not 300 or 350 watt cheapie...because they make those....but their 400+ POWER SUPPLIES are AMONG THE BEST VALUE you can BUY for that kind of money and is MORE THAN ADEQUATE for the system i laid out AND Then SOME. NOTE the 7600GS card has no onboard Power connector needed.
A better Higher rated PSU would suit better, and that may push well over $900 ultimately.
NIP HERE< TUCK HERE.....on an even keel and budget yours just doesnt match up. Do a wish list with your configuration for $650 and $900 and stay within budget and lets see what you can do. I still feel bad for the guy because when this thing is built (if he does buy 900 in components) will be almost double over what he intended to pay. Will he like the computer...sure....but can he afford it?
How about
(I'm not US so I don't have a Newegg account)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819103562 - X2 3800+
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813131569 - Asus A8N5X
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817153023 - Thermaltake 430W PSU
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16822152025
Samsung Spinpoint 250GB HDD
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16827151092 - Samsung DVDRW
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811146015 - NZXT Trinity
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814102483 - Sapphire X850XT
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820145450 - Corsair XMS 1GB Dual Channel
Add say $10 for cables, maybe $20 for delivery and that lot comes to $912 all-in BUT there's about $40 worth of rebates in there, so it ends up at about $870. If that's too much, you can have an X800GTO for $30 less.
Sorry for the caps. not used to using tags in forums and so my emphasis is patchy
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aabbccdd
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30. April 2006 @ 08:46 |
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guys we are really going to confuse redice lol ,remember his just starting out, looks like his has plenty of options now
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Junior Member
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30. April 2006 @ 12:50 |
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quick note on something i forgot to mention about the last power supply you recommended
About a year ago Thermaltake started using someone else to make their 430 watt power supply and the new one definitely shows it. Even the weight is considerably less than its predecessor which is an indication of the quality and capacitors used in its construction. You should steer very clear of the Thermaltake 430 these days. The 480 however continues to be a fairly nice power supply but they have increased the price quite a bit in the last year and for that (80+) you are better off buying Antex or Enermax.
Related to this is the video card. While the 7600GS i recommended does not have an auxillary PS connector the ATI one you recommended does have one. While i believe the FSP Fortron can more than handle that (dual 12V rails, PCI-X, SATA power connectors, extremely efficient), i wouldn't disagree with going with an Antec SP 500 for $30 more if you were not completely comfortable yourself.
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Junior Member
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30. April 2006 @ 12:58 |
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oh yeah...that NXZT case
I have a buddy who built his X2 4400 using the LEXA which is the $180 top of the line from them.
Besides a few minor issues with such an expensive case the biggest complaint he has 4 months later is the mirror finish front. He says it is a pain to keep smudge free and if you stand closer than 4 or 5 feet now it appears rather scratchy.
Something you might want to keep in mind with the mirrored finish on that cheaper NZXT you were looking at.
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Senior Member
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30. April 2006 @ 20:51 |
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Does anybody think this Vista will bring progress or do you think its just a hype.
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aabbccdd
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30. April 2006 @ 21:01 |
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well if you want to backup your audio CDs and DVDs its degress lol since copying software is NOT going to work with Vista OS ,its going to happen with XP sooner or later i would bet on it, so reverting back to XP SP1 or Windows 2000 or learn how to run and operate a Linux OS may be closer than we think
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AfterDawn Addict
4 product reviews
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1. May 2006 @ 03:59 |
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Theres no real need for bold capitals, jdwinty, I can read!
Appreciably you're new to the forums but it kind of gives the wrong impression about your post. Most posts like that tend to be along the lines of "that's complete rubbish", but that doesn't seem to be your opinion. I've been PMed because we're being a bit confusing.
Quote:
at least its not a Maxtor
We do agree on something then!
To be honest, a 16MB buffer drive is going to be the fastest available, and I have had a few WD caviars and they're quite good.
A case being slightrly scratched is going to happen, you can't keep things nice forever, at least they'll be scratches from use, not manufacturing scratches like with this case.
As I mentioned before I can't make wish lists because I'm not a newegg member. Tbh, we've given our friend redice a lot to think about. It is also partly down to him.
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Junior Member
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1. May 2006 @ 12:19 |
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The caps were not meant in the fashion of yelling or anything, was trying to distinguish between your words and mine. I tend to respond to an entire letter instead of piecing it apart bit by bit as you seem to favor. While i am new the AfterDawn forums i spend quite a bit of time in many others (hardocp, shooshtime, etc)which vary somewhat in that replie do not require the use of Tags but instead allow you to edit and change attributes directly through use of a built in toolset. Of course i have been coming to Afterdawn for a very long time as well. Perhaps labels like newbie can give others a wrong impression about the person posting a reply, especially when ascertaining computer advice.
With respect to the Maxtor i can only say that i try not to hold onto my own attributional bias's for too long since products i found or researched to be not too good end up getting their act together (and vice versa). Maxtor however as a major hard drive manufacturer continues to have the highest return rate in the industry and has been noted many times in the past for bearing issues that cause horrible vibration problems in their DiamondMax line. Go to any major hardware reveiw site and you will notice almost no reviews of maxtor drives but tons of them on seagate, western digital,,,,even Samsung. They are not noted for any real innovation. Recently i bought a Maxtor because the deal was good to pass up (200 gigs for $60). It had the bearing problem, vibrated to holy hell and while it would recognize, writing or reading to/from the drive was a nasty experience. From previous experience i thought Maxtor had great RMA procedures having long ago RMA'd one and getting replacement in less than 2 weeks. This one however...close to six weeks! Maybe you would like to give me $60 for the this 200 gig Maxtor i received from them on that RMA(SATA)? I suppose you could say that out of virtually all of the computer components i have worked with that Maxtor hard drives are beaten only by Chaintech video cards in terms of my scorn. I am however aware this is partly biased by my own personal experience with the drives and that every hard drive will one day fail and certainly have experienced or seen failures with many other brands. The same with most people, one guy loves this while another can't stand it.
The Twins/My Babies
http://www.jdigs.com/building_a_beast.htm
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AfterDawn Addict
4 product reviews
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1. May 2006 @ 12:26 |
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Yeah, it's a pain moving from one forum to another when you're like "Platinum member" to become "newbie". Sometimes I do find myself a little annoyed with the simplicity of the AD messaging system, but I get used to it. A load of smilies and the like all over the place can be irritating.
My Maxtor drive is running OK atm (cross fingers) but they aren't renowned for quiet operations and I have heard about the issues with them as well. I wonder what will happen after they get taken over by Seagate in a month or so's time.
What's so horrific about Chaintech?
Quote:
Athlon 64 X2 4400 Toledo Athlon 64 X2 4400 Toledo
Lol, nice!
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Junior Member
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1. May 2006 @ 17:18 |
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I have had two personal experiences involving 5 RMAs of Chaintec video cards....and witnessed or handled RMAs for other people that had them....these were when 5700s were the bomb. They have really really lousy technical support. I ended up eating the cost of one card for a system i built because it was 3 months old and out of neweggs 30 day replacement (back then). Chaintec was horrible to deal with and even though i finally got an RMA...i never received a replacement video card back. There were tons of usenet discussion forums coming down hard on multiple problems with their video cards and motherboards at the time (so i was not alone). Several reviews i have read concerning Chaintec equipment makes it seem they haven't dealt with their quality control problems and so I finally just washed my hands of ever having anything to do with them. I had problems early with NEC DVD Drives and now use them almost exclusively in every computer build i do. Sometimes you have an issue with a company but the company is not too shabby. When the Antec TruePower was having trouble with NForce Ultra boards (mostly the DFI LanParty Ultra) it became obvious their power supply had a problem but Antec was cool about it and getting a different model was no problem and they were fairly fast. I think it is great that Seagate is taking over Maxtor.....they are number one, quite innovative and can breathe some needed life into the issues Maxtor has had. Hitachi did that with IBM even though they have staled as of late. I just wonder if Maxtors will continue to be the least expensive drive out there after this is done or maybe they will relegate those inexpensive models into those markets where cost is a big factor (outside of PCs, DVRs, Game Consoles, etc)
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Junior Member
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1. May 2006 @ 17:27 |
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yeah...my two X2 4400 are my babies.
Doing two rips or even two burns at the same time is not a problem and you really see it when you are doing multiple transfers at the same time. My COD2 play is just plain awesome and i really prefer using a Raptor for the main drive instead of a Raid 0 setup. I still use my other A64 3700+ system (the black armor all the way down on that page...i painted the inside the same time i built those other two) as my main PC for my website and email and such. I really should Ebay/sell it since one of my babies just sits there unused while the other one is for gaming mainly.
I tell you this...you ever get a chance to use a high end case...check out that Gigabyte Aurora. It is awesome through and through, 3 120mm Blue LED fans (low noise ones too), great cable routing possibilities, plenty of room and great airflow. My 4400s run 32 and 31 degrees celcius respectively.
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AfterDawn Addict
4 product reviews
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2. May 2006 @ 08:35 |
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jdwinty: It looks interesting, but at the moment my heart's still set on the NZXT Lexa. Sounds like you have similar ideas to me, I'm looking at an X2 4200+ and a Raptor as my main hard disk.
Didn't seagate recently make a 750GB hard disk?
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Wild9
Junior Member
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1. August 2006 @ 09:46 |
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Guys,
Sorry if this is a dumb question. Does DVD Shrink utilize dual-core technology? I am desperate to decrease my transcoding times and was considering the Athlon64 x2. Thank you.
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aabbccdd
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1. August 2006 @ 10:07 |
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yes you can use DVD Shrink with a dual-core cpu . iam using a AMD Opteron 175 Demark and it works fine
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redice
Senior Member
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1. August 2006 @ 10:14 |
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what about clonedvd2 and DVDFab Express?
also gald to see that my thread is still alive.
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AfterDawn Addict
4 product reviews
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1. August 2006 @ 11:35 |
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Lol just about, one page of messages in three months, but hey.
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redice
Senior Member
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1. August 2006 @ 11:42 |
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@sammorris
yeah i know but the custom build pc is great and it can always been upgrade. no more store brought pcs for me lol.
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AfterDawn Addict
4 product reviews
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1. August 2006 @ 11:50 |
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Cool!
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Wild9
Junior Member
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1. August 2006 @ 13:41 |
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Thanks for your reply.
To be honest I have always bought & built my own systems, the same for close friends. If something goes wrong I have myself and the internet to rely on.
But I stopped doing PC's for friends because it's like a ball and chain; they want never-ending after-sales support even when they infect their machines or let their kids kick the hell out of a PC case. I just spec a system and leave it to them.
The greatest reward for me is building and upgrading - I also recommend it and I learned so much. It was more straightforward than I ever thought although previously I was into electronics engineering. It is amazing what you can get for your money these days although as mentioned, for games you simply do not want to skimp on the graphics card else you will be wasting your time.
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Wild9
Junior Member
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1. August 2006 @ 13:45 |
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If you want games and are on a strict budget, consider dropping to a lower-specced CPU like the 3000+ and a kick-ass graphics card together with a decent amount of RAM. The Athlon64 3000+ can overclock well anyway (either S939 or AM2).
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AfterDawn Addict
4 product reviews
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1. August 2006 @ 13:50 |
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You can't buy a 3000+ for AM2, last I heard. I'd recommend the 3500+, they're quite cheap still, and OC well too.
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