OT: Worst PC Decision

[Cirvol]

Renegade Right click 'my computer', hit properties, then the advanced tab then the performance button.

BTW, I used to work for M$ and IBM, and now do my own consulting business, database programming, hardware systems for large companies, etc etc

Trust me when I say, Ideally you want 2 gig's of total virtual ram - ie, if you have 512 meg ram, make your swap file 1.5 gig... Windows addresses up to 4 gig of ram, (32 bits), so some argue it should add to 4 gig... if you have the HD space, then go for it. (and yes, defrag before you do this - with swap disabled)

Also, on the VGA CARD issue... don't fall for the general directives of 'buy highest' or 'buy middle'... the companies rely on this, and you WILL get ripped off for the very top of the line, all the time.

Get at least an ATI 9500 PRO or better
Or get at least a GF 4200 ti or better
ati if you want direct x 9 pure support... but the TI series of GF 4's are nice... DO NOT buy MX variants of geforces

These cards are now fairly cheap, but use essentially the same architecture as the highest end cards... they just usually are clocked slower, and have slower memory. In many cases you can overclock to gain half the difference. My own 4200ti card easy runs at 4400 speeds

For those of you who insist on putting your own systems together, use GOOD quality stuff, ie, asus motherBoards, (msi and gigabyte are decent too), use 865 or 875 intel chipsets for the p4's and use nvidia chipsets for the amd's... (some other new sis and via amd chipsets are coming along nicely now as well, for a real low down, refer to tomshardware.com or anandtech.com)

Atrocities --- OMG, I feel so horrible after reading your experience... I wish I was around to help. Or you should have asked here...

Dell's with home warranties really are nice, the prices are reasonable but they do use decent components these days on their higher end stuff. You won't go wrong, you'll pay a bit more than homebuilt, but some say its worth it for the piece of mind.

If you connect to the internet, and use windows, ALWAYS update your computer from microsoft before you do anything else... too many hackers out there these days... if you're running XP, i'd suggest going to service pack 2 beta right away. If you run linux, then you don't need my advice really

[Atrocities]

The problem I am having with Farcry is that my card is over heating. It is not over cloaked so this should not be an issue but it is. I need a water cooled case.

Any one here have any ideas on how to super cool a case cheaply?

Thanks cirvol, I wish you were around back then too.

[geoschmo]

I read that article Cirvol. The guy doesn't make a very compelling argument for building a box. At least not on an economic or performance basis. I am sure it was a good learning project for his kid and there's always something to be said for that. But the machine they ended up with wasn't any better then what they would have gotten in a pre-built for the same money. And he's not counting anything for an operating system.

So basically for the same money you can get the equvalent quality machine with a legit copy of an OS, already put together and ready to go. If you aren't just doing it for the fun of building it yourself, it doesn't really make sense.

[Gandalf Parker]

In alt.hacker we had a discussion about homemade cases. It was alot of fun. One was a "water cooled" case kindof. Remove the case on the computer. Take a big sheet of acrylic and bend it down over the computer, then across the table for 4-6 inches or so, then back up so you have a giant W with the computer in the middle. Its kindof hard to picture but after all the sealing and everything you get an aquarium than fits down over the top of the computer. Some air flow of course but mostly it was a heat exchange. The computer wants cooling and the aquarium wants heat. Plus seeing the computer running in the middle of the aquarium sounded cool.
(ouch I didnt mean that pun)

[Raging Deadstar]

David Gervais and Cirvol.

Thanks very much, My pc has been quite cluttered recently and VERY slow. I tried what you suggested about Defragmenting and Virtual Memory and it has done wonders for it, and it hasn't crashed once yet. Thanks for that

[Fyron]

So basically for the same money you can get the equvalent quality machine with a legit copy of an OS, already put together and ready to go. If you aren't just doing it for the fun of building it yourself, it doesn't really make sense.

In reality, this is not true. It might be for that Tom's Hardware article, but when you really go to build your own PC, you do save a lot of money and can get higher quality hardware (because you can choose what to get, rather than being stuck with the cheapest garbage the company selling you that prebuilt PC could find) when building the computer yourself (including the cost of the OS). The savings are not as large as they were a few years ago, but they still are large. Especially if you take advantage of rebates that appear for nearly every item from time to time, or go to computer fairs to get parts far cheaper than in stores such as Best Buy.

Of course, if you already own a copy of an OS and are building a new PC to replace the old one, you can use the OS CD you already have. There is no need to buy a second copy of it.

Originally posted by Raging Deadstar:
David Gervais and Cirvol.

Thanks very much, My pc has been quite cluttered recently and VERY slow. I tried what you suggested about Defragmenting and Virtual Memory and it has done wonders for it, and it hasn't crashed once yet. Thanks for that

It is a good idea to defragment your hard drive once every 2 weeks or so. If you do it often, it doesn't take very long to do it each time. You do not need to disable the virtual memory swap file each time of course.

[ June 03, 2004, 18:56: Message edited by: Imperator Fyron ]

[geoschmo]

It's also been my experience for the Last few years at least that the cost savings in building you own is not that spectacular, and may not be there at all. Unless we are talking about building a machine as cheaply as possible, in which case you can scrounge around and find year or two old components or whatever. You can put a workable low-end machince together on the cheap pretty easy. Of course you can also buy a used year or two old pc at a flea market or on ebay for next to nothing. If you are trying to build a machine to play all the latest games then the savings just aren't there.

OS's shouldn't be sloufed off so easily either. Typically every time I've found myself looking to upgrade pc's the OS has been a lttle long in the tooth as well. Of course some people grow fond of the older OS's and don't want to upgrade, but hey, that's not me. And yeah, I know there are a lot of "creative" ways to come up with a copy of an OS. But that's why I qualified my statement with "legit". And if you aren't trashing your old pc, and who does that when there are always family, friends, and home networks in need of backup computers, using the OS on the new pc isn't legit.

[Fyron]

I don't know... I have found the savings to be there in full force. Recently we purchased a PC for my sister. It cost around 500 dollars (plus moniter, which was about 80). A similar build of computer from, for example, Dell, was priced at around 900. And that was only with some of the parts of equivalent quality. Other stuff was worse in the Dell. This was obviously not a top of the line PC, but we could have gotten such for maybe 1/2 to 1/3 the price that Dell charged.

And if you aren't trashing your old pc, and who does that when there are always family, friends, and home networks in need of backup computers, using the OS on the new pc isn't legit.

Only if you Subscribe to that unenforceable EULA gobleygook. It is not a legally binding contract in any way. I purchased the software, I can put it on as many of my computers as I want. Nothing "illegit" about it. Software is purchased by a user. Not by an individual computer.

[ June 03, 2004, 19:47: Message edited by: Imperator Fyron ]

[Renegade 13]

Originally posted by Imperator Fyron:
It is a good idea to defragment your hard drive once every 2 weeks or so. If you do it often, it doesn't take very long to do it each time. You do not need to disable the virtual memory swap file each time of course.

Ok, I may seem totally computer illiterate (I'm not ), but how do you disable the virtual memory swap file??

[ June 03, 2004, 23:14: Message edited by: Renegade 13 ]

[Instar]

the thing with building your own PC is that each part has its own warranty, instead of the whole unit
Also, in my experiences, you can save a bit of money. Recently my motherboard died, after two years of faithful service (and it comes with a 3 year warranty by default)
I'm never going to buy OEM machines, unless for someone else or something really specialized that I couldn't make myself