To build or not to build, that is my question...

PrimeX · Post by **PrimeX** » Mon May 16, 2005 7:34 pm

So my "state of the art, super duper upgraded computer of the year 2000" is no longer pulling its load. This was my first desktop, and I heart her so, but it's time to move on.

I own a Dell 8200 Dimension and its 20 Gig hardrive and 128 of RAM is teh suck. Looking through the Dell online site I found that if I want to purchase 256 of RAM, it wil cost me around $300, and another $120 or so to upgrade the drive. Not cool. So I figured why not ask the techie duuuudes MOOOOVE! if this would be a smart move, or if maybe I should just upgrade with a new tower all together.

I would like a nice graphics card for DVD/TV viewing and moderate gaming, a nice sound card to give my surround sound speakers teh chub, ATLEAST 512 RAM, and a biggie sized hardrive. Also would need a DVD/CRW drive...duh.

Can this be built for under a grand? Cheaper? That's about what it will cost me through DELL, but I am not in need of another monitor, keyboard or any other big boxes with white peanuts.

Build this, and I will come.

Or please help me?

PS- Am I supposed to capitalize RAM or does it look like I am yelling RAM when I'm really not? Is ram better?

Justa Heel · Post by **Justa Heel** » Mon May 16, 2005 7:59 pm

PrimeX wrote: ATLEAST 512 RAM

RAM.

Don't f around. Go for the full gig of memory.

Hope this helps.

Justa Heel · Post by **Justa Heel** » Mon May 16, 2005 8:00 pm

Also here's a worthless coupon from Dell should anyone want it:

Use the coupon code below at checkout and take $400 OFF select systems over $1299 (before tax, shipping & handling) purchased online. Offer ends 5:59AM CST, 5/17/05. Coupon code: CWJW2TVZ20HVW9

ElvisMonster · Post by **ElvisMonster** » Mon May 16, 2005 8:05 pm

If you restore from a day previous to the day you deleted the stuff, it should come back, right? I'm not a computer guy but you seemed desperate. Any port in a storm, right?

Headhunter · Post by **Headhunter** » Mon May 16, 2005 8:28 pm

Judging from the technical skills you displayed in setting up your wireless router, I highly recommend buying from Dell.

Bottom line, you can build one for a hell of a lot cheaper than Dell, or you can spend the same money as a Dell and get a hell of a lot more machine, but you better know what you're getting into, and have all the Software you need going in (Windows, Office, Etc)

I built my machine last January for about $900 with what was at the time pretty much cutting edge technology... But I knew how to put it together and I had all the supporting software.

Any other way, and I'd suggest Dell.

JCT · Post by **JCT** » Mon May 16, 2005 8:30 pm

Judging from your techinal skills I suggest you downgrade to a comodore 64.

Mister Bushice · Post by **Mister Bushice** » Mon May 16, 2005 8:52 pm

Unless you know what you're doing, and what to buy, I suggest you do not build a machine. The dollar savings is not so great these days, especially if you wait out dell and keep a watch they will offer a great deal you won't want to ignore.

Building a box takes know how to trouble shoot, because unless you buy all the right components and know how to assemble them and install an OS, you will be unhappy with the results when it has bugs.

PrimeX · Post by **PrimeX** » Mon May 16, 2005 9:03 pm

Ok techie duuuuudes...tell me how bad I'd be getting screwed wit this one. Keep in mind, I'm not a huge gamer, but I do want to burn the music and the DVDs and have mucho deece sound quality with my speakers. Here's what I see when going through Dell small business with 25% off original price.

Dimension 8400

Processor- Intel Pentium 4 Processor 630 w/HT Technology (3GHz, 800FSB)

Operating System- XP Home Edition

Memory- 1GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM 400MHz (2 x 512M)

Keyboard- Comes with one but it will be trashed as I my multifancy one.

No monitor- Have a 19" LCD Flat Panel.

Video Card- 128MB PCI Express x 16 (DVI/VGA/TV-out) ATI Radeon x300 SE.

Internal Hard Drive- 80GB Serial ATA Hard Drive (7200RPM)

No Floppy thing.

Mouse- I throw it away.

Network Interface- Integrated Gigabit Ethernet

Modem- Do not need modem. Dial up is teh sux0rz.

CD or DVD Drives- Dual Drives: 48x CD-RW Drive+ 16x DVD+/RW w/dbl layer write capability.

Sound Card- Sound Blaster Live 24-bit ADVANCED HD Audio.

Total- $887.00 without tax.

WWHHD?

Justa Heel · Post by **Justa Heel** » Mon May 16, 2005 9:13 pm

Sound good but I bet you could get a little cheaper if you wait just a bit. I checked the Dell site and their current deals didn't look as good as they can or will be. Seemed like they were gearing them around getting a monitor, which you already have.

Any port in the storm, you know.

Justa Heel · Post by **Justa Heel** » Tue May 17, 2005 6:22 pm

PrimeX wrote:Ok techie duuuuudes...tell me how bad I'd be getting screwed wit this one. Keep in mind, I'm not a huge gamer, but I do want to burn the music and the DVDs and have mucho deece sound quality with my speakers. Here's what I see when going through Dell small business with 25% off original price.

Dimension 8400

Processor- Intel Pentium 4 Processor 630 w/HT Technology (3GHz, 800FSB)

Operating System- XP Home Edition

Memory- 1GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM 400MHz (2 x 512M)

Keyboard- Comes with one but it will be trashed as I my multifancy one.

No monitor- Have a 19" LCD Flat Panel.

Video Card- 128MB PCI Express x 16 (DVI/VGA/TV-out) ATI Radeon x300 SE.

Internal Hard Drive- 80GB Serial ATA Hard Drive (7200RPM)

No Floppy thing.

Mouse- I throw it away.

Network Interface- Integrated Gigabit Ethernet

Modem- Do not need modem. Dial up is teh sux0rz.

CD or DVD Drives- Dual Drives: 48x CD-RW Drive+ 16x DVD+/RW w/dbl layer write capability.

Sound Card- Sound Blaster Live 24-bit ADVANCED HD Audio.

Total- $887.00 without tax.

WWHHD?

You can get this exact setup for $857 if you use this coupon code: N0B74Z5J2DN19R (just got it in my email).

Expires 5/18/05 though.

Every little bit helps.

Headhunter · Post by **Headhunter** » Tue May 17, 2005 6:38 pm

That looks like a solid system, Prime. Should more than cover any of your needs.

PM when you need help hooking the mouse up!

PSUFAN · Post by **PSUFAN** » Tue May 17, 2005 6:57 pm

Indeed, seems pretty tight. I think that hard drive is something you can skimp on a bit, with external storage becoming cheaper and cheaper.

TenTallBen · Post by **TenTallBen** » Wed May 18, 2005 2:14 pm

Headhunter wrote:That looks like a solid system, Prime.

Almost. WinXP Home blows monkey spunk.

ElTaco · Post by **ElTaco** » Wed May 18, 2005 7:20 pm

If you can't afford the $1k, then you can upgrade your machine and save money. If you can afford it, just get one from Dell. The X300SE is a good video card. You should be able to play every game with it. If you want to save money now and spend some extra later, you can cut back to 512mb ram and purchase another 512 from Crucial.com in a few months. The dual drive config is nice for burning CDs, but you might consider just getting a Single dvd drive or DVD burner and then purchasing a 2nd cdrw/dvd combo drive. That way you can copy CDs and DVDs from one disk to another. When I purchased my PC, it came with a CD/DVD drive. I went out and purchased my own burner and installed it later. Again, this can also save you money up front so you can spread it across multiple pay checks.

The biggest issues with DVDs and CDs is the Hard drive space that is available. My pc came with a 30gb drive. I went out and purchased a 120 one later so that i could store games and all my mp3s on there without running out of space. All the major electronic stores have deals on Hard drives on a weekly basis so don't be affraid to cut the size back to save money up front and then purchase another 250gb drive when they are on sale.

XP Home has its issues but its fine for the home. I wouldn't pay the extra money for xp pro. Dells come with a lot of extra crap put on the computer when they are delivered. its a good idea to format the hard drive and install a fresh copy of Windows on there when you get the machine. you might want to get your hands on XP pro or an OEM copy of XP home and get rid of the free bs that dell puts on your machine before you start using it.

Shlomart Ben Yisrael · Thu May 19, 2005 12:21 am

"The dual drive config is nice for burning CDs, but you might consider just getting a Single dvd drive or DVD burner and then purchasing a 2nd cdrw/dvd combo drive. That way you can copy CDs and DVDs from one disk to another."

...or you can use Nero or K3B to cache the data temporarily to disk, and then be prompted to insert a blank disk. (CD Copy/DVD Copy button)

Burning "on the fly" at higher speeds produces buffer overruns.

PrimeX · Post by **PrimeX** » Thu May 19, 2005 8:19 pm

Muchas Gracias to all of the Techie Duuuuuudes for the help, and I'd like to give an on air shoutout to Justa Heel for the coupon. That was verah deece!

I received the tower this afternoon with all of the above components...but I also received a speaker set with surround sound and sub woofer that I did not order? WTF? They're not even on the packing list??

I wanna keep 'em, but I looked online and these fuckers are like $250, and I really don't wanna be charged for 'em.

WWTGD?

PS- XP Pro will be borrowed from the office. Not a fan of Home either.

Headhunter · Post by **Headhunter** » Fri May 20, 2005 4:02 pm

Don't ask, don't tell. You should be solid with that concept!

ElTaco · Post by **ElTaco** » Sun May 22, 2005 5:40 am

happens a lot. They won't bill you. Make sure you do a re-install from scratch. It will be worth it down the line.

T1B

To build or not to build, that is my question...

To build or not to build, that is my question...

Re: To build or not to build, that is my question...