Build Spark's next Computer!

Spark

Spark

HPIC - Hatas gonna Hate
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I was reading over the thread here - http://www.bladeforums.com/ubb/Forum2/HTML/001588.html

When I realized, "Man, my home computer is dragging! I need to upgrade!"

So, with that in mind - I'm going to leave it up to you guys and we'll see what happens.

Here's your challenge - I need a system fast enough and strong enough to do high end graphics (image files 20mb in size) and play cool games. It has to have plenty of RAM, plenty of CPU, plenty of graphics card, and plenty of monitor - all for under $3.5K

It doesn't have to be the fastest thing on the block, or push everything to the limits. I just need something that is the mid to top end of what's out there right now, that's affordable at the same time.

I'll need the following - Case, Motherboard, CPU (no preference), heat sink, RAM (128 mb minimum prefer RDRAM, but SDRAM will work), graphics card, USB / Firewire, Sound card, network card(s) (one for cable modem / one for home network), modem. CD-R drive, DVD-ROM (optional), 40+gB of Hard drive(s) (I prefer having 2+ drives in case of failure), Zip drive (optional). Monitor (19" min, 21" preferred), graphics card, etc.

Periphials - natural keyboard, mouse / trackball (I prefer Logitech trackman marble+), etc.

You guys choose the components, provide the suppliers, contact information, part numbers, and the configuration. You provide the knowledge - I'll buy it and try to put it together.

Are you all up for the challenge?

Spark

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Kevin Jon Schlossberg
SysOp and Administrator for BladeForums.com

Insert witty quip here



[This message has been edited by Spark (edited 07-05-2000).]
 
Alrighty, Spark. You wanna spend a little less than 3.5 K...Hang on and check out this spec list.

Processor: AMD Athlon 850MHz 3DNow! Processor w/Heatsink & Cooling Fan
Hi-Performance Heatsink/CPU Cooling Fan
VIA KX133 Motherboard w/1AGP/5PCI/2ISA for Athlon Processors
Black Full-Tower ATX Case 300-Watt Power Supply
Black 1.44MB Floppy Drive
Memory: 256MB SDRAM CAS2 (PC-100)
Keyboard: Black 107-Enhanced Windows 98 Keyboard
Mouse: Microsoft IntelliMouse Explorer - USB
Hard Drive: 30GB HD 9.0ms seek time, 7200RPM, Ultra66
Hard Drive 2: 30GB HD 9.0ms seek time, 7200RPM, Ultra66
Monitor: Viewsonic 19" E790 Black, .26mm dp SVGA Monitor
Video Card : Nvidia GeForce2 GTS w/32MB DDR 4X AGP
Video Cooling : KoolMaxx Video Cooling System
Sound Card : SoundBlaster LIVE Value
DVD-ROM : Pioneer 10X DVD 40X w/Software MPEG-2 Decoder
Modems : US Robotics V.90 56K Internal Voice/Fax/Data
Speakers : Cambridge Desktop Theater 5.1 DTT2500 Surround Speaker & Subwoofer
Storage: HP 9300i 10X/4X Write 32X Read CDR-W Recordable-IDE
Storage 2: (None)
Controller: (None)
Secondary Controller: (None)
Ethernet NIC: PCI Ethernet 10-100 NIC
Warranty: Aliencare Standard 1-Year Priority Service w/3-Year Limited Manufacturers Warranty (No-Charge)
Games: (None)
Productivity Software: (None)
Free installation & configuration of favorite games
Microsoft Windows '98 (Latest OEM Release w/CD-ROM)
Performance Benchmarks Documentation
Personalized Technical Support Manual
Latest Drivers
Shipping Method: Scheduled pick-up by customer (No Charge)

(Please allow 30 days for delivery)

Total = $ 3355.88

This baby is built by Alienware and is called the Area 51: Aurora.
All standard parts that you will be able to find anywhere, but tested and tweaked to perfection. These guys make some of the fastest systems on the market.
Their adress is www.alienware.com and you can show them this list.
That should cover you good for a while. If you already have a good monitor and don't need a good 19" monitor then go in and customise your own system. This system will be able to play all the games and handle your big image files.
And the best part?
It's black...All black! No more beige cases and dull monitors!!!
*starts drooling profusely*
If I could afford I would buy it myself...Unfortunately that will have to wait a while.
Don't forget, these guys will to a wide extent allow you to customise your own system.

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Regards
Joshua "Kage" Calvert

"Move like Water, strike like Thunder..."

[This message has been edited by carnifex (edited 07-05-2000).]
 
That's a nice box, except for one detail: the CD burner drive is being run off of the same IDE controller channel that's driving either one of the hard drives, or worse, the DVD/CD-reader drive.

If you lay out one hard drive and the DVD/CD reader off of one channel, and the other hard drive and the burner on the other, you'll be in pretty good shape...unless you try and copy from the hard drive on the burner's channel to the burner. Then you'll get write errors up the butt.

The CD-burner must be on a separate disk controller channel as whatever is feeding it data. Follow? Now, one answer would be for the motherboard to have Firewire ports, and run an external burner off the 100mbs firewire channel. This motherboard probably has firewire support; if it doesn't, you could add firewire in a PCI slot no problem.

But I think we can do something cheaper than this beast, and just as good.

----------------

Spark, what have you got now, that might be recycle-able? ATX motherboard clone and case of some sort? What size hard drives? Monitor? Or do you want to keep all that, and build up a whole new rig? If some of the stuff you have now is any good, there's big savings to be had this way.

Jim
 
Regardless of the system or perhiperals, and given your penchant for tutus, you cannot be allowed a pink Barbie mouse.

No how, no way, never.

Friends don't let friends use pink Barbie mouses.

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Don LeHue

Rome did not create a great empire by having meetings...they did it by killing all those who opposed them.
 
Jim, they do also make USB CD-RW drives. Not the fastest, or the cheapest, but very useful since it can be moved from computer-to-computer, and nearly all modern computers have USB, while Firewire is somewhat rare.

Also, Spark, you might want to look into Castlewood Systems' ORB drive. It is a 2.2 GB hard drive, but the disks are removeable in a cartridge. Kind of like Iomega's Jazz drive, but your computer doesn't even know it isn't a regular hard drive.

--JB

--JB

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e_utopia@hotmail.com
 
I'm biased against USB for a serious data-intensive task like CD burning. I've been setting up piles of Mac G3 and G4 systems that use USB for *everything* and lemme tell ya, I ain't seen this many flaky cable problems and general glitches in a LONG time.

Now, maybe it's the Mac. But PCI Firewire cards for PCs are cheap, it's got 10x the bandwidth, and Firewire burner drives are only slightly more than USB variants.

Jim
 
Jim, if you put the cd-rom burner on the same channel as the cd/dvd drive you shouldn't get any problems. I've done it before and it always works like a charm. The most common thing you see when people have write errors is that they put the burner on the wrong channel. There is no doubt that the all around best solution is a PlexWriter 12/4/32 and a decent scsi controller.
If you don't wanna get scsi well, then putting your the two drives on the same channel is the best solution.
Another thing is that I know how the guys at Alienware work. They test everything!! And you get the test documentation and results with you when you receive the machine.
This particular motherboard doesn't have firewire unfortunately, but like you said a pci controller is a piece of cake to add. That's the beauty of these systems. They all use standard parts and have plenty of space for expansion. These guys are better than most clone-builders. Trust me on this one. I used to work for two clone-builders in Denmark. You wouldn't believe the kind of crap most places peddle. And I worked as a tech, so everytime Production screwed up ( which was frequent!) we had to take care of it. Most of the time, the customer picks up the machine and the next day he's back, because something isn't working. And mind you, that's when I worked in one of the biggest stores in Denmark...I no longer fear Hell...I've worked in Retail!
Like I was saying...You pretty much can't go wrong with an Alienware system. Check out their reviews all over the net and you'll see that I am not the only one saying that.
Normally, I would build my own system, which I did before. But now I don't work in the business anymore so good prices aren't all that easy to come by. The next computer I buy will be an Alienware system.
And that is my professional opinion
smile.gif


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Regards
Joshua "Kage" Calvert

"Move like Water, strike like Thunder..."
 
I'll second Jim's aversion towards USB burners. Not only are good cables hard to find, but the USB port is waaaaay too cpu-intensive. The USB port when pushed to the limit sucks up alot of system resources. A PCI FireWire card is a very good solution IF you want to bother with an external burner, that is usually quite a bit more expensive than an internal. USB is fine for keyboards and scanners, but forget about burning cd-roms with it... It's too expensive in media.

------------------
Regards
Joshua "Kage" Calvert

"Move like Water, strike like Thunder..."
 
Recycling old components from my current system is not an option - the girlfriend is getting the old system. Like I said, it's "Build Spark's Next Computer"

Remember, a DVD ROM drive is completely optional, I don't really care if it has it or doesn't, but it must have a CD-R burner, preferably internal because I don't like USB devices for large data transfer. The idea is have everything as internal as possible...

Also, I don't want "non-standard" storage devices like the SuperDisk or Orb. Sure, they are cool, but until they are established like Zip, I'm not sure I want to use them. So, we need at least a CD-R, a hard drive or two, etc. That leaves a minimum of one IDE open for an internal Zip or DVD-ROM...

Spark

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Kevin Jon Schlossberg
SysOp and Administrator for BladeForums.com

Insert witty quip here
 
One of the biggest ponder-points is "which is cheaper: SCSI card plus SCSI burner, or firewire card and external burner?".

I'll get some parts/prices together later today.
 
Well, I've never lost a CD, yet, but the burner is my only USB device, so that might help.

The ORB is a standard hard drive, the disks are just removable. The computer doesn't even know it isn't any other 5400 RPM, 2.2 GB hard drive. The Zip, on the other hand, is currently preventing me from restarting in DOS mode; it is a very non-standard design. I always end up with comp. sci. majors for roomates, and they always shun Iomega like the plague, with all manner of horror stories to back it up. Really, I've never heard a single good thing about Iomega.

--JB

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e_utopia@hotmail.com
 
I recently found myself in need of a CAD workstation for my home office and went with Dell. Workstations are nice because they lend themselves to upgrades a little better. The system I went with was the Precision 420 with 256 Megs of RDRAM (1 gig capable) 733 Mhz PIII, LAN card, 9 gig SCSI drive, 32 meg Diamond Viper 770 video, etc. The system cost around $3300 w/o monitor.
Ive had good luck with Dell, we run some demanding CAD software and have had few problems. I would recommend Windows 2000. http://commerce.us.dell.com/welcome/minicat.asp?brand_id=WKS&customer_id=04&family_id=9631&keycode=6W300

 
Don't know if you're still looking for info, but if you are you should take a look at www.falcon-nw.com

Falcon Northwest builds some fast rigs at good prices and you can have them put in or remove any parts you want or don't want.

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Simon Yu

"I look at it this way. If things get much worse I'll be too dead to care."
 
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