Picking a new PC; advice?

Discussion in 'Computer Science & Culture' started by whitewolf, Oct 18, 2007.

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  1. Avatar smoking revolver Valued Senior Member

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    The smaller the response time, the better. 5ms is ok.
    800:1 contrast ratio is, I think, adequate. Not great, but adequate. 1000:1 would be better, of course.
     
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  3. whitewolf asleep under the juniper bush Registered Senior Member

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    You think I should look for a better monitor? I'm not overly happy with their keyboard and mouse too, I want a tiny keyboard.
     
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  5. whitewolf asleep under the juniper bush Registered Senior Member

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    Mabuse, thanks for the explanation! I'll get 64 bit XP.
     
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  7. Avatar smoking revolver Valued Senior Member

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    No, the monitor seems to be good, but as a good monitor is important in your work, I suggest you search for some reviews on that monitor and generally find as much as you can before buying a particular monitor.
     
  8. Dr Mabuse Percipient Thaumaturgist Registered Senior Member

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    the high end monitors from Falcon are like 42 inch apple stuff...

    this monitor here is the cream of the crop right now... shy of the models over a thousand dollars...

    Link to Samsung 226CW

    the 'CW' part is important... you will see 'BW' models maybe for less... get the 'CW'... that's an excellent monitor... if i buy another... that's the one i will spend my money on... and best buy has a good price believe it or not...
     
  9. scifitm Registered Member

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    One word - SkullTrail (2 quad 64 bit cores)
    yup its God
     
  10. darksidZz Valued Senior Member

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  11. whitewolf asleep under the juniper bush Registered Senior Member

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    Okay, I see your point. I'll look.

    What speakers would you advise?
     
  12. whitewolf asleep under the juniper bush Registered Senior Member

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    I think at some point it becomes overkill if you're not a gamer.
     
  13. Dr Mabuse Percipient Thaumaturgist Registered Senior Member

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    these are the best computer speakers hands down... they sound better than some home theatre systems at 4-5 times the price...

    i link to this site because that is the lowest price i have ever seen... i use Provantage a lot...

    Link to Logitech Z5500 speakers...

    i think Logitech has a newer model of these speakers out, the 7.1 dolby model with more watts of power... this one will do for a little less money... under $200 and you won't believe the sound...
     
  14. ashura the Old Right Registered Senior Member

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    A few things:

    1. Why aren't you getting Vista again?
    2. If you're going to get more than 3.2 gb of ram, you should definitely go with a 64 bit OS.
    3. If you're interested in price, you definitely don't need water cooling. If you're not overclocking (and even if you were), air cooling can do the job just fine albeit louder.
    4. Another money thing, you don't need to get the Fatality sound card. Any xfi from creative will do.

    EDIT: Also, since RAM is so cheap these days, I would just go for the full 8gb with 4x2gb sticks. Either include in your order and have the 3rd party do it for you or buy it separately (recommended) and install it yourself.
     
    Last edited: Mar 2, 2008
  15. whitewolf asleep under the juniper bush Registered Senior Member

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    Because I'm smart.

    Yes, I understand why now.

    I overclock all the time. The more buff is your box, the more dangerous overclocking becomes. And, as I said before, I want to be able to upgrade this box in the future. You think it's okay to overclock, but when your hd fails and you lose 500 gigs of unbackupped rare pirated stuff you want to cry. Besides, the water cooling kit is cheap, $173.

    ...But this one is very good.

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    Yes, I want 8 gigs, as I said before.

    --

    All together, the specs come down to ~$4600, sans monitor. The most expensive thing is the processor. Sound card is ~$300. If I were to get the Quad Extreme the price would go up by $1100.
     
  16. invert_nexus Ze do caixao Valued Senior Member

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    5 grand on a new computer? Are you insane?

    On the other hand, I suppose you're an artist and can use the processing power.
    As long as you're making money off your computer, then fine. But if you're just using it to play games and dick around with, then you're insane.

    Well, you're insane anyway. But more insane.
    Fiscally unsound and all that.
     
  17. whitewolf asleep under the juniper bush Registered Senior Member

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    I think I stated in my opening post why I need this computer. I will be compelled to work from home more this year, or I won't be able to get much work at all. =(

    I did look at the recommended specs for the programs I am getting. Then, I recalled that the recommended specs for Illustrator CS are not enough to do work with that application longer than half an hour. So, I figured I'd overkill a little, and if it'll turn out I need more I want to be sure I can get more.

    Hey, this is a gamer PC, and a gamer would be getting a lot more stuff to go along with it. I didn't look, but I estimate that, today, a gamer's most desired box is worth ~7000. I don't know what kiddie would get that, but I gather Falcon NW is popular, so a lot of people afford that.

    Fiscally, I am still a bum on parental support.

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    Sometimes, I want to be a housewife.
     
  18. invert_nexus Ze do caixao Valued Senior Member

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    Ah.
    Sorry, I skipped to the end.
    I've been bad.

    Sounds good then.
    I bet it'll fuckin' rock.

    I tried editing some 200 MB plus photoshop files the other day... it wasn't pretty.
     
  19. whitewolf asleep under the juniper bush Registered Senior Member

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    Yeah.... That's what I mean.... When they recommend specs they should be more realistic.
     
  20. ashura the Old Right Registered Senior Member

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    Heh, I run into so much Vista hate but personally I've been very happy with my 64-bit Vista machine which is similar in hardware to the one you spec'ed out. I also do some similar editing work with big files and I'm happy to say I've had no problems.

    What does overclocking have to do with a HD failure?

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    I've never heard of a hard drive dying because of OC'ing. But if you are planning to overclock this machine, then I agree with your watercooling choice. And if you're really worried about losing your data, I definitely think you should invest in RAID.

    Are you planning to use most of the feature-set that fatality gives you?
     
    Last edited: Mar 2, 2008
  21. sagatr Registered Member

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  22. Avatar smoking revolver Valued Senior Member

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    Time lost is worth more than money saved.
     
  23. whitewolf asleep under the juniper bush Registered Senior Member

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    I would recommend you read the entire thread before posting in it.
     
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