gOOd cOmpUtEr!

[aimeeandbeatles]

I'm not good at this hardware thing, so I can't recommend much.

Yes, I'd recommend a CD/DVD player, a lot of games come onto DVDss now. However, may be easier to get a CD-RW/DVD. Floppy drives aren't really needed unless you're a vintage gamer, because now you can boot from a CD, I've done it.

Keyboards and mouses are cheap; just make sure that if you get an optical mouse that you have a good mousepad otherwise the cursor will go crazy. I also recommend having both a PS/2 & USB nearby, in case one fails, or some BIOS don't like USB. Or a little adapter (I got one for 3 bucks at a local store.)

As for the OS, it's personal tastes whether you get XP or Vista. I've used both, I was skeptical about Vista at first but now I like it (except for a few annoyances), but it's up to you. Or maybe just dual-boot

 

[GVBN]

I'd like to use this as a beginning guideline:
http://www.build-your-own-computer.org/gaming-pc.html

Is this computer good? What changes can be made to make it better?

Replace the 4850 with the GTX 260 and switch the Crossfire motherboard for SLI if you care about it. $65 for a 500gb hard drive is kinda bad. Floppy drive isn't needed.

 

[Matthew5117]

Replace the 4850 with the GTX 260 and switch the Crossfire motherboard for SLI if you care about it. $65 for a 500gb hard drive is kinda bad. Floppy drive isn't needed.

I understand the Video Card, but I'm having difficulty understanding the Crossfire instead of the SLI... does that mean you buy a different motherboard or do you install SLI instead of Crossfire or what?

Concerning the hard drive, is it possible to change it to something more cost-efficient?

Thanks for the advice!

Edit: Looked at the websites belonging to each computer part. The Processor and Memory are unavailable, so I need alternatives for those (or is it possible to buy it from somewhere else?).

Also, I'm wondering if it's possible to make the DVD player be able to read Blue Ray DVDs. If so, how much more does it cost?

 

[aimeeandbeatles]

You'd need a special blu ray drive. On newegg, most of them are between 100 and 200 dollars, while most regular dvd burners are from $10 to $50. And unless you have a huge monitor or something, I'd think most of the quality would go to waste.

 

[Genocidicbunny]

I understand the Video Card, but I'm having difficulty understanding the Crossfire instead of the SLI... does that mean you buy a different motherboard or do you install SLI instead of Crossfire or what?

Concerning the hard drive, is it possible to change it to something more cost-efficient?

Thanks for the advice!

Edit: Looked at the websites belonging to each computer part. The Processor and Memory are unavailable, so I need alternatives for those (or is it possible to buy it from somewhere else?).

Also, I'm wondering if it's possible to make the DVD player be able to read Blue Ray DVDs. If so, how much more does it cost?

Crossfire is an ATi multi-gpu solution. It only works for their GPU's. In order for it to work on a certain motherboard, the manufacturer has to licence that motherboard and chipset to support it. ATi is pretty liberal about it. SLi is for nVidia GPU's and nVidia is a lot more restrictive about it. As such, only the newest motherboards support both SLi and Crossfire, and those motherboards only support the new Core i7 CPU's.

The most cost-effective HDD is a 90$ 1TB HDD. That way you get 1GB/9c.

Blu-Ray drive is pointless now unless you have a collection already. Disc Drives are easily replaceable and so once you do have a large Blu-Ray collection, you can upgrade to one.

 

[Matthew5117]

You'd need a special blu ray drive. On newegg, most of them are between 100 and 200 dollars, while most regular dvd burners are from $10 to $50. And unless you have a huge monitor or something, I'd think most of the quality would go to waste.

Okay, so no Blue Ray Drive. Maybe something to upgrade to later.

Crossfire is an ATi multi-gpu solution. It only works for their GPU's. In order for it to work on a certain motherboard, the manufacturer has to licence that motherboard and chipset to support it. ATi is pretty liberal about it. SLi is for nVidia GPU's and nVidia is a lot more restrictive about it. As such, only the newest motherboards support both SLi and Crossfire, and those motherboards only support the new Core i7 CPU's.

I'm not so sure if I understand you. Are you saying I can't use SLi unless I buy more recent computer parts?

The most cost-effective HDD is a 90$ 1TB HDD. That way you get 1GB/9c.

Where can I find that? Is it compatible with the parts I've chosen?

Blu-Ray drive is pointless now unless you have a collection already. Disc Drives are easily replaceable and so once you do have a large Blu-Ray collection, you can upgrade to one.

Good point. Only reason I wanted a Blue-Ray drive was because I have one Blue-Ray DVD and I can't watch it. I though it was going to be cheaper.

Genocidicbunny, I'm wondering if you could give me some advice on the parts I choose, you seem to know a lot...

Edit: I'm looking at GTX 260 video cards, and there's so many. I'm stumbled on which one:

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicat...?keywords=GTX+260&searchbtn.x=0&searchbtn.y=0

 

[Aramazd]

Okay, so no Blue Ray Drive. Maybe something to upgrade to later.

Possibly. As adoption increases prices should go down.

I'm not so sure if I understand you. Are you saying I can't use SLi unless I buy more recent computer parts?

In order to use SLI you need a motherboard with an nvidia chipset or an X58 chipset.

Where can I find that? Is it compatible with the parts I've chosen?

Pretty much everywhere that sells computer parts. Newegg is generally preferred in the US. It should be compatable. I don't think any recent boards come without SATA.

 

[Matthew5117]

Possibly. As adoption increases prices should go down.

All the better.

In order to use SLI you need a motherboard with an nvidia chipset or an X58 chipset.

This motherboard (the one I've selected) isn't SLi compatible is it?
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicat...ffiliateID=RG5e.EWelpw-If4viWqIeusFVN72GxoxSA

Is SLi something you physically add to the computer to use? Or is it something you download?

Pretty much everywhere that sells computer parts. Newegg is generally preferred in the US. It should be compatable. I don't think any recent boards come without SATA.

How's this hard drive? Is it compatible with what I've selected? (its SATA...):
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822101133

Edit: So I've selected a monitor, is it good? I want something that isn't bigger than 20' but still has a high resolution...
http://www.superwarehouse.com/Views..._Widescreen_19_LCD_Monitor/VX1962wm/p/1529620

I also selected the GTX 260: Again is it good?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130472

With all these parts (parts displayed in pic, more organized), I'm looking at $1140.90.

If I want to cut down on money, I can buy cheaper keyboards and mice. I'm just playing around with that.

 

[Fetus4188]

That's an external drive, you want these: http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=2000150014 1035915133&name=SATA 3.0Gb/s


Just because 1 TB is the lowest cost/GB doesn't mean it's the best deal, either. If you only need 1/3 of that TB then you're effectively paying triple. Unless you do a lot of video work 500 GB is more than enough. Hard drives are also something easily expandable later, if you do find your habits changing or you want to add some sort of RAID or whatever you might feel like.

 

[Matthew5117]

How's this:?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822145233

Also, I edited my last post before realizing you had posted (so cross-post). More info's there.

 

[Fetus4188]

That'd do fine. Newegg has a good customer base and they're good about rating and giving reviews, so for any products, even if you don't buy from Newegg, it's a good idea to check out what people are saying about the products.

 

[Matthew5117]

That'd do fine. Newegg has a good customer base and they're good about rating and giving reviews, so for any products, even if you don't buy from Newegg, it's a good idea to check out what people are saying about the products.

Is 64% at 5 star good?

 

[aimeeandbeatles]

Is 64% at 5 star good?

It's good, but not the best. Also check the 4-star rating, if most of the other votes are concentrated there, thats a good sign.

Edit: Cross post! Or cross post edit... or whatever

Another edit: I'm partial about this, but I'd go with a WD drive.

 

[Fetus4188]

Is 64% at 5 star good?

Yeah, but there may be better. You can sort by rating or whatever. It's better to look through a few reviews instead of relying just on the numbers themselves, see what people have to say.

 

[Matthew5117]

Yeah, but there may be better. You can sort by rating or whatever. It's better to look through a few reviews instead of relying just on the numbers themselves, see what people have to say.

Yeah I looked at the reviews too. People complain about the 16MB cache, is that a concern for me (I'm not planning of using a lot of files)? Also, some complain about the noise... the case should cover it up, no? Finally, a lot complained about the packaging, I got time, so I'm not concerned if I have to return it to get a new one.

It also seems that a lot of the people exaggerate when they got one problem, its always a one-star review when that happens. This changes the results a lot...

 

[aimeeandbeatles]

What a cache does -- suppose you're looking at a certain sector of the drive. What a cache does is look at the sectors around it before you actually ask it to bring those sectors up, if that makes sense.

TRUST ME ON THIS -- A noisy drive QUICKLY gets annoying. (I had a Maxtor.) Unless you want to get one of those sound muffler things, I would avoid a noisy one, unless it was the only option.

 

[Matthew5117]

What a cache does -- suppose you're looking at a certain sector of the drive. What a cache does is look at the sectors around it before you actually ask it to bring those sectors up, if that makes sense.

TRUST ME -- A noisy drive QUICKLY gets annoying.

I know what a cache is (finally! something I know! ) I have to frequently reset mine on safari (visit a lot of websites!).

I'm not sure if its noisy noisy or just a little noisy. Besides, there's not much I can do about it, right? Or is there some kind of add-on I can use to reduce it...?

 

[aimeeandbeatles]

I know what a cache is (finally! something I know! ) I have to frequently reset mine on safari (visit a lot of websites!).

I'm not sure if its noisy noisy or just a little noisy. Besides, there's not much I can do about it, right? Or is there some kind of add-on I can use to reduce it...?

A webbrowser cache is different from a HDD cache, but think of them the same way, they get stuff that you're not actually looking at, but may look at in a minute or two. Except that I think the HDD cache clears on its own.

You can use rubber if a noisy hard drive bothers you.

Oh and a tip -- Vista and noisy drives should not go together, as Vista constantly accesses the drive.

 

[Fetus4188]

If they're in a good case with silicon mountings it won't really be noticeable, though if people are noting how noisy it is, it's probably louder than the norm.

 

[aimeeandbeatles]

I can barely hear my WD drive unless it's doing a defrag or heavy drive activity or something. I have to go by the indicator light.

Somebody could probably use the Maxtor as a torture tool. Put it in a computer that has Vista and strap someone to the case so they have to listen to it.