Topic: No, I will not fix your computer. (Read 61883 times)

Brentai · « **Reply #60 on:** January 23, 2009, 11:05:48 AM »

MS itself is trying to go back to six years ago, if W7 is any indication.

MadMAxJr · « **Reply #61 on:** February 11, 2009, 09:45:03 AM »

Want to build your first computer? Here's a good starter guide. [via Lifehacker]

Any nerd worth his salt should try to build their own machine.

Zaratustra · « **Reply #62 on:** February 11, 2009, 05:24:30 PM »

what is a good computer that is not too expensive these days

Arc · « **Reply #63 on:** February 11, 2009, 05:44:30 PM »

Rico · « **Reply #64 on:** February 12, 2009, 08:38:51 AM »

Quote from: MadMAxJr on February 11, 2009, 09:45:03 AM

Want to build your first computer? Here's a good starter guide. [via Lifehacker]

Any nerd worth his salt should try to build their own machine.

It is also worth noting that many things which were obnoxious about computer building are not there any more (AMD see-saw CPU latch which takes 300 pounds of force, I am looking at you).

Royal☭ · « **Reply #65 on:** February 12, 2009, 09:56:51 AM »

Man, the CPU latch was the reason I always bought a new CPU/Motherboard combo, rather than try and replace just try and replace the CPU. After you slice open a finger it's not something you want to undo to try again.

JDigital · « **Reply #66 on:** February 12, 2009, 09:59:28 AM »

Those were horrible. I resolved not to upgrade this machine's CPU until I was also replacing the motherboard and everything else, just because of how difficult this heatsink was to lever on. I don't know that I can remove it without breaking the hook.

Thad · « **Reply #67 on:** February 12, 2009, 09:33:29 PM »

...the last time I removed an AMD heatsink, it took the processor with it.

...on the fucking payroll server.

...my last week at the job.

...and it was a processor that was not easy to replace.

A² · « **Reply #68 on:** February 12, 2009, 09:35:00 PM »

It was determined to take everything that it could with it.

Mongrel · « **Reply #69 on:** March 26, 2009, 04:41:20 AM »

Hey guys, I have a bit of a widget question. Dunno if anyone has any suggestions...

I want to set up my computer at work to come on a specific time, so it's ready for me in the morning when I walk through the door. It has a Windows login, requiring password and entry, like most work computers. There's also a particular application requiring password entry (login name is saved by default, but there is no 'save your password' function) that I would like to come on when I start up.

I don't know if there's an application for this or a windows subfeature (I'm on XP), but I am curious to see if it's possible.

Anybody know anything?

Mongrel · « **Reply #70 on:** April 03, 2009, 06:51:33 AM »

Huh... way to post in the entirely wrong thread. How the hell did I manage that?

So, it's just preliminary at this point, but if I'm going to have to buy a new computer anybody have any recommendations?

Requirements:

- This will be a desktop, built from parts. I do not wish to bother with a complete package unless you have a rather compelling argument.
- PC. Suggest "BUY A MAC ZOMG!" and I will hit you.
- Probably going to stick with XP for now. Howl about the alternatives in other threads, thank you. So 4Gb RAM is max, then again that's still plenty for now.
- Higher end, but behind the curve where you're just paying for early adoption/bleeding edge. I'd like to be mildly ahead of the game for a short while, rather than playing catchup from the very get-go for a change.
- I don't have any fixed desire for newer gimmicky items that are not yet fully supported by current and imminent-release software, i.e. dual core, dual graphics cards slots, etc. However, I am not specifically against these either (except perhaps dual graphics cards slots).
- Reliability is a strong point for me.
- Ease of upgrade is a consideration, though only a secondary one.
- Specific programs are not a target. A new computer should run abosolutely anything I could put on it now (TF2, Civ games, Age of Empires 3, outdated Photoshop/Illustrator/Painter) at full graphics, as these games and programs are all two years old (or way older). Any programs I may consider running in future (Starcraft 2), have no released specs to rely on.
- I'm basically looking for what's most cost-effective, without making cost the limiter. So, say, I can get a decent computer that meets my needs for $750, but I get more bang for the back by dropping $1000, I am more than willing to drop the grand. But if the $750 is the better deal and the performance increase for the extra $250 is marginal, then I would go with the $750.
- Upper limit is maybe $1100? $1200 if a really compelling argument can be made to go overbudget.

MadMAxJr · « **Reply #71 on:** April 03, 2009, 07:42:43 AM »

Question:

Have you built your own PC before?

Mongrel · « **Reply #72 on:** April 03, 2009, 07:47:39 AM »

I have a friend who does the actual assembly. It's how my current computer was made did last time.

In general, I find that building your own comp gives you much more flexibility and control. And it's usually (though not always) much cheaper than buying a pre-built tower. Also, I plan to reuse my DVD drives, maybe one of the two hard drives I currently have (though I will buy at least 1 new hard drive, they are cheap as dirt right now) and possibly the case*, so that nets additional savings.

Royal☭ · « **Reply #73 on:** April 03, 2009, 07:54:00 AM »

Your best bet is to search Tigerdirect.com and Newegg.com for various deals. I'd look local for cases because of their bulk and I like to know if the one I'm buying is right for what I'm looking for.

Quote from: Iron_Mongrel on April 03, 2009, 06:51:33 AM

- Probably going to stick with XP for now. Howl about the alternatives in other threads, thank you. So 4Gb RAM is max, then again that's still plenty for now.

XP is fine and cheaper than Vista, although people on these very boards have said that Windows 7 might just be swanky so, but that can wait.

At any rate, if you buy XP you can send off for the 64-bit version at about shipping cost, which would allow you to upgrade beyond 4gb when the time comes (I balk at anyone who ever tells me there is an upper limit to the amount of RAM I need, especially if you're going to be working with Photoshop et al)

Quote

- I don't have any fixed desire for newer gimmicky items that are not yet fully supported by current and imminent-release software, i.e. dual core, dual graphics cards slots, etc. However, I am not specifically against these either (except perhaps dual graphics cards slots).

Hey, don't knock the dual graphics cards slots. It's a great way to extend the life of your current video card when you ugprade.

That said, a few quick nuggets off of Tigerdirect.com:

XFX nForce 680i LT SLI Motherboard CPU Bundle This is pretty much what I have, and it's a helluva lot of power for what you need. Down the road if you need an upgrade, you can just pop out the chip and put a new one in and you're good to go. A bit pricey at $299.99 right now, but Tigerdirect has new deals every other week on stuff like this.

BFG GeForce 9800 GT Video Card Perhaps the finest graphics card ever made, it's more than enough power for what you want to do. TF2, Age of Empires 3, etc will run smooth as butter at the highest resolutions with everything turned on. Trust me.
And at $99 that is a steal. We're up to only $300 and got two big ticket items out of the way.

Corsair Dual Channel TWINX 4096MB PC6400 DDR2 800MHz Memory 4gb memory for only $20. Memory is so cheap these days it's not really going to break the bank to hit 8gb even though omg who needs that much so blah blah blah.

If you already have a hard drive, sound card and case, that's pretty much your new PC for less than $400. Of course, that's without windows XP which will run you about, oh say, $100

That bumps us up to $420 (hehehhehheehehe).

Of course, as an illustrator it would be simply crazy not to have a backup drive plugged in.

1tb Seagate drive for $90. By the time you fill that up, you'll be able to purchase something larger for cheaper. That brings us up to $510.

I might be missing something, but that looks like a fairly good PC to me.

Almost forgot, your old power supply probably won't be adequate to power all of that, so here's 750w for about $100 that is boss enough for that machine.

Still pulls in at under $700, minus shipping. Anything else you feel like adding to it?

Mongrel · « **Reply #74 on:** April 03, 2009, 07:56:02 AM »

Windows will not cost me a cent, I can assure you of that.

And yeah Tiger Direct and their Canadian competitor are my primary sources for parts.

The specific parts, yeah, that's exactly the kind of recommendation I'm looking for.

Royal☭ · « **Reply #75 on:** April 03, 2009, 07:57:51 AM »

Then knock out the $100. I just threw it in there in case you didn't have it. You can probably also knock out the $90 hard drive. With those savings, you can go out and buy a case that doesn't suck.

I'm not talking about some pimped out case or whatever, just something that has lots of features to make assembly easy. I never realized how much I needed removeable hard drive bays until my current case came with them.

And that's if you go with the parts I gave you. If you're still looking around $700, you can definitely upgrade to a more powerful video card, and I'm sure my motherboard/CPU combo could get more power as well.

Hell, you could probably plunk down the money for a few more hard drives and setup a RAID 1 or 5 for backup of your art files. Just for kicks. Or get a better scanner or tablet or coat the case in gold I don't care.

This is why I love building PCs. Not only do you know what exactly is going in, it's really fucking cheap compared to some guy building you one.

Rico · « **Reply #76 on:** April 03, 2009, 07:59:32 AM »

:Michael Bluth: The fact that you're calling dual-core a gimmick just tells me you're not ready to build a PC.

Multiple cores have a performance benefit even on software which isn't programmed to utilize them (which is becoming more and more rare). This isn't back in the day when you'd boot into specific DOS configurations to play each game; multiple cores will take anything going in the background and smooth it over so it doesn't fuck with what you're doing right now.

On a new computer I'd also grab Vista (although 7 will be out by the time you cobble this together???) because Vista's problems aren't on new hardware and you can't get DX10 on XP. Unless you really feel like reinstalling your OS a month down the road because you feel like picking up a game and it requires/supports it. (PS even the worst Vista install is still way more reliable for doing anything than XP64)

Royal☭ · « **Reply #77 on:** April 03, 2009, 08:01:47 AM »

DX10 is a joke right now. He doesn't need it. The system I gave him won't be able to run it at a playable level, and the graphics performances are tiny. He's best going for XP and waiting for 7. And I'm a guy who likes and uses Vista.

Brentai · « **Reply #78 on:** April 03, 2009, 08:03:30 AM »

Vista has a smorgasboard of problems that aren't hardware related. Any DX10-only game's probably going to show up on X-Bawks anyway.

Mongrel · « **Reply #79 on:** April 03, 2009, 08:03:42 AM »

I have a bizarre fondness for my ancient case.

It amuses me to no end to have the guts of a new computer in an ancient mouldering beige case tagged with the label of a defunct computer company several of my friends had... comedic ties to. It looks ancient and unwieldy and ugly as sin. But then, I've always been the kind of guy who gets a gleeful kick out of watching 70 year olds beat 20 year olds.

I've promised myself I'll never force new parts in the old case if they can't be comfortably accepted or if the case would actually cause hardware problems, but that case is on it's third set of guts since 1995 and it's still working, so hey. Go go hunk of metal!

What I really need are those replacement case screws that have a big knobs for easy screwing and unscrewing instead of a normal screw head.

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Author Topic: No, I will not fix your computer. (Read 61883 times)