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Rose
05-18-2003, 03:48 PM
Okay, tell me if I did alright. I'm stoked, anyway, because the new computer just FLIES compared to the old one.

Processor 2.66 GHz Intel Pentium 4
Memory 256mb DDR 333 MHz Samsung RAM. 512kb second level cache, motherboard with 3PCI slots. 533MHz front side bus.
Graphics nVidia GeForce 4 with 128 mb DDR SDRAM
CD/DVD Sony CD Burner 40x 12x 48x. DVD Rom 16x
Hard Disk Seagate 120gb hard disk (ultra ATA100 interface) 7200 rpm.
USB 3 front USB ports, 2 rear USB ports
Sound 6-Channel Audio for 5.1 sound systems (Dolby Digital) (came with a small pair of SoundBlaster Creative speakers)
Fan AIRXL - extremely quiet
Misc Microsoft Intillimouse, PS/2 Keyboard, DSL & Network ready, FireWire/IEEE 1394 (1 front, 2 back)

Front Ports - 3 USB, 1 FireWire, 1 Headphone, 1 S-Video In, 1 Composite In, 1 Gameport, 1 Microphone, 1 Audio In, Integrated Flash Card Reader (reads memory stick, IBM Micro Drive, CompactFlash Card, SmartMedia Card, and SD Card).

Software Included Windows XP Home Edition, Cyberlink Power-DVD, Cyberlink Power VCR, Cyberlink MediaShow, Cyberlink VideoLiveMail, Cyberlink PowerDirector, MusicMatch, Nero 5 Burning Rom, Microsoft Works Suite 2003 (Word 2002, Works 7.0, Money 2003, Encarta, Picture It! Photo, Streets & Trips).


So, what do you think? Did I do good? :D

Boofo
05-18-2003, 03:54 PM
Depends on how much you paid for it. I would have gone the ATI 9700 video card but what you got sounds good, too. I am running a Pentium 4 2.8 GHZ (overclocked to 3.15) and I also upgraded from an AMD 1800. Like you said, it really flies compared to what we had before. ;)

Edit: The first thing I would do is upgrade to more memory. I am running 1.5 GB DDR-333 and it really helps if you have a lot of stuff open all the time. ;)

filburt1
05-18-2003, 04:11 PM
I wouldn't have paid more than $1000 for it; could have built it for cheaper, too, though.

What Geforce 4 is it? If it's an MX and you're into gaming, it's pretty weak. Also 512 MB is a must.

Rose
05-18-2003, 04:55 PM
I paid $699. I dont' think it's MX, but we upgraded from a 2.5 year old Gateway 450 with a 3dfx Voodoo 3 (which wasn't half bad when we got it!). I'm not big into "gaming", but the boys play games like Driver (which is kickass with the new computer - more sound and detail and no skpping at all!), Commanche, Red Alert, stuff like that.

Boofo
05-18-2003, 04:58 PM
Sounds like you got a pretty good deal. I hope you didn't go Dell, though. If you did, support will be through tele-marketers (with Dell's recent 1,500 employee cutbacks) so it will be almost non-existent.

colicab-d
05-18-2003, 05:53 PM
just got into college so with the grants i get im building a new comp :D

its gonna be a mini system, as the base units only ?250 and has a nice n2 board in it from nividia.. though im gonna chuck a 3ghz p4 in to it and a 512mb stick of ram... , maybe mod a handle onto the case so ive got a mobile-ish graphics/gaming pc or should i say a nice we Wintendo Cube lol

N9ne
05-18-2003, 07:51 PM
That's a nice setup for $700...

Although you really should have at least 512MB RAM these days...

My Ideal PC would be [with no price limitations of course!]:

Dual 2.8GHz Xeons processors w/ hyperthreading
6GB ECC REG DDR RAM
4 x 200GB Western Digital 8MB Cache HDDs
ATI Radeon 9800 Hercules with 256MB RAM - Graphics Card :D
17" Top Quality TFT Monitor
A cool keyboard
a Nifty Mouse with a tail and little ears with added cheese :p

As you can guess, I will never have such a system, as right now I have:

AMD Athlon XP 1900+ 1.21GHz Processor
512MB SDRAM
nVidia GeForce3 Ti500 GFx Card
80GB MAXTOR :cry: Harddrive
Big fat ugly 19" Monitor
Nice keyboard
nifty mouse

:D

Boofo
05-18-2003, 07:58 PM
Does ATI know about this card yet?

ATI Radeon 9800 Hercules

N9ne
05-18-2003, 08:01 PM
Yeah, the Hercules card, hold on I'll get a link to it.

N9ne
05-18-2003, 08:02 PM
<a href="http://www.vr-zone.com/reviews/Hercules/R9800Pro/" target="_blank">http://www.vr-zone.com/reviews/Hercules/R9800Pro/</a>

There we go, couldn't find a 256MB one as I think they're either very new or haven't released yet.

PixelFx
05-18-2003, 09:54 PM
nice system for that price, one thing I'd stress is get more ram ;)

next I know they say size doesn't matter, but get the biggest monitor you can afford :P

as a programmer designer, this is key ;) and something with a good refresh rate... everything else looks good.

*me has 23" viewable samsung monitor*

MGM
05-19-2003, 02:39 AM
Is it a GeForce4 TI or MX? If you have a TI, thats awesome! (do they make 128 mb MX's??)

Also, is it USB 1 or 2.0? I'm thinking 2.0 since you everything else you have seems to be up-to-date..... or close to it neways :p

WHERE IN THE HELL DID U GET IT FOR $700!?!? *drools*

MGM out

Rose
05-19-2003, 12:05 PM
The graphics is nVidia GeForce 4 with 128mb ddr sdram agp ti 4200. :D Does that help?

Believe it or not, I got the computer at Aldi (http://www.aldi.com) and it's a Medion (http://www.medion.com) brand computer (however, as noted above, all components are name brand). It came with a 12 month warrenty, so we figured we really couldn't go wrong.

Yes, we need more memory and that's the first thing we'll upgrade. We've been shopping for a monitor (we are in desparate need of a flat panel to fit the small desk better), so that will be second.

Boofo
05-19-2003, 01:13 PM
We have the Sony SDM-S81 18 inch Flat Panel Monitor and love it. I would never go back to a CRT now that I've tried this. The colors are great! Plus it takes up almost no room. ;)

DrkFusion
05-19-2003, 03:17 PM
Boofo, what do you do for a living? It seems money is no option in your family :p

Boofo
05-19-2003, 03:25 PM
Trust me, with 3 kids (2 6-month-old twin sons and a 5-year-old son) money always matters. ;) I usually upgrade my system once a year (with tax refund). That way I don't have to dip into the house money. ;)

I sell the year-old system after upgrading. It helps offset the cost of the upgrade. Plus, I build my own system, so that also saves a few bucks. ;)