I have 3 goals for the computer I am getting in about february.
1. Needs to have at least these specs or the equivilent.
2 GHz or above
512 megs of ram or above
80 gigs HD space (at least)
DVD Burner
CD burner
Whatever the hell I would need to capture video off of VHS, and edit it for DVD burnage.
2. I'm using it for gaming, Word Processing, Photoshop, and video editing. I would like to do hardcore video editing, because I'm archiving about 200 video tapes from the 80s-90s. I need whatever is nessecary to do the editing -I don't know what I'll need.
3. Here's the kicker. I'll have about 600 to 700 dollars. I will be able to build my own system.
CAN IT BE DONE?
Please say yes. 
If you are doing it in febuary, you may just be able to pull it off. For what you want, you would likely wanna go with an intel processor, as they are on top when it comes to video stuffs. 2.2 GhZ should do. An average motherboard should run around 75 bucks, processor im not sure about.
Itll be a REAL tight fit. you may need to get another 100 bucks or so to pull this off. [ 11-30-2003: Message edited by: Falaanla Marr ]
Uhm.
How about like... *thinkthink mentally add*
800 dollars? Maybe.
Oh, and I have ram already. If doublewide working in most motherboards... [ 11-30-2003: Message edited by: Gikk ]
I wouldn't say impossible.
512mb is rather low for video ops, as well.
quote:
How.... Arttemis.... uughhhhhh:
Probably not. Even if you could build the system under cost, the price of software would kill you. Video editing software isn't cheap.512mb is rather low for video ops, as well.
Depends on the necessary quality and what the DVDs need to have. If they need fancy menus and shit it jacks the price up.
Comes to $699 plus tax, minus cost on the video card since all you really need is a TV tuner card + shitty video card. The personal cinema is more along the lines of the All in Wonder, complete with remote control and such.
It's certainly doable.
(Might help to post a link...www.ebccomputers.com) [ 11-30-2003: Message edited by: Taeldian ]
[ 11-30-2003: Message edited by: Valso ]
Oh yeh! Did you say custom built? Or premade through a company?
quote:
Taeldian had this to say about Duck Tales:
AMD Athlon XP 2600+: $117
MSI KT6 Delta-L Motherboard: $81
80GB Western Digital HD w/8MB cache: $85
Case: 40-60 depending on preference
512MB PC3200 400mhz RAM: $76
NEC DVD +/-RW 4x8x: $118
GeForce FX 5200 Personal Cinema: $182Comes to $699 plus tax, minus cost on the video card since all you really need is a TV tuner card + shitty video card. The personal cinema is more along the lines of the All in Wonder, complete with remote control and such.
It's certainly doable.
(Might help to post a link...www.ebccomputers.com
Change the cpu to 2500+ to save $30 bucks if you need, also she needs it for gaming too... Is the FX 5200 a good choice for that? Add in cost for mouse/keyboard/speakers if needed..etc..etc.. blah... rambling... : 
ies::
Came up with this:
ASUS A7N8X-X Motherboard w/ USB 2.0, LAN, AUDIO, 8x AGP [Single Memory Channel] (0)
AMD Athlon XP 2500+ Quantispeed CPU (512k l2 cache) (434)
420 watt power supply (19)
just 256 memory - While I'll have to shut down to check, I think I have some of my own viable memory (0)
80 gb 7200 RPM ultra ATA-100 Hard Drive (0)
**8x AGP** Nvidia Geforce FX 5200 128 MB W/TV-Out (36)
Regular 56x CD rom (19)
NEC ND-1300A Dual Format DVD-RW/DVD+RW + CD-R/CD-RW Drive (109)
3-d Wave onboard sound
1.44 Floppy
Perfect - Flat Viewsonic 17 inches E70F 21H DPI horizontal sVGA moniter(155)
2 extra USB connectors (9)
Grand Total: 769.00
The numbers in the parenthiesis are what is added to the cost.
Is this a good deal? Is ibuypower any good?
I can get the OS through my school for free, as well as dvd software.
Rebooting to check on ram, bb in a little bit.
I still personally think you are best off with intel if you plan to do alot of video editing with this system... 
it shouldnt run too terribly much more.
Unless someone can send it to me, then I go with what I can.
Anyway, I looked at my ram - it's 2 256 chips, 133. From April, 2001. But.... both are double wide. I can't find any reference to it on the internet, so let me describe it. Take a ramchip and another ramchip, and overlap them just a titch on the long edges - so the upper ram chip doesn't have the edge that goes into the computer.
that's what it's like. Two rows of the .. uhm... black squares.
Oddly enough, my system switches from reading them at 512, and 256 - depends on when I boot, though it seems to be random. It's almost like part of the time, it's only reading half the ram, though both cards are lit. I was thinking they may not work because of my current computer setup - Celeron 633, and I have no idea what motherboard.
Do you have any idea what this ram is, or if it's usable? And help would be appreciated.
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The logic train ran off the tracks when Valso said:
Change the cpu to 2500+ to save $30 bucks if you need, also she needs it for gaming too... Is the FX 5200 a good choice for that? Add in cost for mouse/keyboard/speakers if needed..etc..etc.. blah... rambling... :ies::
Depending on the games, the 5200 should work fine.
Unless she's going to be playing things like Halo and SWG
((((((If I had known that, I would have bribed my firends to get me more of the free kingston ram from office max. ((((
Ohwell. Add 134 dollars to the price, and I'll have 1024 of ram.
I'll live.
Oh, and there goes my student loan overage~ Whee! [ 12-01-2003: Message edited by: Gikk ]
Motherboard: EPOX 8K9AI motherboard (KT400 chipset) $51
RAM: Buffalo Tech 512MB PC2700 $77
Case&PSU: Antec SLK1600 chassis and smartpower300W $46
Hard Drive: Western Digital SE 80GB drive $79
DVD-RW: Pioneer 106 (OEM version of A06) $131
Video card: Asus V9280VS Video Suite Ti4200 with VIVO $135
Monitor: Samsung Syncmaster 753DF $112
total: 721 + shipping
It'll be much better for gaming than the iBuyPower machine, it'll have really quite bad audio quality, the DVD burner is much better, and even though the KT400 chipset isn't as sexy as the nForce2, it's still a workhorse, and a cheap one at that. You'll be able to do pretty much anything with that.
No, Really. Bite me.
quote:
Taeldian thought about the meaning of life:
Depending on the games, the 5200 should work fine.Unless she's going to be playing things like Halo and SWG
that sucks, I need to buy a processor yet, but I have a 5200.
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Taeldian painfully thought these words up:
Unless she's going to be playing things like Halo and SWG
[ 12-01-2003: Message edited by: Tarquinn ]
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This insanity brought to you by Taeldian:
Depending on the games, the 5200 should work fine.Unless she's going to be playing things like Halo and SWG
the 5200 ULTRA performs about as well as a geforce4 MX460, the non-ultra, which is what's been posted in this thread time and again, performs much, much worse.
It's not a gaming card, not by a long shot.
No, Really. Bite me.
quote:
Tarquinn had this to say about Robocop:
Huh? Halo runs pretty smooth on my system and you don't even want to know the specs.
1.1ghz celeron, geforce2...
try turning up the resolution and enabling all the pretty effects. Halo is capable of making a P4 3.2 and a 9800XT crawl (given beefed up video settings).
No, Really. Bite me.
quote:
Burger had this to say about Matthew Broderick:
try turning up the resolution and enabling all the pretty effects. Halo is capable of making a P4 3.2 and a 9800XT crawl (given beefed up video settings).
Nah, I had to download the demo again. Though, I assume running the game only in 800x600 helped my geriatric PC quite alot.
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Verily, Burger doth proclaim:
try turning up the resolution and enabling all the pretty effects. Halo is capable of making a P4 3.2 and a 9800XT crawl (given beefed up video settings).
A CHALLENGE.
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Falaanla Marr had this to say about dark elf butts:
A CHALLENGE.
believe me fal, at 1600X1200 on that rig, most games will get easily 60/70+ FPS, HALO will get maybe 25/30. (from what I've heard)
No, Really. Bite me.
quote:
This insanity brought to you by Falaanla Marr:
A CHALLENGE.
I guarantee that it won't run 60-70 FPS even with your rig Fal, Halo was terribly ported to PC, I've already seen bench marks equivilant to your PC getting 30-40 FPS at high graphics.
"What do you mean your computer caught on fire?" [ 12-01-2003: Message edited by: Ace in the Spade ]
"Like burning."
"Nothing big right?"
"No, like flames, and smoke burning."
"So wanna play some Frozen Throne later?"
"I hate you."
*dramatization*
quote:
Ace in the Spade's fortune cookie read:
Ibuypower, ah the memories. Good ol Zair the Froglok king purchased a comp from them earlier this year. Everything was cool with it until like the second day of usage when the neon light inside the case exploded/burnt and the proceeded to torch the rest of the comp until hillarity insued. I'd say they're good comps but just disconnect the neon light inside the case..."What do you mean your computer caught on fire?"
"Like burning."
"Nothing big right?"
"No, like flames, and smoke burning."
"So wanna play some Frozen Throne later?"
"I hate you."
*dramatization*
That can happen from any manufacturer. It's just a faulty cold cathode.
Out of 191 reviews, they recieved an overall 8.25 over the past 6 months, and 8.44 over the lifetime of the company. http://www.resellerratings.com/seller2001.html
By comparaison:
dell: 2.29 / 5.05 http://www.resellerratings.com/seller1867.html
IBM: NR / 5.59 http://www.resellerratings.com/seller1335.html
alienware: 7.84/7.75 http://www.resellerratings.com/seller1650.html
falcon northwest: 10/8.82 (only 1 review in past 6 months) http://www.resellerratings.com/seller1650.html
Voodoo: 9.93/9.80 http://www.resellerratings.com/seller2044.html
are they as good as the high-end boutique manufacturers? nope, but you also pay a premium for that kind of attention to detail. But ibuypower is MUCH better than most of the OEM's.
No, Really. Bite me.
Dell has somthing for 499.00 after a 100.00 rebate not sure if it will meet your needs but they are fairly uprade able at least the last one i looked at was.
I'D hold off on buying until after X-Mass alot of people will buy systems and then return them you can get a great Open box deal this way (Best BUy ... CC)
I like to use http://www.pricewatch.com/
[ 12-02-2003: Message edited by: Aury ]
quote:
Somthor had this to say about Duck Tales:
OOOH I can build computer'sDell has somthing for 499.00 after a 100.00 rebate not sure if it will meet your needs but they are fairly uprade able at least the last one i looked at was.
I'D hold off on buying until after X-Mass alot of people will buy systems and then return them you can get a great Open box deal this way (Best BUy ... CC)
I like to use http://www.pricewatch.com/
I wouldn't trust you to mow my lawn or wipe your own ass, forget about computers. Dells are limited by a proprietary motherboard, powersupply, and non-ATX case. Making them only slightly upgradable.
As for most other OEM pc's that are sold out of a BB/CC, they're either proprietary like the dells, or use low-end parts to save a few bucks and increase margins. Saving $200 on a PC is nice, but not when half the parts are substandard and will need to be replaced before two years have passed.
No, Really. Bite me.
quote:
From the book of Burger, chapter 3, verse 16:
I wouldn't trust you to mow my lawn or wipe your own ass, forget about computers. Dells are limited by a proprietary motherboard, powersupply, and non-ATX case. Making them only slightly upgradable.As for most other OEM pc's that are sold out of a BB/CC, they're either proprietary like the dells, or use low-end parts to save a few bucks and increase margins. Saving $200 on a PC is nice, but not when half the parts are substandard and will need to be replaced before two years have passed.
I'll have you know I build decent systems. I said fairly you say slightly (pretty simular) for a person on a budget I pointed out some low cost off the shelf meathods to get a basic machine with a warrenty.
I agree whole heartly with you you get what you pay for. I use high quality parts in all my machines.
quote:
Somthor enlisted the help of an infinite number of monkeys to write:
I'll have you know I build decent systems. I said fairly you say slightly (pretty simular) for a person on a budget I pointed out some low cost off the shelf meathods to get a basic machine with a warrenty.
I agree whole heartly with you you get what you pay for. I use high quality parts in all my machines.
there's a world of difference between fairly and slightly.
Fairly implies that it's more yes than no, slightly implies that it's more no than yes.
an example:
You seem FAIRLY stupid. (true statement)
You seem SLIGHTLY stupid. (less true statement)
There are other ways to trim down the budget without resorting to an OEM machine. For someone as intelligent and skilled as Gikk, she shouldn't have to pay someone else to put together a few parts.
As for the warranty, every part that I listed has a warranty. Every part I listed is from a reputable manufacturer with a good track record of customer satisfaction.
No, Really. Bite me.
For the same stuff, if not better. With a 3 year warenty.
pricing it myself and pricing through them seems to come up with roughly the same cost, since they get a bulk discount. it's only about 50 more dolalrs then building it myself - and if that's the case, I'll go with them making it, honestly.
Anyhow.
Thanks. ^_^
Nightnight! [ 12-03-2003: Message edited by: Gikk ]
