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Old 01-16-2003, 01:17 PM   #1
dave
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New Über-Über Box

Well, <b>tier</b> got written off (more on this later), and I was asked to come up with a replacement. Here's what I'm going to be building (99% certain). Suggestions are welcome, of course. I'll explain everything in more detail later (as to why I've picked it, etc). All prices from NewEgg.com and PCMods.com



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Old 01-16-2003, 02:20 PM   #2
Undertoad
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Notepad is going to positively smoke on that thing!

(I know, I know... as will Q3A RA at 1600x1200 32-bit, or whatever the latest shoot-em-up is)

(He knows I'm just dead-on jealous for all the SCSI angle. It's so awesome! I'd use the SCSI as the main drives and back them up to the IDE at night. But that's just me.)

(And anyway I just found the first game that's sluggish on my system at 1600x1200: SimCity4.)
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Old 01-16-2003, 02:39 PM   #3
dave
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I will most likely (at first, anyway) use one SCSI disk as my boot drive, one IDE disk as my storage, and ghost to the other two every couple of days. If I run out of space before I build a new system, I'll probably just add a FireWire drive, seeing as that can be done so cheap (cost of drive + $50 for case). I do love SCSI, but I want the system to be both backed up and chock full o' disk space. I think this is the best way to accomplish that.
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Old 01-16-2003, 08:31 PM   #4
Bitman
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Ok, I'll bite. I still favor nVidia cards for the drivers and stability. ATI hardware is mad, but the software isn't there yet.

I'd recommed a full gig of memory though, or at least 768 MB. I use more than 400 regularly (and I've only 384 installed). Fire up a game, and it's thrash city.
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Old 01-16-2003, 08:33 PM   #5
Cam
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He's going with 2 Gigs bitman.

All I can say is "I want one"
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Old 01-16-2003, 09:27 PM   #6
dave
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Yeh, a gig is what I run in all my "serious" systems nowadays (PowerBook == 2x512MB, PowerMac == 2x512 & 1x128, tier == 4x256MB).

The cool thing about the P4G8x is that it's dual-channel DDR. Even though it's only PC2100, it still beats PC2700 based boards (and not by just a little, from the benchmarks I've seen). PC2100 is cheaper than PC2700, so I can go ahead and stick 2 gigs in and be within my budget (about $3,400, which is what <b>tier</b> was valued at).

Now, here's the funny thing... <b>tier</b> was written off because it had <b>a dented case</b>. It's been cleaned, tested... works fine. The filter on the Lian Li case kept pretty much all of the smoke particles out of the computer. The electronics company that cleaned it said "man, inside was almost pristine. I have to get some of that stuff for the front of my case. That was amazing." Anyway, I was bitching because the cleaning people (different company - four separate companies are taking care of electronics, other personal possessions, clothing and the house itself) stepped all over the side of the case (which I had taken off after the fire to retrieve some super-important hard drives that I didn't want leaving with <b>anyone</b>). The guy goes "Oh, well you need to get that replaced." I said "yeah, I gotta claim a case side for $30" and he goes "No, the whole computer's supposed to be written off for that." I about shit my pants. He said "tell me what it's got in it." I did, they priced it conservatively at $3,400 and said that's what I was going to get for it. Yay!

So I bought a new case for it (Lian Li PC-61) and started moving it in. I'll use <b>tier</b> as my Linux workstation (since Linux makes so much better use of SMP than Windows), use the new box as my Windows workstation... yeah, computer setup should be pretty sa-weet.
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Old 01-16-2003, 09:37 PM   #7
elSicomoro
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My God...that looks like it's going to be a beautiful computer.

They have a nearly 3 gig P4 now? Wow. Lemme guess though...still not as fast as a G4, right Dave?
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Old 01-16-2003, 09:58 PM   #8
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They have a 3.06 GHz P4 now. I'm just not getting one.

No, I'm sure it smokes the pants off a G4. At most stuff, anyway. Each processor has its advantages. The G4, for one, uses far less power than a P4 or Athlon does.

If we turn this into a Mac-vs-PC debate, well... you can go either way. Each system is good for its own things. I prefer a Mac for pretty much everything except gaming and IRC. I just think it's a better operating system, and I can accept the speed tradeoff for the advantages I feel it offers me. The Mac will be faster for some things (many things in Photoshop, for example) and, in general, the apps will allow you to work faster (iMovie vs Windows Movie Maker, for example). I get more done and have more fun on my Macs, and that's why I'll continue to buy 'em.
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Old 01-16-2003, 10:05 PM   #9
elSicomoro
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See, I don't know fucking anything about computers...just how to use them.
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Old 01-16-2003, 11:25 PM   #10
juju
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What about your Mac machine? Did it come out okay? Any chance of a top-of-the-line OS X box?

I'm surprised to see you giving Linux another go. I thought it was too much of a pain-in-the-ass?
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Old 01-17-2003, 08:29 AM   #11
dave
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As a main operating system, yes. But as a "I have a spare computer to fuck around with", I can do it. I am still most used to my GNOME desktop and probably nothing will ever beat how comfortable I was with it.

As far as Macs... I'll write all that up later. But yes, I'm doing okay there.
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Old 01-17-2003, 07:02 PM   #12
Bitman
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Buh, math is hard. Strangely I found myself glossing over the qty column several times. Just wish I could justify a new uberbox for home, but I just don't *need* one. New work machines should arrive in a couple weeks tho.
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Old 01-17-2003, 08:47 PM   #13
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I don't need one either, but this insurance money is "use it or lose it", so...
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Old 01-17-2003, 09:15 PM   #14
jaguar
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So they wrote off the box because it had a dented case, and then you're allowed to keep it AND get another one with the insurance money?!?!?

Bloody hell.....
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Old 01-17-2003, 09:25 PM   #15
elSicomoro
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I had a similar experience when I wrecked my car in 1994.

At the time, my car was 14 years old, and the only thing that was really wrong with it was that the passenger door was all dented up (though still operational). The damage to the car was $1600, so the insurance company gave me $1100 and let me keep the car. That paid for what I owed during my first semester of college.
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