building your own pc/rant/vent (2 Viewers)

[Jayden]

I am thinking from what I am reading that I want to go with XP, and to do that at this point I would have to build instead of buy since everything in the office depot already comes with vista now.

 

[Leastbay]

sounds good, let us know if you need any hardware recommendations, I just built a new one a few weeks ago. I would consider a dual core form Intel and spend the extra hundred you save from not getting the quad on a high end graphics card. I usually buy my parts from newegg or clubit.

 

[Leastbay]

not possible

 

[klm2656]

I am thinking from what I am reading that I want to go with XP, and to do that at this point I would have to build instead of buy since everything in the office depot already comes with vista now.

Build it Jayden. You will get more computer (with a bit of research) and the satisfaction of

knowing what you have instead of pot luck in a box.I priced the parts to build a computer with

similar specs to the one you linked,(newegg) and you can get more by DIY with the

exception of the

blueray/HD player which appears to be a HP exclusive.

 

[robsmith32]

cough. ignore the anti vista bunk. If you dont' go vista, within another year or 2, you'll be needing it to have newer things work.
vista with >2gb ram is much better than xp on the same box.
btw, you might want to look at intel's 8400 core2duo. 185.00 at microcenter.com.
I'm hesitant to say go 4gb as leastbay mentioned, the os only sees 4gb addressing which includes video ram, and you'll likely get a 512mb or 1gb on the video, with doing the video work.
4gb actually is slower in access than 2gb. Granted, if you keep a lot of programs running, 4gb would be quicker if you're exceeding 2gb in use. I find i rather difficult to accomplish though.
I dont' think the 64 bit 3rd party vendor support is up to where it needs to be for me to jump to 64 bit ver though. and 32 vista with 2-3gb ram with a hefty graphics card makes sense, maybe even putting them with crossfire/sli. rather than going to 4gb.
if aftermarket drivers were avail for all you plan on using, i'd grab the 64bit edition, but i'd check first.

on board audio, has gotten really good. i wouldnt' recommend on board video though. Most use the system ram for that, and that is slower than video ram. Plus steals away from what the system can use for operating. using an on board video would be the only way i'd recommend going 4gb with 32 bit version.
You can get a Pioneer blu/ray drive from frys for 199.00 if not mistakened. that reads blu ray, plus r/w for cd's and dvd's.


FYI, some corporate that i've been involved with, are adopting vista a whole lot sooner after launch, than they did with XP, or win 2k for that matter.
took 4 years for xp, and they already going vista.

 

[Leastbay]

that 8400 chip is a beast, does over 4 ghz fairly easy

 

[robsmith32]

that 8400 chip is a beast, does over 4 ghz fairly easy

if that's the case, it should put a hurt vs a qx6600, then at that price..
at some apps, i could see the quad core flexing it's multiprocessing, but don't think it would beat the 8400 at much. And at that price, i'm tempted to jump on it, even though I already have a 6420.

 

[Jayden]

I decided to go with purchasing it instead of building it. It came with Vista, and I am actually loving it. Women always love bells and whistles though.

This is the one I bought, nothing extravagant.

Click Here!

 

[Leastbay]

good choice, I have the E2180, not that youre into overclocking but the E2XX series can be overclocked by 60%

 

[Jayden]

good choice, I have the E2180, not that youre into overclocking but the E2XX series can be overclocked by 60%

I know no such things about over clocking. I can't even explain what it is to anyone. My guess is that it has to do with something to do with the graphics card and playing games, perhaps games with GL?

 

[Saint77]

Not a horrible choice for a box system.

Id still take advantage of adding ram ASAP as prices can change quick.

 

[Leastbay]

I know no such things about over clocking. I can't even explain what it is to anyone. My guess is that it has to do with something to do with the graphics card and playing games, perhaps games with GL?

its basically raising your processor speed from its original speed of 1.8ghz, most chips can only go up a few hundred mhz, but these E21XX series can be overclocked alot. I have the E2180 which is a 2.0ghz version of the one you have, it runs at 3.2ghz with the stock cooler

 

[robsmith32]

its basically raising your processor speed from its original speed of 1.8ghz, most chips can only go up a few hundred mhz, but these E21XX series can be overclocked alot. I have the E2180 which is a 2.0ghz version of the one you have, it runs at 3.2ghz with the stock cooler

runs a lot faster, but also the more you push it the shorter its lifespan.. no matter how "stable" it is.

 

[Leastbay]

the MO stepping is good for 70 celcius, anything close or over that you will start to damage the chip, with a good cooler it shouldnt even come close, 3ghz can be achieved with the stock voltage anyway

 

[Taurus]

The business world is buying machines with Vista licenses but XP actually running on the box. Micro$oft gives everyone the rights to do this. Should you decide at a later time to go to Vista, you're already licensed for it, no need to buy it again.

Best of both worlds and don't let any of the major builders try to snow you that they can't do it. They can and do all the time.