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Post by 5m4llP0X on Mar 2, 2008 17:12:48 GMT -5
Here, I figure we could talk about nerd shit. NO I WILL NOT FIX YOUR COMPUTER. I will, however offer suggestions on what is a good idea of purchase. I'll start with the basics: If you're looking at custom building a computer there are many brands out there that all claim greatness. Some of these actually live up tot it. Motherboards: Asus: Asus is the leading motherboard manufacturer. Right now they, pretty much, have an exclusive contract with HP, Voodoo, and a few others. This may have, I believe, lead to the downfall in thei once very high quality for boards. (when you make thousands of OEM boards a week, things will slip)They're still an amazing company, but some of their higher-end boards have heat issues when used in junction with high-perfomance equipment. Gigabyte: They're lessner known and very new. Their boards have the stability of Asus and less of the heat issues. They're also sold at a lower cost because they're new in the market. Their major downside is their fucking color scheme! Yellow, blue and GREEN. This looks HORRIBLE when put under a light! Other then that, though, the boards they make are very solid. EVGA is also another solid board company. They haven't done much in the past years and their boards are usually mid-high end. I haven't seen much out of them, so I don't have much more to say about them. Later I'll talk about processors and video cards.
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Post by Zer0 on Mar 2, 2008 17:47:21 GMT -5
Asus... Anus.... Asus... Anus.... ANUS!
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Post by TheLance on Mar 2, 2008 23:38:08 GMT -5
AWESOME SECOND POST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Post by HighProtein on Mar 3, 2008 3:26:41 GMT -5
How about some good memory brands? I have 4 gig of OCZ memory in this IBM T60 I initially got a 1 gig stick of Kingston and that fucker gave me errors.
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Post by 5m4llP0X on Mar 3, 2008 5:22:22 GMT -5
Memory: The ONLY BRAND WORTH GETTING is Crucial Technology. They DO NOT REQUIRE heatsinks for their new 4GB sticks. They are actually STABLE. If you get their ballistix brand, be prepared to deal with a Celeron equivalent. (overclocked to fuck and back.) I'm sure Kingson does a great job, as does the other brands, but: CT is the only thing for me! Thwey have proved themselves to be the best in the market, time and time again. They are also very competitive in price. This makes them almost impossible not to purchase.
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Post by Zer0 on Mar 3, 2008 9:49:46 GMT -5
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Post by 5m4llP0X on Mar 4, 2008 0:38:01 GMT -5
Now: The debate of Intel vs AMD and ATI vs GeForce. Intel Pro's: They have the best processor on the market. Very stable Great L2 caches. Cons: EXPENSIVE AMD Pros: Cheaper then intel. Good L2 cache. Very stable. Great for gameing. Better compatability with ATI GFX cards. Ammendment: AMD uses 3D now technology. Which helps take some of the load off your graphics and graphics excellerator cards. This provides a better enhancement for your gameing experience. They readily use hyper threading technology. Cons: Not as powerful as Intel. L2 can be weaker on higher end processors.
GeForce Pros: Very high MHZ xfer rate. Not badly priced. Cons: Even their high-end cards come with a weak graphics interface. ATI Pros: VERY POWERFUL! ATI is owned by AMD. Thus: the better compatability with the proc. ATI has 2GB graphics cards on the market. Cons: The MHZ isn't quite as high as GeForce, but still up there.
Personal selection: Unless you're going to shell out several grand for a system, AMD with an ATI is best option. The compatability with the two make it to where you could dual-monitor with an onboard and GFX card. This is something that will not happen with GeForce. Sadly, you can't crossfire the two and use your system memory to beef the graphics even further. However, the 3D now features on the AMD will give you what you want from any graphically intensive program.
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Post by TheLance on Mar 4, 2008 0:38:30 GMT -5
Ignore her, this thread is actually useful. I wish it'd been here when I was looking for a new motherboard a while back.
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Post by 5m4llP0X on Mar 4, 2008 0:40:43 GMT -5
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Post by 5m4llP0X on Mar 4, 2008 0:43:04 GMT -5
Also: I have found out that AlienWare (and as such, Dell) also have contracts with Asus. This explains their quality check issues. But they're still great! Next: ATX vs BTX the moot debate.
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Post by Zer0 on Mar 4, 2008 11:32:34 GMT -5
Ignore her, this thread is actually useful. I wish it'd been here when I was looking for a new motherboard a while back. Yeah... I find me funny. That's all that matters.
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Post by HighProtein on Mar 4, 2008 14:59:39 GMT -5
What do ya think of the concept of a Tri-Core when Quad cores are already out?
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Post by 5m4llP0X on Mar 4, 2008 19:32:46 GMT -5
It's for those who want the benefits of more then 2 cores but without having to pay through the nose for a quad-core. It also allows the processor to have a better L2 cache per core.
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Post by HighProtein on Mar 4, 2008 21:52:56 GMT -5
It's for those who want the benefits of more then 2 cores but without having to pay through the nose for a quad-core. It also allows the processor to have a better L2 cache per core. So dual-core is the 4 banger of CPUs now? and the quad-core is the V8 of CPUs now? That would make the Tri-Core the V6?
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Post by 5m4llP0X on Mar 4, 2008 22:01:38 GMT -5
Think of it as: Celeron/AMD equiv=Gocart Single core=4 cyl Dual=Straight 6 Tri=v8 Quad=High performance V8 Phenom quad/Intel equiv Quad=Mclarin engine.
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Post by Zer0 on Mar 5, 2008 9:56:18 GMT -5
I currently am using AMD for my lappy and it kinda sucks balls... But I'm also running Vista on it, so it is going to be slow as shit no matter what.
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Post by HighProtein on Mar 5, 2008 13:24:44 GMT -5
VISTA KILLS YOUR PC!!!
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Post by 5m4llP0X on Mar 5, 2008 17:26:03 GMT -5
Vista is the best OS on the market. Yes, it is resource heavy. Yes, it does have a few bugs (ONLY A FEW). BUt look at how old it is and compare it to everyone's beloved XP when it was that old. Anyone remember? I do. Registry change...CRASH Driver corrupt...CRASH Troubleshoot internet issues? GOOD FUCKING LUCK! Hell, XP still has very limited resources for resolving any issue. And trust me: There are a lot of issues under it's hood. (Non-destructive recoveries do not work and restore is a joke.) Vista has it's fair share of issues, but they where smart enough to give the EU and technician a great deal of resources to figure out what is going on! It is far more customer friendly and tech friendly.
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Post by 5m4llP0X on Mar 5, 2008 17:45:33 GMT -5
Also: What are your system specs, Zer0? Vista's optimal specs would be: 1.8GHZ+ dual core 2GB RAM at 667MHZ 128 MB GFX card. (most onboard have this) With that, it will run very well. Also: The more features you have tacked on, the more power you might want in your system. (Norton...Up a gig. Adobe Photoshop...up a gig and look at using a GFX with DVI ports.) Modding this... Vista has constant resources being used. Thus: Having a dedicated core just to manage the OS is a major plus. Vista reccommends 1GB, but strongly suggests 2GB. So you can get away with less. I just do not suggest it.
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Post by TheLance on Mar 5, 2008 19:43:13 GMT -5
What, exactly, does it do that requires such preposterous system specs? Fucking honestly, man, Oblivion has lower recommended specs that that.
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Post by 5m4llP0X on Mar 5, 2008 19:57:35 GMT -5
User Account Control. Windows Defender. Google Quick Search (Pings ALL of your info with meta data for faster searching) Aeros (gives you the option of flipping through all of your screens in realtime) It Defrags in REAL TIME, so you don't have to! Other security features. Windows OS's are resource heavy. An actual working restore point creator that will actually SAFELY undo registry changes, system changes, and program additions.
It uses about 40% of 1GB (Approx 400MB) but 2 GB will make it run smooooth. Dual cores are awesome for windows.
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Post by Zer0 on Mar 5, 2008 20:02:21 GMT -5
Well, keep in mind that my lappy is FREE with infinate tech support (and if I require it) upgrades. All I really do on it is my usually blogging/message board antics.
I have an Acer Aspire 5520 I have an AMD processor 1.90Ghz 1791Mb Ram 2Gb DDR2 160GB HDD
I like Vista.. The only bitch I have is that it's slow and that they moved everything around (it's the most different OS in comparison to 98 and XP).
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Post by 5m4llP0X on Mar 5, 2008 20:09:22 GMT -5
Just use the start search feature to find EVERYTHING. Also: Check your startup programs by going into system configuration (type it in start search) figure out what the programs that are starting up by googleing them and uninstall or remove from startup all the ones you do not want. (leave all windows-based startup programs) That should free up some resources.
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Post by Zer0 on Mar 5, 2008 20:20:55 GMT -5
Oh i've done all that.... It's just... Weird... I do like the feature that prompts me to allow programs to go. I do worry about spyware and such.
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Post by 5m4llP0X on Mar 5, 2008 20:25:30 GMT -5
Go into task manager and check out your system resources. If it's unreasonably high, you might want to call their support. Also, do you know what your proc is? (full name?) I want to check up on it's L1 and L2 cache.
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Post by 5m4llP0X on Mar 5, 2008 20:30:21 GMT -5
Your prompting for downloading, or accessing programs is called User Account Control. It works by turning the Admin into a User and setting this program as the Admin. You still have admin access, but it's through it. This eliminates the ability to download viruses, and can prevent them from running. Vista also has more stable walls on clusters. This prevents viruses from corrupting other clusters. Which could infect system files.
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Post by Zer0 on Mar 5, 2008 20:50:19 GMT -5
YAY....... I need to get back into the tech loop. I've been gone too long. I need to shoot someone in the virtual face.
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Post by 5m4llP0X on Mar 7, 2008 4:18:26 GMT -5
ATX vs BTX: There are several types of motherboard architectures out there, but these are the two that are most important. (others are server boards, or not mainly used for PC application) ATX: It was invented back in 95 by intel. This is the industry standard. It tucks the processor away in the upper left hand corner and the memory vertically to the right side. In 95 this form was great. It transfered Data at a relative fast rate and we didn't need to worry about cooling. This also fixed a lot of the issues AT had with other companies. It also led to allowing micro versions of this board to be made (HP slimline). It's one major flaw, however was not realized until 04. When Intel first launched the Pentium 4 it had many issues with overheating. This also lead to a higher then avg temp inside your computer case. Which could, in theory, over heat the rest of your system. This is where BTX came in. Around that time: Intel was looking at ways of keeping their processors more powerful then AMD. When they realized the issue. they quickly scrambled to find ways to fix it. This is where the BTX came in. BTX took the layout of the motherboard and changed a few key features. No longer will the processor be tucked away under the system fan. It was now in the mid-right side of the board (front) directly across from the system fan. They also rotated the memory 90 degrees and tucked them near the top. This allowed direct air onto the heatsink and CPU fan. It also gave the GFX card room to breath and create air flow inside the system. However, this new design was not met with open arms by the motherboard community and, to this day, is very rare to find. Personally: I'd pay an extra $100 for a BTX motherboard. This would mean i didn't have to worry about my components overheating. If you'd like to see the form differences, feel free to look at the links below. ATX: upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a6/Abit-kt7-large.jpgBTX: upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/01/BTX-Gehaeuse_IMGP1405.jpg
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Post by 5m4llP0X on Mar 12, 2008 13:46:42 GMT -5
Water cooling: Your need for watercooling is really only based on how much you wish to overclock your system. If you're looking at playing CounterStrike and want to skimp on parts, then Water cool is right for you. This allows, as it says, water to quickly travel through your sytem and cool it down. Now a days: Intel has learned from their mistakes and actually made processors that won't overheat as readily. ATI has cool and quiet technology, which underclocks your processor when it's not in use. This, mixed with a good heatsink and a few fans, should keep your system from giving up the magic purple genie smoke. (Things blowung up)
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Post by 5m4llP0X on Mar 12, 2008 13:48:02 GMT -5
BTW: Does anyone have any questions? (IE: The need for DDR3? How to install a Radion GFX card with an NVidia based board?) This is part of the reason why I did this thread.
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