Building your own computer...

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phice
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Building your own computer...

Post by phice »

I've taken the liberty of putting together a new computer over the summer. I'm looking for any thoughts and/or opinions of building your own vs purchasing one from Dell/HP/Gateway/etc.

My setup (in order of purchase):
  • (link) Antec PlusView1000AMG Full Tower SOHO File Server Case
    (link) Raidmax 400W Tri-LED Power Supply
    (link) MSI K7N2 Delta-L nForce2
    (link) Athlon XP 2700 (or 2600, it's $40 cheaper, and only like 80mhz less)
    (link) Thermalright SLK-800A Heatsink
    (link) Blue Dual-Blinking-LED 80mm Fan (4 of them)
    (link) 512mb DDR
I've already purchased my rounded cables, and already have the power cords, keyboard, mouse, printer, monitor, etc. List your suggestions on what I should change (if any), and any feedback. Thanks! 8)

-Don
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volka
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Post by volka »

since this is going to be (caution: prejudice ;) ) a case-modded games-only thingy you might find this borring but linux nForce2 support is ..err.. I just installed windows again on this box.
Didn't you forget a graphics adapter?
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phice
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Post by phice »

The motherboard comes with nForce2, and I will not install anything else except WinXPPro on it. ;) When I get around to a bit more money, I plan on buying an ATI Radeon 9xxx video card (which ever model is best for the price).
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nielsene
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Post by nielsene »

What is the computer going to be used for? For a gamer machine, I'ld probably still buy it from a major vendor. I wouldn't want to deal with tracking down/loading all the drivers, etc. My time is worth something, and having a machine that actually works for its purpose is important.

For a server, however I can build my own for about 1/3rd the cost of a vendor built system. Last summer I made a PIV 2.4GHz, 1 GB RAM, 80 GB HDD system with basic NIC, CD ROM, etc for a little under $800 US. Similar systems retailed for about $2000 US but with only 512 MB RAM.

I'm planning to build another one this summer. Looking at doing a dual PIV 2.6 GHz, 2 GB RAM, RAID'ed 4x80GB HDD, etc. Current cost is looking at about $1500 US. I want to play with SMP and RAID so this is the way to do it. I use Linux almost exclusively, except for my one old gaming machine, so I like building my own and not paying the MS "tax" for Windows/Office/Works/etc....

Building your own is very simple these days. I had never done it before last summer. It took me about a two hours from opening packages to having a booting system... I had planned on all day, so it was a nice surprise.
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phice
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Post by phice »

I plan on using it strictly for gaming and programming, but my prices for the computer is roughly $400, far from any other computer that resembles this one.

Never have liked linux, screwed up my machine far too often with it, so I trust something that actually works. ;)
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Post by McGruff »

Well, if it's for gaming you forgot the projector and 12ft screen :roll:
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phice
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Post by phice »

Bah! Of course, I knew I forgot something.
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volka
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Post by volka »

and if you're going to play egoshooters you also forgot the i-feel vest(tm) most campers wear ;)
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phice
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Post by phice »

Already have one. :D
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elToro
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Post by elToro »

Whether you should build or buy mostly depends on

1. How much you care what each and every component of the machine is

2. How much fun you think it will be to build

I built mine in March.

- Thermaltake Xaser III V1000D
- ASUS A7N8X Deluxe
- AMD Athlon XP 2700+
- Thermalright SLK-800 heatsink
- 1GB of Samsung PC3200 (DDR400) RAM
- ATI Radeon 9700
- Antec TruePower 430W power supply
- WD 7200rpm 80GB Special Edition hard disk
- Lite-On 52X CD-RW
- Sony 16x DVD-ROM
- 802.11g wireless card

Several of those items are incompatible with Linux. Personally, I have my old P-III/500 running Linux, and I use this new one for WinXP.
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