Halo 1 & 2 for PC
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Subject: The Guide to Designing Awesome Computers
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Build one.

Build one to run better, to run cooler, to be cheaper, and to be clean of bloatware that manufacturers pile into their systems. [H]ard|OCP ordered a Dell XPS 600 and was shocked at how slow it was for the components it contained. In addition, they couldn't play Quake 4 among several other games that Dell's propietary safeguard system deemed 'unsafe'.

Even if you're completely clueless when it comes to building pc's, you can do it and walk away happy. You'll have a machine that you've built yourself, that you can customize, and you can continually revamp.

The question is how much can you spend?

I just built a sweet system for a friend for under $800 - it runs all games at medium to high settings.

What I'd suggest if you're on a tight budget:
* AMD Athlon 64 3000+ Venice core [socket 939] - $155
* Chaintech VNF4 [socket 939 motherboard] - $56
* 2x512MB PQi Turbo DDR400 [184-pin] - $75
* 160GB Maxtor Diamondmax10 [SATA Hard Drive] - $80
* Any DVD-burner - $50
* eVGA 6800GS 256MB [PCI-express graphics card] - $170
* Full/Mid-tower ATX Case [aluminum is lighter but more expensive] with a 400watt or better PSU - $50-$100

Total cost would be about $650, give or take a bit. What do you get with that? A pretty powerful system. The processor can overclock very well, even with AMD's stock heatsink, and the graphics card will last you a long time. I wouldn't go lower than a 6800GS right now, considering the next generation of games will demand HDR, SM3, and other effects that older cards won't be able to handle.

Where to buy? NewEgg, ZipZoomFly, Monarch Computers, etc.

Installation? Piece of cake. Mount the drives, mount the mobo, mount the CPU/heatsink, connect wires, and install Windows.

Operating System? You'd probably want to buy Windows XP or see if your old pc had an OS disk [be careful - it might have all of those pre-loaded programs].

Too expensive? Then tell us and maybe we can cut some corners.

Monitor? Use the one from your old system. Same goes for keyboard/mouse.



[Edited on 1/21/2006]

  • 01.21.2006 6:10 PM PDT
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u say it cost $1200+ for a hard core gamin pc,thats not totaly true as im runnin a p4 ht 1gb ram corsair,80gb,free net (wi-fi),firewall,anti viruse xp pro.and i only payed £50 4 my video card so really u can get a gamin pc 4 less than u say if u look hard enough

  • 01.26.2006 4:29 AM PDT
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you are talking in pounds I talk in cold hard american cash


[Edited on 2/1/2006]

  • 02.01.2006 7:27 PM PDT
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This thread amends a round of applause for helping me out and others who are trying to build a computer. will tell specs later.

  • 02.01.2006 8:42 PM PDT
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I have a question about SCSI HDs. Does the motherboard need to support SCSI or do you need an interface card?

thx

  • 02.13.2006 6:06 PM PDT
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Posted by: A14yroldgeek
u say it cost $1200+ for a hard core gamin pc,thats not totaly true as im runnin a p4 ht 1gb ram corsair,80gb,free net (wi-fi),firewall,anti viruse xp pro.and i only payed £50 4 my video card so really u can get a gamin pc 4 less than u say if u look hard enough


I wouldnt exactly call yours a hardcore gaming pc. Its on the lower midrange. First off, corsair ram blows unless you get the extreme editions which cost like $300, and if you payed 50 for your videocard I dont expect much of it at all.

  • 02.13.2006 8:06 PM PDT
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Amd 64 3700+
Asus A8N Sli deluxe
2.5 gigs OCZ platinum 2-2-2-5 timings
2 X 74gig wd raptors @ 10,000 rpm raid 0
ATI X850 XT @ 460mhz core, 1150ghz mem

  • 02.13.2006 8:09 PM PDT
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What I am talking about for a hardcore system is

AMD Athlon 64 FX-60
4Gb Corsair XMS ram
DFI LANPARTY UT nF4 SLI-DR EXPERT ATX Motherboard
24" dell widescreen
two 150Gb WD raptor hard drives
Dual EVGA E-GeForce 7800 gtx
500 watt power suply
creative Xfi sound card
ECT.

[Edited on 3/7/2006]

  • 03.07.2006 7:09 PM PDT
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Thanks mutch sld that helped allot, maybey now I can talk my mom and dad into letting me build my own!!!!!

  • 04.12.2006 2:32 PM PDT
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Posted by: skaidul

Hyper Transport technology, developed by AMD is a high-speed, low-latency, point-to-point link designed to increase the communication speed between integrated circuits in computers, servers, embedded systems, and networking and telecommunications equipment up to 48 times faster than some existing technologies.




No, hyper transport was not developed by AMD, however they just implement the technology into their processors. Alliance Semiconductor, Apple Computer, Broadcom Corporation, Cisco Systems, NVIDIA, PMC-Sierra, Sun Microsystems, and Transmeta all use hyper transport technology and have adapted it to their own products.

  • 04.12.2006 8:21 PM PDT
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nforce4 ultra mobo.
6600gt oc.
1gb patriot mem.
160gb hdd.
combo cd/dvd drive
amd 64 3500+
Antec super Lanboy case

  • 04.12.2006 9:57 PM PDT
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Posted by: navu
What I am talking about for a hardcore system is

AMD Athlon 64 FX-60
4Gb Corsair XMS ram
DFI LANPARTY UT nF4 SLI-DR EXPERT ATX Motherboard
24" dell widescreen
two 150Gb WD raptor hard drives
Dual EVGA E-GeForce 7800 gtx
500 watt power suply
creative Xfi sound card
ECT.


No, get rid of the corsair xms and that system will be awsome. Corsair sucks majorly for gaming, especially the xms. It just has a fancy heatspreader with LED's on it, which is basically like a noob magnet. If you want some good ram look into OCZ gold, platinum, and titanium series. Theres also some new 1ghz patriot ram out thats supposed to kick ass in benchmarks.

  • 04.12.2006 11:05 PM PDT
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dell make alot of the parts used in their computers which would include motherboard memory power supply

and you need to check if you have the apropiate slot for the video card

  • 04.21.2006 1:25 PM PDT
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That's not a bad setup you have there ImSpartacus. All you're missing is that Radeon X800 XL and you'll have a machine that all your friends will envy. That is unless they're hardcore PC enthusiasts like this as well.

Don't get me wrong ImSpartacus, Halo PC is great, but when you get that X800 card you're going to want to play more games than Halo PC on a rig like yours. Like Quake 4, Call of Duty 2, F.E.A.R., Ages of Empires III, Half-Life 2, Doom 3, Need for Speed: Most Wanted, World of Warcraft, the great list of PC titles goes on. Just wait till you can get that card and play these great games.

  • 04.21.2006 1:32 PM PDT

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