who's buying a new box when ah2 is here?

[F4i]

(((TESTING TO SEE IF I'M STILL ON PROBATION)))

HAD TO BUY A NEW BOX JUST TO COME BACK TO AH LATE 2002.

DELL DIMENSION 8250...been pretty happy with it.  I would recommend to anyone.

F4i

[Devourer]

How hard is it to build a computer and how much does it end up costing?

[beet1e]

Originally posted by Devourer
How hard is it to build a computer and how much does it end up costing?

It's easy. The only tools I've ever needed have been a small screwdriver set, a standard crosspoint screwdriver for those tougher screws, and a pair of long billed pliers - useful for extracting jumpers.

Get a decent, well ventilated case, and before you start, be sure to download the .PDF manual for the mobo you will get, plus all mobo drivers and OS updates (eg. SP4 for W2000 Pro). Getting everything to work can be interesting. Check the mobo manual and pay attention to IRQ conflicts etc. I would aim to make it as USB oriented as possible.

And remember - plenty of good chaps on this board to help you when you get stuck.

[BB Gun]

How hard is it to build a computer

Not that hard... the following is a writeup I did for a WB buddy a few months ago: ( http://agw.warbirdsiii.com/bbs/showthread.php?s=&threadid=20782 for this system: http://secure.newegg.com/app/WishHistoryReview.asp?position=HISTORY&submit=VIEW&ID=314306  (vid card not included - he picked that up somewhere else) )

The case (http://www.newegg.com/app/viewproduct.asp?description=11-150-017) has rolled edges for 90% of the exposed edges. The only sharp places are at the drive cutouts at the front of the case and at the backplane cutouts where the motherboard perihperal connectors go through.

1) put motherboard in removable motherboard tray - it has 6 standoffs that are in the correct spots for standard ATX Mobo, and has additional support clips to fit under other locations if you need them.

2) install processor and heatsink (flip up lever on ZIF socket - match CPU pattern to socket patter, drop in, flip ZIF lever down. Clip heatsink into retention clip, then flip the latches to lock it down - try to do both latches at once to avoid asymmetrical loading on the processor) Plug fan power into motherboard fan header near the CPU socket.

3) install RAM - open up the levers, push the stick into the slot, click into place such that the levers snap shut. The RAM is keyed so it can only go in one way. Be sure you have it right, then push firmly.

4) connect case connectors (LED's, switches, etc) to motherboard - do NOT use the slip of paper that comes with the case to make the connections. Follow the Motherboard manual. Note that the little black cylinder with a red wire and a black wire coming from it is the case speaker (for BIOS beeps, etc).

5) Connect front connect USB cable to motherboard USB header - the case connector labels do not exactly match what the motherboard calls them, but it can be figured out. Sort the "1" connectors from the "2" connectors. power to power. "+ to "+" "-" to "-" and ground to ground. (it will be clearer if you're looking at the connectors and the port header diagram while reading this)

7) swap out motherboard passthrough panel for the one that comes in the case. 50/50 they don't match. If they do, you can leave the one that came with the case in the case.

6) insert assembled motherboard tray into the case. Plug in power - primary motherboard power (biggest connector) and PIV power (small four pin connector)

7) install fans into case. (6/7 can be swapped - depending on where you are putting fans and access you want.)

8) install video card into AGP slot. (8/9 can be swapped - depending on room in case. For the Maxtop, there's enough room to do it either way.

9) install drives into drive bays. Be sure that all cabling reaches from the motherboard to the drives before you screw them down. Drives nowadays usually come set to "cable select" ("CS") using jumpers on the back of the drive. I typically override them to force master or slave as appropriate. If HD and CD are sharing an IDE cable, HD is master (MA), CD is slave (SL). If CD and CDRW are sharing an IDE cable, I don't think it matters - just make sure one is master and one is slave.

10) install drive cabling. Everything nowadays is keyed to make it difficult if not impossible to install the cable the wrong way. Also if you have 3-pin fans, attach as many as you can to the fan headers on the motherboard (typically Motherboards have 1 or two additional fan headers for case fans) ANy remaining fans, attach using adapters (if necessary) to 4 pin 12 volt Molex connectors (the biggish ones that connect to drives).  Also, hook up the CD sound cable to the CD-in on the motherboard, and if the motherboard has an aux-in jack, plug the CD-RW sound cable into that one

11) double check drive cabling and power leads. connect monitor, keyboard, mouse, speakers to the motherboard.

12) start system - it should go directly to BIOS to confirm your processor speed. In BIOS - set BOOT order to CD-ROM first, HD- second. Leave everything else at default, for now. Put WINXP in CD tray, Save and Exit BIOS, which will reboot system.

13) When system boots, it will ask to boot from HD or CD, boot from CD, then if given the choice (i.e. if it doesn't do it automagically), start WinXP setup and install WinXP - when asked, do not use FAT32 - use NTFS file system.

14) after windows installs itself, install motherboard drivers (shipset, sound, LAN) from CD - reboot after each individual install - don't do all three at once. Then install Video Card drivers. There may be an AGP driver for the motherboard - typically you install the AGP driver after you install the video driver. Why, I dunno, but thats the way the last 3 different motherboards I installed did it (SiS based systems).

15) Go online and grab windows updates and DirectX9. Shut case.

16) Install software and controllers and play WB.

Should take just under 4 hours, since this is your first build.

Good luck!

So, its really not that complicated.

As for price - it depends on what you put in it.  YOu can build a competent gaming rig for about 700-800 bucks.  And you can build a screaming HOT one for about 1300.

BB

[maik]

just build my new one a couple of weeks ago

[Staga]

My system can run wwiiol at 70-90fps so guess I'm ok

[SunKing]

AH2 no way.  Try that "Call of Duty" demo. Turned into a slide show on my current machine with AA and AS full blast.

[BNM]

According to Skuzzy you probably won't need it. He said AH2 will be more 'video card' reliant than 'processor' reliant. I have a P3 1gig and a 9700 pro. I think I'll probably keep the same 45-65 fps, might even gain a little, who knows. Just have to wait and see...

[BNM]

Originally posted by Ack-Ack
I'm building a new system but the incentive for it is Doom 3 and Half-Life 2, not AH.

ack-ack

Is Half-Life 2 out yet?

Just finished Splinter Cell and will be looking soon. Enjoyed all the Half-Life's, would really like to see a Thief 3 too.

[eskimo2]

I was using a P-2 350 until the begining of this year.  A relative gave me this 1.4 athelon.  I'll probably upgrade around AH-3 when my frame rate gets down to under 10 again.

eskimo

[vorticon]

im just gonna drop a gforce fx into my current box (if i can)

if i cant then ill drop in a gforce4...either way i'll be set for another 2-3 years...

[Grimm]

I suppose upgrades will depend on what you own now.

The Target system is a 900mhz machine.   I dont remember the Vid Card,  But it wasnt a high end one either.    the Goal is to have it run smoothly on that machine.

This means an older Box should still work,  but the frame rates might be a bit low.    I believe the eye sees something around 30 frames per minute.   So having 40 frames would look the same as having 300.  

At CON,  I believe AH2 was installed on cheapy E-machine.  all onboard stuff,  Id guess it was like a 1.5 celeron.    It ran smooth as silk.  

So If your already running a Gig or better box, I think an upgrade on the system, just for AH2 would be a waste of money.   Hitech claimed a Video Card to be a better investment.  


I personaly am thinking of upgrading to something around 2 Gig, But it has nothing to do with AH2.    My 1.1 box works like a charm as well.

[Devourer]

"so, its really not that complicated."

Hehe, if i built my own comp it would prolly blow up.

But the price does sound right....

[Waffle]

Gonna use current audio computer... AMD xp2700, Radeon 9800 / 1.5 GB ram..


I am sure having AH on this PC has been work detterant, but luckily I bill by the hour for editing........30 mins work....2 hours of AH play.


Total - 2.5 Hours Billed

kinda like getting payed to play :::

[ccvi]

I want your job