Aces High Bulletin Board
General Forums => Hardware and Software => Topic started by: Vipper65 on February 06, 2008, 01:01:09 PM
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I am looking at ordering this system to play on as well as work on, anyone got any suggestions for improvement that wont break the bank.
Intel™ Core®2 Duo E6550 (2.33GHz/1333MHz/4MB L2) 375W
Genuine Windows® XP Professional, SP2 with Media
256MB PCIe x16 nVidia Quadro FX570, Dual Monitor DVI Capable
Mini-Tower Chassis Configuration
2GB, 800MHz, DDR2 SDRAM Memory, ECC (2 DIMMS)
16X DVD+/-RW w/ Cyberlink PowerDVD™ and Roxio Creator™ Dell Ed
C1, All SATA, NO RAID for 1 Hard Drive
500GB SATA 3.0Gb/s with NCQ and 16MB DataBurst Cache™
Dell 22 inch UltraSharp™ 2208FPW Widescreen, Adjustable Stand, VGA/DVI
NTFS File System
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Are you buying this from Dell? For me, that is an issue from the start. Not that I hate dell, I have one of their machines. It is 8 years old and still cranks along. The OEM software can be intrusive though in MHO. Further they probably didn't use the best gaming components. I saw no sound card in your list. Is it integrated? That's a serious issue with AH. Also, what is the response time on that Monitor? I looked at Dell about a year ago and the response time was really high, around 16ms. If the response time is that high you will have some problems there too.
I did a quick search on the FX570 card. It is entry level according to nvidia and an article I glanced at.
It may be good for business though. I just don't think it would be good for for gaming.
But wait until you get some more input before you decide. Just to nip it the bud, How much is this system?
That's about all I know.
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Originally posted by Vipper65
I am looking at ordering this system to play on as well as work on, anyone got any suggestions for improvement that wont break the bank.
Intel™ Core®2 Duo E6550 (2.33GHz/1333MHz/4MB L2) 375W
Genuine Windows® XP Professional, SP2 with Media
256MB PCIe x16 nVidia Quadro FX570, Dual Monitor DVI Capable
Mini-Tower Chassis Configuration
2GB, 800MHz, DDR2 SDRAM Memory, ECC (2 DIMMS)
16X DVD+/-RW w/ Cyberlink PowerDVD™ and Roxio Creator™ Dell Ed
C1, All SATA, NO RAID for 1 Hard Drive
500GB SATA 3.0Gb/s with NCQ and 16MB DataBurst Cache™
Dell 22 inch UltraSharp™ 2208FPW Widescreen, Adjustable Stand, VGA/DVI
NTFS File System
Looks like CAD-workstation for 2D or entry level 3D programs. For gaming that is not very good.
I would recommend a HP XW4600 workstation, depends on software you need at work, it has better tools and certificates for CAD use. I would also check quadro FX1700 card instead of FX570.
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I know a few people who have used Mwave, they have some type of a build/burn in deal where you spec a box out and they build it, load OS and test it. Basically you pay something like $80 + parts for a "custom" system. Great idea IMO if your not a do it yourselfer...
As already said that looks like a workstation not a home/gaming rig. Since I'm not up to speed on CAD/design type VC's I cant comment beyond the fact the card will not run AH or any other games well.
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After shopping around a bit more I came up with this rig.
General Spec
Brand iBUYPOWER
Model Gamer 921QZ
Recommended Usage Gaming
Form Factor Tower
Processor Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600(2.4GHz)
Processor Main Features 64 bit Quad-Core Processor
Cache Per Processor 8MB
Memory 2GB DDR2 800
Hard Drive 500GB SATA
Optical Drive 1 20X DL DVD+/-RW Drive
Optical Drive 2 16X DVD-ROM
Graphics NVIDIA GeForce 8800GT 512MB Video Card
Audio Realtek ALC662, 6-CH High-Definition Audio CODEC
Ethernet Built-in GB Ethernet LAN
Power Supply 580 watt power supply
Operating System Windows Vista Home Premium
Software Included MS Office 2007 [60-Day Trial]
Special Features NZXT Alpha Gaming Tower + Blue Color Lighting
Motherboard
Motherboard Name ASUS P5KPL-VM Mainboard
CPU
CPU Type Core 2 Quad
Installed Qty 1
CPU FSB 1066MHz
CPU Speed Q6600(2.40GHz)
L2 Cache Per CPU 8MB
CPU Main Features 64 bit Quad-Core Processor
Graphics
GPU/VPU Type NVIDIA GeForce 8800GT
Graphics Interface PCI Express x16
Memory
Memory Capacity 2GB DDR2
Memory Speed DDR2 800
Memory Spec 1GB x 2
Memory Slots (Available/Total) 0/2
Maximum Memory Supported 4GB
Hard Drive
HD Capacity 500GB
HD Interface SATA
Optical Drive
Optical Drive Type DVD±RW
Optical Drive Spec 20X DL DVD+/-RW Drive
Optical Drive 2
Optical Drive 2 Type DVD-ROM
Optical Drive 2 Spec 16X DVD-ROM Drive
Audio
Audio Chipset Realtek ALC662
Audio Channels 6 channels
Audio Features High-Definition Audio CODEC
Communications
LAN Chipset Integrated
LAN Speed 10/100/1000Mbps
Front Panel Ports
Front USB 2
Front Audio Ports 2
Card Reader 12-in-1 Media Card Reader/Writer
Back Panel Ports
COM 1
LPT 1
PS/2 2
Video Ports 2 DVI
Rear USB 4
RJ45 1 port
Rear Audio Ports 6 Channel Audio ports
Better?
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For gaming, yes.
For CAD, no.
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The extent of the work end of it would be running MS office apps and Photoshop CS for photo editing. I sideline as a photographer And will be doing all my editing and basic forms and invoices etc on it.
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Didn't see a sound card. Looks like a very nice system though.
The problem with no sound card is that it will use valuable system resources to play sound. You will probably get stutterering in the game.
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Audio
Audio Chipset Realtek ALC662
Audio Channels 6 channels
Audio Features High-Definition Audio CODEC
I can't tell if thats onboard or not.
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Originally posted by Vipper65
Audio
Audio Chipset Realtek ALC662
Audio Channels 6 channels
Audio Features High-Definition Audio CODEC
I can't tell if thats onboard or not.
Sure is onboard. IMHO, oboard sound cards are the devil. But I'm kind of an audiophile.
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Viper,
How much are you spending on this system? These guys can point you to parts to build a syste at what will probably be a fairly low price.
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Stay away from Vista! If you want to get the best and most stable performance from your hardware, just say NO to Vista.
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When's this Vista SP1 supposed to come out? Supposed to fix a ton of features (I mean, "bugs") in vista.
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Get back:
It was around a grand for that one already put together from newegg.
Skuzzy
Vista was the only option given but I checked with the tec guys and it will work fine with XP so I'll wipe it and load XP on it as soon as it comes in.
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SP1 for Vista was supposed to be released 11/2007. They missed and moved it to 12/2007, then they missed it and finally said sometime during the first quarter of 2008.
Can't complain until after the end of March. This is Windows ME all over again, except MS spent more money on it.
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Originally posted by Skuzzy
SP1 for Vista was supposed to be released 11/2007. They missed and moved it to 12/2007, then they missed it and finally said sometime during the first quarter of 2008.
Can't complain until after the end of March. This is Windows ME all over again, except MS spent more money on it.
Pfft.
Benchmarks on the current Vista SP1 beta still have it significantly slower than XP. Business implementation is running at a fraction of a percent; we abandoned Vista and have no plans to implement it anytime this century..
Face it, Windows XP Pro is the worst operating system ever released by Microsoft. Except for all the others.
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Originally posted by Puck
Face it, Windows XP Pro is the worst operating system ever released by Microsoft. Except for all the others.
:huh
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I'm sure he meant Vista.
:cool:
EDIT: P.S. Let's not forget Windows ME as a tie for "worst MS OS ever"
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Hehe, you guys need to reread what Puck said. You are not getting it.
Nice shot Puck. :)
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I got it, I got it.
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Originally posted by Vipper65
Get back:
It was around a grand for that one already put together from newegg.
Skuzzy
Vista was the only option given but I checked with the tec guys and it will work fine with XP so I'll wipe it and load XP on it as soon as it comes in.
I'm almost sure NewEgg sells Windows xp. However, if you have a copy at home use it. Still, wouldn't you save some bucks by letting them keep their Vista?
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Yahooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!! Sliders going to the left later this week!!!!