critique GOD computer

[iamtrout]

My friend has $4000+ to spend on a computer.
He was going to buy alienware and spend all that $4000+
when I told him not to be stupid and let me build one for him.
He was adamant on getting an AMD .
Here are the specs:

XP 2000+

2GB Mushkin PC2100 DDR

120GB x2 WD 7200RPM HD

Gainward Ti4600 (when it comes out)

Creative SB Audigy Platinum with external drive

40XLiteon Burner

16X Sony DVD

Sony floppy

Samsung SyncMaster 1200NF 22"

Koolance PC2-C water cooled case

Undecided on Mobo... maybe Abit KR7A RAID ----> need 4 DDR slots on MOBO


All in all I'm going to save him $1200+.

This might not be THE GOD computer,
but it's as close as we 16-year-olds can come to it in Ohio

And I will be careful not to screw up anything... crap I think I just jinxed myself. D'oh.

 

[pillage2001]

What would a 16 year old want to do with that kinda PC?! watch porn?!

 

[iamtrout]

The kid says everything... programming, porn, games, porn, homework, porn, web, porn, pirating, porn, mp3, porn, and ummm... porn. Yeah, basically porn.
He's upgrading from an IBM 350MHz.

 

[Dreadogg]

what in the world are you going to use all that ram for? I dont personally think he will use it all!

 

[iamtrout]

I really have no idea. He just wants to max out I guess.
I told him about the RAM thing before and he doesn't care.

 

[tornadobox]

What I wanna know is what's a 16 year old doing with $4000 to spend on a computer?!?!?

Great setup by the way

 

[DaemonJ]

This is a classic example of someone having more money than sense.

 

[iamtrout]

exactly.

 

[Mavrick007]

It seems like alot of overkill. Money being spent that will not have a use, but it's your money, spend it as you want.
Hehe I would just do a small upgrade now and then another one in less than a year and still have the best kick ass rig.

 

[KenAF]

At 16, you should be using that money for a new car instead. Or for a new stereo for your existing car.

 

[iamtrout]

No... I'm not the one spending it. My friend insists on this computer.

I'm not that stupid . Hell, I'm content with the system that I have now (see below).

 

[BlueApple]

Why not do something with an XP 2000+, 100GB 7200RPM HDD, and 512 MB of RAM and just upgrade it in a a year and a year from now. Spending 4k now on a computer will get you almost the same performance as a 2.5k rig.

 

[kuk]

Drop one gig of ram ...
He could also replace the LiteOn CD-RW and the DVD drive for a DVD+RW drive ... for humm ... you-know-what.

You can have a great computer setup, but with sucky peripherals. Try to avoid this! What about top-of-the-line Logitech keyboard and mouse? A nice confortable chair and a designer desk? Digicams, printers, webcams, DSL/Cable upgrade ... there are tons of untouched stuff when it comes to deciding a computer.

<corny>There are a lot of ways to enhance your computer experience!</corny>

 

[GoodRevrnd]

You forgot the Klipsch ProMedia 5.1 Surround THX speakers.

 

[mee987]

if he has the money to spend, go scsi everything

 

[iamtrout]

is the koolance case quiet?
He doesn't really want to SCSI but he will be getting sweet peripherals.
Probably wireless everything.

 

[ErmanC]

Dude for $4K you're friend is never gonna need that much hardware. I agree with the guys here. Take $1500-$1700 and put together a kick ass box from decent parts. Save $500 for next year's upgrade. Thats about $2200. Take another $500 and get a decent desk or a Lazyboy or something. Then you take the other $1300 to buy yourself a box next month that'll show him up.

 

[MrPG]

yea really... 4grand.. if someone gave me 4000 to spend with the catch that it could only be spend on computer hardware, no games, home a/v equipment, car equipment, digi cams, etc etc etc..... only core pc hardware...

i'd probably get this


for mainboard go MPx
1x Asus A7M 266D @ $250
2x AMD MP 1900s @ $500
2x 512 PC2100 Registered Cas2 Ram @ 500

for storage go u160 RAID0
2x u160 15K 18Gb s-gate Cheetahs @ $600
1x u160 raid controller (66mhz/6bit) @ $300

or IDE Raid
2x 40Gb Baracuda IVs @ 300


for video
1x anything Geforce4 Ti @ $400

or even better go dual monitor
Radeon 8500 and 2 nice 19 inch monitors with small footprints

for sound he could go digital 5.1
sb audigy, live drive and a 5.1 digital speaker rig @ $350


thats the base of a really crazy system for a total of around $3500
if he's got money to spend like that... for a system thats killer now, but in 8 or so months by xmas will be "grand old stuff"

 

[scoobydooby]

Your friend is an idiot. How the hell do you come up with 4 grand all of a sudden at 16?? If he's upgrading from a 350 mhz he must not be that into computers/gaming since he wouldn't be able to play much of anything on that. 2 gb of ram is useless as many have pointed out. In a month his 2.5k computer will be worth $1k. 240 GB of space?!?!! To use *that* much space for porn is crazy, you have to draw the line dude. Please tell your friend I think he is a meat head. You should steal some of his money since he's such a meat head.
Scoob

 

[Superwormy]

2GB or RAM is an UTTER WASTE!

Instead, go with above said post and go Dual AMD 2000+XPs on a Tiger MP SCSI board, that's much better.

Also, go SCSI if he has the money, you won't regret.

Oh, and dont' forget the Klipsch 5.1s, and get a better case, you don't need Watercooled, just get a decent REGULAR case, watercooling can be risky and isn't worth it unless extreme overclocking.

Instead get the highest end Geforce4 (when it arrives) and get a second one of those beastly 22 inch monitors.

And don't go DVD-RAM like above post, DVD-RAM is all but obsolete already, and a waste of money, like 50 bucks a disk sheesh...

And if he still has more money to spend... get 5 SCSI drives, a nice SCSI RAID card, and go SCSI RAID 5, that'd be slick.

 

[flood]

with $1200 left over, you could easily do dual 2000+'s

 

[arcas]

Unless your 16 year old friend has rich parents or has some kind of kick-ass part time job, I think he'd be happier in the long run if you spend $1200-$1500 on a decent computer (why go with a Ti4600 with today's software?) and let him spend or save the rest.

The $2500 he saves could go a long way towards setting up a decent stereo system (honestly, would he rather play Counterstrike hooked to a set of Klipsch Promedias or hooked to a 5.1 Paradigm or Definitive Technologies setup?). Or simply dip into the $2500 to upgrade components as they become outdated. Maybe spend $150 on a GF3 Ti200 today. Another $150 on a GF4 XXXX this Summer/Fall, etc.

I remember back in the day, shortly after I landed a cool college coop job that paid good duckets, I went all out and bought a top of the line box (P90 at the time). Cost me damn near $3000. It was a good computer and for a few months I had bragging rights. Few months later the P120s came out and another couple months later my S3-964 wasn't king of the hill anymore either. While I don't regret buying the P90 itself, I could have gotten by easily with a lower-end video card (the 964 cost me $360 at the time). Lesson learned.

 

[Superwormy]

Better idea, limit it to this:

2x Athlon MPs on Tiger MP SCSI board
1gb ECC Registered DDR RAM
2x 18gb SCSI 15k drives in RAID
SCSI RAID card, nothing too fancy
120gb IDE hd for backup files
Geforce4 Ti whatevers best w TV-OUT
Klipsch 5.1s
Audigy
SCSI Pioneer or Plextor CD-Rs and DVD
Samsung SyncMaster 1200NF 22"

AND!!!

A 52 inch High Definition Television to play games on


That woudl be a true god system... droooool...

 

[454Casull]

About that last system - the Ti4600 had better be able to support a resolution of 1920x1080, or else the display on the HDTV will come out ether distorted or will waste screen space, both of which suck. And, if you can spend the cash on an HDTV, drop the Klipsches and go for a real HT setup.

 

[MrPG]

the prob with going tiger MP instead of MPx is MP with u160 raid is a bottleneck... since MP doesn't do true 66mhz/64bit PCI for your u160 raid. Better to go IDE raid with baracuda' IVs... they're nice.


anywho... tell this kid to get a KT266A system with athlon XP2000+ and ide raid and high performance 1g (2x 512) pc2100.

that'll run in about 1200 and he can take the rest take an extra 500 for water cooling and "pretty" case mods and such.

then spend the rest on other cool stuff.. PDA's, wireless devices such