DrGlass' Absence
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Re: DrGlass' Absence
Posted by smidsy on Fri Jun 24th at 8:41pm 2005


im v sorry to hear about ur home dr glass <img src=" SRC="images/smiles/sad.gif"> i know how u feel. when i was 18 part of my house burnt down and we had to move for a period whilst it was rebuilt. It turned out to be faulty wiring in our living room which started the fire. As for ur comp thats harsh. and i hope ur back soon <img src=" SRC="images/smiles/icon_smile.gif">




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Re: DrGlass' Absence
Posted by RaPtoR on Sat Jun 25th at 12:53pm 2005


Whoa! Sounds terrible! <img src=" SRC="images/smiles/sad.gif">
I've been lucky and never experienced that. The home is a vital part of everybody and i'm releved to hear that some of your work and belongings where saved from water and flames.

I've always wondered how china can block websites?? Stupid dictatorship! Ooops... now snarkpit is blocked for sure. But, shouldn't it be possible to jump over the block using some proxy?



God got tired waiting all sunday for the world to compile and finaly had it.
On the Eight day, god created func_details, and he saw that it was fast.



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Re: DrGlass' Absence
Posted by Dark_Kilauea on Sun Jun 26th at 3:31am 2005


hmm... He could try Gibeo.net as a proxy.

Until Later...



Dark_Kilauea
DVS Administration
http://www.dvstudio-production.com/



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Re: DrGlass' Absence
Posted by wil5on on Sun Jun 26th at 4:12am 2005


Sorry to hear about the fire doc, its a good thing you kept backups tho. Data is priceless.

I'm not sure about China, but I know Vietnam has a similar system. It blocks sites the government doesnt agree with... anywhere theres anti-communist sentiment. I hear they even blocked geocities. I'd be interested to see if a proxy works.




&quot;If you talk at all during this lesson, you have detention. Do you understand?&quot;
- My yr11 Economics teacher



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Re: DrGlass' Absence
Posted by Andrei on Sun Jun 26th at 12:00pm 2005


Look at the bright side, they could have blocked the Internet altogether like Stalin or Mao would have done.



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Re: DrGlass' Absence
Posted by Myrk- on Sun Jun 26th at 10:59pm 2005


Thats pretty bad news... <img src=" SRC="images/smiles/icon_eek.gif"> Hope it gets sorted, I wanted to do part of the next mosaic!

On another bad news note, Lep has leperousy...




-[Better to be Honest than Kind]-



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Re: DrGlass' Absence
Posted by French Toast on Sun Jun 26th at 11:07pm 2005


Shoulda seen that coming...

(the leperousy)




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Re: DrGlass' Absence
Posted by Andrei on Sun Jun 26th at 11:18pm 2005


Na'ah, you're bluffing! ...aren't you?




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Re: DrGlass' Absence
Posted by DrGlass on Tue Jul 5th at 12:40am 2005


I'm back, kinda!

I'm living in an apartment atm with no internet, TV, or computer. Thanks for the support but I'm going to have to be brief here. Fire sucks but I'm not really freaking out about it, s**t happens so move on.

Here is my computer specksa that I may buy, if you have any suggestions or think something is too over board do tell. I'd like to keep it under $2,000

AMD Athlon 64 X2 4200+ Dual Core Processor $557.00
Corsair 1GB PC5400 DDR2 DIMM XMS2 Dual Channel Memory Kit $163.00
Western Digital Raptor WD740GD 74GB Hard Drive(SATA 10k RPM) $174.99
Western Digital WD Caviar SE WD3200JD 320GB Hard Drive(SATA, 7.2k RPM) $155.00
Logitech Inc MX1000 Laser Cordless Mouse $58.99
Logitech Elite Keyboard (Black) USB with PS/2 Adaptor $14.95
Lian-Li PC6070B Aluminum ATX Mid Tower $161.07
MSI K8N Neo4 Platinum Motherboard $132.00
BFG Technologies GeForce 6800 GT OC Video Card $413.50
Pc Power & Cooling Silencer 470 ATX $99.00
Sennheiser PC155 Traditional Binaural PC Headset $67.48
Logitech X-230 2.1 $35.04
NEC ND-3520A Dual Layer DVD?RW Writer $51.01
Microsoft Windows XP Professional x64 $145.08
Mitsumi 3.5" Floppy Disk Drive - Black $12.19
Total: $2240.31





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Re: DrGlass' Absence
Posted by French Toast on Tue Jul 5th at 1:08am 2005


Where are you posting from?!?!?




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Re: DrGlass' Absence
Posted by Crono on Tue Jul 5th at 1:08am 2005


That processor is overkill. It wont be used, be a better idea to get a single core chip. Not to mention that board doesn't support that processor or that speed of ram. I know the ram would just clock to 400 (if the ram allows it, some don't).

I'd suggest taking some money away from the ram and processor (since their full potential wont be used anyway) and add it to the video card and board. I think for about $30 more you can get an Ultra MSI card, or something as such, bundles and quality are always common with them. And about $40 more you can get a Sli Platinum. (They're planning on making expansions other then video that will use it)

With the HDD, Raptor, obviously, you're going for access speed, so whatever. But, you can get a Maxtor, probably around the same price, instead of the 320Gb WD that has a larger cache (16).

The most important thing for you to look at when compiling a computer parts list is: chipset, video, and ram. The chipset is fine, however, it doesn't support that speed of ram or that processor type.

What I suggested is pretty reasonable, to be honest. You could even get two video cards and have something that puts out more usable computing power then what you've got there.

Also, be aware that getting four sticks of single channel ram would turn out to be more beneficial then the maximum allowed two sticks of duel channel ram. (probably cheaper too)

You may also want to look at an FX 53/55 chip, I believe that boards highest supported CPU is a FX 55 4000+.

Personally, I'd avoid spending anything over $1100 at the most for a computer (meaning able to run anything and everything out wonderfully). But, $2000 is way to much to spend on a computer, especially with the specs you have there, you'll just be wasting your money. But, you don't have to listen to me, and it's pretty obvious that no one has or will attempt to, so whatever. <img src=" SRC="images/smiles/icon_rolleyes.gif">



Blame it on Microsoft, God does.



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Re: DrGlass' Absence
Posted by DrGlass on Tue Jul 5th at 2:33am 2005


Awww Crono, I wouldn't ask if I wasn't going to listen. I'll be honest though, this is all over my head and I'm letting my friend take care of building the computer, and he seems to know his s**t.

We caught the ram problem after I posted, and Kris (my friend) is looking up some stuff about the Mother Board right now.

I'm really wanting to make a computer that will last me for the next few years and can pull it weight around. I've always had half ass computers that cost me too much, so I'm really going to be careful on this one. I have $2000+ to spend, but if its not worth it then I'll take a second and third look.

I really want this computer for my apps more than for my games, I dont play that many games as it is anyways.

So we will take a look at your suggestions and I'll give you guys a new list soon.

P.S. I'm posting at my friends house untill I can get computer/internet at my place.

? quote:
Here is the new price list

AMD Athlon 64 4000+ Processor(2.4GHz, 1MB, 2GHz FSB, Socket 939) $473.00
Corsair 1GB PC3200 DDR DIMM Memory(x2) $175.80
Western Digital Raptor WD740GD 74GB Hard Drive(SATA 10k RPM) $174.99
Maxtor DiamondMax 10 300GB Hard Drive(SATA, 7.2k RPM) $182.00
Logitech Inc MX1000 Laser Cordless Mouse $58.99
Logitech Elite Keyboard (Black) USB with PS/2 Adaptor $14.95
Lian-Li PC6070B Aluminum ATX Mid Tower $161.07
Asus A8N-SLI Deluxe Motherboard $164.47
BFG Technologies GeForce 6800 GT OC Video Card (PCI-E) $413.50
Pc Power & Cooling Silencer 470 ATX $99.00
Sennheiser PC155 Traditional Binaural PC Headset $67.48
Logitech X-230 2.1 $35.04
NEC ND-3520A Dual Layer DVD╠RW Writer $51.01
Microsoft Windows XP Professional x64 $145.08
Mitsumi 3.5" Floppy Disk Drive - Black $12.19
Total: $2228.57

He thanks you for pointing out the mobo problem, and the hdd. Does anyone know about student discounts for Windows XP?





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Re: DrGlass' Absence
Posted by Gwil on Tue Jul 5th at 5:04am 2005


Sorry to hear about your house, DrGlass - I hope you and your family can get back on track as soon as possible. It's a small blessing it wasn't more badly damaged, I figure.

As for the PC, Microsoft do offer student discounts for software, but I have no idea how you obtain such reductions.

Best of luck with getting back on your feet and into normality again mate - as has been said I'm sure you'll be raring to get back into the art and mapping projects. And good luck circumventing Communist net traffic blockades! Crazy Chinese...

BTW, for those curious, China controls all internet traffic centrally - it filters not anti-Communist sentiment, moreso it shuts down blogs and discussion boards focused on Democracy and full autonomy/independence for Taiwan. Microsoft recently made a tidy profit off the Beijing government with a new, stronger firewall designed for further censorship. Oh well...





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Re: DrGlass' Absence
Posted by ishbog on Tue Jul 5th at 5:05am 2005


yeh, i got the student discount and got xp pro for 84 bucks. great deal. thats on newegg.com

id say half you stuff can be replaced with better, cheaper alternatives. like the 6800gt, you have a bfg. bfg is good, but always more expensive. if you get the msi, its pci-ex and supports sli, and combo that with the, what was it, some msi mobo... ill put together a price list real fast.

and... do you want a monitor with that?

----------------------------------------

Total: 1805.45

--

the eclipse keyboard is the most comfortable keyboard in the world, and it lights up. yeah.

the mx518 is just as good as the mx1000, but has on-the-fly sensitivity adjustment. that just plain kicks ass. heard of the razer?

this setup also supports sli. if you feel you need it, you can someday add another 6800gt.

ALL PRICES ARE FROM WWW.NEWEGG.COM

enjoy.




www.nysteo.com

If animals weren't meant to be eaten, then they wouldn't be so delicious and easy to catch!

Face it: if crime didn't pay, there would be very few criminals.



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Re: DrGlass' Absence
Posted by Crono on Tue Jul 5th at 5:52am 2005


The board was fine, actually, I'd strongly suggest it. But I have a personal vendetta against ASUS. I've had nothing but problems with them when regarding motherboards. Honestly, going back through, with a target of $1500 US, I'd suggest the board ishbog put down:

MSI K8N Neo4 Platinum with SLi, it's a good company, and it's considered the best SLI board for your money currently.

Hey look, a good deal on corsair ram. I'd suggest 4 of those. (4GB, systems maximum capacity) $85 x 4 = $340, a little steap, but no ram upgrading until you get a new board, so it'd most likely last you about 4 years, based on what's happened before, but we're heading into a time where the architecture could be getting killed off. Also, by no means do you NEED 4 gigs of ram, but if you want to spend anything close to the amount you have and have no need to really, but, I'd suggest at least 2 GB, simply because to max out current games you need at least a gig and if you want to last a couple years before buying ANYTHING for the computer, 2 is a good choice. Not to mention there's a lifetime warranty <img src=" SRC="images/smiles/icon_smile.gif">

The processor is really arguable. I could sit here all day and tell you how pretty unimportant it will be to get something insanely fast right now, you simply wont use it. I'd suggest something in the $150 - $200 range, for you. It'd last a couple years, at the least, and there's still'd be room for upgrading after that point. Also, that doesn't include, later on, investing in an FX chip, which is supported by that board.

My suggestion would be: AMD Athlon 64 3200+ The next one up would be the one ishbog suggested, but that's a little expensive, I wouldn't go higher, but a 1MB L2 Cache would be nice. But not imperitive. In any case you wouldn't currently notice a difference.

On the video card, I'd suggest shelling out a little more for an Ultra, just because it has overall higher performance longevity. It has some things (registers) built in that the GT doesn't have which are going to be standard in the next generation stuff. (64-bit texture blending) It's about $100 more (on newegg), PCI-E, then the GT. Probably wait a couple weeks and it'll go down. It's $419 on zipzoomfly.com It'll get lower.

The other things really are up to you. I don't suggest an NEC drive, or SONY, Lite-On, I think is alright, I've never used them though. Pioneer is good too.

Those are the only things I have any opinion on really. Those would all cost together:

$949, Board => 1121. That's going to come out to be about $1500 total. I think just cut back on the CPU and it'd be a good deal. Cheaper too. Spend less money now, and you can use more later to put longevity in your computer.

Also, unless you actually use floppy discs often, there really is no use in buying one. And if you really need one, just take it from another computer.

I'd, personally, purge a little more on the video right now, because that'll give you the most noticeable performance boost for the time being. Hell, if you wanted to wait a month or so, either the ultra will be even cheaper (it's gone down over $100 in the last month) or the 7800 might be worth the purchase. (less likely).

But it's your choice.



Blame it on Microsoft, God does.



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Re: DrGlass' Absence
Posted by French Toast on Tue Jul 5th at 12:03pm 2005


I can't understand anything said in this topic anymore <img src=" SRC="images/smiles/icon_biggrin.gif">




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Re: DrGlass' Absence
Posted by DrGlass on Tue Jul 5th at 8:13pm 2005


? quoting Crono
The board was fine, actually, I'd strongly suggest it. But I have a personal vendetta against ASUS. I've had nothing but problems with them when regarding motherboards. Honestly, going back through, with a target of $1500 US, I'd suggest the board ishbog put down

We are going to stick with the board for now, I want the SLI option for later and I personaly like ASUS, though I did have problems with my last ASUS board I got lots of help from them and the BIOS and options on the board were great.

? quoting Crono
Hey look, a good deal on corsair ram.

ha! jus before we read your post we found this deal and are going to go with 2 gigs.

? quoting Crono
My suggestion would be: AMD Athlon 64 3200+ The next one up would be the one ishbog suggested, but that's a little expensive, I wouldn't go higher, but a 1MB L2 Cache would be nice. But not imperitive. In any case you wouldn't currently notice a difference.

On another forum we were told to not go with this, but since then we have gone back to that.

Thanks for the help, we were able to get the price down to about $1,800 and that is with tax/S&H so really we have about a 15-1600$ system here. Unless something comes up, I'll have it within the next 2 weeks.





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Re: DrGlass' Absence
Posted by Crono on Tue Jul 5th at 11:50pm 2005


Apparently that MSI board is winning all the awards when regarding SLI. And to be honest, ASUS are overpriced hunks of junk. And from my experience their short commings are usually from their motherboards. But whatever, they both have the same chipset. The ASUS has 8 channel audio, the MSI has 7. Both have Gigabyte lan ... the ASUS board has two, which you wont need. Basically all those "features" are on any board with that chipset. The actual construction or bundling should really determin your purchase. MSI usually bundles a lot of stuff with good support and is readily adjustable. The ASUS board is probably a little harder to find support for as their site doesn't even give proper specs on the thing. But they'll both work fine, I've just had problems with ASUS before, as you have, apparently. I suppose the one "advantage" the ASUS board has is that retarded AS NOS garbage. Which, if you were an average "I don't really know anything about computers and I think case fans are more important than a chipset" type of people, then that'd intice you to buy that board instead. No offense intended. I've met many people who think that way and it confusses me.

The processor will work and it will suit your needs, nothing more, nothing less. And like I said, depending on the board you get there could be room for a lot of upgradability.

Oh, something else that's pretty nice about MSI boards is they all come with D-Brackets. Which acts as extra USB ports and bluetooth, but they also have four lights and can be used to trouble shoot hardware problems. Not that I've ever needed it, but it'd be very handy, more handy then nothing. The manual for the board tells you what all the lights mean as well.

Another nice thing is usually the MSI boards upgrade to others very easily, meaning, Windows doesn't go ape s**t and lock you out of your computer, Demanding that something is wrong because there was a major hardware change. Not sure if it always happens on ASUS boards, but it's happened to me with other people's computers.

I'd say the only confusing thing in either board is SPDIF and six-eight channel audio. Because they explain it one way and give you 1/2 ports, yet on EVERYTHING ELSE there's AV (RCA) jacks or just one in port. It's very nerv racking. I don't think anyone is suppose to properly understand hooking up complex sound systems or something.

Don't think I'm pressuring you or anything, I'm just explaining what I've learned from experience and my opinion to try to give more information about both types. The choice is yours to make. Either board will do you fine really, it mostly goes along with minor preferances. I just prefer for my stuff to work past the warranty period image



Blame it on Microsoft, God does.



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Re: DrGlass' Absence
Posted by DrGlass on Wed Jul 6th at 12:14am 2005


You've sold me on the MSI board, and now that I think about it we may have gone with the MSI, if not I'll talk with my friend and get him to change it.

As for the audio, I'm going with a very simple sound set up, I dont plan on getting a 5:1 surround sound any time soon, and if I did I'd go spend the $50-100 on a good sound card.





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Re: DrGlass' Absence
Posted by RaPtoR on Wed Jul 6th at 12:14am 2005


Welcome back DrGlass!

and
? quoting French Toast
I can't understand anything said in this topic anymore


I agree... sometimes it feels like everybody on snarkpit is hardware experts cuz as soon as someone mention "motherboard" you're most likley to get essay sized replys and no matter if the topic is dedicated to the subject like this one.

I buy a motherboard every third year, and goddamnit, when i do, i just buy the cheapest. <img src=" SRC="images/smiles/icon_biggrin.gif"> It has worked this far. :P



God got tired waiting all sunday for the world to compile and finaly had it.
On the Eight day, god created func_details, and he saw that it was fast.




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