Official Computer Questions Thread

[65fastback2+2]

Originally Posted by Hmbre97

The FX 5200 is a huge POS. I had one in my old Dell Dimension 4600 and it sucked. I eventually replaced it with an ATI X700 Pro and have had zero issues since. My wife uses it to play games and it handles most of her stuff (Sims, Desperate Housewives, etc...). Point is you can get way better cards for about the same money. I wouldn't waste it on another 5200.


My current rig has 2 overclocked Nvidia 7900 GS cards in SLI. It's ok I guess

i know ths 5200 is a piece of crap, but his was working fine, the card hardware was just failing....why not get another? i actually wont use nvidia cards, personally

[R.Shackleford]

It's all like a foreign langauge to me, lol I'm still not sure what I should get

I'm finding most cards I can't use because they need a bigger power supply, mine is only 250w.

[04VAMach1]

Originally Posted by R.Shackleford

It's all like a foreign langauge to me, lol I'm still not sure what I should get

I'm finding most cards I can't use because they need a bigger power supply, mine is only 250w.

That may be the problem with your current card. Try upgrading the power supply first...you can get a good 400W power supply for about $50.

[65fastback2+2]

Originally Posted by 04VAMach1

That may be the problem with your current card. Try upgrading the power supply first...you can get a good 400W power supply for about $50.

get a $80 300-350w supply...it'll output more power than a cheaper 400w...you have to look at the voltage rails...ocz, pp&c are great brands

[Jester]

My five year old HP 742c recently had a power surge during a bad storm. My ethernet connection, all three cd/dvd drives and other misc things have been damaged. Any opinions on a replacement? I have been looking at Dell.

[FloridaOrange]

Originally Posted by Jester

My five year old HP 742c recently had a power surge during a bad storm. My ethernet connection, all three cd/dvd drives and other misc things have been damaged. Any opinions on a replacement? I have been looking at Dell.

Build it, don't buy from Dell/gateway or whatever. I priced a couple of rigs a couple of months ago. A tad over $1K for a so-so with real nice parts and very upgradable. Around $2K for a conservative kick-azz machine with 2 19" LCDs.

I had some help from 2K and Rick last year when I built my first one. It's so easy.....even a caveman can do it. I spent about $1500 on mine, but it would've cost almost twice what I paid for it if I went the Dell route. Plus I know I've got good boards (not the generic crap you get in a cheap dell/hp/gateway) and the machine is very upgradable.

[04VAMach1]

Originally Posted by Jester

My five year old HP 742c recently had a power surge during a bad storm. My ethernet connection, all three cd/dvd drives and other misc things have been damaged. Any opinions on a replacement? I have been looking at Dell.

Originally Posted by FloridaOrange

Build it, don't buy from Dell/gateway or whatever. I priced a couple of rigs a couple of months ago. A tad over $1K for a so-so with real nice parts and very upgradable. Around $2K for a conservative kick-azz machine with 2 19" LCDs.

I had some help from 2K and Rick last year when I built my first one. It's so easy.....even a caveman can do it. I spent about $1500 on mine, but it would've cost almost twice what I paid for it if I went the Dell route. Plus I know I've got good boards (not the generic crap you get in a cheap dell/hp/gateway) and the machine is very upgradable.

Depends on what his usage is. For just browsing the internet, checking email, and a few small tasks then the cheap Dells are hard to beat. They are a lot of bang for the buck. If you want something that can handle gaming, photo/video editing then you will be better off building it yourself.

Personally, I'm not sold on Vista yet so I wouldn't buy a brand new PC right now. I would look for something that comes with XP on it. If you do decide to go with Vista, keep in mind that there are several different versions. Most lower end PCs are being sold with the Home version which doesn't have the hardware requirements of the Ultimate version...and I wouldn't even think about the Ultimate version unless the PC had at least 2GB of RAM.

[04VAMach1]

Originally Posted by 65fastback2+2

get a $80 300-350w supply...it'll output more power than a cheaper 400w...you have to look at the voltage rails...ocz, pp&c are great brands

How does a 350W ps put out more power than a 400W ps? And if he is having problems with a 250W ps, then a 300W only going to help for a while (if at all)...until he decides to upgrade something else.

You can get a 400W Antec ps for ~$70 (I don't recommend a house brand ps)...plenty for this guy's needs. Now if he was spending $500 on a graphics card and $1500 on a processor then I would say spend the money on the more expensive power supplies, but in this case it is not necessary.

[FloridaOrange]

Originally Posted by 65fastback2+2

i know ths 5200 is a piece of crap, but his was working fine, the card hardware was just failing....why not get another? i actually wont use nvidia cards, personally

Nvidia cards rock!