[PatBranch]

I want to spend around $800. What do you think of these?

monitor:
http://cgi.ebay.com/19-Dell-P992-Trinitron-Flat-Screen-CRT-Monitor-Sony_W0QQitemZ230095005866QQihZ013QQcategoryZ116350QQrdZ1QQssPageNameZWD1VQQcmdZViewItem
Yes, it's big and consumes more power than an lcd, but it's cheaper and has good color.


harddrives:
2x WD SE16 Caviar 500gb drives. One for photos and everything, the other for video.

Case:
http://cgi.ebay.com/LIAN-LI-PC-68-Solid-Anodixed-Aluminum-Max-Cooling-Case_W0QQitemZ190113286956QQihZ009QQcategoryZ174QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

 

[binary visions]

You know, for $4-500 you could get a very decent machine from Dell with a 19" or 20" digital flat panel and throw the rest into upgrades. Building a computer makes a lot of sense until you get into peripherals like monitors that are virtually free when purchased with a pre-built machine, but cost a lot when you buy them on your own.

Yeah, the Dell isn't as sexy as a custom built machine but you get a HELL of a lot of bang-for-the-buck.

 

[binary visions]

Look at this:

http://configure.us.dell.com/dellstore/config.aspx?oc=bdpccaw&cs=04&dgvcode=ss&c=US&l=EN&m_8=80S

A 22" digital flat panel included for $519 w/ a dual core processor, gig of RAM, etc. That leaves you with almost $300 to spend on extra hard drives, a better video card, etc.

Not saying necessarily that you should jump on that deal, just pointing out an example. The monitor is worth over $300 by itself.

 

[stinkyboy]

Did someone say sexy?

 

[PatBranch]

Did someone say sexy?

"# 512MB memory
# 80GB hard drive"
and it's a mac

Sexy?
................................................


That's a good price, but by building a computer (with a friend) I could learn a lot, and get the stuff I want the first time. I'll think about it though. I'd like a crt because of the color quality.

 

[H8R]

If you want a CRT look on the free section of Craig's List. You will have 20 perfectly functioning monitors within a week if you wanted them. I have two 21" Sony Trinitrons I payed nothing for, they rock.

Also, buy the components from Newegg. You will thank yourself later. Ebay sucks the ass of a cancerous donkey.

 

[Silver]

Used CRTs can look like poop. Are you calibrating it? Because if you aren't going to, you're wasting your time worrying about color accuracy anyways.

 

[H8R]

Example:

http://sfbay.craigslist.org/eby/zip/350857957.html

 

[PatBranch]

Yep, I do calibrate. Thanks for craiglist idea! 2 of those 21" monitors would be nice. What's wrong with ebay? Although buying stuff from one place makes sense.

 

[SkaredShtles]

Whatcha doin' for backups?

 

[LordOpie]

Used CRTs can look like poop. Are you calibrating it? Because if you aren't going to, you're wasting your time worrying about color accuracy anyways.

Or you can learn to color correct by the numbers?

 

[H8R]

What's wrong with ebay? Although buying stuff from one place makes sense.

You save on shipping going with one source, and Newegg rocks if you have any problems with the purchase.

BTW - I'd go for an Antec case any day over the Lian Li.

 

[H8R]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129015

Quiet, good power supply, free shipping.

 

[PatBranch]

Wouldn't the Lian Li be better, since it's aluminum..lighter and stays cooler?

For backing up, I guess I'll be using dvd's. Would that be a huge pain in the ass?

 

[binary visions]

You're overthinking it.

The case isn't a giant heatsink. Your case won't even get warm and it's certainly not going to get warm enough to worry about how it's dissipating the heat. Buy a case that's cheap and functional. Unless you're transporting it a million places, the weight doesn't matter anyway. Spend your money where it matters - unless you're dropping coin for a good thermal flow in the case (read up on silentpcreview.com if you want more information).

Also, don't think that automatically CRT is better than LCD. I'm not sure if it's this way any more, but at one point the top end CRTs were better than the top end LCDs... but that means jack for the consumer market. A good LCD will have very decent & accurate colors, and while color accuracy is certainly important, there's a point of diminishing returns. The pros who make their living in photography need super accurate color... the rest of us get by with decent accuracy but real-world price and performance.

 

[PatBranch]

Okay...Thanks for the info. That Lian Li is about the same price as that Antec. That case has 1 firewire port. Could I add 2 more, or can I find one for a similar price that has more (I'll look)? I think I should get a crt because it has good color accuracy, while being so cheap, or free.

 

[binary visions]

I think I should get a crt because it has good color accuracy, while being so cheap, or free.

Cheap or free is the reason to get it unless you have particular information about one model. Not all CRTs have good color accuracy, especially not all used ones. That's my point. I don't know about this or that particular one, I'm just emphasizing that you can't make a blanket statement like, "I'm going with a CRT because all CRTs have better color accuracy than LCDs."

That's like stating that you're going with a V6 in your next car because it's faster, without taking into consideration the specific car. Well, what's the HP rating of it? Some 4 cylinders are very efficient and have high numbers. What about the horsepower:weight ratio?

 

[PatBranch]

Yeah, I wasn't specific enough. I was talking about the sony trintron monitors.

 

[Silver]

Okay...Thanks for the info. That Lian Li is about the same price as that Antec.

The Antec also comes with a very solid power supply. Tack another $60 (at least) onto the Lian Li's price.

 

[H8R]

Okay...Thanks for the info. That Lian Li is about the same price as that Antec. That case has 1 firewire port. Could I add 2 more, or can I find one for a similar price that has more (I'll look)

Most cases will only have one, and you would maybe have more coming off of the motherboard in the back. Firewire devices can be chained.

The Lian Li cases are nice but Antec has made some much more advanced cases in the last few years. They have excellent airflow which is the main thing that will keep your components cool. Aluminum has almost no effect compared to good airflow. They also come with larger fans which move more air and are quieter.

The Antec power supplies are solid and quiet.

 

[syadasti]

Most cases will only have one, and you would maybe have more coming off of the motherboard in the back. Firewire devices can be chained.

The Lian Li cases are nice but Antec has made some much more advanced cases in the last few years. They have excellent airflow which is the main thing that will keep your components cool. Aluminum has almost no effect compared to good airflow. They also come with larger fans which move more air and are quieter.

The Antec power supplies are solid and quiet.

Antec cases are definitely better designed than the Lian Li but their PSU can be hit and miss depending on who they outsource them to.

The Antec PXXX and Sonata Series are both pretty good cases.

Seasonic is one of the best PSU OEMs.

That said I agree with what BV suggested - just get computer from Dell, refurb (www.delloutlet.com) is my suggestion, if you want bang for buck.

 

[SkaredShtles]

Wouldn't the Lian Li be better, since it's aluminum..lighter and stays cooler?

For backing up, I guess I'll be using dvd's. Would that be a huge pain in the ass?

Ummm... you're going to have a terabyte of raw storage? Yeah... DVDs will be a PITA. Plan on spending some coin on a USB enclosure and some more BIG hard drives.

 

[PatBranch]

Good idea! At least those hdd's are at least $130. I can get a sata-usb cord instead of the enclosures.

 

[PatBranch]

Can you recommend a video and sound card? The only games I will be playing are the online bike games. I will be doing lots of photo editing, video editing, few vector graphics (if any). As for sound, I listen to lots of music, and will be doing some sound editing for videos.

 

[Quo Fan]

I just bought a Sound Blaster X-Fi card for my system because when I upgraded to Vista, my old Sound Blaster Live card wasn't supported. I've been happy with it so far. I play a fair amount of music on my computer, and its not the sound card, but the speakers that make a difference. I have a set of Cambridge Sound Works 5.1 surround speakers I listen to my computer with.

 

[PatBranch]

Oh, okay. I'll be running XP for a while. These look pretty good.

 

[Kornphlake]

Once I scrape together a little more money I'm going to hook up one of these to my computer:
http://www.jr.com/JRProductPage.process?Product=3960817

and a pair of these:
http://www.speakerbuilder.net/web_files/Projects/D3/dayton3.htm

Once I've got the speakers I'll decide if I need one of these:
http://www.parts-express.com/projectshowcase/boogieman/index.html
Or maybe something a little smaller like this:
http://www.partsexpress.com/projectshowcase/triskaSub/index.cfm

I've never been able to hear any difference between expensive (consumer level) sound cards and integrated audio, I'll let you know once I've got some real speakers and an amplifier hooked up.

 

[PatBranch]

Cool! That 6" one sounds gnarly. What do you think about that Altec Lansing?

 

[binary visions]

These are probably the single best bang-for-the-buck speakers you can buy. Good, clean sound, compact unit, inexpensive:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16836121123

 

[Kornphlake]

I've got an ancient set of Altec Lansing 2.1 speakers, they sound alright but comparing them to other speakers they really lack mids, highs aren't real crisp and the bass crossover frequency is high enough that I can localize certain bass sounds to the subwoofer. I do like that you can adjust the bass level on the subwoofer so it isn't real boomy, but overall the sound just isn't real great. I don't have any idea what that might say about the completely different set you are looking at though.

 

[PatBranch]

That set looks good BV.

What processor should I get? I think the Core 2 Extreme is a little much. I'm looking at this pentium D..http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819112234

Would a Core Duo be that much better for what I'm doing?

 

[binary visions]

Clock speed is no longer king when measuring CPU performance. Get a Core 2 Duo or an AMD 64 x2... dual core processors are really great. Many applications are multi-threaded now, so they take advantage of both processors, and it significantly speeds up multitasking.

 

[PatBranch]

I just read this review of dual core processors. AMD killed Intel.

http://reviews.cnet.com/4520-10442_7-6389077-1.html?tag=lnav

 

[binary visions]

That was not the Core 2 Duos. The Core 2 Duos are about on par, if not slightly better than the AMD processors. The AMDs are cheaper. I run AMD, but only because I got a good deal - just pick one that falls into your price range and go with it.

I think the Core 2 Duos are slightly less power hungry, which is good - typically, that also means they run cooler. But they're both good chips.

 

[H8R]

Intel has eaten AMD for breakfast, and it will take AMD a long, long time to come back.

Go Core 2 Duo. It will make you happy.

 

[PatBranch]

Oh. I suck.

Is this too old?

edit: I guess I'll get this one: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115015

 

[PatBranch]

Here's a list of the stuff: http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=pacRtSk9RHY33nFVvEw9pRg

edit: If you click a cell with a link, a rollover comes up with that link.

 

[binary visions]

I know the P160 is pretty and all, but you know you could get a great case for $20 less that actually includes a nice power supply?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129155

Also, do you really, genuinely have a need for a terabyte of storage, let alone having that terabyte of storage actually being important enough to back up? I realize you're looking at growth especially for the camera, but I take a whole lot of pictures - I took nearly 2,000 in Costa Rica, and have well over 10,000 saved - and my entire collection of photos along with edited PSD files and everything is less than 50gb.

Video card is nice but is serious overkill unless you're doing lots of gaming.

Just thinking that you're really busting that original budget you set down - you actually spent your entire original budget on parts that may not be necessities (case + video card + 2tb of drives = $796).

 

[PatBranch]

I actually chose the case based on reviews and comparisons, but that sonata comes with a power supply and doesn't look bad.

I'm not going to be doing any serious gaming, just civilization, ski tycoon, and online bike games. My friend said that video card would help video editing a lot. I was originally going with the 7900 for like $150. I could keep the 500's for video and get 250's for photos and everything else.

 

[binary visions]

I'm not a video editor, but the reason that card is expensive is because of the 3D rendering engine, pipelines & memory. Videos don't use 3D hardware. So... I just don't see a $220 card rendering video better than a $150 card. Yeah, you need to stay out of the bottom end but I'd ask your friend for a compelling (and technical) reason why he's recommending the better card.

As for the storage... well, you can always buy more and storage gets cheaper by the day. It's pointless to buy more than you need at any given time, since prices just keep going down and space just keeps increasing. If you need all the space, do it - but just seriously evaluate what you actually need (not what you anticipate needing in a year) and buy based on that.