My Computer Specs

I purchased all of my parts, and will soon begin building my computer.


::SPECS::


CASE: 400w, 4-drive bays, 2-floppy bays, 1-hidden bay, front usb, case fan, power chord/misc
$36


EXHAUST FAN: Vantec
$15.66


MOHTERBOARD: Intel D845GEBV2L audio/video/LAN, hyperthread, 6-expansion, 2-mem(DIMM333)
$109


PROCESSOR: Intel Pentium 4 2.4gig, 533bus, w/heatsink/fan
$189


RAM: 1 DDR, 512mb, PC2700, CL2.5, w/heatsink
$87.49


HARD DRIVE: Western Digital, 120gb, 7200rpm, 8mbcache, 8.9ms
$144.79


DVD: Toshiba DVD -r/-rw, CD r/rw
$180


KEYBOARD: IMB soft touch, wrist mount
$10.48


Optical Mouse: Memorex PS2 only
$21.19


FLOPPY: Sony
$10.43


SUBT: $804.04


MONITOR: Sony G500, 19.8"-viewable, b-grade refurb, 2048x1546, .24mm
$251.55


SPEAKERS: Altec 5.1 6-piece
$103.72


SURGE PROTECTOR: Rayovac 6 outlet+1transformer outlet
$19.07


TOTAL: $1178.38


EVENTUAL UPGRADES

Disc Drive:
plain DVD-ROM drive

Sound Card:
I eventually plan to get theM-Audio OMNI Studio soundcard/box
with this, i will also purchase a real set of speakers.


Video Card:
All-In-Wonder


HARD DRIVE:
Another one.


RAM:
1GB.

 

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I personally would recommend only an Antec or Enermax power supply. Brand names make a world of difference in the power supply area, have a look here

http://www.tomshardware.com/howto/20021021/index.html

Though 400 Watts should be ok, unless you are running a big RAID

IMO you are taking the wrong route by getting CAS Latency 2.5 on your RAM, but that's your choice.

For an optical mouse, I would recommend Logitech's 2x series, these can go via PS/2 or USB

Speakers are not my area of study in technology. All I can tell you is, digital speakers are supposed to have much superior quality over analog, they are also highly expensive. There were a few things I would make sure of, the base of the speakers should be made of plastic or wood, never get metal for speakers. The protective covering for the speaker should not be made of fine synthetic fibers that are very close together. I have heard Altec Lansing makes some great speakers.

You can find a system exhaust blower for about 10 bucks.

Unless your AGP port is not physically sealed off, you can disable your onboard video adapter in your BIOS, and or have Windows 2000/XP and the technical know how to setup dual display schemes on 2 seperate GPUs/Graphics engines, you are out of luck on getting a video card period, you have to use the onboard one, unless you can get around the above obstables.

But anyhow, congratulations, new computers are always cool

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CL, 2.5, and whole numbers: http://www.sysopt.com/articles/latency/

 

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me

thanx 4 the advice
i wish i would hav known about the RAM
i already bought the cl-2.5 one. it was about $87.50 with the aluminum heatspread thing.
not sure wat brand it is.

thanks!
i always knew that i should definitly go w a brand name pwr supply, but never knew which brands wer good so i jus settled 4 watever came w the case.
i havnt received my case yet, but ill let u kno wat pwrsupply it has.
if its a generic, ill definitly get a good one.

i saw that.
microsoft also had a similar mouse.
all for the exact same price as the memorex i purchased.
i jus prefered a mouse w PS2 only. iv never ever had problems w any keyboard or mouse that connected directly w a PS2.
it jus felt safer than using the mouse to the USB to the PS2 to the computer.

actually, those r the brand i was contemplating.
i was at circuit city listenming 2 the music coming out of all their speaker.
the ALTEC sounded much louder than the KLIPSCH even tho the KLIPSCH supposedly had a higher total wattage output.
my firend got an expensive set of KLIPSCH, and it no longer works. no sound. we're not sur if its the wires or actual speakers that r bad.

wer???

u mean i cant just install a graphics card into the AGP, and hook the monitor up to it without going into the BIOS?
i dont think the AGP is sealed.
not sure wat that means.

 

I have a small set of Altec Lansing computer speakers. It is a 5 speaker set w/ seperate subwolfer. It does quite a respectable job for such small speakers. You would need a sound card for it to do the best. If you want real umph then hook your sound card to a home stereo.

 

Actually the problems with USB were only with version 1 It was kind of unstable, almost in a beta stage as it was kind of being pioneered. Used alot of system resources.

USB 1.1 fixed most of this. The transfer rate went from 6Mb, to 12Mb (this is mega bits, not bytes), and it is alot more stable.

USB 2.0 is a whole nother story. Its tranfer rate is like 450 megabits per second, which is actually faster than Firewire (or IEEE 1394A, which can run at a maximum of 400Mb)

Anyhow, PS2 is ok. It is standard that has been around a very long time (originally developed by IBM for easy plug & play mice and keyboards), but not bad or outdated. Certainly took a step up and away from the outdated serial COM port mice.

But actually, you'd probably be better off with USB 1.1 than PS2. PS2 will probably use more CPU processing power, and it is not hot switchable (meaning if you unplug or plug it in while your computer's power is on, you could wind up damaging the mouse/keyboard, or even your motherboard), while with USB on the other hand, it is hot switchable, you can plug and unplug it while there is still electricity running through there

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As for the system exhaust blower, well here's an example of one

http://www.kingwin.com/product.asp?cid=7&pid=19

No exhaust blower/system cooler should cost more than $20, or you are being ripped off big time.

Vantec makes especially good cooling products, and other accessories.

As for the AGP slot, that really depends on the motherboard. If you can disable your on board video device, and your AGP slot will accept a full card, you should be ok. If you can't disable it, but your AGP slot will still accept a card, you'll have to go through the very difficult process of setting up 2 simultaneous display schemes (you may even need 2 monitors for it to work "right").

Some AGP slots will accept a plug-in card with memory only, while the GPU is on board, and you can't add a GPU.

Some AGP slots are sealed off, and you can't put a board on period, you are out of luck in that case.

IMO, anyone who is insistant on getting an Intel system should either go with RDRAM or wait until Intel gets its act together and releases its new processors. Of course, RDRAM, PC 1066 (the only RDRAM you should buy, PC 800 runs at 100Mhz), poses its own problems in that it is very expensive compared to SDRAM.

 

If you are looking at Klipsch Promedia, then you basically have hit the price roof for computer speakers. If you have the money go for it. For more value I would suggest Logitech Z560 (link may not work...cookies and all...anyway Amazon.com isn't always the best place to buy stuff like that). Or the Altec 641. I have the Altec 251 and they are extremely nice sounding, nice subwoofer even though it's only rated at 25 watts.

For blasting out music, you need as many watts as you can afford. You may even want to consider taking the signal from your soundcard to a home theater or stereo reciever (like Wet1 suggested) to get the wattage up to "movie" watching standards. That way you could get the sound louder and with speakers that can handle it. My brother bought a pair of speakers for blasting them at his appartment for (college) parties. He tested them out with 100 watts going to each (they are 250 max) and they kicked ass, bass and highends sounded great. Mid range wasn't the best I've heard but it sounded great. He got the pair for (US)$110 at BestBuy.....here they are for less than a $100. TheKLH 9912. And those are "cheap" speakers compared with what you can do if you take the signal out to a stereo reciever.....errr just remembered you have onboard sound, unless it has an optical (digital) out you can't do all that. I feel stupid now.

A site for computer speakers... http://www.3dsoundsurge.com/

 

Actually you can pretty much do all of that with analog output too. Both analog and digital use a headphone jack connector port. I would imagine most home stereo systems have RCA input (Audio/Video in), as well as a headphone jack input.

I'm sure modern stereo systems come equipped for S-video signals too.

There are also many adapters that allow for signal converting and changing connector ports.

 

me

thos look real nice.
do u kno wer i can get an amplifier that will plug into the 3.5-headphonejack in my soundcard.

i want 2 b able 2 plug an amplifier into my soundcard, then plug those speakers into the amplifier.

how many total watts are those speakers?
is 250 watts the loudest they will go?
which one is louder between these and the 400w altecs?

i saw the altecs that r 400w, but those r computer speakers.
those 400w altecs seemed louder than the 500w klipsch.

so that will blow air out of the case right?
my case already has a case fan that brings cool air into it.
how can i check if that exhaust wil b able 2 connect 2 the case?
dos it go on 1 of the bak panels lyk an expansion card?

i thot DDR was the better.
sombody told me RD-RAM is on its way 2 obseletion.

 

The KLH's will definately get louder than the Altecs because 100 of the 237 watts in the altecs go to the sub woofer. The 400 watt label apply to the peak power, before they blow out. They might hit 400 watts during an explosion in a movie but they won't be able to hold up at that level for long. The website says 237 watts is continous...minus 100 for the sub...divided by 4 for each speaker...and now you're talking about each speaker putting out 32 watts. Versus (first you have to find a 500 watt stereo amp) 250 watts per speaker with the KLH's. I would go the way of getting that amplifier hooked into the soundcard, if you want loud. Like you said, there's a difference between home-stereo and computer speakers.

The wattage ratings on the KLH are warning labels. You can hook one of those speakers to a 300 watt amp but turning the volume all the way up, then, would be wanting to blow the speaker out. 250 watts is what they recommend you don't go over for each of those speakers.

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KLH 9912 at BestBuy
When I heard them I thought my brother spent a at least a couple hundred.

I don't know much about amps but there's got to be a way to take a normal amp and hook it into a 3.5mm jack. The worst might be you'll have to buy a spare cable from a computer speaker company like Altec, take apart the normal amp and re-wire it to fit the new cord with the 3.5mm jack....you might want to take it to a professional, but's that the worst that could happen.

Out of the two computer speaker-packages, the Klipsch are supposedly the best. The maximum "audio output" it says is 110 decibles. I don't know how long it can hold that for, or how far off (3 feet probably) it was measured. The Altecs are probably around 100 decibles for what they can put out, but again regular speakers like the KLH's would get louder and sound better when played really loud. You want big sound, you need big speakers.

 

Yes, system exhaust blowers/coolers fit in expansion slots, or where back panels would be. As long as you have one open with room, it will work.

What I meant about RDRAM is if you are buying a system right now If you are going to wait a few months until Intel releases their GranetBay motherboards, and their new processors with hyperthreading, you should probably go DDR.

The current RDRAM is supposed to die, but I heard Rambus Inc., tha company that makes RDRAM, is supposed to be coming out with some new stuff they'll show off at one of the upcoming electronic conventions. Like some Redwood memory HUB, and new RDRAM.

RDRAM may never be very successful though unless it can cur down on its price