Compare computers....

[Force Master Hunter]

Well, my 566 Celeron died. :(

So... spent Satursday night building the following as a replacement

PIII 450 (Not too bad)
256 mb (Not bad)
NVIDA TNT2 32 mb (Okay)
Gigabyte board (seems to be more than okay)
10/100 NIC
Adaptec SCSI UW 2940 controller
AWE 64 Soundcard (hooked to a 200w amp and stereo)
DVRaptor Digital Video capture (DV with Premiere 5.1)

and..... 1 * 13Gb IDE ATA
2 * 18 Gb SCSI UW 10,000 rpm drives

Ohhh man. This thing moves so quick it leaves skidmarks. Okay, processor not so hot, but having server quality memory and drives and a SCSI disk system.... yeee hah.

[Darth Viscera]

Uh, your Celeron 566 died? DIED? How high did you OC it???


Celeron 566@706
128 mb
Geforce2mx-32mb (Gave my TNT-32 w/TV out to my friend)
Abit VH6 mobo
10-BaseT NIC
SBLive!Value w/FPS2000 dig speaks
15gig UDMA/66

Dude, I could go on and on and on about my peripherals, such as an FF2 joystick, 17" flatscreen viewsonic a75f monitor, 12x cd burner, dvd drive, but the list goes on. I've been building and rebuilding this machine since 1998. I used the old spare parts from previous versions of Bessy to build a whole nother comp for my mom, and network it, lol. Now she has a nice little Celly 566 with which to surf the net, trade her stocks, and let my friends play LAN games when they come over. Used an old Savage4-32 for the video.

Oh, btw, never ever ever tell me to install Win2k again. After 3 hours of installing (It didn't offer me the option of formatting during setup) I installed the service pack, and next thing you know, I've rebooted, and I get the Win2k blue screen of death. INACCESSIBLE BOOT DEVICE, for the 3rd time this year after trying to install Win2k.
So here I am, back rotting in Win98, waiting for the OS' next foulup.

[Morgan Evanar]

Thats cause you got no skillz Viscera... but then again, everyone knew that.

Duron 800
MSI K7T Pro 2 Motherboard (KT133 chipset)
128 MB Ram
GeForce 2 MX
Creative 12x DVD, Creative 52x CDrom
SB Live!
Earthlink/Mindspring 256k/1.5 MBPS DSL via 10/100 switched Ethernet
20 gig 5400 RPM maxtor (I want a 7200rpm 40)
Win2k/98SE dual boot

You know, about my speakers...

Dual Pioneer 12" Subwoofers
http://bmat.clanhappy.com/dsc_025a.jpg

Pioneer VSX- D209 5x60 Watt RMS Dolby Pro Logic Receiver
http://bmat.clanhappy.com/dsc_026a.jpg

And of course, a pair of Bose 141s
http://bmat.clanhappy.com/dsc_027a.jpg

http://bmat.clanhappy.com/dsc_028a.jpg

[Darth Turbogeek]

Agree with Fewdman I do. 1337 you are not :P

[Darth Viscera]

I don't see how you could possibly come to the conclusion that it's my fault that Win2k doesn't realize I have an HD. And don't tell me I'm not skilled. I've been using comps since I was 2, back in 84. I learned to type before I learned to write, believe it or not. Thank god for that old fat mac. Sure, I've only been using PC's for the last six years, but let's not quibble. This is Microshaft's prob, not mine. And Win2k was no good for me. It gave me probs on 75hz, regardless of the fact that I was using the newest build of detonator 3 drivers. I'd rather not go blind just because I want to try out a more efficient OS that clearly don't work.

[Morgan Evanar]

Well... lets go through a checklist, shall we?

1st. Fresh formatted drive? If not, forget it. Your other option is to create a partion for win2k. Works equally well.

My favorite way is to format the drive into 3 partions. 1.5 FAT 32 (win98 SE) 1.5 NTFS (win2k) and the rest one big FAT 32 partion.

try that.

[Force Master Hunter]

I format NTFS all the way. And when W2K asks what partition to install to, that is when you can format, partition, the lot.

[Darth Viscera]

Fresh formatted drive? Of course. Been there. Done it. A mere partition for win2k? I usually have it on a backup drive. No probs there.

My main drive is in 2 partitions: Main, for the OS, and cache, which is just a 400meg partition for the sole use of virtual memory. If you use virtual memory from the main partition that you also have your OS and all your apps on, then your virtual memory will be incredibly fragmented due to all that disk access. On the other hand, if you have only one file on that 400meg partition, the swap file, you don't get it very fragmented, meaning you have a faster loading swap file.


I would have formatted NTFS all the way. Believe me, I wanted to, but then I wouldn't have been able to access the 2 gigs of data I carry around whenever I reformat. That's on a Win98 FAT32 file system, meaning you can't access it from NTFS. I need to be able to access my backup 2 gigs of data.

[Force Master Hunter]

Not quite.

1) System partition. Nothing other than OS and static files 1.5G on a 10g disk
2) Data partition. Apps and such, as well as profiles, user files. 7.5G on a 10 G disk
3) Swap and TEMP partition. Move swap and FIX the length, set to flush at shutdown. Move temp file directories and browser cache and internet temp files. If you fix the length it will never fragment. Set to 2 * mem +12 meg. Set scractch work areas for temp files to this partition. Rest of disk

Now THAT will keep your system clean.

You also have it the wrong way round. W2K CAN access FAT32, FAT and even HPFS formats. Win 98 cant access NTFS format.

[Darth Viscera]

ah poo. Now I feel as though I have the mental abilities of an echolalic strumpet.

[Force Master Hunter]

echolalic strumpet....

A dish commonly served up India. Made with met, yoghurt and rice, it is quite savoury and has a nice tang. Common to the Mumbai region. Now, why do you feel like that?

[Sage Hazzard]

Either you guys have jobs that pay in the 6 figure digits or you know how to save up. How on God's Green Earth did you buy those computers? How much did they cost?!

I'm running on a 366 MHZ Celeron. 32 MB of SyncDRAM. 3.2 GM HD. 32x CD-ROM. 56k modem. Windows 98. 4MB SGRAM.

It cost us $399, plus tax.

[Kaine Darklighter]

Well, Sage, For me, That's what parents are for. :)

Pentium 3 - 450 MHZ
8.4gb Hard Disk Drive
64MB SDRAM
56k Modem, but I have cable anyways..
6x DVD Rom which is equaled to a 32x CD Rom.
3DFX Graphics Card: Voodoo 3(Feh, Need a better one ..)
Creative Sound Blaster PCI Sound Card
Two Small speakers, and a woofer.

Yeah, that's about it. It's alright.. except I blew the power supply 2 weeks ago. :( I fixed it though. Dunno what I did. Heh, Pulled apart the computer, played around with the cords, and VOLA! It worked again.

[Vega Van Derveld]

Pentium? No Athlon.. or something... I dunno.
8.4gb Hard Disk Drive
256.0 MB RAM
Cable.. whatever the hell that goes at.
DVD.. 8 speed I think. I have no clue..
3DFX Graphics Card: .. uhm, TNT.. or something
Creative Sound Blaster Live! (:rolleyes: ) PCI Sound Card
Four small speakers + woofer

( NO FRICKIN CLUE ... :x )

[Force Master Hunter]

Sage, it's called System Administrator. It's also called saving and accquisition. I'm in the sort of job where PC parts are easy to get. I once had 5 (!) PIII machines on my workbench, all for me. Man, that ruled....

My monitor is soooo non 1337. 14". Blech. Next on the upgrade path...

[Darth Viscera]

*sigh*

Main Entry: echo·la·lia
Pronunciation: "e-kO-'lA-lE-&
Function: noun
Etymology: New Latin
Date: circa 1885
: the often pathological repetition of what is said by other people as if echoing them
- echo·lal·ic /-'la-lik/ adjective

Main Entry: strum·pet
Pronunciation: 'str&m-p&t
Function: noun
Etymology: Middle English
Date: 14th century
: PROSTITUTE 1a


What person told you that was an Indian dish?

[Darth Viscera]

I just built my comp gradually. I've probably spent $4,000 on it in the last 3 years, because I keep on upgrading it. You should never buy a computer that was made by a large company, though. Low quality everything, and way too pricey. There are exceptions, however.

[Morgan Evanar]

4000..... wow. I've spent maybe half that.

[Metallic Kaser]

$4000.. that's what.... erm... £2000? :eek:

[Firebird1]

P3 700
128 MB Ram
SBLive
Lan Card
CDR-W drive
And an intergrated Video card that sucks like never before.
If I want to play any games, I'll have to buy a TNT2 card.

[Khendon S]

Because you all had to start...
800mhz Thunderbird (overclockable)
128mb PC-100 SDRAM (believe it's micron)
SBlive! Value
20gig 7,200 RPM EIDE HD
52x CD-ROM
32x8x4x CD-RW
64mb Rage Fury w/ dual processing and tripple buffer
19" monitor
Altec Lansing ADA305 (dual sats. and subwoofer, surround sound)

(edit: forgot the sound system)

[Morgan Evanar]

Dun bother with a tnt2, just buy a Geforce 2 mx, 80 bucks online.

[Nupraptor]

AMD Athlon 800mhz
Creative Annihilator 2 (nVidia GeForce 2 GTS) 32mb
128mb RAM
Soundblaster PCI 512
Maxtor 30gig 7200rpm HDD
Toshiba DVD-ROM
Microsoft Intellimouse Explorer
Optiquest Z90 19" monitor
Mindspring 1.5 ADSL

[Darth Viscera]

i agree with food about the gf2mx. got mine back in october, it's still chuggin' along, and I've had tnt2's, savage4's, voodoo2's, voodoo banshee's, voodoo3's, voodoo rush's, and even a voodoo1. Thank god for the lack of competition, or I'd be dishin' out another $100 at this time.

[Jeseth Cloak]

Intel® Pentium® III 500MHz (w/512KB L2 Cache) Slot 1 CPU
256MB SyncDRAM
ATI Rage 128 GL 2x AGP with 16MB SDRAM
Crystal CS4280 3D PCI Audio
8x Max. DVD-ROM
13GB HDD (Ultra DMA EIDE)
3.5" 1.44MB FDD
56K ITU V.90 PCI Fax/Modem
10/100 Ethernet (Linksys)
Altec Lansing Stereo Speakers & Sub Woofer
Windows 98SE

Er... I think that's it. I'm just waiting for Nup to wake up... This thread should end around that time. Heh.

[Nupraptor]

Er... I think that's it. I'm just waiting for Nup to wake up... This thread should end around that time. HehErr... I already posted mine, albeit omitting a few things.

[Khendon S]

My Dream Comp:
dual 1.2ghz AMD Athlon T-Bird (dual mobo's for AMD are coming out this summer!)
256mb DDR per processor(Micron)
10,000 RPM SCSI 30gig
128mb Rage Fury
Soundblaster live! platinum
OCX(or 3) connection
erm... some weird kick ass speakers (probably TV ones, have to bring 'em to this sound engineer I know, or something)
72x CD-ROM
12x4x DVD-ROM (dunno if they still sell those)
32x16x4x CD-RW

...eh, I haven't checked comp. parts or prices in a while, finished my comp during the summer and never looked back.

[Nupraptor]

Kinda low on the RAM there. Also, why go for a Rage Fury? GeForce 3 is coming out soon. And there's no real reason to have both a CD-ROM and a DVD-ROM.

[Darth Viscera]

Yes there is. If that 72x drive is the one I think he's referring to, it's supposedly truely 72x, and something like 3-4 times faster than a 40x.

[Nupraptor]

I doubt that there's any noticeable performance gain. Besides which, it definitely wouldn't be worth the extra cash.

[Darth Viscera]

true, but he said it was a dream machine, meaning money is no object. and in the reviews I've read, there was a noticable performance gain.

[Force Master Hunter]

Dream machines...

Dell rack unit, 42 U (It will need it)
APC UPS 220 *2

12 * Dell Poweredge 2550's, 1G tiwn processor, 2 G mem, 3 * 18 Gb 10,000 SCSI UW (These things are a wet dream for a geek)

1 * Dell Powervault 660F with 224F expansion. 14 Fibre channel drives!!!
1 * 1G hub
1 * Dell Dimension 4100 (for display!!!!), 256 mb, 1 * 40gb Hdd.
33" Flat screen monitor.
MS Intellimouse Explorer
IBM steel case keyboard.

OS = Something to cluster these suckers. W2K Datacentre would be nice.

High end broadcast video editing.

Now this sucker would kick some major ass......

[Darth Viscera]

My dream machine-

Athlon T-Bird ~1.3ghz
AMD 760 chipset mobo, 6 PCI, 1 AGP, UDMA/100
Geforce 3
SBLive!Platinum 5.1
10/100 3COM NIC
20X DVD
16/8/40 CD-RW
80 gig UDMA/100 7200RPM
WinME
512 megs micron DDR PC266
33" Flatscreen monitor
$8,000 digital projector
@Home cable modem (it don't get no better than cable, and I wouldn't want to downgrade to DSL. Ask charley about the 500KBps downloads that he and I get.)

And a whole bunch of high-end peripherals, too.

[Khendon S]

About my dread machine:
I picked Rage Fury because that's what I have right now (64mb Rage Fury) and they are really, really great cards.
That's 256mb DDR per processor, it's a dual processor mobo. That means 512mb DDR total, (no way you need more then that)
DVD-ROM is more for backing up the comp (evil grin)
DVDs vs CD-ROMs are slower when accessing CDs, or so i've been told by my cuz who does networking for large companies. (and the 72x is amazing!)

Pop on windows 2k and you have the ultimate in high tech power... *evil grin*
of course it'll be outdated two days after you build it, but hey, that's how it goes now and days.

[Morgan Evanar]

My dream machine (possible as of summer.. sometime)

Dual 1.5 Ghz Palmino AMD Athlons capped with a pair of Globalwin FOP 38s

1 GB of Micron PC 2100 DDR SDRAM

GeForce 3, overclocked. V5 PCI for secondary card.

SB Live! Platnium 5.1

Videologic DigiTheatre DTS Digital speakers.

4x 18k RPM SCSI UW2 18 Gig RAID 0 stripe

2x Sony FW900 FD 24' monitors. Boo-yah!

I'm going to live on Time Warner's backbone (OC48's) Cable modems can suck me. If not, 1 up/ 7 down ADSL.

Pioneer 16x DVD
2x Plextor 16/10/40x CDRW

[Khendon S]

Don't start or i'll pull out a quad processor system on you! *evil grin*

[Morgan Evanar]

win2k duzn't support quads. You'd be wasting your money.

[Force Master Hunter]

W2K Advanced server does.

[Darth Viscera]

FMH is right.

[Firebird1]

Only $80 Online!!!!
Dear God, why oh why didn't you tell me!

But a TNT2 is only $45.00

[Darth Viscera]

eh, I gave my friend down in texas a TNT2 when i got my gf2mx. it's worth the extra $35, because it's two generations ahead of the TNT2.

[Nupraptor]

*BUMP*

<img src=http://nupraptor.clanhappy.com/mybox.jpg>

[Morgan Evanar]

Slot 1? Its not even a GTL+ bus...

*wacks madonion with a sledgehammer.*

Socket A, you sillies. As for the chipset, its a KT133a

My specs remain the same, except for an extra 128mb ram (256 total)

[Force Master Hunter]

Well, I have this laptop now...

Dell Inspiron 7500

128mb (soon to be bumped)
18gb Hdd (huge for a laptop)


and the best thing... the 15" TFT screen set to 1400 * 1028!!

[Admiral Lebron]

Well, here is my happy little computer:

AMD K-6 II processor
3D now
475 Megahertz
8x DVD Drive
USB port replicator w/ethernet 10/100 LAN connector
Internal 56.6 dial up
16'' Synaptics Touchpad
44.06 gigs
64 RAM

External: USB HUB, Comcast Cable Modem, Sidewinder USB Joystick, 40 gigs, and some speakers but I can't seem to find 'em.

[Morgan Evanar]

Buy more ram. Its 20 bucks for 128 megs. You'll see a huge difference in how your computer runs.

www.pricewatch.com is your friend =]