Building a Computer

[wolfman]

Was thinking of starting with this bundle. I'm not a gamer, so the Celeron should do me fine. Is this a good base to start from?

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1697047&sku=MBM-PM8MV-340

[ShadowAce]

[mcshot]

Bump to follow.
mc

[Incorrigible]

There was a day I built my own machines but it's been years since.

An average PC can be gotten at such a low price that it's not worth the time or effort.

[LTCJ]

I'd also suggest checking Newegg. I highly recommend them and their online customer reviews.

[2 Kool 2 Be 4-Gotten]

Mostly true. I can think of a few reasons to build.

1. Need really high end stuff e.g. top of the line video and sound cards - I have a friend who built for that reason.

2. About a year ago I built a low-end PC for the express purpose of running linux. 99% of the commercial PC's you buy you're paying something for windows and windows-based software. If you aren't going to use that stuff it might be worthwhile to avoid paying for it.

3. Upgradeability and maintainablity. A machine you build yourself may be easier to reconfigure when the time comes.

Having said all that what you say is largely true.

[The_Victor]

I quit building my own PCs when the Dell's price became lower that I could buy the parts for. Dell has a 399 deal for a Celeron machine. Gateway and HP can be found for similar prices. You usually get all of the required software as part of the bundle.

[Incorrigible]

And I agree with you! (Well, except for that Linux part!)

I'm contemplating building a Windows Media Center PC with three TV Tuner cards. I'm on the border between just ordering one with two cards and adding my own or just starting from scratch.

Oh, and I want to use SATA RAID in the box (yes, a big box!)

[The_Victor]

The Dell machines are even cheaper than I thought. $249 at the bottom for a Celeron D.

Go here: http://www1.us.dell.com/content/products/features.aspx/featured_basdt?c=us&cs=19&l=en&s=dhs

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Here is a higher powered choice:

AMD Socket 754 Motherboard and Processor Combo

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Doesn't require purchase of a video card either....knocks the price down a bunch!

[2 Kool 2 Be 4-Gotten]

Sounds like you're trying to build a TIVO type box that can record 3 shows simultaneously - cool!

I read about a linux project that is doing that as well - forgot the name of that though.

[2 Kool 2 Be 4-Gotten]

I think it's MythTV.

[Petronski]

Celeron? Oh Lord, don't do it!


You'll eventually (or immediately) regret it. Just say know to that crap.

[Petronski]

Just say no to that crap, you know?

[DJ MacWoW]

tech ping

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Here is a review on a TV Tuner card using the latest ATI Theater 550 card....uses PCI Express x1 however....:

Powercolor 550 : Intro & Packaging

[Incorrigible]

Whoa! That's fresh! I was just looking into the All-In-Wonders a couple weeks ago.

Hmmm. Now I have to find a supporting motherboard!

[kidd]

Interesting.

I'm not a gamer either, but I run some calculation intensive Fortran programs and spreadsheet macros at work, but would like to be able to do it at home.

What would you recomend?

[Salgak]

It's a bit underpowered, lacks expandability, and has a max of 2GB of DRAM.

Might I suggest this instead:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813186067

Comes with a videocard, is PCIExpress for the future, and supports 3GB of RAM. . .