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Buying New PC. Suggestions?
dk70:
They could argue it is a XP tweak wrongly implemented or with unfortunate/unexpected side effects. They could... I have not checked Knownledge base details but it is still in there - and so is relevant today. Well you get my point, we all have success or disaster stories and it will be tough to find really good universal arguments for chosing ATI or Nvidia because of their driver support. Interface of both can more or less be ignored and replaced by nice 3rd party tools, Rivatuner for Nvidia - ATI Tray Tools for ATI.
Last week I changed motherboard on my sisters computer. She has a 6600GT. Try go to Nvidias official forums and see a mile long thread on 6600GT problems with corrupted graphics, bsod or worse. Like 25 suggestions of fixes at least. Almost comical. Solution for her was to go from KT600 to NF2, runs perfect now, yet I know people with same KT600 motherboard and 6600GTs with zero problems. Ive spend probably 5 hours trying all tricks and workarounds. The general conclusion is Nvidia have full blaim. My guess is problem has to do with what must be picky reference bios of video cards, but then Nvidia have nothing to do with it! They dont answer for brand "specific" bios - even if ripped 100% of original bios. ATI will have similar horror stories - or just crap products trying to fool consumers. Both are the same at the end of the day.
JavaJones:
As far as I've seen ATI's drivers are still somewhat crap. :P There are plenty of problems between the two manufacturers, I just find ATI's drivers to be less stable and have more frequent problems even with official releases. I get a chance to test the latest drivers from both on fairly recent cards so that's what my experience has been.
f0dder: not sure how you can say ghosting doesn't matter in FPS's - that's exactly where it *does* matter and it's extremely distracting. 8ms I've tested and it's really unacceptable. 5ms is getting better 2ms is acceptable I think. But really any ghosting is unacceptable to me. I want SED or OLED displays NOW (OLED refresh rate is 1000's of times faster than LCD and no need for backlight). :D
You are right that the corporate lines do include less software crap. If you must go Dell, do it that way for sure. I still think they are fairly crap though.
- Oshyan
MilesOhToole:
Budget changes again 8) Did you forget XP or found other solution? -dk70 (October 07, 2006, 01:22 AM)
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My wife is currently enrolled in college. The campus IT dept gave her a free copy of XP Pro, since her biology class used software that required it.
You want more headaches? Ok, External sound card might be better with some games as in more fps but integrated is not useless. So since on not without limits budget may be take advantage of that and spend more on the important video card? ATI 1300Pro is better http://techreport.com/reviews/2006q2/budget-gpus/index.x?pg=1 Use selection box at bottom to see benchmarks where it is compared to 7300GS. 10-20% faster overall for 10$ extra? No sound card almost let budget get away with that. Video card must have highest priority when it comes to games. So what about 1600Pro then 8) With no soundcard that will be 30$ more. Faster again and about to leave budget card label. GeForce 7600GT cost so much more it is another question but I would consider 1300Pro or 1600Pro. 1600Pro not really in same class as the other 2. Difference is bigger than that of 7300GS vs 1300Pro. As is extra cost... Must put foot down at some point but since video is so important I would do what it takes to get 1600Pro. Same you did when picking 160gb hard disk, extra cost but double capacity. Hope you see what I mean - priorities.-dk70 (October 07, 2006, 01:22 AM)
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OK. I'll go with the integrated sound and 1600Pro. Can't really afford to go with anything higher. At any rate, I can always upgrade sound cards at a later date. Price updated to $684.96. Well within my budget range.
Good thinking about the monitor! You do not want to mess what is inside box but have to set up monitor anyway so might as well look for alternatives. Looks ok, best buy if good.
No matter this is a ready to go computer I would still do own check of components. Like running a ram-tester, checking bios settings. I hardly trust myself and external sources I believe only want my money 8) All this is very easy and painless or I wouldnt say it - but return with later questions, many here can guide you through. 5-10 minutes of demonstration and you could build own computer. Basically all you need is a screwdriver, same shop and Dell uses. They dont do much more so when box arrives dont be afraid of tinkering a bit and dont put up with things that only work 50%. Dont experiment though...
-dk70 (October 07, 2006, 01:22 AM)
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Noted. Thanks again for your help! :Thmbsup:
*One note of interest regarding OS. On my way home from work today, I was listening to Kim Komando's radio show. She mentioned that beginning Oct 27th, PC's shipped with XP Pro will include free upgrades to Vista. PC's with XP Home will include upgrade coupons for $50.00. Not that I'm interested in Vista--just something I thought I'd mention.
EDIT: One more question...this one about RAM. I did some light research on ECC vs Non-ECC RAM. It appears (from what I understand) that many motherboards will support ECC RAM, but will not actually correct any errors. I thought I'd save some money and take a chance with Non-ECC. Opinions?
dk70:
Do use non-ECC ram, everyone else does. ECC is for servers and critical equipment not desktop computers. If you want to make sure ram is not delivering wrong data then run Memtest86, http://www.memtest.org/ All new ram should be tested with this generic tool, recommended by most memory makers. No matter price you can never be sure ram is not faulty. If errors you simply send ram module back and will get a new. Result will not be questioned. A few things you have to be aware of with ram. Timings, what speed you set it to, must be correct. The voltage you tell motherboard to deliver must be correct. A 100% healthy module can give errors is setup is wrong. This should be done by shop, what you pay - but lets see... 8) Ram can be very picky to set up, the ram I have now only works well with 2.6v. 2.7v and it will fail. If motherboard overvolts a 2.6v setting what works could be 2.55 or 2.5v - even if "wrong". Makers happily say use 2.8! Lots of strange things can happen. With ram it is a very good idea to test properly, as with Memtest86. Give peace in mind. Ram errors are evil and can be hard to diagnose if not aware of this. Works perfect or must be replaced is all you have to go by.
I doubt that upgrade price to Vista. There will be several versions but the prices Ive seen up to now have been way above what you mention.
DirectX 10 eyecandy, games starting to make use of DX10 could make you interested in Vista. Have to buy new video card then, probably as another 1gb of memory too. All are in same boat. Was it not for the DX10 stuff I think Vista will take ages to become popular - most are happy with XP as it is. Windows 98 -> XP really meant something, now it is like you get/pay for something you dont even feel you need 8) If Vista really becomes so cheap upgrade cycle will be accelerated of course, I want to see price tag in an advertisement before I believe it 8)
thunder7:
When Disability killed me off with a mouse click.
Then found out I was not dead (duh!) I had lost everything including my PC so Once they re instated me I spent $950 @ newegg...
* XCLIO XClio CS528BK Silver/Black Steel ATX Full Tower Computer Case - XClio CS528BK
* MSI K8N Neo4-F Socket 939 NVIDIA nForce4 ATX AMD Motherboard -
* XFX Geforce 6200 256MB DDR PCI-Express x16 Video Card -
* AMD Athlon 64 3500+ ClawHammer/Hammer Integrated into Chip FSB Socket 939 Processor
* mushkin Value 1GB (2 x 512MB) 184-Pin DDR SDRAM DDR 400 (PC 3200) Unbuffered Dual Channel Kit System Memory Model
* Western Digital Raptor WD740GD 73GB 10,000 RPM Serial ATA150 Hard Drive - OEM
* NEC Black IDE DVD Burner Model ND-3520A - OEM $950
Since my girlfriend is a PC tech one of her work mates put it together for me. And she bought me a copy of Windows XP Pro
I since bought a 250GB hard drive from newegg $89 (which is not big enough) Need more room...sigh.
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