THE COMPUTER THREAD

[RVR II]

Well, the latest chapter in my life with computers where no simple problem has a simple solution (either by way of my jinx powers or by random circumstance) has taken the predicted path. Apperantly my specific machine has a well documented flaw (I did the research) wherein when the power supply goes, it takes the MB with it. Lovely. I suppose I should have expected it since it's a cheap machine and you get what you pay for (or in my case, receive a freebie). Anyone on here needs to avoid EMachines like the plague (I know I know! Cheap! But it was free!!).

So now I'm just planning how to get my hardrive into a new machine so I can get my stuff back. :-P Fortunatly, I knew the pc was crap when I got it initially, so I was able to back up about 70% of what I wanted before it died. I'm happy I haven't drowned any money at all in fighting a losing battle.

WOW! You Never said it was a Emachine
Man! If you've got another computer, (Pak's for example), you can pull the hard drive, switch the pin setting from Master to Slave setting (assuming it's a EIDE), and hook it up to another computer to retrieve your needed files, then just reformat it, cause the Emachine motherboard drivers can't be removed properly, and they will cause a conflict with other motherboard drivers if installed on another computer as the Master hard drive with the operating system.
You'll wind up having a 'possessed' computer that won't run right and will just piss you off constantly.

[Tyrant]

Well, the latest chapter in my life with computers where no simple problem has a simple solution (either by way of my jinx powers or by random circumstance) has taken the predicted path. Apperantly my specific machine has a well documented flaw (I did the research) wherein when the power supply goes, it takes the MB with it. Lovely. I suppose I should have expected it since it's a cheap machine and you get what you pay for (or in my case, receive a freebie). Anyone on here needs to avoid EMachines like the plague (I know I know! Cheap! But it was free!!).

So now I'm just planning how to get my hardrive into a new machine so I can get my stuff back. :-P Fortunatly, I knew the pc was crap when I got it initially, so I was able to back up about 70% of what I wanted before it died. I'm happy I haven't drowned any money at all in fighting a losing battle.

WOW! You Never said it was a Emachine
Man! If you've got another computer, (Pak's for example), you can pull the hard drive, switch the pin setting from Master to Slave setting (assuming it's a EIDE), and hook it up to another computer to retrieve your needed files, then just reformat it, cause the Emachine motherboard drivers can't be removed properly, and they will cause a conflict with other motherboard drivers if installed on another computer as the Master hard drive with the operating system.
You'll wind up having a 'possessed' computer that won't run right and will just piss you off constantly.

Given my powers, I doubt highly Pak will want me anywhere near his (extremely nice) system with a screwdriver. However, when/if I order myself a system like his, I'll order one with two drives and just swap out the new slave for mine.

  Yeah, probably should have mentioned it was an Emachine. However, if I'd just said that, then I would have been told the problem is that it's an Emachine.  Up until I did my research on it, I was actually hoping to get it working long enough to get the data off my hardrive. 

[RVR II]

Well, the latest chapter in my life with computers where no simple problem has a simple solution (either by way of my jinx powers or by random circumstance) has taken the predicted path. Apperantly my specific machine has a well documented flaw (I did the research) wherein when the power supply goes, it takes the MB with it. Lovely. I suppose I should have expected it since it's a cheap machine and you get what you pay for (or in my case, receive a freebie). Anyone on here needs to avoid EMachines like the plague (I know I know! Cheap! But it was free!!).

So now I'm just planning how to get my hardrive into a new machine so I can get my stuff back. :-P Fortunatly, I knew the pc was crap when I got it initially, so I was able to back up about 70% of what I wanted before it died. I'm happy I haven't drowned any money at all in fighting a losing battle.

WOW! You Never said it was a Emachine
Man! If you've got another computer, (Pak's for example), you can pull the hard drive, switch the pin setting from Master to Slave setting (assuming it's a EIDE), and hook it up to another computer to retrieve your needed files, then just reformat it, cause the Emachine motherboard drivers can't be removed properly, and they will cause a conflict with other motherboard drivers if installed on another computer as the Master hard drive with the operating system.
You'll wind up having a 'possessed' computer that won't run right and will just piss you off constantly.

Given my powers, I doubt highly Pak will want me anywhere near his (extremely nice) system with a screwdriver. However, when/if I order myself a system like his, I'll order one with two drives and just swap out the new slave for mine.

Fair enough..
Get Pak to help pick something that's Expandable for future upgrades I like NewEgg.com, or check out http://www.pricewatch.com/
My advice: Stay away from Gateway, Compaq, and even Dell desktops, cause you'll just be doing this all over again after a year or two..

[RVR II]

OK.. I'm toying with the idea of getting this http://www.svc.com/a2413-01.html
for my Thermaltake VF1000BWS LanBox http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811133035
But that price tag of $340.00 is holding me back

What do youz guys think?

[Bob]

Before I can answer, I must ask your plans for this.....

[RVR II]

Before I can answer, I must ask your plans for this.....

Recent faulty monitor issues, and better mobility for our on-site business services instead of lugging around a seperate monitor.

[bettertomorrowamy]

Why not use a laptop?

[RVR II]

Why not use a laptop?

Well, This is the Fastest computer I own, and speed is of the essence when we're at a location (like I will be tomorrow morning) and we suddenly get swamped with paying customers (data entry, scanning documents, printing said documents, etc.) and my ID card system that will be in operation as well, requires a powerful setup to operate properly.
Also, Cause I don't have another Grand + available to buy a decent laptop

[gbeenie]

I just replaced my partner's 20gig hard drive with an 80gig (she likes the gamings).

[jewishcarpenter]

Getting the last of my parts today from newegg today, I'll post pictures when I'm done.

Brand: Me! (Self-built)
Motherboard: ASUS P5K-E/WIFI-AP LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX
CPU: Intel Q6600 2.4GHz Quad-Core Processor
CPU Cooler: Asus Silent Knight II 92mm Sleeve CPU Cooler
RAM: G.Skill 4GB(2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1000 I can't wait till Windows XP only uses 3325MB of it! Gotta love the limitations of 32-bit operating systems and everyone's refusal to move on to something bigger and better.
Power Supply: Thermaltake toughpower 750w. I thought it was a modular PSU when I ordered and was unpleasantly surprised to find out it wasn't when I got it. I didn't feel like sending it back and going through a huge hassle at that point. Microcenter's site at the time didn't supply a very good description of the item and I didn't do my homework very well so it's my own fault.
Monitor: BenQ FP202W 20" LCD Monitor 8ms latency, display at 1680x1050
Video: Diamond Viper Radeon HD3870 512MB 256-bit GDDR4 PCI Express 2.0 x16 The drivers are great and the ATI Catalyst Control Center has a pretty handy overclocking feature I still need to figure out. Tested out to see what max settings I could get and it was running at 65 Celsius w/ stock cooler at full load with the core clock at 820Mhz and I can't remember the RAM Clock speed at the moment.
Video Cooler: Zalman VF1000 2 Ball VGA Cooler. It looks pretty and apparently kicks some serious ass. Avoiding thermal tape and using Arctic Silver AATA-5G Thermal Adhesive to apply the VRAM heatsinks on for better heat dissipation. It's permanent though which scares me and I've avoided installing the cooler so far because of it.
Sound: (Recording Setup) Digidesign MBox, (Gaming Setup) Onboard Sound
Optical Drives: Samsung 20X DVD±R SATA DVD Burner with LightScribe,  Asus 2014L1T 20X DVD+R SATA DVD Burner with LightScribe
Primary Hard drives: (Recording Setup) 2 x Seagate Barracuda 80GB SATA 3.0 Gb/s 8MB Cache running in RAID 0.
(Gaming Setup) 1 x Seagate Barracuda 320GB SATA 3.0Gb/s 16MB Cache which I'll just pop it in to this bad boy when I feel like playing games.
Secondary Storage Hard Drives: 2 x Western Digital Caviar 250GB SATA 3.0Gb/s 16MB Cache (1 for storing samples for my virtual instruments, 1 for storing recorded music), 1 x Samsung SpinPoint 500GB SATA 3.0Gb/s 16MB Cache. I also have a couple of other 500GB Hard drives that I've backed all of my MST3K dvd's (Rhino & DAP) onto in case there is a dvd apocalypse and all dvds that don't ascend to dvd heaven with dvd Jesus are sent to dvd hell and I can continue watching MST3K episodes without a hitch.
Case: NZXT Zero Full Tower 4 intake fans on the side, 2 exhaust fans in the back, 1 intake fan in the front, 1 exhaust fan on the top

Extras
Operating System: Win XP Pro SP2 on both setups.
Speakers: (Recording Setup) 2 x KRK RP-6 Rokit Powered Reference Studio Monitor connected through through XLR to 1/4" balanced cables to my Digidesign MBox.
(Gaming Setup) Logitech X-230 32 watts RMS 2.1 Black Speaker System They sound good for the price.
Keyboard: Logitech G15, M-Audio Keystation 61es USB MIDI Controller heh
Mouse: Logitech G5. I have an older model.
Other:  Sony Floppy Drive, Storage Drawer for Standard 5.25" Expansion Bay, 1 x EZ-Rack for 3.5" Internal SATA Drive with fan, 1 x EZ-Rack for 3.5" Internal SATA Drive without fan, also have some Noise Dampening material, I might have to order more.

This thing is going to weigh one metric shit ton when I'm done loading everything into it. After typing this all out I've realized why I have so much debt on my credit card.
*Fixed case link.

[RVR II]

COOL!
Can't see the case (link not working)..

!'m starting to 'drool' staring at This case..
http://thermaltakeusa.com/product/Chassis/fulltower/Mozarttx/ve1000bws.asp

Have no clue what i'd use it for, but I Want It!

[Tyrant]

COOL!
Can't see the case (link not working)..

!'m starting to 'drool' staring at this case..
http://thermaltakeusa.com/product/Chassis/fulltower/Mozarttx/ve1000bws.asp

Have no clue what i'd use it for, but I Want!

  You could buy the case and use it for a side table until you're ready to put guts in it. It's what Martha Stewart would do.

[RVR II]

COOL!
Can't see the case (link not working)..

!'m starting to 'drool' staring at this case..
http://thermaltakeusa.com/product/Chassis/fulltower/Mozarttx/ve1000bws.asp

Have no clue what i'd use it for, but I Want!

  You could buy the case and use it for a side table until you're ready to put guts in it. It's what Martha Stewart would do.

I like your way of thinking 'T'!

[gbeenie]

Well, my partner's computer fried up last week, so I salvaged everything I could (I even took the CMOS battery to put in my car's remote) to mack out the computer we have left (a BIG plus of making virtually identical boxes):

P4 2.4gHz
ASUS P4S800 motherboard
2 gb RAM
3 Hard drives: 80g main, plus 120 and 300 drives for media storage (yay for SATA!)
CD R/W burner
DVD burner
NTSC capture card (which I don't use NEARLY enough)
54G Wi-Fi
USB SoundBlaster with proper RCA jacks

The biggest weak link right now is the video card, which is an ancient GeForce2. Once I replace a locked fan and determine if that fixes it, I'll be installing my partner's GeForce 6200 card.


DISCLAIMER: This is the type of computer you build when you're a cheap-ass.

[RVR II]

Hey! What ever works