university PC

[siyan]

my bud is going to university, meaning new computer. i came up wtih a config for him

Athlon XP 1800
Soltek DRV4 (onboard audio)
512 mb Crucial PC2100 (2 x 256)
60GB D740X-6L
Radeon 7500 64MB DDR (no vidadapt)
NCI SL-9030KL wtih 300W PS, front USB/Sound
LG 32x CDRW
some DLink NIC
Daewoo 17" flat screen monitor

Sans KB, Mouse, Speakers

$1149 Canadian, plus shipping and tax (yes we pay boatloads of tax up here)

The config he came up with comes in at $100 cheaper (same monitor), but it's a XP1600 with 256 MB, cheapo ECS mobo, and 40GB, although it does have a Radeon 8500. He's taking Mechanical Engineering at Waterloo, however, so I told him that he's better off going easy on the games (grow up!! ) and get a higher quality motherboard, more ram and CPU power (to run those Pro/E and Matlab simulations faster ), and more HD space.

Any opinions/comments? (justin will have some, i guarantee )

-C

[siyan]

Ah yes, one consideration would be to get some form of Coaxial video in, which negates the need to buy a TV.

-C

[siyan]

and someone recommend me a better case. nothing fancy, just a solid 300watt Mid Tower or bigger case

-C

[JungleMan]

I think he should opt for the 1600 and a better video card (8500). Keep the existing board.

Case? Not sure. Where do you live?

[chrisjk]

P4 all the way man!!!!!

[siyan]

Originally posted by Jungle-Man
I think he should opt for the 1600 and a better video card (8500). Keep the existing board.

Case? Not sure. Where do you live?

By "existing board" you mean DRV 4 I presume?

I live in Sudbury, but this PC goes to Waterloo 8 mos. of the year. Wondering about the weather?

Sudbury: winter avg -20 *C, worst -40*C
summer avg 22 *C, worst 33*C or so

Waterloo I'm not certain but its likley similar to Toronto's weather, which a tad hotter in the summer but much better in the winter.

-C

Edit:

Ok I worked it out, for the same $1150 price, XP1600 and R8500 64MB LE (it says LE??) OEM. Still with DRV4 and 512MB.

This could be good, assuming he can unlock the CPU and O/C to 1.53 Ghz which shoulnd't be too much of a problem. However he is on a pretty tight budget, so if he messes up he'll be peeved. And possibly screwed. Maybe redstorm o/c will be good?

-C

[siyan]

Originally posted by chrisjk
P4 all the way man!!!!!

Oh yeah, and that lovely RDRAM.

[Sastraxi]

LE is the OEM version of the Radeon - it isn't as fast. However, you can buy it and flash it with the retail BIOS, bumping the clock speeds from 230/230 to 275/275 FULLY, with complete stability. Many people have done so.

[JoshT]

Originally posted by siyan
and someone recommend me a better case. nothing fancy, just a solid 300watt Mid Tower or bigger case

-C

I like the Enlight 7237 for a budget case, or the Antec SX1040 for a more expensive choice.

And AverMedia makes a add-on card that has coax in (actually I think its a rebranded chipset). ATI makes All-in-Wonder Radeons or USB TV Tuners.

[vfluckey]

If your friend can wait until Sept. Intel will be putting out new P4's (2.8 & 3GHz I think) and the price will drop on the current processors. He could have more horsepower for the same price if he waits.

[Gimlin]

Where are you getting these prices? thats pretty good deal for canadians

[Sastraxi]

I'm guessing online... online prices in Canada are awesome Local stores though, are different matters entirely, and when one doesn't want to use one's credit card, ones buying options turn INTO one.

[siyan]

Originally posted by Gimlin
Where are you getting these prices? thats pretty good deal for canadians

www.ncix.com

they have a US mirror site too....with prices in USD.

[JungleMan]

Originally posted by vfluckey
If your friend can wait until Sept. Intel will be putting out new P4's (2.8 & 3GHz I think) and the price will drop on the current processors. He could have more horsepower for the same price if he waits.

AMD is releasing the XP2400 and XP2600 late this month.

I also have it on very good authority that the XP2800 will be out shortly, although I am not allowed to give any info.

[Gimlin]

Originally posted by siyan


www.ncix.com

they have a US mirror site too....with prices in USD.

Thats what I use too, but I build what you displayed and it was 1200 without tax and shipping.

Though I had a better case, but it wasnt 400 bucks!

[JoshT]

Originally posted by Jungle-Man


AMD is releasing the XP2400 and XP2600 late this month.

I also have it on very good authority that the XP2800 will be out shortly, although I am not allowed to give any info.

Sigh - I found this out shortly after I ordered some XP2100s for work. Well, it'll still beat the 800Mhz Pentium3 I'm running now.

[Megatron]

If he's just going to university, he's probably only going to be writing reports and such, right? You're specs look perfect for a gamer but too much for a university student.

[JungleMan]

Meg, looks like he's doing some graphic work too...and besides, everyone's got to have a little gaming fun

BTW, which host is VB-Forums using now?

[Aerials]

y do u need all that for a friggin uni comp

[JungleMan]

For the nTH time...he's probably going to be GAMING on it...and something about ProE/Matlab sims (dun even know what that is )

[siyan]

Originally posted by Jungle-Man
For the nTH time...he's probably going to be GAMING on it...and something about ProE/Matlab sims (dun even know what that is )

I am here to enlighten you

http://www.ptc.com/products/proe/index.htm

and

http://www.mathworks.com/products/prodoverview.shtml

Intense stuff

-C

[Aerials]

So basically a fancy 3d program

[siyan]

ProE allows you to model a "system", simulate its functions, and analyse results before ever going to production.

Matlab does a lot of stuff....mostly math related; math does lots of stuff....

-C

[Aerials]

Originally posted by siyan
ProE allows you to model a "system", simulate its functions, and analyse results before ever going to production.

Matlab does a lot of stuff....mostly math related; math does lots of stuff....

-C

math does stuff?

[siyan]

Originally posted by Aerials
math does stuff?

ONe of those things that just shocks you when you figure it out..

-C

[Aerials]

I am truly shocked!

[Megatron]

Originally posted by Jungle-Man

BTW, which host is VB-Forums using now?

vBulletin, I believe.

[Aerials]

Originally posted by Megatron
vBulletin, I believe.

yup

[parksie]

Originally posted by siyan
ProE allows you to model a "system", simulate its functions, and analyse results before ever going to production.

Matlab does a lot of stuff....mostly math related; math does lots of stuff....

-C

You should see what we run at work

Anyone ever heard of ABAQUS? We've had jobs running for over a month on an 8-CPU SGI server that trashes most x86 configs

[JPicasso]

What college student doesn't play games on his computer?

especially engineering students.

He needs something to write up reports and play games on.
if he's going to be doing matlab and pro-E Hes' better off
using the comptuers provided on campus.

I say see if you can squeese a joystick into the package.

Hmmm, does that sound right?

anyway, in summary,

Computer you bring to school = game player and report writer and web surfer.
Computers at school = run pro-e on and do math things.