Purchasing a new PC...

[eer3]

I'm looking to purchase a new PC to replace one of my dinosaurs. It's been a while since I've been in the market for a new one, so I thought I'd get some opinions from the folks who know best. I don't really need some top of the line screamin' machine, I play a few games now and then, would like to be able to run my DVD's on it, and piddle around with VB of course. I don't care about the modem - I'll replace that with my NIC for my DSL connection.

I'm posting a link to the machine I'm interested in. I'd like to here your opinions on "bang for the buck" - pro or con. Also, If you've seen a better deal, by all means pass it along.

I'd also appreciate comments on some of my concerns (and my ignorance on some terminoogy)...

Motherboard - Gigabyte GA-7ZM Socket A
What the heck is a Gigabyte GA-7ZM?
I think know the dif between a socket A and a slot A, I want the socket A... correct?

Video Card - Aztech TNT 2 AGP 32MB
Does Aztec produce a decent card?

Here's the link...
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...sku=TSA-13-10A

[Guv]

I know enough to buy parts and assemble my own system, but I would go to a local clone maker and discuss it with him.

Unless you want something really unusual, a clone maker will give you good advice and a good bang for the buck.

[scoutt]

well I would suggest if you built your own is to go with

Asus or Abit ( very dependable and easy to install mb) and yes socket A is what want. what cpu are you going with?

either a ATI or GeForce for video ( 32Mb )

and your link doesn't work

[eer3]

Thanks Guv and scoutt

hmm... the link seems to work for me... but here's the details

AMD ATHLON 1.3GHZ 256MB,60GB,DVD/CDRW
Price: $979.99 Stock

The "Ultimate PC!"
This AMD Athlon 1.3GHz PC by Systemax is built for one thing only! SPEED... Powered by the amazing AMD Athlon 1.3GHz processor, this PC includes a whopping 256MB PC133 high-speed SDRAM memory (upgradable to 768MB), a gargantuan 60GB hard drive, TNT2 Video with 32MB of memory, SondBlaster Live! sound card and much more.

You will be amazed each time you see how quickly this PC boots up and gets ready for action. Open super-large video images in no time (while other PCs crash and burn). If you don't have patience, then this PC is for you.

But wait. There's still more. We've included a 12x DVD-ROM Drive and a 8x4x32x CD-RW drive for the ultimate multimedia experience.

Includes Windows Millennium Edition-the home version of the world's favorite software

Monitor Sold Separately

CD-ROM Drive 8X4X32X CDR-W
DVD

CPU AMD Athlon 1.3GHz

Floppy Drive 3 1/2" 1.44MB Floppy Drive

Hard Drive 60 GB

Keyboard Internet Keyboard

Modem 56K V.90 Modem

Motherboard Gigabyte GA-7ZM Socket A

Mouse Scrolling Wheel Mouse

RAM 256MB SDRAM PC133

Sound Card Creative Labs Sound Blaster Live!

Speakers Cyber Acoustics CA-3060 Speakers w/ Sub Woofer

Video Card Aztech TNT 2 AGP 32MB

Warranty One Year Limited On-Site Warranty

[scoutt]

sounds pretty good, except for the part about winME included. personally I can't stand it, but to each his own. if you get it good luck as it sounds like it will be very fast.

[CyberSurfer]

The GA-7ZXM is a Micro ATX motherboard, which is a fair bit smaller than most.....I have a standard size GA-7ZX-1, which I am very happy with...

[JungleMan]

Originally posted by scoutt
sounds pretty good, except for the part about winME included. personally I can't stand it, but to each his own. if you get it good luck as it sounds like it will be very fast.

I'll second that...

I highly suggest you build your own or order a custom built one from www.xtechnology.com

[Sastraxi]

THe Aztec 32MB won't be too fast either, it's been out for 2-3 years. I suggest GeForce2 MX (only $100 CDN bucks), It'll make the system a powerhouse.

http://www.falcon-nw.com/ - MACH V and TALON
http://www.voodoo.ca/ - Monsoon EGAD-DDR
http://www.alienware.com/ - AREA 51

Here's a quote from VOODOO computers

[Sastraxi]

Voodoo Monsoon EGAD-DDR Gamer & DVD with DDR CSA Approved - Built in ISO9002 and A+ Registered Facility
Almost every gamer in North America has been awaiting the release of this rocket. Well wait no more! This system is now available, using only the best computer components known to mankind. We include everything, from the incredible ASUS Motherboard to PC-2100 DDR Ram (any other type of DDR ram is unacceptable.) It's time to get your game on now! This system is absolutely ROCK STABLE with Full Video Card Optimizations. Our technicians spend a great deal of time benchmarking and heat testing the systems. Once this process is complete they ensure that all of the cables are installed in our renowed "Free Flow Format" which guarantees incredible air-flow throughout the system. The computers go through some serious burning-in before our techs put their signature on it. You will NOT find a better built gaming computer, and that's all there is to it. Winning IS Everything.


Voodoo WideBody Monster II
The case is everything with your computer. Without a good venting system, your computer will overheat. Without enough drive bays, upgrading is impossible. Without double doors on both sides, your computer will be very loud. The WideBody Monster defines 'versatility'. On its own it's incredbily cool, and has tons of room for expansion. Add a Voodoo Tornado Top and a Voodoo RAID Bay, and you're set for life. You'll have the ability to expand beyond your wildest imagination. Power supplies are optional - so pick the one that fits your needs best! This case comes with DUAL Cooling Fans for the case alone - considering you will also have fan(s) in your power supply, CPU, and video ard, you need not worry about cooling at all.


Enermax 350 Watt - Dual Fan Control "Noiseless" ATX Power Supply
This power supply is a must buy for high-end workstations that need additional power & cooling. The main cables are tube tied for neatness; it includes gold-coated terminals for high performance and faint resistance improvement. The fan speed monitoring actually works on the motherboard, and there are DUAL fans, which are virtually noiseless. The cooling is incredible! A must have for systems with 3 drives or more. With Fan Control your system will turn up the fan juice when it needs it.


ASUStek A7M-266 DDR Athlon Thunderbird & Duron MB with Toggle 3D Audio
The ASUS A7M266 is the best (and we mean BEST) DDR Motherboard for AMD Athlon & Duron Processors on the market. Voodoo introduced this motherboard in our new MonsoonXDDR-EGAD after testing many different DDR Boards. We have determined that the ASUS is the most ass-kicking motherboard on the planet - without a doubt.


AMD Athlon-266 1200MHz Processor - 266MHz Bus - 384K On Die Cache
AMD's growth last year is absolute proof that this company is here to stay. They are making some of the fastest processors in the world. You can take almost any AMD Processor and match it up with virtually anything from Intel, and you'll probably find the AMD to be faster in most applications. AMD is a true enthusiasts processor without a doubt.


Arctic Silver II Thermal Cooling Compound
Voodoo has chosen Arctic Silver II as the standard cooling compound of choice for our computers. We use Arctic Silver II in place of the standard Thermal Compound that's included with your Serious Silicon. The Arctic Silver II has been tested to decrease CPU temperatures dramatically.


Thermaltake Volcano II AMD CPU Active Heatsink
With the Thermaltake Volcano II your processor will think it's sitting on a bed of crisp cool ice. It'll be like drinking a Slurpee all day long.


Voodoo 1.44 Megabyte Floppy Disk Drive



Crucial Technologies DDR 256 Megabyte PC2100 Ram Chip
Once again Voodoo picks the BEST quality ram available for DDR Systems. As Crucial has recently released their PC-2100 Chips, Voodoo jumped on board. Crucial has always made reliable consistant memory - and Crucial has always been the #1 choice for Voodoo Systems.


Pioneer Trayless DVD Drive - 16 Speed DVD - 40 Speed CD-Rom
There have been some very large fundamental changes with DVD technology in recent months. Pioneer DVDs have always been the best quality, most compatible DVDs on the market. Whether you plan on watching movies on your computer, or just accessing reference style applications, Pioneer is one of the best DVD manufacturers on the market. This particular version is trayless, meaning there isn't a slide-out tray to put your CD or DVD on. This prevents your media from being scratched - and this unit performs slightly better than other manufacturer DVDs.


30.7 Gigabyte IBM Deskstar 75GXP Hard Disk Drive 7200 Key Features: 7200 RPM - 2 Megabyte Cache - ATA 100 Throughput
Consider the key features when purchasing a hard drive. First of all, if your dealer doesn't know what brand it is then don't even think about buying it. Your data is being stored on this drive so the last thing you need is a crash due to a no-name drive. Also, remember hard drives comes in various speeds - make sure your hard drive supports ATA 100 and it's at least 5400RPM. The IBM Deskstar 75GXP is a killer drive - especially for RAID Configurations.


Hercules 3D Prophet 4500 Kyro2 64 Megabyte SDR Video Card Key Features: 175MHz SDR Ram, Tile Based Rendering Kyro2
The Hercules 3D Prophet 4500 is a ridiculously fast card at an entry level price-range. The fact that this card puts most other high-end cards to shame at a fraction of the cost is just mind boggling. This card supports Environmental Bump Mapping, something not usually available to high-end video cards, and FSAA at high resolutions. In english, this card is near perfect for a stupid price. Hercules and Kyro should charge more for it because they can, but it seems they are working 'smarter' on this card.


GlobalWin CAF12 120mm Video & System Air Propulsion System
The Global Win CAF12 is by far the best video card cooler available today. This unit uses a big 120mm Innovative case fan that pumps a whoppin' 67CFM of air per minute. The CAF12 has fan guards on the front and backside. The mounting system is the same as the Global Win CBF32. The CAF12 comes with a pass through power connector and is meant to be hook up to the computer power supply.


Diamond Supramax V.90 56K Voice Fax Modem
The Diamond Supramax modem is a quality PCI based V.90 fax modem with a built-in answering machine.


Creative Labs Soundblaster Live Value with Digital Connections
Most people do not fully understand the word 'value' in the Creative Labs Soundblaster Live Value. They automatically assume that the 'value' means 'sound may not be as good'. This is simply not true. In fact, the new Soundblaster Live Value is essentially the same thing as the Soundblaster Live Platinum without the extra MIDI connections for hooking up various instruments to your computer system. This soundcard is not designed to be a recording studio, it's actually designed for the ultimate gamer. This card features most of the other cool features that the other Soundblaster Live cards do. The Soundblaster Live Value includes support for full digital surround sound. This card is perfect for playing games that require the user to hear sounds from all directions. If you have a DVD player on your computer, you'll most certainly enjoy the digital audio that is produced by this card. Couple this soundcard with a set of our digital speakers and you certainly won't be disappointed.


Cambridge Soundworks FPS1500 Analog 4 Point Speakers & Subwoofer Satellite Power: 6 watts RMS each channel, Subwoofer Power: 17 watts RMS
Designed by Cambridge Soundworks, these speakers are a perfect edition to the Guillemot or Creative Labs series of soundcards. They are slighly larger than the 1000 series, and the sound is incredible. These speakers are perfect for positional audio in games and DVD, and the price is quite reasonable.


Logitech Internet Keyboard
The Logitech Internet keyboard puts all your favorite Web commands, applications, and sites right at your fingertips. This is a complete solution that provides all the functionality you want for entering text into your favorite applications, controlling your computer, and making the most of your on-line time.


Logitech Wheelmouse Optical Mouse
Choose a mouse that records motion optically instead of with a ball. There are no moving parts to breakdown. It works awesome with an Attack Pad. After months of use, you'll never have to stop and clean it. The revolutionary mouse shape nestles comfortably into your left or right hand. Enjoy easy scrolling without scrollbars and save time by using the buttons for shortcuts.


Voodoo Attack-Pad Mousing Surface (Not just another mousepad!)
The ATTACK-PAD made by Everglide is the best mousing surface your mouse will ever see. You won't believe the pinpoint accuracy you'll have when slaying your enemy, or just bumming around on the Internet. This product is more than just a 'mousepad' and it certainly 'completes' your high-performance Voodoo Computer accurately. The ATTACK-PAD is also 100% compatible with ALL Optical Mice.


Microsoft Windows ME Millenium Edition License, Operating Manual, & CD
Windows Millennium Edition is the new home operating system for PCs that brings the richness and convenience of the digital world to the home. YEAH WHATEVER! That was taken right from Microsoft's site. We say Windows Millenium is Windows 98 with a few upgrades. Either way, it's the latest operating system out, so you should probably buy this with your system.

[Sastraxi]

Voodoo Renowned Cabling System (Picasso)
The Voodoo cabling that was featured in Maximum PC Magazine when Voodoo was awarded a Perfect 10 Kick--Ass Award is standard installation on each and every Voodoo System. Simply put, you have to see it to believe it... It's an absolute work of art.


Voodoo Owners Manual & System Setup Poster
The Voodoo owners manual and poster is the icing on the cake. The Voodoo manual is chock full of useful information that can provide you with the critical guidelines you may need whether you're a seasoned professional with your system or just starting out. The Voodoo poster makes quick set up of your system a snap! Even my dog can make this look easy!


Voodoo Designer Documentation Binder
With the Voodoo Designer Documentation Full Disclosure Binder you will receive a customized specification sheet with IRQs, and Benchmarks for your particular machine. This Full Disclosure Documentation gives you the complete unedited original document for each and every major component in your Voodoo System (we are very specific with each brand name, and we have no problems sharing this with our customer.)


Voodoo Computers Silver Warranty: 3 Year Hardware Parts & Labour Included
Besides our quality hardware, what else makes our systems the best of the best? Our service plans... Voodoo is well known for our high-quality service: The Silver Warranty gives you a lifetime of free tech support for your system. It also provides you with unlimited service on all the computer hardware for up to three years on both parts and labour. (Peripherals and other items specified on your invoice are not covered by this warranty.) In addition, if you decide that you need a bit more power, you can exchange or upgrade any component in the system for up to 30 days, free of labour charges.. ATTENTION: It is highly recommended that you store all your original packaging that is shipped with your computer. Your warranty will not cover lost or damaged goods due to improper packaging and shipping. This includes all items, including printers, monitors, and scanners. **The manufacturer backs our monitors for at least 3 years Any peripherals such as monitors, printers, and scanners are covered directly by the manufacturers warranty. We spend a great deal of time evaluating our manufacturers before we sell their products. All the manufacturers have service centers across Canada and the US. Contact us for the instructions on how to get your product serviced or replaced in the shortest time possible. **This warranty applies only to those items on this invoice.


Voodoo Computers Virtual Onsite Desktop Support - 3 Year Plan*
The Virtual Onsite Support is an awesome feature that allows us to log into your machine if necessary and diagnose problems over a remote connection. We can fix almost anything, quickly and efficiently. *High Speed Internet Connection Required To Activate Voodoo Virtual Onsite Support.


Voodoo LIFETIME Upgrade & Restoration Insurance
The Voodoo Upgrade & Restoration Insurance is one of the best reasons to purchase a new Voodoo System over anything else. Imagine a few years after you purchased your system you want to perform a major upgrade - and you still want the same Voodoo quality you had from day one - but you don't want to spend an arm and a leg to do it. With Voodoo Upgrade & Restoration Insurance you can rest assured knowing that Voodoo will arrange to pickup your tower from anywhere in North America, bring it back to our facility, and upgrade it within your reasonable budget. With the purchase of your new upgrade, we will essentially restore your old system into a new rocket in a matter of approximately 15 business days (including a completely new cabling job!). The upgrade price will be determined prior to picking up the system, shipping be billed on a flat rate. Here is a list of the services we provide for FREE; (1) We will reinstall the entire Operating System. (2) We will update all drivers and tweak the computer to perform to Voodoo specs. (3) We will make a new VDRS with the latest drivers. (4) We will recable the entire machine. (5) We will run the computer through a full Voodoo New Computer Checklist (6) We will re-test and burn-in the computer as if it were new.


17" Samsung Syncmaster 755DF Monitor - 1600X1280 - .20-.24 Dot Pitch
Resolution - .20-.24 Dot Pitch - 3 Year Parts & Labour Warranty When purchasing a monitor consider the following explaination of the specifications. The Display Resolution (shown above) is the maximum number of pixels that can be displayed on the screen at one time - If the display maximum is around 1280X1024 or greater you are guaranteed to be buying a screen that won't flicker at any reasonable resolution. The Dot Pitch (shown above) tells you how much space in mm is in between each dot. The more space (the higher the #) the worse the picture will be. The average monitor is around a .28 Dot Pitch. A Sony Trinitron is around a .25 Dot Pitch. The Samsung Dynaflat is by far the best quality monitor on the market in a 17" - the low dot pitch makes it extra appealing!


Voodoo Disaster Recovery Set (VDRS) - License and Set Included
97% of all problems related to ANY computer are caused by SOFTWARE Problems. The VDRS set will allow you to repair all software problems with your new Voodoo Computer. The ultimate disaster recovery tool, this custom manufactured set contains all the tools that you need to recover from a disaster. If anything goes wrong with your software, the VDRS will re-build your hard drive back to factory condition - this means ALL applications that we installed on your PC from factory will be replaced in original condition. Remember, you must backup your data before using this Tool!


No Shipping Required Pickup from our Calgary Location or Local Courier Service Dropoff
Once your new Voodoo Computer is completely tested and benchmarked & burned-in, we will arrange same-day shipping if you live in the Calgary Area.


VoodooPC "Powerful Personal Computers" Tee-Shirt
If you own the best, you deserve to wear the best.


$3448.89 CDN
Approximate USD = $2328

[eer3]

Thanks you guys...This place really is the best because of the people.

You hit on my two biggest concerns - the video card and WinME. I really appreciate your time and comments.

[parksie]

Make sure if you get an SB Live! that it's the 5.1 version, because it has the extra Dolby Digital centre channel output, as well as front and rear line outputs. Very useful for DVD

[SurfDemon]

Sastraxi, are you in Canada?

P.S. The online ordering/design page for Voodoo computers

http://www.voodoo.ca/kitchen/qk_step...=GO_gaming.htm

was designed by me as part of an upgrade to their Inventory tracking and ordering system a few months ago.

As an aside, they make excellent computers and really do a good job of them. If I didn't build my own I would buy from them.

SD

[Emo]

Hehehe, I went to that www.voodoo.ca site and I made a pc for $26,000 USD

it had like
5 HDDs x 181GB each...
P4 1.7 GHz
512MB Ram
24" Monitor
Digital Surround sound speakers with a Subwolfer
Wireless keyboard and a wireless mouse w/o a ball
I don't remember the Video card and the motherboard, but they were expencive too

Yeah... someday I'll get that, but by the time that day comes, it will be worthless compared to the new ones...

-Emo

[denniswrenn]

That's crap.. I'd go with an AMD TBird 1.4ghz OCed to about 1500... that would kick the **** out of any pentium out right now

[Guv]

I, too, can build my own, but I still vote for a generic PC put together by the local clone maker.

After a bit of conversation with him, he can put together just what you need at a good price. Service is nearby if anything goes wrong. Just unplug everything and take the case back to him.

[Emo]

What is a clone maker????

-Emo

[barrk]

I suggest that you buy the above system and give it to your cubemate to test for you............just my two cents.