Advice on new system

[HeavyH]

I am considering building a new gaming system.  I'll start by saying I am not computer savey.  I don't want to be either (too much going on in my world to learn and comprehend all that technogobble).  I don't want to do anything except play AHII, and maybe go online.  No other programs other than the basic stuff.  I want to add a tracker IR system if that matters.  Can anyone recommend the specific components it would take to build this system, and a ballpark cost?  I don't want to skimp on anything, but also don't have thousands to spend either.  

My Best Buy "straight out of the box" Compaq is back in the shop getting its 3rd video card since I started Aces High.  They last about 3 months and then they fry.  

Any ideas would be appreciated.

Steve

[daddog]

Heavy I was playing with the guts of my systems for a few years before I tried to build one. Now I can put one together from some old parts, swap hard drives, memory, some basic stuff, but when I really get into it I still end up calling for help more often that not. I suppose that is because I don’t “tinker” with them on a regular basis. Many of these guys seem to build multiple systems a year and get pretty good at it.

If you have never built a system before unless you are by nature good with your hands, mechanically, electronically inclined I would not suggest you try it. Not sure if everyone would agree, but I tend to be more cautious.

If you do build your own you will save hundreds of dollars to be sure, even thousands. I would guess you could buy the parts for a high end system for $1200 and put it together, but not be able to buy something comparable from Gateway/Dell for less than $3000.

So do you still want to build your own? If so what computer stores are near you? Do you purchase things online? If so you can get all you need from www.newegg.com http://www.tigerdirect.com/ and http://www.buyxg.com. Also if you want to really shop around and save some $ I suggest you use http://www.pricewatch.com/ I have used Pricewatch for a few years and have always been happy. They list all the online computer stores and their prices. For example say you are looking for a new Maxtor 80 gig hard drive they will list it for you from the cheapest to the most expensive. You then pick who you want to buy it from. I always check out the reviews and never from the “fly by night” looking businesses.
 

[Wklink]

Jim, I would have said you were right about four years ago.  Today though you can get some pretty good deals on computers, especially if you aren't the tinker with the computer type.

For about 1400 dollars you can get a very nice Dell Dimension 8400 with a 3.2 gig PIV, a gig of memory, a 160 meg HD, a standard GF 6800 vid card (with 256 megs of onboard memory), monitor, keyboard, etc.

This should run AH well into it's upgrades and such.  Other companies will sell something for a similar price.  Dell has been pretty good to me, I will probably get a laptop from them this fall.

Buying components and building computers just isn't worth it anymore, especially when you try to add in the cost of the Operating system, the inevitable screwups and fighting to get the system up and running and shipping costs of individual components.

[Ghosth]

I have to disagree tom, at least in certain circumstances.

Granted you can buy a computer for 600$ these days.
Or you can spend that same 600$, get more for your money.
Be able to upgrade if you want to. (you never know for sure exactly what your getting with a dell, compaq, etc)

If you can migrate any parts at all from your old system you can see substantial savings. Granted if your paying 200+ for a copy of win XP that adds a lot to the costs of building one. If your putting an old copy of 98SE, your saving a lot. It all comes down to the details.

Personally I've had very good luck with mwave.com

Especially their motherboard bundles. It won't let you pick componants that are not compatable, they have an option to assemble & test for 9$. Which IMO is the cheapest insurance you can buy to know that your parts
will arrive, and run first time.

Last, if something goes wrong with a system you built, you at least have an idea of where to start looking.  9 times out of 10 you can figure out where the problem is. After all you put it all together, you KNOW whats in there. You can track it down and figure it out.

Show me how you can do that with a dell.

[HeavyH]

Let me clarify, I am not going to do the work myself, rather will find a local computer shop to put the system together.  I guess I should have said I want to have a custom system built from components rather than buying another mass produced package deal.  

Thanks,

Steve

[daddog]

Oh ok.
So you want to walk in to the local computer store and tell the guy what you want? Your looking for specs on a system to have them build then?

How much $ can you spend?  

[HeavyH]

I don't really have a set amount.  I bought my "computer in a box" from Best Buy for about 650.00.  I thought I could do beter than that if I didn't need all the additional bells and whistles.  Maybe I do need them.... truth is I don't really know what I need.  Can you build a gaming computer for under 500.00?  I have a moniter, but would just buy another if the price was right.  

Thanks,

Steve

[daddog]

Heavy,

I have always heard good things about alienware systems, but they are expensive.
http://www.alienware.com/main_gaming.aspx

You could go to their site, pick one that looks good, write down the specs and then take it to the local shop and see what they can do for you. Here is one that looks great for gaming!

Processor
AMD Athlon™ 64
3000+ Processor or better
XP Operating System
Memory 1GB
Hard Drive 120 Gig Maxtor or Seagate 8MB Cache
Graphics Processor:
ATI RADEON 9550SE 128MB
or
GeForce6600 GT 128MB
Sound Card Sound Blaster Live Value

What ever you do get make sure you can upgrade your CPU from what you start with.

What kind of flight gear do you have? Stick, throttle, pedals?
 

[mrmidi]

If you want to build a system I would suggest starting with what is called
a "Bare Bones" system.
You can get one that has the motherboard and cpu w/fan installed.
Asus, MSI, are good motherboards. "recent experience with this"
Most come with a  case keyboard and mouse

The words "Dell", "Compact", "Hewlitt Packard", Gateway" and such
are exactlly that words, more often that not thats what you paying for.
You can build the same computer with the same name brand parts
in a case without thier name on it for 1/2 the cost.



I would stray away from the words "Sempron", and "Celeron"
they tend to be the low end AMD and Intel processors.
Personally I prefer AMD for gaming.

1-2 gigs of ram is good for gaming,
I bought a g-force 256meg AGP video card for around $99.00

It would seem as far as the joystick goes a lot of the guys
like the X-45, I use a Microsoft Precision Pro.

The size of the hard drive is your discretion.

As far as cd-rom drives go if you ain't gonna make DVD
movies whats the sence of having a DVD-R drive
I would suggest a CD,CD-RW, DVD combo drive
Lite-On has some great deals.

Now to my favorite part the "Sound Card"
Rule #1  Dissable the onboard sound on the motherboard.
Rule #2 Buy a Sound Blaster card
(being a musician I had to splurg on this one and bought a
Sound Blaster Audigy2 ZS Platinum" very pricie but thats what I wanted)
still tweeking it.

If you have a good LCD monitor and are happy with it
then I would stick with it.

Thats just my .02 cents worth
I'm sure some of the other guy's might have other suggestions
on some of this.

And don't let daddog scare you about building one your self
it's more common scence  than anything else
square pegs don't fit in round holes.
Most every thing you buy now days
comes with simple installation instructions.
(Not to mention all the Mongrels with the knowllage and will to help)

Mr. Midi
X.O. 332nd Fighting Mongrels
mrmidi@332ndfm.com



 

[Wanker]

HeavyH,

I read your first post carefully, and it sounds to me like your best bet is to establish a relationship with a local, reputable PC shop that has been in business for many years. If I understand you correctly, you want them to be able to "Come out and fix it" if something goes wrong.  That's where the local PC shop beats out the big hitters like Dell and HP, etc..

If that local shop is like the shops around here, they have their "stock" brands of components that they will use to build a system for you. But, if you request, they can probably custom order specific brand name parts. This is what I would do: take a generic list of components that you need in your system to them, and ask them to give you a detailed list of the system, complete with total price out the door. Then post that here so we can make sure you're getting quality brand name stuff. Once we sign off on it, then you can either give them the "go-ahead", or make changes as needed.

You want a gaming rig, so this means three things to focus on: CPU, RAM, Video card. Everything else is relatively unimportant. Spend the greater part of the money on those three items, and AH will run for many years for you.

I'm not going to suggest the absolute latest greatest in hardware, in order to keep the cost reasonable. That's why the more PC savvy folks here won't see me recommend a PCI-Express video card or motherboard.  With that in mind, here's the generic list I'd bring to them, and see what they come back to you with:

CPU -  Either Intel or AMD.  Something around 3.0 Ghz.  There's no point in arguing between Intel and AMD. They are both good. As Mrmidi pointed out, avoid any CPU with "Celeron" or "Sempron" in the name. They are lesser CPU's that are not suitable for gaming.

RAM -  1 GB is good, no less than that. Tell them you want good, name brand RAM, not some cheap no-name brand RAM.  Kingston, Crucial, Corsair are just three names of good quality RAM. Also, make sure they know that you want at least one slot open for future upgradability, so that you can bump your RAM up to 2 Gigs in the future.

Video Card -  128 MB ATI Radeon 9800 Pro or 128 MB nVidia GeForce 6600GT. Both are great cards for the money right now. Not top of the line, but arguably "Best bang for the buck".

Motherboard -  Anything from a name brand, reliable manufacturer like Asus, Abit, MSI, Gigabyte. Make sure it has at least 4 USB 2.0 ports, although 8 would be better. A good motherboard will have a decent built-in 6.1 or 5.1 surround sound card on it that is good enough for gaming. You could also spend $120 more and get that Sound Blaster Audigy 2 game card that MrMidi recommends, too. But for just gaming, a good motherboard will have a decent onboard sound card that would do the trick. Stay away from motherboards that advertise "AC97" sound card. That's not quality. Also, make sure the motherboard has an onboard 100MB ethernet card built in. That will prevent you from having to purchase an additional network card.

Hard Drive -  Don't buy a huge, expensive hard drive if all you're going to do is play AH and a couple other games. Be frugal here, and the money you save on the HD can go toward a faster CPU.  An 80 GB hard drive is plenty big for anything you'd need.  

CD-ROM- Another area to be frugal in. This is a gaming rig. Put all the money into the CPU, RAM and Video card.

Modem - If you're on broadband, you won't need this. But if you live in the sticks, you'll need one. Something name brand is fine, like US Robotics.

Case/Power Supply - You don't have to spend a lot of money here, either, but you want to get a case that has at least one intake and one outtake fan in the case, besides the fans on the power supply. See if they can use a case and power supply from Antec. If they can, you know you will have a quality case/power supply. Power Supply should be at least 430w.

If you can get them to give you an itemized parts list of the components they are going to use, do so and post it hear for us to peruse. We can help you avoid any junk. In fact, don't be afraid to tell them that you want name brand, quality components....and that your internet gaming buddies will be checking their list to make sure they're using quality components.  

Good luck! You should be able to get a decent gaming rig like this for $1000-1500.  




 

[HeavyH]

Thanks for all the replys.  I will take this info with me to the local ma/pa type computer shop that is near my house and see what they come up with.  

As far as flight gear, I am limited to what I can use since I fly with my left hand.  I have been using the EVO Saitek, which I like fairly well, but I go through one every other month.  I'd like to disable the rudder function on the stick and get pedals, but haven't been able to figure out how to do that.  I stepped up a few months ago and bought the entire CH package with f-16 stick, throttle and pedals.  I tried the set for 2 days and finally realized I would never be able to switch hands so I returned everything.   Sometimes it sucks to be a leftie (or impatient....I haven't figured out which in this case).

Here's another question....  can I attach a second joystick and use the throttle and buttons on that one but not use the stick for anything?  I was hopting to utilize one of the bad EVO's I have sitting around here for extra buttons to map things to and place the throttle on the other side of the desktop.  

Thanks again,

Steve  

 

[Wanker]

Here's another question....  can I attach a second joystick and use the throttle and buttons on that one but not use the stick for anything?  I

Yes, absolutely. In fact, you can use any axis of any joystick to function as your rudder or throttle.

For example, you can use the "x" axis of another joystick (moving it sideways, like you were banking your wings) to be your rudder.  Basically, because of the wonders of "Direct-X", you can setup  any axis on any joystick (or throttle or rudder pedals) to server whatever function you want. You would do this inside the AH joystick setup panel thingie.  

[daddog]

That is good stuff guys. Wanker I will put your info with others into a sticky on the basics of building a gaming system.

 

[skernsk]

Heavy,

Here is one that looks great for gaming!

Processor
AMD Athlon™ 64
3000+ Processor or better
XP Operating System
Memory 1GB
Hard Drive 120 Gig Maxtor or Seagate 8MB Cache
Graphics Processor:
ATI RADEON 9550SE 128MB
or
GeForce6600 GT 128MB
Sound Card Sound Blaster Live Value

 

My brother just got a system very similar to this.  I do not know the cost, but frames rates are very good and it seems that it will be good for a couple of years....

It you are a lefty and using a twist stick I recommend the Saitek Cyborg USB Gold.  Not too expensive and adjustable for the lefty.  I used it for over a year and it was rock solid.  The twist is not real 'loose' so you could fly without sideslipping unknowingly.

Cyborg USB GOLD