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Author Topic: The New Machine Cometh
[GSF]NinjaHamster  1316 posts
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The New Machine Cometh 9/22/03 1:07am
<red>Note: If you don’t like long-winded rants, then skip to the bottom so you can look at the specs and pretty pictures.</red>

For the last five years I’ve been on the same machine, the quintessential family computer. A 333MHz Celeron with a near-fossilized ATI 8mb integrated video chip. Yes, it can run half-life… technically. I’ve slugged it out in Counter strike at a blazing 5-10 fps; I’ve watched slide-shows of demos like Alien vs. Predator 2 and SOF2… on the lowest detail settings. I’ve watched helplessly as high-resolution videos slowed my machine to a standstill. And I’ve utterly lost hope as a Geforce 2 FX continually overheated and/or crashed to the point where I simply yanked it out and screamed at the cursed beige box for several hours.

But now all is good. I started putting a little money away ever since I realized that the machine was lacking, hoping that some day I could get a real computer. Then I started using what little capacity my old machine had for artistic purposes, and I started putting a lot more money aside. A few months ago I reached the amount required to buy the kind of machine I was looking for. I looked at several gaming PC companies: Alienware, Velocity Micro, Voodoo, ABS, Vicious, Falcon NW, Ibuypower, and Hypersonic. For a long time I was planning to go with Alienware. They had a good reputation, and their new cases where more than unique. But as time continued to pass, I found that I could get a better video card from a comparably equipped Vicous (an ATI 9800 rather than a Geforce5600) for about $300 less. So I went with Vicious instead.

The Vicious case isn’t too shabby. The Entire front intake panel can be removed via a tab under the front of the machine, and it holds a washable air filter. The wiring job is ok, but it could have been better. With 5 fans (3 case, 1CPU, and 1GPU) it’s a little louder than I’m used to. Also, the cold cathode seemed to have just been thrown in with the wiring, though I had no trouble finding a much better place and securing it there. One final caveat: the case has a front panel with audio and USB ports, and while the motherboard supports all of these, it was inexplicably unconnected. I had no trouble connecting the USB ports, but the audio ports seem to be more of a problem (3 unmarked wires + simplistic motherboard manual = no audio at all the first time I tried connecting them). Luckily, I don’t need the front audio ports yet. I’m going to call/email Vicious in the morning and see if I can find out what I’m doing wrong. I would like to say that I am pleased with their customer support so far. I’ve never had to wait more than a couple minutes to get a hold of someone, and I’ve always found them competent in answering questions.

The bottom line is that this machine is fast. I have yet to find any game or demo that doesn’t perform amazingly at high resolution with maximum detail and full antialiasing. Yup, I’m all set for Half-Life 2. Mainly, this machine is going to be an animation/gaming/art platform. I’m hoping to get into the modding business in a few months. As of now, I’m still working on getting a wireless network setup so I can have a connection to the internet. Until then I’ll be seeing you from the quintessential family computer.


Specs:
Intel P4 2.8GHz
Albatron PX865PE PRO mainboard
512MB PC3200 DDR 400MHz
Western Digital 2700RPM 80GB hard drive
16X DVD-ROM drive
ATI Radeon 9800 PRO (128MB)
NEC Super Flat 19” monitor

Entire system:


The Case:

 

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osoboe  1365 posts
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RE: The New Machine Cometh 9/22/03 1:37am
Ninja Hamster posted:

The Vicious case isn’t too shabby.


Well your tastes in cases are high to say the least. The case looks awesome, even if you're currently having some trouble wiring it up.

That's some nice specs too. Did you buy the speakers and stick seperately?

 

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Haaaardflip  8197 posts
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RE: The New Machine Cometh 9/22/03 2:15am
In Reply To #1

It glows in the name of Jesus.

But still, get another 512mb of RAM and you're even more set. Oh, and by the way, your monitor is exactly the same as mine, except I have the Mitsubishi-NEC version, and the border around the screen is all silver.

 

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Cyrris  9061 posts
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RE: The New Machine Cometh 9/22/03 2:38am
In Reply To #1

Impressive.

Good idea upgrading to the Radeon, too. If you hadn't, I would have whacked you over the head with a tree stump.

As has been said though - get 512MB more RAM. It's dirt cheap at the moment, an Vavle says that HL2 will eat alot of it - 512MB isn't enough for seamless play.

A gig for your rig. It's the new thing.

 
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[GSF]JohnDoe  1939 posts
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RE: The New Machine Cometh 9/22/03 3:31am
niec rig, though I'd have gone with a CRT monitor (better for gaming/less expensive), a larger HD and 5.1 sound. But that's just me.

 

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Cyrris  9061 posts
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RE: The New Machine Cometh 9/22/03 4:28am
In Reply To #5

I do believe it is CRT, judging by that shot. It's just a flat CRT. Like mine, except 2 inches bigger.

 
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[GSF]NinjaHamster  1316 posts
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RE: The New Machine Cometh 9/22/03 1:15pm
In Reply To #2
I was really trying to cut down on non-essential costs for the system, so I opted to use my stereo system instead of buying PC speakers, and I didn’t buy a sound card either (the motherboard has an integrated 5.1). And stuff like the joystick and external CDRW drive are things I was using on my old system.

In Reply To #3&4
Yeah, memory is going to be my next upgrade. I decided to get the best non-upgradable hardware first (processor, GPU, monitor) and then upgrade things like memory later.

In Reply To #5
Cyrris is correct; it is a CRT.

 

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[GSF]Fast  4428 posts
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RE: The New Machine Cometh 9/22/03 1:24pm
In Reply To #1

Nice specs.
Not as nice as mine, but nice still.
Heh. heh.

Dell
3.2ghz Pentium 4
1GB RAM
2 17" Digital Flat-Panel Monitors
CDRW Drive
DVD Drive
Audigy 2 Soundcard
Subwoofer + Speakers
NVIDIA Quadro FX graphics card





 

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Mystical_Mr._Bob  2484 posts
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RE: The New Machine Cometh 9/22/03 1:25pm
Fuck you spankz.

 

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[GSF]Fast  4428 posts
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RE: The New Machine Cometh 9/22/03 1:40pm
In Reply To #9
Mystical Mr. Bob posted:

Fuck you spankz.


That's not nice.
What did Spankz ever do to you that made you want to come into some random thread and say that?

 

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CookieJesus  5691 posts
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RE: The New Machine Cometh 9/22/03 3:20pm
In Reply To #8
Only yours is the jobs...

 

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[GSF]JohnDoe  1939 posts
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RE: The New Machine Cometh 9/22/03 4:12pm
indeed. At least mines are my own:

Asus A7N8X-Deluxe
AMD Athlon XP 2500
Maxtor Diamond Plus 9 LFB 120 GB 8 MB cache, 7200rpm (I used to have 2, but one died a few weeks ago )
GeForce 3 ti200 (128 MB DDR)
512 MB 333Mhz DDR Ram
CDRW drive(52x24x52)
DVD Drive (16x?)
17" CTX CRT (non-flat, it's 4 years old)

ECS K7S5A
AMD Athlon XP 2000
Maxtor Diamond Plus 9 40 GB 7200 rpm 8 MB cache
512 MB 266Mhz DDR RAM
S3 Savage 4 (32 MB, just to hook a monitor onto it, I use it for server)
CD-ROM drive(52x)

Asus P2L97
Pentium II 300 Mhz
Western Digital 40 GB 5400 rpm
...(dunno what brand) 4.3 GB 5400 rpm
Diamond Monster Fusion (16MB, to put a monitor on, this is another server)
CD-ROM drive (24x)

yes, they're not top of the line (not even my best one), but they're mine and they do the job very well.

 

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Spankz  4809 posts
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RE: The New Machine Cometh 9/22/03 4:54pm
In Reply To #10

*shrug*

In Reply to #1

Factory built mods.. they're so... soul-less.. like pre-ripped/faded pants.

" Dude, your black pants are like snow-white on your ass, whats the up? "

"That was when I went rock climbing with my friend bro, and we slit down 300 feet of rock-surface on our asses.. it kinda fucked up my pants but it was worth it."

" Dude, what about your pants "

" I paid $120 for them... "

Otherwise, what'd the whole thing end up costing you?
(insert smack talkin not buying a computer from him for cheaper/better)




 

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Haaaardflip  8197 posts
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RE: The New Machine Cometh 9/23/03 7:13am
In Reply To #8

You have pictures of farm yard porn on your desk. Again, what company did you say you were working for?

 

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[GSF]FiN  9674 posts
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RE: The New Machine Cometh 9/23/03 1:11pm
In Reply To #1

My computer's better, neener neener:

AthlonXP 3000+
Gigabyte nForce2
Audigy 2 + 6.1 Speakers
1024MB Kingston DDR RAM
409GB Storage Space (Two Western Digital 200GB HDDs, 7200 RPM, 8MB Cache - One Maxtor 40GB, 7200 RPM)
Radeon 9800 Pro 256MB
Diamond Data 21" Monitor-o-doom.

Of course, mine isn't quite so pretty as your setup. But prebuilt rigs, and casemodded rigs tend to suuuuck

 

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chadowen  3113 posts
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RE: The New Machine Cometh 9/23/03 1:38pm
In Reply To #1

I lurve that case, great design.

Now you need to get SWG wink

 

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