[mantis]

I am in need of a computer and I was wondering if this setup is a quality buy. I need a system that can handle average 3d rendering and a lot of RAM for adobe. I also need a good soundcard because I am putting together a homemade music studio in my basement. So basically the qualifications are good video card, and good sound card, as well as a lot of expansion room.

CPU : AMD Duron 700 - 100$

MotherBoard : ABIT KT7 - $160

Memory � 256MB Nanya or Mushkin Budget PC133 SDRAM (2x128MB DIMM�s) � $280

Video card � NVIDIA GeForce2 MX - $120

Chasis : KS-280 ATX Premium Mid Tower Case, 250W Power Supply, 7 Drive Bays,Beige - 100$

Sound Card : Sounblaster Live! - $50

MOnitor : 19inch/18.0V 24-25MM 1800X1440 CPD-E400 60HZ FD TRINITRON - $500

Mouse , Keyboard, OS, CD-ROM, Disk Drive can all be purchased later.

The whole thing comes to $1350

. . .

damn maybe I should buy a preconfigured system?


------------------
Arpan . B
[email protected]
www.liquid2k.com/koma
Highroller Studios

[PuckDewd]

The best thing to do if you are going to build your own is compare, compare, compare. Someone gave me this URL that lets you find the lowest price being offered on the net for these items http://www.pricewatch.com/ . Check them out and see what the cheapest price for the components are. The thing I like about them is that they are not one store specific, so all these store are trying to beat each others prices. Hope that helps you out a bit.
-Puck

[mantis]

umm. . .thats where I got the prices. I am 2 steps ahead of you. Custom building is rather expenisive, but I don't want a horrible unupgradable mobo.

------------------
Arpan . B
[email protected]
www.liquid2k.com/koma
Highroller Studios

[balistic]

That looks like a very solid system Mantis . . . I have a very similar system, though with a lesser TNT2 card, and a much sexier case:
http://baber.com/baber/products/mpemd6.htm

That Duron will render as fast as a 1000 MHz P3 . . . be sure that to rub that in when you talk to people who own 1000 MHz P3s

------------------

Brian "balistic" Prince
3D Artist
Eggington Productions

[lotor]

I don't think that it is good to build your own computer. My brother built his computer and none of the components seem to work well with each other.

You should use parts from all the same brand.

Personally if I was getting it to do art I would get a Mac. But I guess that doesn't matter because that is just because I was raised by Macs.

[mantis]

Sweeeeeet Caaaassssse!

Does it work well?

Cooling?

Expansion?

Overall Durability?

------------------
Arpan . B
[email protected]
www.liquid2k.com/koma
Highroller Studios

[balistic]

Its a really well-built enclosure, though it took me quite a while to figure out how to open it

There's no screws, you just squeeze in the buttons on either side and yank towards you. Its nice not having screws, but you have to be careful that there aren't any cords caught on the clips when you're putting the shell back on . . . I managed to strip a power supply wire that way.

Its pretty roomy inside, and the chassis is thick steel that's been painted green. It comes with a pretty good-sized case fan up front behind the oh-so-manga air intakes. My temperature isn't too bad without the front fan, so I leave it disconnected unless I'm doing a multi-day render.

I'm definitely happy with it.

Here's my specs:

- AMD "classic" 700 MHz Athlon w/ stock heatsink
- ASUS K7V mainboard
- 300 W Fortron powersupply (not sure if the new Durons need this, but the older Athlons liked a big powersupply)
- 256 MB of PC133 RAM. Half is Crucial, half is generic
- 20.4 GB Maxtor HDD (ATA 66)
- Elsa Erazor III Pro (32 Meg TNT2)
- SB Live! 128
- Internal ZIP100 drive
- 3.5" Teac floppy
- 40x Sony CDROM
- 19" Viewsonic Optiquest Q95
- requisite black keyboard
- Everglide Giganta pad with Mouse Bungee and MS 2-button scrolley mouse

It all runs rock-solid, and the fact that it looks sexy is a cool bonus.




------------------

Brian "balistic" Prince
3D Artist
Eggington Productions

[Chris]

Building your own system is not necessarily a bad thing.

I have built three fancy ones for family and friends and 2 regular ones...what I mean by fancy is the case. People are changin and they want better looking cases, rather then the traditional dell looking one.

The three fancy ones look like these:

This was for my aunt


This was for a linux guru, but didn't know crap about hardware hehe. He has 3 OS's on it, BeOS, Linux, and Win98. He is getting 2000 on it sometime also...


This one is kindof a wierd story...this guy (friend of a family member) has always owned macs. He had an Imac (blue) and said he can't find anything that matches his Imac to match he arrangment in his computer room! I tried not to laugh...I mean he was really stuck on having a matching PC to keep the consistensy of the color in the room (fasion freak as well). Anyway, I showed him this case and he thought I was god LOL..built it for him, he got it home...and now, you guessed it, he didn't think too far ahead and now he is having a tough time finding a monitor for it LOL

oh well.

[This message has been edited by Chris (edited August 31, 2000).]

[This message has been edited by Chris (edited August 31, 2000).]