updawg Posted June 17, 2005 Share Posted June 17, 2005 I'm currently in the process of becoming a computer engineer and while at work I just put together computer's I'd like to own because I have nothing better to do. (I work for the government go figure) if I had the extra cash I'd like to buy this. Alienware is my computer company of choice if you couldn't tell. Operating System: Microsoft® Windows® XP Professional with Service Pack 2 Chassis: Alienware® ALX Full-Tower Case - Space Black Power Supply: PC Power & Cooling 510 Express 650 Watt peak power Motherboard: Alienware® nForce4 SLI Chipset Motherboard PCI Express Processor: AMD Athlon 64 X2 4800+ Processor with HyperTransport and Dual Core Technology Memory: 2GB Corsair XMS Dual Channel DDR SDRAM at up to 550MHz - 4 x 512MB Graphics Processor: Dual NVIDIA® GeForce 6800 Ultra PCI Express 256MB DDR3 with NVIDIA SLI Technology Chassis Upgrades: AlienIce 2.0 Video Cooling System with Acoustic Dampening - Fusion Red System Drive: Extreme Performance - Serial ATA RAID 0 - 148GB (74GB x 2) Serial ATA 10,000 RPM w/16MB Cache Storage Drive: Additional Storage Drive - 74GB Serial ATA 10,000 RPM w/8MB Cache Optical Drive One: Lite-On® 16x DVD / 52x36x52x CD-RW Drive Optical Drive Two: NEC® ND-3520 16x Dual Layer DVD±R/W Drive Sound Card: Creative Sound Blaster® Audigy® 4 Pro High Definition 7.1 Surround Sound with Dual Firewire (IEEE® 1394) Network Connection: Integrated High Performance Gigabit Ethernet Security Software: Norton Internet Security 2005 Security Software: Norton AntiVirus 2005 Portable Storage : Alienware® 10-in-1 Digital Media Reader / Writer Power Protection: Opti-UPS ES1500C 1400VA (980W Capacity) Speakers: Klipsch ProMedia Ultra 5.1 500-Watt Speakers ALX Wireless Keyboard and Mouse: Alienware® ALX Wireless Optical Desktop Elite by Microsoft® Productivity Software: Microsoft® Office 2003 Small Business Edition Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JJkizak Posted June 17, 2005 Share Posted June 17, 2005 Booting from your raid setup is very dangerous. One blip and your out.Use a separate IDE drive for the OS. Use the raid setup for doing the action stuff, not storage. Use another computer for your online stuff with the Norton. Norton will slow your good machine down about 20%. The online computer can be an old dog laying around the house and if you have DSL make sure you set it up with a router and firewall, not a software firewall. Keep your good machine offline with no anti-virus or firewall. The NEC and the Plextor 716A are the two best burners on the market right now, the plextor does give a deeper burn. JJK Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wheelman Posted June 18, 2005 Share Posted June 18, 2005 Alienware is cool. What monitor would you go with? It would be a tough call on color for me. The black, silver, or white. I really like the white with ice blue lighting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
meuge Posted June 18, 2005 Share Posted June 18, 2005 ---------------- On 6/17/2005 6:55:09 PM JJKIZAK wrote: Booting from your raid setup is very dangerous. ---------------- Nah - actually quite the contrary - I don't care much for my OS, since it takes about 19 minutes to reinstall windows XP on my RAID array. The only thing I use separate drives for, is for storage. UPDAWG - Quick advice: 1) for data security, get a 300gb external drive and use Second Copy or similar software to sync and backup nightly 2) never use anything by Symantec... this is the list of software you should use instead (all free): - Antivirus - AVG Free Edition - Firewall - Kerio Personal Firewall - Spyware protection - Spywareblaster and Spybot Search & Destroy 3) Alienware is nice, but EXTREMELY overpriced. I could put together a computer that will match it in every way for close to 1/2 the price. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BetaTester Posted June 18, 2005 Share Posted June 18, 2005 Looks like you are planning on putting some serious cash out on the table for this machine. I would consider looking at the new Dell XPS Generation V Desktops. Then again, I could help you out with the Employee Price, which blows the Alienware away for price. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wheelman Posted June 18, 2005 Share Posted June 18, 2005 I don't know about Dell blowing away Alienware on value. It's close I would think . As for putting together a computer for half the price that is a reality if your going to build it yourself. Thats the route i went, but still the Alienware case rules. Plus I still wish I went with Alienware, or shuttle. Shuttle.com computers are great also for the compact look, and a great prepackaged value. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dragonfyr Posted June 18, 2005 Share Posted June 18, 2005 I like the Coolermaster Stacker case with crossflow fan - plus its BTX format compliant so you won't need to replace it with the new format mobos and cooling topologies. http://www.ocprices.com/index.php?rev_id=238&action=reviews&cat_id=67 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
meuge Posted June 18, 2005 Share Posted June 18, 2005 Best monitor available right now for desktop computers - Dell 2405FPW... which is a 24-inch wide-aspect LCD with a 1920x1200 resolution and 12ms response rate. Great for work, games, and especially movies. My friend owns the 2005FPW, which is the 20" version of that monitor... and it's amazing. Beautiful color, really high contrast - really black blacks... and no noticeable ghosting or trailing, even in FPS games. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrWho Posted June 18, 2005 Share Posted June 18, 2005 You might wanna change out the sound card too Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
updawg Posted June 18, 2005 Author Share Posted June 18, 2005 I've never heard any problems about booting off a raid drive before, and whats wrong with the audigy four? Drive space isn't a big deal for me I've never used more then 60 gigs before, and I store videos just on dvd's. My music collection isn't huge.. only about 2k songs and that only takes up like 10 gig. JJKIZAK can you find an article about the problems of raid drives, I'd be really interested to take a look. I know I could put a computer together for cheaper than alienware, it's just something about their computers that is technically sound and you can't get from diy. They also have great tech support (not that I would need it) but this computer would kick major arse. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
updawg Posted June 18, 2005 Author Share Posted June 18, 2005 betatester I'm interested in your employee discount haha, what percent is it? Dell's high end stuff can't compare to alienware but there mid range computers blow alienware out of the water for the price you're paying. I have a dell inspiron 9100 3.2 ghz p4 w/ ht, 128 mobile radeon 9700, 1028 sodimm ddr pc3200, 60 gig hd 5400 rpm, 4x dvd burner. I love my laptop I really don't need it for battery power just taking it back and forth to school. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JJkizak Posted June 18, 2005 Share Posted June 18, 2005 Updawg: Sony video forum, but thats a raid 0 setup. If you set it up as raid 1 one drive will (mirror) retain the info but it will be slower. Personally I am using a Medea SCSI raid 0 setup on two units and a SATA raid 0 on my video setup. The SCSI one crapped once and I lost everything. My guru buddy say's the SATA raid is pretty reliable from the motherboard but a bit dicy from an adapter card. So far the Intel board SATA raid 0 has been OK. I really don't need to boot that fast so I use a standard IDE ATA 100 for the OS. I use two 250gig Maxtor drives on the SATA. JJK Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lb19984 Posted July 9, 2005 Share Posted July 9, 2005 get ureself dual 7800's it'll be twice as fast for a mere $100 or so Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
updawg Posted July 14, 2005 Author Share Posted July 14, 2005 yeah they weren't released though at the time of the post, but the benchmark scores on 3d mark 05 are amazing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lb19984 Posted July 14, 2005 Share Posted July 14, 2005 i know..... u can get them relarively cheap 2 like $500 on dell.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
updawg Posted July 19, 2005 Author Share Posted July 19, 2005 Dream Laptop I put together today at work made by Sager (http://www.sagernotebooks.com) CPU<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /> Pentium® 4 Processor 670 with HT Technology / 2MB L2 Cache, 3.8GHz (LGA775) Display 17.0" WUXGA Active Matrix LCD with Super Clear Glossy Surface Video Controller Nvidia Quadro FX Go 1400 PCI-Express 16X Graphics with 256MB DDR3 Video Memory Memory 2GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 533MHz - 2 X 1024MB Primary Hard Drive 60.0GB (7200rpm) Ultra DMA Hard Drive Floppy Drive External USB 3.5" 1.44MB Floppy Drive CD-ROM/DVD-ROM 8X DVD ± <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" /> R/RW/+DL Combo Drive with LightScribe Technology Battery 12 Cell Smart Li-ION Battery Modem Integrated 56K V.90 Internal Fax/Modem Network Adapter Integrated 1000Mbps Ethernet LAN + Internal 802.11g Wireless LAN & Bluetooth Combo Module TV-Tuner TV-Tuner with Remote Control (Universal) Operating System Microsoft Windows XP Professional Application Software Microsoft Office 2003 Small Business Edition Package Warranty 1-year standard warranty from Sager Price Total: $4,280.00 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Khorn Posted August 16, 2005 Share Posted August 16, 2005 I had this built in January and have been very happy with it as an all round computer. Here are the basics: Processor: P4 560 3.6G 1MB 800FSB MOBO: AS-P5AD2-E-PRE Asus MOBO LGA 775 Intel 925XE Chipset Ram: 2GB DDR2 533MHZ 4 x 512MB PC4300 Video Card: Asus AS-AX800XT-2DT Asus (ATI) Radeon X800XT 256MB 2xDVI PCI Express Sound Card: Creative SBAUD2ZS 'Audigy2 ZS' Hard Drive: Seagate Baraccuda ST34008-32AS SATA2 400GB 7200 RPM 8MB NCQ Monitor: Viewsonic VP912B LCD 19" 12ms Antec mid-tower Sonata Enermax 600w Noise Taker PS Pioneer DVR-108 DVD writer LG 52x32x52 CD writer Logitech MX-510 Optical mouse and Elite Keyboard. Windows XP Pro Office 2003 Pro Symantec Norton Internet Security Suite a bunch of other software.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tc3sean Posted August 28, 2005 Share Posted August 28, 2005 Intel Pentium D 840, socket 775, dual core cpu. Asus P5ND2-SLI. 2x leadtek geforce 7800GTX's. 4x Western digital carvier SE 300 gb drives in raid (0+1) 2xWestern Digital 10k 74 gb hdds. Antec P180 case. PC power and cooling 850 watt psu. Corsair 4x 1 gig sticks of ram unbuffered 3200 Plextor PX-716AL/SW Windows Professional 64x edition. Audigy 2zs Platnium Klipsch Promedia Ultras Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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