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[LImitPlayer]

I am going to buy a new computer, I am lost when it comes to computer components so any imput would be nice.

I would be using the computer for gaming and poker.

This would be from Dell

Pentium D 840 Extreme Edition Dual Core processor with HT technology (3.2GHz 800MHz FSB 2MB cache)

1GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM 533 MHz

74 GB Serial ATA HD (10,000RPM)

3.5" floppy

Advanced Sound Blaster® AudigyTM 2 ZS (D)

Couple of questions that I have are is 1) hyper-threading technology any good? 2) IS dual channel DDR2 SDRAM any good?

I already have a Nvidia Geforce 6800 GT for a video card, I also don't need a monitor, keyboard, mouse or speakers, as I'll be using the old ones from my old computer.

I burn the occasional music cd, play a lot of games and I never watch movies on my computer so I was thinking of getting a CD/DVD combo, A single drive 16x CD/DVD burner (DVD+/-RW) w double layer write cabability. What does the double layer write capability mean? This is an extra $150 is it worth it?
What about just gettting a 48x CD-RW drive?

Anything I am missing or you think that I need that you could recomend?

[Shajen]

dump the floppy drive and get the cd/dvd burner.

If only because I have a dvd burner and a seperate cd R/W drive, and it's a PITA.

[LImitPlayer]

I can get the same CPU without Dual Core technology for $1,000 less. What is dual core technology and is it worth it?

[Shajen]

It is two processor cores on one die essentially like having a dual processor system in one processor.

It's new tech, so you're gonna pay for it. Performance is better, but unless you're doing something pretty damned intensive, you won't notice the difference.

(At least in my opinion anyway)

[Shajen]

also, this might help:

explanation. (http://www.short-media.com/review.php?r=261)

It's where I got the previous answer I gave.

[Mars357]

Hyper-threading is cool and WinXP SP1 and later will use it. Having said that, I doubt that any poker software will take advantage of it.

The ram is great! My only suggestion would be to pay more to get the 1GB on one chip. Memory can come in may configurations and you can end up with a gig by installing 4 256 MB chips or 2 512 MB chips or 1 1 GB chip. If you are getting to a gig by using 4 256 chips, you'll have to completely replace some of your ram to add more. Most computers have either 2 or 4 memory slots. On a new system, I like to leave at least half of them empty for future upgrades (unless you are maxing out the memory...and at 1 GB I doubt you are.

I agree with the post about loosing the floppy and getting the cd/dvd burner...

Other than that, the drive, CPU and FSB look great. You'll be very pleased with this computer.

my .02
Mars

[LImitPlayer]

Thank You

[LImitPlayer]

This may be a dumb question but will I be able to remove the existing graphiics card it comes with and replace it with my Nvidia one?

The Dell guys said it comes it has to come with the prepackaged video card as it is part of the motherboard.

[Freakin]

Yes, HT & dual channel are both good. Make sure you get a motherboard that has the right interface for your 6800GT.

Get a 16x dual layer burner. Dual layer is not really used yet for recordable media, but it's standard for commercial DVDs. The reason they are able to hold like 8.5GB is because they have a laser that can focus through one layer and into another, effectively doubling capacity. Soon you will be able to make full copies of DVDs without any compressing. Drives exist, but media is hard to find/overpriced. I've switched to AMD recently, but this looks like a good system.

Freakin

[Freakin]

[ QUOTE ]
This may be a dumb question but will I be able to remove the existing graphiics card it comes with and replace it with my Nvidia one?

The Dell guys said it comes it has to come with the prepackaged video card as it is part of the motherboard.

[/ QUOTE ]

It has onboard video. You'll need to diable this in the bios. It's pretty easy, hit delete when the computer starts up (it will usually tell you to) and look for something like "Bios VGA Enable" or "Onboard Video"

Freakin

[kurosh]

1. Do not buy desktops from Dell. You're much better off building your own.

[Freakin]

Well if we're going that route

Asus A8N-Sli
AMD 3500+
1GB corsair XMS
Raptor 74Gig 10k
Audigy ZS2

Freakin

[LImitPlayer]

Why is that? Is dell overpriced or just no good?

[kurosh]

Overpriced, especially the RAM. Bad motherboard. Less flexibility.

[Freakin]

[ QUOTE ]
Why is that? Is dell overpriced or just no good?

[/ QUOTE ]

overpriced and less-configurable, with lesser quality parts than if you built it yourself (for the most part).

Freakin

[fluxrad]

I disagree w/ the overpriced comment. You'll definitely spend more building a box on your own, but it's definitely worth it. (The last box I bought from a manufacturer was a Craptiva back in '97).

Also, I echo what the other posters said. You need to know if your GF6800 is AGP or PCI-E. Make sure you get the right motherboard.

Oh...and if you build one yourself. Don't get an Audigy. Go with something from M-Audio.

[Freakin]

Whats wrong w/ the audigy (or what's right w/ M-Audio?). I got a free audigy, so I'm using it.

Though I think my PSU is not pumping enough power, cause my system no longer likes 3d since I put it in (and it's typical of an underpowered GPU).

Freakin

[wacki]

[ QUOTE ]
Advanced Sound Blaster® AudigyTM 2 ZS (D)

[/ QUOTE ]

Onboard NVIDIA sound isn't much different. If you are going to dump money into a sound card wait for the Audigy's replacement.

[ QUOTE ]
1) hyper-threading technology any good?

[/ QUOTE ]

Nothing to scream about.

[ QUOTE ]
2) IS dual channel DDR2 SDRAM any good?

[/ QUOTE ]

yes


[ QUOTE ]
74 GB Serial ATA HD (10,000RPM)

[/ QUOTE ]

Go slickdeals.net this is small

[ QUOTE ]
Pentium D 840 Extreme Edition Dual Core processor with HT technology (3.2GHz 800MHz FSB 2MB cache)

[/ QUOTE ]

Errr... AMD is the king of the hill. Especially if you play games. It has been this way for a very long time.


http://images.anandtech.com/graphs/amd%20athlon%2064%20x2%204800%20launch_05080510055 1/7437.png

[fluxrad]

[ QUOTE ]
Whats wrong w/ the audigy (or what's right w/ M-Audio?). I got a free audigy, so I'm using it.

Though I think my PSU is not pumping enough power, cause my system no longer likes 3d since I put it in (and it's typical of an underpowered GPU).

Freakin

[/ QUOTE ]

Well, if you have an Audigy already then just use that. Generally, SoundBlaster drivers suck ass. Also, they have relatively shitty ASIO support if you're doing any real-time audio stuff (like anything from Steinberg or Propellerheads). The M-Audio stuff is considered pro gear and I'd recommend it if you were going to throw down for a card. I suppose that's a moot point now.

As for your PSU: What's the wattage?

[LImitPlayer]

Doens't Athlon have a reliabilty issue? I thought that the Athlon cards overheated a lot, unless you put a ton of fans in the system, which makes for one hell of a loud computer

[Freakin]

http://img131.echo.cx/img131/8014/17171001034zp.jpg

Running a dvdrom, two HD (one 7200 one raptor) a bfg 6800gt oc (at stock 370/1000), 3500+, and two dimms. Everything worked fine until I added the audigy.

It runs for a little bit, then will hard reset the system after hanging it. This is the same thing that happens if you fail to plug in the power connectors to the vid card. It lasts longer if I don't plug power into the sound card (which is for the external box).

I figured this would be enough power, but I'm obviously mistaken. I'm gonna be in an especially bad state if I try to add another 6800 in a few months (even though it's completely unnecessary).

Any thoughts?

Freakin

[wacki]

[ QUOTE ]
Doens't Athlon have a reliabilty issue? I thought that the Athlon cards overheated a lot, unless you put a ton of fans in the system, which makes for one hell of a loud computer

[/ QUOTE ]

I've been running AMD since the days of 400 Mhz. I also work with Beowolf clusters that are made up of about 500 AMD athlon chips. Never had one problem. If you go brand name (ASUS, ABIT, DFI, etc) you won't have to worry. IMO AMD is the only real choice. It's faster, much cheaper, and has great overclocking potential (if you're into that stuff).

[fluxrad]

Check your voltages in the BIOS. Is anything under/over volted?

Also, I would probably say you should go ahead and get at least a 500W PSU, probably more in the area of 600W. Then again, I'm a fan over overkill. One other way to tell is to keep an eye on the temperatures of the processor and video card. If they're getting too hot or running too slow then they're not getting enough juice.

Also, this might very well be the card itself that's the problem. A video/sound card issue can easily take down a PC. Try moving the Audigy from one PCI slot to another and see if the problem follows.

HTH.

[Freakin]

I've been turned off by the AMD since the athlon first came out, because of the absolute, god-awful, worse-than-[censored] chipsets & drivers available at the time. I worked in a retail store and 90% of my work was compatibility and driver problems w/ the athlons. Then I was even more put off when one of my friends burned his finger (to the point of blister) on a tbird. That was back in the day of chips you could POST w/o a heatsink.

Freakin

[Freakin]

I guess I'll pick up the 600W Enermax... I've always liked them best anyways. It's also totally possible the vid card is just [censored]. One of the DVI ports is broken, and I was getting artifacts (very few, and only on one texture) in HL2 after a few hours of play @ stock speeds.

Dammit, I was going to try to avoid keeping my computer down for a few days.

Freakin

[wacki]

[ QUOTE ]
I worked in a retail store and 90% of my work was compatibility and driver problems w/ the athlons.

[/ QUOTE ]

Not a problem now. BTW, that was a motherboard problem and not an AMD problem. NVIDIA does gets the job done. NFORCE is a badass chip.

[ QUOTE ]
Then I was even more put off when one of my friends burned his finger (to the point of blister) on a tbird. That was back in the day of chips you could POST w/o a heatsink.


[/ QUOTE ]

Um... you can do that with a pentium too. You can still post w/o a heatsink btw. The computer just shuts down when it gets too hot.

[Freakin]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
I worked in a retail store and 90% of my work was compatibility and driver problems w/ the athlons.

[/ QUOTE ]

Not a problem now. BTW, that was a motherboard problem and not an AMD problem. NVIDIA does gets the job done. NFORCE is a badass chip.

[/ QUOTE ]

I know it was all a chipset & driver problem, and not AMDs fault, I've just kept my unnecessary bias for a long time.

[ QUOTE ]

[ QUOTE ]
Then I was even more put off when one of my friends burned his finger (to the point of blister) on a tbird. That was back in the day of chips you could POST w/o a heatsink.


[/ QUOTE ]

Um... you can do that with a pentium too. You can still post w/o a heatsink btw. The computer just shuts down when it gets too hot.

[/ QUOTE ]

Back then, you couldn't burn yourself w/ a pentium. I mean, this guy had a tiny serial number burned into his finger (at least a few trace parts of it). And it's my understanding that at this point the CPUs don't have time to shut off before they burn up. So if you boot it up with no HSF you're in trouble. I dont want to test this obviously, and I could be wrong.

Freakin

[wacki]

[ QUOTE ]
And it's my understanding that at this point the CPUs don't have time to shut off before they burn up. So if you boot it up with no HSF you're in trouble. I dont want to test this obviously, and I could be wrong.

[/ QUOTE ]

http://usa.asus.com/mb/socketa/a7v333/overview.htm

ASUS C.O.P (CPU Overheating Protection)

ASUS C.O.P (CPU Overheating Protection) is a hardware protection circuit that automatically shuts down the system power before temperatures go high enough to permanently damage your CPU.

Pretty much every brand name AMD mobo has it. 3rd party motherboards rock!!!!!!!!!!

8 channel audio, ASUS Q-Fan, Fuzzy Logic, RAID, NV Armor, BIOS autorecovery, SPDIF out, SATA 3Gbs, and more!

http://usa.asus.com/products/mb/socket939/a8nsli-d/overview.htm

[Freakin]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
And it's my understanding that at this point the CPUs don't have time to shut off before they burn up. So if you boot it up with no HSF you're in trouble. I dont want to test this obviously, and I could be wrong.

[/ QUOTE ]

http://usa.asus.com/mb/socketa/a7v333/overview.htm

ASUS C.O.P (CPU Overheating Protection)

ASUS C.O.P (CPU Overheating Protection) is a hardware protection circuit that automatically shuts down the system power before temperatures go high enough to permanently damage your CPU.

Pretty much every brand name AMD mobo has it. 3rd party motherboards rock!!!!!!!!!!

8 channel audio, ASUS Q-Fan, Fuzzy Logic, RAID, NV Armor, BIOS autorecovery, SPDIF out, SATA 3Gbs, and more!

http://usa.asus.com/products/mb/socket939/a8nsli-d/overview.htm

[/ QUOTE ]

Once again, Wacki is right. Thats the mb I got, btw. I love it.

Freakin