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Pastimes : Dream Machine ( Build your own PC ) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Alf who wrote (4789)	1/9/1999 7:45:00 AM
From: Dave Hanson	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 14778

Hi Alf, A few quick remarks: What will you use on the system (always the first question.) Any games, or just business? You'll only need 2 PCI slots for your monitors. If you can spare extra (and it sounds like you can), I'd consider a PCI soundcard (see my bargain post below for info on a $4 (!) after rebate creative retail PCI card) since it would use fewer system resources and likely cause less headaches under NT. Other PCI slot might house a network card, especially if cable or DSL modems are in your future (and if you use your PC for trading, they probably should be <g>) Don't know much about the board, but you might consider a 5 PCI one if they'll do it for you, esp since you want multiple monitors. Current favorite for price/performance is the BH6, but there are other good ones too. The WD drive is not optimal (a slow performer), but you might not notice the difference. See storagereview.com for more than you ever wanted to know about HDD performance. :) Otherwise looks good. Good luck, hope this gets you started.

To: Alf who wrote (4789)	1/9/1999 10:43:00 PM
From: jack velte	Respond to of 14778

Dream PC research: Mother board/CPU -- one choice: motherboard $120 ABIT BH6 CPU $110 Celeron 300, overclocked to 450 MHZ CPU fan $15 From motherboard/CPU supplier... RAM 64MB $100 PC100 Overclocking Information: anandtech.com bxboards.com sysopt.com TESTED overclocked to 450MHZ Celeron/BH6 combos. Highly rated. compucheap.com pcnut.com Ram Supplier. Highly rated. (or buy from CPU supplier.) mushkin.com Video Boards - Fast, reliable, AGP, with TV tuner. NOT super 3D game machine. (Matrox scored extremely well in 2D tests.) These boards offer fast refresh at high resolution at reasonable cost. My top choices: $ tv tuner DVD 2D/3D TV out RAM ati all-in-one pro 150 x x x x 8 ati xpert 128 130 opt ? x 16 ati xpert@play 104 opt ? x x 8 ati xpert@work 80 opt ? x x 8 ati xpert 98 80 opt x x 8 matrox millennium G200 110 opt x/opt x 8/16 matrox mystique G200 100 opt x/opt x x 8/16 matrox marvel G200TV 250 x x x x 8 AGP 2x refresh resolution ati all-in-one pro opt? 200 1600x1200 ati xpert 128 x 200 1920x1200 ati xpert@play opt? 200 1600x1200 ati xpert@work 200 1600x1200 ati xpert 98 200 1600x1200 matrox millennium G200 x 200 1920x1200 (128 bit bus) matrox mystique G200 x 200 1920x1200 (128 bit bus) matrox marvel G200TV x 200 1920x1200 (128 bit bus) (Second video card for Dual monitor - any cheap PCI card... $40.) Find the cheapest prices. (Watch out for details such as amount of RAM, "white box" - no software bundle, etc.) pricewatch.com pricescan.com Some large, super discounters: www.buycomp.com www.pcsave.com www.buy.com Reseller ratings - don't buy from a bozo: resellerratings.com Direct links to computer/component manuafacturing companies: sysopt.com Matrox users (not company sponsored) information: matroxusers.com ATI part numbers (for searching prices.) 207.167.207.71

To: Alf who wrote (4789)	1/10/1999 1:34:00 AM
From: Zeuspaul	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 14778

hard drive size{6.4} is more than I need so that's fine For another 20 bucks you get 8 gig and 20 more you get a 10 gig drive. Even if you do not need the storage space now I think it is worth the small incremental cost for a larger drive. I would really like to go with NT, but you guys sure make it sound scary <VBG> Have never used NT Using NT is not that much different than using Win95. The differences relate more to hardware installation and system configuration. NT is into privileges. If you forget your administrative (case sensitive) password you will not be able to install a printer on your own computer. Zeuspaul