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

To: Ron McKinnon who wrote (5541)	1/24/1999 8:30:00 PM
From: Zeuspaul	Respond to of 14778

I'm buying a new computer strictly for trading to replace what I have been using no games, fancy graphics, sound etc needed You should consider NT. It is more stable. thinking right now of a P450, with 256 sdram my understanding is that RAM is more important than processer speed, maybe a 300,350, or 400 would be fine? Once you get to 128 MB RAM it is time to consider faster processing speeds. I think you would do better with the faster processor and 128 MB RAM than you would with a slow processor and 256 MB RAM. thinking just DELL or Micron, whatever, unless better ideas add Gateway to the above mix. These are good options for users that want/need good customer service. You will not find many multimonitor options. I will likely start with 3 19" monitors, may go with 15" flat screens but doubt it for now Good choice. 21 inch monitors are nice but there is a significant bulk and cost factor. IMO flat panel screens should be limited to specific needs until the price comes down some more. should I specify a Abit BX-6 Intel 440 BX motherboard, is that the best choice The board is off the front burner. The Abit BH6 board is popular among overclockers. If you do not want to overclock you may want to look at other boards. The ASUS P2B is a very popular and stable board. for a hard drive see no need for more than a 8.4 gig? I have never had too big a harddrive (my garage is full too). Do you save stock data for analysis? How much? It is probably more than sufficiaent for your current needs. Consider 7200 RPM IDE Maxtor and IBM drives. Check out storagereview.com any need for a zip or tape drive? You should have a backup strategy..there are many. standard 32 X CD rom? Maybe. Another option is to use a CDRW drive in its place. It would give you a backup option. I understand that windows 98 supports this so no other software needed? NO...except and there always seems to be accepts with multimonitors. You need cards that have compatible drivers (software). I am confused on vidio cards needed some say that the PCI is the primary and the AGP is secondary? PCI is used to be the primary. Now there are options to select the primary in the bios. You have to have the option in the bios. This option is becoming more common. should I order 3 ATI Expert 8 mb Vidio cards installed and one AGP card is that right? or another brand or size? what is the appox cost for these cards? I think that works. Don't blame me if it does not<g>. ATI cards are Win98 multimonitor compatible. Current Internet pricing is $50 to $60 after $20 rebate til Jan 31. and I'm told that the vidio cards are installed into "ports" on the back of the box, and there is where the cables from each monitor are plugged into? You will need three PCI slots and One AGP. Some boards have 4 PCI slots and some 5. (some have less). Don't forget you may need a slot for a modem and a sound card. If slots are an issue consider a multimonitor card. More money but a cleaner installation. is there anything else I need to consider? NT<g> Yes but I can not think of it right now. The wife says dinner is served Consider a custom machine by a vendor such as Minotaur. Zeuspaul

To: Ron McKinnon who wrote (5541)	1/24/1999 9:42:00 PM
From: nojobjim	Respond to of 14778

I can make a few recomendations from recent experiences unless you really need to adjust the voltage, avoid the BH6 I would get the Soyo 6BA+ as it is a high quality board with 5 pci slots and 4 dimms at a decent price. Also I highly recomend Celerons.My 333a sometimes seems faster than my Dell PII400.And now there is a 400a Celeron for about 170$ As for back up I just got an HP 8100 CDRW at Buy.com for 289$ incl S&H It installed flawlessly and I've only messed up one disk so far {audio}.Also it reads at 24X. The only advantage to "store bought" systems is extended warranties. I started with a 999$ special at Circuit City 25 months ago and 3 computers later have the 333a, still on the original 999$ including monitor.A bit off the topic, I just got a Hauppauge WinTV tuner and its GREAT!I have it hooked up to a coat hanger and it works better than my roof mount.One last thing{promise!} get a 128mb CAS2 stick. It will last you thru future upgrades and the prices might be going up Sorry for the long post.JG