SoyBigHead
03/02/02 10:31 PM
68.57.148.119
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ok i was just wondering about this cuz im saving up to buy a computer for me personally, and i was wondering what i could get for about $350-$400 (w/o monitor), since im tired of my parents IBM Aptiva (mostly cuz its a P.O.S. w/ no upgradability, except for the RAM which is already maxed out), and pretty much whatever i could get would be better than this rig. Any suggestions or ideas?
"There are three types of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics."
-Mark Twain
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NathanKell
03/02/02 10:56 PM
24.44.238.62
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Well, assuming you have at least a 300W power supply, and don't mind doing the upgrade yourself...
Pulled from pricewatch.
Required:
$50 for an ECS K7S5A athlon motherboard
$120 for an AMD Athlon 1700 XP
about $60 for 256MB DDR SDRAM (@ 133mhz)
so $250 or so there, including shipping.
Extras:
about $180 for a GeForce 3 (64DDR), or maybe a Radeon 8500 for $140 or so...or even a GeForce 4 MX (which is really a GeForce 2 2  ) for less than $100...
about $80 for a 60GB hard drive
about $50 for a {moderately good} sound card
about $80 for a good 32x10x40 CD-RW drive
about $40 for a DVD-ROM drive
-NathanKell, BT Space Wars
Question with boldness even the existence of a God; because, if there be one, he must more approve of the homage of reason, than that of blind-folded fear.
Thomas Jefferson |
SoyBigHead
03/03/02 12:30 AM
68.57.148.119
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just one problem.. (i mewan i could do it were i able to) the comp is an Aptiva...and its upgradeability sux; i cant add a new 3d card b/c its integrated on the motherboard...
"There are three types of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics."
-Mark Twain
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NathanKell
03/03/02 01:25 AM
24.44.238.62
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That's why the "required" bit includes a *new* motherboard and chip. This upgrade which I describe necessitates pulling *out* the current motherboard and putting in a new one.
It ain't hard, though.
-NathanKell, BT Space Wars
Question with boldness even the existence of a God; because, if there be one, he must more approve of the homage of reason, than that of blind-folded fear.
Thomas Jefferson |
KamikazeJohnson
03/03/02 11:57 AM
209.202.47.12
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As long as the new motherboard fits in the old case :-\ They change the board configuration every so often, so who knows. You might have to buy a new case, just keep the old power supply.
Peace is that glorious moment in history when everyone stands around reloading.
--Thomas Jefferson
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NathanKell
03/03/02 01:23 PM
24.44.238.62
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Well, they've pretty much standardized on ATX since at the latest the Pentium II came out, probably earlier. The only other formfactor anyone uses, IIRC, is Micro ATX, but that's only for those super-slimline thingies...if it's a tower case, then it's ATX.
-NathanKell, BT Space Wars
Question with boldness even the existence of a God; because, if there be one, he must more approve of the homage of reason, than that of blind-folded fear.
Thomas Jefferson |
KamikazeJohnson
03/03/02 01:49 PM
209.202.47.12
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I suppose that's mostly true...a friend of mine plays with dualies, so he runs into some variation, but I guess single boards are fairly standard...for now :-\
Peace is that glorious moment in history when everyone stands around reloading.
--Thomas Jefferson
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Bob_Richter
03/03/02 05:50 PM
134.121.157.14
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I've never been able to buy a case without a power supply.
*shrug*
-Bob (The Magnificent) Richter
Assertions made in this post are the humble opinion of Bob.
They are not necessarily statements of fact or decrees from God Himself, unless explicitly and seriously stated to be so.
:)
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Bob_Richter
03/03/02 05:53 PM
134.121.157.14
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It's actually a myth that you can't put a new video card in on a system with an intgrated video card: I've done it myself, and it's not actually that hard. Problem is, of course, that you won't usually have an AGP slot.
The motherboard CAN be removed, right? And it's more-por-less a standard ATX configuration?
If not, it'd only cost you another $60 or so for a new case & power supply.
-Bob (The Magnificent) Richter
Assertions made in this post are the humble opinion of Bob.
They are not necessarily statements of fact or decrees from God Himself, unless explicitly and seriously stated to be so.
:)
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NathanKell
03/03/02 06:05 PM
24.44.238.62
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Shame, though...within the last month or two RAM has nearly doubled in price...well, maybe only 150%, but it's still a rather large leap back...
-NathanKell, BT Space Wars
Question with boldness even the existence of a God; because, if there be one, he must more approve of the homage of reason, than that of blind-folded fear.
Thomas Jefferson |
Bob_Richter
03/03/02 06:24 PM
134.121.157.14
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It was so low, though.
Man, them was the days. That happens every time M$ puts out a new OS though. Only good thing they do, it seems: drop our RAM-prices with their fatty OSs.
-Bob (The Magnificent) Richter
Assertions made in this post are the humble opinion of Bob.
They are not necessarily statements of fact or decrees from God Himself, unless explicitly and seriously stated to be so.
:)
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NathanKell
03/03/02 06:30 PM
24.44.238.62
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They were low *way* before XP was launched--this thing I'm typing on was rebuilt in August, and that was near the middle of the price low.
IIRC there was a glut, and then Toshiba sold off all its memory production business (to Crucial?) and Crucial let one factory lie idle so as to dry up the glut.
-NathanKell, BT Space Wars
Question with boldness even the existence of a God; because, if there be one, he must more approve of the homage of reason, than that of blind-folded fear.
Thomas Jefferson |
NathanKell
03/03/02 06:31 PM
24.44.238.62
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True. No way I'm Signing in Blood for this one. 2K is just fine, and not as...cute.
Which is a very good thing.
-NathanKell, BT Space Wars
Question with boldness even the existence of a God; because, if there be one, he must more approve of the homage of reason, than that of blind-folded fear.
Thomas Jefferson |
Bob_Richter
03/03/02 06:42 PM
134.121.157.14
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Overproduction pretty much started in anticipation of XP, you see.
-Bob (The Magnificent) Richter
Assertions made in this post are the humble opinion of Bob.
They are not necessarily statements of fact or decrees from God Himself, unless explicitly and seriously stated to be so.
:)
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SoyBigHead
03/03/02 08:29 PM
68.57.148.119
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really? id like details on how to do that...except it is AGP but oh well
"There are three types of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics."
-Mark Twain
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Bob_Richter
03/03/02 11:45 PM
134.121.157.14
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Depends on the motherboard. Some it just drops in, others you have to change some settings.
-Bob (The Magnificent) Richter
Assertions made in this post are the humble opinion of Bob.
They are not necessarily statements of fact or decrees from God Himself, unless explicitly and seriously stated to be so.
:)
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KamikazeJohnson
03/04/02 12:04 AM
209.202.47.12
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depends where you go, I guess..."wholesalers" will often sell without the power supply, or will in effect give you a "refund on return" for it...at least there are a couple stores here in Winterpeg that will do that 
Peace is that glorious moment in history when everyone stands around reloading.
--Thomas Jefferson
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Bob_Richter
03/04/02 01:06 AM
134.121.157.14
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Probably make a hell of a profit, since the case + power supply is actually about as valulable (retail price) as the power supply itself.
Well, last time I checked, at least.
-Bob (The Magnificent) Richter
Assertions made in this post are the humble opinion of Bob.
They are not necessarily statements of fact or decrees from God Himself, unless explicitly and seriously stated to be so.
:)
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Nightmare
03/04/02 11:08 AM
194.251.240.107
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BTW, try a search for "Enron" and "RAM".
Advice for Evil Overlords:
My legions of terror will be trained in basic marksmanship. Any who cannot learn to hit a man-sized target at 10 meters will be used for target practice.
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