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Author Topic: Thoughts on Cyberpower PC Dustin Mitchell Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1865 From: Mondovi, WI, USA Registered: Mar 2000 posted 02-23-2009 11:17 PM                     David, thanks, will do.  |  IP: Logged Scott Jentsch Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1061 From: New Berlin, WI, USA Registered: Apr 2003 posted 02-25-2009 11:18 AM                        I just went through this decision process, and lacking the ability to find a local place to build the machine, I have ordered the parts from Newegg and Amazon and I am building it myself. I've not done so in 15+ years, but I'm hoping that it goes smoothly. I would have gone the Dell route, except for the fact that Dell's volume-priced equipment tends to be low-spec'd for ease of manufacturing and low cost. Very constrained component choices, few expansion options (forget about driving more than two monitors), and small power supplies are just part of what you have to accept when buying something pre-packaged. I wasn't able to accept it for my system, but I bought a pre-packaged HP E5200-based system for my in-laws at Christmas-time that is working very well for them, and it was a very good price. I was able to order the parts for a i7-920 based system with 6GB of RAM, 500W power supply, fanless 9500GT video card, 300GB Velociraptor HDD, and a motherboard with more options than I'll probably ever use, and a quiet Antec case for about the same price as a Dell Studio XPS with concessions here and there in components and future expandability. I'm probably saving about $300 by building it myself, a price I would gladly have paid if I could have found a local place that I trusted to do the custom build for me. I'm hoping that building the system goes well. I haven't done it in a long time, but it's not rocket science. If everything works well together, I'll have a kick-ass system and I will have saved a couple hundred bucks in the process. If it doesn't go well, I'll have a frustrating next couple of weeks!  |  IP: Logged Ken Lackner Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1907 From: Atlanta, GA, USA Registered: Sep 2001 posted 02-25-2009 01:21 PM                     If you know what you're doing and have done your research on choosing the right components, you should be okay. Does your price include software? Wow. I've been out of touch with the PC world for a while, it would seem. Last I built a PC, motherboards could only handle 4GB RAM. At least that I knew of. If there were boards that could handle more, they were really high-end and out of the question for me. Which Antec case did you get? I had the Sonata II and freaking loved the hell out of it. (Notice I said had. It got jacked.)  |  IP: Logged Scott Norwood Film God Posts: 8146 From: Boston, MA. USA (1774.21 miles northeast of Dallas) Registered: Jun 99 posted 02-25-2009 02:09 PM                        The 4GB limitation is due to the fact that 32-bit hardware cannot address anything past 4GB. Now that 64-bit hardware has become common in the PC world, motherboards support more memory. Note that a 32-bit operating system cannot address anything past 4GB; a 64-bit OS is needed. I'm not really in touch with desktop PC hardware at the moment (I last built a machine from scratch about six years ago). When I last built a machine from scratch, PC Power and Cooling was the preferred power supply manufacturer (they now seem to be defunct) and Intel was the preferred motherboard. I believe that Plextor is still the preferred brand for optical drives, but I don't know if they make a Blu-ray reader/burner. If you really want to find out the best hardware for a desktop PC, you need to ask a gamer--they always seem to be knowledgeable about such things. Dell is a good choice for prebuilt machines with support and a warranty, as others have mentioned. Building your own doesn't really save money any more, but you can use better hardware than Dell (etc.) would and it is usually easier to upgrade a homebuilt machine.  |  IP: Logged Bobby Henderson "Ask me about Trajan." Posts: 10973 From: Lawton, OK, USA Registered: Apr 2001 posted 02-25-2009 03:04 PM                     quote: Scott Norwood Note that a 32-bit operating system cannot address anything past 4GB; a 64-bit OS is needed. Software is another major key to the equation. Very little in the way of mainstream computing software is compiled in 64-bit code. Nearly all is still 32-bit. Some is even a hodge podge of 32-bit and 16-bit code. 32-bit software can still run in a 64-bit OS. However, the code of those applications usually needs at least a few patches or upgrades in order to run correctly. Lots of Adobe CS3 customers jumped to WinXP Pro x64 Edition and Windows Vista64 without investigating the situation closely enough. Many problems developed. Adobe's newest "CS4" suite of applications is still largely 32-bit. Adobe Photoshop is the only one that has been recompiled for native 64-bit operation. Old applications like Adobe Type Manager and Type 1 Multiple Master fonts don't work in the 64-bit version of WinXP and don't work in Vista at all. Device drivers are another potential problem in jumping to a 64-bit OS. Better make sure those are documented to work before making the big switch. It would suck to have a scanner or desktop printer turned into a useless paperweight over inoperable drivers.  |  IP: Logged Robert Minichino Master Film Handler Posts: 350 From: Haskell, NJ, USA Registered: Dec 2005 posted 02-25-2009 03:44 PM                        PC Power & Cooling is still around and making excellent power supplies, but they've been purchased by another company. There's still a benefit to running a 64 bit OS even with 32 bit applications. If you're running multiple memory-hungry apps at once, the 32 bit memory limitation applies to each app individually, so you can still get good use out of your 8GB of RAM.  |  IP: Logged Scott Jentsch Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1061 From: New Berlin, WI, USA Registered: Apr 2003 posted 02-27-2009 10:57 AM                        quote: Ken Lackner Does your price include software? Yes, the comparisons I gave included the cost of Vista64. Since no other bundled software is worth anything, I didn't factor it in. quote: Ken Lackner Which Antec case did you get? The Sonata Elite: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129057 I had looked at the Three Hundred, but I was concerned with how much noise would leak out of it. I boiled it down to the Elite Black and the Thermaltake ElementS: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811133077 The ElementS seemed nicer, but not worth the extra money, since the Elite Black had a combo deal with the power supply for $20 off. I'm going for quiet operation, so that's why I've gone with a fanless video card, a quiet case w/ adjustable fans, and if I need to, I'll get a replacement CPU fan that should be quieter as well. The Velociraptor drive is probably going to make the most noise, but I'll put up with it to get the performance that I've been seeing in reviews. The motherboard (ASUS P6T Deluxe) can handle up to 24GB in six slots, so the 6GB (3 sticks) I'm putting in should do fine for a year or two or three and when I need more, hopefully 4GB sticks will be in the stream for a decent price. I like future expansion capability! I've been using the same Pentium 4-based system that I bought 6 years ago, and I've managed to wring more use out of it than normal by upgrading the original 2.4GHz CPU for a 3.06GHz Hyperthreading Pentium 4, upgrading to 4GB of RAM, and adding a 500GB data drive. I had to do some video work recently, and the rendering times were downright painful, so I'm really looking forward to the new box! For a person with modest needs or without the skill and desire to build one from scratch, I'd recommend going the route of Dell or HP. Dell has so many sales and discount codes that you should never buy anything full-priced, and Best Buy, Office Max, and Office Depot put the HP desktops on sale on a rotating basis. You're not going to get the same bang for the buck, nor the longevity, but you will get less hassle, a machine that someone will support with a warranty and hopefully some technical support if trouble hits, and you won't have paid a large sum of money if you end up replacing it in a couple of years.  |  IP: Logged

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