question for my new computer.

[barnacle]

here are some things i want you guys to explain to me:

/what make the FireGL cards good?worth it?
/2x512 or 1gb, which is better, why? does dual channel help the 2x512?(corsair XMS)
/10000rpm hd, 7200 hd, does it really matter?
/tell me a good dvd drive to get.
/the 500w aspire(turbo case) good?(newegg)

thats all for now.

 

[barnacle]

another question:

what difference does the socket make on the mother board?

 

[bosox188]

Fire GL cards are not for games, they are for companies and workstations that to a lot of graphics work. 2x512 is better because you can run dual channel mode, it's a more efficient and faster way of using the ram. 10,000rpm hdd's are a lot faster, boot time and loading times will be much faster. The 500w Aspire Turbo case is good, get it. I dunno about the dvd drive, I don't pay much attention to those, I can burn dvd's and play them and it works good, that's all I care about. But if you can find one that reads DVD+R/RW and DVD-R/RW that's good, and supports dual layer, that's nice too. I prefer those features over speed. Oh and socket on the motherboard means which cpu it can hold. If your motherboard is socket 478, you can only put socket 478 cpu's in it. Pentium 4's are socket 478, (well the REALLY early ones were an older socket, don't worry about that) Athlon XP's and most Semprons are socket A, the Sempron 3100+ and Athlon 64's up to 3400+ are socket 754, Athlon 64's 3500+ and up are socket 939, and Athlon 64 FX's were socket 940 now they're socket 939 which is better.

 

[Synthos]

when 10k rpm drives crash they crash HARD though, so backup is recommend if you have sensitive data other than your porn collection

 

[barnacle]

ok, would 7200 rpm still be pretty fast?
which OS should i get? not sure whats reliable or faster with games.
how do i see my current HD rpms?

 

[ATI4EVER!]

Oh and yes, 7200 is the sweet spot.

 

[Cyanide]

/what make the FireGL cards good?worth it?

They are meant for workstations and renderwall computers that they use for Cinematic 3D rendering. Lots of movie production studios use them. You don't want one. They aren't made for gaming computers. You want an X800 or Geforce6800

/2x512 or 1gb, which is better, why? does dual channel help the 2x512?(corsair XMS)

That depends on your motherboard.
Single channel ram = Doesn't matter.
Dual channel ram on an Intel processor = 2x512 is definately better in this situation.
Dual channel with an AthlonXP processor = Doesn't really make much difference. You might get a little bit higher benchmark score with 2x512, but you won't notice much better peformance in games.
Dual channel with an Athlon64-FX = 2x512 is better.

/10000rpm hd, 7200 hd, does it really matter?

Won't make much difference really. Not much of anything really taxes a hard drive these days. If you do a lot of video editing, get 10,000s. Otherwise, the only thing 10,000 RPM will really do for you is make more noise.

/tell me a good dvd drive to get.

Pioneer makes good DVD drives. They're the only ones I know of that make a slot load DVD drive. Which is cool, because slot load is sexy.

/the 500w aspire(turbo case) good?(newegg)

I suggest you buy a case without a power supply and buy an Enermax or Antec dual-fan power supply (500w) seperately. The power supply that comes with most cases is usually some generic junk. The last thing you want to have problems in your computer is the power supply. Problems with it can lead to problems with everything else.

what difference does the socket make on the mother board?

The socket determines what kind of processor you can use in the board. For example, Socket 939 uses Athlon64 processors. If you tried to put something else in there, you'd have problems, if you could even get it in the socket.

 

[ATI4EVER!]

Oh actually the best DVD drive to get is this sony burner that copies DUAL LAYER thats right, dual layer! Maximum pc reviewed it a short while ago.

 

[Dead-Inside]

Oh actually the best DVD drive to get is this sony burner that copies DUAL LAYER thats right, dual layer! Maximum pc reviewed it a short while ago.

I just got mine, it's cheap (I donno the american price but I'd guess $70-80). It does burn dual layers (Whoa, that's not "amazing", it's just a feature for newer burners) -- Which is really really good to have. It's a Nec ND-2510A.

 

[barnacle]

how bout deez?

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=11-133-127&depa=1

http://www.newegg.com/app/viewProductDesc.asp?description=11-133-105&depa=1

 

[barnacle]

and deez

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=17-103-490&depa=0

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=17-103-445&depa=0

 

[bosox188]

Here's an awesome power supply with 2 fans, and it's very quiet, and better and cheaper than the ones you just linked:

http://www.newegg.com/app/viewproductdesc.asp?description=17-153-007&DEPA=0

 

[barnacle]

thanks alot

 

[barnacle]

would this be any good, seems like its fans would work better than the ones blowing through multiple tiny holes.
although the dust..........
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=11-148-001&depa=1

 

[Cyanide]

You have to be careful with acrylic cases. They scratch very easily and if you've got any lights in the case, they will highlight the scratches. It can start to look pretty nasty after a while.

 

[GPRT]

Acrylic cases aren't really considered to be very good. They break easily and don't look all that good. The Thermaltake case is good and the thermaltake power supplies are also excellent though antec are considered the best for psus

 

[Asus]

Clear cases look nice for display but the horror of dust, hiding cables, seemingly more maintenance and being careful with such a fragile design.

 

[barnacle]

thermaltake it is.
can't wait.

 

[barnacle]

http://www.halflife2.net/forums/showthread.php?t=35040
please help me in my other thread.