monster machine

[pcm95]

I'm looking to make a monster computer for the internet and for gaming. )Everything else will fall into place). I need to make sure that I can send and receive massive amounts of data easily with no breaks. I would like to be able to play games over the internet and still have audio/video conferencing at the same time. I'm sure that only one will be used at a time, but I want to be sure. I don't even know if I can do this over 56K. I would like suggestions from everyone on where and what to buy. From the case to the monitor, to the modem, to the ports. I need all the help I can get. Even old stuff suggested by Pete are welcomed. :-)
You can think of this as a your own machine if you need help on deciding between products. I might even post what I ended up getting as the mega machine so you can all criticize and compliment it. Thanks.

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Just Joe

[Paleo Pete]

Specific components I'll leave to the other folks, but to get the kind of internet capabilities you want, better start checking into DSL...I don't think modem or cable modem will handle it.

Old stuff? Don't get me started...I'll have you building the screaminest XT in town. http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/biggrin.gif

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Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines!
Note: Please post your questions on the forums, not in my email.

Computer Information Links (http://www.geocities.com/paleopete/)

[Reid]

Check out StarBand (http://www.starband.com/) two-way satellite Internet if you can't get DSL. (I don't have it, but it sounds good)

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reido@my-deja.com

Friends don't let friends install Windows ME

[pcm95]

I'm doubting a 56K will handle what I want it to do. I'll probably end up with DSL. I just need to know what you guys would like to have in your own machines. This baby needs to fly.

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Just Joe

[Randy_tx]

First & foremost.....I hope you plan to spend over $2,000 and include DSL or Cable modem...cause you can put the biggest baddest CPU on the planet in a puter with 56k/v90 modem and crawl ! If internet is your main deal both for games & conferencing simultaneously then BANDWIDTH is far more important than cpu speed...trust me! I'm running @ 1000mhz with 256 mb Ram but only a v90 connect to internet and I'm crawling...relatively speaking.
Good video (32 to 64 mb ram), at least 700 mhz cpu, 128 mb ram or more outta do all the stuff you speak of very fast for about $1600. Keep in mind......there isnt a program out there (including the latest games) that take advantage of more than about 700 mhz cpu capability...so anything more than that is about ego and bragging rights....so why do I have one?...to demonstrate to people they are wasting there money buying more than they need !!!

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When all else fails...start parts swapping!

[Ghost_Hacker]

I agree with Randy the most important thing for internet gaming is Bandwidth. After that it's the speed of your video card ,go for the fastest card you can buy. ( Go for a 64MB version as the newer games will have textures that work best on a card with 64MB of ram.)

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"It's just a whisper in my Ghost"

[kenja]

Originally posted by Paleo Pete:
Specific components I'll leave to the other folks, but to get the kind of internet capabilities you want, better start checking into DSL...I don't think modem or cable modem will handle it.

Old stuff? Don't get me started...I'll have you building the screaminest XT in town. http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/biggrin.gif



About cable modems: I get download readings of between 1400Kbps and 2600Kbps using this: http://www.dslreports.com/tools . (Fast enough for a brisk game of chess, at least http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/smile.gif .)

The only thing I don't like about my RCA Broadband modem: it interferes with my display if the monitor cable is closer than about eight inches.

[Randy_tx]

Yep.....Kenja........Cable modems are fast as lightning ....unless everyone else in the neighorhood has one and is on at the same time you are!! http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/biggrin.gif

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When all else fails...start parts swapping!

[mjc]

You said what I would like in my own well....

A case that has a mobo tray and space for a few drives is a good idea, also space for fans and a clean front panel with room for some connectors (usb or maybe SB Live!Drive)

PIII, P4, T-bird whaterever floats your boat. I'm looking at a mobo with built in RAID (ABit BX133 RAID but it is based on the I440BX chipset...older chipset)

ATA100 RAID for drives and (Plextor 16x10x40 burner), DVD with hardware decoder card, 56x cdrom for playback.

GeForce2 Ultra for video and a large monitor.

Minimum 128meg (PC133 or PC150).

Maybe a Firewire port or two.

You'll also want a good power supply (300w-400w) AMD certified, for all the goodies you'll be running.



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mjc
To ME or NOT to ME....

[Randy_tx]

Boy.........sounds like you have a bottomless pocketbook with those specs mjc!!! WOW !

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When all else fails...I'm a heck of a parts swapper!

[mjc]

Yeah, but I know reality will set in and I'll end up with something less but probably something that will get me where I want to be. And after all we're looking at suggestions for a monster, right? I think my specs would make a downright beast!

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mjc
To ME or NOT to ME....

[pcm95]

I'm planning on winning the lottery any day now (as soon as I play) so just keep the suggestions coming. I just need to be able to multitask gaming and video over the net. Keep that in mind though. I don't want a 20 year finance plan on this thing.

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Just Joe

[mjc]

I did a little looking and came up with this:

ABIT BX133 RAID
PIII 800EB
256MB PC133 (Kingmax)
GeForce2 (32MB)
SB LIVE!Platinum
IBM Deskstar 75GXP (2 30GB)
Plextor 16x10x40 CDRW
Addtronics (ET6890A Full tower 300w)
Hollywood DVD Decoder
DVD (12x Creative)

All for about $1500 of course you need other parts but I think it can be made for $2000 to $2500.

No real checking for best prices but I did make sure that everything was retail not OEM. I used PriceWatch (http://www.pricewatch.com/) for the prices.

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mjc
To ME or NOT to ME....

[ComputerMan]

January issue of Maximum PC has this "monster listed"
this baby'll make ya want air bags:

CPU 1 gig AMD Athlon ThunderBird $275
Case Inwin Q500 Full Tower $90
Mobo MSI KT7 Pro $100
Memory 256 mb PC133 CAS2 $200
Keyboard Microsoft Natural Pro $50
Video 64 mb ATI Radeon $275
Sound Philips Acoustic Edge $100
NIC 3COM 10/100 NIC $25
Hard Drive (x2) IBM 45 gig (I like WD personally) $180 each
Power Supply PC Power and cooling 350 $100
Mouse Microsoft Intellimouse OEM $15
DVD-Rom 16x Pioneer 115 $100
CD-Burner TDK 12/10/32 $300
Floppy Teac floppy $10
Fans Chrome Orb $35
Speakers Klipsch Pro Media $250
OS Windows 98 se $100
IDE Raid Promise Fast Track $110
$2,495

thats quite a pricetag but this baby flies
wish I had that kinda cash$$$$$:(

[kenja]

About memory: I've bought a couple of 256MB PC133 DIMMs from PremierSystem.com . Supposedly better than pure generic; they're running great for me at 133MHz and CL(CAS)2.

About CAS2 vs CAS3: Sandra 2001 shows no statistically valid difference on my system (Duron 800MHz with VIA KT133 chipset).

[mjc]

The great thing about "rolling your own" is that you can start with a few of the components and then add in what your budget allows at a later time. I'm looking at stuff to build my next machine and I'm going to start with a good case and then work up from there. Adding in over a couple of months or so may not be the quickest way to get a killer system but it does assure that you've got what you want.

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mjc
To ME or NOT to ME....

[bassvax]

I just did what you plan to do (minus the heavy internet gaming) this is what I got so far (and it sings sweetly for me):

1 Gig AMD Athlon $198
17" Samsung Syncmaster 753DF (Shadow masking) $230
ASUS A7V133 Mobo with RAID/On-board audio/no video
ASUS V7100 32MB Video Card $130
256 MB 133 RAM CAS 2 $125
Alps (generic) floppy $9
Sony 8x4x32 CRX140E Burner (third one-liked it no bad experiences)$129
Creative Sound Blaster Live Platinum 5.1 (Super impressive) Live Drive with Remote and microphone and all sorts of connectors for differing equipment-sound-hungry dream card(Gads of great 3D games Unreal Tournament, Deus Ex, Thief 2, MDK 2, Soldier Of Fortune-I'd never played them and the graphics generated by this system are awesome)$200
MS Intellimouse Optical $39
MS Internet Keyboard $40
Yamaha YSTM8 inexpensive amplified speakers (Plan on getting a THX certified system) Great for now
Creative Blaster modem (works well easy install-going to cable in about 3 months) $30
SMC NIC $23
Antec case with 300W AMD power supply
Coolermaster case fan $8
Coolermaster Socket A fan $20
IBM Deskstar 75 GXP 46.1GB HD $180
Win 98 SE $109 (when bought with hardware from pc store)
Setup went great and remember to disable on-board stuff when adding the card variety (ie sound card in my case) Also disable RAID controller if not setting up RAID
I'm a happy camper (except for the internet for now) Gonna hit the 64MB DDR GeForce GTS 2 Ultra when I get the $$ and the price goes down.

That's my two cents...... http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/biggrin.gif

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Jerry

[macellarius]

I just bought my system from Cyberpowerinc.com back in Novemeber, and I can recommend them. They build all there's on sight, so It won't come overnight, but if you're not in a hurry, I'd definately consider them.

Here's what they call their GAMER EXTREME setup...

VIA KT133 THUNDERBIRD 4X AGP MB
256MB PC133 SDRAM
60GB 7200 RPM Ultra Hard Drive
VISIONTEK GEFORCE-2 Ultra 64MB
16X DVD-ROM
Creative Sound Blaster Live 5.1
Creative cambridge SoundWorks Desk Top Theatre 5.1 DTT2200 Surround Sound System
19” Viewsonic E790 .22MM SVGA Monitor
Diamond Supra 56K V.90 Fax Modem
Mitsumi 1.44 MB Floppy Drive
Microsoft PS2 Intelli Internet Keyboard
Microsoft PS2 Intelli Mouse w/ Wheel
ATX Medium Tower Case w/ 300 Watt UL
Microsoft Windows 98 2nd Edition OR Windows Millennium
Corel Wordperfect Office 2000
One Year On Site Service +$29


Model# & Prices
CD201 AMD Athlon 1.2GHz $1689
CD202 AMD Athlon 1.1GHz $1649
CD203 AMD Athlon 1GHz $1609
CD204 AMD Athlon 900 $1569
CD205 AMD Athlon 850 $1555
CD206 AMD Athlon 800 $1539

I did buy the monitor separately though. I bought this one from Egghead and I love it...

SyncMaster 955DF 19" Color Monitor 18" Viewable .20 Dot Pitch 85Hz 1600x1200 Res
Egghead.com - $294.99


I'd have to agree with others on the bandwidth issue. That's #1. I have a cable modem, and I get 600-800kbs.
Good Luck! http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/cool.gif http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/cool.gif

[kenja]

More thoughts about Internet access for the ultimate gamer: My cable is connecting at 3,000Kbps (download) tonight, but the upload is always stuck at around 125Kbps. I've also read that the latency of cable is greater than that of DSL. So...the ultimate gamer would want a good DSL connection, and get SDSL (synchronous digital...) because the upload speed would equal the download speed.

[DirtyBird]

If I were you I wouldn't spend $400+ on a Geforce 2 Ultra.Get an ATI Radeon 64 MB DDR. It performs about 90% as well as the Ultra, for less than half the price. Want proof? http://www.review-zone.com/hardware/video/mega_video_card_shootout/page1.shtml And when you get to the 3rd page when they finally get the actually benchmark comparison graphs, scroll down to the bottom and click "sort by cards"-makes it much easier to interpret.Consider this, Quake 3 arena- GF2 Ultra:134.1 FPS, the Radeon 64 MB DDR:124.2 FPS(640x480)At $180 the Radeon is a steal!!! Want even more proof? Go here: http://www6.tomshardware.com/graphic/00q3/000717/ If you want to skip the 20 or 30 pages of features of the Radeon, scroll to the bottom and click the benchmarks page. The Radeon in resolutions of 1024x768 and higher in 32-Bit color beats pretty much everything they can throw at it. Remember the card in that particular article is the 32 MB DDR... Of course the Ultra is the undisputed fill-rate king, but if you want good picture quality, and lots of features(including FSAA, which the ultra doesn't haave!) go ahead and get the Radeon. But beware, in Win2k the Radeon sucks.I personally would get the much cheaper Radeon if I were you. It'll cut $200 off the final price. And no, I'm not an ATI fanboy... http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/wink.gif

[gbud]

Abit KT7A, will do an impresive 183fsb(366) ------------ $130
AMD 1.2ghz 266 chip ------------------------------------- $230
256 megs pc133 crucial ram (minimum) -------------------- $ 95
case Antec SX1030 http://www.directron.com/sx1030.html -- $100
2 WD 7200rpm ata100 20 gig drives ----------------------- $205
ATI Radeon 64meg vivo ----------------------------------- $180
Optiquest(veiwsonic) q95 19" ---------------------------- $260
Any good set of speakers -------------------------------- $100
SB platinum --------------------------------------------- $200
Wireless Keyboard and mouse(optical)--------------------- $100

total $1600

plus 40 to 80 a month for broadband internet.

Not a bad pricetag for that much power. Most of the prices are a little high, if I wasnt sure I err'd on the high side.

Although most the prices are current because I just built one like this only better http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/smile.gif

[Kalle]

Wow, that's a good bargain.
I'd add DDRs instead of PC133s to your list (if money was no object:rolleyes http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/smile.gif