Help me buying a new computer!

[Pekka]

So if you guys know any place where the ship internationally and have lots of different looking cases, post a link. Oh,, and what's the meaning of case power? I mean when do I need more power, and what should be sufficient amount of power?

[alva]

IMHO the first thing when buying a new PC one should do is making clear why he/she needs/wants it.
IF your not going to play any (new) 3d games, then the 'b-team' will suffice more then enough.
But do get more then 500MB of ram.
As for a DVD-player, you can allways buy it at a later time.
cd-rw: last Year I bought a plextor with allready broke down, now I have a Lite-on, very cheap and at moment, works like a charm
As for HD's (maybe Asher can answer this) Arn't the new IBM's with pixie(dust) technologie coming out soon? If so wait for these!!
oh yeah,And buy a very good mouse !!!!!!

[notyoueither]

Power Supply... I forgot to mention that.

Get a good one. I am familiar with and very happy with Antec and Enermax. There are other good ones, I just can't vouch for them. I have heard good things about PC Power and Cooling.

The 9000Pro is like an 8500. If you need to shave dollars it might not be a bad choice, but the GF3 Ti200 128M should be a better gaming card and is out there (at least where I am).

Drives made by LG and LiteOn are very durable. I can't begin to explain how happy I've been since I have adopted them.

The RAM... hmmmm. That's the tough one. It is expensive at the moment due to the September rush. You could stick 256 in for now and another 512 in 6 months if needed. My guess would be that in 6 months 512 will cost what 256 does today, or close. The great thing about RAM is it is the thing you can add without chucking what you bought originally (if you buy smart).

As for international shipping... pfft. I don't think you want to get into that. Tres expensiv.

[notyoueither]

300 or 350W.

[Pekka]

Yeah, I won't buy my components outside Finland. I was just thinking that I haven't ever seen nice cases here, so maybe I could find then from some foreign e-shop.. just the case. It might not be so expensive after all, since we have expensive prices here already. And I don't need all the stuff in one week, I could order the case now, and wait for the shipping time easy. I'll have to check them closer. It might not be a good idea, but I've gotta be sure.

So.. about power. 300 to 350W? What's the difference there, other then 50W?

[Pekka]

And actually, it doesn't matter where I buy these from! I just realized my parents live in the US . So I can order stuff to them and they can send it to me, if that's needed.
But I'm not going to order other components, because it would be hell to send it back to the US if something broke . So maybe just the case... or if I ordered it from the US (wouldn't be a problem to me at all), then I could have problems with power.. maybe the cases there have different plugs or something. I don't know.

[notyoueither]

These guys make very nice cases and power supplies.

http://www.antec-inc.com/enclosu.html

The more power the ps can handle the safer your system is. From what you describe, go 350.

I'd be surprised if you couldn't have it shipped from somewhere close to you. If you can't find a dealer, let me know. I'll see if I can scare one up.

[Pekka]

There must be tons of dealers near me, it's just that the case is important to me, so if I find that one I really want, it doesn't matter where's it from.

Well that sounds stupid.

[notyoueither]

Nope. It's like hot rods in the 60's.

Gotta have it!

[Pekka]

You got it .

How does more power make power make it safer?

[Pekka]

Hmm.. I might leave 9700pro alone for a while, since it's quite expensive, and I won't be getting much out of it until maybe after a year or so. Wouldn't you agree?
I could get a little older model, I think I would manage with it for a 6 months to a year, and after that it's much cheaper, and it has more use, since all of it's nice specs are usefull then, maybe not now.

[notyoueither]

Your ps takes a lot of abuse, both from the wall and from the system.

A higher capacity ps can handle more. If you have a ps barely adequate for the job, it will burn out faster. Wear and tear.

350 is becoming a standard, because the processors and video cards (and the rest of the system) are becoming more demanding. A better brand 330 is prolly better than a cheap 350 though.

[notyoueither]

Originally posted by Pekka
Hmm.. I might leave 9700pro alone for a while, since it's quite expensive, and I won't be getting much out of it until maybe after a year or so. Wouldn't you agree?
I could get a little older model, I think I would manage with it for a 6 months to a year, and after that it's much cheaper, and it has more use, since all of it's nice specs are usefull then, maybe not now.

Use your existing card?

12 months from now the 9700Pro will be half the cost of today.

[Pekka]

Nah, my existing card really sucks buttholes. But I could go for that other one, would be a lot cheaper and fit my demands for at least a while, at least as long as 9700Pro is half the cost.

[notyoueither]

Well if what you got sucks buttholes, better get something better...

Besides, you could buy a 9000Pro today and a 9700Pro in a year for the same cost as a 9700Pro today. You must have some deserving son, or daugther, or neice, or nephew for the 9000...