Unfortunately, I do. Started on Compuserve.
With metered phone lines back then, I would get the scolding of my life every time the phone bill arrived. :screama:
Any MR members build your own computer?
- Thread starter E.intheC
- Start date
Unfortunately, I do. Started on Compuserve.
With metered phone lines back then, I would get the scolding of my life every time the phone bill arrived. :screama:
- Location
- Astoria, Queens
Haha, then NetZero came in the mix.
I used test that ran at 28.8K
Napster, kaaza
I used test that ran at 28.8K
Napster, kaaza
- Location
- Astoria, Queens
Yes sir, Couldnt afford a computer until I was 14? I remember using the IBM in school with DOS ....
Saw this the other day... I chuckled throughout the video, then I cried a little. :lol2:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=PF7EpEnglgk
http://youtube.com/watch?v=PF7EpEnglgk
- Location
- Astoria, Queens
OMG I remember those Tapes.
My teacher was in Vietnam and was teaching us how to draw boxes on it. He would get mad and have us get in formation against the wall. Good days.
My teacher was in Vietnam and was teaching us how to draw boxes on it. He would get mad and have us get in formation against the wall. Good days.
- Location
- Astoria, Queens
I was talking to a co-worker about how I use to rip VCRs apart and put it back together for fun. Just to see how it works.
She replied "what's a VCR?" .... wtf
She replied "what's a VCR?" .... wtf
- Location
- Forest Hills
i think my 1st computer built was an amd k7.
To answer your question I am running a SSD drive, the SSD drive acts as my primary for operating system & daily use programs/games. I then have a separate 3 TB drive that I use for storage.
In addition to my gaming/desktop PC I have a HTPC that has about 9 TB of storage for my movie backups, etc.
If you build a computer and select good hardware then stability won't be much of an issue. I am running windows 8.1 and have 0 issues w/ my system. With my SSD I can boot into windows in a few seconds.
To get rid of the annoying tiles I recommend buying "StartIsBack" it will make Windows 8's taskbar default to the Windows 7 style. Honestly I find myself rarely using the task bar except to shut down.
There is a program called fences, it allows you to make different plots on your desktop and store your icons in these plots. It helps to keep it organized.
Depending on what you're planning on doing with the computer will determine system specs. If you are going to be gaming and intensive hardware items I'd recommend a Samsung Pro 840 HD, if not get a Samsung EVO SSD. For storage I use WD Red drives.
Also I am an intel fan, I used to run amds exclusively, but with the recent intel q6600 - my current I5 intel I feel is leaps ahead.
Regarding graphics I like nvidia more than ati, ati has issues with their drivers and for the $ nvidia is great. Again if you aren't going to use heavy intensive graphics or games then you don't need anything crazy. You can pick up GTX 680s or even 700s for reasonable price.
Memory stick with crucial, corsair, or a well known brand. If you arent going to do too much gaming/intensive stuff then 8 GB will be fine. Get dual channel so 2 x 4 GB sticks. If you are going to be doing intense applications check out for 4 x 4 GB for 16 GB total.
Disc drive, I'd recommend a blu-ray burner, they aren't that expensive and the ability to burn 35 gigs of data to a single disc is nice.
Power supply again depends on use of PC, if you're not going too crazy with gfx & stuff a 650 watt should suffice. If going a bit more crazy go with an 800 watt. I highly recommend modular psus as they make wire management easier and I am ocd with wiring.
Case - depends on size and form factor. My desktop is a corsair 900d and my htpc is a small mini-itx
Hope this helps.
In addition to my gaming/desktop PC I have a HTPC that has about 9 TB of storage for my movie backups, etc.
If you build a computer and select good hardware then stability won't be much of an issue. I am running windows 8.1 and have 0 issues w/ my system. With my SSD I can boot into windows in a few seconds.
To get rid of the annoying tiles I recommend buying "StartIsBack" it will make Windows 8's taskbar default to the Windows 7 style. Honestly I find myself rarely using the task bar except to shut down.
There is a program called fences, it allows you to make different plots on your desktop and store your icons in these plots. It helps to keep it organized.
Depending on what you're planning on doing with the computer will determine system specs. If you are going to be gaming and intensive hardware items I'd recommend a Samsung Pro 840 HD, if not get a Samsung EVO SSD. For storage I use WD Red drives.
Also I am an intel fan, I used to run amds exclusively, but with the recent intel q6600 - my current I5 intel I feel is leaps ahead.
Regarding graphics I like nvidia more than ati, ati has issues with their drivers and for the $ nvidia is great. Again if you aren't going to use heavy intensive graphics or games then you don't need anything crazy. You can pick up GTX 680s or even 700s for reasonable price.
Memory stick with crucial, corsair, or a well known brand. If you arent going to do too much gaming/intensive stuff then 8 GB will be fine. Get dual channel so 2 x 4 GB sticks. If you are going to be doing intense applications check out for 4 x 4 GB for 16 GB total.
Disc drive, I'd recommend a blu-ray burner, they aren't that expensive and the ability to burn 35 gigs of data to a single disc is nice.
Power supply again depends on use of PC, if you're not going too crazy with gfx & stuff a 650 watt should suffice. If going a bit more crazy go with an 800 watt. I highly recommend modular psus as they make wire management easier and I am ocd with wiring.
Case - depends on size and form factor. My desktop is a corsair 900d and my htpc is a small mini-itx
Hope this helps.
Thanks Brando457, That's a lot of excellent information. I'm going to really have to research and become an expert with this new tech. A lot of what you mentioned is similar to what I was planning on running, though.
In the meantime, I figured I should take a look and find out the exact specs on my current computer.
Here we go:
Windows 7 Home Premium, 64 bit
AMD Sempron LE-1300 (2.3 GHz)
2.0 GB Ram
288 GB HDD with 172 GB Free
NVidia GeForce 6150 SE nForce graphics card
DVD RW optical drive
We're not heavy users. We like to do the normal things like surf the web, track budgets on Excel, use Word, and my wife has i-tunes (which seems HUGE in itself). When I work at home, I tend to use a lot of internet tabs, and when I try to listen to music (through youtube, for example), the system slows down enough to be noticeable. Video at any respectable quality seems to lag and jutters quite a bit also. I'm going to start using Photoshop (mostly for pictures once I get better with my camera, but that's another story).
It'd be nice to save some money and upgrade a few things (ram maybe?) but is it worth it given my current computer's hardware?
In the meantime, I figured I should take a look and find out the exact specs on my current computer.
Here we go:
Windows 7 Home Premium, 64 bit
AMD Sempron LE-1300 (2.3 GHz)
2.0 GB Ram
288 GB HDD with 172 GB Free
NVidia GeForce 6150 SE nForce graphics card
DVD RW optical drive
We're not heavy users. We like to do the normal things like surf the web, track budgets on Excel, use Word, and my wife has i-tunes (which seems HUGE in itself). When I work at home, I tend to use a lot of internet tabs, and when I try to listen to music (through youtube, for example), the system slows down enough to be noticeable. Video at any respectable quality seems to lag and jutters quite a bit also. I'm going to start using Photoshop (mostly for pictures once I get better with my camera, but that's another story).
It'd be nice to save some money and upgrade a few things (ram maybe?) but is it worth it given my current computer's hardware?
- Location
- Staten Island
i wouldnt bother upgrading your currrnt pc , spend the money and build a quality pc and it will last many years to come , computer speeds are starting to come to a hault we rapidly shot up from 100 mhz processors to 3 ghz but cooling technologies are starting to put a hault on processor speed , in my opinion if you build a good quality pc it will last you at least 5 years , ive been running my first generation intel i7 machine for 6 years now and it still holds up with alot of technology today.
if you like send me a pm with a budget and i can gather a list of parts for you
if you like send me a pm with a budget and i can gather a list of parts for you
It's a Compaq CQ5300F. I don't know the motherboard. Looks like I can only upgrade to 4 GB ram, though.
At the suggestion of a buddy of mine, I uninstalled a few programs (most notably -- McAfee) and also performed a disk cleanup, defragged the hard drive, and installed and ran CCleaner. The computer is now running much better. It still lags a bit when I have multiple programs going, and could be quicker overall, but at least this will allow me some time to research (not to mention save up $) and build something much, much better.
At the suggestion of a buddy of mine, I uninstalled a few programs (most notably -- McAfee) and also performed a disk cleanup, defragged the hard drive, and installed and ran CCleaner. The computer is now running much better. It still lags a bit when I have multiple programs going, and could be quicker overall, but at least this will allow me some time to research (not to mention save up $) and build something much, much better.
I think that pc is still useful for what you're doing, if you make some upgrades. Your motherboard supports phenom 2 quad cores and you can get those used on ebay. You also need to get raise the ram to 4gb as you said earlier. Lastly, ssd drives will give you a dramatic increase in performance as some have suggested. I think microcenter is having a sale on samsung drives this week.
Can probably just upgrade from your current 2GB to 4GB with http://www.ebay.com/itm/2GB-RAM-Mem...Q5300F-DDR2-800MHz-240-pin-DIMM-/230853738084
Or buy 2 sticks, but doubt you'll need to.
Sponsor Reefs
We're a FREE website, and we exist because of hobbyists like YOU who help us run this community.
Click here to sponsor $10:
