This may or may not be Cute FTP. (http://shakytable.com/cuteftp.zip)
*edit from Damaris- since I know you all are going to talk about it, here you go.
I think we're going to make her use Filezilla, since a) it's free and b) it's, like, so much better than Cute ;)
And it may or may not be the illegal full version, so whatever floats yer boat. Free is always a good thing.
I'm surprised our tech dorks haven't swooped down upon this thread and suggested a million ways to tomorrow when it comes to a new computer purchase. Build it! Buy from this! Buy from that! Don't pay over X amount! Take my extra system!
I don't foresee it being very cheap, so... I'd really like to see some sort of thermometer only instead of degrees, it's dollar signs. I'd feel better if we had a goal to work towards instead of people blindly donating because they don't know how much is required.
Quote from: Amber Panyko on July 21, 2006, 03:53:04 PM
So yeah...total data loss. I'm sure a general "you should have backed up" is in effect. One redeeming factor is my older compy...the one that I left with my brother...likely has some of the really old files. However, as some of you probably are going to grimace at, the thing lost and likely unsalvagable is in fact the high rez versions of a good chunk of DMFA comics(including all of Abel's Story) and a hefty chunk of Mab's Land art.
So it seems that the disk is OK, but the filesystem has been eaten? Hmm.
May I ask what format the images were in? If it was a standard format like PNG or JPEG I could probably write something to search the volume for those (given a copy of the disk partition). If it's some freaky Adobe format it's a lot harder, but not impossible - The imp seems to be able to read Adobe images.
If the disk was NTFS formatted, I do actually have a piece of software to recover files from damaged NTFS filesystems (somewhere). If it was FAT32 it's even easier (Powerquest 'Lost and Found').
How big is the disk drive? What would be really useful is if someone could take an image of the entire partition and make it available via Bittorrent or something of that nature (it's going to be
way too big for FTP or HTTP) then us filesystem salvage-type people could all have a go without needing the physical unit.
Quote
So the gameplan is as of now, I'll be going to Indiana ASAP...and while there I will likely buy a new pc and start the long process of trying to get up and running again. With some good fortune, I will be up and running and at least making some new comics by next week. Cause I'm a mini-workaholic and I'll be danged if I'm gonna quit doing DMFA just because the universe is using me as a cosmic hackey-sack.
This is not a real solution, but when I learned that the first 540 odd volumes of DMFA no longer existed (BTW, are any of those on the older machine?) I got interested in JPEG artifact reduction and image reconstruction. I've been able to make a passable double-res version of #531, although as I say, it's more a stopgap/last resort than a proper solution.
What might be more practical if the art is lost for ever and ever would be to scan in the black and white paper originals and recolour them. This would be an immense undertaking, but would it not be possible to spread the load? TalonR for instance has virtually nailed your colouring style. Perhaps we could commission her to restore some of the lost strips - that would only leave the compositing and titling, yes? And I'm sure there must be other Amber-compatible colourists out there too..
Quote
I dunno...I might send the hard drive itself off to a couple people who said they'd love to try to salvage...but as of this time, yes its the worst case scenario and has now put me in a spot. Odds are getting a new comp will take a chunk out of my finances...and considering how I am trying to show financial stability to Canada...it almost feels like a competition of whats more important.
How much is a new PC going to cost?
originally had posted this : well... I have a couple of spare motherboards, some graphics cards, some cases and a couple of power supplies. I guess if someone else can provide a new hard-drive, processor, and memory we could send you the parts Amber :mowsmile
however one of my cow-orkers just reminded me that we retired an older 850mhz T-bird unit about a month or so ago. I think it just needed a new hard-drive. When I get back to the cave I'll check and see if it is still operational.
You know, if the drive still actually works, like, it can be plugged in and all, you could POSSIBLY use recovery programs to get your files back... That is, if they don't constantly spout out I/O errors on you and all that bleh. Try finding someone to help you with using a program like, say... Partition Table Doctor or... um.. crap, can't remember the one I used before when my drive suddenly forgot what it was... Either way, keep that drive around and don't let anything happen to it, if you wanna recover 'em. I still have hope that, if it's not physically messed up, that you have a chance to get every single thing (or failing that, most of it) back.
As a general rule of thumb in computer buying: what's good isn't cheap, and what's cheap isn't good.
That doesn't mean that expensive==good. Find a trusted computer geek near you to get some advise in where to buy.
Home-build is usually better then a Dell or HP out-of-the-box pc.
If the mainboard and HD are fried, you will probably need to replace most (or all) of your old comp (mainboard, HD, memory, processor, video-card (maybe), case).
Some components from your old comp can be used in your new rig (if you go home-built): cd/cd-r/dvd/dvd-r drives, floppy-drive, monitor, any stuff not in the pc-case
If you go for a out-of-the-box pc, note the following: if the video-card is 'on-board' or the words 'shared memory' are used near it, run away fast.
OOTB pc's usually have tiny HD's (40GB or so), on board video (ugh), and 1 GB of memory (or less). Somewhat suitable for internet and e-mail, but I would not want to inflict that on an artist (photoshop is hungry for memory and processor-power, but I don't need to tell you that)
As for the backup thing: live and learn. Bummer that some of the high-res stuff is lost. :(
The lost software can be re-gained through internet-enabled copyright infringement ('piracy' according to RIAA/ MPAA) if need be, so no (very) big there.
Free, fully functional FTP-clients are available, so no drama on that fromt (check www.webattack.com for a huge list of free-and shareware internet-anything)
Scanner-software can be downloaded from the internet, or you can contact the manufacturer for a replacement cd. The same can be done form most hardware, just check the manufacturer's websites.
1 small practicle thing to look for in a new computer-case (home-built pc, or OOTB): make sure there are USB-ports on the front of the pc. It makes using USB-drives/gamepads/other frequently unplugged devices and such a lot easier.
If you decide on a second-hand system (shudder): bring an expert along, and make sure you buy from a trusted source.
Hope I helped. :batman
Okay, here's the deal. Bring the computer out with you and we'll put the HD through it's paces. So long as it spins, we are more than likely able to do something with it (and no, we're not talking recovery porgrams).
Just bring it with and we'll see what we can do.
@ Darkmoon
.. wow looked back at what system you were reffering to you and am envious .. i'll just put my ontrack recovery software back in the corner. (though great for recovering that 'file system eaten' type of dissapeared data).
"I'm surprised our tech dorks haven't swooped down upon this thread and suggested a million ways to tomorrow when it comes to a new computer purchase"
I'm sure they will .. or they are thoughtfully thinking 'what does amber really need in a system?' at the moment (and 'what did amber have' as well.). With that $1000 mark Amber cited there are some good options, and likely will yeild a much better system than she has right now. (I would have said $1500, but currency conversion + shipping is tricky, and mabey her monitor was spared the death) For now I'll echo the 'real cpu' (athalon / pentium) 'real video card' (no on board video) standard responce everyone is thinking right now, but need to think for details. (Or just let amber's trusted advisers handle this .. who am i anyways?).
I've got no idea what amber had, but looks like she needs to add to her system:
- DVD RW (for those backups we all need to do more of)
- Power Bar / Surge Protector (once fried twice shy.)
Mmm .. enough rambling..
(darn computer people and their computer talk!)
Quote from: Amber Panyko on July 21, 2006, 06:27:40 PM
I'm going on the assumption that the person who is working on my computer and making frustrated noises is well aware of the benefit of recovery programs.
Well, I have noticed that some work where others don't... Not saying that it's going to be fixable by scanning for possible files and filesystems and all that, but i'm sure as there's no surface damage on the drive, it SHOULD be recoverable by experts. (having someone take the guts out in a clean environment in a worst-case scenario like that costs a bundle, but it's worth considering.) Just keep the drive around and in good conditions and something will come along, I'm sure.
You were right on RAID, it just mirrors what you have to keep a copy... Of course whatever screwed your old HD during the move would probably get both HDs if it ever happened again, so I never saw the point. Umm.. Monitor, yeah, that's some extra bucks if you want a nice flatscreen (and you do, to avoid flickering messing up your vision), but I am sure Dmoon will hook you up with something great.
HEAR THAT GUYS, HER HARD DRIVE IS IN CAPABLE HANDS AND SO IS HER NEW COMPUTER TO BE.
sadly... I figured something really bad had happened upon the mention of problems started after a lightning
if the price range is of about $1000 and still reusing still functional parts from the older PC I assume you want a VERY good pc. (my guess is that the CD/DVD and diskette drives could likely still be usable, maybe a few of the internal cards as well if you were lucky. power source/ motherboard/ processor are most likely fried tho...)
as far as backup goes, I'd personally stick with the idea of removable HDs, considering you saving up a lerger budget. lot more space and a lot more practical than DVDs, and if kept in appropriate casing it will likely not fail.
as for FTP, I currently don't use any. I just open windows explorer and type ftp://whatever on the address bar and use it normally. is quite fast and practical this way.
but if you really feel you need a FTP prog, you can try this http://superdownloads.uol.com.br/programas/listagem.cfm?Cat=1FTP&filtro=freeware&ordem=2
sorry it's in portuguese, but if you can just click the links and work your way around. all freeware
about comics, I'd be willing to contribute with guest comic-ing :mowwink
Quote from: Netami on July 21, 2006, 10:13:41 PM
Umm.. Monitor, yeah, that's some extra bucks if you want a nice flatscreen (and you do, to avoid flickering messing up your vision), but I am sure Dmoon will hook you up with something great.
Not so good. LCD screens are bad for artists because the colour reproduction is terrible - it changes depending on the angle which makes shading difficult. I've fallen foul of this myself.
QuoteHEAR THAT GUYS, HER HARD DRIVE IS IN CAPABLE HANDS AND SO IS HER NEW COMPUTER TO BE.
Good. The archivist in me is still smarting from Amber's comment about the hi-res files, though. Must... preserve... everything...
Now, at the risk of incurring Amber's wrath about priorities again, is there any chance of getting some kind of donation counter working again? A crude hack made with Paint or Gimp would be sufficient, just so we can see the numbers.
Quote from: Tapewolf on July 22, 2006, 06:21:31 AM
CD screens are bad for artists because the colour reproduction is terrible - it changes depending on the angle which makes shading difficult. I've fallen foul of this myself.
Interesting, I've never considered that. A CRT is so old-school these days... Though in order to get around your reproduction faults she'd have to buy some top of the line flatscreen that would propel the costs past 1000.
And yeah, counters are cool. AKA We wont stop complaining until one gets put up.
In regards to the motherboard, you can save a lot of money if you get the same type of motherboard as your current one and just move the hardware over. As for the hard drive, I don't know what to say.
I kind of find it unlikely that a total data loss could result of this. It'd have to be some internal damage from a heck of a shot. If it was enough to do that, I'm surprised the rest of the computer didn't shoot out as well.
Yeah, for the hard drive problem, if it can't be fixed by a blind search (some recovery programs do look for possible files and folders for different filesystems, even if the itself can't actually be recovered. It doesn't work all that often, though.) or a partition repair, or paying a bunch of money to have experts fiddle with it and/or move the discs, etc. inside to a different drive of the same type, then something extra-bad had to happen.
Like Tapewolf said, we're like that. We want to preserve everything or the world be damned.
Nex: Her computer may be too old for that. If it's older than a 2.0Ghz P4 then I'd just rebuild the machine to be Vista-capable. The Intel Core 2 (code-named Conroe) Duo is supposed to be out very soon now and should offer tremendous bang for the buck. The E6600 is about $320 in lots of 1000, so it will likely be less than $400 on the street. The best part? All benchmarks I've seen show it beating AMD's $1000 FX-62.
Core 2 Duo
nForce 5 or 975X Intel Motherboard
nVidia Geforce 7600
250GB SATAII HDD
2GB RAM
Case
500W PSU
DVD-+RW Burner
A simple but extremely powerful, Vista-capable computer that could be built for under $1500 or so. Some of those parts aren't quite out yet but should be very, very soon. If you want to go budget, AMD's 939 platform, although no longer releasing new products, is very cheap right now and isn't much slower (5-10% at most) than the new AM2 platform. You can also drop to a GeForce 6600 to save a bit more dough, and that should still run Vista Aero at all but super-high resolutions.
If I was in Indiana I'd be happy to build a new machine, but I'm not going to be back until the 31st. I need to do some travelling right now, but later I'd be happy to hunt for parts and come up with some examples.
And whoever said about LCDs being bad for artists is right. CRTs are they way to go for accurate color reproduction. Fortunately, they're real cheap right now. Unfortunately, they're still super heavy.
Quote from: Aridas Soulfire on July 22, 2006, 01:55:18 PM
Yeah, for the hard drive problem, if it can't be fixed by a blind search (some recovery programs do look for possible files and folders for different filesystems, even if the itself can't actually be recovered. It doesn't work all that often, though.) or a partition repair, or paying a bunch of money to have experts fiddle with it and/or move the discs, etc. inside to a different drive of the same type, then something extra-bad had to happen.
Like Tapewolf said, we're like that. We want to preserve everything or the world be damned.
Sadly, most of DMFA has already been lost in a series of BBC-like archive purges. IIRC, everything up to about 540 only exists in low-res, JPEG format (unlike Dr. Who & Into The Unknown, which now simply do not exist). I still wanted to make sure that everything still extant in high-res had at least one off-site copy. The loss of the Abel's Story masters is very sucky as well.
(Amber, I'm assuming the (prior) state of the archives is not some dark secret - if it is, edit away!)
I'll say it again - it seems that the disk is not mechanically damaged. This means that it's a matter of salvaging/repairing the data on it, which should be less effort than a cleanroom job.
Logical recovery can also be performed nondestructively on a copy or image of the disk - a prerequisite if the disk is going to be 'passed around' to various people.
Quote from: Cvstos on July 22, 2006, 02:13:58 PM
If it's older than a 2.0Ghz P4 then I'd just rebuild the machine to be Vista-capable.
I mean no disrespect, but why? Is Amber going to be able to afford Vista? What would be the benefit to her anyway, and which of the seven or more flavours of the thing would you recommend?
Quote
when I started DMFA....I was working on an older computer that had probably about...7 gigs of spacce to its name. Combined with me not even considering DMFA something I would one day need to keep high rez files from...almost all the early archives are only available in small format. It was only when I got the new computer did I really start saving the high-res versions of things. I never kept high res before then because my computer honestly didnt have the space and I honestly didnt see the need or desire. I only started saving high res files on the new comp for the comis beccause people told me that was the thing to do.
Which is probably why the loss of the current high res is not the most extreme of losses for me....becaue I never had any real plans or mass need/uses for them. I dont think there will ever be a book collection...especially in regards to the older strips. the only exception might be Abel's story and luckily that comic is still under 50 so at worst if I recolour I can probably manage.
Yes data recovery would be nice, but at this point, I can't really put it on a high priority next to actually getting back on my feet and on the road to Canada. Mat currently has my tower and hard drive...if the people he work at can't find anything, then he'll send it back. If you all desire I can make a game of "pass the HD" where it can smash everyones high expectactions of magical HD recovery since apparently no one is going to believe anything until they've been smacked down themselves. but as for me...I'm tired of people constantly going "oh there is still hope because its RUNNING! All you have to do is bla bl abla bla..."
I really really would rather not spend over half the donations given on the new computer. If it boils down to that...I guess thats what has to happen. I'm more meh at this moment over the prospect of having to lug around another fifty bajillion pound screen.
I'm overall a creature of habit. odds are regardless of the processers and thingimajiggies and whatnot in it..I'll likely do the same things I did on my prior computers. I'll assume though I want to one day play video games on it though. I don't need a lot...and chances are if there is too much stuff going on...it will only confuse me and I'll continue doing what I did before on the old computer. Cause I'm smert like that. :B
Well, here's the semi-requisite Mac user/fanatic post relating to PC hardware... (Don't sick Piff on me for this! :mowtongue )
Other than the obvious suggestion of going for a Mac, from what I can tell, most of the software you use is already available for it, or can run on current generation Macs. Photoshop is always available for Mac OS X (and I believe that any copy of Photoshop has both PC and Mac versions on it). As for FTP, there are two shareware programs that are good, but I think that "Transmit" is the best available for the platform at the moment. Your plugins for Photoshop also seem to be available for both operating systems. And finally, there are at least two nice "Aquarium" screen savers with 3D fishies already out on Mac OS X :mowwink
Other than that, you can obviously run Windows XP in bootcamp, so you can still use your current version of photoshop without the slowdown that happens with Apple's "Rosetta translation software" which makes PowerPC software run on Intel hardware. It's been improved somewhat, but you still can get a 40% drop in speed if you start using multiple filters and layers on an image. The next release of the software should be much faster.
As for the screen, Apple's use of glossy LCD's is an improvement. I have a MacBook Pro 17" with a glossy screen, and I have to say it's to drool for :mowtongue . That said, the colors don't change very much at an angle and Apple does implement color correction and color profile software (http://www.apple.com/macosx/features/colorsync/) that does help make colors remain stable in hue from one monitor to another. Besides, it seems that your PC's current screen is functional, you can always hook it up to an iMac and use the extended desktop settings. As a bonus, more screen real estate for you :mowwink
Also, even though there are many more PCs out there, the fact that Apple distributes it's developer suite for free on the internet and with new Macs, the freeware and shareware market is pretty healthy at the moment (lot's of interesting and good software which you can find via VersionTracker (http://www.versiontracker.com/macosx/). I know a new Mac is a bit expensive, but in a way, you get two computers for the price of one (considering that you should have a standard Windows XP install disk from your old PC).
Well, I hope with this little rant of mine you could open up to some other kind of computer, rather than the standard homebuilt PC.
aahh a hardware thread all the computer nuts are free now :mwaha
[BTW i'm just idly conversing computers i'm no way trying to 'beat amber to death' with hardware ]
QuoteLCD screens are bad for artists because the colour reproduction is terrible - it changes depending on the angle which makes shading difficult. I've fallen foul of this myself
Ahh good point there. Then the is always the 'optimal/native resolution' issue, some lcd monitors just look terrible if not displayed at that. Only good things they are getting more affordable and better quality (and crt's are somewhat dissapearing)
"Vista"
Oy i wouldn't want to plan for that, heard nothing but terrible things and crazy high requirements for that. Not sure how much his rumors, but imo until it is officially 'out' it is nearly not even worth thinking of, and then you might as well let every one else test it for you for a while. Though i guess the poster said 'capable' .. not a bad idea I guess [bah no keep 2k/xp]
"core 2 deuo / A2"
Also heard the new intel is getting some very good benchmarks, too bad new chips = $$$ and new motherboards and controll chips and new bugs. For a non-tech on a budget the cheaper established chips may be the better route
Hmm, with my cranky 'keep the old' routine just get my rocking chair and stick and i'm all set to say how every thing used to be better in the good ole days.
- Get off my lawn you crazy kids! -
Cvstos: I do see your point. However, Vista won't be mainstream for at least another 2 years. It might not be worth it to spend all that money. I would wait until the price dropped, because in my opinion it's not worth the cash for a OS that not many programs support in the first place. My recommendation to Amber is to do some reasearch on which kind of motherboard it is, see if she can find an exact model like it, then go to a local computer store (Not Best Buy or Circuit City: they just try to sell you crap) and see if they can swap as much as possible over. The maximum done for a minimum cost. Win-Win.
Quote from: Tapewolf on July 22, 2006, 06:21:31 AMNot so good. LCD screens are bad for artists because the colour reproduction is terrible - it changes depending on the angle which makes shading difficult. I've fallen foul of this myself.
that does apply to most notebook LCD screens i've seen so far, but on any of the quality LCD screens I've seen so far, the colors remains quite stable regardless of angle. and if it's to buy a new monitor, why not buy sonwthing
new and not just a replacement for the old one?
however I don't think monitors die easily... my old 14" monitor from my 486 has several problems, it even dropped once, but shows no sign of dying. so unless the current monitor is really unstable i'd say put on low priority
as for vista, I hope it means onle vista CAPABLE, not vista INSTALLED. I really don't see the advantage of using vista right now... when WinXP launched many people refused it due to high requirements, and I don't see vista any different right now. it should be a good idea a few years from now, as long as it has good features that makes it better than XP. so for now I say stay with XP. If weren't for Photoshop and a few other windows things I would recommend Linux, you can have a kickass set of applications on a linux OS these days
(http://www.shakytable.com/wp-images/jiggaplease.jpg)
Quote from: admford on July 22, 2006, 03:44:47 PM
Other than the obvious suggestion of going for a Mac
Should I even mention that Mac OS takes a performance hit compared to plain ol Windows XP on a machine MEANT for Mac OS? I shouldn't, but I just did... so... crap. *runs away*
I think this is meant to go in this thread: I'm not sure.
Amber, what kind of scanner do you use for the Librarian? Was it done with two passes on an A3 unit and digitally stitched or something? It's just occurred to me that you no longer have the B/W original (since it's on my wall).
Hmmm Since we've got a fairly large collection of people who know more then me about computers would it beokay If I posted arather odd problem I've been having recently?
Quote from: thegayhare on July 22, 2006, 08:27:55 PM
Hmmm Since we've got a fairly large collection of people who know more then me about computers would it beokay If I posted arather odd problem I've been having recently?
*makes a thread for computer problems*
i'm so smart =3
Quote from: Tapewolf on July 22, 2006, 05:45:00 PMI think this is meant to go in this thread: I'm not sure.
Amber, what kind of scanner do you use for the Librarian? Was it done with two passes on an A3 unit and digitally stitched or something? It's just occurred to me that you no longer have the B/W original (since it's on my wall).
large pictures can be scanned with a good perfection on small scanners by mergine enough sections.
I've had a good rate of success with a3-sized pics on a4 scanners by scanning three-section (left, mid and right). and then create masks for the scans with gradients for smooth transition to find the perfect position for the merge. the trick is just to make sure all the samples are aligned, so I think you could even theoretically scan an a2-sized pic on an a4 scanner.
the problem is most scanners have an elevation from the scanning area to its borders, which can cause papers larger than the scanning area to rise near the areas outside the currently scanned section, so you will need to put weight over it so the paper will stay plain in the scanner. I usually use a pack of printer paper, because it's heavy enough and exactly the same size
I recover and Destroy data for a living in the real world.
Send me the Hard Drive and I will get it done.
Nex: I'm actually Beta-testing the 32-bit version of Vista right now and it's damn near ready for prime time, IMO. Just about everything I've thrown at it that has been made in the last 4 years has run flawlessly, and all the hardware worked right away (except the X-fi card, but a Windows Update run later and it was solved). The only major problem I had with it has since been fixed by Microsoft, and now it's literally good enough to run as my main OS.
Now, I'm not running some random cheapo Dell, so YMMV. I've got a custom machine with decent hardware, and a strong GPU is required for the "good" versions of Vista. And having a dual-core 64-bit CPU just in general makes things all the sweeter. Trust me on this one. If you're going to get a new machine now, get one that's Vista-capable so you're not spending a ton of dough for a new system after those 2 years.
I'll be online more tomorrow and I'll be able to part stuff out then. I'll likely not be able to do much until then.
Oh, and I think (not certain) Photoshop sells two different SKUs for the PC and Mac versions. A Mac is a viable option if know you have the software you need for it (art-related stuff I mean). (FULL DISCLOSURE: Yes, I'm beta-testing Vista. But that's my desktop. My laptop is an Apple PowerBook G4.)
Heh, you guys realize this thread was sort of made so that they didn't have to pay attention to it's contents, right?
oh yeah, of course!
darn, you're on to us... *shifty eyes*
Amber's never really been a big fan of going to the forum for help in any way, and she sort of has the same idea for other people doing the same. I guess when you get something whether you want it or not, that sort of belief develops.
Mainly, I was finding it hard to read the thread with my eyes constantly glazed over ;) (not a computer geek). So I figured, let you all have your fun :)
Cvstos: we have to keep in mind that Amber is most likely not wanting to spend close to $1500 or more on a PC. Therefore, the less she has to spend the better.
I have no doubt that Vista is close to running very well, the only problem is the majority of programs won't be able to catch up to vista for at least another year, running the unfortunate problem of not being able to run most programs as efficiently as you'd like to. In 6 months, there might be enough programs, and the cost might be well enough, but at this point it's not worth it.
I've already stated this, but my recommendation short-term is swap everything onto a new motherboard and salvage what you could out of the hard drive. It would be the cheapest solution.
hehe yeah, lucky Amber, well she deserves that new comp, so jealous!!!
I've heard of some sites where you can actually decide all these additives on a computer and itll give you an estimate, such as if you want an interior water cooling system, a gigantic monitor, and much much more!!!
*steps down from the podium*
that went well
Cost is a factor, but so is TCO (Total Cost of Ownership). A new, reliable PC is better in the long run than a 6-year-old PC at the end of it's lifespan. I'm actually looking into a new computer for my grandfather, as he's got a 1998 machine that even lacks USB ports!
Amber, what were the old computer's specifications? Be as specific as possible about model numbers of parts. If the machine is more than 4 years old or so, it will be difficult to get simple replacement parts and a new machine may be a better option. If it's relatively new, replacing a few parts may be the way to go.
After what you went through, if anyone here deserves that new computer, it's you.
Uh, guys? Did any of you read the new mainpage newsbox? You know, the one mentioning that she's "taking half the money and building a new, top-of-the-line machine, which hopefully will last longer than her old top-of-the-line machine" and that the "new computer will be ready in a week or so"?
Just throwing it in before Amber comes back with her new machine, going all "Erm, you can stop now..." :P
Shhh! It'll be funnier when that actually happens, rather than telling everyone it's going to happen.
Nope, didn't see that. I did check recently but it didn't update until just a little while ago. Stuck in browser cache, probably. It doesn't usually do that for me, but I was on a different machine then. I'm back on my laptop and it works fine now.
let's just buy an old P3 600Mhz for 50$, overclock it to 800Mhz and install Ubuntu on it :U :B
About vista: I'm going to wait and see if it will turn into a debacle of Windows ME-like proportions.
From what I've read the system requirements are rather high and the new features are likely to annoy, or will be (almost) completely useless.
There's supposed to be some added security, but Microsoft's track record for 'adequate' security is less then stellar, and no matter how much security they add, the user is still the biggest security-hole.
If you are happy with your current OS, stick with that.
*cough*
My 2c. :-)
Amber: Go with what you need. Most of what is being discussed here is along the lines of (for those of us who are thinking about it) making your current tasks work better and faster - not trying to change what you're doing.
Your current screen is probably ok, unless you've already gotten rid of it in the hopes of getting a new one. Other than that - well, the folks you have on hand sound like they know what they're doing, so...
Those people who are talking data recovery are talking data recovery because they don't have anything better to do. And because it gives us all something to pass the time with until you get back to us with the next update :-) It's your computer, you do what you want with it. And we'll all stand behind you and slip money over your shoulder. :-)
The shifting countries thing eats money like nothing on earth, so we understand - take what money you get and work things out, and get back to us when you can. Heck, if it means Zina provides us with more guest comics, take a week or two out :-)
Whatever happens: Don't stress over it. We're all adult enough, here, to accept that our advice may or may not be useful due to information we -do- -not- -have-, since you're busy sorting the issue, and not typing out a massive great long missive about every single problem you encounter. :-)
llearch, out.
Quote from: llearch n'n'daCorna on July 24, 2006, 09:28:53 AM
*cough*
My 2c. :-)
Amber: Go with what you need. Most of what is being discussed here is along the lines of (for those of us who are thinking about it) making your current tasks work better and faster - not trying to change what you're doing.
Your current screen is probably ok, unless you've already gotten rid of it in the hopes of getting a new one. Other than that - well, the folks you have on hand sound like they know what they're doing, so...
Those people who are talking data recovery are talking data recovery because they don't have anything better to do. And because it gives us all something to pass the time with until you get back to us with the next update :-) It's your computer, you do what you want with it. And we'll all stand behind you and slip money over your shoulder. :-)
The shifting countries thing eats money like nothing on earth, so we understand - take what money you get and work things out, and get back to us when you can. Heck, if it means Zina provides us with more guest comics, take a week or two out :-)
Whatever happens: Don't stress over it. We're all adult enough, here, to accept that our advice may or may not be useful due to information we -do- -not- -have-, since you're busy sorting the issue, and not typing out a massive great long missive about every single problem you encounter. :-)
llearch, out.
dito.
but anyway:
Vista, 2 words: software maturity. (well and budget too actually... and need?)
Mac: BUDGET D:
Now that these points are out of the way, what do we have? :3 A fried computer, better go for new hardware, if you keep old parts they are more likely to go *poof* sooner or later (well maybe the tower can be reused)
So lets see, something cheap, stable and that does the job, forget your personal game rig or media center. What can you build up with those specs? :3
Okies. lets do dis.
On the issue of a Mac: I honestly wouldn't want to get a mac at this time. Nothing against them or what they do...its just I don't feel comfortable on them. I've used them in college and didn't like them all that much, and all the programs I have are PC-based. I find the Mac annoying to navigate and use in comparison to my old PC.
On issues of $1500+ PC: I'd really rather not spend the majority of donations on the most top-of-the line built PC with all sorts of new and hitechness...when odds are 80% of what I do with it will be use Photoshop 6, the internet, and Baldur's Gate. I don't need a whole lot to make me happy compy wise. In theory I was happy with my old computer until it up and died(ok, granted it would have been nice to have tried WoW without all the special effects disabled...) So really as long as the problems from my old comp are resolved...I'll likely be happy with the new one despite lack of mega-stuff I dont know what does.
On issues of new compthulu: Mat's dismantling my old tower for parts that are good and likely don't need upgrading (the disk drives for example that I can think of) and will likely replace my cd burner with something that does the dvdwhatevers. I hope to get a price estimate and a rundown of what he's adding today/tomorrow. If/when he does, I promise I'll post the specs up here for you guys to flail about going "you should get ____ instead!" :U
On issues of hd recovery: Mat's taking the hd to work. If that fails, he'll send it to Mike. If that fails, I'll probably mail it to zorro. If that fails, you guys can pass it along however you like. As said, I personally am not holding my breath anymore because to me, it's too much a waste of my time to keep clinging to the hope when I could be trying to move on.
Anything else: My goals for the new compy is more or less an improved version of my old. It should run Photoshop and its filters fine, and maybe play one or two games. A good storage space for high-rez files is also nice, and something with a bit of a backup plan. One that will hopefully dodge a bullet that this current one took, and maybe have a bit of an upgrade here and there. Hopefully $1000 will be able to cover that...give or take a few hundred.
Then again...I did get linked to a site that has these nifty looking cases that have shiny lights and doodads....*cough*
Quote from: Amber Panyko on July 24, 2006, 10:49:45 AM...Baldur's Gate...
Soon, you will crave more freeform-RPG's then Black Isle has made, and then you go to Morrowind, and from there, there is only Oblivion. And Oblivion will bring your computer to its knees.
Then, you will crave the MHz, the GB's, the $800 video-cards, the SLI (or Crossfire). You will lament the power-consumption. You will crave more performence. Soon, you will crave shiney-ness, and lights, and L33t-ness.
Quote from: Amber Panyko on July 24, 2006, 10:49:45 AMThen again...I did get linked to a site that has these nifty looking cases that have shiny lights and doodads....*cough*
It has already begun, my apprentice. :starwars
Oblivion? Pah! Oblivion is for weenies, it's been watered-down for consolers. If you want a real and true hardcore freeform RPG to cut your teeth on, try any of the Gothic games. Gothic I is frendlier so that's a good starting point but Gothic II is so hard it'll make most grown men cry. Oblivion is a ten minute walk in the park (all quests inclusive) compared to Gothic!
I don't know why this Oblivion game is so overhyped. <.<
Though if the Ambery one likes Baldur's Gate, she'll likely enjoy Neverwinter Nights and soon, Neverwinter Nights II shall be released and it will be awesome, much like Neverwinter Nights was. Probably not for the game itself but due to the player created modules.
Quote from: Rowne on July 24, 2006, 11:16:27 AM
I don't know why this Oblivion game is so overhyped. <.<
You can buy shiny horse armor :P
*is sent back to his Economics Work Camp* :<
Technically, the metallic armour would actually break the Horse's back. A riding Horse isn't a mule or a packhorse, after all. Most medieval Horse decorations if I recall correctly were just cloth and leather. When I first saw the incredibly heavy-looking Golden Horse-armour for Oblivion, I just giggled myself silly.
Oblivion rocks. shaddup ;_;
as for the cost: $1000 should do very nicely. I spent $700 initially on my computer (another $180 for the video card), and I can do almost anything with it. Just gotta find the right deals.
Woot! Go Amber! You put those geeks into their place!
... wait a sec, I'm one of "those geeks"... :-)
The use of old parts can drop the price of a computer dramatically, depending on which can and cannot be reused. A lot of that depends on the motherboard: especially the CPU, RAM, and GPU, three of the pricier parts of a PC.
If your old computer was an AMD 939 board, for example, parts for that are readily available and cheap. You could keep the CPU and RAM (and likely GPU as well) and buy a new board (those are readily available). If it's really old like a Socket A board, you're going to need new [most everything but drives].
If you have DDR 400 RAM, but an older board and CPU, you can get a new 939 AMD Athlon and motherboard cheaply, and use the old RAM.
It's a complicated puzzle that varies greatly on what you have and want to get. I've been there many times before.
AMD just SLASHED prices on their CPUs, so that's some good news.
Optical drives and hard drives are normally easily transferable and the price above was for a whole new system. I do recommend a DVD burner now, as they're getting really cheap. $40 on NewEgg. At that price point, why not? Hard drives can be cheap, too, with $100 getting you as much as 300GB! Such drives can also be added, rather than replaced. So you could get twin, triple or even quad HDDs and Optical drives! My own system has 4 hard drives and 3 optical drives. (Two of those HDDs are old and I plan on getting another 300GB Samsung HDD and work some RAID 0 magic.)
Yeah. But really, for what Amber says she does, it's easy to get away with some computer good enough for about $400 or $500. Spending over $1000 would probably turn it into a gaming computer that lasts a few months, when the next 3D game comes out. Depending on how long you want to drag it out in case something comes out that you want to get your hands on, you might be spending more than that first amount I put forward.
As for the deaded hard drive, though.. again, there are plenty of recovery tools out there, and each seems to have its own success rate for file recovery. I had a DOS-based recovery prog that actually found and restored the partition on a drive i had, where other programs would be kinda hazy at best, with only getting my files as well... Problem is, I forget which one that is. But I can make a few random suggestions of software that seems to be for recovery...
GetDataBack (This one kinda sucks, but it's easy to grab a serial for if it manages to find something and not have screwed up the guesswork.)
R-Studio (never tested it myself, but it looks to be powerful in the right hands.)
Partition Table Doctor (again, never tested, but it always helps to see if it has a few different features)
Photoshop is most hungry for RAM and CPU. So the GPU isn't a huge factor. A basic GPU (such as a cheap 6600 for AGP or PCI-Express) which can be had for under $100 will do and will be enough for a future upgrade to Vista. A nice CPU (possible thanks to AMD's cutting of prices nad Intel's stupid-fast Core 2 Duo) and lots of RAM (can be had cheap if you look around) will be the most beneficial.
And as I said, the HDDs and Opticals are transferrable, but a DVD Burner at this point is a must. It's silly to go without when they're super cheap. Depending on the power needs of the new system, you may want a new case and power supply, but those aren't terribly expensive in the basic range, either.
If you wind up buying something from a retail vendor, make certain you get a real copy of Windows and just reformat right away. &*^@#$ trial programs and other junk they put on there can REALLY drag down your performance. I mean BIG TIME, and some of that crap's spyware, too.
Quote from: Cvstos on July 24, 2006, 07:42:56 PM
The use of old parts can drop the price of a computer dramatically, depending on which can and cannot be reused. A lot of that depends on the motherboard: especially the CPU, RAM, and GPU, three of the pricier parts of a PC.
If your old computer was an AMD 939 board, for example, parts for that are readily available and cheap. You could keep the CPU and RAM (and likely GPU as well) and buy a new board (those are readily available). If it's really old like a Socket A board, you're going to need new [most everything but drives].
If you have DDR 400 RAM, but an older board and CPU, you can get a new 939 AMD Athlon and motherboard cheaply, and use the old RAM.
It's a complicated puzzle that varies greatly on what you have and want to get. I've been there many times before.
AMD just SLASHED prices on their CPUs, so that's some good news.
Optical drives and hard drives are normally easily transferable and the price above was for a whole new system. I do recommend a DVD burner now, as they're getting really cheap. $40 on NewEgg. At that price point, why not? Hard drives can be cheap, too, with $100 getting you as much as 300GB! Such drives can also be added, rather than replaced. So you could get twin, triple or even quad HDDs and Optical drives! My own system has 4 hard drives and 3 optical drives. (Two of those HDDs are old and I plan on getting another 300GB Samsung HDD and work some RAID 0 magic.)
given that it's an old computer, I'd say at least 2-3 years old and not cutting edge at the time, I highly doubt it's a 939.... in fact it might even still be under that 2ghz bar...
Haha, Amber's computer is made of suck and fail.
well what did you expect, high performance game rig from 2 years ago? :B
:raspberry
think regular user, not computer geek, regular user :U
edit:
Quote from: Cvstos on July 25, 2006, 01:55:42 AM
Photoshop is most hungry for RAM and CPU. So the GPU isn't a huge factor. A basic GPU (such as a cheap 6600 for AGP or PCI-Express) which can be had for under $100 will do and will be enough for a future upgrade to Vista. A nice CPU (possible thanks to AMD's cutting of prices nad Intel's stupid-fast Core 2 Duo) and lots of RAM (can be had cheap if you look around) will be the most beneficial.
honestly, 6600? an X300 for 30$ or X550 for 45$ is more than enough....
Quote from: Gornemant on July 25, 2006, 02:28:40 AM
well what did you expect, high performance game rig from 2 years ago? :B
:raspberry
think regular user, not computer geek, regular user :U
edit:
Quote from: Cvstos on July 25, 2006, 01:55:42 AM
Photoshop is most hungry for RAM and CPU. So the GPU isn't a huge factor. A basic GPU (such as a cheap 6600 for AGP or PCI-Express) which can be had for under $100 will do and will be enough for a future upgrade to Vista. A nice CPU (possible thanks to AMD's cutting of prices nad Intel's stupid-fast Core 2 Duo) and lots of RAM (can be had cheap if you look around) will be the most beneficial.
honestly, 6600? an X300 for 30$ or X550 for 45$ is more than enough....
Why bother going that far? A regular user can subsist on integrated graphics. Sempron chips are getting exceptionally cheap, as are IDE hard drives.
that could work too, though I admit I have absolutely no clue on how ressource hungry photoshop actually is, just went for good image quality in general with the cheapest thing you could get on pci-e :U
then again it all depends on what motherboard cpu combination you go for, since you can also get an nforce4 board for 35$ :U
mmmm I love wasting time like this when we bloody well know what will happen anyway :P :laugh
Well, the 939 was just an example. For the budget-conscience, the 939 platform is a good buy. Strong performance, the nForce 4 939 boards are very good in general (especially ASUS boards), and it can be had for a very low cost right now! Plus, DDR-400 memory (which it uses) is also inexpensive compared to DDR-667 and DDR-800. All-around a great purchase for the budget-minded. Check it out:
AMD Athlon-64 X2 4200+... $200 on NewEgg
ASUS A8N5X nForce 4 PCI-Express Motherboard... $85 on NewEgg
CORSAIR XMS 1GB (512x2) DDR-400 RAM... $100 on New Egg
XFX GeForce 6800XT 128MB 256-bit GDDR3 (PCI Express x16) GPU... $100 on New Egg
Antec TruePower II 550W PSU... $90 on NewEgg
Those should be all the bits Amber needs for a new machine, and the price tag is under $600 (not including shipping). And those specs are pretty awesome in general! Add another $130 for a completely optional new 300GB HDD and DVD Burner (and/or about $100 for a basic case, if needed, but if the old one is standard ATX mid-tower there should be no problems). You can get a NEC DVD-Burner by itself for around $30.
So even if you added all that up... $825 or so. Not bad at all! Not nearly as much as the $1500 system, and it doesn't sacrifice that much performance, especially for what Amber wants to do. Keep in mind that the 939 platform will start to fade away, so in a couple years it'll be harder to get new parts. But still, that's a damn good system for under $1000. It would be very hard to get that much bang for your buck from a retail outlet!
Azlan: Integrated graphics can sometimes have a hard time dealing with higher resolution monitors, if Amber ever decides to get one or has one now. I like to stick with good, solid GPUs just in case, and because eventually Vista will come out, and when an upgrade is needed you'll be glad you have the extra bit of horsepower. Also, she mentioned a game (Baldur's Gate). I don't care what game it is or how old, integrated graphics can kill that deal. I've known them to completely screw up even very old games simply because they're, well, terrible. Trust me, I've got a lot of friends who try to play even old games on them and... it's not pretty at all. In fact, even super-cheap stuff like the PCI-Express X300 can fall flat on their face when faced with a game. Even worse than, say, a budget 9600 AGP card being faced with F.E.A.R. They just aren't really designed for it. The 6800 I mentioned above is more power than absolutely necessary, but it was something I saw right away and had a good price/performance ratio. I also saw some 6600s that were cheaper, and some that were more costly, but brand is also important. BFG, EVGA, and XFX have proven themselves in my observations. Obviously, nothing is foolproof, but I also see major problems with some other brands from time to time. (Avoid Foxconn like the plague.)
I work at a video game store, and we get a lot of people trying to return PC games because they found out they have integrated graphics. (Unfortunately, once it's opened it's exchange for same item only.) They just don't read the system requirements, and nearly all of them demand a real GPU. A good number of them will not support integrated graphics, regardless of whether it's "theoretically" capable of running the game given it's specifications. A lot of people even get upset at me when I tell them that their PC simply won't run it because of that, and learn the hard way. I can't count how many have come back trying to return the game after that. It's especially common at Christmas, where we also get questions like "I'm looking for the Nintendo Playbox, do you have any?". :help
I should also mention I've seen many nightmares due to Intel's very poor drivers for their integrated graphics. ATi and nVIDIA both have vastly superior and more stable drivers (nVIDIA being the better of the two on that note, in my opinion, especially if you run more than one monitor).
Quote from: Cvstos on July 25, 2006, 04:06:00 AM
Well, the 939 was just an example. For the budget-conscience, the 939 platform is a good buy. Strong performance, the nForce 4 939 boards are very good in general (especially ASUS boards), and it can be had for a very low cost right now! Plus, DDR-400 memory (which it uses) is also inexpensive compared to DDR-667 and DDR-800. All-around a great purchase for the budget-minded. Check it out:
AMD Athlon-64 X2 4200+... $200 on NewEgg
ASUS A8N5X nForce 4 PCI-Express Motherboard... $85 on NewEgg
CORSAIR XMS 1GB (512x2) DDR-400 RAM... $100 on New Egg
XFX GeForce 6800XT 128MB 256-bit GDDR3 (PCI Express x16) GPU... $100 on New Egg
Antec TruePower II 550W PSU... $90 on NewEgg
Those should be all the bits Amber needs for a new machine, and the price tag is under $600 (not including shipping). And those specs are pretty awesome in general! Add another $130 for a completely optional new 300GB HDD and DVD Burner (and/or about $100 for a basic case, if needed, but if the old one is standard ATX mid-tower there should be no problems). You can get a NEC DVD-Burner by itself for around $30.
.... seriously... you are going waaaaaay too high, remember? not a game rig, take in consideration that she _might_ need another monitor as well, and by that I don't meen a 21" flat screen 8ms etc. either
seriously, X2 4200+? 3000+ venice core for 77$ at most, that's by not going the sempron/celeron kinda road
asus, overrated. random ECS motherboard nforce4: 35$
Kingston value ram also 1gb dual, 86$
.... 30$/45$
550W, what for?
from 575$ down to around 250-300$, and you could go down even further, you really gotta get that "Vista compatible" out of your head.
edit: as for games, try UT on an ati 128pro, runs perfectly in 800*600 resolution mid/high details. as for baldur's gate, if it's the first one she's talking about, 200mhz 32MB ram 4MB SVGA, and that's the recommended specs. BD2, 266Mhz Pentium2 64MB ram and 4MB SVGA card, recommended.
please get Vista and Halo out of your head....
Cvstos: I agree on integrated graphics, but I was just considering stripped down, rock bottom cheap. You really must remove the gamestore mentality though, we aren't considering entry-level and low-end gaming rigs here. We can do a lot better moving beyond that concept and try to shoot for more value... Gorn covered a few less cost alternatives, so I can skip that... yay!
Don't worry so much about 'Vista compatible', I have a whole set of words for Microsoft... but I'll save them for somewhere else.
A lot of that is just what popped out. Photoshop runs very nice on dual cores, and as for the motherboard... I disagree completely, in my opinion ASUS is definitely the way to go. I've been through a large number of boards, and nothing ran like my old ASUS board. The MSI I have now isn't bad but it has it's random problems that just shouldn't happen.
Solid RAM is also important to stability. Cheap RAM can lead to crashes. I don't care if you're gaming or not, crashes aren't fun. The XMS isn't 100% necessary, though, I admit. It just showed up first. In general, Corsair and Crucial are great brands and any memory from them should run just fine. Get at least 1GB for Photoshop if nothing else. Trust me on this one, the difference in Windows alone between 512MB and 1GB is very big. 2GB would be even better, but optional.
The new PSU is if you're moving from a AGP to PCI Express system, which is likely. You can go lower or with any number of others for the systems we're talking about, but again that's just a PSU that jumped out at me quickly and should run anything you choose to throw at it, and it's got a good price tag. (I should mention to watch for the motherboard connector. Make certain it'll run what you need. A PSU that has a 24-pin connection with a breakaway cable to support 20-pin is a good idea, as you'll be ready for anything then.)
UT and the Rage were made in what, 2001? Unreal, the engine UT was based on, was even older. If you really want to get a cheap GPU, a minimal 6200 based on PCI-Express is recommended. Also, if you are running dual monitors or plan to, trust me and get an nVIDIA board. ATi's dual-monitor implementation is terrible. I've got a friend who's had no end of trouble with it, and try as I might, I can't find a solution.
Quote from: Azlan on July 25, 2006, 04:38:30 AM
Cvstos: I agree on integrated graphics, but I was just considering stripped down, rock bottom cheap. You really must remove the gamestore mentality though, we aren't considering entry-level and low-end gaming rigs here. We can do a lot better moving beyond that concept and try to shoot for more value...
dito, though I didn't went for integrated because most AMD based motherboards with integrated graphics tend to cost more than basic motherboards with additional Gcard. :bunny
Gorn: That's true, too. Even Intel boards can get pricey with that. Why bother with integrated graphics when you can get a vastly superior solution for less?
I think just about all nForce 4 boards are PCI-Express, if not all of them. If that's the case, a new PSU and GPU will be needed. Doesn't have to be super-powered, but needed all the same. And in general I recommend nForce boards. The chipset is very, very good. Very stable.
Warning: I made a typo and said "new PSU and CPU". While that's likely to be true here, I meant GPU, as they're the focus of the discussion. Sorry 'bout that.
Quote from: Gornemant on July 25, 2006, 04:49:18 AM
dito, though I didn't went for integrated because most AMD based motherboards with integrated graphics tend to cost more than basic motherboards with additional Gcard. :bunny
True, true. I'm so used to purchasing prebuilt systems with basic hardware for our contract and the integrated packages tend to be far cheaper. No expansion cards at all, integrated graphics (usually losy S3), integrated sound and integrated NIC. Then again these are Intel based systems... and its what the government decided to buy. I'm also seeing a significant bulk discount, so my views on that are somewhat biased. Probably best to opt for a cheap graphics card.
I'm not quite sure where you guys go shopping for motherboards and stuff, but I recently (almost two months ago) got a board with integrated graphics (and 7.1 sound and LAN and what-else-not), 512 megs and a Sempron 3000+ for roughly 200 bucks total. Granted, that was a budget solution (pretty much the lowest-level solution I could find in that store since my old work computer semi-broke), but it was a ton of improvement over my old computer (1800+ AMD) and runs just fine. O_o;;;
Then again, I'm not quite sure what graphics cards cost nowadays... ;)
Quote from: Cvstos on July 25, 2006, 04:48:28 AM
A lot of that is just what popped out. Photoshop runs very nice on dual cores, and as for the motherboard... I disagree completely, in my opinion ASUS is definitely the way to go. I've been through a large number of boards, and nothing ran like my old ASUS board. The MSI I have now isn't bad but it has it's random problems that just shouldn't happen.
Solid RAM is also important to stability. Cheap RAM can lead to crashes. I don't care if you're gaming or not, crashes aren't fun. The XMS isn't 100% necessary, though, I admit. It just showed up first. In general, Corsair and Crucial are great brands and any memory from them should run just fine. Get at least 1GB for Photoshop if nothing else. Trust me on this one, the difference in Windows alone between 512MB and 1GB is very big. 2GB would be even better, but optional.
The new PSU is if you're moving from a AGP to PCI Express system, which is likely. You can go lower or with any number of others for the systems we're talking about, but again that's just a PSU that jumped out at me quickly and should run anything you choose to throw at it, and it's got a good price tag.
UT and the Rage were made in what, 2001? Unreal, the engine UT was based on, was even older. If you really want to get a cheap GPU, a minimal 6200 based on PCI-Express is recommended. Also, if you are running dual monitors or plan to, trust me and get an nVIDIA board. ATi's dual-monitor implementation is terrible. I've got a friend who's had no end of trouble with it, and try as I might, I can't find a solution.
*sigh* if you want to go the personal experience and lots of people complaining about asus having random problems, go ahead, I could go on for ages...
true, but corsair? kingston value works fine too.
you don't need more than 400W unless you have a dozen hard drives, sli cards, neons, 50 fans and internal lazer light show...
never had a problem with dual monitors, because I only have one... and the ones at work always worked perfectly fine, all 500+ of them... and image quality remember? not useless additional features.
6200 for what? again, what games need a 6200? You said old games, I took an old game, quake3 also runs perfectly with a 128pro and a P3 800mhz. if you want me to compare to slightly never hardware, I can easilly make UT2k3 and battlefield1942 run on a 1,5ghz with 512MB ram and a 9700 or less...
Sid: only did a quick check on newegg.com, didn't go really far ;-P (and I said I didn't check the semprons yet X-3 )
S3? Man, I'm surprised they're still around! :laugh I'll always remember them as the company to produce the first graphics decelerator! :evar
But yeah, in general when building yourself, it's always best to get a real GPU, even if it's not a performance one. The integrated graphics are more trouble than they're worth, and when building the machien yourself they're often more expensive than a real solution anyway.
Sid: NewEgg.com is still the best around, IMO. :) Looks like we're all using it today.
Gorn: 400W is fine, too, again, that's just something that jumped out at me quickly. A lot of 400Ws are in that same ballpark price range, though, so I just went for the 550W as a good deal, but that's not a hard and fast rule.
Most of the nForce 4 boards are PCI-Express, so 6200 is about the ballpark starting models for that bus. For AGP you can get away with a GeForce 5 series that'll be even cheaper. I cannot, in good conscious, recommend an ATi Rage 128. Seriously, it appears that ATi doesn't even support those anymore, with the last new driver release being late 2005. Keep with the GF5 and Radeon 9XXX series or higher to ensure continued driver support. A 9700 is perfectly fine for AGP, although I know several people (myself included) that had their 9800's and 9700's fans die on them... That wasn't fun. It's why a GeForce 5 series is what I'd lean towards for AGP, even though the Radeon 9-series is faster.
That being said, Sid pointed out that Amber said she wanted to take some of that money and build a higher-end machine, not the super-cheap stuff like we're starting to get into. At that point, what I originally looked at (the $850) machine is, again, a pretty good all-around machine for a good price, and can be had for slightly less or slightly more depending on how you flex stuff in certain directions. Even leaves some left over for a new monitor, although artists don't often part with CRTs for LCDs. CRTs produce accurate colors, and LCDs don't.
The GPU can be dropped down a bit, but for PCI-Express I recommend at least a 6200, and it's hard to get slower than that for that bus. And Photoshop is very processor and RAM intensive, so a lot there will go a long way.
the rage128 pro was an example that you don't need a powerfull graphic card, heck I bought that one like 7 years ago :U
and UT is 99 from modified unreal engine (does not mean that it's the same engine, remember that HL is a modified quake2 engine?)
note: that's why I didn't go for semprons, but still, a venice 3000+ is perfectly fine, heck my game rig still has a 3200+, and I doubt photoshop is more ressource hungry than battlefield2 or forgotten hope :U
Quote from: Gornemant on July 25, 2006, 04:49:18 AM
Quote from: Azlan on July 25, 2006, 04:38:30 AM
Cvstos: I agree on integrated graphics, but I was just considering stripped down, rock bottom cheap. You really must remove the gamestore mentality though, we aren't considering entry-level and low-end gaming rigs here. We can do a lot better moving beyond that concept and try to shoot for more value...
dito, though I didn't went for integrated because most AMD based motherboards with integrated graphics tend to cost more than basic motherboards with additional Gcard. :bunny
And they eat up a significant portion of the system RAM,
And their performance is best described as 'glacial'.
Integrated graphics is the new evil of this world.
Oh wow, I just found something that covers all the bases of Amber's base needs and then some. Not sure if it's a good deal or not yet, since i'm still on last month's prices. :rolleyes
Just needs Windows and it's ready to go. And assembly. but I assume people read that stuff beforehand.
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/searchtools/item-Details.asp?EdpNo=2353710
Quote from: Nex on July 24, 2006, 12:20:12 PMOblivion rocks. shaddup ;_;
To each their own. ;p
In my opinion, it rocks only in comparison to what it's compared to, if you compare it to a very fleshed out game like Ultima VII or Gothic, it's not all that good. However, if you've never played some of the better freeform RPGs to grace the PC, I guess Gothic's okay. I just have the opinion that I've played better. Much better. I don't know what all the fuss is about. *Sheepish.*
---- Edit
Okay, I will give you this; the modding is fun. It was better in Morrowind to be honest but it's still fun. I have one fond memory of where I went and slew a bunch of Ogres with a spoon, that was grand. Still, the game should be fun in and of itself.
Well so far we got one thing decided:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811147040
Trying to pick a case that A) wasn't $100+ B)had a good enough quality C)didnt have those annoying side panels that let you see into them D)wasn't distracting but still nice to look at E)was compatable for what will be added inside F)Looked pretty...was a lot more annoying than I expected.
Apparently the colour purple is a strange and unheard of colour in terms of PC cases.
Anyways...will prolly get the rundown of hardware and costs tonight. Wee~
NewEgg for t3h win! :D BTW, nice case, visually and performance wise.
The case looks acceptable for air flow and the claw is a nice touch.
You'd have to get a custom case, or paint it yourself to get purple... Beige and black are standard, with silver and straight metal coming in second.
Quote from: Amber Panyko on July 25, 2006, 09:34:29 AM
Apparently the colour purple is a strange and unheard of colour in terms of PC cases.
Knowing the loyal forum peeps, it should only be a matter of time before somebody helps you build a proper Mowputer. Either they'll send you glue-on covers made from LEGO or they'll... I dunno... knit something.
QuoteApparently the colour purple is a strange and unheard of colour in terms of PC cases
Well there is always primer and mow purple paint (suitable for metal for the sides, and usually platic on the front i'd guess). Someone who mods their cases could likely tell you alot more
[edit: doh azan already pointed that out]
One part down, lots to go. Mabye it is good you are getting a new computer, new egg doesn't like Canadians last i checked (doesn't ship there)
I personally don't trust Newegg. I can find better prices and a better selection at Tigerdirect.com. I constantly compare the two websites when I'm looking into an item, and Tigerdirect is always the lower price. It may not be by much, but every single dollar counts.
That case is a very nice one, imo. Like Azlan said, very nice air flow. As for motherboards, there isn't really a "must have" brand. It runs like this: ALL Computer Hardware is esentially made by only 3 companies. It's the software integration that all these distributors come up with. Cvstos was right, however, in recommending an ASUS motherboard. They are a solid company with very nice hardware. for the CPU... Dual-Core is starting to become mainstream, but not by much. Hyper-Threading will still be around for another year or so, but I would recommend going for the Dual-Core now and just save yourself the trouble later in life.
Power Supply I'm going to recommend 400W+. No question about it. This day and age anything below that won't cut it. My brother had this problem with his video card, and it wasn't pretty. Sound Card I would recommend a 24-Bit Soundblaster Live! PCI-Slotted. Low Price and still very stable. I wouldn't trade it for anything else. Hard Drives should come simple. They're becoming cheaper by the week. CD/DVD Drives, aren't really much of an issue with Brand-Types. I use an I/O Magic Internal DVD/CD Player/Burner. I would recommend an internal drive. Too many things can go wrong with external ones.
Video Cards, there's too many to choose. I currently use a eVGA Geforce 6800 GS with Copper Heatsink. I haven't been disappointed at all, though the new 7800 models are becoming more affordable. My only advice on this is these things:
1: if you're going Geforce, get the GS models. They are the most stable in all of them.
2: Anything above $300 isn't worth it. You'll enjoy it in the short run, but weep in the long run as a shiney $560 Video card becomes outdated in 2-3 years.
3: Make sure it's 256MB or above. This one I really can't stress enough. Video Memory is very important.
I've really got nothing else to add, really. Bulding a computer is very specific, but also very out-in-the-open. That's the beauty of it all.
Quote from: Nex on July 25, 2006, 11:31:40 AM
3: Make sure it's 256MB or above. This one I really can't stress enough. Video Memory is very important for games.
Fixed.
For browsing and other normal day-to-day operations you don't need gigabytes of video-ram.
For things like Oblivion, you want the biggest monster of a video-card you can afford (and then some).
Nice case, Amber.
Amber, you said you weren't going to be building a 'high-end' PC, right? Just enough to get things done, so don't listen to these people, they're all suggesting expensive stuff you don't need. :razz Photoshop is a demanding program, but I don't think a good graphics card is going to make it run much, if any better. For what you're doing, on-board video will probably work just as fine. As for processing power, I probably wouldn't even suggest a 64-bit unless you weren't planning on upgrading for another few years. Dual core is just over-kill. Though you may want a fair amount of memory, I would suggest 768MB-1.25GB. As for what company you get your products from, it really doesn't matter that much, I've never had any problems with any of the equipment I've bought, and it's varied from pretty much every major company. A good, suitable PC shouldn't be over $800.
I used newegg because that's the first site I was pointed to when I said "hey I don't know any site selling computer stuff in the USA, hint?"
true, 64 is not needed, though I wouldn't touch the slightly older than venice core AMD models, because frankly those are worse than an atomic powerpland with a failed cooling system (woooo cooking at 70°C and up! :U ), and venice are way more reliable, are low consumption and easily kept cool with the bulked heatsink (which is actually pretty good), the 3000+ being only 37$ more than the duron 1,8Ghz and 26$ more than the cheapest sempron, and imo better have a bigger L2 cache than an overpowered sempron since she will most likely work with high resolution pictures.
For the hard drive, I can only recommend some of the latest SATA models from Western Digital (if you go for a new motherboard with this option), they keep cool, are reliable and pretty quiet, good performance too. There's a 250GB for 80$ already. Wouldn't touch Maxtor and Hitachi, only because I kinda stopped counting how many I had to replace because of a hardware failure on Dell computers...
I still think Amber should grab that thing I found. It might actually outlast everything, price-wise.
And Gorn, about that Maxtor thing, maybe that's a problem with what Dell puts in there. I've never had any drives fail on me (and I carry tons of em..) Maxtor never let me down before, so I think it's either Dell's fault or the conditions inside the case that kill em.
the only maxtor I bought for me died after two years. The Dell models that had the most failures were the GX260, 270 and 280 (can't tell about never models since I left before we got the new ones), out of the 3'000+ computers during the two years I worked there, at least 100-150 HDD died, not crashed, died, mostly the mechanical interns. Granted, some of those computers ran on a 24/7 basis (what do you expect from a research center) and the GX270/280 tend to overheat, overheating also caused by the HDD (hot hard drive = bad).
Western Digital has proven itself very reliable with generally good performance in the later models, as well as pretty cool.
Quote from: Vidar on July 24, 2006, 11:06:51 AMQuote from: Amber Panyko on July 24, 2006, 10:49:45 AM...Baldur's Gate...
Soon, you will crave more freeform-RPG's then Black Isle has made, and then you go to Morrowind, and from there, there is only Oblivion. And Oblivion will bring your computer to its knees.
Then, you will crave the MHz, the GB's, the $800 video-cards, the SLI (or Crossfire). You will lament the power-consumption. You will crave more performence. Soon, you will crave shiney-ness, and lights, and L33t-ness.
if it's to play Oblivion, I don't see the point of spending 800 on a video card when you can buy a X360 for 400... then again I see no point of putting a high investment on graphical power considering she said she'd play one or two games
besides, with Amber needing money for the Canada move, I think how many games the PC will play are secondary.
my suggestion would be to invest on the best desktop motherboard with integrated graphics card yet PCI-E and/or AGP ports for use in a new GFX card, a decent processor, a good amount of ram, an average hd, and a DVD-RW burner
something like
Semprom 3100
512GB RAM
Hd 80GB
DVD-RW burner
and make sure the motherboard is expansible to
AMD64 processor
2GB+ ram
SATA HDs, 300GB+
AGP or PCI-Express video card
that should be cheap enough yet work for what Amber wants, still being expansible for the case one day Amber decides to play PC games on the level of Crisys
Heat will kill any hard drive. I don't think there should be bias because of bad cooling. Speaking of which, hard drive coolers exist too. The problem is half the time you can't attach them due to a lack of room.
Maxtor drives are very bad, the greater the size the more likely they fail in my experience. I've spent far too much time replacing them in our systems at my work. Seagate and Western Digital are the drives I've had the best experience with, and WD is the brand I'm currently using. Stay away from fujitsu too. I recommend moving away from AGP as it is on the way out, the performance considerations are not the issue here... it's just that the technology is on its way out.
Did you know AMD has acquired ATI? I forsee good things.
I can't speak for their reliability personally yet, but Samsung drives have been getting good press lately. I recently picked up a 300GB Samsung drive. The one HDD I've ever had fail was a Maxtor.
Amber: Finding a case with those requirements can be tough. Believe me, I've tried. Tough but possible. I was going to point out this one as a possibility:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811129155
It's just over $100 but includes a 450W PSU.
The case I want is over $200, a full ATX tower. Obviously not what you need, it's just something I want someday. :D http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811119103
Quote from: Azlan on July 25, 2006, 02:28:17 PMDid you know AMD has acquired ATI? I forsee good things.
Monopolies are never good for the consumer. :tired
Case looks nice, it's a good looking thing for that price considering the fan placement and large size. Newegg has my nerd blessing as well. Azlan's reccomendation may not be so bad... But yeah, definitely figure out yer costs for the whole thing and if you've got cash to spare then boost the case.
They'll probably go for a cheap name-brand HD, so I doubt giving our reccomendations on that will help. I assume they're already using stuff like http://www.pricegrabber.com/ to find the lowest cost on parts. Right, guys? :B
Quote from: Cvstos on July 25, 2006, 02:36:39 PM
The case I want is over $200, a full ATX tower. Obviously not what you need, it's just something I want someday. :D http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811119103
http://www.lian-li.com/Product/Chassis/Middle_Tower/Classical_Plus_S/M_C_PS_PC-7plus.htm
simple, nice looking, perfect finish and all aluminum, though it was pretty costy, but it was worth eeeeet! D:
Quote from: Netami on July 25, 2006, 03:10:14 PM
They'll probably go for a cheap name-brand HD, so I doubt giving our reccomendations on that will help. I assume they're already using stuff like http://www.pricegrabber.com/ to find the lowest cost on parts. Right, guys? :B
of course, but it's all the more fun to lose time this way :B
Quote from: Azlan on July 25, 2006, 02:28:17 PM
Did you know AMD has acquired ATI? I forsee good things.
I hope that means that they'll stop falling behind...
I hope that means their drivers will improve. nVIDIA beats them hands-down on that front, as far as I'm concerned.
In every Next-Gen war between ATI and nVIDIA, the end result is usually a tie. Last time it was a close win for nVIDIA, but it was very close.
My honest-to-god opinion about everything? final recommendations? go to the home site for HP computers and get a premade comp, then do with it what you wish. It'll probably be the cheapest in the long run, last you a while, and you won't have to put up with the crud of trying to find the one thing that went wrong after building it from scratch. Plus you get warranty too, which is a huge bonus.
As an accomplished nerd, I feel it is my duty to tell you that X brand is better than HP.
CONSOLE WARZ :U :U :U
Quote from: Netami on July 25, 2006, 10:26:57 PM
As an accomplished nerd, I feel it is my duty to tell you that X brand is better than HP.
CONSOLE WARZ :U :U :U
oh god, don't even start one of those. For all we know, we could have trollers who will beat this to death.
Set up the fortresses! Prepare out armies! The invasion of trolls must be stopped!
... where X stands for "almost anything reputable but dell, unless something special is going on"
*grin* *duck* *run*
it's already started...
Flee while you can!
I thought I already had? :-)
Dude, I had a Dell for the longest time. Modified SD400 or some such that I found off slickdeals for like 400 bucks. T'was a great gaming machine. GO DELL WOO! PROPRIETARY BS AND CLAMSHELL DESIGNS HORRRRGGHHHHHGGRHRGRHR. :U
No, you just ran. Fleeing is completely different.
Netami, my IQ just dropped. congrats.
And I don't see what's wrong with HP computers. They're a very solid brand and they make their computers right. Compaq, HP, and Alienware are the 3 computer companies I trust for pre-built computers. They all have advantages and none of them slack off.
Dude.... Alienware charges you out the ASS for parts you could buy for much, much cheaper. They're as bad as Voodoo! Sheesh... ibuypower is a much better choice if you want high-endish stuff done for you.
HP, Emachines... They're nothing to shout about as far as specs go, but they'll last forever. Foreveeeeer.
Exactly. They're built to LAST, which is what Amber might be lookin for.
NO WAY MAN, IT IS HP MAN! YOU GOTTA GO FOR X BRAND!
~_^
[insert ravageous comments here]
Like I said: HP is a solid brand, and you can't argue with their warranty. I'm not saying HP is the best, I'm just saying it's a good choice.
Is this a good time to mention the utter ownage of vintage HP calculators?
(http://www.hpmuseum.org/41cv.jpg)
Kicks ass. Owns TI and their stupid equals buttons.
Dude... Don't diss TI! :U
And Nex... They've decided on what they're gonna do. All these reccomendations and speculations are just going to be ignored and possibly laughed at.
Then why is this topic still going?
I can diss TI if I want, I'm the only kid in the school that doesnt have a TI grapher. HP49G+ FTWizzle!
Actually, with any given machine that's halfway decent I can part out something and build it myself far cheaper than ordering from HP, Dell, and the like. It's only the stupid cheap (and slow) computers where they have an advantage. Once the computer starts getting good, it's a lot cheaper to hit NewEgg.com and build it yourself. You'll also likely wind up with a better computer overall.
Quote from: Nex on July 25, 2006, 10:48:05 PM
Then why is this topic still going?
So you don't dredge it into other threads, heh. It is to sate your primal thirst for the NERRRRD.
And Mister Bucker, all I have to say to that is: 80085!
They already decided on what to do? then why isn't it in here? >_>
It's up there. They're gonna get a case, so they're either gonna salvage the old parts or get all new pieces. Either way, ordering a computer system from a brand name company is out of the question. They've got pricegrabber, they don't need to hear our crap anymore. :sweatdrop
Well, I did recently link to a lot of very new parts that (seemingly) come out to almost half price. I don't care what anyone says, amber needs my deal >.>
Aridas, that's being selfish. Amber technically doesnt have to listen to all the crap we're spouting out. We're giving advice, not what she has to go by.
Ok you monkeys...heres the list he sent me. Have at ye.
Memory CORSAIR XMS2 1GB(2 x 512MB) DDR2 801
CPU AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+
Hard Drive 1 Seagate Barracuda 7200.9 ST3160812AS 160GB 7200 RPM
Hard Drive 2 Seagate Barracuda 7200.9 ST3160812AS 160GB 7200 RPM
Mother Borad ASUS M2N-E Socket AM2 NVIDIA nForce 570 Ultra
Power Supply Antec SmartPower 2.0 SP-500 ATX12V 500W Power Supply
DVD Burner NEC Black IDE/ATAPI DVD Burner - OEM
Case Rosewill R6AS5-BK Black
CRT Monitor N/A (I'm buying this separate)
Video Card (opt 1) XFX PV-T71G-UDE7 GeForce 7900 GT EXTREME
Unless there is some horribly gaping flaw in this strategy, I'm gonna see if Mat can get this started and ordered this time tomorrow so I can hopefully get a compy sometime before I go insane from lack of comp.
Oh VERY nice Amber...
Quote from: Nex on July 25, 2006, 11:27:38 PM
Aridas, that's being selfish. Amber technically doesnt have to listen to all the crap we're spouting out. We're giving advice, not what she has to go by.
Hey, first of all, I'm only joking. (see the >.> face? no, I guess you don't.) Second, I'm still kinda concerned about the issue of pricing, since more savings = more room for other upgrades, like a bigass monitor and all that. a few bits of equipment in my link seems to be better than that stuff in some cases (other cases it's not specific enough to compare), the rest are pretty much equal, though one o' those things is definitely better. Oh, how specific I am... Er... Anyway, that's all. Just mostly interested/concerned in the compypower-to-money ratio there. I'm kinda rabid when it comes to big differences in two numbers.
I think those specs are similar to what our tech person put together recently (after a thunderstorm fried Darkmoon's CPU). We actually managed to build two of them for the check that they gave us for his. Really, one of the few differences is the dual hard drive.
And, frankly, they kick mucho butt. *pets 'puter*
speaking of which, two hard drives could technically be better cause of RAID-ish-ness (if anyone chooses to take that path, I don't really know a single bit about it), right?
Everyone's going around yelling at me, saying what I'm building is too high-end and too expensive, yet most of those stats are WAY beyond my initial configuration XD *feels somewhat vindicated* That's an awesome computer, Amber. Have fun with it!
If she RAID 0s the two HDDs she'll have 320GB of unformatted space to play with, though I would've just gotten a 300GB or 320GB single HDD, as they aren't expensive. Also, putting them in a RAID 0 array means that if one fails, all data on both HDDs is lost. Now, if she's going to play it safe, she'll RAID 1 the two together. It'll only give her 160GB of space, but if one drive fails and the other still works, she'll not lose any data.
Some nForce 5 boards allow you to eat your cake and still have it. You need four drives, but...
-HDD1
|
0 --------------------------------
| |||
-HDD2 |||
1
-HDD3 |||
| |||
0----------------------------------
|
-HDD4
In other words, you have two RAID 0 arrays set up between four drives. One of those arrays is backing up the other array. Expensive, but fast and with redundant safety!
Jeez, that eats my computer fro breakfast, lunch, AND dinner! :eek
:laugh
nice one :3
Does anyonw know is RAID 5 is available on desktop computers? That would be a great solution of Amber to play with. 5 320 GB harddisks, and 1280 GB of free diskspace :dribble
(1 HD holds a parity bit for the other four, so if 1 drive fails, everything can still be restored. If 2 HD's fail at the same time, your screwed.)
That should make up for all the pr0n Amer lost.
Most nForce 5 570 and 590 support RAID 5.
Cool specs, you should have fun with it.
Woot! Amber beatdowns all the geeks! :-)
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! :U
does it make coffee too? :3
Those specs look awesome for a new computer! That puppy will last you quite a long time.
ahh that beast is going to make amber quite happy i would say, has the cpu and ram photoshop needs, and eek an 'extreeme' video card, yeh that should play baulder's gate. Looks like with good usa prices very affordable too
@Cvstos: iirc a previous post said the raid was going to be set up for mirroring for the data safetey. One big drive is just asking to loose all your data (imo)
Just to add to the general "ZOMG" chorus:
I don't think I could reach that power level if I somehow fused all computers in the house together :P
Quote from: Gornemant on July 26, 2006, 05:35:40 AM
does it make coffee too? :3
It will not only make coffee, but it will also ask if she wants sugar and/or milk with it >:3
Quote from: Sid on July 26, 2006, 11:16:36 AM
It will not only make coffee, but it will also ask if she wants sugar and/or milk with it >:3
D:
what about fresh cool beer? O:)
Only for Amber. You're out of luck, Gornepants. :-)
You know what I think is interesting, it's getting to the point where you can have attachments that cool beer and cook poptarts in your computer. I think that is very cool, although I do not personally spend enough time in front of mine to ever need it.
Quote from: Damaris on July 27, 2006, 07:52:58 AM
You know what I think is interesting, it's getting to the point where you can have attachments that cool beer and cook poptarts in your computer. I think that is very cool, although I do not personally spend enough time in front of mine to ever need it.
I'd be happy if I could BUY a poptart here (to all you Germans and neighbors: am I missing something or are they really not widely available here?). But yes, the wonders of USB (and case-modders and tinkerers with FAR too much free time) have led to a bizarre variety of stuff you can hook up to the computer, from cup warmers to massage pads. And there are even USB
shirts that have integrated fans to cool you. 'A'
Sid, I doubt most people around even _know_ what a poptart is X3
aaah, the wonders of USB devices.... tea cup heater :U
... isn't that your average intel CPU? :-)
yes, but it's no fun if it's not USB D:
Quote from: Sid on July 27, 2006, 08:17:49 AMI'd be happy if I could BUY a poptart here (to all you Germans and neighbors: am I missing something or are they really not widely available here?).
I had some poptarts about a year ago: they were dissapointing. They were ridiculously over-sweetened. The chocolate ones didn't taste all that chocolately. Weak and with a mealy mouthfeel.
Don't go out of your way to find them.
You might want to make your own http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,1977,FOOD_9936_32305,00.html
The recipe lists only 2 fillings, but you can make all kinds of filling for these. Your only limit is your imagination, unless you are lazy. ;)
the USB does the blinky lights around the cup frame. :-)
I have to agree with Vidar here. I don't know whether this is true of European pop tarts only but I tried some myself not so long ago and they were distinctly meh. The part I disliked about it though is that some of them would go as hard as a brick. Seriously, with the way some pop tarts were overbaked, you could likely brain someone with them if you used them as throwing weapons.
As for USB devices, I'll never get tired of the ingenuity there. I've seen some utterly amazing and crazy (and wrong) things done with USB gadgets. I think my favourite of the lot thus far though is the fingerprint reader, nothing says "I'm a geek!" more than having your passwords handled by your thumb.
Since when is brain a verb? :|
Pop-Tarts are ok, but they are a little too sweet. They came out with these Pop-Tarts sticks things that are supposed to be portable and ready-to-go... I thought that was the whole point of regular Pop-Tarts. :rolleyes
Anyway, back on topic:
I havn't seen half this USB stuff you guys are talking about, where do you find it?
I think http://www.thinkgeek.com/ has quite a selection of totally useless (and therefor a must have?) geek stuff :U
Quote from: ×HaZ×MaT× on July 27, 2006, 01:56:00 PM
Since when is brain a verb? :|
Since at least 1983.
2 v.t. dash out brains of, strike hard on head.
-- OED (7th edition)
The poptart news make me go =(
I thought that something so widespread would be tastier.
Quote from: ×HaZ×MaT× on July 27, 2006, 01:56:00 PM
Anyway, back on topic:
I havn't seen half this USB stuff you guys are talking about, where do you find it?
Yeah, ThinkGeek has tons of stuff to show that you have no life and/or that you have a silly sense of humor (I seriously want to order stuff there sometime soon). Some of the tech/gadget news sites also show off silly stuff like that every now and then. Gizmodo for example pointed me to the USB Shirt: Clicky here (http://www.gizmodo.com/gadgets/gadgets/usb-air-conditioned-shirt-181614.php)
I soooo need that http://www.thinkgeek.com/geektoys/rc/7485/ :3
but since the tanks aren't USB, here's something fun too :3 http://www.iwantoneofthose.com/search.do?productCode=MISLAU
Bash the computer with a rock. Solves all problems.
By destroying it and forcing you to get a new top-of-the-line computer... in one way it solves it, but makes a whole new set of problems :(
Those are some shiny specs on that computer. Though a 500w PSU may be a bit too beefy for what is actually needed. Oh well, never hurts to over shoot.
Still, might I recomend a RAID 1 setup? You will only get 160gigs from those two hard disks, but you will still have all the data if one does.
Quote from: Ramsey on July 27, 2006, 04:58:33 PM
Bash the computer with a rock. Solves all problems.
If only that were true. Unfortunately, I have a squid proxy that says otherwise. Maybe I need to upgrade rocks.
EDIT:
Quote from: Vidar on July 26, 2006, 03:27:50 AM
Does anyonw know is RAID 5 is available on desktop computers? That would be a great solution of Amber to play with. 5 320 GB harddisks, and 1280 GB of free diskspace :dribble
(1 HD holds a parity bit for the other four, so if 1 drive fails, everything can still be restored. If 2 HD's fail at the same time, your screwed.)
That should make up for all the pr0n Amer lost.
I've got a RAID 5 with 4 80gig disks. Though it is a Linux file server (serving up windows shares) so I'm not sure if there is a WinXP solution for RAID 5. I think it has a volume manager somewhere but I don't believe it does redundency.
Aloha Everyone,
I plan on setting the 2 HDDs in a RAID 1 configuration when i put this system together. It was a detail I left out of the original quote I put together. Sorry about that.
Update on the old compuweb:
The HDD's NTFS partition table is pretty scrambled. so far I haven't been able to recover anything other than scrambled files. I've been trying to use "GetDataBack for NTFS". When using the drive for an extended length of time it puts my computer into a hard lock. It is quite frustrating. The drive is a 120GB western digital. The drive fails the western digital Diagnostic utility also fails the HDD S.M.A.R.T. Capability check in the bios. I've almost lost all hope.
The other reason why we are building a new system and not just replacing the HDD is that the moboard is almost shot. Most of the capacitors on the board are swollen and leaking electrolyte which causes the system to be polluted with dirty power and makes it increasingly unstable. This may have been part of the problem that caused the HDD corruption. Its not worth sinking any cash into an e-machine. I will post a photo tomorrow of the mother board, along with some screen caps of what the file system looks like.
Oh yeah the the model of the e-machine is T2825 (http://www.emachines.com/support/product_support.html?cat=Desktops&subcat=T-Series&model=T2825) [emachines.com] for the people that wanted to know what she was running.
Let me know if you need any other information on anything.
Oh, that capacitor problem. I had four motherboards (bought as a group) all do that on me.
Not pretty. And yes, that probably did cause much of the other problems. Either that or both were caused by the same thing, but that's less likely - power spikes tend to take out the protective diodes, rather than the capacitors...
*cough* not that I really know that much about this level of stuff :-) Good luck with the raid...
Quote from: llearch n'n'daCorna on July 28, 2006, 02:55:47 AM
Oh, that capacitor problem.
Dell GX270, I had this problem soooo many times >.< the worst was to actually FIND where the problem came from the first time with just "random crash or won't start when cold" description, weird thing was that all hardware tests went on no probs... and then you open the case and spot a bunch of capacitor slightly swollen... blargh [/mylife] :footinmouth
wow, that emachine wasn't a total piece of junk .. usually celerons inside. Sounds quite trashed inside :mowsad
Not trying to start the whole 'save the data' thing again. But I have a simialar spot on a hard disk that when accessed by any windows utillity (scandisk, defragmenter, disk check) locks up the computer. Ontrack EasyRecovery Pro got the data for me, but sounds like your drive is likely in a lot worse shape though (this drive still lives and passes test). A few people recommend Gibson's 'spin rite' for hopeless situaitions too if you are looking for options (sadly no demo version of that software)
TIA for the photos of the carnage :mowwink
Quote from: Matagast on July 28, 2006, 02:49:53 AM
I've been trying to use "GetDataBack for NTFS". When using the drive for an extended length of time it puts my computer into a hard lock.
Could that be an issue with the drive itself? if so, you might end up just having to save it for a rainy day, and by rainy I mean raining money, so it can be taken down to the expensive people who do all the crazy stuff that normal guys like us aren't allowed (or safely capable) of doing... I'm probably just doing early morning rambling without thought though, but keep it in mind anyway.
Would you believe me if I said July was National information back-up month?
Quote from: rt on July 28, 2006, 11:09:16 AM
A few people recommend Gibson's 'spin rite' for hopeless situaitions too if you are looking for options (sadly no demo version of that software)
TIA for the photos of the carnage :mowwink
It's spelled SpinRite. I've used it quite extensively. The problem is: That's for if her hard drive had developed a ton of bad sectors, or something was unreadable. It won't do anything for 'soft' problems (I.E. Involving the File System). :/
Now if the soft error is because it can't read the file system partition table because there's bad sectors lurking... you may be in luck with the program.
Quote from: Matagast on July 28, 2006, 02:49:53 AM
The other reason why we are building a new system and not just replacing the HDD is that the moboard is almost shot. Most of the capacitors on the board are swollen and leaking electrolyte which causes the system to be polluted with dirty power and makes it increasingly unstable.
Get rid of the mobo, now. Give it the screwdriver of d34th just to make sure it won't inflict itself on anyone else. Don't try to use the HD with it, you'll just cause more damage.
Add one more reason to build your own computer rather then buying a pre-build model: pre-build computers are full of cheap (as in 'not good') hardware.
Wow, you all weren't kidding about the title "Beat the Amber Hardware Isues to Death"... this thing is still going... like the free Cyrix MII I have, overclocked, watercooled and...slow.