Case: ATX Antec - 350w power, 3 5.25 drives, 2 3.5 drives
Motherboard: Abit NF7-S - integtrated sound, integrated ethernet adapter, SATA compatable.
CDRW - Lite-on 52x
DVD Lite-on 16x
Floppy - sony
Memory Corsair 512 mb PC333 low latency
HD: Western Digital 'Special Edition' ATA 80 GB
Video: Ati Raedon 9600 XT 128 MB
Monitor: Nec/Mitsubitchi 17" CRT Multisync FE770
CPU: AMD Athelon XP 2500+ 'Barton'
(also includes logitec keyboard and microsoft optical wheel mouse).

Everything is a slick black color... including the mouse monitor and keyboard.
I have Altec Lansing speakers... which are also black.

I have yet to buy an OS... which is funny.. considering windows xp is more expensive than any of my components.
I thought about going linux, but it's a real pain to set up and I don't really want it.

Built it... took me 2 hours, went without a problem.

Not that anyone cares... but i'm showing off my fairly modest machine. Buying a real expensive computer is poor stewardship IMHO.

I really don't have a problem with my current computer.
My 4 year old compaq... it's just that it's becoming incompadable with newer software... mainly due to XP.

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"I find myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world!"
-C. S. Lewis

IRISH PIRATES

[This message has been edited by InsanePoet (edited December 13, 2003).]

quote:

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Originally posted by InsanePoet:

Buying a real expensive computer is poor stewardship IMHO.

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huh?

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Ignorance is bad, if you have it you will not have a good time.

[This message has been edited by zookey (edited December 13, 2003).]

My only comment/concern is, and I don't like to make generalisations, but I've had a couple of Mitsubishi monitors (17/19 inch) and they have been pretty lousy and manufacturer support was equally unimpressive. I hope yours is of a higher quality and you don't have any probs.
Now go and play some Battlefield 1942 esert Combat. That's an order!!

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"I find myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world!"
-C. S. Lewis

IRISH PIRATES

quote:

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I thought about going linux, but it's a real pain to set up and I don't really want it.

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The best i think is Gentoo, but it's not for the faint hearted to do a customised install, as you have to compile everything and that can take a couple of days, but it is the most flexible distribution out there as you only install the programs you need. And to update all the software on your PC using Gentoo is easy... you type "emerge sync", and that will update everything.

Red Hat is ok, i personally hate there file system. But it's easy enough to setup, just a bit bloated with programs i would never use. But then again, it comes with just about everything you would ever need, unlike windows.

But out of all of those i would choose Slackware. It's easy to install, the packages you install is easily configurable, so you only install what you need. It would take you about 30 minutes to install everything.

Anyways, sorry about that. I just don't like people generalising Linux without giving it a go.

--D-SIPL

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If at first you don't succeed, destroy all evidence that suggests you tried

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"I find myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world!"
-C. S. Lewis

IRISH PIRATES

Yeah Windows XP is the hardest part. See if you or somebody you know can get it at a student discount. I recommend getting the pro version - the home version has some limitations I don't like, especially when it comes to networking. I've got Windows XP Pro on my computer (at a student discount, of course, since I'm a college student ), and after finals is over, I plan on re-installing Linux to see if the latest versions have better support for my computer setup.

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There are only 10 types of people - those who understand binary, and those who don't.
Switch Mayhem now available! Get it here
Codename: Roler - Planning, writing GFX basecode.

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"I find myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world!"
-C. S. Lewis

IRISH PIRATES

------------------
Function God_hates_Laziness()
{
If (Christian==Lazy) Then
{
Printf("Proverbs 19:15 'The shiftless man goes hungry'")
Printf("Proverbs 15:19 'The way of the sluggard is blocked with thorns'")
Return Hunger
else
Return GodsWill
}
}

quote:

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Originally posted by CobraA1:
Have you ever tried Linux? If you haven't, maybe you can just give it a spin - you can always delete it if you don't like it. The latest distributions are much, much easier to install than a couple of years ago.

Yeah Windows XP is the hardest part. See if you or somebody you know can get it at a student discount. I recommend getting the pro version - the home version has some limitations I don't like, especially when it comes to networking. I've got Windows XP Pro on my computer (at a student discount, of course, since I'm a college student ), and after finals is over, I plan on re-installing Linux to see if the latest versions have better support for my computer setup.

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--D-SIPL

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If at first you don't succeed, destroy all evidence that suggests you tried

Anyway, I heard from my boss at work that apparently after 2004 all the video cards will be completely restructured architecturally (from the ground up even?). So radical changes in technology in 2005 my friends (maybe you should hold of on purchasing a card in 2004 ).

quote:

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The 2.6 kernel will have much better support for the latest hardware. The final release shouldn't be too far away. And then you can free yourself from the limitations and standards set by windows .

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It's not a new machine . Actually, Linux supports it OK, it just wasn't 100%. It's just that it's one of those manufacturers that likes to use proprietary components in their machines.

quote:

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Originally posted by BKewl:
Still, the main problem with Linux is that it doesn't run most of the mainstream software out there. Sure, there are a few (like 3 or so) games that specifically run on it, but beyond that, you're out of luck in the gaming arena. If you don't game, it's a bit better, since it has a lot of good productivity/development apps that rival Windows stuff(OpenOffice which is so close to MSOffice it's scary). The moral of this story is that while there is some good equivalent software for Linux, gamers just aren't gonna be happy at this point.

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SDL and OpenGL/Mesa are available, more programmers just have to take advantage of them. It's a matter of convincing game writers to use them instead of DirectX, which, unfortunately, is Windows-only.

------------------
There are only 10 types of people - those who understand binary, and those who don't.
Switch Mayhem now available! Get it here
Codename: Roler - Planning, writing GFX basecode.

quote:

---

Originally posted by CobraA1:
SDL and OpenGL/Mesa are available, more programmers just have to take advantage of them. It's a matter of convincing game writers to use them instead of DirectX, which, unfortunately, is Windows-only.

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Okay, I couldn't resist: that is no small matter . Reading through my post again, I was unclear; sorry about that. Linux has the capability to run games using OpenGL, but very few professional games have actually taken advantage of that (I think I can count them all with one hand). Too bad Loki's not still around :-/

------------------
There are only 10 types of people - those who understand binary, and those who don't.
Switch Mayhem now available! Get it here
Codename: Roler - Planning, writing GFX basecode.

quote:

---

Originally posted by BKewl:
Okay, I couldn't resist: that is no small matter . Reading through my post again, I was unclear; sorry about that. Linux has the capability to run games using OpenGL, but very few professional games have actually taken advantage of that (I think I can count them all with one hand). Too bad Loki's not still around :-/

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And also there are more and more developers that are starting to look at Linux, as it is becoming more and more usable as a desktop pc.

I agree about Loki shutting down, that was lame.

--D-SIPL

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If at first you don't succeed, destroy all evidence that suggests you tried

quote:

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Originally posted by CobraA1:
See if you or somebody you know can get it at a student discount.

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naughty naughty...unless you yourself are a student...

Got sick of those OEM disks that wipe your harddrive .

------------------
There are only 10 types of people - those who understand binary, and those who don't.
Switch Mayhem now available! Get it here
Codename: Roler - Planning, writing GFX basecode.

------------------
"Knowledge is a double sided sword, one side is of good, the other of evil. May I wield it wisely for God and do good with its edge." - Dream Forger

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quote:

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Originally posted by ArchAngel:
fry's is pretty cool.
like their buildings too (you'll know what I'm talking about if you been to one)
however, I don't think there are any in england.. or europe...
it's mainly based in CA, with some other stores in some states.

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--D-SIPL

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If at first you don't succeed, destroy all evidence that suggests you tried