Topic: Did I get Suckered? (Read 1893 times)

Lono · « **on:** June 08, 2005, 05:20:17 pm »

Honest Opinions please...

Well, my last homebrew computer turned out to be a nitemare due to heat issues so I finally broke down and bought a refirbished Dell 8400.

The specs are:

Intel 3.4 HT chip
1 Gig DDR2 SDRAM 533
800 Front Side Bus
6800 GTO Vid Card
250 GB 7200 RPM HD
Dual Layer Phillips 16X DVD R
CD R 48x
Audigy ZS Sound Card

For $1,000 after taxes and shipping.

So honestly did I get hosed?

It seemed like a good deal compared to the retail price but I won't have nearly as much expandability as a homemade comp.

Let me know what you guys think - I was hoping this could hold me over for at leat 1 and 1/2 years till I get my finances in order.

Oh... and to pay for it I am selling some of my collector toys, models, and comics from my youth so let me know if you are interested in what I got before it goes out on Ebay next week.

(selling my childhood memories for some cheap thrills - sheesh!

)

E_Look · « **Reply #1 on:** June 08, 2005, 09:38:50 pm »

Um... I think you did okay; I think to make a comp comparable to that you'd be spending around a k-buck anyway. To me one of the most important considerations is a standalone vid card, and this system has a good one.

I wonder, though, who made the mobo?

* * *

As to heat issues, however, how bad was bad?? I mean, my "homebrew" is a socket 754 Athlon 64 3000+ with an ATI Radeon 9700 Pro 128 Mb video card. Now, THAT'S heat! This starsh... uh, PC idles at 58-59 C, according to the included mobo temp detection utility, or if you rather believe the BIOS readings, it's around 45-47 C, and all this is with THREE case fans. In either case, it's HOT. But the one thing for me is that this series of CPUs are supposed to run hotter than others.

Iceman · « **Reply #2 on:** June 08, 2005, 10:02:28 pm »

Dude, not THAT hot. Man thats smokin.

And no, you didn't get hosed. That's a damn fine PC for 1k.

Jack Morris · « **Reply #3 on:** June 09, 2005, 02:55:41 am »

I looked around Lono, and for 1k after taxes and shipping I think you did pretty good, refurbished or not!

Grim · « **Reply #4 on:** June 09, 2005, 06:06:06 am »

Thats not a bad spec for the money paid

Lono · « **Reply #5 on:** June 09, 2005, 01:59:34 pm »

Awesome - thanks for the many responses - I feel better about it then.

(I don't usually make big purchasses these days as I am a broke a$$ mo fo)

I have found one thing that is a problem with the 8400 - some of them are just plain noisy.

In fact mine was so noisy I was gonna send it right back till I read about a BIOS change that took the fan noise volume down to about 1/2. (Still louder than any other comp I have owned or used)

However, when I can play Rome Total War smooth as butter with all settings completely maxed, and when I can play Vice City for hours with max drawing distance and all effects on its hard to complain too much!

E_Look,

My biggest problem with my last home made comp was I updated to a modern chip/mobo system in an old air tight metal case. I am still keeping that comp to use for a web server but I will need to fix the heat issue a bit when I get some $$ and/or time.

(And I already have a Tornado fan on it)

Lono · « **Reply #6 on:** June 09, 2005, 02:04:49 pm »

Oh funny aside, my new comp is actually slightly under the recommended spec for BF2 coming out this week!

(already outta date I am

)

Yikes!! - Who do they think is gonna be able to play that!?!!

BFV ran fairly horrible on my previous machine..

Iceman · « **Reply #7 on:** June 09, 2005, 03:27:03 pm »

I dont think so but I'll look, if your PC doesnt meet the recommended settings thats just insane and Bf2 will flop.

Iceman · « **Reply #8 on:** June 09, 2005, 03:30:01 pm »

Here's the specs from Ebgames.com

System Requirements:
(subject to change):
Windows XP (Win 2000 and WinME not supported),
Pentium 4 1.2 GHz CPU with 256 MB RAM,
GeForce 3 (64 MB RAM) video card with DirectX 9 support,
Broadband Internet connection,
DVD-ROM drive.

DVD rom is only if you pick up the DVD edition, I assume theres a CD edition out there too.

Lono · « **Reply #9 on:** June 09, 2005, 03:45:26 pm »

Oh Iceman,

I am talking about the Recommended specs - I learned from BFV that exceeding the minimum rec's, even by a fiar bit, did not make for an enjoyable game experience.

The recommended specs are:

Recommended requirements

2.5 GHz CPU
1 Gigabyte of RAM
Radeon X800 or higher
Geforce 6800 or higher.

And I just barely meet that.

But the playtesters on many sites, including Gamespot, have said that 1 gig of DDR2 Ram didn't provide the smoothest gaming experience - they actually recommded exceeding that all the way to 2 gigs if possible.

And... I can do that once I pay for the comp - but its pretty outrageous if you ask me!

I'm just glad there will be a demo this time - BFV was released in such poor shape that the Heavy Weapons American Class were unstopable Terminator like beasts! (Don't think QA could've missed that)

On another sad note Trauma studios (the creaters of DC and principle talent on BF2) was just fired!

You'd think they would have kept them on at least until they released a patch or too.

Also - more rant - snipers have no sway when looking through the scope! (even when jumping around!!) That can'!t be good!

Iceman · « **Reply #10 on:** June 09, 2005, 05:24:46 pm »

ehhh I dont think those specs are good to go by. I mean, that big of a jump from min to recommended, something seems out of place here. Especially the x800/6800 or higher bit. There is no "higher" at this point.

EDIT: I'm not calling you a liar or anything such as that, I'm just saying that what they've posted seems a bit odd.

Lono · « **Reply #11 on:** June 09, 2005, 06:12:51 pm »

Yeah,

I hope your right, but BFV has made me very warry!

Also my vid card is slightly above plain vanilla 6800 so that may help hopefully...

I am still looking forward to the demo tomorrow!

w000000000000000t!

Jack Morris · « **Reply #12 on:** June 09, 2005, 07:09:06 pm »

It seems that 4 yrs ago the P/C was WAY ahead of the game, not anymore, software (I was at Best Buy today looking for a new P/C) has caught up and if something doesn't give soon chipwise, we will be in a rut as I saw games that will ONLY play on an Intel P4 3.0 or higher!

Oh well, I got 4 good years out of my Sony VAIO P4 1.4, and they would have won another sale HAD they not strayed from what won them an award 4 years ago, the stying of their cases! Now they are just big ugly black boxes, ughhhhh.

Iceman · « **Reply #13 on:** June 09, 2005, 08:29:43 pm »

Don't worry, when the next generation of chips come out, you'll be blown away with the rest of us.

E_Look · « **Reply #14 on:** June 09, 2005, 09:50:14 pm »

Hey Lono! Make a case mod!

No, I'm not talking about special effects and lights blinking everywhere, I mean just like klutzy ol' me did- I just drilled holes in the case, even though it already had holes for fans. (I knew already that the chip I was going to install would run hot.) I'm still weighing drilling another one, even though the comp has been up and running for a while now.

Oh, by the way, if you do opt to drill holes in the sheet metal of the case(s), be very careful.

The drill bits, especially the hole cutter bit, tends to grab the metal quite well and can spin a sheet of metal around like a spinning knife that could fly off! I had to put my knee on the case side panel I was drilling through. If you bent down and looked hard, you could make out a small dent or two where I put pressure on it!

Javora · « **Reply #15 on:** June 10, 2005, 03:45:59 am »

Quote from: Iceman on June 09, 2005, 05:24:46 pm

ehhh I dont think those specs are good to go by. I mean, that big of a jump from min to recommended, something seems out of place here. Especially the x800/6800 or higher bit. There is no "higher" at this point.

EDIT: I'm not calling you a liar or anything such as that, I'm just saying that what they've posted seems a bit odd.

Not trying to be a smart you-know-what but the X850 is the fastest card not the X800.

As for the "or higher" part, they put that in there for people picking this game out of the bargin bin in 18 months. Think of that spec as "minimum" recommendation for that game.

General_Dark_Guard · « **Reply #16 on:** June 10, 2005, 11:16:23 am »

Well, you may have a "nitemare" as you put it with this system too. Dells are too proprietary for their own good, the new ones seem to "appear" to be not proprietary but they are, don't let anyone tell you otherwise. The 6800 GTO is a strictly Dell Brand, you can't buy it in most stores because it's oem. Even the Audigy 2 then seems to come with some Dells is proprietary. I've read of many people being unable to update their sound cards during their entire life of their pc unless Dell releases a driver for it, (which has gotten better, but still slow). The XPS series isn't TOO bad with this as it seems to be a little less proprietary, but the same issues still happen.

As for your fan noise... just stuff a sock in there, it'll be quiet!!!

(Just kidding)

Lono · « **Reply #17 on:** June 10, 2005, 11:43:57 am »

General_Dark_Guard,

Yeah - I was quite dissapointed last night to find that my Audigy 2 ZS was in fact proprietary!

I don't mind the GTO as all I had to do was download the normal Nvidia drivers and it works like a charm.

(I did a fresh install of windows to get rid of all the spamware crizzap that it came with)

Fortunately I have a Gamer ZS in my old comp and I'll just switch 'em out - don't know if it'll make much of a difference tho.

All I really need is for this computer to last me 18 months - by then I'll either be homeless or doing much much better financially!

The Fan thing is still driving me a bit mad - but if I can resolve the noise issue this weekend then I will be able to sit back and terrorize San Andreas in peace...

All in all - its much more comp than I coulda afforded otherwise imho...

Matched up with my new, faster, comcast internet I think its pretty dang fun!

(don't tell my wife tho - the upgrade was purely for doing web work

)

General_Dark_Guard · « **Reply #18 on:** June 10, 2005, 11:51:28 am »

Heh... Good points...

You'll be fine... I have a Dell anyways, I was just seeing what your true reaction was to your system.

Mine is an XPS Gen 4

Lono · « **Reply #19 on:** June 15, 2005, 01:44:33 pm »

w000000000t!!!

Turns out my machine had a bad power supply - Dell quickly shipped me a new one and now my 8400 is quiet and amazing!!!

GTA:SA plays like a frikkin' dream!!

The BF2 Demo, however, not playin so good...

Iceman, looks like they are gonna need ta patch this puppy before its up to proper specs.

The gameplay seemed pretty amazing, fast and chaotic - however I agree with some complaints that the guns lack a certain ummph to them...

Doubt that will be fixed but I'm sure network performace will be patched like with BF1942.

Anyone else havin lagg or framerate probs with the demo?

News:

Topic: Did I get Suckered? (Read 1893 times) var addthis_config = {"data_track_clickback":true};

Topic: Did I get Suckered? (Read 1893 times)