I would agree wholeheartedly with Mike here. Building it yourself is not difficult at all, you hand pick and install all the components, and makes it much easier to upgrade in the future. I have built my last 3 systems, and upgrade fairly regularly. I just dropped an Athlon XP2400+ in with a new EPoX 8K5A2 kt333 mb. Plus, you learn more about your system and troubleshooting becomes easier as you gain knowledge. I would say most folks that go to building their own rarely go back to buying a completed system from anyone.
Check out the components at newegg.com, they have quality parts at very reasonable prices, and the service is great. I buy most all my hardware components from them.
Good luck in whatever decision you may make.
Don Burnette
> I wouldn't go Dell or Gateway, but I wouldn't go Alienware or Falcon
> either.
> Build it yourself, plain and simple. Then you'll know exactly what is
> in your computer, and exactly how far you can upgrade it. Then you
> can spend as much as you want on important bits now (like vid card)
> and maybe save some money on other things (like sound card). Then
> upgrade when you got more money. And you'll have the satisfaction of
> doing it yourself, and you'll knnow that you loaded in the newest
> drivers, etc.. etc..
> You'll also save money by doing it yourself, cause you aren't payin'
> some lackey to put it together for you and you can shop around for
> the best prices on each component.
> Mike
> http://www.racesimcentral.net/
>>> I know this is asked to death, but I'll still appreciate the
>>> guidance...
>>> I haven't kept up in the technology, either in reading, or owning.
>>> I'm thinking about upgrading my aged c566/850 + V3-2000 and getting
>>> back
> into
>> the
>>> occasional race simming (only so many hrs you can replay GT3!).
>>> This time, I'm probably going to get a complete new PC rather than
>>> upgrading. Will play F1-2002 (have F1-2001 sitting here unplayable
>>> for 6 mths) and similar. Even GPL (which since I last "upgraded"
>>> runs slower for reasons unknown). Looking at a middle-of-the-road
>>> system. Basically a Dell 4550 with about a P4-2.4G and a G4-Ti4200
>>> seems reasonable. Probably with a 17" flat panel for style,
>>> convenience, and space-savings. Suggestions?
>>> Checking pricewatch, I don't think I could build a system for
>>> significantly less than a Dell. They only carry Intel, though I'd
>>> otherwise consider AMD's.
>>> If Intel, am I making a mistake not getting a RDRAM-based MB and
>>> memory?
>>> I looked at Alienware and Falcon-NW. Though gamer-oriented, they
>>> just don't seem to be very good values.
>>> Is a T14200 obsolesence-proof for at least a year or two in terms
>>> of being able to play games? I'm more interested in DX future
>>> compatibility rather than requiring cutting edge speed.
>>> Are there *** issues that suggest not getting a flat panel? I've
> heard
>> of
>>> potential trailing. I'd be happy with 1024 or 1280 resolution (hey,
> I've
>> made
>>> do with 800x600).
>>> Any soundcard issues, or is a SB Live 5.1 sufficient? I'm happy
>>> with
> just
>> my
>>> Boston Acoustics 3-piece basic system and don't think I need spend
> $100's
>> for
>>> a fancy soundcard+speaker setup.
>>> Not into ripping music or video.
>>> Any other things I should look for?
>>> TIA,
>>> Dave
>> Dell and Gateway make good boxes, IF you don't want to dig inside
>> and change things 6 months from now. The low price machines often
>> have built in sound, and built in video...but from your description,
>> the system you are looking at will have a dedicated video card.
>> That's good. RDram is fine...in fact, except for being more
>> expensive it has been shown to be really fast in the right
>> situations. Falcon and Alienware are CUSTOM built machines with
>> hand installation of software and and quite a-bit of personal
>> service. You are paying as much for the people costs as the machine
>> costs. (great systems if you have lots of cash!)
>> The higher speed P4's are quite speedy...For any new sim...the
>> higher the cpu speed the better. 256k IS A MINIMUM. (dell has been
>> piling memory in their systems lately so that shouldn't be a
>> problem.) I've never used a flat panel display, but I have heard
>> of issues with refresh rate and screen sizes...some video cards may
>> or may not display the ideal LCD screen size...and since they don't
>> "refresh" the screen like a CRT they may seem slower than a good
>> CRT. 17 in/ or better for the older bigger ones...(but that should
>> be the last thing you want to spend money on if you are looking a
>> performance vs. cost.) good luck
>> dave henrie
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