[effgee]

Ok, here's the deal - my (t)rusty old Dellbox™ has been dying a slow and painful death for a while now and today it finally kicked the proverbial bucket (actually I kicked it - after it nibbled off - because it pissed the crap outta me.) Next step - I need a new Winbox™. After looking around for a while today I decided that - even though I really don't have the time to do this - I should build my own box rather than buying a complete system.

Not because I need the fastest PC out there but because I don't need most of the shit that seems to be included with 99% of these boxes - teenie toys like card readers, TV tuners, remote controls, etc., etc. Also, I already have an XP Pro license (as well as all the other software) and don't see the need to pay for another one and would rather get better components for the same/similar price.

My goal is to have decent (upper) mid-range box that won't have problems running design apps like Photoshop, Flash, Illustrator, etc. and that I'll be able to keep for a while (2-3 yrs.) - also, keep in mind that this will not be my only and/or primary computer. As far as that is concerned I'll be sticking to my Macs, thank you.



And while I have no doubt that I can actually build this box (over the years, I've taken apart and put back together more Macs than I care to count), I can't really say that I'm an expert when it comes to PC parts. Using what common sense I have left, I put together a (preliminary) shopping list and would appreciate it very much if some of the more tech-savvy nerds among you could take a peek and provide feedback in regards to whether or not that box (once it's finished) will be able to handle the tasks mentioned above. Uh, yeah - it would be great if you could also give me a ballpark regarding the prices (are they reasonable, too high, etc.) - the prices are all in Euros and include 16% sales tax.

1. Case - ASUS TA-212 ATX Midi-Tower, 360W power supply
   Price: 75 �
2. Mainboard - MSI 915P Neo2 Platinum
   4 DIMMs w/ DDR2-533+ upto 4GB
   1 PCI-E 16X; 2 PCI-E 1X; 3 PCI; 8 USB
   8 Ch. Audio;_Gb LAN; IEEE 1394;_RAID; SATA; ATA133
   Live Update; Fuzzy Logic; PC Alert; MSI CoreCell; MSI CoreCenter, DigiCell; DOT
   Price: 135 �
3. Processor - Intel Pentium 4 530 (3,0 GHz) FSB800 1024k Sock775 BOX
   Price: 173 �
4. Graphics card - Sapphire Radeon X700 Pro 128MB PCI-E DVI/TV - LiteRetail
   Price: 167 �
5. RAM - 2 x 512MB PC3200
   Price: 77 � (each)
6. Hard drive - Hitachi Deskstar 160GB, 7200/8
   Price: 100 �
7. Optical drive - NEC ND-3500A 16x DVD+R(W)/-R(W) 4x DL
   Price: 73 �

All in all, the whole shebang adds up to just under 900 � - add to that cables and a set of decent fans and I'd come in at just under a grand.

Sound reasonable? And TIA for taking a peek.

[bstone]

Why are you getting a PC? Get the top of the line dual G5, max out the RAM. Then, for Windoze apps, use Virtual PC or WinTel or, soon, Darwine.

What do you need a PC for, anyways?

[Severed Hand of Skywalker]

Ya why do you need a PC for creative work? Seriously the apps you mentioned are almost always done on a Mac.

[effgee]

Originally posted by bstone:
Why are you getting a PC? ...

I already have 8 Macs and got bored so I thought a PC would make a nice change ... no, not really

1. Virtual PC is shit - to put it midly - even on a G5.
2. I need to run design apps - not some obscure accounting app. The thing needs to be able to handle these docs fast - that alone puts VPC out of the equation.
3. I do a lot of web work - while VPC works for previewing sites in regards to compatibility, etc., it is not an efficient way of working. I need to make a living doing this stuff - so it's gotta be as fast as possible (within a reasonable $$$ limit) and I don't like Expose that much. Even on two monitors I already have enough windows open - BBEdit, (sometimes Dreamweaver), Safari, Firefox, Photoshop, Illustrator, Mail - I really don't need VPC to cramp my style on top of that ...
4. I also do a lot of IA work - when was the last time you successfully edited a Visio document a client sent you on a Mac? (No OmniGraffle does notwork well enough for that)
5. Have you ever tried to edit/comment a 400-page style guide in Acrobat on a Mac (even a G5)? While I could kill Adobe for making such a shitty product, I still need it and I have to be able to work efficiently

[RiSE]

looks like you got a pretty sweet setup there, MORE then you need really. I just built an amd64 2800+ PC for $600. ARe you going to buy your stuff through newegg.com?

I use my mac for final cut (nothing beats it) and photoshop. I use my PC for web stuff and games. I hate to say it but when less then 10% of people use macs for web its just smarter to make web pages with a PC! ESP when you are getting paid.

[Goldfinger]

Originally posted by RiSE:
looks like you got a pretty sweet setup there, MORE then you need really. I just built an amd64 2800+ PC for $600. ARe you going to buy your stuff through newegg.com?

Newegg is not really an option since he is German, he would probably burn himself with the import taxes.

[effgee]

Originally posted by RiSE:
looks like you got a pretty sweet setup there, MORE then you need really. I just built an amd64 2800+ PC for $600. ARe you going to buy your stuff through newegg.com?

I use my mac for final cut (nothing beats it) and photoshop. I use my PC for web stuff and games. I hate to say it but when less then 10% of people use macs for web its just smarter to make web pages with a PC! ESP when you are getting paid.

Can't hurt to have a bit more than I need ... expecially since I don't plan on buying another PC anytime soon and this one will have to last for some time to come ... with reasonable upgrades, etc.

Theoretically, I could buy the stuff from newegg (since I run my own company I get sales and import taxes back from the German IRS) but I probably won't do that - too much of pain in the behind in case something breaks and I need to send it back for replacement, repair, etc. Here in Germany, I usually buy from these guys - they're not the cheapest but usually have reasonable prices and are great to deal with should there be a problem.

[effgee]

Thinking about the time & hassle involved in putting together my own box, I decided to take the "middle route" and get a Shuttle XPC case. That way I only have to toss in a few components instead of putting together the entire box

• 

It's a bit more expensive than my initial shopping list and I scaled down the graphics card a notch but considering the time I'll save (plus the added portability - I sometimes have to take the PC out for usability testing) and (hopefully) better compatibility of the components it might just be worth it ...

... thoughts?

[RiSE]

The video card you have now is still top of the line! And you got faster ram it looks sweet! I personaly would not get a shuttle case, i dont what kind of rep those mother boards have. You would be better getting a regular sized case. I would HIGHLY recommend the Antec Sonata case, it is DEAD quiet and stays very very cool. when it comes to motherboards i always stick to the same brands. MSI, Abit, asus. They all have good reps. IF you buy a no-name brand board you can run into some really big problems, also never skimp on the power supply.

Here is my current PC setup.
AMD64 2800+
MSI k8neo
512mb 400mhz DDR RAM
ATI 128mb 9200 w/ svideo out
Antec sonata case

Not bad for $600.

Hope this helps keep me updated or if you have any more ?'s let me know.

[macaddict0001]

I would recommend an amd 64 chip with compatible motherboard probably 2 gigahertz should be good.
no need for sata at this point but you'll probably need more hard drive space possibly upwords of 400 gigabytes, depending on how much you use photoshop of course
use the graphics card from your old dell if it has one, if not then a 9200 or geforce4 mx would be fine. although i wouldn't reccomen such outdated cards. Any case you like the look of would be good, and it also needs to have enough drive bays. Oh and at least 2 gigs of ram.

[effgee]

Originally posted by RiSE:
... Hope this helps keep me updated or if you have any more ?'s let me know.

That is a nifty setup you have there! And thanks a bunch for your help - it is much appreciated!

As far as the Shuttle case is concerned - since I'm no PC expert, I usually check Anandtech and Tom's Hardware for pointers.

While they didn't have reviews of the case I picked (Shuttle SB95P), they did have reviews for what seems (?) to be the predecessor (Shuttle SB81P) which were rather favorable. From what little I can tell the main difference between the two boards and their respective chipsets (Intel 925X and the older Intel 915G) is support for DDR2 RAM.

Uh, I also kicked the Sapphire X600 Pro from my list and replaced it with an Asus Extreme AX600XT - that should be a(n additional) bit faster for just a couple of bucks more.

Thanks again!!




macaddict - the reason why I (for now, nothing's final) picked the Pentium over the Athlon was, from what little research I've done today, that there's no PCI Express support for AMD processors (yet?) and for some (probably childish) reason the 16x PCI Express slot just looked more tempting than 8x AGP - and at least as far as Shuttle cases/boards are concerned, the AMD solution wouldn't be noticeably cheaper than the P4 (maybe 70� or so). As far as HD space goes, I got plenty of FW drives with just under a TB of storage - that'll do.




(edit: fixed typo)