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$460 to spend

J

jblue42

Limp Gawd
Joined
Jan 18, 2004
Messages
497
I have 460 dollars to blow, and I need some ideas.

My current setup:
abit IC7
sb audigy2
ati aiw 9800pro
1GB corsair xtreme pc3700
WD 120GB special edition
Lite on 52x cd burner
dvd rom
floppy


I was thinking about getting another hard drive, a dvd burner maybe, i dunno what else...
think I should sell my AIW 9800pro and get a 9800XT?
Maybe i can uprgade to a liquid cooled case?

any ideas? what would you do with the money?
 
Already have a nice processor? If you don't, that is always a thought. :)
 
Didn't tell us the proc but with the rest of your system I am betting it is near top of the line so you should be set. Maybe a nice high response rate lcd display?
 
Originally posted by Grimlakin
Didn't tell us the proc but with the rest of your system I am betting it is near top of the line so you should be set. Maybe a nice high response rate lcd display?
Click to expand...

heh, sorry

P4 2.8C oc'd to 3.4 w/ zalman copper hsf
Hitachi 17" 16ms lcd

I really want to spend this money now, it was a gift. My grandpa wants me to spend it.

I'm really leaning on getting a dvd burner, ps2 modchip, another HD, mine is nearly full, but I'm also interested in liquid cooling...
 
ahh sorry... i`m going to delete evrything i said... i didnt see about your grandpa wanting you to spend everything...

but why would you want more cooling stuff when your oc`d to an extroadinary speed right now and whats the temp of your cpu then thats what you should dicide on?
 
Hmm... Go dual monitor? I'd get a second LCD just like the one you have now (or maybe a nice big CRT). If there's any left over, go out and buy some games to play on it...

Maybe get a Western Digital Raptor boot drive, although it's a waste in my opinion, you might have a use for it though... Water cooling like you said... DVD burner... New case maybe (not sure what you have now)... Some nice speakers/headphones... MX700...

Maybe a ton of caffeinated beverages from ThinkGeek...

Do something for your girlfriend, if you have one...

I dunno, that's all the ideas I have. :)
 
I'd get a couple 36Gb raptors and set thos bad boys up in raid0. That won't take nearly all your money, but it would be a worthwhile upgrade from what I've heard.

Actually, if you want to blow more of it, get some more raptors and set up raid5.
 
I agree with the idea to purchase 2 36 GB Raptors and set them in Raid-0. Even after that, slap on another 160 GB IDE HD from Seagate or something if you want bulk storage space.

If you still have money left over after that, go for a Plextor 8x DVD-RW drive. That can come in very handy...

Dark Assassin
 
Too bad that AIW doesn't support dual-monitors... get a high-end Voodoo PCI and an LCD if you want to do that.

The twin raptors is a good idea, but like Dark Assassin said, make sure you get a 120-200gb storage drive on top of that.

How about a sound system? I don't like computer speakers, but if you have some hook-ups, you could find an old Rotel amp, and ask around for Dyneco speakers. You could go with something a bit more modern if you want to use that lovely S/PDIF in/out on your AIW.

A fairly nice TV, maybe? Or a slightly less nice one and an Xbox HTPC as well?

Bawls until you throw up?

300 pairs of socks?
 
Get a decent DVD burner (~$140) and save the rest for a later upgrade. Tell grandpa that the DVD-burner was $400 and you love it and he is a great guy. Use the "remaining" $60 to take him out to dinner.
 
save like 300$ and maybe use 100$> on video games. or that and a nice dvd burner :). don't forget to save enough for ut2k4.
 
Get a nice 15k rpm scsi drive to boot off of. Probably the most noticeable upgrade you could make at this point too.
 
I still think you need to buy 300 pairs of socks.

Every day, when you wake up, grab a new pair of socks and put them on. If you spill something in the kitchen and step in it, throw your socks away and put new ones on. When you go to bed, chuck out your used socks. It's your first step on the road to living a life of gross excess!
 
How about a nice big desk? Or maybe another one, you could get an L shaped one to add to what you're using now and have space on 3 sides. Maybe build a cheap linux box to play around with... Maybe some tools for mods? A nice dremel, a drill, saws, whatever... A monster UPS to protect your rig... A nice rack full of... stuff.

You're sure you can't just send it to me? :D
 
A raptor drive
A Lite-on or Plextor 4X or 8X DVD burner
A TV Tuner/capture card? Hauppage pvr 250
 
I agree with the DVD Burner. Get a Plextor or Pioneer DVD 8x Burner.

Get a HD497 set Headphones

OO crap, how about making another computer for Lan or HTPC???

AMD 2500+
Shuttle Barebone
512MB PC3200
DVD Burner
PVR250
 
If you do any kind of real work on that machine and not just gaming I would say go for the dual monitor.
 
my machine is a gaming machine, I don't work on it, other than college papers and other homework. I'm sorry, I don't know what the advantages are for a raid0, and EnderW has turned me off to that idea.

Headphones though, are an excellent idea, Sennheiser seem to be liked here, what models should I look into? I want a good pair for gaming, best directional sound. What about the Sennheiser headsets with mic's? any good?

also, back to the hard drive, maybe I could use the hard drive I have now for bulk storage of my media, and get a faster sata one to boot off of, and have games on?
 
Not sure about Sennheiser with mics, but Sennheiser 497 can be had for $80 bucks.
 
donate it to the NSG...

Needy Student Guy, that would be me. :D

~Adam

PS (otherwise :D) I like the dual monitor suggestion
 
Originally posted by CleanSlate
TWO HUNDRED DOLLARS @#()&%$@)(&%)@(&%$)@(&%$)(@&$)@&($)(&^%)(#&)@(&%)@(&$_!)@*$)(!@&*$)(!&%$)(@&%)_(&!$)(@&%$)_(&)$_(&!_($%&!)@(%&!)@(&$!_(&%$)(@&)(@$)(&%$)(@&%_)!@&*%$_)&%_()@&%_)(!@&$_)(!@&$

NO!

~Adam.
Click to expand...

Off-Topic...But obviously you haven't looked into Hi-Fi lately...;)

The top of line Seinhisers are 10,000 dollars...
It gets worse too...;)
 
Originally posted by jblue42

Headphones though, are an excellent idea, Sennheiser seem to be liked here, what models should I look into? I want a good pair for gaming, best directional sound. What about the Sennheiser headsets with mic's? any good?
Click to expand...
HD570's and HD590's are supposed to be good, but I haven't heard either. You could easily spend all your money here, b/c people will start suggesting amps that cost as much or more than the actual headphones, and amp replacements for your soundcard, etc. It gets kinda crazy.

Originally posted by jblue42
also, back to the hard drive, maybe I could use the hard drive I have now for bulk storage of my media, and get a faster sata one to boot off of, and have games on?
Click to expand...
That's exactly what I do - 74GB Raptor is boot drive & 250GB WD ATA is storage drive. Works great!
 
I still say raid5 is the way to go. It stripes and mirrors. You can keep the rig running even if a hard drive fails during boot-up. It's sechsy
 
Originally posted by The Bryophyte
I still say raid5 is the way to go. It stripes and mirrors. You can keep the rig running even if a hard drive fails during boot-up. It's sechsy
Click to expand...
I can't think of a better way to waste money. RAID 5 is totally unecessary for a gaming machine. The striping provides minimal performance increase and unless you have irreplacable data that you can't back up with a CD-RW, there is little use for mirroring on a gaming machine.
 
Originally posted by Chelica
Not sure about Sennheiser with mics, but Sennheiser 497 can be had for $80 bucks.
Click to expand...
Senn HD497 are supposedly the best headphone that don't need an externall amplifier....meaning you can find better but you'd need to buy an external amplifier to power them properly. I've had the HD497's for awhile now and like them immensely. Gaming 3d sound quality is superior. I hear people trying to sneak up on me from the rear, left and right sides ;)
 
i have ordered the hd497's, after reading good reviews and it was only $70 on amazon

i think i may also get 1 36 or 74 gb raptor, what would the performance increase be like if I do that? my current drive, wd 120gb ata special edition, would be used to store all my media. My computer doubles as a HTPC.
 
Originally posted by Chelica
10,000 dollars, are you serious?? For a freaking set of headphones??
Click to expand...

Electrostatic headphones, yes. Their top-of-the-line regular headphones are considerably less.

Pay $150-200 for a good pair of Sennheiser headphones and be happy. I have some HD455s and they've treated me well since 1999.

Or, some socks.... :D
 
I paid 20 for one pair and they lasted me a good year and a half and they were great... why waste money... gg.

~Adam
 
Yeps, just got my Sennheiser for $40 brand new from work today, freaking love it!!!!

I highly recommend this now. Before I was just recommending this set because everyone loves it, and now I KNOW why. BUY IT!!! You will have $390 to spend afterwards.

Alex
 
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