X-Man Posted April 15, 2002 Share Posted April 15, 2002 hi I'm new here, heard about this site from a friend, he says its great. I know this sounds pathetic, but I was just wondering if anyone could tell me what is the fastest computer I could buy for the cheapest. Should I buy a new computer or go through the trading post. Oh I'm from Sydney Australia, so keep that in mind. :) X-Man Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prasanth Posted April 15, 2002 Share Posted April 15, 2002 welcome to neowin dude;) and of course go for an athlonXP Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
superbeast Posted April 15, 2002 Share Posted April 15, 2002 If you want the most bang for the buck, perchase a new iMac. They are extremly fast, outfitted with modern equipment, and have all the software you need for an incredible out of the box experience. Plus, they are very high quality machines. If you want to learn how to build a fast machine you will save a great amount of money, but as a n00b (no offense) you run the risk of blowing everything up. If you want to learn, aim towards building a solid AthlonXP box. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
X-Man Posted April 15, 2002 Author Share Posted April 15, 2002 build a computer? Where do I start? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wog boy Posted April 15, 2002 Share Posted April 15, 2002 ok.. you dont know how to build your own.. umm i would just go down to your local computer store... have a look around... i wouldnt go for anything from a large store or company (eg a compaq from harvey norman) because your paying for the name.. ohh and welcome to neowin:D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Winston Posted April 15, 2002 Share Posted April 15, 2002 sydney hey? well i got my system for 2500 and i got a 15" lcd monitor keep that in mind i bought my parts from a computer fair held once every month in parra so hey u want any tip icq me on 54882708 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prasanth Posted April 15, 2002 Share Posted April 15, 2002 just noticed keldyn is from australia, just PM him and u will get all the tips for buying a new PC:P Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vinh Posted April 15, 2002 Share Posted April 15, 2002 x-man welcome to neowin mate. :) You can get mad computer deals in the trading post and if you need advice as prasanth16 was saying, drop keldyn a line. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Qarth Posted April 15, 2002 Share Posted April 15, 2002 Yeah!!! I'm up too late and have to be up in an hour!!! I totally agree with beast though I love OSX and i'm sure you would too. But if you're gonna go x86 you should go with AMD in my opinion. Pre Built: Alienware or Falcon Northwest ROCK!!! Welcome to Neowin dude...I LOVE YOU MAN! ZzZzZzzz...:s Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keldyn Posted April 15, 2002 Share Posted April 15, 2002 Tsk tsk, the guy clearly is working on a budget and here you are recommending iMacs and AthlonXP based systems. Sure they are mad fast but price wise, they arent that great. If you are looking to keep costs down, i'd go for a duron to be honest. Its essentially a cut down version of the Athlon, is cheap but performs very well. Especially when you compare it to similarly clocked celeron. Buying the parts yourself is definitely the cheapest way to go however. Don't go buying some machine from a department store. You will be paying alot for the name, and very little substance. OEM computers are usually sporting budget processors ( celerons) and cheap parts. They usually skimp on RAM and graphics so dont go there. I recommend a geforce2 as a minimunm these days and they are very cheap. i can't say too much about prices in Sydney, because i am from Adelaide but shop around first. Winston says he is from Sydney so iam sure he will be glad to offer you some pointers. But do check www.adelong.com.au for cheap parts. I have bought from there a few times. Prices arent too bad Building your own computer is not just fun but its a rewarding experience too. You have the benefit of knowing exactly what goes into your machine, and you will learn alot along the way. Heck, you even get the bragging rights that go with. :D Best of luck! Keldyn;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Winston Posted April 15, 2002 Share Posted April 15, 2002 well sowwie to say Keldyn adelong sucks my friend use to work there the prices are rip off im telling him he should go to the computer fair in parra i can get duron 1 ghz for like 100 bucks i got my athlong 1600xp +for 220 bucks so yeah.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Winston Posted April 15, 2002 Share Posted April 15, 2002 and for a good mboard seeing keldyn said a gf2 is good enuff why not head for an nforce type motherboard its pretty durable ive got one too and very good performance Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keldyn Posted April 15, 2002 Share Posted April 15, 2002 yeah...and the great thing about getting a duron based system is that you wont be locked into using just that. Later you will be able to upgrade to an Athlon XP no problems :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Winston Posted April 15, 2002 Share Posted April 15, 2002 uno it makes me ponder when ppl are deciding on ram like the idiots in my school saying no sd ram is way better its cheaper than ddr how ignorant are they i mean in Aus any user buying a new system MUST have ddr or rd ram installed no more sd ram i believe sd ram is moving to the obsolete stage Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keldyn Posted April 15, 2002 Share Posted April 15, 2002 That is true and the amazing thing is that right now in Aus, ddr is actually cheaper than sdram. SO by all means go with ddr if you can. The only drawback to that is ddr based boards usually cost a little more. But hey ! Its a small price for the extra performance gain and you will be future proofing your system too. Sdram will still be around for a while longer yet, a couple years atleast so ultimately you have the choice of either. And so you know, ddr is double data rate, meaning essentially its twice as fast as sdram because it transfers data on both the rising and falling edges of the clock cycle;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Winston Posted April 15, 2002 Share Posted April 15, 2002 absoloutley true honestly my perception of purchasing any goods is not to purchase the cheap side of things when i purchase something i purchase the best so i wont have to catch up afterwards at least i would have a system that has a lastability my system can last for anuther 2 yrs wiv out upgrading Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
=NickJ= Posted April 15, 2002 Share Posted April 15, 2002 I would get an MSI n420-D mobo, with the latest BIOS i have seen benchmarks where using the onboard GeForce2 MX got more fps in Quake3 than an Asus A7V266 using a GeForce3 Ti500! I was shocked to say the least. Socket A, good performance, on-board decent graphics and 5.1 sound, added with a Duron 1.2, its the budget PC makers dream. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vinh Posted April 15, 2002 Share Posted April 15, 2002 Originally posted by Winston well sowwie to say Keldyn adelong sucks my friend use to work there the prices are rip off im telling him he should go to the computer fair in parra i can get duron 1 ghz for like 100 bucks i got my athlong 1600xp +for 220 bucks so yeah.. got url or address, info on this computer fair? i live next to parra so i might as well go to it ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Osiris Posted April 15, 2002 Share Posted April 15, 2002 Hrmm ive really fallen out with the computer hardware side of things, now correct me by all means but whats RamBus memory? Because I think thats what ive got. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xe|oN Posted April 15, 2002 Share Posted April 15, 2002 PC2100 DDR is cheaper than SDRAM in Australia but once you start talking about PC2700 PC3000 and PC3200 we're talking a lot of money! And if your planning to overclock (especially with the P4 through FSB overclocking) you can get very large overclocks running very stable with good DDR RAM. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
altezza Veteran Posted April 15, 2002 Veteran Share Posted April 15, 2002 Does it work if I use AthlonXP? I use DDR RAM too but I don't know if I overclock I can get big difference in clock speed without sacrificing the stability of the system. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Osiris Posted April 15, 2002 Share Posted April 15, 2002 What the hell last time I checked they only had PC400, PC800 Ive got a P4, and to my knoweledge ive got Rambus memory?? anyone wanna correct me and explain what sort of memeory ive got? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
altezza Veteran Posted April 15, 2002 Veteran Share Posted April 15, 2002 As far as I know that Rambus (RDRAM) memory are much faster than DDR RAM. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xe|oN Posted April 15, 2002 Share Posted April 15, 2002 I like watching the video reviews by the infamous Rodney Renalds from 3dgameman.com. If u've got a fast connection watch the video review on Athlon XP overclocking, im on 56k myself and that particular review doesnt come in a smaller version which can be streamed on 56k (I'll download it instead of streaming it when I can be bothered) He also has a review on P4 overclocking (Northwood core) and has his 1.6A running at 2.4Ghz perfectly stable, a 800Mhz overclock! I wonder how well he went with the Athlon XP... :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Osiris Posted April 15, 2002 Share Posted April 15, 2002 thanks altezza. I must have been asleep the day ram became so confussing and complex. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts