Taking the dive into PC building

[Etra]

Re: Taking the dive into PC building

Alrighty! Moar computarz!

A friend had both his laptops die and now he's looking for a desktop computer. He has one, but it's his work PC (works from home.) Looking for something on the cheap side, and he wanted to get something from Walmart... Was, like, noooooo! Went onto Newegg to find him parts to get him a cheapy, but even $500 was too much... Which was mostly the processor. Any ideas? I'm giving him a spare GPU, so no worries there.

[Etra]

Re: Taking the dive into PC building

Will do! I appreciate the generosity.

[Aeni]

Re: Taking the dive into PC building

I don't think USPS costs much to ship since it's not that heavy and I can use that Priority Mail packaging thing at work (I'm vague on the details but I believe there's a flat rate box) Let me know if you change your mind.

[Etra]

Re: Taking the dive into PC building

I have a couple of spare units you can have. I think one is a Sony brand and the other is some Dell brand (attached to my old unit)

Aww. So sweet of you to offer. I think the shipping would cost too much, though. Hawaii to Pennsylvania and all. No worries, but I appreciate the gesture.

[Aeni]

Re: Taking the dive into PC building

Yeah, it can burn DVDs. Just going to replace it later in the year. It's nothing urgent.

I have a couple of spare units you can have. I think one is a Sony brand and the other is some Dell brand (attached to my old unit)

[Etra]

Re: Taking the dive into PC building

Yeah, it can burn DVDs. Just going to replace it later in the year. It's nothing urgent.

[Aeni]

Re: Taking the dive into PC building

Did you make sure it actually CAN burn DVDs? Sometimes, they package the units as a (DVD ROM) but that doesn't mean it can actually write to DVD disc. Yes, there's actually a handful of models out there like that, and yes, people who actually sell those in complete systems are real dickwads. Hope you weren't a victim here.

[Etra]

Re: Taking the dive into PC building

Woooosh.

Okay, so I'm trying to burn a data DVD and it just won't work. I can read CDs and DVDs, as well as write CDs, but writing a data DVD doesn't work at all. I dunno what to do besides go buy a new disc drive out of frustration. >.>

[Aeni]

Re: Taking the dive into PC building

Brown outs can also affect BIOS as all data is electrical (very small chance but data streams could get "crossed" or otherwise affect parts of the chip itself) I've seen weirder things happen with just brown outs, including a CD ROM malfunction.

[Etra]

Re: Taking the dive into PC building

We've been having power issues with all the storms, but it never went out fully, as far as I'm aware. It may be the source I have it plugged into. Using a backup battery that's about 7 years old, or so, and it's been having issues. I'll take a look at that and go from there.

Thanks!

[DakAttack]

Re: Taking the dive into PC building

Did the power go out recently? Or perhaps a forced shut-down? Sometimes the BIOS will revert to defaults or change a few settings automatically if it detects something amiss. I'd save a profile of your current settings just in case.

[Etra]

Re: Taking the dive into PC building

Have had no trouble with my PC, but just a minute ago I tried to boot it up, went to get some pie (I know, I'm a fatty), and when I came back there was a message saying the bios were recently changed. Then asking if I wanted to boot with the changes or go into the bios and look around. Went into the bios and everything seemed fine, so I exited, pc shut down, and I rebooted. Everything came back up fine.

Concerns?

[DakAttack]

Re: Taking the dive into PC building

You can use nVidia cards on an AMD motherboard, but it requires a bit of subterfuge.

Additionally, I would avoid Crossfire and SLI like the plague. It's a horrible gimmick to draw in the "bigger is better" meat-headed nerds. You're better off with a single, more powerful card.

[Aeni]

Re: Taking the dive into PC building

I'll just wait until the next gen cards come out (whenever that is) and do some research on it. >o>

I'll probably go with AMD. I've had the best performance with them all around and only had an issue once with them back in WoW for a raid boss (game would crash every time because it was a specific AMD card.) Dumb question, but motherboards can use any sort of card, right? I mean, brand-wise. Nvidia, AMD, either or?

Some motherboards will support only one or another particular (specific) multi-card function or optional card function. But generally speaking, it's not as rigid as it is with support for a CPU. I say, go with what you feel comfortable with, what you feel you can afford and what you feel you will be happiest with. That said, if you're running applications that require a specific driver to work and/or if you're restricted because of policies with your work place, then that's another story.

Edit:

Ugh, weird, didn't see Armando's last post.

[Armando]

Re: Taking the dive into PC building

Dumb question, but motherboards can use any sort of card, right? I mean, brand-wise. Nvidia, AMD, either or?

Yes. Motherboards can be picky about whether they support SLI or Crossfire but any single card will work.