Hello. My name is Missy, and I just recently joined this email list. I'd
like to
appologize in advance for the length of this message, but I'm just trying
to provide as much detail as possible in hopes that people can provide me
with as much feedback as possible before I make my final computer purchase
some time over the next week or so.
I'm a blind computer enthusiast preparing to buy a new system, one that I
hope will last me for at least as
long as my current system has. The last computer I got was in 2002, and
although it is still more or less functional, I'm wanting to get a system
that is not only more
up-to-date, but also more responsive. I do a lot of work with audio files ,
mostly mp3 and midi. I also do a lot of
web browsing, word processing, and I play a lot of text-based games both on
and off line. I've been trying to do my homework with regards to parts to
include in my dream system. I've decided that even if it might be a little
more expensive, I'd rather "hand pick" every aspect of my new system to
insure that I know exactly what I'm getting and also to insure maximum
compatibility with my screen reading software.
I have several reasons for not wanting to buy a ready-made system from Dell
or another similar company. First of all, i have a dell computer at work,
and it's even more flaky than the computer I'm preparing to retire.
Secondly, when I put together a hypathetical system on Dell's site that was
comparable to the one I'm planning, it was over $5000; my current price
from Newegg for everything I'd like to include in my new system is around
$3400. Finally, with Dell or another similar company, I'd be buying
software and other stuff that I really
didn't want or need, also a 20+ monitor which is completely pointless in my
situation.
Now that I've hopefully answered that question, my goals for this system,
in order of importance, are maximum stability,
maximum responsiveness and as much future proofing as possible. I'm
prepared to spend up to $3000 to get everything as nice as possible, but
naturally, if I could spend less, that would be really great. For numerous
reasons, I'm not planning to upgrade to Windows Vista quite yet; I'm
planning to run my new computer using Windows XP media center edition for a
year or so. Never-the-less, I'd like this new computer to be completely
ready for vista if/when I decide to upgrade.
.With all that being said, I was hoping that I could get advice from
members of this forum with regards to my final parts checklist. I'm
planning to
purchase all my parts from newegg within a week or so, and then get
the system assembled by a local computer "expert".
Before I spend any money, though, I'm trying to make certain that I haven't
picked out any blatently incompatible parts, or that I haven't overlooked
anything really major. As much research as I've done over the past couple
of months,
there are still a few things that I don't fully understand. All I know is
that I have no plans to overclock my system, especially since my screen
reading software can't
access the bios, so I would have to rely on someone with vision to do all
the playing around, and nobody I know would even have the slightest clue
how to do any of that stuff. Also, I only have minimal understanding with
regards to what the purpose of rade is, but I do know that at least for
now, I have no
intention or desire to make use of it. I essencially want somebody to be
able to put my system together, I install my screen reading software, and
then
everything will work together as harmoniously as possible. At this point,
I'm reasonably confident in every aspect of my system, but would just like
feedback from people with more experience than myself to confirm that
everything I've chosen should be able to work together.
To answer a few questions up front, I want 2 optical drives to make copying
cds or dvds a little easier; I chose the combo drive since it can go up to
52X for CDs. Regarding fans and other case cooling, it is my understanding,
based on most of what I've read, that the stock fans, heat sinks, etc that
one gets with varius components aren't all that great. So, I'm planning to
use 5 thunderblade fans in the blue dreamer case and not make use of any of
the stock fans. Similarly, I am replacing the power supply included with
the case with what sounds like the best su to meet my needs. I got the
Zalman cpu cooler because, again, the stock one didn't sound all that
great. Finally, I'm not sure about the north and south bridge stuff. I've
already got the Thermaltake chipset cooler purchased, so would like to use
that, and I was thinking that the Zalman passive chipset cooler might be
good for the south bridge.
Finally, I want to let you know that I've purchased a floppy drive,
internal card reader, soundcard and tv tuner card separately; I just found
them at better prices, and in the case of the tv tuner card and soundcard,
Newegg just didn't have the parts I was wanting to use.
I would really appreciate any and all feedback you might be able to provide
with regards to my final parts list. This
new system is going to be a huge investment for me, so I want to make sure
I'm only spending what is strictly necessary to build the best PC I
possibly can. Thank you in advance for any assistance you can provide, and
I hope that you're having a really great day!
Sincerely,
Melissa J. Hoppe
APEVIA X-Dreamer II ATXB4KLW-BL Blue Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
Model Number: ATXB4KLW-BL
Thermaltake A1926 120mm Blue LED Case Fan
Model Number: Thunderblade A1926
4 Thermaltake A1910 80mm Blue LED Case Fan
Model Number: A1910
ABIT AB9 QuadGT LGA 775 Intel P965 Express ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
Model Number: AB9 QuadGT
EVGA 256-P2-N740-LR GeForce 8500GT 256MB GDDR2 PCI Express x16 Video Card -
Retail
Model Number: 256-P2-N740-LR
ZALMAN ZM600-HP ATX12V 600W Power Supply - Retail
Model Number: ZM - 600HP
Intel Core 2 Extreme X6800 Conroe 2.93GHz LGA 775 Processor
Model Number: BX80557X6800
2X Kingston HyperX 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400)
Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model KHX6400D2LLK2/2GN - Retail
Model Number: KHX6400D2LLK2/2GN
SAMSUNG SpinPoint T Series HD501LJ 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive -
OEM
Model Number: HD501LJ
SAMSUNG 740N-BK Black 17" 8ms LCD Monitor
Model Number: 740n-Black
LITE-ON Combo Drive Black SATA Model SHC-52S7K-05 - OEM
Model Number: SHC-52S7K-05
LITE-ON 20X DVD±R DVD Burner with LightScribe Black SATA Model
LH-20A1L-05 - OEM
Model Number: LH-20A1L-05
Microsoft Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 SP2b
Model Number: M93-00439
Microsoft Office Professional 2003 SP2
Model Number: 269-13253
Arctic Silver CMQ-22G The high-density, ceramic-based thermal compound -
Retail
Model #: CMQ-22G
Thermaltake CL-C0034 Copper Fan&Heatsinks
Model Number: CL-C0034
ZALMAN CNPS9500 AT 2 Ball CPU Cooling Fan/Heatsink
Model Number: CNPS9500 AT
ZALMAN ZM-NB47J Aluminum Heatsinks only
Model Number: ZM-NB47J
VANTEC HDC-701A-BL Aluminum Aluminum Hard Driver Cooler
Model Number: HDC-701A-BL
SONY Black 1.44MB 3.5" Internal Floppy Drive
Model Number: MPF920 Black
Scythe internal 3.5 Kama Reader 18in1 Card Reader Black
Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeMusic 24bit
Vista View Saber 2020 Dual Analog PCIe MCE TV-FM Tuner Card
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