PC questions

[Shiz]

I am looking at new systems (although I want to try and build my own this year). On the Alienware site, one can select a power supply upgrade to 431 or 550 watts from the standard 340 watts. What purpose does higher wattage serve?

Also, does it make sense to go with the NVIDIA nForce chipset if I plan on putting in a Geforce 4600?

[Greebo]

I am looking at new systems (although I want to try and build my own this year). On the Alienware site, one can select a power supply upgrade to 431 or 550 watts from the standard 340 watts. What purpose does higher wattage serve?

Also, does it make sense to go with the NVIDIA nForce chipset if I plan on putting in a Geforce 4600?
Don't know about the 2nd question, but as to wattage:

The more you plan to put on your computer in the way of peripherals, the more wattage you want. A 431W supply is pretty respectable, but if you're looking at multiple hard drives, multiple cd drives and really high powered video cards and sound cards, then going for the 550W will ensure that your system doesn't start to have an internal brownout. It will, however, increase the electrical costs for your computer.

My homebuilt pc at home has 2 hard drives, 1 cdrom, 1 cdrw(24x), a geforce2 and a sb audigy mp3 and I only have a 400w supply. 431 should be fine.

[Shiz]

Thanks. I plan on 2 harddrives, DVD-ROM, CD-RW, Audigy and Vid card. I find that editing video on my single 60GB harddrive is a bit tough. If the available space goes below 30GB, I lose frames. I use the Pinnacle Studio DV PCI card with Studio 7SE software. Easy to use, but just not fast on my system - 2 hours to convert a 12 minute clip into MPEG format.

What is the feasability in replacing the CD-RW and DVD-ROM with a DVD-RW? Can I use CD-Rs in a DVD-RW? How fast is DVD-RW coming along? The one DVD-RW is about $250 more than the 2 lesser drives combined it looks like. If I build the thing myself, then I should be able to swap in the DVD-RW later when prices fall. That is my thought process anyway.

[LazyCrim]

If you go to those large power supplies, remember to put extra fans in the case. A 550Watt power supply is that same as having five and a half 100Watt lightbulbs in there (ie it'll crank out the heat!). This is especially important if you are going with Athelon chips rather than Pentium. Pentium chips have a much better ability to keep themselves (and your motherboard) from being destroyed from overheating.

[Tulenyre]

I am looking at new systems (although I want to try and build my own this year). On the Alienware site, one can select a power supply upgrade to 431 or 550 watts from the standard 340 watts. What purpose does higher wattage serve?

Also, does it make sense to go with the NVIDIA nForce chipset if I plan on putting in a Geforce 4600?

A 400 watt Power Supply is fine, hell even my system doesn't use the full 400watt and I got BIG system.

The GeForce is indipendant just get a chipset that supports 4XAGP (preferably 8XAGP).

[Tulenyre]

Thanks. I plan on 2 harddrives, DVD-ROM, CD-RW, Audigy and Vid card. I find that editing video on my single 60GB harddrive is a bit tough. If the available space goes below 30GB, I lose frames. I use the Pinnacle Studio DV PCI card with Studio 7SE software. Easy to use, but just not fast on my system - 2 hours to convert a 12 minute clip into MPEG format.

What is the feasability in replacing the CD-RW and DVD-ROM with a DVD-RW? Can I use CD-Rs in a DVD-RW? How fast is DVD-RW coming along? The one DVD-RW is about $250 more than the 2 lesser drives combined it looks like. If I build the thing myself, then I should be able to swap in the DVD-RW later when prices fall. That is my thought process anyway.

Problem with DVD-Recorders is there are still 5 different standards and none of them are compatible with each other. Hell most won't even work outside of the drive that recorded them. Most DVD-R's will not read CD-RW or write CD-R/W, a good portion even have trouble with CD-R. Until the format issues are worked out a DVD-R Type of drive is a waste of cash, get a good plextor CD-RW and CD for half the price.

It's been 5 years and they are still arguing over formats, personally I don't think these morons will ever agree on one thing and untill then only movies will really be on DVD.

[DinbinFanfoom]

Uhm, I would think 300W would be PLENTY for just about ANY home computer. I have Vid Card, Sound Card, Ethernet Card, CD-RW, DVD-ROM, 2 Hard Drives, Floppy in mine and never have a problem. Unless you're running a Raid array, I can't see how you'd need more...

[Tulenyre]

Uhm, I would think 300W would be PLENTY for just about ANY home computer. I have Vid Card, Sound Card, Ethernet Card, CD-RW, DVD-ROM, 2 Hard Drives, Floppy in mine and never have a problem. Unless you're running a Raid array, I can't see how you'd need more...

Some of the newer processors require alot of power. Having a 350 is about the min spec now for these.

[Serani]

I'm still running on a 300W power supply. I have an AMD 1.4 Thunderbird, 1 DDR chip, 1 hard drive, 1 CD-RW, 1 Floppy, sound, video (GeForce 2) and 3 case fans. I haven't seen any problems yet with my power.

Rubi's PC is another matter entirely.

[Asharad]

Machine I built (thanks greebs) has a 400w supply and 3 or 4 casefans. I don't have any temperature or power problems, and its running a pretty full load of stuff.

I've got a Canapos RaptorDV capture card in there too (running Premier) and haven't had any problems.

[DinbinFanfoom]

Some of the newer processors require alot of power. Having a 350 is about the min spec now for these.
A P4 minimum spec is still 250W.

[Shiz]

Raising an old thread from the dead, I am thinking of formatting and reinstalling on my machine (Win ME). F2 for the BIOS screen right? I need to make sure I can boot from CD ROM.

Do you guys have any tricks about saving your old data? All I really need to save is EQ files and NWN files. I haven't played the other games in a long time. I have all my driver updates in a dedicated folder, as well as game patches. How do I make sure I keep my Norton AV registration?

Can an Athlon 1GHz, 640 RAM system handle XP Pro? Should I consider upgrading?

I have formatted and reinstalled several times before. Just looking for some quick tips.

[Tulenyre]

Some of the newer processors require alot of power. Having a 350 is about the min spec now for these.
A P4 minimum spec is still 250W.

350W is really the min that you want on 2GHZ with half a gb of memory and a GeForce4 (The 2ghz and Geforce 4's are power hogs, my electricty bill went up 10$ a month since I built my new pc).

[Lycos]

Raising an old thread from the dead, I am thinking of formatting and reinstalling on my machine (Win ME). F2 for the BIOS screen right? I need to make sure I can boot from CD ROM.

What's on there now? I like XP Pro. I have not had any serious problems with it.

F2, maybe. I have always used generic parts for all of my computers. It has always been the delete key for me, but I know that Compaq, HP, and IBM have different ideas on what key will get you into the BIOS.


Do you guys have any tricks about saving your old data? All I really need to save is EQ files and NWN files. I haven't played the other games in a long time. I have all my driver updates in a dedicated folder, as well as game patches. How do I make sure I keep my Norton AV registration?

I would identify those files that you want to keep and zip them up onto either another computer, internet file storage area, or on some other local medium - floppy, CD, etc. The Norton AV registration should not be a problem. I have reinstalled it plenty of times, and I have not run into problems with it.


Can an Athlon 1GHz, 640 RAM system handle XP Pro? Should I consider upgrading?


Yup, no problem.

I would upgrade. It's very solid. It might be slower when first booting, but overall, I think it has been a good performer. Very similar to my WIN 2K OS that I had installed for a while.