MacDawg, I greatly appreciate your offer, but
as to Gateway...NO THANKS! No offense, but all
I hear is horror stories about those computers
from anyone I know that owns them. Besides,
would rather stay away from DELL, HP, IBM and
any of those computers that use parts that you
can't readily upgrade.
Guys, you have been great!
I 'm not sure I am really going way too overboard.
First, I want a 256mb video card because I am driving
a huge flat panel and I use Photoshop. I figured the extra
memory would be a huge help. I picked the RADEON
because it is recommended for the higher resolutions
of the flat panel I chose.
I want the AUDIGY PLATINUM sound card because it
has the optical inputs in the front bay allowing me to
connect my music device. I already own an EXTIGY
external, so not sure how much better AUDIGY is.
2GB ram is a must. I have almost a dozen programs
in my startup. I am constantly multi-tasking, using
spreadsheets and Photoshop. Would like to do all
that while burning a DVD. I also like to run high-mem
programs like WindowBlinds, Desktop X, Cursor XP, etc.
I am the kind of guy that likes to jazz up my Windows.
Appreciate the advice on the RAID setup. I may do
that, but 74GB x 2 limits me to...well...74GB if the other
drive is only there to mirror the first. I already own
an external MAXTOR ONE TOUCH drive to do my
ocassional backups.
Question.....
Adding 2GB of ram to this system. Will it allow me to
push more startup programs or does Windows XP max
out the memory it allows it to use for these programs to
the point where even adding 4GB of memory won't matter?
Gonna go with the ALIENWARE, Intel (since you guys
say it is better for multitasking and does 64-bit). I will
tone it down a little bit, but I need to know where. I
know many of you think ALIENWARE is overpriced but
what other company can I rely on making a quality
computer with reliable Customer Support to back it up?
Thus far I haven't seen any suggestions that beat
ALIENWARE.
Thanks again
The latest config for just at $3,000 shipped
(includes a Targus fingerprint password authenticator)......
[1] Area-51® 5550
Warranty: 3-Year AlienCare Toll-Free 24/7 Phone Support with Onsite Service Bundle with AlienAutopsy and Respawn
Operating System: Microsoft® Windows® XP Professional with Service Pack 2
Chassis: Alienware® Full-Tower Case (480-Watt PS) - Space Black
Cable Management: Alienware® Cable Management System
Power Supply: Alienware® 480 Watt Power Supply
Processor: Intel® Pentium® 4 Processor 660 w/ HT Technology 3.6GHz 2MB Cache
Motherboard: Alienware® PCI Express Motherboard with Intel® 925XE Chipset 1066/800MHz FSB
Memory: 2GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 533MHz - 2 x 1024MB
Graphics Processor: ATI RADEON™ X850 XT PCI Express 256MB DDR3 w/ Dual Digital and TV Out
Chassis Upgrades: AlienIce™ 2.0 Video Cooling System - Astral Blue
System Drive: High Performance - Serial ATA - 120GB Serial ATA 7,200 RPM w/8MB Cache
Optical Drive One: Lite-On® 16x DVD / 52x32x52x CD-RW Drive
Optical Drive Two: NEC® ND-3520 16x Dual Layer DVD±R/W Drive
Floppy Drive: 3.5" 1.44 MB Floppy Disk Drive - Black
Sound Card: Creative Sound Blaster® Audigy® 2 ZS Platinum Pro High Definition 7.1 Surround with Dual Firewire (IEEE® 1394)
Network Connection: Integrated High Performance Gigabit Ethernet
Portable Storage : Alienware® 10-in-1 Digital Media Reader / Writer
Display One: No Monitor
Display Two: No Monitor
Biometrics: Targus DEFCON Authenticator™
Free Alienware T-Shirt: Free Alienware® T-Shirt - Black
Free Alienware Mousepad: Free Alienware® Mousepad
AlienInspection: AlienInspection - Exclusive Integration and Inspection - $99.99 Value - FREE!
If you guys know another reputable company
with outstanding Customer Support that can match
this configuration for less, by all means please recommend.
Once again, I greatly appreciate your help and
patience in making sure I make the right choices here.
as to Gateway...NO THANKS! No offense, but all
I hear is horror stories about those computers
from anyone I know that owns them. Besides,
would rather stay away from DELL, HP, IBM and
any of those computers that use parts that you
can't readily upgrade.
Guys, you have been great!
I 'm not sure I am really going way too overboard.
First, I want a 256mb video card because I am driving
a huge flat panel and I use Photoshop. I figured the extra
memory would be a huge help. I picked the RADEON
because it is recommended for the higher resolutions
of the flat panel I chose.
I want the AUDIGY PLATINUM sound card because it
has the optical inputs in the front bay allowing me to
connect my music device. I already own an EXTIGY
external, so not sure how much better AUDIGY is.
2GB ram is a must. I have almost a dozen programs
in my startup. I am constantly multi-tasking, using
spreadsheets and Photoshop. Would like to do all
that while burning a DVD. I also like to run high-mem
programs like WindowBlinds, Desktop X, Cursor XP, etc.
I am the kind of guy that likes to jazz up my Windows.
Appreciate the advice on the RAID setup. I may do
that, but 74GB x 2 limits me to...well...74GB if the other
drive is only there to mirror the first. I already own
an external MAXTOR ONE TOUCH drive to do my
ocassional backups.
Question.....
Adding 2GB of ram to this system. Will it allow me to
push more startup programs or does Windows XP max
out the memory it allows it to use for these programs to
the point where even adding 4GB of memory won't matter?
Gonna go with the ALIENWARE, Intel (since you guys
say it is better for multitasking and does 64-bit). I will
tone it down a little bit, but I need to know where. I
know many of you think ALIENWARE is overpriced but
what other company can I rely on making a quality
computer with reliable Customer Support to back it up?
Thus far I haven't seen any suggestions that beat
ALIENWARE.
Thanks again
The latest config for just at $3,000 shipped
(includes a Targus fingerprint password authenticator)......
[1] Area-51® 5550
Warranty: 3-Year AlienCare Toll-Free 24/7 Phone Support with Onsite Service Bundle with AlienAutopsy and Respawn
Operating System: Microsoft® Windows® XP Professional with Service Pack 2
Chassis: Alienware® Full-Tower Case (480-Watt PS) - Space Black
Cable Management: Alienware® Cable Management System
Power Supply: Alienware® 480 Watt Power Supply
Processor: Intel® Pentium® 4 Processor 660 w/ HT Technology 3.6GHz 2MB Cache
Motherboard: Alienware® PCI Express Motherboard with Intel® 925XE Chipset 1066/800MHz FSB
Memory: 2GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 533MHz - 2 x 1024MB
Graphics Processor: ATI RADEON™ X850 XT PCI Express 256MB DDR3 w/ Dual Digital and TV Out
Chassis Upgrades: AlienIce™ 2.0 Video Cooling System - Astral Blue
System Drive: High Performance - Serial ATA - 120GB Serial ATA 7,200 RPM w/8MB Cache
Optical Drive One: Lite-On® 16x DVD / 52x32x52x CD-RW Drive
Optical Drive Two: NEC® ND-3520 16x Dual Layer DVD±R/W Drive
Floppy Drive: 3.5" 1.44 MB Floppy Disk Drive - Black
Sound Card: Creative Sound Blaster® Audigy® 2 ZS Platinum Pro High Definition 7.1 Surround with Dual Firewire (IEEE® 1394)
Network Connection: Integrated High Performance Gigabit Ethernet
Portable Storage : Alienware® 10-in-1 Digital Media Reader / Writer
Display One: No Monitor
Display Two: No Monitor
Biometrics: Targus DEFCON Authenticator™
Free Alienware T-Shirt: Free Alienware® T-Shirt - Black
Free Alienware Mousepad: Free Alienware® Mousepad
AlienInspection: AlienInspection - Exclusive Integration and Inspection - $99.99 Value - FREE!
If you guys know another reputable company
with outstanding Customer Support that can match
this configuration for less, by all means please recommend.
Once again, I greatly appreciate your help and
patience in making sure I make the right choices here.