Krell electronics, Martin Logan speakers, Thorens turntable, SME pickup arm .... I could keep going for several paragraphs resulting in a total of several hundred thousand dollars; but it's a self-defeating pipe-dream.
CASES: Lian-Li (anodised aluminum, silver or black) PC60, PC61, PC601, PC601B, PC70, PC71 - some of the best made computer cases on the planet
POWER SUPPLIES: PC Power & Cooling - Turbo 375, Turbo 425, Turbo 475; Enermax EG365P-VE FMA, EG465P-VE FMA, EG651P-VE FMA; the Antec brand is also good - based on power requirements of your system
MOTHERBOARDS: GigaByte motherboards (AsusTec is a good alternative) based on the i845GE, i845PE, i865G, i865PE, or i875P chipsets - each offers various features & processing power; plus, there are several models based on each chipset - choose one that best suits your needs
PROCESSORS: Intel 2.0GHz to 3.0GHz (and above) P4 (512KB cache) with 400MHz, 533MHz or 800MHz FSB - based on your needs
SYSTEM MEMORY: Crucial (Micron), Corsair XMS, Geil, Mushkin - minimum, 512MB; maximum based on your needs
FLOPPY DRIVE: Samsung, Sony, Teac (3.5" 1.44MB) - may be optional these days
REMOVABLE MEDIA: Iomega Zip (100MB, 250MB, 750MB) - internal or external (USB2) units
CD/DVD READER: Lite-On, Pioneer, Sony
CD BURNER: Lite-On, Plextor - the name of the game is speed & buffer size
DVD BURNER: Lite-On, NEC, Pioneer, Sony - look for a dual-mode drive that conforms to both the "plus" and "minus" standards - also, as above, the bigger the buffer, the better the burn
IDE ARRAY CONTROLLER: 3Ware Escalade 7500-4LP
HARD DRIVE(S): Maxtor, Western Digital (8MB buffer special edition drives) 40GB, 60GB, 80GB, 120GB, 160GB, 200GB, 250GB - as needed for applications and data storage
FLASH MEMORY READER: I/O Interconnect Inc 3.5" USB 2.0 7-in-1 flash media reader (sold under several differen brand names, internal unit) or PQI USA USB 2.0 6-in-1 memory card reader (portable, external unit)
VIDEO: depends on application - gaming ~ nVidia or ATI; multimedia ~ ATI All-in-Wonder; Audio/Photo/Video production or CAD/CAM ~ Matrox (with multiple monitors)
CRT MONITOR(S): NEC/Mitsubishi FP912SB 19" or FP2141SB 22"
LCD MONITOR(S): NEC LCD1760NX 17" or LCD1980SX 19" or the Sony 23"
SOUND: depends on application - gaming ~ Creative Labs Audigy series or M_Audio Revolution ; serious audio ~ Echo Audio Mia, Mia/Midi, or Layla 24 , M-Audio Audiophile 2496
SPEAKERS: depends on application - computer gaming speakers ~ Cambridge SoundWorks, Klipsch ProMedia, etc; serious audiophile speakers ~ my personal preference is Martin Logan, but they are very pricey
MODEM: US Robotics 56K baud v.92 internal (USR5610B) or external (USR5686E) - get a real modem - not one of the ones that depends on Windows for its DSP processing
ROUTER: US Robotics (USR8000A) or NetGear (FM114P) - combo units ~ router, firewall, 4-port switch, print server, & (in the case of the NetGear model) 802.11b wireless access point
KEYBOARD: Logitech Elite series (wired or wireless)
MOUSE: Logitech MX series (mouse or trackball; wired or wireless)
GAME CONTROLLER: ???
MULTI-FUNCTION PRINTER: Hewlett Packard (I'm using a G85 & love it)
GENERAL PURPOSE LASER PRINTER: HP LJ2300L
GENERAL PURPOSE INK-JET COLOR PRINTER: Canon, Epson, HP
PHOTO PRINTER: Epson 960 or Epson 1280
SERIOUS PHOTO PRINTER: Epson 2200
FLATBED SCANNER: Epson Perfection 3200
FILM SCANNER: Nikon CoolScan 4000-ES (35mm) or 8000-ES (70mm)
Yeah, GS' list looks pretty good, but I'd have to make a few changes: 1. Mackie 824's for my near field monitors; JBL 4412A's for the room 2. Two separate disk subsystems with hot-swap SCSI Ultra320 HD's in an external array for WAV storage. 3. Drop the Zip drive and go with memory sticks 4. 2 x Layla 24/96 A/D & MIDI input/output for sound. 5. External modem (really, really hate those internals) 6. 2 x Sony 23" Flat-screen LCD monitors 7. Don't need the scanners.
Any guesses what I'd use it for?
PS - Got one of those 8MB Western Digitals, want my SCSI's back!
Hardware wrote: 2. Two separate disk subsystems with hot-swap SCSI Ultra320 HD's in an external array for WAV storage.
One version (there are three) of the GigaByte i875p-based motherboard includes a dual channel Adaptec 320 chipset incorporated on the motherboard and connected directly to the northbridge chip, bypassing the PCI bus.
The mid-level board has 4 channels for EIDE drives (8 devices) and 2 channels for SATA drives (4 more devices) and incorporates either RAID-0 or RAID-1 for both the second 4 EIDE devices and the 4 SATA devices.
The high-end board adds the Adaptec SCSI on top of all that! It is also $400 mail-order discounted!
Hardware wrote: 5. External modem (really, really hate those internals)
You have a point there. However, at least the one I mentioned is a real modem - not one of the gutted ones that depends on Windows and your CPU to make it work. There is an external version of the same unit for about $30 more.
~ GaySatyr
P.S. Much of the stuff listed above is what makes up my own personal computer system.
GaySatyr wrote: One version (there are three) of the GigaByte i875p-based motherboard includes a dual channel Adaptec 320 chipset incorporated on the motherboard and connected directly to the northbridge chip, bypassing the PCI bus.
Well, it's one of those damned if you do, damned if you don't situations, but I still prefer keeping my stuff off the motherboard so I can at least dream of migrating it to a new system.
Hardware wrote: Well, it's one of those damned if you do, damned if you don't situations, but I still prefer keeping my stuff off the motherboard so I can at least dream of migrating it to a new system.
Well, that's easy ... just put together a dual-channel, mirrored, RAID-5 array in a network box to use for main storage. Then local storage is just for work in progress.
And when upgrade time arrives, build a new network box and migrate the data. You need to replace everything every three years anyway.
The system i just ordered consists of and will be installed next week is.
23 in HD display G4 1.42 ghz duel 2.0 ghz ram one terabite of internal 7200 rpm drives component board scsi interface Medea 720 gig raid array 24 channel mixer maybe new power amp w/ sub channel/ whatever is best now and best subwoofer available sitll to be determined. deck control rs422 all of the above inter faces with my, 3 beta sp decks, two digital decks and assortment of other bells and whistles,
Loaded with, Final Cut Pro DVD Studio Pro After Effects Shake Photo Shop
The fuckin bomb, boom! watch out NBC, ABC, CBS I'm coming at ya!
Cal444 Somewhere reading a bunch of manuels. It's cool having bosses that want the best.
Sure, even dream about future G5 terabite and billionbite computers - if you want to dream of wasting money.
But as long as you have a constantly workable system, a few occassional upgrades are all you need to protect you against the rapidly changing winds of technology.
What's really needed for practical things like conversion from VHS to DVD or DVD to DVD, however, is a good stand alone unit, sticking to CD+RW discs for full flexability.
Unfortunately, models from Philips and Panasonic have not shown themselves to be glitch free... at least not yet.
That's a fun site. Their equipment choices are generally good but not always the best - plus, they are a bit over-priced. I played with all the choices for their top-of-the-line gaming system and I can build a slightly more capable machine for about 15% less money. (But, then I'm a do-it-yourselfer from way back.)
Oh, I wouldn't provide the kool kase mods - to me, that's a silly waste of resources.
Sheesh ... I really like my new iMac that I got for $1,600. It means I don't even have to think about or even know all that tech chatter. You guys might as well be speaking Greek.
Those case mods are just too flashy. what I'd like is to build a super power machine. that is small and verY quiet! that's my dream now. It use to be build a machine that could have a lot of shit in it. well I had a full tower case for awhile. filled it up with dvd-rom, cd-rom, scsi-cdrom and two ide drives and a bunch of scsi drives. I think that thing weighed over a 100 lbs. well i sold that tower case for like $5 bucks nice huh?
anyways... now I want something I can carry around. Like those desknotes seem interesting..
Logitech cordless MX mouse & keyboard, black & silver
Klipsch ProMedia 2.1 speakers, black
Microsoft Windows XP Pro
Ahead Nero 6
Adobe Photoshop
Adobe Premier
Adobe Encore
Pinnacle Studio 8
and a few other applications & utilities
Unfortunately, I don't get to keep it.
It isn't quite the super computer that several other posts have pointed out recently; however, it is extremely capable and as fast as greased lightning. It is also one hot looking machine (the all-black look rocks!), and the LCD monitor swivels between portrait and landscape modes - neat!
http://www.mini-itx.com/ The teddy bear computer is rather cute. And it gives you ideas of small comps that are interesting. Novelty type machines but I think it would be fun to build a computer into a Pikachu. or some how have a Star Wars AT-AT walker computer Nice huh?
The mini-itx stuff is neat - and probably the wave of the future.
I built the new computer for an engineering research firm. Yes, they will be doing some video editing - mostly of dull stuff like explosions associated with electrical fires under manhole covers and within the fuselage of airplanes - nothing really interesting or important....
~ GaySatyr
[Link]
AlexPanzer Deactivated User
1593 Posts 6/03
Posted - Oct 27 2003 : 11:14AM
Fuselage explosions aint fun? Thst like one of teh best stuff you can do on a PC.
Dream Machine:
Case: Xoxide MegaCube Case
Power Supply: Dual (2X) Thermaltake W0010+PFC Silent Purepower 480W with Black housing
Cooling: Water Cooling Kit and fans to fill all most case slots (thats what 2nd power supply is for)
Processors: Dual (2X) Intel Xeons at 3.2GHz each
Motherboard: Asus Xeon Intel 82875P Motherboard Model PC-DL
ShiWarrior Western Digital RAPTOR SATA Har ddrives of 250 Gb @ 10,000 RPM this are BIG and fast as SCUSI, dont forget u need a SATA IDE motherboard
Actually, the WD###0JB & WD###0JD series, 8MB cache drives are called the "Caviar" series - replace the ### with 40, 60, 80, 120, 160, 180, 200, or 250, correspinding to the gigabytes of drive capacity. All are 7,200 RPM drives with one, two, or three platters. The "JB" models are PATA-100 and the "JD" models are SATA-150.
The "Raptor" series (WD360GD) just got a new member this week. Heretofore, it was limited to a single platter, dual head, 36GB, 8MB cache, 10,000 RPM screamer. However, just this week, WD released its big brother (WD720GD) with 72MB capacity and dual platters.
It's too bad that hard drives are shrinking again. I could probably fit a few downloaded clips on a 72mb drive. ;)
I'm teasing ya Satyr... I've actually bit thinking up ideas for that mini-itx thing. I wonder if it would be possible to build a computer inside one of those R2-D2s now that would be fucking chillin.. Geek.. maybe...
Thanks for teh link Satyr. What a grat site, I even found a nifty article on how to mod the Radeon 9500 to 9700 video card. Post more of these techie links. I always bookmark them.