Which one?

willll · Post by **willll** » September 4th, 2003, 5:35 pm

nilson wrote:Well, I don't really need a new computer; I just bought this one in July (July 7th, to be exact). It's a Sony Vaio PCV-RS320.

2.6 GHz processor with hyper-threading,
1024 MB ram, (PC 2700)
120 GB HardDrive (7200 RPM),
800 MHz FSB.

I use it for browsing the web and checking my e-mail. I'm just crazy and I like to have like the best computer, if you know what I mean.

I want the second hard-disk to put other OSes on, cuz I'm not trying again with this drive (which is the exact same one as the one I want to buy) because last time I lost all my data on the D:\ partition.

Currently, I have $70. I could get the ram with $20 more dollars, including shipping. I could get the Video card with about $30 more, and I don't know how much the hard disk is.

I kinda want the hard disk most, but I'll probably end up getting all of the above, only not at the same time.

I also want a clear case, but I'm not going to attempt de/re-assembling a computer again :-X

Oh, I originally missed the part where you said you had a gigaram.

nilson · Post by **nilson** » September 4th, 2003, 7:25 pm

Oh, and I use it for development, too - Lots of editing files, building Mozilla.

willll · Post by **willll** » September 4th, 2003, 7:54 pm

Well I really don't see why you would possibly need another 120 GB, or a better video card, but that's up to you. How much of your RAM is currently in use?

daihard · Post by **daihard** » September 4th, 2003, 9:02 pm

harrywaldron wrote:The 2nd Hard Drive gives you some good backup capabilities. Make sure your power supply is adequate to handle the additional load - it should be though

A second hard disk would be nice for a temporary backup, but I'd still burn all the critical information onto CD (or DVD) media.

I have a 80 GB hard disk, which is more than enough space for me. I can't imagine someone needing 240 GB disk space. But again, collecting a bunch of 600+ MB movie files may do...

ehume · Post by **ehume** » September 4th, 2003, 9:44 pm

If you were manipulating big graphic files you'd want more RAM. If your compiling operations use a significant portion of RAM, anything that would keep you out of needing to use a swapfile (virtual memory) would be good.

Or:

DVD burner, perhaps.
Save your money for something else.

I'd hold off buying another HD until you need it: they're getting bigger, faster and cheaper all the time. Waiting gets you more. I noticed that the mobo on my own new machine has little plugs for serial ATA. I'm going to wait a long time before I add a new HD, until SATA drives are more advanced and cheaper. For now, 40GB is more than enough for me.

That reminds me. You could save your money for a SCSI card and then save some more to get a 22,000 RPM SCSI drive to put your OS and other often-accessed files on. It wouldn't have to be all that big, but it would be really Fast.

nilson · Post by **nilson** » September 4th, 2003, 9:52 pm

I already got a DVD-burner:

Samsung 52x Cd-rom
Toshiba DVD-RW/DVD-R

Those came standard with the system. This system was a great deal - 1,187.99 walk-out price (but no monitor - that was 449.99 extra. It's a 17" LCD)

The system is probably worh about $1,700 now.

I'm stuck between the video card and the HD.
I wish I could afford a SCSI drive + interface, but I have no way to make enough money - I'm only 13. I got the money for this computer mostly from uh, donations

daihard · Post by **daihard** » September 4th, 2003, 10:01 pm

nilson wrote:I'm stuck between the video card and the HD.
I wish I could afford a SCSI drive + interface, but I have no way to make enough money - I'm only 13. I got the money for this computer mostly from uh, donations

I just learned that Linux caches a lot of its frequently-accessed files in RAM. No wonder 80 % of my physical RAM is used. This significantly reduces the amount of disk I/O, thereby boosting performance. This also means having a ultra-fast hard disk will be less significant as long as you have a lot of physical RAM (and you do).

nilson · Post by **nilson** » September 4th, 2003, 10:08 pm

Yea, I just read those two sites as well. I never knew Linux did that, but it's a good idea.

daihard · Post by **daihard** » September 4th, 2003, 10:20 pm

nilson wrote:Yea, I just read those two sites as well. I never knew Linux did that, but it's a good idea.

Darn, I wanted to make myself look smart...

willll · Post by **willll** » September 5th, 2003, 2:09 pm

nilson wrote:I'm stuck between the video card and the HD.

Reasons for wanting each:
Better video card: You want your system to be "well-rounded" (basically, you want your computer to be "cool")
Another hard drive: You're scared that partitioning will screw up your hard drive. Learn how to partition and backup (you have a dvd burner)
More RAM: makes your computer go faster
If even your concerns about parition are valid, its still not a tough choice. Go with the hard drive, if your seriosuly worried about data loss or with the RAM if not.

nilson · Post by **nilson** » September 5th, 2003, 3:36 pm

I need to get some DVD-Rs, because my Mom's bringing some DVDs over- wait I didn't say that. But they are too $$$.

How can I fond out how much that HD is?

daihard · Post by **daihard** » September 5th, 2003, 5:28 pm

nilson wrote:I need to get some DVD-Rs, because my Mom's bringing some DVDs over- wait I didn't say that. But they are too $$$.

I don't even think it's illegal for you to copy your mom's DVDs. It should be way within the reasonable personal use.

jrobbio · Post by **jrobbio** » September 5th, 2003, 5:29 pm

Go for the ATI Radeon 9600. Its worth reading this review though http://www.hardwarezone.com/articles/ar ... =3&aid=838

However, I have heard that NVidia have better Linux driver support.

I would look for the ATI All-in-wonder Radeon 9600 pro because it gives you a lot of powerful features for a low price: http://www.hothardware.com/hh_files/S&V ... _pro.shtml
Press release here: http://www.ati.com/companyinfo/press/2003/4675.html

Rob

nilson · Post by **nilson** » September 5th, 2003, 5:42 pm

daihard wrote:
nilson wrote:I need to get some DVD-Rs, because my Mom's bringing some DVDs over- wait I didn't say that. But they are too $$$.

I don't even think it's illegal for you to copy your mom's DVDs. It should be way within the reasonable personal use.

I don't live with her though - she lives in Atlanta, GA. She has like 12 DVDs that I want.

I will just get the 9600 plain version, I think - I dont really want to spend too much.

daihard · Post by **daihard** » September 5th, 2003, 5:44 pm

nilson wrote:I don't live with her though - she lives in Atlanta, GA. She has like 12 DVDs that I want.

Of course not... if you did, you would not even have to copy them.