xxviii, I would advise you not to buy a computer!
I built my computer with 450$, which would be worth a 2,000 dollar one 
Yeah I agree with grinch. I built mine for $600 and one just as good would be about double that. You’re better off building your own or finding someone that could do it for you, but it’s really not hard at all.
Well I’m gonna be getting a notebook for college, and there’s no way I’m intelligent enough to build a laptop.
Thanks for the hyperthreading link!
Make sure what computer your buying is what you should be paying for, 28. I regret getting my one now when i could have got it for under $1000 with all the top spanky hardware specs. Ill get a new one at www.atcomputer.com.au
ohh your getting a laptop, thought you were on about a new comp…
DDD - I may be wrong here, but since you want to rival your Alienware rig, I’m guessing you want to build a computer with the latest stuff right?
The motherboard you selected seems a bit outdated. Most new motherboards should at least support AGP 8X, or if you are really interested in being on the cutting edge, find a MB that supports the new PCI-X (X = Express - Extreme ehh?!) slots.
Also, I try to avoid the motherboards that come with integrated sound, for you may find that getting a separate PCI sound card such as the Audigy 2 may be better. One of my old IBM’s had both sound and video integrated on the MB (it was about 6 years ago hehe), and I found it a pain to disable them when I went with my own separate video card and sound card. The good old days of ISA, Vesa, and one lone PCI slot lol.
d’oh…my friend just said that too…I contacted the vendor about making a change, luckily it was caught. Yes I dont want on board sound. Good call man
PCI Express. 
That is the new one Kirupa. Alienware is using PCI Express to develop their snazzy new dual-video card technology.
Unless you are making a computer from second hand parts.
Is it just me or is it cheaper to buy a computer package from the store ?
They get all OEM parts, cheaper than anything you can buy in the store.
Man … you are so lucky to have an AlienWare comp, plus your dual monitor setup !
Anyway - since you are trying to compete with your AWare comp (which will be a tough job since AWare is the top of the notch when it comes to extreme speed), you’ll have to get yourself some expensive and speedy stuff. Here are a few guidelines:
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The processor - make sure you have a processor that’s as fast as possible. I would suggest checking out those new Athlon64’s - they run at 64bit, where all other processors run at 32bit. They can handle twice as much as others. I think the fastest model of the Athlon64 is 3800+. Not bad, aye ?
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FSB - make sure your FSB (Front Side Bus) is as fast as possible. The FSB is the connection between the processor and the rest of your computer, so the faster the FSB, the faster the whole system. 333 Mhz is the absolute minimum, 800 Mhz is recommended. If you can find faster, go with the faster one.
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Hard Drive - You should get a HD with of course enough capacity, but the RPM (Rotations Per Minute) is also important. The higher the RPM, the faster the disk can read and write data. Today the top is 10,000 RPM, and the common standard is 7,000 RPM. The Western Digital Raptor is one that runs at 10,000 RPM, you might wanna look into it. And, if you want and additional extreme performance boost, then I suggest setting up a RAID-0 striping system. That means that you connect two HD’s that are controlled as one, resulting in doubling the read access and write access time. Very performant setup.
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Motherboard - Always make sure that you get a motherboard that supports the processor of your choice, has an as fast FSB as possible, has at least AGP 8x, and as much PCI slots as possible (5 is a good amount). PCI Express is a bonus, but not required.
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GFX card - Simply get the fastest you can find, preferably ATI. nVidia cards seem to get very hot lately (too hot, really), and they’re already squeezing every bit of performance out of their cards with their drivers, whereas ATI cards don’t get as hot, look much cooler, and the drivers aren’t perfect yet, though they’re already faster than nVidia cards. If you’re going for an nVidia based card, avoid ones that have a huge cooler system that takes up the PCI slot next to the AGP slot. A very fast one (though not sure if it’s the fastest, but it’ll be close) is the ATI X800 XT. God, it’s fast.
That’s about the most important stuff.
This may be slightly offtopic, but I just wanted to show this to you:
My bro put his own computer together as well, and this is a link to a forum where he gives some specs and pictures. Not really helpful seeing it’s all in Dutch (only Voets could read it :D) but it’s still kinda cool.
http://www.tones.be/forum/viewtopic.php?t=14318&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0
The x800 card is about $800 AUD right now, expensive…
[ot]Sorry to ask this, but do you think this sound card is worth keeping, or is it outdated? Creative Sound Blaster PC1512[/ot]
Recently the nVidia cards have been coming close and even beating the ATI ones - it’s all a matter of personal preference really…
I’ve got an ATi 9800 XT and I’m pleased with its performance in general, but I need to get a new motherboard because mine only supports AGP 4x 
I’m slightly angry with ATi though, because they really don’t give a **** about linux users (nVidia linux drivers are a dream! they even have freebsd drivers)
Good stuff…Man you are a tech and a programmer.? I’ll hit you on MSN for more advice…I’ll keep the forum abreast of my decisions and progress, just in case anyone else ever wants to do this as well, the can refer to these threads.
After looking at prices, I wont be rivaling my AWare. lol…But it will be a good computer.
[ot]Not worth keeping. Go with a SB Live! Value or any other card that doesn’t let your main CPU do all the sound processing.[/ot]
Alright,
thanks kirupa!
True, it’s a matter of personal preference. You really need to get yourself an AGP 8x motherboard, you’re not unleashing the full power of your card !
I’ve always wanted to get one of those neon glowing heat sinc, fan, and power supply!
Anyone have those?
Ok, AGP 8X is pretty pointless, trust me. There’s not a single card out there that’s using the optimal juice of AGP 8X. Even the 9800 ProPlatinumSuperDuperUltraFastBigCard doesn’t use full capacity. I’ve read many places that everyone that does get the card runs it on 4X for optimal performance. 8X is even mentioned to be unstable. If you’re thinking about buying a new computer, I’d invest in a 64bit processor since they’re the next step. 32bit will be outdated within a year or two and 64bit will make your next upgrade prolonged. I’m not so sure about PCI-Express because it can just be another slot possibility that’ll die in a year, but then, it has been endorsed and produced by Intel lately which means it may go big. If it’s not too late, I suggest you hold off for another month or two.
