i want a new computer! this one is old and dying...but im not really sure what to get

my ORIGINAL price range was $1000-1250ish, but then i saw this...

http://www.alienware.com/main/system.../hive-mind.asp

i know i want a 2ghz 512mb ram something or other, because anything less will leave me wanting a new one next year [img]smile.gif[/img]

buuut the price is pretty steep...i can afford it, but im trying to justify spending that much money on it!! [img]smile.gif[/img] ...it looks cool, so it gets style points! thats important too!

i just wanted some feedback from you all on if im spending too much, if you have other recommendations, etc. thanks! [img]smile.gif[/img]

<font color=Orange>If you really want to wait, then I would get the priceyr one, but if you just don't have the patience, then I would get the cheaper one.</font>

What are you waiting for alienware for? Get better for less elseware...

Ive got to say this: There is no point buying a CPU with a FSB of 533 mhz coupled with PC2100 DDR SD RAM which has a FSB of 233 MHZ. The ram is only 233 mhz and thats where your bottleneck will be. The other 300 MHZ put out by the processor will go to waste.

If you plan to buy a CPU with a FSB speed of 533 mhz... get ram with a bus speed of 533 mhz or you are not only defeating the purpose.. YOU ARE WASTING YOUR MONEY.

If you are going to buy PC2100 which has a FSB of 233 mhz you might as well buy a CPU like an AMD 1800+xp or 2000 xp. Both of these processors have a FSB speed of 233 mhz.

No matter what you buy....... the entire unit will only communicate as fast as its SLOWEST parts.

It is just as silly to buy a P4 with a 533 mhz FSB if youre only going to put SD RAM pc 133 in it. If you want the computer to run at 533 mhz everything in it needs to run at 533 mhz or youre wasting your cash.

See what I mean??

Rambus RAM with a FSB of 533MHZ is SUPER FRIKKIN EXPENSIVE. If you go with DDR SDRAM PC2100 youll get out of it with a lot less cash spent. Until someone makes a DDR stick with a FSB of 533.... Dont bother with a P4. AMD has a quicker architecture anyway. So you might as well buy AMD with a FSB of 233 and ram that matches it..

You can also look into the new DDR 333 and see how many chips support it.

[ 06-20-2002, 09:21 AM: Message edited by: Earthdog ]

if you want something simple... just get a p4 around 1.6ghz with a 40gig seagate hardisk and 128 sd ram. simple sound and only a nvidia tnt2.. with monitor is around 600 us dollars i think [img]smile.gif[/img]

<font color="#22cccc">Guess I disagree with everyone else. Alienware has super high quality systems. If you want a clean, well designed set of components that are gaurenteed to work as smoothly as possible together go with the Hive Mind or an offering from Falcon Northwest. You are not just paying for the compontents from them, you are paying to have experts tune the system for maximum efficiency. What ED says about FSB speeds is partially correct, but even with PC2100 memory the alienware machine will burn the pants off less expensive machines in overall performance.</font>

i got conflicting results, and im still undecided

so ill just put it off for a while, and by the time i decide there will be something better or the price will have gone down [img]smile.gif[/img]

I recomend a mac, but that's just me talking...

<font color=Orange>/)eath, my mac is dying on me. Its going bonkers and is growing a mind of its own. At least you can tame PC's</font>