Tax return=new computer...Help tekkies!

[CHIZZY]

Hey guys, I\'ve seen you do this before. Help a brutha out.
I\'ll probably have just under 2 grand to play with after I pay my credit cards off. I want to build one that will handle a lot of audio/video editing stuff. I know enough to put it together myself, but I\'m sooooo behind on hardware. If you can make some suggestions on what the sh!t is these days and where to get it, that would rock.

Thanx in advance.  

Personally:.....I\'m a AMD, not Intel guy. So here\'s my 2 cents:)

Get a Motherboard that takes:

1. DDR ram (PC2100 to PC2700).
2. Will handle the AMD XP 1900 processors and above.
3. Has PLENTY of RAM capability (Mine has 3 GIG!!! capable)

Raid, onboard sound and other options are all things to look at according to your preferences.

Two manufacturer recomendations SOYO and Shuttle. Visit their sites and check out there top end MB\'s

Processors....AMD Athalons (1600-1900) or wait a few months. Both AMD and Intel will prolly roll out new ones soon.

Video cards... Raedon 8500 or Geforce 3.

I prefer Seagate Hard drives. If you have the dough get a scsi hdd or one with HIGH RPM (7200-15000)

Memory... I like Crucial brand memory

CPU HSF\'S (Heat sink fans) I have a VOLCANO II and it works fine with my AMD ATh 1600+


Lastly, I would recommend NEWEGG. They have competitive pricing, lot\'s of choices and are BBB rated. I have ordered 2 systems (componets) from them and even had to do a RMA on a faulty video card and they treated me right.

Hop that helped:)

You should never get a tax return.  In getting a tax return that just means you are paying the government too much money.  It means that they are holding your money earning interest for you.  It looks like you are paying more than a hundred dollars a paycheck extra to the government just to get it back at the beginning of the next year.  Why don\'t you just give them a hundred less and invest that hundred bucks.  You will end up with far more money that what the government is going to give you.

A hell, I just crapped in my diaper..  DADDY!!!!

[CHIZZY]

The reasons I\'m getting a tax return are:

got a $12,750.00 bonus at beginning of the year...
cashed in 200 hours vacation time I had built up over the years.

besides, I suck at saving money. (always new toys to buy, no kids, etc....)

Originally posted by CHIZZY
The reasons I\'m getting a tax return are:

got a $12,750.00 bonus at beginning of the year...
cashed in 200 hours vacation time I had built up over the years.

besides, I suck at saving money. (always new toys to buy, no kids, etc....)

Daddy always says "Ah, those were the days.  Back when I could buy dvds rather than trade them in."

[nO-One]

Wait a little while because there are some serious motherboards on the horizon the AMD 760MPX chipset which finally will get Athlon users some serious SMP action.

The AthlonXP 2000+ is about to be released if you aren\'t going for dual procs. However the downside is that memory prices are rising BIGTIME, so don\'t be expecting any cheap ram.
I\'m not too familiar with the Intel side of things so I can\'t gove you advice on P4 motherboards sorry.

In the sound card category the best card would be the Soundblaster Audigy, however Creative\'s drivers leave much to be desired... they get the job done though (for the most part)

Video I\'d go with the GF.3 because of nVidia\'s driver support and you know what you are getting for your money. The ATi Radeon8500 also delivers some kickass performance and gives you great 2d quality however like Creative they don\'t have the best of drivers. If really want a Ge-Force go with cards from companies like LeadTek and Elsa (to name a few) they put very good parts in their cards and you\'ll be getting better 2d than the average GF card offers.

I\'d go with everything Cyggy and nO-One said.  I\'m not big on RAID hard drives, but to each his/her own.  Turtle Beach make good sound cards, too.

I run an AMD machine and it blows the doors off anything else I\'ve ever used.  Now really is the best time to buy.  I didn\'t know RAM prices were supposed to go up but they\'re dirt cheap now.

http://www.crucial.com
http://www.newegg.com
http://www.directron.com
http://www.pcstop.com
http://www.directdeals.com

Have fun/Good luck.

[CHIZZY]

Thanx to everyone for their help!  

Have a good weekend, y\'all- I\'m goin\' to the PUB!   :nut:

Cheers!