Monday, March 3, 2008

Calling All Tech Heads: Part Deux

So, I tried to remove my power supply this weekend and no dice. I would have to remove the motherboard to get it out and I'm not nearly confident enough with hardware to do that.

My choices are now two-fold:

I could buy another new card, which is getting more difficult as I have an AGP bus and they don't seem to be making them anymore. At least, when I visit the computer shops they only have 2 AGP cards and a couple dozen PCI-E.

Or, I could splurge on a whole new system. If I go this route, I'm going to buy the biggest, meanest computer I can get, with the expectation that it will last for four to five years.

So, can anyone recommend either a good AGP card or a web-based company that is a) affordable and b) builds a good box?

Cheers,
-Jason

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Well I still use a 9800 GS AGP in my computer, but honestly if you're going to spend several hundred dollars- you might want to consider putting it towards something that will last you 3-5 years instead of something that will last you 6 to 12 months. So I'd recommend a new computer unless your budgets really tight. I custom build my PC's, but for vendors I've had good luck with Dell. I'd suggest trying to find a PC with XP installed on it, Vista is just a cute little box of ueseless crap wrapped in pretty paper.

Anonymous said...

Alienware for the win!

Jason Janicki said...

I've heard that about Vista.

Okay, one vote for Alienware. I'll check 'em out!

Anonymous said...

I've built my own computers over the years, and they've all lasted far longer than an off-the-shelf and you get more power for less green too. If you feel like having a weekend building your own system, this guide from Ars Technica should help: January 2008 System Guide.
Alienware has cooling, and consequently longevity issues. A friend of mine could keep his coffee hot on the case, and you dont want to know what happened to his video card after a year... O.o

Anywho, good luck with your system, and do stick with XP.

Anonymous said...

1 vote for Dell, have had good luck with customer/technical support on laptops in the past.

But yeah, custom building is a lot more fun- plus as you build it you learn more about what it all does. And its cheaper. And you don't have all those useless annoying programs that vendors like to slow their computers down with. And you can pick a case that actually looks good.

Jason Janicki said...

Nice link, Dsurion! I may just go ahead and do that.

And also more good comments from Andrew (who I'm assuming is the same as the first Andrew).