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Old 18th December 2012
shep shep is offline
Real Name: Scott
Arp Constable
 
Join Date: May 2008
Location: Dry and Dusty
Posts: 1,503
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As long as we are tossing opinions around, I think the Key Issue is chipsets and most specifically the video chip. I feel I have a lot more control if I purchase the components and assemble them. When you buy a Dell or HP it is like getting a box of chocolates - you do not really know what you're gonna get.

It is incredibly easy and online guides on how to roll your own abound. The vast majority of the connections are polarized. I do not have a grounding cable but for as few as I put together - resting my naked foot on a furnace register gets rid of my surface charge

I put a high priority on the power supply and case. I am still using a Lian Li case I bought in 2002. It has gone through 3 motherboards. I also saw a recent article on energy rated power supplies and if you are a heavy user the return on investment is less than a year.

Where I tend to get burned is new connectors. The upgrade to a new Power supply was prompted by 24pin power connectors and SATA power connectors. I have several working AGP video cards gathering dust.

If I were in your shoes I would look for a Radeon/AMD video card with the 4xxx chipset. I think some can be had with hdmi.

I also recommend Newegg to do your hardware searches as it allows selection by chipset and features. For example, for a video card you can select an AMD/Radon, then 2400XT, then the slot (PCIe -2.0) then the amount of card memory, the connectors (vga, dvi or hdmi) and finally the manufacturer. I hesitate to recommend them as vendor although I generally have had good luck. I will not buy refurbed mother boards from them (never come with the heat shield)

Last edited by shep; 18th December 2012 at 02:29 AM.
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