new pc

[efgordon]

i am in the market for a new pc and i was wondering if any of you guys could give me some advice. cost is not an issue and i am looking to go first class and get the best of the best. what about that computer we use to host the races, what is that? someone please help. also, i am looking at switching to windows xp, will this cause problems with my nascar heat online or offline racing? as you can see, i dont know squat about computers



efgordon

[scrooluice]

First, the computer we use for hosting isn't much of a computer at all as far as today's standards. I believe it's an AMD K-6, which I wasn't even aware was still being made...lol. The computer isn't what makes the connection so good, it's the connection itself...it's on a dedicated line with a 1200k upload.

Second, if you know enough about computers to build one, by all means do it. That way you can pick and choose every single part that goes into it. If you don't build, for the love of God stay away from Gateway! Dell is decent, but if you want a pc made for gaming go look at www.alienware.com ...these things are pricy, but awesome. This is going off of you saying that cost isn't an issue.

Third, there are only two issues I know of with XP and Heat, and neither are a very big deal: 1)every time you start the the game you get a warning that says "NASCAR Heat is not designed for Windows 2000...Continue?" but all you do is click yes and it proceeds as normal (the exception to this is if you run a mod that has it's own executable instead of a modified shortcut to the original NHeat.exe...such as the Nr2k3 or Thunder2Heat mods) 2)every once in a while the sound inside your game will sound all garbled (like crap), but the fix for this is usually just the exit the game entirely and start the game again. This condition can usually be detected before actually starting a race if you can't hear the "click" sound when clicking through the game menus.

Sorry, I wrote a lot, but hopefully it helps you at least a little.

#13 Oakley Ford

[efgordon]

never too long scroo, i'll take all the info i can get. so how deos one get a dedicated connection? also, would i have problems with my legends car racing with windows xp? it looks like no matter what i eventually decide on i will forced to accept xp. i think


efgordon

[Skoty Speed]

How does one get a dedicated connection?......Most Internet providers offer a dedicated service. We use a dedicated T1 connection for league, which unless you have a pile of money or can write it off as a business expense, you can't afford (average cost of $1000 a month).

If your looking for the best of the best as far as PC's go this is the site to go to. http://www.falcon-nw.com
scroo is right about Gateway, stay away from those, Dell is OK, but over priced for what you get in my opinion.
Alienware is probably a half step down from a Falcon, but still an excellent choice.
I bought my last 2 PC's from here.. http://www.cyberpowerpc.com
They are priced a bit more reasonably, and tech support is excellent.

As far as operating systems, you'll want to go with XP. It is by far the most stable of the windows home based systems. I use WindowsXP Pro and have no issues running Heat or any of its mods.

You'll want at least a 400 watt power supply because todays video cards are very demanding on the power supply. And this would give you a bit of leeway to upgrade down the line.

As far as CPU's, I prefer the AMD based processors. They're a bit cheaper and usually out perform the Intel based processors.

Hope that helps you a little. If you have any more questions just ask.

Edited by: Skoty Speed at: 4/7/04 8:19 am

[Viagra6Car]

All I can say is I'm on a Dell with Windows 98 SE...it's now 5 years old and I've never had any problems at all. I'd recommend the same for you, and would never consider using Windows Xp

Viagra6Car's LCH Racing League Site @ www.geocities.com/legendcarheatracin

[Viagra6Car]

Also stay away from windows updates, all they do is cause problems. The only ones i get is new internet explorer(s) or something absolutely critical for security

Viagra6Car's LCH Racing League Site @ www.geocities.com/legendcarheatracin

[efgordon]

well hopefully i wont regret it but i am going with windows xp pro. i also have another question tho. when i get my new computer (3-5 days) how should i go about getting all the nascar heat crap i have compiled over the last 4 or 5 years? keep in mind i dont have a cd burner on this old computer show computer. should i start over from scratch? or should i try to save everything i got to floppy's? my god it will take dozens i think, or maybe i should just e-mail the whole thing to myself? i dont know how i should do it, any suggestions?



ef "stone age computer knowledge" gordon

[Viagra6Car]

Zip it all and send it to yourself i would say

Viagra6Car's LCH Racing League Site @ www.geocities.com/legendcarheatracin

[scrooluice]

you could never email that much, even if you zip it...maybe if you compress it into a .rar file, but probably not even then.

What I would do is take the hard drive from your current computer and slave it to the new one and just copy everything over...however cracking open the case on your new computer would probably void the warranty.

The only other thing I can think of without a zip drive, cd burner, or one of those usb flash memory things (a pretty big one) is compressing your files and then uploading on the web somewhere and downloading them back onto your new computer. Depending on how much space we're talking about here, I may be able to let you "borrow" some of my web space. If you want to try that, email me at scrooluice@mchsi.com and I'll tell you what you need to do. I also need to know what OS you're currently running.

#13 Oakley Ford

[efgordon]

i got windows 98 on this computer and i will have xp on the new one. i will have it in 3-5 days, but i dont think i will do anything but get it set up until after the martinsville race. after the race i will start figuring it out. i appreciate the help scroo, i will be e-mailing you soon with a few questions


efgordon

[Skoty Speed]

seems like an awful lot of work.....all you really need to save are your setups. the rest you can just download again.

[guru23]

XP has a feature called file transfer wizard. this will allow you to move whatever you want from the old to the new. all you need is a router or a direct cable connection between the computers. I had Me on my old and moved everything to my new XP with no problem. Good Luck

[Proverb356]

I just noticed this post...

So what did you wind up getting EF?

[efgordon]

Dell Dimension XPS:
Pentium(r) 4 Processor with HT Technology 3.2GHz w/800MHz FSB
MXP328H
[221-3678]

Memory:
1GB Dual Channel DDR SDRAM at 400MHz
1GB4
[311-3124]

Keyboard:
Dell (r) Quietkey (r) Keyboard
QK
[310-1582]

Monitors:
19 in (18.0 in viewable) M992 Monitor
M992
[320-0728]

Video Card:
NEW 256MB DDR ATI RADEONTM 9800 XT
256XT
[320-3664]

Hard Drive:
120GB Serial ATA Hard Drive (7200RPM)
120S
[341-0145]

Floppy Drive and Additional Storage Devices:
3.5 in Floppy Drive
FD
[340-1927]

Operating System:
Microsoft(r) Windows(r) XP Professional
WPXP
[420-1922]
[313-7222]

Mouse:
Dell(r) 2-button scroll mouse
SM
[310-1871]

Network Interface:
Integrated Intel(r) PRO 1000 Ethernet
IN
[430-0742]

Modem:
56K PCI Data Fax Modem
DFAX
[313-2279]

CD or DVD Drive:
Dual Drives: 16x DVD-ROM Drive + 48x CD-RW Drive
DVDCDR
[313-2559]
[430-0594]
[313-224
[462-781

Sound Card:
Sound Blaster AudigyTM2 (D) Card w/Dolby 5.1, and IEEE 1394 capability
SBA2X
[320-0667]

Speakers:
Dell 5650 5.1 Surround Sound Speaker System with Subwoofer
D5650
[313-2246]


so whatcha think? am i officially in the 21st century? he he



efgordon

[Proverb356]

Looks like heat will eat up a whole 1% of your resources EF!

Edited by: Proverb356 at: 4/10/04 8:06 pm

[d3efan]

Yes, I think Heat will run just fine now bro hehe . I believe you could install/download half the state of Oklahoma and still have plenty of room for...well, porn let's say. And you're gonna love the difference. I haven't had a problem with XP Home except some fuzzy sound problems occasionally(which I have been, so far, attributing to soundblaster). If you have this problem, I just reboot and it's gone. Has anyone figured this one out yet?

[efgordon]

yea, i anticipate porn eating up at least 1% of my resources. ha!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Viagra6Car]

Now would be a good time to close this topic 71

Viagra6Car's LCH Racing League Site @ www.geocities.com/legendcarheatracin

[d3efan]

Sorry V6, I didn't mean anything disrespectful against Oklahoma. Been there, nice place. Probably some good places to get porn there to . I just don't remember. Anyway, it's a fine state and I'll leave it at that.

[rookiesrock8]

Hey D3efan, America has lost a few windbats lately in Iraq. What are you teaching these guys?

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