Has anybody built their own computer here?

You can call microsoft and lie and say that you replaced a dead motherboard but it's the same machine. They'll give you an activation code for it I think.

Anyway, I have a copy of XP from my university (included w/ the technology fee or whatever). It's not a retail or OEM disc, so I'll just use that.

And that quadstation crap is a ripoff.

I built a much better setup for $2400
Dual core E6600
Nivida 7900GS graphics card
2 GB memory
4X250 GB w/ Areca RAID controller (Raid 5, and this part ran me $600 alone, so if I had to cut price I could)
2X22" Widescreen monitors

If I built the equivalent of what Quadstation gives you for 1700, it'd probably only be like 1K at max.
 
How about a PC w/ Intel Zeon 3.6GHz CPU... I remember seeing one listed on ebay seemed to be a decent price...

(it says optimized for servers... I don't know what that really means...)

EDIT: ebay listing for this one says: "Remanufactured" and comes w/ IBM 4-yr warranty
 
Quote from demoship:

You can call microsoft and lie and say that you replaced a dead motherboard but it's the same machine. They'll give you an activation code for it I think.
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not a chance.
if your os is an OEM with the computer, MS will promptly refer you back to the manufacturer for assistance.
 
Quote from gnome:

Please clarify... Of course you can install the Dell OEM WinXP copy onto any computer, but unless you can provide a valid product key, it will deactivate after 30 days.

Have you been able to run the Dell OEM copy of XP on another computer past 30 days and receive Windows Updates?
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That has been my experience as well (Dell OEM installed under VMWare will deactivate because the VMWare BIOS doesn't match what the Dell OEM XP software expects)
 
Quote from GTS:

That has been my experience as well (Dell OEM installed under VMWare will deactivate because the VMWare BIOS doesn't match what the Dell OEM XP software expects)
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MS Office stuff Excel, MS Word etc deactivates after so many times w/o registration in the machine...but not sure if same happens to OS.
 
If you take your trading seriously you should invest in a worksation that is dedicated especially if your scalping.

Dual coire processors only.. above 2GHZ no less.

Try to use normal 32bit Windows XP (max 2GB RAM) or better x64bit windows XP (use 32GB RAM ), forget Vista.. too many problems

Be warned Dell support isnt all that.. most products should have a waranty anyway think about that.

Dont get 4 port graphics adapters.. youll bottleneck the system bus .. use dual headers only

Check the requirements for your software programme e.g. X_Trader requires x2 dual cores ideally but is written only in 32 bit so x64bit wont scale upwards in terms of performance as expected.... by contrast Pro Mark is a Java application and whizzes on dual cores esp xeon /AMD and thus if you use x64bit scales upward in speed in line with your upgrades....

Dont compromise on memory get THE VERY best cheap is NOT good here.
 
Quote from Paulds11:


Try to use normal 32bit Windows XP (max 2GB RAM) or better x64bit windows XP (use 32GB RAM ), forget Vista.. too many problems
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also, the max ram for 32 bit windows xp is 4gb, not 2gb. depending on your motherboard and bios, it will recognize somewhere between 3.5gb and 4.0gb
 
Quote from r-in:

Here's what I was planning on a for a build. Appreciate anyones 2 cents.
Intel E6600

Asus P5N32-E SLI LGA 775 Nvidia nForce 680i SLI

Crucial Ballistix 2gb

Thermallake Eureka case(full tower)

2 EVGA 256 GeFOrce 7600GT 256mb GDDR3 PCI Express x16

Rosewill 550 watt power supply

Western Digital 160 GB IDE Ultra ATA100 HD

misc CD and DVD burner

will use current monitors.
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it's all a personal preference. just make sure everything is compatible and it's exactly what you want. check the ASUS website and make sure your RAM is good with your motherboard. Also, find your mobo on newegg.com and read all the reviews. I'm pretty sure ASUS and Crucial is a match made in heaven, but sometimes those ASUS mobo's can be picky.

In my first build, i had a rosewill psu. Cheap, but it never died and did me very well. Rosewill is the ultimate budget psu.
 
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