Upgrades

[freestyler105]

So I've got some money saved up, and it's time to buy some more parts for my build. I've got around $300 total to spend.

I want to get a sound card, a DVD burner, and maybe a Raptor.


I want to spend about $100 on a sound card. Not really sure what to get. I'm looking at this, what do you guys think:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16829102006
It's for use with my Logitech Z-5500 speakers.

The DVD burner probably doesn't matter too much. I picked out this relatively cheap Sony:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827131038

Lastly, I was thinking about getting a 74GB Raptor. Do you guys think a Raptor is worth the $150?? I want another drive besides my current one to keep my OS and other things I need to run fast on, and the Raptor looks pretty good right now:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136033

 

[Mattyl110792]

The X-Fi, so I have been told has great hardware etc, but apparently Creative's drivers are plain crap. I can't really comment I havn't use one.

The burner should be fine, it doesn't really matter which brand you get, to me anyway.

As for the raptor, once again I havn't used one but from what I hear they do offer a fairly decent performance upgrade, I would definately try it if I had the money.

Matt

 

[freestyler105]

Yeah, I've heard the same about the Raptors.

One other thing I was just thinking about is getting a (legal) copy of Vista. Home Premium is only $120.

I'll wait for some more opinions on the sound cards, but maybe I'll wait and get Vista now instead.

 

[muz]

all looks good i have a philipd dvd burner cos when i bought it twas the cheapest as long as it has decent write speeds it doesent matter on dvd burners

as for the raptor it is suposedly the best upgrade you will ever make everyone i know who got one never saw it as just a hard drive after that they thought they where the best
as for the sound card yeah go for it i have a cheap £10 pc card so i cant realy comment on how good it is from experience but they look good and the pc shop i go in has a creative sound blaster x-fi not sure if it is that exact card linked up to a decent set of speakers for demo's and trus me on this it sounds da bomb ,

 

[muz]

DP see above ^^

 

[Mattyl110792]

Yeah, I've heard the same about the Raptors.

One other thing I was just thinking about is getting a (legal) copy of Vista. Home Premium is only $120.

I'll wait for some more opinions on the sound cards, but maybe I'll wait and get Vista now instead.

It all depends what your going to be doing most. If your mainly gaming, then I would hold off on Vista for a bit longer, as with my 7600GT I start to get a fair big of lag on games I didn't with XP. But if your going to use it for work/school and everyday use, then it's great. Just all depends..

Matt

 

[Mattyl110792]

Yeah, I've heard the same about the Raptors.

One other thing I was just thinking about is getting a (legal) copy of Vista. Home Premium is only $120.

I'll wait for some more opinions on the sound cards, but maybe I'll wait and get Vista now instead.

It all depends what your going to be doing most. If your mainly gaming, then I would hold off on Vista for a bit longer, as with my 7600GT I start to get a fair big of lag on games I didn't with XP. But if your going to use it for work/school and everyday use, then it's great. Just all depends..

Matt

EDIT Sorry for the double post!!

 

[muz]

DP see above ^^

 

[freestyler105]

Sounds good guys. The only reason I was thinking about getting Vista was because Halo 2 Vista is coming out in a few days, but my slightly-less-legal version works.

 

[Mattyl110792]

I'm using Vista and I would love to get Halo 2, but the problem lies with nVIDIA. The can't seem to give us a decent driver that will play games the same as/better than XP. It's crap. I bet Halo 2 is now gonna run crap with my 7600 simply because the drivers are crap.

Matt