considering a new computer soonish, what to look for?

So my laptop's been **** me off more and more lately, requiring a reboot to make external drives (mp3 player, hard drive, flash drive, even memory cards) to be recognized, it apparently can't burn a CD without corrupting it (tried multiple programs, external and internal CD drive, all failed), etc.

Laptop is about 6 years old... 2 Ghz Pentium 4, 1 GB RAM.

I'm going to Circuit City tomorrow to see if there's any good deals (my store is one of the ones being closed)... but even if not, I'm thinking of trying to get a new system sometime during the holiday/birthday (January) season. I've not bought a computer in 6 years though, and I'm not entirely sure what to look for, such as:

Intel vs AMD

Single/dual/quad core CPU

Does the CPU cache amount really matter?

Does the speed of the RAM matter much?

What about a 64 bit system? Does it have any benefits besides allowing more RAM?

My needs are fairly light as of now, but I would like to get more into gaming. My laptop can't even play the last few Command & Conquer games. Besides games, the heaviest I tend to tax my system is with multi-tasking, or using Photoshop, ripping/encoding music, that sort of thing. I do for sure want a desktop.

Thanks!

Desktop. How much do you want to spend? What kind of gaming performance do you want?

Intel >> AMD. However, you can get some awesome deals on quad core phenoms which are awesome.


Cache definitely matters. But only if you have enough ram.

Ram speed is negligible for the most part. You will get some higher benchmarks with faster ram, but in actually noticing a difference when using it, not very likely.

Single core is non-existent anymore.

Dual core vs Quad Core. Basically how much multitasking will you do. If you want adobe open while encoding music while playing games, then grab a quad core. For just gaming, or single tasks, dual-cores will have better performance.

You looking at building or buying?

I got a laptop for 999 w/ 320 GB hd, 4GB ram, 64 bit vista home premium, intel processor

Not Dell. lol, I'm disliking dell more and more. I'm partial to compaq and the new Toshiba's too.

bhowell879 wrote:

Not Dell. lol, I'm disliking dell more and more. I'm partial to compaq and the new Toshiba's too.

Bwahaha. Try selling Dells for a living, they will make you change your mind.

When I can spend exactly three minutes in a support call (chat actually) with them before they issue a replacement for a DOA $4000 workstation, no questions asked.....

That's a big deal.

I am all for Dell. They have been nothing short of stellar. I was informed by our rep that their pricing will remain very competitive through the end of the calendar year - see if you can hold out and see what xmas has in store?

Pass on the Toshibas. They felt cheap for some reason to me. Just my .02 though. I'm no computer Guru.

Golfer wrote:

Desktop. How much do you want to spend? What kind of gaming performance do you want?

Price depends. The ones I've been liking have been in the $500-700 range, monitors not included. I figure if mom buys me a monitor, I can handle the rest.

Gaming performance... I don't even know for sure, I've been out of the gaming scene for so long. I'm not wanting to run Crysis at full capacity or anything, but I would like to be able to play new games. Sins of a Solar Empire is the newest game I have that plays well, but C&C Generals crawls. UT04 won't run at all.

Quote:

Intel >> AMD. However, you can get some awesome deals on quad core phenoms which are awesome.

Is there a major difference, or is it just brand recognition?

Quote:

Cache definitely matters. But only if you have enough ram. Ram speed is negligible for the most part. You will get some higher benchmarks with faster ram, but in actually noticing a difference when using it, not very likely.

What's "enough"? I'd go with 2 GB at a min, my laptop has 1 and I'd like to get more performance from a new one.

Quote:

Single core is non-existent anymore. Dual core vs Quad Core. Basically how much multitasking will you do. If you want adobe open while encoding music while playing games, then grab a quad core. For just gaming, or single tasks, dual-cores will have better performance. You looking at building or buying?

The most multi-tasking I typically ever do would be encoding some music while listening to music and playing a java-based browser game, or chatting while Photoshopping. I almost always have chat clients running. Sounds like a dual core would be fine.

As much as it hurts my nerd cred, I'd rather buy. I'd love to build, but it'd be more expensive, more frustrating, and I wouldn't have any tech support if needed.

Its cheaper to build right? DO IT.

Intel currently outperforms AMD.

If you're only trying to play UT2004 and C&C a $80 video card will do what you want.

bhowell879 wrote:

I'm partial to Compaq and the new Toshiba's too.

I had a Compaq V6000 (~$900) for about a year and I absolutely loved it, I would've still had it today but unfortunately I smashed my screen to a million peices when I was moving up here to Ohio back in August =[

Went out to Circuit City and bought this Toshiba Satellite (~$1000) I have now and I love this one even more. It works wonders for me for everything I need to do, which is what you said you mainly do. Ripping/Burning/Downloading media. And the battery lasts forever, I can run for about 6 hours off my battery, my Compaq would only run about an hour at most.

But these were both laptops, I'm not to keen on desktops, so I don't really know what else to say. But as for Dell, my grandfather bought a Dell not too long ago for about $700 and has already had to have it sent in for repairs three times now for a new hard drive, CD ROM failure, and to have the memory upgraded so it could run Internet Explorer and iTunes at the same time without freezing up and shutting down. But to each his own, right? If you like Dells, buy a Dell. If you like Toshiba/HP/Compaq buy one of those.

Happy hunting!

Join the Mac crew man.

Nothing but good things that come from their owners, myself included. Just an opinion.

alkatmsu wrote:

Is there a major difference, or is it just brand recognition?

There is a difference if you're getting a high end processor. Intel is in fact better than AMD right now. But, for a basic computer gaming computer that runs Sins of a Solar Empire, it won't matter. When you're in the midlevel processors it doesn't matter.

I would also look for Windows XP if you can get it. I'm still not a Vista fan and if you're wanting a gaming computer, you don't want to waste your computer resources on running an OS.

im selling my dell for 250-300 if you want it.

pOrk wrote:

Its cheaper to build right? DO IT.

From what I've heard, its not really that much cheaper to build anymore.

No Macs, no laptops. My laptop that I have now I'll likely keep to use for travel and the such, as it does browsing and basic activities fine. It's just not stable or powerful enough for what I want anymore.

UT04 and Sins aren't the top-tier games I'd like to play, I just don't know names/specs of higher-end games I'd like. The main bottleneck for games is the graphics card, right? I could always buy a system now and upgrade the graphics card later.

And amen to keeping XP. I'm sure anything I buy would come with Vista, and I'd try it for a while, but if I don't like it, I can easily go back to XP.

banned from SG wrote:

pOrk wrote: Its cheaper to build right? DO IT. From what I've heard, its not really that much cheaper to build anymore.

This higher end system you buy, the better the savings. If you're just looking for a system that'll run at a decent speed and do web browsing, word processing, etc; buy one b/c they're good priced. If you want a high end gaming machine, build it b/c you'll save a TON of money.

im selling mine if your interested. PM me

I'm looking at some barebones kits on tiger direct and other places, something like that would make it a lot easier to build a system. How difficult is it? I've installed RAM and drives and PCI cards and stuff like that, even swapped out a mobo once, but have never built from scratch.

Another question I've come up with: Nvidia or ATI graphics card?

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchT...No=4282930&Sku=P450-9112%20C

That looks like a steal. All it's lacking is an optical drive, CPU fan, and keyboard/monitor... looks like I could have a complete quad-core setup for $600. All the quad-cores in stores I saw today are at least $800, some without monitors. I can always add a graphics card later if I want (which I likely will).

Only thing I wonder about is that it has PCIe 1.0... I know there's 2.0 out now. Is that big enough a difference to turn me off buying this package?

Build your own. It's easy. You can't really plug things in the wrong spot. You'll gain a lot of knowledge.

Also order from Newegg. Unless you find an awesome deal on a quad core, you really only need dual core. There isn't much that optimizes quad core right now.

Core 2 Duo E8400
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115037

OR

Core 2 Duo E7200
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115052

Asus P5K
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131278

4GB G.Skill Memory
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231122

That's about $300. Feel free to get a less expensive processor.

I love Newegg, I usually order parts from there, but they don't have **** selection of barebone kits like Tiger Direct.

Case: ULT40125 :: Ultra M923 ATX Black Full Tower Case

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchT...p?EdpNo=3319620&sku=ULT40125

Motherboard: A455-2836 :: Asus P5QL PRO Motherboard - P43, Socket 775, ATX, Audio, PCI Express 2.0, Gigabit LAN, S/PDIF, USB 2.0, RAID

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchT...?EdpNo=4016449&sku=A455-2836

CPU: CP1-DUO-E7300 :: Intel Core 2 Duo E7300 Processor BX80571E7300 - 2.66GHz, 3MB Cache, 1066MHz FSB, Wolfdale-3M, Dual-Core, Retail, Socket 775, Processor with Fan

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchT...No=4089657&sku=CP1-DUO-E7300

PSU: O261-2005 :: OCZ / GameXStream / 700-Watt / ATX / 120mm Fan / SATA Ready / SLI Ready / EPS / Active PFC / Power Supply

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchT...?EdpNo=2235424&sku=O261-2005

RAM: K24-6030 :: Kingston HyperX Dual Channel 4096MB PC8500 DDR2 1066MHz Memory (2x2048MB)

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchT...p?EdpNo=4242488&sku=K24-6030

Video Card: P450-7303 :: XFX GeForce 7300 GT Video Card - 512MB DDR2, PCI-Express, DVI, VGA, HDTV, Recertified

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchT...?EdpNo=4197030&sku=P450-7303

Hard drive: TSD-160AAJS :: Western Digital Caviar SE 160GB Hard Drive - 7200, 8MB, SATA-300, OEM

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchT...dpNo=3285366&sku=TSD-160AAJS

Optical Drive: L12-1162 OEM :: Lite-On IHAS120-04 Internal Super AllWrite SATA DVD Writer - OEM, 20x DVD�R, 8x, DVD+RW, 6x DVD-RW, 12x DVD-RAM, 48x CD-R, 32x CD-RW

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchT...o=3970029&sku=L12-1162%20OEM

Total price: $661 shipped

Pretty basic for now, but I can always upgrade the processor/video card later on when I have more money. I wouldn't even have included a video card to start, but the mobo doesn't have integrated video, so I just picked a cheap one.

Opinions? Would this be everything I'd need to build? Like would the mobo come with the connector cables to hook up the hard drive and the such? Would the CPU come with thermal paste, or would I need to buy that? I'll probably throw a few more things in on that order (electrostatic bracelet thingy, a wireless PCI card) anyway, so let me know! This will be my first time building if I go through with it!

CPU should come with thermal paste. The motherboard will come with SATA cables for your HD. The PSU has the rest. The hard drive doesn't include any cables or screws. The motherboard comes with SATA cables, but you're gonna prolly want to find some screws.

Always get RAM as high as it can go to avoid having to upgrade later.

I never would have thought to buy screws. That's exactly the sort of advice I'm needing, thanks! What size would I need, or is it just a standard size for everything?

coolbam wrote:

Always get RAM as high as it can go to avoid having to upgrade later.

I've got it with 4GB, that being the max a 32bit OS can handle. The mobo can take up to 16GB Don't think I'll need that much (or want to mess with finding a 64bit OS).

Building a desktop is extremely easy.

I can't even describe how easy it really is once you do it.

If you want practice, go take an old pc apart and then just try to put it back together.

^ I've done that. I've swapped out motherboards on a desktop once, but I took a picture of it before I did so I could put everything back where it was Hooking it up from scratch is what worries me, but I do believe I can do it.

I found a set of screws for $7, that should cover that issue.

Just make sure they are hard drive screws

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchT...asp?EdpNo=31741&sku=ULT31338

I also added a PCI wireless card to the cart.

Updated parts list:

Case: Ultra X-Blaster ATX Black Mid-Tower Case with Clear Side, Front USB, FireWire and Audio Ports

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchT...p?EdpNo=2337812&sku=ULT33179

Motherboard: ASUS P5QL-E LGA 775 Intel P43 ATX Intel Motherboard

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131322

CPU: CP1-DUO-E7300 :: Intel Core 2 Duo E7300 Processor BX80571E7300 - 2.66GHz, 3MB Cache, 1066MHz FSB, Wolfdale-3M, Dual-Core, Retail, Socket 775, Processor with Fan

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchT...No=4089657&sku=CP1-DUO-E7300

PSU: O261-2005 :: OCZ / GameXStream / 700-Watt / ATX / 120mm Fan / SATA Ready / SLI Ready / EPS / Active PFC / Power Supply

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341002

RAM: K24-6030 :: Kingston HyperX Dual Channel 4096MB PC8500 DDR2 1066MHz Memory (2x2048MB)

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchT...p?EdpNo=4242488&sku=K24-6030

Video Card: XFX GeForce 9800 GT - 512MB GDDR3

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchT...?EdpNo=4209965&sku=P450-9830

Hard drive: TSD-160AAJS :: Western Digital Caviar SE 160GB Hard Drive - 7200, 8MB, SATA-300, OEM

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136075

Optical Drive: LITE-ON 20X DVD±R DVD Burner Black SATA Model iHAS120-04

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827106263

Wireless: ENCORE ENLWI-G(2) IEEE 802.11b/g TPCI

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833180030

Screws: ULT31338 :: Ultra All Purpose Computer Assembly Screws

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchT...asp?EdpNo=31741&sku=ULT31338

TD total: 409.88
NE total: 307.76

I changed the case, which since it has a firewire port, I changed the mobo so I have a firewire connector. Also did some shopping around for the cheapest prices, got a better video card, and added in the wireless pci card. Price only went up $50.

Question. For the case, I'll need 2 fans. My mobo supports variable speeds for the fans. Will I need to buy variable speed fans, or would any ol' fan work and the mobo make it variable?

Brand: HP or IBM/Lenovo, two tried and true brands, very higher quality, sony's are overpriced, and dells have gotten worse with quality the larger they expand.
CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo or Quad, most like the DUO minimum of 2.4ghz
Memory: 2 gig minimum, upgrade to 4 later, its cheaper
Op System: Get vista home premium minimum
Network Card: Get a good one thats intergrated with N-Band Capabilities since that is the next step in the wireless evolution and will soon be commonplace.
Screen Size: Are u going to be mobile alot or do you need a large screen for games or yuy just arent going to move it alot. I have a 14.1 inch and its a perfect size for my on the go needs.
Battery: Get the biggest compact SOB you can so you arent carrying a bulky one around, they usually have highcapacity versions with longer life in the same size package.
Security: You dont need the fingerprint reader really, if you want it you might want to get it.
Harddrive: Nothing wrong with getting a large HDD 120 gig minimum
Optical Drive: My guess is blu-ray with lightscribe isnt an everyday activity for you, you dont need to splurge for it unless you want to, its an expensive option, around 200-400 extra.
Bluetooth: usually this willbe intergrated in the wireless card, get it, many apps are bluetooth and since u have a trend so far of keeping laptops for a while it would be advantgeous

Desktop: Build your own, stick with newegg, such a good company

For your desktop build, go with crucial ram as its a higher quality ram, much more tested and higher reliability. That mobo doesnt seem to be rated at 1066mhz FSB, although i am sure it would work. Try to make sure your pieces are all compatible.

That's not the first time I've heard Crucial recommended for ram. I'll switch.

Quote:

Front Side Bus 1600*/1333/1066/800 MHz *Overclock speed

Most of my parts will be coming from Newegg, but Tiger Direct has a few things cheaper.

ahh ok, good to see you id your h/w properly.

I used to buy corsair, and then i tried ocz cause i did some oc'ing but meh, i now use crucial as it was recommended to me and i have had zero problems, i went for a now bs setup, now overclocking, and its been great. I would go corsair or crucial with my pref with crucial. i wish you best of luck.

What OS do you plan to run?

I placed my order for parts last night. Final parts list, not including my keyboard and anti-static wrist strap:

Case: Ultra X-Blaster ATX Black Mid-Tower Case with Clear Side, Front USB, FireWire and Audio Ports

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchT...p?EdpNo=2337812&sku=ULT33179

Motherboard: ASUS P5QL-E LGA 775 Intel P43 ATX Intel Motherboard

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131322

CPU: CP1-DUO-E7300 :: Intel Core 2 Duo E7300 Processor BX80571E7300 - 2.66GHz, 3MB Cache, 1066MHz FSB, Wolfdale-3M, Dual-Core, Retail, Socket 775, Processor with Fan

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchT...No=4089657&sku=CP1-DUO-E7300

PSU: O261-2005 :: OCZ / GameXStream / 700-Watt / ATX / 120mm Fan / SATA Ready / SLI Ready / EPS / Active PFC / Power Supply

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341002

RAM: Crucial Ballistix 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148212

Video Card: XFX GeForce 9800 GT - 512MB GDDR3

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchT...?EdpNo=4209965&sku=P450-9830

Hard drive: TSD-160AAJS :: Western Digital Caviar SE 160GB Hard Drive - 7200, 8MB, SATA-300, OEM

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136075

Optical Drive: LITE-ON 20X DVD±R DVD Burner Black SATA Model iHAS120-04

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827106263

Wireless: ENCORE ENLWI-G(2) IEEE 802.11b/g TPCI

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833180030

Screws: ULT31338 :: Ultra All Purpose Computer Assembly Screws

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchT...asp?EdpNo=31741&sku=ULT31338

Case fans: Dynatron DF1212025BM-3/4G 120mm Case Fan

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835114065

I plan on running XP pro, same as my laptop.

How the hell doesn't that case come with fans? What a f'ing rippoff.

hmm, make sure its all vista compat, it should be. vista is great, i have xp on my main machine since i game alot and have some programs that dont work, but in the future if i can get things to work, vista here it comes. plus 4 gigs of ram lol or more.

FYI xp wil only read 3.5 gigs of memory

fasts

SuBXeRo wrote:

hmm, make sure its all vista compat, it should be. vista is great, i have xp on my main machine since i game alot and have some programs that dont work, but in the future if i can get things to work, vista here it comes. plus 4 gigs of ram lol or more. FYI xp wil only read 3.5 gigs of memory

vista vs xp isn't what makes the difference in reading more than 4 gb ram. A 64 bit version of xp will read more than 4.

Anyway, noob question here. I installed the power supply today, and wanted to test out the case fans to see which direction they blow so I knew how to install them. Does the PS have to be hooked up to the mobo to turn on? I just plugged it into the wall and flipped its switch and nothing happened. I had to test my fans with my other 12v ps that I use for lighting. Just want to make sure I don't have a bad ps.