Out of touch: Help me buy a PC

[Belrix]

I'm hopelessly out of touch on PC technology. Ask me about the latest P-Series IBM RISC servers and I'm your man. On PC's I'm strangely clueless.

The tax return is coming in, I lost my desktop in the property division so I'm in the market for a new one.

It should be able to play games but doesn't have to be a screamer. No need for Alienware tech here. The game I'm most anticipating, nay - waiting with bated breath for - is Spore.

17-inch (minimum) flat-panel, 1 Gig of memory min. 250G hard drive min. Enough of a video card to not be a bottleneck but doesn't have to be the best of the best. My general rule when upgrading video over the years has been to find the best $125 card I can and I was usually happy. Common stereo speakers are just fine. I have a nice A/V setup, I have a TiVo, I don't need the PC to be either of these.

I'm not sure who's winning the processor wars right now. The machine I lost was a Athlon 2100 I built myself. My general rule has always been to buy the most processor I could for the money (usually buying 1-level down from top-of-the-line since the current performance winner is usually has a much higher premium). Nearly everything else in the case can be upgraded or added later.

Since I'm buying from gound-up, I figure that buying pre-assembled would be close to assembling pieces but I'll take suggestions that way too.

I intend to run Windows; considering the imminent release of Vista, I'll probably go that route.

[black rabbit]

If you change your mind about the x86 bit, I've got a pile of F40's with your name on them.

[Belrix]

Oh, a little bump - it'd be nice to pull this off for $1000 or less...

[ZipperJJ]

One thing I have done is to go to Dell's Web site and price out the machine I want.

Then, start taking out things...like the video card (perhaps replacing it with an onboard video solution) and storage (buy it with one 40GB and add a second 250GB drive) and see how that effects the price if I buy the item elsewhere (www.newegg.com) then switch out the components/upgrade once I get the machine.

So that's sort of doing it backwards. You can also do it forwards - price out each component separately on newegg or www.tigerdirect.com (people also like Dell's monitors). The most important thing in this scenario is to make sure your mobo, processor and RAM all work together. Best place for that is the processor maker's Web site, the mobo maker's Web site and www.crucial.com for RAM (just to make sure it's compatible - don't have to buy RAM there).

Or you could go the middling route and buy a bare-bones system or a combo. Bare bones would come with the case, PSU, mobo and processor (and maybe RAM?) and a combo would just be a mobo/processor combo (which might save you a few bucks, might not).

One big thing to remember is that if you are going to need to buy an OS you have to find it bundled with a part in order to save money in that department when it comes to buying pre-configed (Dell) or building.

I know nothing of games or premium sound so I can't really help you find the BEST components - only the ways to find them.

[Giraffe]

I typically recommend Dell for pre-built systems, as my experience with them has been pretty good and their prices are generally reasonable. Looking at their website, it looks like the Dimension E520 is probably best for your needs.

For the CPU, I'd go with an Intel Core 2 Duo. I've gone with AMD almost exclusively over the past five years, but these processors are definitely the best mid-range choice right now. Stick with the E6300 since you don't need bleeding edge performance. (They're also ridiculously overclockable if your motherboard supports it, which I doubt Dell motherboards do.)

Video card is a tough question -- I'd be tempted to get whatever is default and then add in a new one when you actually play a game that needs it. Time is your friend with video cards.

Get at least 1 gig of ram -- I'd go with two if you can afford it.

For the monitor, I'd pay to go to an Ultrasharp Flat Panel, e.g. an extra $50 for the 1907FP. The widescreen flat panels (2007FPW, 2407FPW) are famous for being gorgeous, but are pricey.

Don't buy any software, peripherals or support from Dell you don't have to, as they're usually pretty overpriced.

[Belrix]

Dell seems to be pushing the ATI Radeon X1300 Pro card, which more than one review site says sucks for 3D performance, or the NVidia Geforce 7300LE Turbocache card. Both at 256MB.

Any opinion on these? The X1300 is $50 more han the Geforce. When I bought a video card last time, years ago, the reviewers were merciless on the LE cards' crippled performance...

mwave has some good processor/MB combos - any good chipsets for the Intel Core2 Duo ~2.1 GHz procs?

[slortar]

Hell, you built one before, why not do it again now?

I'm more or less in the same boat--my current desktop is old enough now that it's sucking at new games, but it's filled with dead end technology. I plan on just building one from the ground up, since I've never been really happy with my case.

If I did pull the trigger on one now, I'd most likely go with an Athlon 64 x2, a mobo that supports Raid, two Sata 3 hard drives, a Radeon x1950, 2 gb of ram, a dvd burner and a decent case. I'm too lazy to check Newegg, but I'd be willing to bet you could squeeze that in for around $1k, not counting the cost of Windows XP. Tack another $150 for a flat panel, and you're in the business and you'll have something far superior for gaming than a Dell with the same price. x1300 my ass.

I'd stick with XP for now, if only because Vista is rather scary at the moment in terms of usability and gaming. I think they have a service pack planned already but it won't be out until...fall...I think?

[Quiddity Glomfuster]

Originally Posted by Giraffe

I typically recommend Dell for pre-built systems, as my experience with them has been pretty good and their prices are generally reasonable. Looking at their website, it looks like the Dimension E520 is probably best for your needs.

For the CPU, I'd go with an Intel Core 2 Duo. I've gone with AMD almost exclusively over the past five years, but these processors are definitely the best mid-range choice right now. Stick with the E6300 since you don't need bleeding edge performance. (They're also ridiculously overclockable if your motherboard supports it, which I doubt Dell motherboards do.)

Video card is a tough question -- I'd be tempted to get whatever is default and then add in a new one when you actually play a game that needs it. Time is your friend with video cards.

Get at least 1 gig of ram -- I'd go with two if you can afford it.

For the monitor, I'd pay to go to an Ultrasharp Flat Panel, e.g. an extra $50 for the 1907FP. The widescreen flat panels (2007FPW, 2407FPW) are famous for being gorgeous, but are pricey.

Don't buy any software, peripherals or support from Dell you don't have to, as they're usually pretty overpriced.

That's the exact order I placed today. If you're going Dell, check their site for deals and buy soon because they'll be bundling OEM Vista any day now. They're still sending out XP machines that are Vista-ready and they've got one great deal on that expires today.

I'm still running my Dell ME machine that I bought 5 and some years ago and it's been a great machine. I'd not buy a new one except I've got a pitiful amount of RAM and I really don't want to be stuck with a Vista box until Vista's been debugged by others among the Teeming Masses.

I bought the two-year service plan when I first got this machine and got in-home service to fix a badly-installed board plus a lot of phone help to set up software and things when I reinstalled Windows once. And not a peep of trouble since.

So I'm still lovin' the Dell folks.

[Belrix]

Here's an MWave setup, AMD based. Any comments - just a bit over my $1000 budget...

# ACER 19" AL1917CBMD 1280X1024 700:1 5MS VGA/DVI-D (Black) (Retail)ACCESSORIES OPTIONS
$214.69 $214.69
(Biggest Risk - site unseen but the brand is good and it's digital capable)


MICROSOFT WINDOWS XP MEDIA CENTER 2005 SP2
$109.90 $109.90
(Media center only because there's a free upgrade to Vista)


ATI RADEON X1600PRO 512MB PCI-E DD2 W/TV & DVI #RADEON X1600PRO5612 (OEM-POWERED BY ATI)
$124.90 $124.90
(Saphire Card)

HP DVD840 16X LIGHTSCRIBE DUAL DVD REWRITABLE SUPER MULTI DVD WRITER Bare drive w/Nero Software (Black)
$39.90 $39.90
(Includes Nero - used to be great software)

# HITACHI 250GB 0A33423 SATA-2 7200RPM 8MB HDT725025VLA380 # 0A33423 (Bare drive)
$74.75 $74.75
(...and cables...)

# AMD ATHLON 64 X2 4200+ (ADA4200CUBOX) RETAIL BOXED W/512KB X 2 CACHE 90NM (WINDSOR) BUNDLE W/ABIT AN9 32X
# MWAVE 2GB DDR2 667
$472.93 $472.93
(Reviews say Vista likes 2G much more than 1G RAM)


# APEVIA X-GEAR (BLACK) MID TOWER W/420W ATX POWER SUPPLY 4x5.25" 2x3.5" 4x3.5"(hidden) W/SEE THROUGH SIDE WINDOW,FRONT USB CONNECTOR & 80mm CASE FAN x 2CASE LIGHT OPTIONS
$43.00 $43.00
(Just a bit more for an extra fan and nerdy-cool LEDS)

[slortar]

Originally Posted by Belrix

Here's an MWave setup, AMD based. Any comments - just a bit over my $1000 budget...

# ACER 19" AL1917CBMD 1280X1024 700:1 5MS VGA/DVI-D (Black) (Retail)ACCESSORIES OPTIONS
$214.69 $214.69
(Biggest Risk - site unseen but the brand is good and it's digital capable)


MICROSOFT WINDOWS XP MEDIA CENTER 2005 SP2
$109.90 $109.90
(Media center only because there's a free upgrade to Vista)


ATI RADEON X1600PRO 512MB PCI-E DD2 W/TV & DVI #RADEON X1600PRO5612 (OEM-POWERED BY ATI)
$124.90 $124.90
(Saphire Card)

HP DVD840 16X LIGHTSCRIBE DUAL DVD REWRITABLE SUPER MULTI DVD WRITER Bare drive w/Nero Software (Black)
$39.90 $39.90
(Includes Nero - used to be great software)

# HITACHI 250GB 0A33423 SATA-2 7200RPM 8MB HDT725025VLA380 # 0A33423 (Bare drive)
$74.75 $74.75
(...and cables...)

# AMD ATHLON 64 X2 4200+ (ADA4200CUBOX) RETAIL BOXED W/512KB X 2 CACHE 90NM (WINDSOR) BUNDLE W/ABIT AN9 32X
# MWAVE 2GB DDR2 667
$472.93 $472.93
(Reviews say Vista likes 2G much more than 1G RAM)


# APEVIA X-GEAR (BLACK) MID TOWER W/420W ATX POWER SUPPLY 4x5.25" 2x3.5" 4x3.5"(hidden) W/SEE THROUGH SIDE WINDOW,FRONT USB CONNECTOR & 80mm CASE FAN x 2CASE LIGHT OPTIONS
$43.00 $43.00
(Just a bit more for an extra fan and nerdy-cool LEDS)

Looks mostly good. I think you'll be pretty happy with those specs. You'll probably want to upgrade the video card when Spore comes out, but that shouldn't be all that costly. The longer you wait, the more burly the card you'll get will be.

I've bought a few of those Acer flat panels for work. They seem to be pretty nice monitors.

You might also want to double-check those specs on Newegg and see how prices and ratings compare across the two sites--Newegg is pretty much the bee's knees for buying computer hardware online. I'd imagine they're both pretty competitive.

[N9IWP]

This guide may be usefull:
http://arstechnica.com/guides/buyer/...ide-200612.ars

Brian

[Quartz]

You won't go wrong with a Dell. Get one with the cheapest GPU but can take an addin graphics card, then buy yourself a Nvidia 8600, which is being released soon. This is the mainstream version of their Geforce 8800.

[Number]

If you do want to get a Dell, be sure to check the front page of www.gotapex.com. They list some great deals and tell you what steps to go through to get them on Dell's site. You can usually bump up things like RAM and the video card and still get a good price.