Getting a new pc...

[James Butts]

Getting a new pc...

So, my pc I'm corruntely using is in about five different pieces on my desk, I've filled my 75 gig hard drive, and another external 50 gb one.

I want a new pc, but I don't have alot of money. Here is what I want from it:

up to four large applications running at once with no lag.
at least 250gb of space
at least 2gb of ram
back lit keyboard
webcam and microphone
Really high range wifi card
A good Video card ( I was thinking maybe the ATI Mobility Radeon™ HD 5470, 1GB)
A good CPU

and I was wondering what computer I should get and who I should order from.

 

[James Butts]

Re: Getting a new pc...

Okay, post updated, a by large application, I mean:

iTunes+Firefox+1 gb or higher Download+online game

That's 10x lager than my current pc can handle, so I consider it large

 

[Steve]

Re: Getting a new pc...

I'd recommend building your own computer; if I can do it then, believe me, anyone can.

Components I'd recommend (they're not top of the range but they're certainly pretty damn good and would be ideal for desktop junkies with a view to casual gaming):

AMD rig:

CPU: AMD 955 Black Edition
Mobo: Mine is the Asus M4A79-t Deluxe (probably fairly cheap now as it's been superseded by the M4A8x range)
RAM: 4GB Corsair Dominator 1600Mhz CL9 (dual channel)
GPU: ATi Radeon 5750
Power Supply: Corsair TX 650w
HDD: 1TB Samsung F3 Spinpoint (ultra cheap and earned some very positive reviews)

Intel rig:

CPU: Intel i5 750
Mobo: Asus P6T Deluxe v2
RAM: 4GB Corsair Dominator 1600Mhz CL9
GPU: ATi Radeon 5750
Power Supply: Corsair TX 650w
HDD: 1TB Samsung F3 Spinpoint

Thing is, if you're not actually interested in gaming on your PC, then you could go for even lower-end components. Personally, I have an AMD 965 Black Edition CPU but I do wish I'd gone the Intel i7 920 route.

If you really must purchase a pre-built then I'd recommend looking at some of the HP (Hewlett Packard) gaming PCs. I believe their top-of-the-range model is called 'Blackbird', or ' Thunderbird', or something. Since Alienware were acquired by Dell, I can't even recommend 'em anymore.

 

[runeblade265]

Re: Getting a new pc...

^^^

although if you arn't going to do some beast gaming you could opt for a weaker card.

I'd recommend a gtx 260 AT LEAST

 

[James Butts]

Re: Getting a new pc...

I'd recommend building your own computer; if I can do it then, believe me, anyone can.

Components I'd recommend (they're not top of the range but they're certainly pretty damn good and would be ideal for desktop junkies with a view to casual gaming):

AMD rig:

CPU: AMD 955 Black Edition
Mobo: Mine is the Asus M4A79-t Deluxe (probably fairly cheap now as it's been superseded by the M4A8x range)
RAM: 4GB Corsair Dominator 1600Mhz (dual channel)
GPU: ATi Radeon 5750
Power Supply: Corsair TX 650w
HDD: 1TB Samsung F3 Spinpoint (ultra cheap and earned some very positive reviews)

Intel rig:

CPU: Intel i5 750
Mobo: Asus P6T Deluxe v2
RAM: 6GB Corsair Dominator 1600Mhz (triple channel)
GPU: ATi Radeon 5750
Power Supply: Corsair TX 650w
HDD: 1TB Samsung F3 Spinpoint

Thing is, if you're not actually interested in gaming on your PC, then you could go for even lower-end components. Personally, I have an AMD 965 Black Edition CPU but I do wish I'd gone the Intel i7 920 route.

If you really must purchase a pre-built then I'd recommend looking at some of the HP (Hewlett Packard) gaming PCs. I believe their top range mode is called 'Blackbird', or ' Thunderbird', or something. Since Alienware were acquired by Dell, I can't even recommend 'em anymore.

I don't need a pc that good... and I'm about as good at technical stuff as a trained monkey, ask johndoe I am having a ton of trouble building a guitar at this point, and that has much less technical crap. the hardest part is cutting the wood, I'm trying to make pseudo Les Paul.

Back to the point, I want at most to be able to download faster than 30 kb a second, or is that just my internet? anyway, here is what I got in a basic run through now:

521 mb of ram (sucks!!!)
74 gb of storage space (really sucks!!!)
a dual core Intel celeron processor (doesn't bug me too much)
A dvd/cd drive that reads but doesn't burn. (also really sucks)
some crappy video card I just pulled from a broken computer I found sitting outside the local dump. (crush kill destroy!!!!!! sucks)

It lagged when I used to play oblivion on the lowest graphic settings. that, is a sad computer. recently, I've had to drasticly decrease my fable: tlc settings as well.

I just want to be ready to play fable 3 with no lag when it comes out. and fallout 3 would be nice if I was able to play it as well.

I have about 750 dollar for it currwently saved, I'mn willuing to go up to 1300 though, I know that wont buy me much, but it's all I have. Reason:

I just spent 1500 on building my guitar and am currently in the middle of restoring my 58 ford f150 I inherited from my dad. Another 10,000 of mine and my families money out the window.

I only have 2 hobbies, and I spend all of my spare money on them.

This seems good enough for my purposes:
http://www.shopping.hp.com/webapp/s...w&email_id=1613615&jumpid=in_r329_emailconfig
Tell me what you think, and just incase you can't see it:

Operating system Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
Processor AMD Athlon(TM) X4 635 quad-core processor [2.9GHz, 2MB L2, up to 4000MHz bus]
Memory 4GB DDR3-1066MHz SDRAM [2 DIMMs]
Hard drive 500GB 7200 rpm SATA 3Gb/s hard drive
Graphics card 1GB ATI Radeon HD 5450 [DVI, HDMI, VGA adapter]
Primary optical drive LightScribe 16X max. DVD+/-R/RW SuperMulti drive
Networking Premium Wireless-N LAN card
Front Productivity Ports 15-in-1 memory card reader, 1 USB, 1394, audio
Sound Card Integrated 7.1 channel sound with front audio ports
Keyboard and Mouse HP multimedia keyboard and HP optical mouse
Productivity software Microsoft(R) Works 9.0
Security software Norton Internet Security(TM) 2010 - 15 month

There is the configuration although it's nicer on the page I linked to.

it's 699, I think it's perfect.
I already have a newer monitor that was on sale, so I also saved a few bucks there.

 

[runeblade265]

Re: Getting a new pc...

1000 dollars can get you a VERY beastly pc.
heck with 800 bucks you can get an above average pc.

Building a pc is like playing with legos... just with expensive pieces.


There are ton of sites that can guide you through the process.
http://www.pcityourself.com/

If you still dont want to build it yourself. You can buy the parts and go to your local computer store and have them build it for you.

Or you can buy from
ibuypower.com
cyberpowerpc.com
tell them what parts to use and they will make the pc and send it to you.

 

[James Butts]

Re: Getting a new pc...

1000 dollars can get you a VERY beastly pc.
heck with 800 bucks you can get an above average pc.

Building a pc is like playing with legos... just with expensive pieces.


There are ton of sites that can guide you through the process.
http://www.pcityourself.com/

If you still dont want to build it yourself. You can buy the parts and go to your local computer store and have them build it for you.

Or you can buy from
ibuypower.com
cyberpowerpc.com
tell them what parts to use and they will make the pc and send it to you.

I think I'll stick with what I got, I think I came off as a guy who plays video games more than 2-4 times a week and plays more than 1 game at a time, I really don't need alot, I just hate my pc, it sucks. and I want something a bit better. I can get than with 500, but I'm going to go ahead and spoil myself with a 699 system.

 

[James Butts]

Re: Getting a new pc...

Well, at least you know that having speakers doesn't mean you don't need sound drivers

exactly

James, what's the most intense game you play as of this very moment

oblivion with an assload of mods so it isn't even the same game or graphical quality anymore, I probably have 20 gb of mods.

Core 2 Duo 2.6 GHz

I think im gonna get 2.9 ghz quad core cause I like fast.

Ahh shat, double post..... Grumble Grumble...

 

[Steve]

Re: Getting a new pc...

I haven't got a massive amount of time to formulate a decent post but I just wanted to say that, given you have mentioned an interest in playing Fable 3 for PC, you almost certainly will NOT be able to play Fable 3 at an acceptable framerate at any resolution with a Radeon 5450. I'd bet money on it.

The 5450 is the absolute lowest-of-the-low tier graphics cards from Radeon at the moment and certainly isn't fit for gaming at anything above 800x600. At even 1024x768 it would be like watching a slideshow. The 5450 is not really intended for gaming.

I'd highly, highly recommend not going for anything less than a Radeon 5750 - it's a DirectX 11 GPU with a relatively low price tag and would net you some pretty good performance with modern games.

Another good place to purchase gaming PCs from is Falcon Northwest, apparently. I haven't used 'em myself but I've heard good things.

Yikes! This post turned out longer than I intended to be...

 

[Purple Nurple]

Re: Getting a new pc...

I am having a ton of trouble building a guitar at this point, and that has much less technical crap. the hardest part is cutting the wood, I'm trying to make pseudo Les Paul.

Wait until you have to insert the truss rod, fret it (professional fretting where I live runs about 150 squid) and succesfully glue/bolt it in. Not worth it, IMO :lol:

A while back I purchased a Richwood Artist Series Les Paul, which, sadly has now been discontinued. They were better than any Epiphone I've played, and even better than a couple of Gibsons, ran for under 300.

 

[James Butts]

Re: Getting a new pc...

Wait until you have to insert the truss rod, fret it (professional fretting where I live runs about 150 squid) and succesfully glue/bolt it in. Not worth it, IMO :lol:

A while back I purchased a Richwood Artist Series Les Paul, which, sadly has now been discontinued. They were better than any Epiphone I've played, and even better than a couple of Gibsons, ran for under 300.

I'm not doin it for price, I'm doin it for fun. Bying one new just doesn't feel as satisfactory, I've build one before, but I sold it for about 2000, that was more than I payed for it by about %100. I figured I'd build e better one with the extra money.

I got a job paying $10 an hour and I'm young enough to not have to pay bills, I work 6 hours a day on average. But my hobbies eat my money.

Yeah, I can easily wait. That would actually be a good idea, that way I could 1 up fable 3's requirements, so I can run it without lag.

 

[runeblade265]

Re: Getting a new pc...

You can buy that pc if you want.
if you do i HIGHLY recommend that you also buy another graphics card to replace the 5450