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The Once a Week, 'Should I get this computer' Thread
projectmayhem
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=8891737&type=product&id=1212192194712
Bam. I haven't really looked at computers in a while so to me this computer looks so cheap it can't be real. I mean, 6gigs of ram 750gig hd? Seems like such a good deal.
Anyway, right now I am using an Alienware from early 03. Heres what its inside:
AMD Athlon XP 3000+ 2.17 GHz
1gig Ram
Windows XP
ATI X1600 XT
2 80 gig hd's
Now I still like my computer, it does most things I want it to pretty well. I am worried that it's time is about to more then partially pass and/or one day its just not going to turn on. Right now I do WoW, Source Games, and older PC games from before Oblivion game out (this was the first game I couldnt run). I do however have a lot of interest in Starcraft 2, Diablo 3, and whenever they do a WoW graphic update. More importantly however, rather soonish in my life hopefully (1 year at most I hope) things like Photoshop, Imageready, photography, web design, music prodution (dj type) and possibly video prodution might start being a source of income for me.
I wouldnt say I am in the most wonderful $ state, but I am living rent free with my only expenses being gas/food, so thats another thing for me to think about. Also, is that computer worth it? Could I get better for cheaper? Will it fit my needs? Will it last me a while (6 years at the least hopefully)?
Also, I dont want a Mac. At all. I have a powerbook and have used Macs a lot and I know I dont want one. And I have no clue what so ever as to how to build a computer out of parts, so pre-builts only if you can.
Bam. I haven't really looked at computers in a while so to me this computer looks so cheap it can't be real. I mean, 6gigs of ram 750gig hd? Seems like such a good deal.
Anyway, right now I am using an Alienware from early 03. Heres what its inside:
AMD Athlon XP 3000+ 2.17 GHz
1gig Ram
Windows XP
ATI X1600 XT
2 80 gig hd's
Now I still like my computer, it does most things I want it to pretty well. I am worried that it's time is about to more then partially pass and/or one day its just not going to turn on. Right now I do WoW, Source Games, and older PC games from before Oblivion game out (this was the first game I couldnt run). I do however have a lot of interest in Starcraft 2, Diablo 3, and whenever they do a WoW graphic update. More importantly however, rather soonish in my life hopefully (1 year at most I hope) things like Photoshop, Imageready, photography, web design, music prodution (dj type) and possibly video prodution might start being a source of income for me.
I wouldnt say I am in the most wonderful $ state, but I am living rent free with my only expenses being gas/food, so thats another thing for me to think about. Also, is that computer worth it? Could I get better for cheaper? Will it fit my needs? Will it last me a while (6 years at the least hopefully)?
Also, I dont want a Mac. At all. I have a powerbook and have used Macs a lot and I know I dont want one. And I have no clue what so ever as to how to build a computer out of parts, so pre-builts only if you can.
projectmayhem on
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Can trade TF2 items or whatever else you're interested in. PM me.
More shit than what I am using or about the same?
I could also replace said video card if/when I picked this computer up.
Less shit than what you're using but still utter shit by today's gaming standards and especially when paired with a quad-core.
Replacing the video card will also necessitate the replacement of the power supply as well, if you want to put anything worth buying in there.
Can trade TF2 items or whatever else you're interested in. PM me.
Akrighty. Also, gaming isnt my number one thing. Just those games I listed...and maybe Spore.
are you going to? probably
Not really. I dont make hasty decisions when it comes to things that cost over thousand dollars.
Building isn't an option because of where I live and who I know (no one). I don't mind paying the extra 100$-250$ to make sure its built right.
Now if this was 2 years ago and I was still in college, sure, I could just hand pick someone I know that could do it.
I have a computer that's got twice the HDD space, a Video card that doesn't suck, and a 22" monitor for the same price.
Less RAM, but that's like, $60 and I'd be up there where that one is.
Build, don't buy.
None.
If you're insisting on a pre-build, buy something mid-range, and spend the change on a bigger PSU and a GPU upgrade.
Can trade TF2 items or whatever else you're interested in. PM me.
Not for gaming.
I'm not getting this computer to be on the cutting edge of gaming. I just want to play these games, WoW, CS:S, Audiosurf. I would like to be able to run (just basic settings) Diablo 3 and Starcraft 2 if possible. I dont give two shits about having the best graphics in the world.
look, diablo 3 isnt coming out till what 09? probably 10 since they love pushing things back.
so you want a computer that keeps up with 1-2 years of technology ok that can be done
you will save about 500 dollars by building it for yourself but basically what you are looking for is either an 8800GT 9800GT or ATI 4850 graphics card with whatever else you want to add in.
for instance HP customize that to fit your needs.
now there are plenty of guides on how to build a computer and as long as you are smart enough to read them and have a place to work for a couple hours it isnt hard. feel free to look at the top of this forum where it says computer build thread.
No, I'm pretty sure that takes a special kind of stupid. I am sure there is only one person on the planet who could do that.
You asked us a question. "Should I get this computer?"
we replied. "No, it's over priced and underpowered."
You asked us "What prebuilt could I get that isn't over priced and underpowered?"
we replied. "There isn't one, prebuilts are horrible."
But you didn't like that answer.. so here we are. You don't know enough about the parts to accurate estimate the value of a computer based on it's specs. You could do the homework, but you don't want to, you want us to do your homework for you on a topic (pre-builts) that very few of us care about.
This isn't H/A, we arn't gathered here to work for whoever asks a question. We're a group of enthusiasts, people who enjoy sharing their hobby and their love of technology. I could point you to various "Custom Built PC" sites, but would you be able to pick out the correct parts from their customization lists? Would you be able to tell that paying 400$ for a GeForce 8800 GTS 512 is probably too much because you can retail it for half that at Newegg?
But hey, maybe I'm wrong, maybe you're willing to do some homework and help yourself out. We certainly have plenty of threads detailing the relative performance of videocards and CPUs, check those out.
Then try ibuypower.com I suppose.
naknaknaknaknak
Was that necessary?
he doesn't want to build, there aren't many pre-built gaming machines that will allow you game well. so we should try to help him out the best we can instead of ripping into him.
I would try www.ncixus.com if you are in the US. You can actually price out a computer, have them build it for you, and they ship it out to you. not a cheap as building it yourself, but not as bad as trying to find a decent pre-built machine. note that I shop at ncix.com, since I'm in canada, ncixus is the US site, I'm not sure how good their build a system thing is there.
EDIT: put in the wrong url, fixed now.
Holy shit! Since when has 4GBs of ram cost $100. Ok, lets assume $150 for the memory. $100 for the high def video card + remote. I'll assume the mobo/case and power supply are POS, so 150 for all three. $100 for the 750 GB hard drive. $120 for Vista Home Premium. $30 for the DVD burner, and you are already over what he would be paying.
GPU - 160 for 4850
mobo - 130
6gb ram - 150
HDD - 90
case - 50
PSU - 40
DVD - 30
fans - 35
vista64 - 110
total 1005
and i garuntee that my parts dont come from 2nd rate manufacturers. also! you can easily cut down on things that you dont really need like 6 gb of ram down to 4! HDD down to 500gb! and your quad core down to a decent dual!
most people here could build a better performing PC for about 700 dollars.
I bought a Dell back in June 2007, and a year later the price of the parts in it on Newegg is still more than what I paid. And no waiting around 2 months for rebates, either. Just toss in a vid card and you should be good to go.
And yes, it is probably better to wait for Dell Small Business to come out with an insane 300-750 dollar off coupon, which they do a few times a year.
I can right now from newegg, if I'm ok with two separate orders and actually filling out rebate forms, get 6 gigs for $100. Corsair brand.
4 gigs for $66
2 gigs for $33
Rebate is the same form, but specifies "per unique product"
Thanks for the replies so far, I've been out of the PC loop for a while so I really don't have a good grasp on what should cost what. As in, I assumed 6 gigs of ram still costed something like 400$. Hell, I didnt even know computers could hold that much now.
A few quick things, if just to say, I got the hp and that video card you are all suggesting to replace it, would I need to get a new psu? Could I just use the 500wt one I have in my current desktop?
And that gateway linked on the first page, that seems almost perfect. I need to look more into that. To me it seems all around better than the HP.
( http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=8891684&type=product&id=1214611180474 )
I checked out Alienware today to see what they had, have they always been that overpriced? Geez.
No. 6 gigs of vastly inferior ram does not cost 400$, it costs about 120$ (39.99 x 3)
Yes 500wtt is enough power for a single PCI-e 16x, a QuadCore, and at least 2 optical drives.
Yes, Alienware has always been overpriced but became more so when they were purchased by Dell.
and I did not as Wundebar put it, "Rip into you". I'm simply stating the case here, which is that you're asking for advice from an informed group and complaining to the group when you don't like what they say.
And I note you didn't visit the link I posted, it wasn't a "Rickroll" it's a decent site for prebuilts, its focus is mostly on customization but they have templates that are perfectly suitable for your uses.
Such as this. The Gamer Fire 480 It's an AMD based system instead of intel but it's substantially cheaper and better performance than I've seen linked in this thread so far.
naknaknaknaknak
interesting how the same components i just bought for 1400 cost 1900 at that site.....
if you want to waste money then get a premade, 10-20 hours of your free time really worth 500 dollars?
As for the other stuff, in my opening post I said I didnt want to build and people kept telling me to build. Its not that I'm not listening to the advantages for building it yourself, but pre-built is what I prefer even if I have to pay a little more to get it.
of course it does have 4 HDDS 2 26 inch monitors and 4 different copies of MS office and 6 wireless adapters....
but hey if u got the money...
Yeah, but those are never part of the big sales. :P
Well, a Q9300 was part of a massive sale (XPS 420 w/Q9300, 3GB RAM, 640GB HDD, HD2400 Pro for $300) yesterday, but Dell's likely going to cancel all those orders anyways.
Depends, not all PSUs are created equal. I'd check out ATI's certified PSU list rather than simply trusting that a generic PSU is going to work just because it has a big number in the total watts column.
CAUTION! There are several prebuilt PCs that will not fit an 8800 GTS, or any of the bigger cards that are built these days. So, if you take that road (Buy prebuilt; upgrade PSU and Graphics), make absolutely sure that what you want will fit inside of what you get. I had to slice my mobo power connector in half to fit my original ATI x1800XT, and then I had to shave off half an inch of plastic casing on my 8800 GTS to get that to fit. Then I upgraded and bought a prebuilt HP (because I was impatient), and the 8800 GTS did not fit. Period. Couldn't do it. So, just... keep all this in mind when you buy prebuilt. They don't offer a lot of physical room for upgrades.
Don't run odd numbers of RAM sticks.
Don't do it.
Don't do it.
Don't do it.
If you're getting 6 gigs, get 2 sticks of 1GB and 2 sticks of 4GB in dual-channel.
how about 19.99 x 6...
still 120
Can trade TF2 items or whatever else you're interested in. PM me.
ITS STILL $120!
6 gb of DDR2 800 is 120 REGARDLESS OF THE CONFIGURATION.
stop missing the point.