Buying a new computer

Mary26

Mary26

New member
Elder
I have finally decided to bite the bullet and replace my five-year-old system with a brand spanking new computer.  I am looking to spend about $2500, and I would like to get the biggest bang for my buck.  I would like some suggestions about what sort of setup would be best, which brand, etc.  The tentative specs I have been looking at are these:

Processor: Pentium 3GHz
Memory: 2GB
Hard Drive: 250GB
Video: NVidia GeForce 256MB
Sound: Sound Blaster Audigy 2
 
Wow, that'll handle BW2 and then some.. :D

Which model video card are you looking at using?
 
So far I have looked at Gateway, Dell, and Hewlett-Packard.  The choice seems to be between NVidia and Integrated Intel.  I have played around with the following systems and tried to customize them, and here are the video cards for each:

Gateway FX400XL: NVidia GeForce 6800 Ultra with 256MB DDR3 Dual DVI and TV-Out
Gateway Profile 5.5c: Integrated Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 900 with 128MB
Dell XPS 600: NVidia GeForce 6800 With 256MB (same as above)
HP SR1020T: Integrated Intel with 128MB (same as above)

The last time I bought a computer was in 2000, and all three of the computers I have bought myself have been Gateways.  I have been happy with my Gateways, but HP seems to give you more computer for the money.  I can get a computer and a printer from HP for the same price that Gateway and Dell are asking for just the computer.
 
Remember:
SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS:

OS - Windows 2000/XP
Processor - Intel Pentium 4 or equivalent 1.6 GHz
Memory - 512MB RAM
Hard Drive - 3.5GB
DVD-ROM - 8 SPEED (PC CD-ROM version also available in USA)
Video Card - 64MB with 1.1 Pixel Shader*
Sound Card - DirectX 9.0c compatible
DirectX - Version 9.0c
Input - Keyboard, mouse
* Black&White 2 requires a 64MB video card with 1.1 Pixel Shader support. Supported video cards: NVIDIA GeForce4 Ti series, GeForce FX series, GeForce 6200 or greater; ATI Radeon 8500 or greater, ATI Radeon X300 or greater. DirectX 9.0c is included on this disc and may require the latest drivers for your video and sound card.
Click to expand...
 
For a number of reasons, don't go with interated graphics. a seperate graphics card is the best way to go. The 6800 is a pretty decent card if I remember right.

I think you know my feelings about the three names mentioned above.  But if you feel good about Gateway go with them. HP is giving printers away so they can make money on the ink.
 
Your spending that much? I got about the same for no more than $700 in all. That seems liek a rip.
Btw. Asus Video cards are good and they are inexpensive. I got mine for like $50-60 dollars. You need to bargain shop more often it saves you loads.
 
With video cards, you get what you pay for. $50 gets you a low to middle end card. The card she mention was one the fastest avaiilable until recently.

I forgot to ask. Does a monitor come with system?
 
You may know this already, but you have to pay close attention to these video card names. There's a big difference (esp price difference) between the 6800 and 6800 Ultra. Not sure if you just got lazy typing up top (since you said same as above but left off the 'ultra' part), but make sure you're not using them interchangeably for comparative purposes.

I'll echo Kays' comments about integrated graphics - that's a big no-no for gaming.
 
Random you brought up a good point. Those names are tricky...Why they do it I donnot understand but I know. Also make sure you get a board with built in sound card...Not really needed buy can help with creating more realistic sounds and saves money. :D
 
I use ATI cards so I don't pay much attention to the NVidia cards. And all of the suffexes on the cards do confuse things. But the first system she mentioned did have the 6800 Ultra.

Aben said:
Also make sure you get a board with built in sound card...Not really needed buy can help with creating more realistic sounds and saves money. :D
Click to expand...

As with video cards, intergarted sound cards are not recomended for the same reasons.
 
You don't really need to buy a sound card as long as you buy a motherboard, with a soundcard.
Also, when you buy a motherboard, just makesure it has a Network Card on it too.

One more thing, when you buy a casing check to see if the powersupply is good enough for your new PC.

Hope that helps ^^.

Also about kay's post about Intergraded Sound Cards.

Intergarted Sound cards aren't all that bad as Intergarted Video Cards.
I had alot of crashes because of my Sound Card on my Board, but it was because I didn't update it.
 
Kays you probably have a point...But I worded that poorly..I meant to say I received a sound card for free along with my board. Sorry for that misunderstanding I didn't read it over very well. :D
 
If possible try to build your own computer. its alot of fun mixed with adrenaline rushes when you wait for it to boot up the first time.

You will definitly save money and learn to troubleshoot your own pride and joy.

If you decide to do it yourself make sure you have a good operational computer to use the internet for info and troublshooting help.
 
I've personally always used integrated sound. Most of the modern motherboards have 8 channel audio now, and I've never had a problem with my 6 channel.

I was going to mention the benefits to building your own computer or having someone you know do it. There's substancial savings to be had. But then again, you open that whole can of worms, and you won't have support.
 
I do not consider myself a techie, so I am not particularly interested in building my own computer.  I would rather pay more to get a system that I don't have to mess around with as much.  My Gateway has lasted me five years, and I have had no major mechanical problems with it, and it is only just now that its specs have become not up to snuff with the newer games. 

Edit: I tried to build another Dell and came up with the following:

Dell Dimension E510 Series

Processor: Intel Pentium 4 650 with HT, 3.4GHz
Memory: 2GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 400MHz (4X512M)
Video Card: 256MB PCI Express x16 (DVI/VGA/TV-out) ATI Radeon X600 SE HyperMemory
Hard Drive: 80GB Serial ATA 720RPM
Sound: Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS

Kays said that ATI cards are OK, but half of this is Greek to me so I would appreciate some feedback on this system.  It only costs $1400, so I would be able to buy a printer with this as well.
 
Meh... i messed up and put a NVidia board with a ATI Graphics Card.... works great, but i cannot play neverwinter nights for that reason.... so i'm a little sad.. but all that matters is bw2!
 
For that price differance you can buy a printer and a whole lot of ink. :D

The big difference that I see is that the X600SE video card is no match to the 6800 Ultra. It's a middle end card. You should consider the X800 or a 9800 if they are still available.

Here's two comparison charts, one for each of the manufactures, NVidia and ATI. The main numbers to look at are the ones in the far right column.

Oh, if you want to save a few bucks, do you really need 2 GB of memory. :)
 
Kays said:
Oh, if you want to save a few bucks, do you really need 2 GB of memory. :)
Click to expand...

Yes! 2GBs is necessary, so you won't have to bother with buying even more Sticks of RAM a few years later.:laugh2

Oh, and maybe get a little more space on your Hard Drive, and possibly 2 Hard Drives,
One for your normal stuff
One for your your storing <- Just in case your normal one crashes and needs a wipe.

  but what do i know, I'm a storage junkie...
 
Dell does not offer a better ATI video card with that computer. I think that I can come down on the hard drive, because I have a 30GB now and I don't use all of that.  I would rather keep the memory as high as possible because I don't want to have to add memory for a while.  I am trying to find out how much computer I can get for $2500, but if what I need turns out to be less than that, great, I will buy a printer.  I think this is like buying a car, you are getting something that you are going to use everyday for years, so you want to do it right.  Anyone have an opinion about Intel Pentium 4 vs. AMD Athlon?
 
I just shopped this dell up for you. It has a good amount of memory, XP professional, best vid card and free 19 inch monitor. I looked at Alienware's same spec. deal, no monitor 150.00 more.


Description

XPS 600
Date & Time: October 04,2005 7:47 PM CST 
   
   SYSTEM COMPONENTS
   XPS 600  Qty     1   
Pentium® 4 Processor 630 with HT Technology (3.0GHz, 800 FSB), Microsoft® Windows® XP Professional Unit Price    $2,568.00 
Catalog Number:   29 
Module   Description  Show Details
Dell XPS 600 Pentium® 4 Processor 630 with HT Technology (3.0GHz, 800 FSB)
Operating System Microsoft® Windows® XP Professional
Memory 2GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 667MHz- 4 DIMMs
Keyboard Dell USB Keyboard
Monitors Introductory Offer! - 19 inch E193FP Analog Flat Panel
Video Cards 256MB Nvidia GeForce 7800 GTX
Hard Drive 160GB Serial ATA Hard Drive (7200RPM) w/ Native Command Queuing
Floppy Drive and Media Reader No Floppy Drive Included
Mouse Dell Optical USB Mouse
Modem No Modem Requested
Adobe Software Adobe® Acrobat® Reader 6.0
CD or DVD Drive Dual Drives: 16x DVD-ROM Drive + 48x CD-RW Drive
Sound Cards Sound Blaster Audigy™ 2 ZS (D) Card w/Dolby 5.1, IEEE 1394 capability
Speakers No speakers (Speakers are required to hear audio from your system)
Office Software (not included in Windows XP) No Productivity Suite - Corel WordPerfect® word processor only
Anti-Virus/Security Suite (Pre-installed) McAfee SecurityCenter with VirusScan, Firewall, Spyware Removal, 15-months
Digitial Music Musicmatch® Jukebox Basic
Digital Photography Photo Album™ SE Basic
Hardware Warranty 1Yr Ltd Warranty, 1Yr At-Home Service, and 1Yr XPS Warranty Support
Premier Warranty Support Dimension XPS, Specialized Support
Dial-Up Internet Access 6 Months of America Online Membership Included
Financial Software (Preinstalled) No QuickBooks package selected- Includes limited use trial

TOTAL:$2,568.00 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Additional Discounts and Coupons   

FREE GROUND SHIPPING! $24 Handling Charge Applies.

 
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