Buying a new computer

[woopidoo2]

No, this is not an ad :)

 

 

 

I am saving up to buy my own computer. I am sick of my parents computer, its full of virusses and the harddisk has 2,5 gigs left. Its total rubbish, Im ready for my own computer.

 

 

 

Now there are alot of terms that go with a new computer, I dont really know there meaning.

 

 

 

Could someone advice me on what I should pay attention to when buying a new computer?

 

 

 

Another question: Could I buy a decent computer for 670 dollars?

[JoeDaStudd]

Ok, first of you wan to look for a dual core pc. Dual Core basically means the the it has two processors in side which in theory can do twice the work of one, I say in theory because the actual gain is between 1 to 1.5. but they are fair better then a single core when your using more then one application.

 

Memory wise you should be looking for 160gb or more on the harddrive and 1gb or more of ram.

 

The graphics card doesn't really matter without you're looking to play the newer games, but make sure it has a PCI-Express slot in case you choose to upgrade later.

 

 

 

Recap:

 

Processor; Intel Core 2 Duo (4300 or higher) or a AMD X2 (3600+ or higher) <- Intel preferred as they are currently more powerful.

 

Harddrive: 160gb or more, SATA connection if possible

 

RAM: 1gb or more.

 

 

 

Dell has some good deal in your price range.

[Nadril]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16811119129 = mid-tower case. This has much better cooling options than my current tower, plus itÃÆââââ¬Å¡Ã¬Ã¢ââ¬Å¾Ã¢d just be easier to work with.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6822148140 = 320gb Hard drive. More room for my artwork and more room if I want to get into video production a bit more.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6814130056 = 7900GS KO Video card. This is hands down the best mid range card on the market right now, it even beats out the 8600GT in benchmarking tests. This will last me until DX10 cards become a more commonplace thing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6817153028 = 500w PSU. Did not want to skimp on a PSU and this was recommended to me, very reliable.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6820145590 = 2GB DDR2 ram. I realized my current ram probably would not be compatible and this was maybe $20-30 more than a gig.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6813188017 = 650i Intel motherboard. Recommended to me again. Supports all of what I need for CPU/cards.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6819115013 = Intel 2 duo core 1.8ghz Processor. This can be easily overclocked with a bit of decent cooling, up to 3ghz fairly easy. Keep in mind itÃÆââââ¬Å¡Ã¬Ã¢ââ¬Å¾Ã¢s a dual core processor so its much faster than it looks.

 

 

 

 

 

Ignore the extra text crap, its just something I sent to my dad.

 

 

 

 

 

Anyways it depends what you will be using this for woop. Are you going to be gaming or is it just general stuff? Dependant on what you want you can get something nice for around $670. The PC I linked above came out to around $800 counting shipping + windows XP. It also has an extra CPU cooler.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

it also depends if you want to build your own or just buy it from dell.

[woopidoo2]

Well a big harddisk would be nice. The ammount of space got higher, and the prices lower without knowing it myself :)

 

 

 

I dont think Ill buy a good Graphics card, I dont have much games to play at the moment. I think ill buy it at Dell, I wont build one myself.

[sixxtoes]

i know a good canadian site which I used to get my computer.

 

http://www.etccomputer.ca

 

Prices are decent, only complaint is they dont have enough in the way of customer reviews on the products, if you want a site to look up items your going to buy, I would recommend

 

http://ncix.com/

 

 

 

you can also build computers at ncix, I dont have any experience with buying a comp there, so you would have to ask someone else

 

 

 

also, i wouldnt go with dell... from what I have seen, the systems they sell are over-priced. You can copy the same parts as a dell model would have, but by getting it somewhere else, you could save a fair bit of $$

[The Observer]

Best Buy has some pretty good older ones. Just go for $500 and below. You can get a nice new Celeron processer. The RAM is only at 512 though.

[Doughnut]

I have a pre-made computer, payed around 1 grand for it when all said and done. Personally I don't think I got my moneys worth, my next computer is going to either be custom, or a alienware.

 

 

 

My point is is that I don't think pre made computers are worth the money for one.

 

 

 

Best Buy has some pretty good older ones. Just go for $500 and below. You can get a nice new Celeron processer. The RAM is only at 512 though.

 

 

 

I assume you mean E-machine or Compaq, my mothers computer is a 400 dollar compaq. Right now it doesn't even work properly. 20 minute start ups, internet takes forever to load even with a broadband connection, and it can't read disks anymore.

 

 

 

Of course the disk reading is a problem on our side, but the computer is complete crap.

[nomar04]

I have a pre-made computer, payed around 1 grand for it when all said and done. Personally I don't think I got my moneys worth, my next computer is going to either be custom, or a alienware.

 

 

 

My point is is that I don't think pre made computers are worth the money for one.

 

 

 

I wouldn't buy an alienware if you are willing to build one yourself, because they are waaay overpriced for what you get.

 

 

 

I have had good luck with Dell's, because i have two that haven't fallen apart for no reason. (i did fry this computers motherboard and PSU, but that was my fault) They are priced well, and hold up fine.