Advice for new PC

Remove all ads!

OK, I'm buying a new PC, and I've got it down to pretty much two options. (I"m also limited to the $1,000 or less market segment).

One is a Dell with a gigo-some-odd processor, a 32 MB vid card and stereo sound, 128 MB RAM or more maybe, not sure, and a 17" monitor
or
a Sony VAIO or whatever with pretty much the same specs. Any opinions? I'm l;eaving the junk PC realm by giving up my Emachine piece of crap and getting a real PC. What I want is the ability to play almost any PC game, and have the ability to ad components over time if I choose.
Thoughts from any PC sages? Points on reliability, etc.?

 

The Dell machine would be able to play all the games which are out right now (though it isn't too much ram on it). If you buy a manufactured PC motherboards are usually crappy and makes it difficult to upgrade processor, hard drives, cd-drives etc.

 

General rule of thumb is that your computer will be good for 1 year per extra $1,000 you spend. However, if you want low ball it, make sure you go with one with DIMM's installed. They're cheap. Also, go with a PIII or P4. They process more data than Celeron's. I'm not sure about AMD's processors. Important safety tip!! do a little research on XP. It has many compatability issues that have yet to be resolved. Other reccomended items:
DVD/CD-RW combi-drive, Network card, Large HD.

 

I mainly agree on the 1.000$ thesis. Well, this is my suggestion - but maybe you have to get it built for you, I however think it's wort it:

-approx 1 GHz AMD Athlon XP chip and an *expensive & quiet* cooler
-128 to 256 MB RAM (128 are enough when you have DDR's)
-mother board from ASUS (my favs) or Gigabyte
-7.200 rpm hdd with 20+ GB and 2+ MB cache (seagate/ IBM/ Matrox)
-300+ W power supply
-64 MB Graphics accelerator - once again one ASUS model

btw - my preference for "named" companies results from my good experience with those and the good availability for drivers, driver upgrades and tech suport - I feature I sometimes missed with "packaged" pcs.

However, Dell has a good reputation so I think it'll be just fine.

[This message has been edited by Ragusa (edited January 10, 2002).]

 

I've seen the Dell, although I can't remember the full spec. Also can't remember what price useful upgrades. However, I have to say that for £500 (UK price) for a P4 1.7, Win XP etc, it did sound a cracking deal. Quality of components would be my only worry.

I checked with our systems division, and we would be hard pressed to match that at cost. Parts would probably be slightly higher quality, but even so. (And I wouldn't get a monitor at all which is about £100 or so for a 17" these days at cost).

Dunno 'bout the Sony, but geneerally considered an excellent brand for most things they do. (Sony reckon they have the second most marketable brand name in the world after Coke, so must be something there.)

 

Here is my suggestion for a system under $1,000. All prices are from www.pricewatch.com. I hope this help you out a little.

Motherboard:

MSI K7T-Turbo-LE

Prices on components is getting ridiculously cheap, and motherboards are no exception. Epox's 8KTA3 is still a solid recommendation, but personal experience with MSI's K7T-Turbo-LE boards has us impressed with their price and stability. HardOCP liked the MSI, too. You save a few bucks with the non-RAID version. The ECS K7S5A is a cheap DDR board for those of you who are interested in it, but we'll stick with MSI and Epox for now.

Price: $94.91 (11/26/2001)

Processor:

AMD Athlon 1.13GHz

High-end Athlon prices have gone up from around $100 to $150 and $200 for the fastest chips, so the $93 Athlon 1.13GHz chip remains the processor of choice here. With the rapid transition from sub 600mhz machines to sub 1400mhz machines today, those who don't need a 1.13GHz chip can get an Athlon 950 for $64.

Cost: $95.30 (11/26/2001)

Thermaltake Volcano II

Cost: $7 (11/26/2001)

RAM:

Crucial 256MB PC133 SDRAM

RAM is incredibly cheap today, but beware of no-name memory from retailers you don't trust. PC150 is not a real standard, so I'd stick with PC133 CAS2 from Crucial. You get Micron chips, Micron PCBs, and Micron quality control for top-grade RAM and a reliable vendor. PC150 can be had for the same price if you'd like to push the FSB up and away.

Cost: $35.09 (11/26/2001)

Video:

Nvidia GeForce II GTS Pro 32MB

A strong video card just a year ago, a Geforce2 Pro 32MB still packs plenty of performance for what you need. At less than a $15 premium over a Geforce2MX400, it's worth it for better framerates.

Cost: $98 (11/26/2001)

Sound:

Creative Labs SoundBlaster Live! Value

There are others on the market, but Creative's SB Live! Value remains sort of a de-facto recommendation for those who play it safe, and cheap. If you don't play games or need much in the way of sound, on-board AC97 sound may be enough for you.

Cost: $27.88 (11/26/2001)

Communications:

Creative Labs Modem Blaster 56k (DI-5655)

This is for those of you without high-speed access; a modem may be all you have in your area for internet access. I've had good luck with Modem Blasters (although individual preferences vary), and internal modems are significantly cheaper than external ones. Those who run mulitple OS's may wish to use an external modem, as they're generally more driver-friendly: there's no such thing as a serial Winmodem!

Price: $27.88 (11/26/2001)

Generic Realtek NIC:

Generic works just fine, and Realtek cards are everywhere. Those of you who want better should look toward NetGear, Intel, or 3Com for NICs. Everyone else won't notice until it breaks, and Realtek works just fine.

Price: $10.99 (11/26/2001)

Hard Drive:

Maxtor DiamondMax Plus D740X 20GB

Storagereview's current 7200rpm ATA drive favorite, and I'm inclined to agree. Among the sub-$90 crowd, price differences between 5400rpm and 7200rpm units become very small, and just a few dollars more buys a lot more performance and capacity. For a cheaper machine I'll take the extra speed of a 7200rpm unit over a larger 5400rpm unit since this will be your OS drive. Units from IBM, Samsung, and Western Digital are similar in price if you prefer other brands.

Price: $89.15 (11/26/2001)

CD-ROM/DVD:

Sony 52X

It's best not to go too cheap here, and at only $30 for a Sony unit, it's hard to believe you can get much cheaper.

Cost: $30.24 (11/26/2001)

Case:

Antec SX630

A lot of mid-tower cases have passed through Ars, but the Antec SX630 is a new development. OpenForum Case and Cooling members seem to like them, but some preferences are mixed. As the old recommendation, the Superpower KS-201 ($67), is one of the few <$80 cases with 4x5.25" drive bays it is still worth considering as well.

Cost: $61 (11/26/2001)

Speakers:

Labtec Pulse 424

Speakers are among the last to be decided and recommended on a cheaper machine. At $35 and with many positive reviews, the Pulse 424's are hard not to recommend, even on a budget.

Price: $37.18 (11/26/2001)

Monitor:

Optiquest Q71

17" (16" viewable), .27mm. It maxes out at 1280 x 1024, unfortunately, but it's a solid unit and there's little to complain about at this pricetag. With a little more money, go for a 19" unit.

Price: $130.62 (11/26/2001)

Mouse:

Microsoft Intellimouse PS2 OEM

Buy it OEM with some hardware and you can get it for around $10~15 most of the time. The Intellimouse is almost a de facto standard, and it's often much less than the cost of an optical unit.

Cost: $13.92 (11/26/2001)

Keyboard:

Generic

As long as it's comfortable to you, then it's a keyboard that will work for you. Logitech, Microsoft, and other name-brand units are a little more expensive if the generics don't cater to your needs.

Cost: $5 (11/26/2001)

Floppy:

Generic

A floppy drive is still a basic tool for system construction, especially for pesky new pieces of hardware which aren't supported by the bootable CD you're using.

Cost: $8.99 (11/26/2001)

Total Price: $773.15 + S&H (11/26/2001), w/o OS



[This message has been edited by Voltric (edited January 10, 2002).]

 

Good work Voltric... It indeed cheaper and better to buy the components and build the computer by yourself... It isn't very hard and rather cheap.....

When you are totally non-technical, I advice you to buy a whole system though... I advice to go for the Dell PC, it's way better then a Sony normally.

 

Thanks for the advice, rather more than I expected. Its just easier for me to buy a package deal with a warrantee and tech support for a while as I am a total neophite. If I had the money, I'd just do both and learn but my hands are full and my budget limited. My other question is, some of these PC packages come with an operating system, like Windows NT or something. Will games work on it or does it need Windows 98?

 

Your machine will hopefully not come with NT 4.0 (it's like Windows 95), but with NT 5.0 (Windows 2000). Some games are not working properly or at all in Win2k, but those are few. All BioWare/BI games work in Win2k . Windows XP is also NT, and a few more games might work there.

 

I think Windows 2000 is the best overall choice for an O/S. It give the stablity of NT and the gameplaying of 98. It is true some graphics will not work on Win2k. They have not developed the drivers. Thus for gaming, and gaming ONLY, Win98 is the best choice.

I haven't used Windows XP yet so I can't say where it would fit into the equation. You may want to go with XP in stead of 2000 for some web issues.

I'm running Win2k and am very happy with the results.

 

I'd go with XP if I were you, I have been using it a while now and it just get's better and better. Only real problem I've had is to get drivers for my graphics card.

As for games functioning with XP I haven't had one problem yet, and I have pretty much filled up two harddisks with games. And if you get a problem with an old program or game you can allways run it win 95/98/2000 etc... mode.

 

Hmm, I'd play a sorcerer if I was you.

Oh, a computer you mean?
Well, here's my suggestion:
Processor: AthlonXP 1600+
Motherboard: Asus A7N266(-E) or MSI K7N420 (Pro) - Integrated GeForce2MX, sound and LAN. Get -E or Pro if you've got a 5.1 surround setup.
Memory: 128MB DDR memory.
HD: IBM 40GB
CD/DVD: Pioneer 16x slot-in DVD
Monitor: 17" Hitachi perhaps?
CPU Fan: GlobalWin?
Mouse: Logitech Pilot WheelMouse
Keyboard: Logitech Internet Navigator

This brought my calculator up to just above 1000$

And I'll just join in with those recommending Windows XP.

 

Considering present day stuff this would be my specs for a reasonable computer-

1500ghz P4
At least 256mb Dimm ram
At least a 40x CD-Rom drive, and hopefully a CD-RW drive as well, but wether it has the second drive or not doesn't really matter
At least three free IDE slots
At least four free PCI slots (I need the second monitor option )
A good sound card and graphics card, I don't know much about these but somewhere in the region of 32mbs eac.
In-built modem is a must

Ok that sounds more like a super computer looking back...
And I have absolutely no idea of prices...
All in all this post was kinda useless, but it's posted anyway.

 

I think it's best if you decide for yourself which processor you want to buy. AMD will get you more speed for a lower price but do keep in mind that AMDs are very likely to break or fry. I've seen what happens to an AMD chip if there isn't sufficient cooling and also I've seen how easily the core can notch if you're not extra-careful (the chip still works... but if you notch it too much it will die ). If you're planning to overlock it, check the CPU database @ www.overclockers.com to see which CPUs get you the best results. If you want a cheap solution go with the .13 tualatin celeron 1.2 which will reach 1.6GHz easily .

Make sure you get at least Geforce 3 Ti200, 512 RAM and 40GB HDD.

And DON'T go with Win98. It's days are over.


[This message has been edited by Sentry (edited January 13, 2002).]

 

Well, I think I've decided and I appreciate the help. The PC comes with Win XP, so I'm cool there. As components go, its pretty much off the rack but I'm more a lwas student than PC Gamer these days, so it should meet both needs.
256 MB RAM
1.4 GHZ
32 MB ATI Rage Vid Card
17" Monitor
Harman Kardan Speakers
Thatys really all that's mentionable.
I was mostly concerned about operating system/game compatibility.
Thanks
-Orkrist