Topic: What would be good for a new PC?

[Age]

What would be good for new PC?

I am looking at getting one at 2 places well 3 actually.

The Performance Gamer

http://www.gameaction.com/desktoppc.php

www.gameaction.com

The Workstation

http://www.evergreencomputers.ca/products/systems.php?model=3

www.evergreencomputers.ca

What do you all think or advise.

[Rod ONeal]

If at all possible don't buy a prearranged system. Pick out your own components. Read online reviews to help you decide on the components. I did this myself just recently. After I decided what it was that I wanted I emailed a few places that sold the components that I was looking for at reasonable prices with the list. I told them that I wanted the comp assembled, tested, and shipped and asked for a quote. Prices can, and probably will, vary by hundreds of dollars. I didn't play any games. I just took the best offer and went with it.

You have to be a bit flexible. One place might not have everything that you want in stock. I told them it was OK to substitute with comparable items if they did not stock a particular item on my list. Different manufacturer with the same specs is usually fine.

What you want depends on your main use for the computer. For gaming the video card is crucial. Don't scrimp there. You can get excellent cards for 150.00 or so. I'm not in the US so I'm not exactly sure about pricing there.

Intel is making the best cpu's at the moment. Because of this AMD has dropped the price of their processors pretty dramatically. For a straight gaming machine you can get an excellent AMD processor that's about 90% of the performance of an Intel for about 1/2 the price.

If you're going to over clock the system and/or are looking for state of the art performance, go with an Intel. You'll need a top of the line motherboard and after market cooling as well though for over clocking. This will increase the price by quite a bit.

Nvidea is the best choice for vid cards right now. The new 9600's are a great value.
If you're going to go with dual cards I personally like ATI crossfire (better motherboard selection), but I'm sure you can find just as many proponents of SLI. Dual cards though aren't the best cost for performance. 2x the money but not 2x the performance. The motherboard will be more expensive as well.

RAM is cheap. Buy a lot of it. 4gig at least, depending on your OS. Buy good RAM, but don't go overboard. Real expensive RAM isn't going to improve real world performance over good ram. For example, I bought G.SKILL 4GB kit (2GB x 2) DDR2-800 (PC-6400) CL4-4-4-12. It's about $100.00.

[Pestalence_XC]

Age, I just bought mine a piece at a time..

for a good system for both business and gaming.. build a gaming machine.. more power than what you need for business for years to come.. and will keep you at the top for gaming.

I posted my system specs previously, but let me post the pricing..

i don't know how much you are willing to spend, but my machine cost $1675.00 and most of the parts are lifetime warranty.

Gigabyte Motherboard N650SLI-DS4L ....... $98.99 (2 year warranty)
Intel E6750 (you can get the E8750 for about same price) @ 1333 Mhz FSB overclockable to 3.86 Ghz @ 1950 FSB @ 1.45v with stock cooling... $198.99 (3 year warranty)
Ultra X-2 750 watt power supply (ultra swapped it out because DOA, but got 2 Ultra X-3 1000 Watt Power supplies @ $300 each) .. My cost .. $79.99 (they never charged more) (Lifetime Warranty on both)
4Gb DD2 2 Patriot Extreme PC6400 Dual Channel Kit (4x1024Mb) @800 Mhz FSB wint 4-4-4-12 latency @ 1.8v overcolckable to 2.2v for 1076Mhz FSB.. $129.99 (Lifetime Warranty)
NZXT Apollo ATX Midtower case .. $69.99 (2 Year Warrnaty)
DL DVD burner ... $55.99 (1 year warranty)
320Gb 7200 RPM Western Digital Caviar HDD... $45.99 (5 year warranty)
Extra cooling fan 120 MM for front of case .. $12.99 (30 day warranty)
Windows Vista Home Premium 64 bit full install OEM... $109.99 (Updates by Microsoft)
I-Inc 1440x900@75hz WXGA widescreen monitor 700:1 resolution @ 5ms refresh .... $154.99 (1 year warranty)
Logitech x540 5.1 digital surround speakers .. $69.99 (3 year warranty)
Hauppage HVR-1800 PCIe TV Tuner with Remote... $98.99 (3 year warranty)
Keyboard $20 (90 day warranty)
Wired optical mouse with scroll wheel .. $13 (90 day warranty)
BFG GeForce 8800 GTX OC 2 (GPUs OC'd to 626 Mhz) with 768 Mb gDDR3 .. $459.99 (Lifetime warranty)
3 and 1/2 inch floppy ... $5.99 (90 day warranty)
40 in 1 memory card reader ... $12.99 (1 year warranty)

plus shipping, no tax.. mostly gotten from Newegg, but a couple things came from Tiger Direct.. delivery of parts in 3 days.

[Bonk]

BFG GeForce 8800 GTX OC 2 (GPUs OC'd to 626 Mhz) with 768 Mb gDDR3 .. $459.99 (Lifetime warranty)

$459!! Holy smokes! I got my BFG GeForce FX 5500 256Mb for $40.  2 years old = 90% off, just like cars.  The most I ever paid for a video card was $200 for my Matrox G450 (it was a year old at the time... and it's a Matrox, which in my opinion is head and shoulders above both ATI and NVIDIA - but it is not designed to run the latest games - Matrox makes their own design decisions.)

Otherwise Pestalence's system outline is pretty good.

If you're not into building your own then I'd go with Compaq, or go to a local shop that has a good reputation with a parts list like Pestalence's - that is usually the best way to go. (not a big name shop though)

320Gb 7200 RPM Western Digital Caviar HDD... $45.99 (5 year warranty)

$46! Wow!  That offsets the video card somewhat, excellent choice and amazing price!

[Age]

This is complicated Like the system that you posted Pestalence but it is out of my budget range up here it would cost over $2000.I am wanting to say within a $1000 budget possibly with OS.

I don't really want to go the name brand as i do have currently an HP Pavilion and have been happy with it so far.The problem is the part of of HPs or proprietary.I would rather stay away from that unless I got a laptop.My video card is the only thing going on my system currently other than that is is all fine.

What do you think of the ones I mentioned though and they can do changes to them with the mobo?I would just like to upgrade over time. 

[Centurus]

These days name brand computers have steered away from the proprietary hardware practice.  Even Dell has said that it would begin releasing new models built on standardized parts.

So you could easily swap out any component you like as time goes on.

However, these days some manufacturers are releasing this slimline type of PC.  My friend has one.  Small, slim, can stand it up or lay it down.  It can be put just about anywhere and takes very little space, and has good power.  I think it cost him like 400 bucks.

[marstone]

slimlines, it is a laptop in a box.  More open ended then a laptop, but uses the lower power/heat generating parts to keep the size down.  Been looking into one myself, but my son is outright against them.

[Rod ONeal]

This is complicated Like the system that you posted Pestalence but it is out of my budget range up here it would cost over $2000.I am wanting to say within a $1000 budget possibly with OS.

I don't really want to go the name brand as i do have currently an HP Pavilion and have been happy with it so far.The problem is the part of of HPs or proprietary.I would rather stay away from that unless I got a laptop.My video card is the only thing going on my system currently other than that is is all fine.

What do you think of the ones I mentioned though and they can do changes to them with the mobo?I would just like to upgrade over time. 

Where are you located, Age? Since you are looking at around 1000.00 that gives everyone a basis to give you suggestions from. Just need to know your market.

[Nemesis]

Age for people to make a proper recommendation to you they need to know what your goals are for the system.  What are  you going to do with it?  What OS are you planning to run?  Do you ever plan on modifying or expanding it?  How long do you expect it to last?  Are you retaining any hardware (and what hardware) from the existing system and so forth.

slimlines, it is a laptop in a box. 

How much are shuttles running these days?

[Centurus]

Shuttles?

[Slider]

Shuttle PCs they are for really small spaces, they resemble a PS2, the XPC is their hi end brand I think.

http://us.shuttle.com/X100.aspx

They have a Linux line now I see too the KPC.

Dell is pretty good, their XPS line is their gaming line they introduced after buying Alienware.

Here is another goog gaming site with prices pretty well across the board.

http://ibuypower.com/mall/lobby.htm

[Nemesis]

The Shuttle line is intended mostly for people who need a desktop machine that can be moved easily.  Aimed largely at those who spend a lot of time at LAN parties.

[Centurus]

The Shuttle line is intended mostly for people who need a desktop machine that can be moved easily.  Aimed largely at those who spend a lot of time at LAN parties.

Yeah, that's the kind my friend bought, although I think HP called it a slimline or something.  It's been a while since I've seen him.

It was the lower end of the model line, but had pretty damn fine hardware, and brand new, just the system with no monitor or keyboard/mouse, it cost him like 650 after taxes.

[Javora]

The Shuttle line is intended mostly for people who need a desktop machine that can be moved easily.  Aimed largely at those who spend a lot of time at LAN parties.

Those are pretty popular around college campuses or at least they used to be.  Some very high-end hardware can be put in those little boxes, I thought about getting one myself.  But I like to swap hardware every so often and that has kept me from buying one.

[Age]

Age for people to make a proper recommendation to you they need to know what your goals are for the system. What are you going to do with it? What OS are you planning to run? Do you ever plan on modifying or expanding it? How long do you expect it to last? Are you retaining any hardware (and what hardware) from the existing system and so forth.

slimlines, it is a laptop in a box.

How much are shuttles running these days?

What my goals are for a new system is to use it for Internet,Gaming and household business.I would like to and plan on play my current games these being of coase Star Fleet Command series don't know about 1,Age of Sail,MTW-Viking Invasion and Guild Wars.I will probably will play Guild Wars 2 and this is a big maybe Star Trek Online depending on if it is subscription free or how they go about it.

I would like this system to last about 5 to 7 years with occasional upgrades and I will probably go with Vista depending if I can still get XP and later on Windows 7.I would like to shoot for atleast 8+yrs.I have had my current system for about 7 years with occasianal upgrades and servicing.It has been going fine can last another say 2 -3 more years depending on what programs I put in it.

This would be my goal for a new system and those shuttle look interesting sort of like a between a desktop and laptop.I was checking out tigerdiect barebonse systems.

What would you recommend from there. www.tigerdirect.ca

I would like to keep it within $1000 budget if possible.
http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/category/category_tlc.asp?CatId=31&name=Barebone-Kits