Computer Question

[YouNeverKnow]

I'm in the process of buying a new computer and I was looking for some input on this system if anyone had any advice or any other comparable systems.

Intel Core Duo2 e6750 (2.66Ghz)
eVGA 650i Ultra Mobo
2 GB Crucial DDR2
Geforce 8800GTS 320MB PCI-E
WD 320GB 7200RPM SATA 16MB
Intergrated Audio/Card reader whatnot
Coolmaster 534 Centurion Case PS 500W
Vista Home Premium
LG 21.6" Widescreen Monitor w/ DVI-D
Litescribe 18x DVD-R/RW

[justin sandy]

i sggest getting a dell... they have a 3 year warranty and their fine

[fischbowl]

Mr. Stiller is good at this stuff.

[Moses]

Looks like a solid setup. What are you going to be using it for?

[YouNeverKnow]

Looks like a solid setup. What are you going to be using it for?

Pretty much everything. Main use right now is school programs, SimplyAccounting, Microsoft Office, and such. But I tend to play games when I have time, plus sister occasionally comes over and does some graphic stuff on it. Burning movies and whatnot as well.

Don't really want to order a computer from HP, Dell, or anything as I can't find a computer that works for me without paying a lot more for things I don't need so I can get something I do need.

[Moses]

Pretty much everything. Main use right now is school programs, SimplyAccounting, Microsoft Office, and such. But I tend to play games when I have time, plus sister occasionally comes over and does some graphic stuff on it. Burning movies and whatnot as well.

Don't really want to order a computer from HP, Dell, or anything as I can't find a computer that works for me without paying a lot more for things I don't need so I can get something I do need.

Custom-built is definitely the way to go. I would build it yourself too if you are tech-savvy.

Only thing I would look into is getting more hard drive space. It's dirt cheap and I know from personal experience that it fills up if you're a media junkie like myself. I've almost filled up my 750 GB of hard drive space!

[Damix]

I'm an AMD fan, so of course I'd suggest going with that. Other then that, I always suggest an Antec PSU, I've never had a problem with any I've gotten and have heard horror stories about other PSUs. If memory serves 8800 is DX10? If its not I wouldn't buy a new system without a DX10 card. Other then that its a nice system even though Vista sucks.

[paladin]

What's your budget?

First things first. Find yourself a nice solid case. Too many cheap out on cases and end up regretting it, because they end up not having enough space for future upgrades or spec changes, or the thermals are just unmanageable.

Second, get yourself a quality PSU. Generally, the easiest way to tell if it's a good PSU is if it is heavy. Quality PSUs are heavier. Try to add up the power requirements of all of your components and then add 30% so you will have some breathing room for future upgrades.

Next, hit up the MoBo. Make sure you got enough PCI-E for SLI if you think you might go that route.

Then, CPU, Memory, Hard Drive, Sound Card, Optical Drives, etc...

Don't forget about cooling. Consider water cooling, phase-change, peltier, etc...

And with Hard Drive, consider the 1TB drives. You can find it at most places for under $400.

And if you need some more technical advice, look at some other forums.

[Brent]

750gb or 1 tb drive for data. *shrug*
Some of those 750gb-1tb drives are still a bit pricey right now, you might want to consider getting something more cost efficient like a 500 gb and then add another drive later when you start to fill it up.

[Brent]

it's like $40 ($90 for 500 gb, ~$220 for 1 TB) extra and you're not using up a slot in your RAID for a drive that may not have any use in a year. if you don't collect media or have many programs, that much space is overskill in any case. but if you do, it's better to spend a bit more and leave plenty of room to grow in the future.
Yeah, I agree. I just built a computer for my roommate, he wanted a 750gb or 1tb drive but I talked him out of it because there was no reason that he needed such a drive; he doesn't download stuff and has like 5gb of music at best. I thought about adding a 750gb drive since I have almost filled up my 500gb with music and TV shows (thank you, DC++).

[Moses]

for sure. my next project is a 3 TB media server, but i'm waiting a few months for the drives to come down. i'd rather not spend $1500-$2000 on the box.

In a couple years I'm going to do something similar to that. HTPC for gaming, watching high def content, etc. LANed with a huuuuge media server that I'm going to rip a bunch of HD-DVD and Blu-Ray discs to. HTPC will run a 1080p projector and I'll be in multimedia heaven. :D

[Brent]

for sure. my next project is a 3 TB media server, but i'm waiting a few months for the drives to come down. i'd rather not spend $1500-$2000 on the box.
My next project is a media center/file dump. I was thinking about doing a 2tb box, networking it with my computers and hooking it to our TV and putting a DVR in it. That way I can just put movies on there and watch from my couch instead of burning them. It should be nice when I get around to doing that.

[gbpackers0065]

I just got a Dell Inspiron 1520, works for me.

[bantx]

how are u paying for it? u can probably build it urself for much cheaper but if u dont want the head aches buy it. I was a first time builder and i had many problems but i later find out about a month later that it wasnt my motherboard that was messed up i had my video card in the wrong slot :] as a first time builder it wasnt too hard i everything put in fine except the video card of course
but as long as u read ur manuel u should be fine

newegg.com for cheap computer parts


i just need to buy windows xp or vista getting it the other way is just impossible

[YouNeverKnow]

looks solid. GTS suggests to me you're not a hard-core gamer, so the e6750 is probably fine, although if you do a lot of non-game stuff (DVD creation, whatever) i'd consider going with the q6600 for a few bucks more.

again, if you have money to burn or other HDDs from an older box you intend to plug in, i'd consider going with a SSD for your primary OS drive, and a 750gb or 1 tb drive for data. *shrug*

Don't really play games too much anymore as school dominates my life at the moment, but it was basically a cost decision as I am on a limited budget.

NewEgg doesn't ship to Canada so that puts a damper on the building a PC myself. Plus I really have no time whatsoever though I wish I could. Budget for the computer itself is only about $1200 so had to limit the video card, and I don't really ever seem to fill harddrives all the time so space wasn't a huge concern for me.

Card has DX10 as far as I know, along with DVI-I, yadada, scored decent against other cards from websites I've seen, and I didn't like my last ATI card a lot so I figured I go back to a Nvidia.

[bantx]

i got a question i just bought windows xp for 100 bux and i wonder if i can install it and then return it :D

[bantx]

oh well i got another question i just installed my drivers and im trying to set up my wireless internet i got the wireless adapter but i cant install it, everytime i put in the cd i opens for a half a second and closes

[bantx]

Thanks njx everything is up and running now