New Computer

[Zxcvtypo 10+ year member]

newegg has tons of reviews on most of their items, if i don't know much about the certain component, i usually just sort what i'm looking for from lowest to highest price, and pick whatever has the most positive reviews in the price range i'm looking for..look it up for some other reviews, and if it checks out good for everything i go for it //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/biggrin.gif.d71a5d36fcbab170f2364c9f2e3946cb.gif

 

[crunktimes.com 5,000+ posts]

I am also building a new box, mainly for Photoshop and some gaming. This is what I have so far still have not figured out what I want to do for a MB, Case or PS yet.

Ati Radeon 3850 179.99

Intel Core 2 Duo E6750 Conroe 2.66GHz 4M shared L2 Cache LGA 775 Processor - Retail 189.99

SAMSUNG SpinPoint T Series HD501LJ 500GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive $104.99

CORSAIR 4GB(2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail $139.99 - $30 rebate = $99.99

LITE-ON Black 20X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 8X DVD+R DL 20X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 12X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache SATA DVD Burner - Retail $34.99

 

[Scoobydoo 5,000+ posts]

dont let oem warranties fool you, if you build your own pc all components are covered by a manufacturers warranty anyway

there is no reason to buy pre-built oem crap these days unless your a 10 year old girl

 

[jrerun21 10+ year member]

yeah newegg and fry's are your best friends... i think i'm going to rebuild my pc... just watch out... once you build one i bet you can't stop... i'm always looking for the upgrade now... gaming/media center... build it yourself

 

[jrerun21 10+ year member]

newegg has tons of reviews on most of their items, if i don't know much about the certain component, i usually just sort what i'm looking for from lowest to highest price, and pick whatever has the most positive reviews in the price range i'm looking for..look it up for some other reviews, and if it checks out good for everything i go for it //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/biggrin.gif.d71a5d36fcbab170f2364c9f2e3946cb.gif

exactly... just make sure you read enough reviews... its a lot of noobs that act like they know what they're talking about... get a general consensus... let somebody else try out the new products

 

[dleccord 5,000+ posts]

i have a 7+ year old dell optiplex im still using only for online banking.

 

[pilyin 10+ year member]

I can't remember the exact site (I'll try to find it) but they did a comparison of video cards and the Nvidia's cards were ranked much better for the price than ATI's, including ATI's newest card.

 

[pilyin 10+ year member]

http://www.tomshardware.com/2007/11/15/amd_radeon_hd_3800/

There it is.

Good site to get comparisons on computer components also.

For CPU's: http://www23.tomshardware.com/cpu_2007.html

I'd build the computer also. It's not hard at all and you get exactly what you want in it. No unnecessary or unwanted crap.

 

[snoopdan 5,000+ posts]

Im on this fourm right now using my Amiga 128 //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/uhoh.gif.c07307dd22ee7e63e22fc8e9c614d1fd.gif

 

[Pl8er 5,000+ posts]

Seems like you are getting the right advice on here about this.

Build your own. check pricewatch.com and newegg.com.

I actually just finished up a build today for my wife. She plays some games and had the hard drives and case already so I got her the following:

Q6600 quad core 260 dollars

4gb OCZ gold DDR2 RAM 109 dollars

7900GT nvidia graphics card (I know it is an older generation, but I got it for 99 shipped)

Abit IN9 motherboard for 219 with 100 dollar rebate and a 700 watt powersupply for a total of 319 (combo deal on that got me 80 off)

Arctic cooling fan 21.99

Grand total is 711, before rebate. So 611 for a very decent machine. Now like I said, she has the case, the dvd drives, the fans all that jazz...just the main comps got changed out.

 

[nate2587 10+ year member]

http://www.bensbargains.net check there for good prices on rebates and such

 

[nate2587 10+ year member]

Seems like you are getting the right advice on here about this.
Build your own. check pricewatch.com and newegg.com.

I actually just finished up a build today for my wife. She plays some games and had the hard drives and case already so I got her the following:

Q6600 quad core 260 dollars

4gb OCZ gold DDR2 RAM 109 dollars

7900GT nvidia graphics card (I know it is an older generation, but I got it for 99 shipped)

Abit IN9 motherboard for 219 with 100 dollar rebate and a 700 watt powersupply for a total of 319 (combo deal on that got me 80 off)

Arctic cooling fan 21.99

Grand total is 711, before rebate. So 611 for a very decent machine. Now like I said, she has the case, the dvd drives, the fans all that jazz...just the main comps got changed out.

good computer

I believe Asus would be the way to go for motherboards only because the BIOS always seems to be unsteady in Abit boards dunno what it is about it.

Def go Intel/nVidia

Just do some searching and come back for advice

 

[myvanpounds 10+ year member]

heres what alittle under $2000 will get ya:

Intel C2D e6750

Crucial Ballistix Tracer 2x1GB PC2-8500

WD 2x250 7200rpm Sata Raid0

BFG 8800GT 512mb and a backup EVGAA 7950gx2 1GB

Sceptre 20.1 LCD

Asus Striker Extreme

Creative Soundblaster Xfi XtremeGamer Fatal1ty Pro

Logitech VX Revolution

Windows XP Pro SP2

Raidmax Smilodon Case and other goodies

OCZ 850W GameXStream PSU

 

[jdc753 10+ year member]

newegg has tons of reviews on most of their items, if i don't know much about the certain component, i usually just sort what i'm looking for from lowest to highest price, and pick whatever has the most positive reviews in the price range i'm looking for..look it up for some other reviews, and if it checks out good for everything i go for it //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/biggrin.gif.d71a5d36fcbab170f2364c9f2e3946cb.gif

Exactly, even if you don't know what your doing reading the reviews can be very helpful. Honestly when I am picking out components I will find what has a lot of reviews, plus the capabilities I'm looking for and then I will read the negative reviews. Seems anyone can right a amazing super review, but mostly it will be those who truely know what they are talking about that will find flaws with stuff and limitations. Some of the 1 egg or whatever reviews can also be from total boneheads but for the most part I find them the most informative. Research is your friend and you will be happy with what you get.

Honestly building a computer I would say is far easier than building a good audio system, but you do have to pay attention to the details and what not, make sure the MB you are getting is the same socket type as your CPU and supports the ram you picked and has the appropriate AGP or PCI-E slot for your video card and ide or sata slots for your hard drives.

Also unless you really need a new monitor, new keyboard, new mouse, and a new printer and whatever else they bundle up and aren't terrible concerned about gaming then it wouldn't be too bad buying one of the generic HP or Dell comps, but if you plan on doing much of anything you will get a far better machine by building it yourself.

 

[nate2587 10+ year member]

heres what alittle under $2000 will get ya:

Intel C2D e6750 (woot for intel)

Crucial Ballistix Tracer 2x1GB PC2-8500 (IMO Just buy some 5300 ram and overclock)

WD 2x250 7200rpm Sata Raid0 (meh get 10krpm drives //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif )

BFG 8800GT 512mb and a backup EVGAA 7950gx2 1GB (A backup? wtf?)

Sceptre 20.1 LCD (He Said he didn't need a monitor i believe even so don't puss out on a 20 inch get a 24 //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

Asus Striker Extreme (good MOBO)

Creative Soundblaster Xfi XtremeGamer Fatal1ty Pro

Logitech VX Revolution

Windows XP Pro SP2 (H4xed XP works just as good //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/fyi.gif.9f1f679348da7204ce960cfc74bca8e0.gif)

Raidmax Smilodon Case and other goodies

OCZ 850W GameXStream PSU

added my comments

for a little under 2g u could have done LOTS better