 Recommended Computer? |
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 Nov 15 2006, 10:47 PM
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#1
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Advanced Member  Group: Members Posts: 113 Joined: 23-February 06 Member No.: 19,035  |
Im planning to buy a computer by late december maybe january.
So im hoping to get Windows Vista. I want suggestions for the best specs of computer i can get. Best ram, storage, screen, processor. I don't really know whats the best proccessor. Im going to use this computer for: Gaming,Music..(Entertainment) Also Work. I currently have a pc with Intel Pentium 4 which doesn't run Call of duty 2... So i want a computer with good proccesor. Links to the website would be helpful (Gateway,dell. ect) --- I just saw this on a dell catalog thing.. Dell XPS 700 Intel Core 2 Duo processors (so this is great? 4 GIGS of memory up to 2 Terabytes of storage PhysX Accelerator 20.1" Widescreen flat panel.. Ok that sounds good and its $2000 --- ^^^ Will that be able to run windows Vista? and i would like to experience the Aero. Im looking to spend about $2-3000ish oh and long time no see trap17  Danny. |
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Nov 15 2006, 11:09 PM
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#2
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Super Member Group: Members Posts: 397 Joined: 9-June 06 From: Wisconsin Member No.: 24,924 |
An Intel Core Duo 2 processor is good, but what is going to make your games work great is going to be a really nice video card. ATI and nVidia both make great video cards. I believe they both tell you if they support Aero.
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Nov 16 2006, 12:04 AM
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#3
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Member [Level 2] Group: Members Posts: 89 Joined: 26-August 06 Member No.: 28,938 |
Pfft. That'll run any operating system at light speed. =O The dual core processor is the biggest thing on the market right now. Unless you *really* want ti, go a little cheaper and drop to 2Gb RAM. That's more than any person should ever need. (I'm happy with 512Mb)
And, as said above, your going to need a good graphics card. If your going for hardcore gaming, go for a nVidia 512Mb card. I suggest going to http://newegg.com and searching around there for graphics cards. They have really good prices. 2 terabytes is larger than you'll need also, so I would drop that to, I would say, around 500Gb.The screen will pwn. Overall, you probably can't go wrong with that much money or that computer. You can get a good PC for $1000 if you put some of it together yourself.
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Nov 16 2006, 01:10 AM
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#4
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Newbie Group: Members Posts: 5 Joined: 16-November 06 Member No.: 33,452 |
A few months ago I was in the same situation, although I wasn't as concerned about Windows Vista as I was building a computer that would last me through university and be "future proofed"... However for all intents and purposes I think that you should look into building your own.
Do you know a little about computer hardware? If so... It took me about a month of reading a book on and off (between working 8 hours a day on weekends and school and homework on weekdays), to learn how to build a computer. It's really not all that difficult, and it can save you a lot of money... I built my computer for about $1800 Canadian, and a comparable (but a little worse) Dell would have cost me about $2300. Well worth it if you ask me. Basically I just saved myself $500 bucks by reading a 20 dollar book. Anyway, just a suggestion. As far as the PC you posted goes, it should be more than enough (if not a little overkill) to run Vista. I'm assuming that if you're buying 4 gigs of ram and 2 terabytes of storage, you're going to be running a LOT of programs at the same time, and have a lot of files/music etc. If not, then you should definitely consider economizing where you can afford to. One of the advantages of building yourself is that you get to pick and choose the high end components and economize where you don't really need to get the top of the line stuff. The downside is that each component has an individual warranty, unlike Dell (who pretty much covers everything), and you'd have to spend a good month researching everything. Hope that helps a bit... |
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Nov 16 2006, 01:20 AM
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#5
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Super Member Group: Members Posts: 397 Joined: 9-June 06 From: Wisconsin Member No.: 24,924 |
Another thing I would like to point out, you might want to get a 64-bit processor. These processors are the future of computing. Once applications start utilizing this amazing technology everything will go so much faster.
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Nov 16 2006, 01:25 AM
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#6
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Advanced Member Group: Members Posts: 113 Joined: 23-February 06 Member No.: 19,035 |
QUOTE(ESDesign @ Nov 16 2006, 01:10 AM)  A few months ago I was in the same situation, although I wasn't as concerned about Windows Vista as I was building a computer that would last me through university and be "future proofed"... However for all intents and purposes I think that you should look into building your own. Do you know a little about computer hardware? If so... It took me about a month of reading a book on and off (between working 8 hours a day on weekends and school and homework on weekdays), to learn how to build a computer. It's really not all that difficult, and it can save you a lot of money... I built my computer for about $1800 Canadian, and a comparable (but a little worse) Dell would have cost me about $2300. Well worth it if you ask me. Basically I just saved myself $500 bucks by reading a 20 dollar book. Anyway, just a suggestion. As far as the PC you posted goes, it should be more than enough (if not a little overkill) to run Vista. I'm assuming that if you're buying 4 gigs of ram and 2 terabytes of storage, you're going to be running a LOT of programs at the same time, and have a lot of files/music etc. If not, then you should definitely consider economizing where you can afford to. One of the advantages of building yourself is that you get to pick and choose the high end components and economize where you don't really need to get the top of the line stuff. The downside is that each component has an individual warranty, unlike Dell (who pretty much covers everything), and you'd have to spend a good month researching everything. Hope that helps a bit... The computer i have now 1gig memory 250GB xp media center. intel pentium 4.. cost be about 2,000 a year ago.. that computer i posted costing about 2000 :| |
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Nov 16 2006, 02:45 AM
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#7
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Newbie Group: Members Posts: 5 Joined: 16-November 06 Member No.: 33,452 |
Yeah technology advances pretty fast these days.
I just got my computer: 250 GB Seagate SATA HD 2 GB Corsair PC3200 RAM Asus A8N-32 SLI Deluxe MoBo 2 x BFG nVidia GeForce 7950 GT OC AMD Athlon64-X2 4400+ Dual Core CPU Creative Labs SoundBlaster Audigy 4 Professional Edition (for my band) I looked into many articles about what technology is expected to come out in the future. Many different sites talked about how important it is to have 64 bit architectural support with your processor. All, or most of the newer programs (especially on Windows Vista) will be made for 64 bit computing (as opposed to 32 bit currently) in the near future. Thats why I got the AMD processor. I've also heard that AMD is better for gaming, not sure if theres any truth to that but I got a good deal on it so for me it was worth it... and I can run all of my games on the highest level of detail and performance settings (HL2, CS and DOD Source, Doom 3 etc.) One thing you have to make sure of when you buy a motherboard, regardless of whether you are self-building or just plain buying from Dell, it is a good idea to have the ability to upgrade to dual video cards, so make sure it has more than one PCI-E slot on the board (if thats what your video card is). By the way, about a week after I got my computer, the 8000 versions of the nVidia cards came out, I was pretty pissed off  .
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Nov 16 2006, 05:54 PM
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#8
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Privileged Member Group: [HOSTED] Posts: 937 Joined: 14-April 05 From: West Chester, PA Member No.: 5,636 |
QUOTE Another thing I would like to point out, you might want to get a 64-bit processor Umm, Core 2 Duos are 64-bit processors and so are the Pentium D and late released P4s. All the new processors are 64-bit. As for not needing 4 gig of ram, it actually would be a good thing to invest in since Vista runs around 350 mb of ran when idle because of the graphics and such. I run with 1 gig and still in games it hit that value so u need atleast 2 gig these days and if you want the computer to last, go with the 4 gig. You will want a new graphics card. I priced out building a computer last week for $2400 which had quad dual 9750 gx2 graphics cards which is 2 gig of video ram which shows u how important the graphics cards are to the system when $1000 of the system were 2 of these. |
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Nov 23 2006, 03:05 PM
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#9
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Premium Member Group: Members Posts: 179 Joined: 21-October 06 From: Pennsylvania, USA Member No.: 32,028 |
If you want to cut down a little 4Gigs of memory are really not nescessary right now, maybe in a year or so, but not at the moment. But then again, if you only select 2 Gigs Dell will put in (1) 4x512MB sticks, taking up all your memory slots, or (2) give you a motherboard with only 2 slots for memory. haha. So I guses either don't buy from Dell, build your own, or find someone else, or if you can afford the 4 gigs of memory, go for it.
Oh and as far as your recommendation for companies that can help you build one, check out my company, www.PlugComputers.com Our build specialists would be glad to help you find the right computer for you with the right specs to run your games smooth. |