Archer 007
Rebirth
Well, which brand would you suggest?
About to Buy a New Computer. Help me compare options
- Thread starter Archer 007
- Start date
AceChilla
Goedheiligman
Well I'm not a computer whizzkid, I just bought one of the cheapest with my new computer 
And I see now it doesn't even have a brand name on it, mmmmh
But these are the specs of my computer I bought a couple of days ago:
Pentium 4 3,0 ghz
512 mb ram
fx 5200 geforce 4, like some other guy said these indeed suck
Simple on-board souncard
second hand 17'inch monitor
dvd-writer
120 gb harddisk
for 760 euro, I think it's a fair price esspecially with a monitor
If I were you I would check out ebay, you'll get a much better price then in most shops.
And I see now it doesn't even have a brand name on it, mmmmh
But these are the specs of my computer I bought a couple of days ago:
Pentium 4 3,0 ghz
512 mb ram
fx 5200 geforce 4, like some other guy said these indeed suck
Simple on-board souncard
second hand 17'inch monitor
dvd-writer
120 gb harddisk
for 760 euro, I think it's a fair price esspecially with a monitor
If I were you I would check out ebay, you'll get a much better price then in most shops.
Retail and OEM versions go like this (in most cases): Retail hard drive is in a box, has a warranty, etc - OEM hard drive is just the harddrive. Retail processor comes with the box, heatsink and fan, warranty; OEM is just the processor with no fan or heatsink. Retail video card comes with the video card, wires, bundled software, box, etc; OEM is just the video card. Retail is usually the better option for most peripherals and they *usually* don't cost much more.
What size case depends on your use. I use a tower case for room, uprgradability value and ariflow. Most people prefer a mid tower ATX - and this is most likely what you will want. I do not recommend getting a baby ATX (the small ones) because your components will have little airflow and can overheat easily - plus you wont have much room for anything. Like I said before, I recommend Antec PSU, so you can also buy your case from them - they have the most reliable PSUs that wont die on you in a year like most budget ones do. 350-400 watts should suffice.
RE: CD-RW - any kind will do really. But* if the noise a CD-ROM generates bothers you, then you will want to look at some of the brandname ones, because generic ones are prone to making more noise - it all depends. This is especially true for DVD ROMs - the brand does make a difference in that case (if you care about the noise).
Modem? I haven't used one of these in years so I'm not sure on how the technology has improved over the years. I think v.92 is the current standard (someone correct me if I'm wrong) so just make sure it lives up to the current modem standards. The brand may or may not make a difference.
What size case depends on your use. I use a tower case for room, uprgradability value and ariflow. Most people prefer a mid tower ATX - and this is most likely what you will want. I do not recommend getting a baby ATX (the small ones) because your components will have little airflow and can overheat easily - plus you wont have much room for anything. Like I said before, I recommend Antec PSU, so you can also buy your case from them - they have the most reliable PSUs that wont die on you in a year like most budget ones do. 350-400 watts should suffice.
RE: CD-RW - any kind will do really. But* if the noise a CD-ROM generates bothers you, then you will want to look at some of the brandname ones, because generic ones are prone to making more noise - it all depends. This is especially true for DVD ROMs - the brand does make a difference in that case (if you care about the noise).
Modem? I haven't used one of these in years so I'm not sure on how the technology has improved over the years. I think v.92 is the current standard (someone correct me if I'm wrong) so just make sure it lives up to the current modem standards. The brand may or may not make a difference.
Rheinmetall
Interplanetary Assassin
If you decide to go custom, here's a link to anandtechs guide for mid-range system.
http://www.anandtech.com/guides/showdoc.html?i=2005
And high end system.
http://www.anandtech.com/guides/showdoc.html?i=2014
An if you still have time for reading: more than you probably want to know about video card performance.
http://www20.tomshardware.com/graphic/20031229/index.html
Keep in mind that videocards perform differently in different systems. You won't get out the full potential from R9800Pro with 2 GHz processor. Nor you won't get games to run fast with GF 4 MX no matter how fast processor you get.
Stating the obvious:
I don't see much sense buying processors above 3GHz limit because prices start to climb exponentially after that. If you want cheap and good go for AMD. If you want expensive and good take Intel.
It's hard to say anything about motherboards because there are so many chipsets and manufacturers. But remeber to plan for future upgrades. The more Integrated stuff you got there the more you save but also there are more things to break on the board.
As for videocards I think it's quite a good advice to seek them from the middle of the price range. Top of the line cards are expensive but don't deliver much more speed on a mid-range spec computer.
Memory: The more the better.
HD: The bigger the better.
I cannot outright recommend LCD display over CRT. LCDs are more expensive and sometimes have broken pixels that can be really annoying. LCD displays have one native resolution they show correctly, other resolutions tend to look bad in one way or another but there are exceptions to this rule. So if you need different resolutions (mainly for games) make sure the LCD you are buying can show them reasonably. You'll want LCD which has good response time. This is important mainly for fast paced games and for watching movies (nowadays this isn't such a big issue as it used to be). On the other hand LCDs are light to carry around and don't take much space.
http://www.anandtech.com/guides/showdoc.html?i=2005
And high end system.
http://www.anandtech.com/guides/showdoc.html?i=2014
An if you still have time for reading: more than you probably want to know about video card performance.
http://www20.tomshardware.com/graphic/20031229/index.html
Keep in mind that videocards perform differently in different systems. You won't get out the full potential from R9800Pro with 2 GHz processor. Nor you won't get games to run fast with GF 4 MX no matter how fast processor you get.
Stating the obvious:
I don't see much sense buying processors above 3GHz limit because prices start to climb exponentially after that. If you want cheap and good go for AMD. If you want expensive and good take Intel.
It's hard to say anything about motherboards because there are so many chipsets and manufacturers. But remeber to plan for future upgrades. The more Integrated stuff you got there the more you save but also there are more things to break on the board.
As for videocards I think it's quite a good advice to seek them from the middle of the price range. Top of the line cards are expensive but don't deliver much more speed on a mid-range spec computer.
Memory: The more the better.
HD: The bigger the better.
I cannot outright recommend LCD display over CRT. LCDs are more expensive and sometimes have broken pixels that can be really annoying. LCD displays have one native resolution they show correctly, other resolutions tend to look bad in one way or another but there are exceptions to this rule. So if you need different resolutions (mainly for games) make sure the LCD you are buying can show them reasonably. You'll want LCD which has good response time. This is important mainly for fast paced games and for watching movies (nowadays this isn't such a big issue as it used to be). On the other hand LCDs are light to carry around and don't take much space.
Archer 007
Rebirth
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