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View Full Version : Thinking of buying a new omputer, getting ideas.



Magish
01-10-2005, 08:44 AM
I'm thinking of getting a new computer sometime this year, just getting ideas and stuff for now.

I'm gonna use it to play video games and distributed computing almost exclusively.

My current comp is a 700 mhz Intel Celeron, 191 MB of ram (from My Computer -> Properties. :blush: ), with 128 bought, I think. I've got a plug-in NVIDIA GeForce FX 5200 video card, a decently working ~18? inch monitor, which VERY rarely gets "fuzzy" around the edges, along with a Logitech 2/3 key (2 normal ones and a depressable scrolling 3rd) optical mouse, all of which I'd be willing to transfer over.

It's crappy, but it plays Morrowwind, the most cpu/graphically intensive game I have, relatively well (it only lagged noticably upon loading stuff like a new area during the hour or so I've played it so far. :cool: ), and Diablo II/Warcraft III almost perfectly, but it begins to lock up extremely often when I try to install some of my older games. I've also been thinging of getting World of Warcraft, but it'd practically be cheaper to get a new comp than upgrade this one, PLUS I'd have to upgrade it MORE if I wanted to play anything more intensive, requirements-wise.

I'd prefer something brand new, and I'm trying for a maximum of $500, which should be easily reachable, seeing as I'm carrying over all that stuff. :P

Only ideas, please - it'll probably be sometime in August, if I do buy one.

Thanks. :thumbs:

Magish

dragongoddess
01-10-2005, 10:11 AM
First a few things to find out. How do you use your computer today and how will you use it for the next 2-3 years.? How important are games to you? How important is it to have a top of the line graphics card? Do you overclock your boards?

magnav0x
01-10-2005, 12:25 PM
Your graphics card should be fine for WoW. I still sport and old Gforce MX 400 64mb card and it will play anything I like. I would say you should definately go with at least 384mb of ram, but you might as well play about $50 extra and get 512. My main gaming rig is a Athlon XP 1800 w/512mb DDR ram and I've never had any problems running any games I've loaded on it. If you are looking for a budget PC and building your own you could possibly go that route. If you are looking to build your own PC and want to save a few bucks I would donate my XP1800 processor, as it would give me an excuse to upgrade my processor.

If you want to buy something brand new, just look around you can find all kinds of good machines for less than $500. Example:

AMD ATHLON XP2500+, 512MB Ram, 80GB, DVD+/-RW Computer System
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=51136&item=5154769232&rd=1

Not a bad little machine, even comes with a new monitor and DVD burner. If you look around hard you could probably find better deals. That was the first one I saw so I clicked on it. If you want you could probably get me or someone else from the team to build something for you and you just supply the money for parts. I recall someone here saying they had a pc shop near their house and you could check out their parts online.....captain moose maybe?

Magish
01-10-2005, 03:57 PM
First of all, a little clarification:

I'm looking for general specs as of now, it's not even a sure thing that I'll get one this year, being 17 and without a job currently, so don't rush to tear your comp apart and sell it. :cool: If I do, however, I'd like it to last me 2 or 3 years of ever-more-graphic-intensive games. :cool: I'd also prefer a brand new computer, probably from Dell or something, mostly because I don't know a thing about putting them together, and I don't wanna get a bugged comp off of eBay or something. I'm willing to learn, however, if I only have to do the easy parts with lots of instruction. :D I don't wanna accidentally get the RAM stick wedged in the graphics slot or something, so I'm really cautious. :blush:

to dragongoddess:

Currently, I mostly use my comp to surf the web, mostly because I got a TON more games for the consoles than the computer, which in itself was because my comp stinks. :p I'm REAL big on gaming, along with my brother. I'm currently in 11th grade and going to college once I'm out, and depending stuff like the quality of the comp and whether I buy it with my own money alone or my brother helps me, I'll probably take it with me. I don't care about top-of-the-lige gfx cards, as long as the games play smoothly and don't make my eyes fall out - according to magnav0x, my current one should be more than enough for that. :) Also, I don't overclock my boards - I don't even know how, and my computer has enough errors/crashes already. :( (Although it HAS gotten a lot better lately... O.o)

To magnav0x:

I AM looking for a budget PC, so long as I don't have to upgrade it every time a new game comes out or something, I might try building my own if I can get cheap enough parts that it won't be the apocalypse for my wallet if I mess up horribly, or good enough instructions that that won't be a problem. :p That eBay item looks nice, I might actually be able to do this instead of wish. :D

Thanks to both of you! I'm starting to get a better idea of what I want/should get/should expect now. :)

CaptainMooseInc
01-10-2005, 04:42 PM
I build computers at cost, no making money for myself. All you do is pay for parts and shipping. $10 gets you a legal copy of WinXP Pro, and I include fully legal registered versions of MS Office, Ad-aware SE, and Norton Anti-Virus Corporate 9.0.

Yay for college!

Just find the computer you dream of having, then post a link on the thread. I'll tell you what I can get the parts for and build it. I only use retail box parts w/ full manufacturer's warranties on all parts, none of that OEM 30 day warranty S***.

The only thing different is that if you buy your computer in a store and something goes wrong because you or one of your family members f's something up, you have the option to buy X years of coverage from them for a certain cost.

I say that if you buy a system from me and shut it down properly and run minimal regular maintenance (Defrag, Anti-Virus, and Ad-Aware) that you should never have a problem with one of my computers. My Sempron 2800+ system I built is SOLID as a -ROCK-.

-Jeff