Looking for a new Desktop PC

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I Life 40 km south of Rotterdam. I have 4 pickup locations for internetshops, 4 self builders and several electronic stores around me. I can get every part at another shop.

We all agree about that setup for Decados?

 

Yeah, thats what I meant. The PC in question included a 9800GT, not a 4770.

 

The 9800GT is an older card, based mostly on the 8800. I bought one 6 months ago and only paid $110.00 US dollars for an EVGA, which works just fine for Oblivion. It's really a stop-gap card, since I'm sure I'll be upgrading as soon as Elder Scrolls V comes available next year and I'll want the latest card for that game.

But I would not recommend a 9800GT with a new PC, nor a 4770, as that is really not that great a card either, compared to some of the newer cards you can pickup for just a few dollars more. If you plan on running newer games, why bother with older technology? My advice, take the PC with the lowest end card that is UPGRADABLE from the OEM. OEMs are notorious for overcharging on those kinds of upgrades anyway, since that's where the sweet spot is for profit (they make very little on the basic box). Then shop online for the best deal on a card with better technology than those two cards mentioned. A video card upgrade is usually pretty easy, and something that every PC gamer should be able to perform on his/her PC at some point.

 

He can order the pc without one, and buy 4770 or any other new card he likes. Replacing the GPU is so easy that we can talk him trough it. But only if he wants to open the case. No pressure what so ever.

A second option is that he goes to a store that build pc's and ask them to put the card in for free when he buys it there.

 

The 4770 is a brand new card; it has ATi latest technology. It is the first 128MB interface card that performs at the 256MB interface level. I would honestly wait until June or early July before I purchase a new PC. First off, that is around the time Nvidia and ATi will be releasing their new 40nm middle and high end GPUs. This would reduce, hopefully, the price of the current line up of GPUs.

 

The 4770 would make his system tip top. If he keeps the 9800 in he will have a good card for the next 2 years, even for 3 years. Then he can upgrade to perhaps the 6000 serie or what ever Nvidia card.

If he stays whit vista 64 bit it is adviceable to upgrade to 8 gig memmory. I would say go 32 bit to play older games like BG,( I remeber something about that and place it in the group for debate) and 4 gig ram is enough.

When windows 7 is out, tested, and has a service pack the option for 64 bit in a mid life upgrade is in order.

 

The 4770 is a low-end card, close in performance to the older 9800GT.

Which was my point, that for a few dollars more there were better cards.

http://www.firingsquad.com/hardware/ati_radeon_4770_performance/page11.asp

 

It does not matter much. 9800, 4850, 4770. Decados can order it with the 9800 and circumvent all the fuss.

 

Merlanni - I agree.

 

Ok, first of all, apologies for starting the topic and then pretty much vanishing. I got a bit caught up in the end of my exams and wasn't really thinking about new computers all that much. Secondly, thanks to everyone who has posted advice- some of it seems really good and I appreciate it.

This in particular grabbed my attention and is what I think I will most likely do. After all, it has been quite some time since I've had a new computer, so a month or two more won't really make all that much difference to me.

I may post again just before purchasing it to confirm that I'm on the right tracks, but, regardless, I will let you all know what I have bought when I do.

 

Okay, I'd like to get in on some recommendations too. I recently downloaded all the new downloadable content for Fallout 3, now my pc locks up whenever I finish playing, and I have to reboot/restart my pc. My pc is about 4-5 years old, but I've added RAM and a video card. Here's what I have:

Dell Dimension 8300
Pentium IV 2.66Ghz CPU
o/s: Windows XP
3.2 GB RAM
Radeon X1600 video card
Main HD - 120GB (Almost Full)
Backup - 30 GB (50% Capacity)


I also ran that CPU-Z, and it gave me this, but I don't know what any of it means:

CPU Clocks:

Core Speed: 2660.1 Mhz
Multiplier: X20.0
Bus Speed: 133.0 Mhz
Rated FSB: 532 Mhz

Cache:
L1 Data: 8 KBytes
L1 Trace: 12 Kuops
Level 2: 512 KBytes

Motherboard:
Dell Model # 0G0728
Chipset: Intel i875p

Graphic Interface:
Version - AGP version 3.0
Transfer Rate - 8x, Max Supported - 8x

Memory:
DDR (Dual Channel)
Size: 4096 MB
DRAM Frequency - 166.3 Mhz
FSBRAM: 4.5

I've never built my own pc, but I have added video cards and RAM before - that's the extent of my technical expertise. My current pc is a Dell, and I've been very happy with it.

I really don't want to spend more than $1500 or so. I'm basically looking for fast gaming, internet speed, and Micosoft Office use. Any suggestions on a decent upgrade?

 

If you can add RAM and a video card to a PC you almost can build one from the ground up. The next question is, have you ever installed a new OS on a PC? If so, you are 95% of the way there to building your own PC.

If you are state side I recommend reviewing Newegg and checking out their free shipping deals.

Any Core 2 Duo or AMD AM2+/AM3 system will outperform your current system setup.

 

I really disagree with that statement. Unless you have a desire to learn how to build your own PC, I would NOT recommend it, Sir Bel. If you have one bad chip in the process, or one incompatible part, you will have to call several different tech support lines and spend weeks returning different parts to an online outlet (like NewEgg), just trying to track down what the problem could be if you should encounter one. It can be a real time consuming pain the butt.

If you don't believe me, check out the listing of customer comments and reviews on NewEGG. Go to any of their mainboard reviews and read all the issues that different users have encountered building their own systems. And most of these guys are pretty tech savvy builders.

There are a lot of advantages to building your own machine, and I'm sure all of us will be glad to give you advice on choosing parts and the actual build, if you decide to go that route.

If you have a Fry's nearby, I would recommend that you start there. Take a look at their retail machines and also what kind of custom builds they can assemble for you. Then take a walk over to the component parts dept. and check out all the different parts you might be looking at if you decide to do your own build. Remember that if you buy your parts at a retail outlet, you can just return or exchange bad parts at the store, rather than having to package and ship any parts, and the sales guys can be another good source for info on building and trouble-shooting new builds at the store-level.

Of course, you can still always order another Dell. I would start by calling and trying to get a good sales guy. Tell him/her what you want to run and ask them for a parts list and full pricing, incuding all costs, like shipping and how long it will take to get your particualr build. Then compare them against the cost of a comparable retail machine. Also, you can ask any of us for opinions on what they are trying to sell you. But the big question will be to buy, or build.

 

It is an adventure for the first time. If you have the will to fail and waste money go for it. Once you have the nack of it, it pays back.

Windows 7 will come in October. Get a new pc whit a voucher to upgrade to the new OS. Late June early July those will hit the shelves I am told.

On top of the food chain I Intels I7. Powerfull and expensive.
Something like this. (but it does not have to be this)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883227123 It has a few things that can be better for 1500 but this I a powerful example many will drool over.

A bit lower on the chain is the core two duo generation. value for money but the processor type reaches end of life so no upgrade later. something like this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883227107 However most of us here will agree that it is need of a new graphics card already but as an example it will do. If it does not hurt moneywise go for the I7

For budget and future upgrade you get Amd socket 3. Nice allround platform. Not the power of I7(which most likely will be upgradeable to) The graphics card is a lot better. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883229064

Most of us will advise a custom build rig whit only A grade parts. Out of the box machines might have bad parts, especially the power supply unit or motherboard. I might cost more but is pays of in future upgrades. You have to decide if you want a I7, core two duo or amd am3

Thoughts anyone?

 

Thanks for the posts, but I found out today my company has a 10% discount program with Dell, so I pulled the trigger and ordered a new one. I got an XPS 730x. Here's the skinny:

XPS 730X Intel® Core™ i7-920 (2.66GHz, 8MB L3 Cache)

Memory: 6GB Tri-Channel DDR3 at 1066MHZ (3x2GB DIMM)

Video Card: SLi, Dual nVidia GeForce GTX 285 1024MB

Hard Drives: 300GB Western Digital Velociraptor - SATA-II, 3GB/S, 10000RPM, 16MB Cache

Floppy Drive and Media Reader: Dell 19-in-1 Media Card Reader

Operating System: Genuine Windows Vista® Home Premium (English) Service Pack 1 64-bit (I'm nervous about moving over to Vista...I've heard no good reviews!)

Optical Drives: Single Drive: 16X CD/DVD burner (DVD+/-RW) w/double layer write capability

Sound Cards: Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium

With the Dell company discounts, plus the general markdowns at Dell, I think I got a decent deal on it...We'll see.

 

Sir Bel - That'a a very nice computer, even if you did buy it from Michael D. I've had only a few issues with Vista, and on the whole it's been OK. Now I'm running Win 7 RC1, a similar OS. The worst item I've had issues with in Vista is, yep, the SB X-Fi Titanium card. There are some odd issues with the SB drivers. Dell may have written their own drivers for your card. First, if you run Audacity, the sound will turn off when you plug in an USB device, like an audio turntable (known issue). Second, it does odd things in 5.1 audio in some games. If you encounter problems, like in TES IV, tweak the sound with the SB Audio Console, which you can download from SB, if it's not installed already on your Dell (some games may work better in 2.1). Vista 32 bit is not that bad, but the 64-bit version is laden with issues.

 

Gahh!!! Explain, please. I have a full version of XP that I bought for this pc. Should I dump Vista out right, and reload XP? What's the difference between 32 and 64 bit? I mean other than one is 2 times the other?

 

Wasnt there some massive problems with the downloadable content for Fallout3? That it basically killed computers, think I read something over at pennyarcade.