New computer advise

[Rocketdork]

At the risk of sounding like a noob, I'm looking to upgrade the beaten down machine I have.

Its an OLD dell system, 1.3ghz processor, 384mb of ram, etc. Pieces have been dying for a while now.

I'm just not sure what route to take to get a machine that will last me for a while. I've been out of the computer building business for quite some time. The Matrox G400 was *the* video card to have the last time I studied the computer hardware with any real in depth interest.

So, what do you suggest? Do I just go the dell route and get something from them? Or do I build my own machine? I am not at all concerned that I can get the pieces together, OS installed and a functional system from a stack of parts...I just don't know what parts are even "good".

All my old resources are gone now...I don't even know where to start to look...

[edit]

I guess it would be good to say what I use my machine for...
Email (duh)
Internet pron
some graphic design; rockets, ACAD, Electronics design programs
Some programming (Labview)
Some Video editing
Some Photo editing (but I suck at it)
Converting and Burning D/L's from teh interweb (DVD's)

Gaming = no.

integrated sound is OK, integrated video with no option of upgrade is not OK.

[/edit]

[bio]

There are a few questions I need answered before I can give advice.

• How big is your budget?
• Do you want tech support for the machine?
• What OS do you want to run?

You can usually build one for less than you can buy one for... usually. For a low end system, it's sometimes best to get a Dell.

Once I have your budget, I can quickly piece together a list of items to build one with and can contrast/compare that against a similar production box from Dell or someone else.

[Rocketdork]

Budget = <$600
OS = XP
No tech support...I've served as my own tech support for YEARS.

[bio]

Well... I could suggest the PC I just finished purchasing, but it cost a little more than $600

• ASUS M3N-HT Deluxe/HDMI AM2+/AM2 NVIDIA nForce 780a SLI HDMI ATX AMD Motherboard
• AMD Phenom 9950 2.6GHz Socket AM2+ 125W Quad-Core Black Edition Processor
• (2 of these) OCZ Reaper HPC 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) (8GB total Ram)
• (3 of these) XFX PVT98WYDFH GeForce 9800 GTX+ 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card (yes... I ordered 3 of them... my motherboard supports it!)
• CORSAIR CMPSU-1000HX 1000W Power Supply
• (3 of these) Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 ST3750330AS 750GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive (2.25TB total)
• LITE-ON 20X DVD±R DVD Burner Black SATA
• Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate SP1 64-bit

Once I get rid of my raging hard on, I'll spec a box for you

[bio]

Ok.... the pup tent in my pants has faded.... for the moment.

How about this:

• BIOSTAR TForce TF720 A2+ AM2+/AM2 NVIDIA nForce 720a ATX AMD Motherboard
• AMD Athlon 64 X2 6000 3.1GHz Socket AM2 89W Dual-Core Processor
• Kingston HyperX 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) Dual Channel Kit
• Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 ST3500320AS 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive
• LITE-ON 20X DVD±R DVD Burner Black SATA Model iHAS120-08
• Broadway Com Corp P4-OKIA600-BLACK 600W ATX Power Supply
• RAIDMAX Tornado ATX-238WU Black SECC Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
• Microsoft Windows XP Professional SP2C 64-bit for System Builders

It can be yours for $469.92 plus shipping from newegg.com (of course, you'll have to put it together). The price may change as things go on sale and off sale a lot.

There is no floppy drive on that list, but you can add one cheap enough if you think you need it. Also, it has integrated video (Nvidia 8 series) and sound, but you can add a video and/or sound card later if you want.

Also... that copy of XP is only good for that machine (which is why it's only $99). You cant use it on any other. On the flip side... it's 64bit, so it will utilize your CPU.

If that sounds good, I can email the list so you can buy it.

[bio]

Triple post for the win!!

I forgot... do you need a monitor? If so.... this one is pretty good (I purchased them for my in-laws):

Hanns·G JW-197DPB Black 19" 5ms Widescreen LCD Monitor

How about a keyboard and mouse?

There are a ton of them here:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductLi ... rchInDesc=

Oh... and by the way, the case I picked comes in several different colors:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductLi ... ado&Page=1

Hope this solves all your computer shopping needs

[Rocketdork]

That stuff looks pretty good...Thanks.

No need for the Vista install...I have XP for it already...

Flashy case.

No need to send the list either, I can just use the links to order.

[bio]

Excellent!

Glad I could help

On a side note, newegg sent me my tracking number today. I'll have all my parts on friday, so I can spend the weekend building a tiny God.

[miftah]

Looking to unload any of your ungodly castoffs again?

[bio]

While I do have a box that this purchase is replacing, I'm not sure if I am going to get rid of it or not.

If I do though, I'll let you know first

[miftah]

Cool. I bought Bioshock from Steam for $5 last week and once it was downloaded and installed, it looked at my 1.6 Ghz single core and laughed out loud. Which I thought was just cruel....

[bio]

Bioshock is fun... sadly, my machine barely plays it as well (I had to turn crap way down and be very patient waiting for textures to load).

I can, however, spec a box for you that would play it if you'd like

[Rocketdork]

So as I get ready to buy all the stuff above, I've decided to change a few things...

I can get XP 64 for free (from the pig, if you know what I mean), so that frees up some dollars for a better processor and Mobo...and possibly ram.

I'm struggling with what to go with. I'd like to go with a Quad core AMD...This one seems pretty good, although for a couple more dollars, I can get the 9850.

And I'd also like to get a different Mobo, I've always had very good luck with ASUS in the past. Although the Biostar you suggested seems like a good Mobo. Biostar has always been good stuff, is that still true?

I'm at a loss trying to find 4 GByte of ram at 1066 Mhz. When I check the "approved" ram list of the mother boards, I find that they only recommend 2x1Gbyte chips. Since AMD only supports one channel at 1066Mhz, how do I get to 4 gig?

Sorry for the noob questions, I just haven't done this for so long, the learning curve is pretty steep.

[bio]

...I've always had very good luck with ASUS in the past. Although the Biostar you suggested seems like a good Mobo. Biostar has always been good stuff, is that still true?

I've built 2 systems with that motherboard and have had no issues.

But if you want an Asus board, may I suggest this one: the Asus M3N72-D

I'm at a loss trying to find 4 GByte of ram at 1066 Mhz

Again, no problem

This is what I put in my sons PC (it has the Biostar board), but you'd have to buy 2 sets: Kingston 2GB (2x 1GB)

The Asus board can take 2 2GB sticks (at least they're on the supported memory list).

G.Skill 4GB (2x 2GB)

Of course, with that said, I put 2 sets of OCZ Reaper (2x 2GB) in my box.

[Rocketdork]

So I finally pulled the trigger and purchase the following;

AMD Phenom II X4 940 3.0GHz Black Edition Quad-core - Retail
ASUS M3A78-T AM2+/AM2 AMD 790GX HDMI ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail
Kingston HyperX 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model KHX8500AD2K2/4G - Retail
Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 ST3500320AS 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM
LITE-ON 20X DVD±R DVD Burner Black SATA Model iHAS120-08 - Retail
COOLMAX V-600 600W ATX12V Power Supply - Retail
RAIDMAX Tornado ATX-238WU Black SECC Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case

I figured I could "get by" with only a 500 gigHDD (considering I only have 40 gig now) and went pretty much "balls out" on the processor.

Hopefully I'll be happy with this setup for a while!