1. DLP Flash Christmas Competition + Writing Marathon 2024!

    Competition topic: Magical New Year!

    Marathon goal? Crank out words!

    Check the marathon thread or competition thread for details.

    Dismiss Notice
  2. Hi there, Guest

    Only registered users can really experience what DLP has to offer. Many forums are only accessible if you have an account. Why don't you register?
    Dismiss Notice
  3. Introducing for your Perusing Pleasure

    New Thread Thursday
    +
    Shit Post Sunday

    READ ME
    Dismiss Notice

New computer advice

Discussion in 'Tech Support' started by Sorrows, Dec 26, 2008.

  1. Sorrows

    Sorrows Queen of the Flamingos Moderator

    Joined:
    Jun 17, 2008
    Messages:
    2,986
    Gender:
    Female
    Location:
    Edinburgh
    You all probably don't remember but around July last year I asked for advice on a new computer, well now my room has been decorated I can finally get it.

    I was hopeful that all you nice computer experts could give me some advice on the components I have decided on, what parts are a horrible mistake or what I could get that is better for around the same price.

    Cheers :)


    [​IMG]

    Total comes to £538.47, which is around my price range, though I can go a bit higher.
     
    Last edited: Dec 27, 2008
  2. World

    World Oberstgruppenführer DLP Supporter Retired Staff

    Joined:
    Apr 19, 2006
    Messages:
    3,336
    Location:
    Axis of Evil (Original)
    Linking us each to our very own shopping basket is nice, but it won't help you get any advice...

    Hint: take a screenshot or copy|paste the data
     
  3. se7en

    se7en Professor

    Joined:
    Mar 29, 2006
    Messages:
    485
    Location:
    stump town
    Whats your price range? And are you building it, or just looking a premade system?
     
  4. JohnThePyro

    JohnThePyro Headmaster

    Joined:
    Mar 25, 2008
    Messages:
    1,178
    Mistake-Vista.

    Alternatives-XP, Ubuntu, Mint, MEPIS, ect ect.

    Take it from someone stuck with vista because of non-supported hardware for XP and the need for windows only programs. Vista is terrible, the only decent thing about it is Direct X 10. Even then, only Crysis really uses it.

    If you really want something newer than XP, get Ubuntu (better eye candy anyway, with compiz). And wait for windows 7, which actually looks promising.

    Besides that, why would you pay for it? An OS is publicly avalaible just about anywhere on the net with a simple google search, including vista/XP. Don't waste the money.
     
  5. Oz

    Oz For Zombie. Moderator DLP Supporter

    Joined:
    Jan 31, 2008
    Messages:
    9,028
    Gender:
    Female
    Location:
    Baile Átha Cliath
    I'd get a bigger hard-drive if I were you, and do you really need a sound card?
     
  6. World

    World Oberstgruppenführer DLP Supporter Retired Staff

    Joined:
    Apr 19, 2006
    Messages:
    3,336
    Location:
    Axis of Evil (Original)
    I'd invest in another 2 GB of RAM, especially at that price. I do wonder about the HDD though. You can get 160gigs as an external 2.5" at that price nowadays. At that price, you should be able to get at least 320 gigs, even from WD (including 7200rpm and 16MB of cache).
     
  7. Midknight

    Midknight Middy is SPAI! DLP Supporter Retired Staff

    Joined:
    Apr 11, 2005
    Messages:
    8,958
    Location:
    NC
    Vista Sp1 actually isn't that bad. I'm a picky fuck, and I think it's worlds better then RC Vista actually.

    But yeah if you're on a budget, steal it. AMD fucking sucks for the money. Intel's been outperforming them for awhile now unless somethings recently changed. Don't bother with the budget sound card, it's a waste if you buy a decent up to date mobo, the onboard sound will be just as good as a budget old sound card. You've also forgotten to include a cooler for the cpu, the stock ones aren't worth a piss. Yes they work, but they don't work well.
     
  8. lazarus01

    lazarus01 First Year

    Joined:
    Dec 22, 2008
    Messages:
    25
    It depends on what you are doing with it, but if you can afford the extra, more RAM is always a good upgrade. If you are planning on storing media (music, ripped dvds etc...), I would definitely advise getting a larger HDD (getting a 320 gig as mentioned above would not cost much more). The HDD does seem kind of expensive as is, but I haven't shopped for internals in a while.

    Also, seeing as you have a 64-bit processor, I would say get Vista 64-bit Premium Sp1.

    Other than that, it looks like a pretty decent setup for the price.
     
  9. carl

    carl Seventh Year

    Joined:
    Oct 25, 2006
    Messages:
    200
    Work in progress:

    Changes made:
    Using ebuyer, although not perfect supplier certainly better than Dabs in my experience.
    Different case/psu.
    Extra 2GB RAM, different brand.
    64bit instead of 32bit Vista.
    500GB HDD instead of 160GB, 750GB or even 1TB can be had for like 10-20 more.
    SATA dvd writer instead of EIDE, hate those cables and pointless.
    Different graphics card brand but same card, not any real difference.
    Better speakers within budget.
    Better monitor 1" bigger, size matters and cant quite reach 22" without going over £600. :/

    I'd also suggest getting the following for security: http://www.ebuyer.com/product/150180

    I hope that's helpful to you! :)
     
    Last edited: Dec 27, 2008
  10. Delirium

    Delirium Fourth Year

    Joined:
    Jan 13, 2008
    Messages:
    112
    53 pounds for a 160gig drive? That is a total ripoff unless I'm missing something special about the drive. Cant recall the pound to dollar conversion and too lazy too search it, but for reference you should be getting approximately 100gigs per 10dollars spent (usually a bit more than that but still).
     
  11. Sublime

    Sublime Guest

    I agree with Midknight, Vista SP1 is much better than I thought it would be. Since you're planning on getting a 64bit capable computer why not get the 64bit OS? 32bit software does work on it.

    If you are getting Vista then you'll need at least another 2GB of RAM, and since 64bit supports more RAM than you'll ever need - I think its in the TBs - you can put even more in if you can afford it.

    Gigabyte onboard sound is quite good I've found, so theres no real need for the sound card, and if you find there is you can buy it later, probably for a cheaper price too :p

    I'd go with a bigger hard drive, stick with Western Digital, Seagate have been having lots of problems with the 7200.11 series.

    The Radeon seems like a decent choice for a video card, though I've only had a quick look on the Gigabyte website for the specs.

    Go for a SATA DVD drive over the IDE, SATA is better overall, and IDE is on the way out (if its not there already).

    As for the CPU coolers Midknight mentioned have a look at Thermalright and Noctua.

    You might need to get a bigger PSU to be sure that everything gets enough power, here's a PSU Calculator from Antec so you can check.

    And last, but not least, I'd recommend getting an Intel CPU over the AMD. Intel perform better and from what I've seen AMD has been playing catch up for a while.

    Hope this helps! :)
     
Loading...