Help me spec out a new home PC computer?

[Rusty Heap]

Okay, my home pc is slowly crapping out, and although I'm an electrical engineer, I'm out of touch with the latest PC hardware (yeah I grew up with Pong)

So, whats the best way these days to spec out a PC? Have Dell.com build one for you, buy a bundled system at Bestbuy or the local PC store?

I'm not a gamer but do appreciate a fast refresh rate, I do some CAD work so a good video card is a must, but the whole dual core / quad core and various PC speeds as well as Pentium verses AMD or Celeron....I'm just curious which is the "best" cost effective but bullet-proof way to go.

I'm figuring on a $1000 machine, don't need the cutting edge technology, but I know to spend a bit more up front and have the technology pay forward for a couple years. How much ram is "needed" these days, 4-6-8 gig?

1.8 mHz, 2.33 mHz dual core or quad core?

Heck my present 6 year old PC has a hard-drive that is only a 40 gig, and while starting to get full it's not like I need a 750 gig.........or do I?



I'm so tired of the blue screen of death, I'd even entertain buying a MAC. I'd like your thoughts on that topic too.



cheers.

[Dottore]

20" IMac.

You will never look back.

There. You have it in writing.

[TerryH]

Here's a chart that helped me figure out the convoluted CPU naming/rating. After that, max out the machines RAM, add a decent video card and you should be flying.

http://www.cpubenchmark.net/common_cpus.html

[GH85Carrera]

If you are running XP or Vista 32 bit 4 gigs is the max. XP will not even "see" all 4 gigs of RAM. If you go with the 64 bit versions you can go to 256 gigs and up but that will blow your budget to heck.

[viscirid]

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/radeon-geforce-gtx,2270.html

Check out tom's hardware for further info. They do regular updates on the best bang for your buck in given price ranges. You can probably find more for other parts, but this is just a recent graphics line up I read.

V.

[Jesset100]

Spend alittle more and get a 24 inch iMac.

[stomachmonkey]

Originally Posted by Rusty Heap

...


I'm so tired of the blue screen of death, I'd even entertain buying a MAC. I'd like your thoughts on that topic too.



cheers.

There's an Apple Store in Alderwood Mall.

Go check it out.

You're an engineer. Ask them to pop the side off a MacPro for you. The build quality and attention to detail will be obvious.

[m21sniper]

Not a mac fan at all.

[porsche4life]

Any decent mac will blow the 1000$ budget all to heck. You should be able to get a screaming dell for a grand

[JavaBrewer]

The MacPro is a very nice machine...and starts at $1500 OVER his stated budget. I have a G5 PowerMac in the same aluminum case. Yes it's very handsome and well thought out but it sits under the desk so the aesthetic is pretty much lost. The iMac is nice but has limited upgrade possibilities and if you have a hardware problem (like many of the G5 models) it's not DIY fix friendly or cheap. The Mac Mini may/not support your CAD needs.

You can build a very nice workstation with a modern MB and mid-higher level CPU, decent RAM and video card for under your $1K budget. Terry's CPU graphic is very handy. Online places like www.newegg.com and www.tigerdirect.com would be the place I would use to buy the components. I don't recommend using Dell or similar so if you're looking for a complete ready to go system look for a neighborhood independent place like PC Club or similar. They will build a system, and support it, using off the shelf (non-proprietary) high quality hardware. That way you also get to choose the software and control the machine from start to finish.

[JavaBrewer]

Originally Posted by Rusty Heap

I'm so tired of the blue screen of death, I'd even entertain buying a MAC. I'd like your thoughts on that topic too.
cheers.

Sounds like your aging PC has hardware issues - blue screen is pretty uncommon these days. Personally I have not experienced that since Win98.

You should go to the Apple retailer and check them out. They are good systems and you benefit from not having the virus worry a normal Win PC user does. Going with Mac will force you to bump your budget somewhat.

Depending on what software you need you should also consider a linux OS like Ubuntu or OpenSUSE. They are free to download and are very robust - very Mac OSX like in feel.

I have not tried Windows 7 yet. I am still working everyday on XP (with SP3) and never have issues.

[Rusty Heap]

Thanks guys.


grins, oh the days of my first home built machine in the mid 80'
s. Such choices between CGA / EGA 4 or 16 color graphics and a fast 10 mhz processor (screamed faster over the first 4.77 mhz IBM PC), or do I splurge the extra $1000 for the 286 processor, that was breath taking fast.

5 1/4" disks, yeah they were floppy, but you could also boot any machine with 3 files on a 360K disk. Autoexec.bat, Sys.ini, and Config.sys and the C> prompt was your friend.

DIR /W

woo hoo.


thanks all.

[Moses]

The MacMini is a screaming little machine. I have 6 of them at work and another at home. Fast, reliable, quiet and a small footprint. Amazing technology, really.

It's absolutely within his budget, too.

[GH85Carrera]

Hey I still have my copy of DOS 2.1. I even have my copy of Windows 386! I can remember dreaming of getting a HUGH 500 MB hard drive, that is MB not GB!

[Nathans_Dad]

Dude get a 56k modem and you will ROCK!

Actually I built a PC about 3 years ago from components. It was surprisingly easy. Still runs great too, it's my 6 year old's computer now.

[m21sniper]

Originally Posted by porsche4life

Any decent mac will blow the 1000$ budget all to heck. You should be able to get a screaming dell for a grand

Precisely.

[m21sniper]

Originally Posted by dmoolenaar

Sounds like your aging PC has hardware issues - blue screen is pretty uncommon these days. Personally I have not experienced that since Win98..

Yep, cannot even remember the last time i got the blue screen of death on my PC.

[stomachmonkey]

Originally Posted by dmoolenaar

The MacPro is a very nice machine...and starts at $1500 OVER his stated budget. I have a G5 PowerMac in the same aluminum case. Yes it's very handsome and well thought out but it sits under the desk so the aesthetic is pretty much lost. The iMac is nice but has limited upgrade possibilities and if you have a hardware problem (like many of the G5 models) it's not DIY fix friendly or cheap. The Mac Mini may/not support your CAD needs.

I recommended looking inside a MacPro to illustrate the build quality of the Apple line.

G5 is an old box these days and I recall you came by it used? A new Mac will come with a 1 year warranty and extending it to 3 years is relatively cheap. Warranty extension can be done at any time before the year expires, does not need to be purchased day one. Any issues related to the build lot will have surfaced within the 1st year and will be covered.

iMac like any one piece computer does have a limited upgrade path.

Whatever CAD work he is currently doing on a 6 year old computer will certainly be no issue for any new computer including the MacMini.

Mini comes with an Nvidia 9400, max resolution is 2560x1600, there are, last I checked, only 2-3 monitors on the market that can even run that high a resolution and they are $1,000 alone.

Base price $599 with a 2.0 ghz core2 duo, add$150 for the 2.26ghz processor and you are at $750 which still leaves room in the budget for a RAM bump, (don't buy from Apple) and a new monitor.

[svandamme]

i bought the dell xps studio with the core i7 promo... payed 869 euro's inc vat and delivery, they went for pretty much the same price in dollars
best bang for the buck 2 months ago

hell, couldn't even score the parts for a self build core i7 for that kind of money...

[Rusty Heap]

I'll see your copy of DOS 2.1, and raise you a copy of Tandy's TRS-80 "trash 80" software.

I like both colors of screen, yellow or green.