Desktop Computer

[red-beard]

Originally Posted by Steve Viegas

If you are a member of Costco, I just purchased a Gateway computer there.
AMD 6 core processor (1035)
6GB of RAM (1033 MHZ bus)
Radeon HD 5450 with 512MB
1 TB HD
and a 23 inch monitor, capable of 1900x1080

for $700.00

Steal if you ask me.

That is a good buy!

[azasadny]

I just bought (4) four 1TB Western Digital hard drives for $240 (total for 4) for a server I'm building for a client. I bought them from TigerDirect and they arrived in 3 days.

[RWebb]

so James, if I've got this right, I can build a system like yours for about $1,000 and a similar Dell system would cost $2,000 (??)

[YTNUKLR]

Mac or PC, I would go with a ho-hum computer and a blazing Solid State Drive (SSD). Or a better computer with a RAID1 array of two (1TB) 7200rpm disk drives.

The average computer these days has enough processor power to do most demanding tasks. That said, I would try to get an Intel quad-core 45nm CPU and 4GB RAM. More RAM is probably not necessary.

The Apple Cinema 27" is THE display to have.

[red-beard]

Originally Posted by RWebb

so James, if I've got this right, I can build a system like yours for about $1,000 and a similar Dell system would cost $2,000 (??)

Yes

[RWebb]

thanks!

I am going to defer a decision until Black Friday & see what's up with pricing at Best Buy, online, etc. I always prefer to go in well-armed (with knowledge).

I see Costco has Dell 7100s on sale also.

[red-beard]

Randy,

use PassMark Software - CPU Benchmark Charts to help you understand the different processors and video cards. Also, the speed of your memory will have a direct effect on the speed of you system. 2 processors may have similar names, but they may be vastly different in capability. i7 800's vs, i7 900's are a good example.

All of the machines I'm building I use 1600 and higher for memory speed. If they are using DD2 memory, they are old machines. Only get a machine with DDR3. No less than 4GB of memory. I wouldn't take less than 1333 unless it is a SMOKING deal.

Make sure that the hard drives are 6GB/s and that the MB can handle 6 GB/s.

Make sure that the LAN speed is 1GB/s, as this is the new standard.

x64 operating system (Win 7 Home x64 is just fine!).

If you go Intel, get a quad core or at least and i5.

[RWebb]

thx - I printed that out

thinking about it, the hassle of transferring all my data is the biggest reason I have not upgraded this computer (Dell 8300) since 2004

[YTNUKLR]

Is it a SATA/SATA II drive?

If yes - just connect it to your new computer. SATA II is great (6GB/s) but really SATA (3GB/s) works fine.

If no - get an external PATA enclosure, put drive in there, connect to new computer, and let it run overnight copying files. Bonus is now you have a backup external drive of your data.

[RWebb]

no, I Xfer things semi-manually - keeps the data stream pure

(avoids extraneous cookies, OpSys crapola & etc.)

I finally threw away my old punch cards tho...

[imcarthur]

Originally Posted by RWebb

I finally threw away my old punch cards tho...

You had punch cards? (In my best Monty Python voice) We dreamed about punch cards . . .

Ian

[gtc]

Just buy an apple and be done with it.

[RWebb]

I bought one -- an Apple II.

Yes, my life was soooo much better after I could get my hands on a teletype terminal and didn't need to drop the punch cards in the street on the way to "The Computer Center."

but I digress...

[YTNUKLR]

[RWebb]

Costco has this Dell XPS 8100 for $1,200 (with monitor):

* Intel® Core™ i7 Processor 870 (2.93GHz)
* 8MB Cache
*
12GB DDR3 SDRAM at 1333MHz (2 x 2GB)(2 x 4GB)

Drives:

* 1TB 7200RPM SATA II Hard Drive
* 16X DVD+/-RW Drive

Dell ST2410B 24" Widescreen LCD

1GB AMD Radeon 5450 Graphics

* Integrated 10/100/1000 Ethernet
* Dell 1525 WLAN PCIe card with 11n mini-Card & external antenna

and various other gizmos (likely loaded with a bunch of crapware also)

Costco - Dell Studio XPS 8100 Core i7-870 2.93GHz 1GB AMD Graphics Desktop

- as per above, the DDR3 SDRAM at 1333MHz is a tad slow
- I dunno what a WLAN PCIe card is but I'm sure it is not a Wide Area LAN; there is an antenna, so I'd guess it is a WiFi of some sort.
- it has a SATA II Hard Drive; so the SATA II designation must mean it has the 6 Gb/sec. transfer rate (or does that just mean it is capable of that, but rerely reaches it...)

[red-beard]

Randy,

The processor is good. The 1333 MHz ram will be fine. Price looks about right. CPU is equal to the AMD Phenom II X6 1090. The Disk Drive and the rest are good.

The Video card is crap. It is a $39 card. The monitor resolution is not given.

Here is a similar system from Newegg, except that the Drive is definitely 6GB/s and the Video Card is smoking.



The rebate on the RAM is per module, so $75 off. So the total is $1060.

On the Dell, you get a machine ready to run, with a warranty, etc. But again, the video card is a disappointment.

[RWebb]

Thx again. You are making a good argument for me to fritter away more time on assembling a unit...

1. Will I need a wrist loop? I'll likely need to do it in a carpeted room.

2. Doing some searches, the Phenom II got some poor reviews (when first intro'd).
- comments on this?
e.g. AMD's Phenom - For suckers only | ZDNet

3. I am also getting the idea that you prefer newegg.com to other places(?)

4. Do you prefer any of the DIY Build-Your-Own-Cornputer.com sites to any others?

[RWebb]

motherboard & video card above NLA

not sure what I need to know to match things up & not sure I want to take the time to figure it all out...

this video card: HIS H577FK1GD Radeon HD 5770 (Juniper XT) 1GB 128-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card w/ Eyefinity

-has a higher effective clock rate, but only 1/2 the "memory interface" of the one James selected -- I assume this is a bandwidth spec. of some sort & maybe a big performance hit??
- also not clear to me on how you check compatibility of the GPU/Video card with the CPU & motherboard... a search on likely terms yields some guy posting that any graphics card that is "pci express x16" compatible will be fine; but who knows??

[RWebb]

not seeing much cyberMonday discounting at this level of machine from Costco, Dell, or Newegg...

[red-beard]