OT computers
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Gold Member Username: Cenus4, 2 0 Post Number: 2355 Registered: Jan-05 | ok im getting a new computer since were upgradeing to dsl, so what kind of specs should i look for in a new computer, so far im looking for pentium 4 processor, windows xp, atleast 512mb ram, 100gb hard drive, anything else i should look for in specs? and were trying to keep it below $500 for a tower. |
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Silver Member Username: GrebnereonPost Number: 239 Registered: Mar-06 | dont get a dell, thats all i got to say |
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Gold Member Username: Dustin3Tigard, OR U.S. Post Number: 3797 Registered: Oct-05 | hey, jexx and berny know alot bout comps. i'll tell them to come over  |
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Gold Member Username: DrsmithMontana USA Post Number: 1099 Registered: Nov-04 | whats wrong with dell |
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Silver Member Username: MakmillionMN United States Post Number: 829 Registered: Apr-06 | get alot of ram... ive got 768mb and i desire more :P |
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Gold Member Username: LbecknerTulsa, Ok Usa Post Number: 1153 Registered: Oct-04 | sorry Dustin. thats not much of a system. I have my last computer sitting under the desk that has more power than that. i'll sell it to you for way less than $500. |
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Gold Member Username: Chaunb3400Huntsville, Alabama U.S. Post Number: 9310 Registered: Jul-05 | i dont like intel processors and get as much hard drive space and ram as u can afford....it might be overkill...but u will never run out of space |
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Gold Member Username: LbecknerTulsa, Ok Usa Post Number: 1155 Registered: Oct-04 | yeah, AMD all the way, but whats this hype about the Intel Duo CPU? I wonder how it does? |
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Platinum Member Username: Project6Post Number: 11250 Registered: Dec-03 | A better idea would be to get an external hard drive. Having to use the built in hard drive for storage slows down the PC with lots of clutter. An external hard drive will (almost) ensure that your data is separted from any malady that will strike the PC. |
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Silver Member Username: JohnfiacIL USA Post Number: 528 Registered: Mar-06 | Dell is sweet, i have 2 of em, a laptop and a desktop... I have a Dual Core 3.0GHz with 3gb ram, (2) 250Gb SATA harddrives and a 256mb radeon x600se PCIe in the workstation i payed only 800 :p and the laptop, is Intel Duo 1.66GHz also dualcore, 1gb ram, 100gb harddrive and 128Mb radeon x1300 only payed 750 :p dell is awesome, and as for the amd vs intel debate, i used to follow amd but now i am intel, they have surpassed amd in both quality and price. Compare a processor speeds,performance and price.. Intel always wins. AMD isnt a bad chip dont get me wrong, you will pay 2x's as much for a amd dualcore compared to a intel dual core. Amd is better known in the gaming world.. but i dont think many people have tried the newer intel dual core pprocessors they are super sweet for there price and great performance... and if you get to the topic of Intel Xeon processors.......those are badddd |
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Gold Member Username: Cenus4, 2 0 Post Number: 2356 Registered: Jan-05 | lucas, thats why i need some help i really don't know that much about compter specs. |
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Silver Member Username: BernymacRialto, CA United States Post Number: 363 Registered: Sep-04 | Build your own computer. my 2 cents =). |
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Silver Member Username: MakmillionMN United States Post Number: 864 Registered: Apr-06 | ^^^agreed! It could cost a bit more for you to build it with parts from a retail store.. so shop online at reputable(spelling?) dealers.. like newegg and make sure you get quality, don't skimp on the hardware. you might also think about building a machine capable of running win/vista.. it looks like a pretty sweet program |
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Silver Member Username: JohnfiacIL USA Post Number: 537 Registered: Mar-06 | Dustin, dont listen to them goto Dells website and search throught the refurbs u can find awesome systems for pretty cheap, and they all come with a year warranty.. and if you want u can extend the warranty, even to the point where u can tell them u spilled water on your computer and they will fix it hasstle free i even see pentium D's in systems for under 500$ with pcie 128mb video cards and 80gb + harddrives all with atleast 512 ram.... those are steals http://outlet.us.dell.com/ARBOnlineSales/topics/global.aspx/arb/online/en/Invent orySearch?c=us&cs=22&l=en&s=dfh check it out, and if you have good credit... you can get the PC on credit tooo |
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Silver Member Username: JohnfiacIL USA Post Number: 538 Registered: Mar-06 | Building your own computer costs ALOT when you are going for performance and all, he is trying to keep it around 500$, you will have a crap PC building it yourself for that price range. (Thats why i am suggesting dell refurbs, half are used other arent, other have dents\scratchs but all of them i ordered that said dent\scratch had no damage what so ever, and others were just built and never shipped because of canceled order and well software and hardware cant be resold as new once used ) Mick, i wouldnt suggest using Windows Vista unless it is better now, i was running windows vista beta realease about 6 months ago (MSDN realease) and it would crash over and over, they may have fixed those issues by now, but really if your using the machine for gaming and such, go with windows XP, vista is a resource hog. And both of my PC's will support it :p i seen some on the refurb page for as cheap as 400$ that would be able to support it... |
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Silver Member Username: JohnfiacIL USA Post Number: 539 Registered: Mar-06 | building a pc like that will cost..... 100~ for video card 100~ for motherboard 100~ for good processor 40~ for sound card if not onboard. 40~ for ethernet adapter if not onboard. 50~ PC case 50~ Power Supply 50-100~ Cd-rom 30~ for 3.5" Floppy (if desired) 50~ 512mb ram my figures may be off but that is a rought estimate of basic prices for halfway decent hardware... tell me what you think is easyier? |
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Gold Member Username: LbecknerTulsa, Ok Usa Post Number: 1159 Registered: Oct-04 | http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16883102669 |
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Gold Member Username: LbecknerTulsa, Ok Usa Post Number: 1160 Registered: Oct-04 | you may want to stick more ram in it and a better video card. |
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Gold Member Username: LbecknerTulsa, Ok Usa Post Number: 1161 Registered: Oct-04 | DUDE DONT GET A DELL. They use cheap mobo's and ram. I worked at a computer store and a guy got a dell against my advice. there was a game that wouldn't run on it. i swapped the ram out and the game worked. dell makes thousands of those computers and if they can save a few cents by buying cheap ram and motherboards then they will do it. the few cents adds up for them if they are making thousands of computers. |
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Gold Member Username: TheelfkeeperStockbridge, GA USA Post Number: 3179 Registered: Feb-05 | www.Tigerdirect.com build your own, only get what you need. you really don't need top of the line on half the stuff. just make sure you got a ton of RAM and a deceint processor speed. |
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Silver Member Username: JohnfiacIL USA Post Number: 543 Registered: Mar-06 | Ok, well think about this..... they have warranty.. they will send new ram and u send the old struff back with shipping provided by them...and everytime i get ram its always kensington ram from dell... Kensington = Good Ram You must not have seen dell p's like i have the pos ones of course will be a pos |
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Silver Member Username: J_baby15Kentucky Post Number: 610 Registered: Feb-06 | I dont like Dell's simply b/c about 60-70% of them that I have to work on at the shop are Dell's, and that kinda gets old, same problems over and over. I've actually startd to like iMacs, but i wouldnt suggest that. Im gunna say your best bet is to build one...but did anyone figure in the price of software tho when you said building it?? Thats gunna add to it....So i dont think he'll have the money. |
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Gold Member Username: LbecknerTulsa, Ok Usa Post Number: 1163 Registered: Oct-04 | yeah im sure that the high-end dells are good. i think that the high-ends even use asus mobo's, but he said that he had $500. i personally would buildmy own, but yeah look at tiger direct they have good deals on already built machines. my buddy bought a good one from tiger direct cheap. just shop around man. |
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Gold Member Username: Alias747MN Post Number: 1376 Registered: Apr-05 | I agree, computers are SOOOO easy to build yourself these days and then you can decide what you want to put in them. I just so happen to have a complete computer system that I am trying to get rid of. I was going to be ebaying all the peices individually anyway so if you just want some of the parts or the whole thing, I can hook you up. This is what I got (I built this sytem from the ground up myself): ~AMD 3700+ socket 939 processor (AMD pwns Intel) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819103622 ~2 gb of Dual Channel Corsair ram (4x512) ~Asrock dual motherbaord (asarock is a Asus company) ~(2) 80gb SATA hard drives. ~X300 SE PCI-Express video card(not good for high end games) ~Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS (AWESOME soundcard, amazing sound quality.) ~DVD Burner ~CD Burner ~19" BenQ Flat panel LCD (Practically brand new.) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16824014090 ~Blue case with blue LED Fans I think that is all i got lol. Anyway if you are interested in the whole thing or just parts drop me a line: alias747@hotmail.com If anyone else is interested in anything feel free to contact me as well. |
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Bronze Member Username: LikeapumaWashington/Utah Post Number: 56 Registered: Aug-06 | Hey Dustin, what do you use your computer for mostly? If you usually just surf the net, and download music for cd's and use word for typing, then everything you listed is plenty good. If you do a lot of things like photo editing, or program coding, of usually run many programs at once, then going up to 1 Gig of Ram would be very helpful. Otherwise, just stick with what you listed. You can get a machine like that for very little money, and it'll do everything you need. -C |
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Gold Member Username: B101Queen City, NC USA Post Number: 3604 Registered: Sep-05 | lol Im actually a computer engineer also as electrical.... any computer is good, its a pc... lol personally I build my pcs, BETTER than DELL or ANY MANUFACTURER.... Im not just braggin either, I can build them in 15 mins, installing the OS is the longest part.... and please lets not start a INTEL VS AMD.... thats been discussed for many years... personally INTEL P4 with HT anyday.... with atleast 1GB or DDR2 memory.... and what makes a PC FAST is not the processors speed or GHZ.... its the processors FSB (front side bus) normally in MHZ not GHZ! |
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Silver Member Username: JohnfiacIL USA Post Number: 548 Registered: Mar-06 | ya computers are easy to build,(i also work as computer\networking tech. so i do it for a living too) for 500$ i doubt he can build one better then what dell offers on there refurb page.. have nay of you even checked it out? VERY CHEAP dell takes pretty much all the software,OS and all and eats the price from the software because well... you cant resell and it has aready been installed for sombody else regardless of if they got the computer or not, i mean there is a small charge but it clost to nithing for the software..BTW its the older dells with problems, mostly Optiplex if anything will give you ram problems and these are the GX270\280's i have worked with damn near every models delll has and there top of the line stuff.. that may be why i find dell good... BTW i never had one problem with my dell's.. either did my dad\sisters and all them have dells to :p |
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Silver Member Username: MixmastaspigCanada, Canada Canada Post Number: 764 Registered: Sep-05 | I run: Dual AMD 4600+ processors and its wicked as noted above (AMD pwns pentium) 2gigs of ram (1x2g sticks) 320gig hard drive...soon to be 570, add my old 250 Cheap Nvidia 7700 le or GS card...not great 19" lcd flat screen 8ms repsonse time I paid $1299 for everything noted above (Canadian)a friend made his comp (from scratch) for over 2 grand and my store bought one is better now and he had his computer for about 4-5 months before I bought mine.... Basically anythign more than 2 gigs of ram is used for digital imaging and such as more ram is almost unnecessary with little gains from it....unless you rip a dvd, while playing a game, with 10 programs running.....This is what I was told from a computer buddy of mine...so it might not be exaclty true Also B how can you find your computers FSB speed??? thanks |
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Gold Member Username: LbecknerTulsa, Ok Usa Post Number: 1167 Registered: Oct-04 | Oh no you don't Isaac! I offered to sell mine first. Mine is +1 faster and will sell for -1 $. lol. |
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Gold Member Username: Safe_crackerChicago, IL US Post Number: 1626 Registered: Jan-06 | The P4's are obsolete. The Intel Centrino duo2 is a much better processor add that with about 4 gigs of dual channel ram and you got a winner. I no longer have a need for a desktop, so i use a brand new Dell XPS M1210 2.33 ghz with 4 gigs of shared dual channel ram, 85whr battery, bluetooth, Wifi, DVD/RW combo burner and a 160gig 7200 HD, ya that is a 160 GIGS just sitting on your lap, lol. This thing weighs in at a mear 4.3 lbs and kicks @ss. It cost me almost $2800 but what the hey, I can take it anywhere and snag someones wireless connection for free, lol. I have two other dell laptops and they all perform flawlessly (lattitudes). Polo.. |
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Silver Member Username: Th3pwn3rChicago, Illinois U.S.A Post Number: 475 Registered: Jul-06 | Stay away from Dell and Gateway.I have owned 1 of each and had plenty of problems.Everyone I know that has had either of those two brands of computers has had problems.Building is a great idea but only if you know what you are doing.Pick up a copy of MaximumPC( www.maximumpc.com ) and they should have a step by step guide on how to build a budget pc from scratch.As far as all you biased guys saying AMD is better than Intel you're all wrong.Each brand has its up and downfalls.Intel makes a much better multi-tasker,while AMD's processor's focus on one APP better.Oh and btw,I'm curious about this...have any of you seen a AMD processor over-clocked past 6GHZ?I saw in Intel pushing 6.5 GHZ(Unstable) and running smooth at 5.5GHZ(Stable) and no...it didn't over heat, this was all done using a Phase Change Cooler(Vapo-Chill).But building is the best way to go |
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Gold Member Username: Basshead86Try Google Post Number: 6677 Registered: Aug-05 | i own a Dell and have never had any problems......must be the users..... |
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Gold Member Username: B101Queen City, NC USA Post Number: 3607 Registered: Sep-05 | polo, u cant just make a wireless card just win u over to dell... lol  but yea 160gb is big on a laptop, but they make bigger sizes... if u had a laptop shell, for a cheaper price, u can make a better laptop.... Mike the Front Side Bus, is always on the box of the processor, u must also match the motherboards, FSB also... make sure its the same or faster... |
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Gold Member Username: B101Queen City, NC USA Post Number: 3608 Registered: Sep-05 | i love it how EVERYONE knows about computers... I can give yall a test right now... LOL trust me, most wont make it through these classes... "COMPUTERS" |
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Gold Member Username: Safe_crackerChicago, IL US Post Number: 1627 Registered: Jan-06 | B I know that but this laptop is faster than a lot of desktops, guarranteed plus it is 4.3 lbs and totally portable.Plug your T lab into your desktop and bring it with, NUFF SAID, lol. I am a portability freak because I travel a lot so I need access with me at all times, so I have completely done away with a dektop, so has many others. The only thing a laptop cannot replace is a gaming platform but they are working on that. Polo.. |
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Silver Member Username: J_baby15Kentucky Post Number: 611 Registered: Feb-06 | B man i didnt know you was a cpu engineer. I'm startin college next year to major in computer engineering and networking. |
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Gold Member Username: RedlinerWilmington, Ma Post Number: 2630 Registered: Jun-05 | i just bought a dell laptop and have been using dell desktops for like 5 years never had a problem with them |
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Silver Member Username: JohnfiacIL USA Post Number: 550 Registered: Mar-06 | In most cases it is the user also i think, sh!t goes defective when it overheats just like AMPS!! if you dont keep good care on your computer (blowing out the dust, good cooling in the room ect of course you can end up having hardware problems, and as for software problems... dont even look at the manufacturer that would just be nUb activity going on (a dumb user) Polo, the Code Duo is awesome i love it my laptop is faster then all of my friends workstations, and they payed more then i did!! lol but none of them beat my workstation yet. Overall i still think intel surpassed AMD about a year ago.. BTW dell offers AMD now too.. B ill pass your test, do i get your system for doing so? lol MARK, to check your FSB that you are running, reboot your computer and when you see your processor info it will say xxxFSB or xxxxFSB x's being the numbers, also another thing you gotta watch for it the cache, the bigger the better it will also say that when booting and bios POST, if you dont see it in there during your computer booting up enter bios and goto display system\processor information but dont change anything if you dont kno what your doing or you can fux somthing up in there |
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Silver Member Username: MixmastaspigCanada, Canada Canada Post Number: 766 Registered: Sep-05 | lol its Mike but thanks for the help! Robert, I did some lab requirements thing with my comptuer and it says "You have 2.40GHz performance rated at 6.90GHz" I have dual AMD 4600+ so does this mean anything?  |
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Silver Member Username: JohnfiacIL USA Post Number: 574 Registered: Mar-06 | how does it rate it at 6.9GHz? even with dual core its not like that, the only thing the secord core\ or second processor is for is so it can process 2 things at once instead of 2... am i right? |
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Silver Member Username: BernymacRialto, CA United States Post Number: 373 Registered: Sep-04 | www.pcclub.com or look up frys electronics. There might be some other sites for other things. But I guess buy a "company" based computer rather than build one yourself. I rather build my own since I know what I want and how I want it and so forth. |
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Silver Member Username: MixmastaspigCanada, Canada Canada Post Number: 769 Registered: Sep-05 | I went through gamespot to find out the requirements and I did the requirement test there, done by system requirements lab http://www.systemrequirementslab.com/referrer/srtest I bought my computer, made sure I knew what was in it. Got my computer litterate buddy to look at it, They actually let him open it up and look at everything and he told me to get it as he built his computer from scratch as well and he said that this one is better than his in all aspects (besides video card) and he paid about $700 more than I did about 4 months ago. |
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Gold Member Username: Cenus4, 2 0 Post Number: 2357 Registered: Jan-05 | LOL well thanks for all the info, but i guess i didn't need it, cause yesterday when i got home my dads GF allready bought a new computer, http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.gsp?product_id=5007497 so pretty much this whole thread is useless for me, but it was great read on what to look for in computers. |
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