PC recommendations needed ASAP

[Renee]

Dell - you can only buy from Dell.com, IMO. However - I have had a LOT of Dells and never a single problem. I get the higher-end Dells, though, not the store-bought cheapies with lesser equipment.

Building your own... done it... it's easy.. and you get exactly what you want. But - you do pay more in most cases, from my experience. Pick the right parts!!!

Andy you must be looking in the wrong places if you're paying more for a custom built computer, unless you're paying someone to build it for you which is probably why you're paying more - labor costs.

Don't you guys have the computer fairs there where the asian computer stores all have like markets and sell the computer hardware and software really cheap?

Agreed that you can only buy Dell from the dell site. They offer 24 hour support as far as I know too..

 

[greek39]

I wish Samsung made desktop PCs.

I must agree Samsung rocks. Just a suggestion Dave take a step back for moment and consider a custom build. They are much better than off the shelve PC's for so many reasons. One being most PC's ready to go contain so much marketing junk its enough to drive someone nuts.

I have a kickass Toshiba notebook and regret ever purchasing it. It acts like Toshiba is the owner. And there's the problem the store bought PC preloaded software.

greek39

 

[Engineer]

Don't you guys have the computer fairs there where the asian computer stores all have like markets and sell the computer hardware and software really cheap?

We probably do, but I have never been to one. I can't afford to wait for a show, though -- I need a new computer yesterday. ;D For the time being, I'm using Windows 7 on the Mac. I have a few days left before I need to ship the POS back.

Regarding pricing -- the computer my wife designed for me will end up being slightly more expensive than the Dell. But her custom design is also a little better than the Dell.... The point being, the price of a custom-made computer (in this case, anyway) isn't dramatically less than an off-the-shelf PC. Maybe if I was going with the simplest, cheapest setup (or if I could get the parts at a show) it would cost significantly less, but I want a fast processor, lots of RAM, hard drive space, and good graphics cards that will easily power 3 large widescreen monitors -- and I want it all very soon.

We're heading out to buy all the parts in a few minutes. ;D

 

[slotplayer]

Don't you guys have the computer fairs there where the asian computer stores all have like markets and sell the computer hardware and software really cheap?

I bought my first desktop at a computer fair back in 1986 for $800. It was a Intel 4.77MHZ processor that ran at 8MHZ in turbo mode.

Not sure where anyone else is located is but here in New England they have still them.

 

[Guard Dog]

Now I want to build a computer!!!!

Are you building server or workstation-quality? Any choice on motherboard? You may not be too far from CDW where you are at, BTW, and they have good prices (typically) on stuff.

Good luck! Maybe we should have an 'I built a PC' thread

 

[lots0]

I would recommend ibuypower.com
Even if you don't buy from them you can see what parts will go well with what on their site... mix, match and price compare.

I have used these guys last year to build some desk tops and a server, I have nothing but good things to say about them.

 

[TheGamblingGuru]

Newegg.com is another great site that I've bought parts from for several years now.
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[Guard Dog]

TigerDirect is also a good one... they have been doing it since the 'Computer Shopper' days where everyone built their PC's based upon ads from that magazine

I'm sure you already built and are having fun with your system, though, and your city has TONS of places to buy this stuff direct anyway. Good luck with your custom-built!

I'm jealous and just priced out a PC to take over for my massive laptop... my specs cost: Total $1,673.84

 

[Engineer]

The parts are all here, but it isn't put together yet.

We picked everything up at Micro Center and Frys Electronics.

The mother board is a Gigabyte brand with 2 PCIe 2.0 x16 slots for the graphics cards.

We got 2 graphics cards -- both Nvidia GeForce 9800 GT. Each card has 2 DVI connections, so I could have 4 monitors if I wanted (but I likely won't ever do that). Three 23" wide screens should be more than enough.

The chip is an Intel i7 860, and we picked up 8 GB of RAM.

The hard drive is a 1 terabyte Western Digital, Caviar Black, 7200 RPM. I thought about going with a solid state drive (SSD) for the operating system and the applications (everything would be lightning fast that way), but I decided to wait on the SSD for now. Maybe in a few months I'll upgrade to an SSD for the operating system and use the 1T Western Digital drive for storage only.

The case is medium-sized with 3 large fans, which will make the machine pretty quiet since larger fans don't need to spin as fast as small fans.

Total cost: around $1,300.

 

[TheGamblingGuru]

Awesome Dave! That sounds like a sweet system there buddy...8) ~ I like the way your wife thinks!
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[Engineer]

Thanks... Yeah, my wife is great. ;D She did all the research, and I just stood there looking dumb[er than usual] while she filled up the shopping cart. LOL. Left to my own devices, I probably would have ordered a custom-built PC online and paid 2-3 times as much.

Thanks, wife! :emoticon-0115-inlov (She's been following this thread.)

 

[Guard Dog]

The parts are all here, but it isn't put together yet.

We picked everything up at Micro Center and Frys Electronics.

The mother board is a Gigabyte brand with 2 PCIe 2.0 x16 slots for the graphics cards.

We got 2 graphics cards -- both Nvidia GeForce 9800 GT. Each card has 2 DVI connections, so I could have 4 monitors if I wanted (but I likely won't ever do that). Three 23" wide screens should be more than enough.

The chip is an Intel i7 860, and we picked up 8 GB of RAM.

The hard drive is a 1 terabyte Western Digital, Caviar Black, 7200 RPM. I thought about going with a solid state drive (SSD) for the operating system and the applications (everything would be lightning fast that way), but I decided to wait on the SSD for now. Maybe in a few months I'll upgrade to an SSD for the operating system and use the 1T Western Digital drive for storage only.

The case is medium-sized with 3 large fans, which will make the machine pretty quiet since larger fans don't need to spin as fast as small fans.

Total cost: around $1,300.

Sounds like your wife knows what she is doing!!

Don't forget that, in order to make use of that 8GB Ram, you will want a 64-bit OS. 4GB is the max for 32 bit (Windows 7). You will need at least the Home Basic version to access more than 4GB.


I will be ordering parts for my new (personal) machine as soon as my affy $$ hits the account You got the 'bug' in me!

 

[Engineer]

LOL -- have fun ordering and building your machine! ;D

Yep, she will install the 64 bit version to take advantage of the RAM.

 

[WCD Admin]

Only here for a second, but here is my 2 cents

GET A WATER COOLED SYSTEM WITH NO FANS you will thank me for this (I think)

I had a Sony Vaio which was watercoooled and is now the home PC for media, etc, and I replaced it with a Dell Xeon server, some thing that cost me quite a bit of dough. Its loud and obnoxious. The water cool systems basically emit no noise. I love them. I still need a new system. One day in the future this will be my thread.

Ok, yes I am out of coffee. must leave

 

[Renee]

This is sad as hell, but reading all this stuff makes me excited....

I'm a bigger nerd than I thought

 

[Engineer]

GET A WATER COOLED SYSTEM WITH NO FANS you will thank me for this (I think)

Thanks for the tip -- perhaps Version 2.0 will have water cooling and a solid state drive. ;D For now, I'm very happy with what I have. It's been working perfectly, and it is a lot quieter than my old HP.

I still have a lot of catching up to do, but I'm getting there.

 

[bonusgeek]

I've been wanting to get a new computer myself and I ended up going with the Lenovo after reading this thread. So far its been great and much more efficient than my toshiba so thanks for whoever recommended it.

 

[Aussie-Dave]

Thanks, wife! :emoticon-0115-inlov

See Dave (all) they are good for some other things too ;D

Promise to refrain from adding a PC/woman joke right here...


Cheers

Dave