Buying Computer, Please help:)

[Slave2Society7]

Hey guys I am going to buy a computer maybe from Dell right now because I get a tiny employee discount from them at the moment and NEED a newer computer. Anyways.. I need some help. My dad just bought a computer for like $400-$500 and it has Pentium 4 CPU 3.06GHz BUT computers I look at online that are like $900 have processors that are only like Intel® Core™ 2 Duo Processor E4400 (2MB L2 cache,2.0GHz,800FSB) my OLD OLD cpu is 1.2ghz and CPU's that are 1.8 or 2ghz do not seem like a major difference after all these years later.

I just want to get an awsome computer that will play all the new games well, runs really fast with many things open at once ect. with only $700 - $800 to spend. I don't need a monitor or speakers, but of course I need a good gfx card and sound card that will work with my new awsome speakers but don't know much about either cards anymore.

I'm sure some of you guys know the secrets to getting an awsome deal. Can you guys PLEASE help me get through this process so I can find a nice computer. Everyones feedback will be MUCH appreciated. Thanks I'll also be on AIM as CcPunk82 if you'd like to contact me that way. (I have other messenger programs if that will help you help me hehe) I'm obviously anxious and excited! lol

 

[sek3o1]

dell has some good deals and if you get a discount all the better for you.......the newer comps have core 2 duos or amds 2 there both have basically 2 processors and they have a much higher fsb then the older comps technology changes rapidly.........i would just go with the best comp from dell you can afford get the inspiron 531 take off the monitor and add the 8500 gt it will be like 750 bucks but u get 2 gigs of memory operating system 320 gig hard drive am2 4200 so thats what i think you should get.

 

[Slave2Society7]

Hey thanks for the info. I looked at what you were talking about and almost got that but then someone IMed me on AIM and told me about a cool site and helped me pick out a PC. Look at what will get for a little under $800:

CPU: (Socket AM2) AMD Athlonâ„¢64 X2 4000+ Dual-Core CPU w/ HyperTransport Technology
CD: Sony Q170A 18x Double Layer Dual Format DVD+-R/+-RW + CD-R/RW Drive [+5] (BLACK
HDD: Single Hard Drive (320GB SATA-II 3.0Gb/s 16MB Cache 7200RPM HDD [+29])
MOTHERBOARD: (Socket AM2)MSI K9N4 SLI-F nForce 500 SLI Chipset DDR2/800 SATA-II RAID MBoard w/ Dual 16x PCI-Express
MEMORY: (Req.DDR2 MainBoard)2GB (2x1GB) PC6400 DDR2/800 Dual Channel Memory [+90] (Corsair Value Select or Major Brand)
POWERSUPPLY: 500 Watts Power Supplies
SOUND: HIGH DEFINITION ON-BOARD 7.1 AUDIO
VIDEO: NVIDIA GeForce 7900 GS 256MB 16X PCI Express [+95] (Major Brand Powered by NVIDIA)

 

[Half Evil]

Thanks ok, but I bet you could get better thru dell with an employee type discount.

And yeah, the running rate might still not be high at all, but I GUARANTEE that 'wimpy' 2.0ghz processor would rape that pent 4.

Its a much new technology. New architecture. Core 2 duo is the newest and greatest technology out there.

Let me hop on dell, I will find something for you.

 

[Half Evil]

I was in the process, and figured out their lowest line is not expandable, so I will check out the XPS line, but for a prefabricated computer, you wont get what you want for that price. Its pretty low.

Ok, get the XPS 210 with whatever discount you can get, and then get this card, for your PCI-EX slot, because that only comes with integrated, and much better performance for price with something aftermarket, because that card sucks.

Cheap, but powerfull card
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=2207285&CatId=1560
Wont run everything on high, but it will run everything, I know I have one.

A bit more, but much better performance
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3041060&CatId=1560

 

[Slave2Society7]

Alrighty let me see whatcha find. I almost hit purchase on this site too. I have my credit card info in and everything. Only reason being.. on another forum people said that DELL rips ya off. I don't know though, let me know what ya find. Thanks
P.S. Of course the package comes with tuns of other things I chose, but nothing big like a monitor or speakers. I already have that stuff

 

[sek3o1]

idt dell rips you off i own a xps 700 it has never gave me ne problems and ive owned it for a year..........dell makes awesome computers for ppl on a budget so does emachines,and hp you just got to look around......but if u get a discount with dell i deff would go with them.

 

[Half Evil]

They do, and it is much cheaper to build your own, but if you have a discount like you say you do, then I would just do this. Depending how much % you get off.

 

[sek3o1]

well i mean u also get a warrenty with a computer manufactuer too....so you can play it save and do it that way....but building it yourself is wayyyy cheaper

 

[muz]

Well depending on how much discount you can get from dell i would go with them .
Basically you want a
Dual core processor
at least 1GB ram , most people are going for 2gb now
At least 250gb hard drive
Depending upon what you wanna do and if you wanna game you might also wanna get a decent video card , if not and you just want it for other non graphics intensive stuff get a cheap vid card or use onbaord
Also look to see if the mobo has a PCI express slot as that will aid future upgrades of video card , and how much ram and processor the board takes if possible as this again can aid future upgrading .

Hey thanks for the info. I looked at what you were talking about and almost got that but then someone IMed me on AIM and told me about a cool site and helped me pick out a PC. Look at what will get for a little under $800:

CPU: (Socket AM2) AMD Athlonâ„¢64 X2 4000+ Dual-Core CPU w/ HyperTransport Technology
CD: Sony Q170A 18x Double Layer Dual Format DVD+-R/+-RW + CD-R/RW Drive [+5] (BLACK
HDD: Single Hard Drive (320GB SATA-II 3.0Gb/s 16MB Cache 7200RPM HDD [+29])
MOTHERBOARD: (Socket AM2)MSI K9N4 SLI-F nForce 500 SLI Chipset DDR2/800 SATA-II RAID MBoard w/ Dual 16x PCI-Express
MEMORY: (Req.DDR2 MainBoard)2GB (2x1GB) PC6400 DDR2/800 Dual Channel Memory [+90] (Corsair Value Select or Major Brand)
POWERSUPPLY: 500 Watts Power Supplies
SOUND: HIGH DEFINITION ON-BOARD 7.1 AUDIO
VIDEO: NVIDIA GeForce 7900 GS 256MB 16X PCI Express [+95] (Major Brand Powered by NVIDIA)

I have that processor and i Jumped from a 2.8ghz pent 4 with 512mb ram to that with 1gb ram and i definatly saw the difference , everything loaded quicker , when i had 4 or 5 things open nothing lagged up . and my DVD rendering times more than halfed which was a good thing to me cos i was waiting 2 hours to render a DVD now its a 45 minute job which may still be long to some people but its a vast inmprovement and when i get more ram it should increase more as i will be running dual channel

And whatever processor you get will be better and i mean loads better than what you have now cos even if its only like 2.1ghz like mine that means 2 cores operating at 2.1ghz and so it is much faster