Desktop Question

My child's computer died a couple of weeks ago so I am piecing together another (everything in common except):

#1 i3 with 4 RAM (DDR3) slots capable of up to 32G of RAM (Right now I have enough for 20G (3 @4G)

OR

#2 i5 with 2 RAM (DDR3) slots capable up to (within a reasonable price range) 16G. With one 8G and 1 4G (12 ) total.

Which rout would you take. Either will fit my case and hold my GPU and power supply.

 

Ummm, I am not sure I understand your scenario or options.

For one, 3 x 4GB = 12GB, not 20GB. Typically, with most boards, dual-channel memory architecture is supported for the best memory performance. But that only happens with pairs of identical sticks. That said, more RAM is typically better than faster RAM.

Also, depending on the tasks being performed, 8GB is still considered the sweet spot for most computing tasks (like school and work projects, updating social media, email, viewing videos). By sweet spot, I mean less than 8GB and performance noticeably suffers, more than 8GB and gains in performance are negligible, if noticeable at all.

For serious gaming and graphics editing tasks, 16GB is typically considered the sweet spot.

Which i3 and which i5? That said, not sure that matters as I would take an i5 over an i3 just about any day of the week.

How old is your child and what will he or she be using this computer for?

What motherboard(s)?

 

She's 15 and doesn't play anything high end, except Raft, and it doesn't go well with her old computer.

Let me sum up. One computer has 2 slots for RAM (DDR3) it says HP and i5. The other one has 4 slots for RAM (DDR3) I have 4 sticks of 4G and 1 stick of 8G. The other motherboard is an Acer i3.

I research and it will mix so on the i5 I right now can do 12G. On the i3 I can do 20G.

Now that I noticed it was an Acer, I am sort of hesitant to go with it.

 

While 20GB sounds better than 12GB, 12GB is still a huge chunk of memory. It is highly unlikely performance gains, if any, would be noticeable (except on paper/benchmark tests) with the 20GB over the 12GB.

Not sure why one being an Acer would give you concern. Factory made computers are mostly just assemblies of parts made by someone else. And since they must comply with the same ATX, networking, graphics, and other I/O industry standards and protocols, competing models tend to be much more similar than different.

Both makers make good computers, and bad. That said, when it comes to Acer, their most budget minded computers are branded eMachine (with Gateway somewhere in the middle). So it would appear that is not a bottom tier, entry level Acer - a good thing. Sadly, HP does not have multiple brands under the HP logo so it is harder to tell without knowing all specs.

So if me, I would go with the computer that provides the best Windows 10 support. Kids, especially invincible, "it can't happen to me" teenagers, need the most secure, easy to keep updated, operating system possible. Unless going with Linux, that's W10.

So check HP's and Acer's websites for those computers. Check for the latest drivers and go with the one that is most compatible with W10 - that is my best advice. Checking the timestamps of the latest BIOS firmware may help. The computer released most recently is probably your best bet.

 

Well, it is usually because somebody long ago heard that someone heard from their x-girlfriend's cousin that they had a friend who knew someone who heard that someone had a problem once. And it went viral from there.

Frankly, I am pretty sure I have heard at one point or another that every brand should be avoided. That's one reason I started building my own many years ago.

 

LOL. I work sometimes on peoples computers and always felt with parts Asus was like The Grey Goose of vodka. MSI was the basic Absolut Vodka, and Acer was basically the Aristocrat of Vodka.

 

What I found odd is my HP machine has HP motherboard, my ASUS machine has ASUS motherboard, but the Gateway machine has Acer motherboard. I bought it used a few years back. Perhaps swapped out?

 

Gateway was acquired by Acer in 2007.

 

And another tidbit of information, eMachines was acquired by Gateway in 2004. So then when Gateway was acquired by Acer, the eMachines brand fell under the Acer umbrella too.

 

I always wondered what happened with Gateway. It's like Dell and HP came along and just slapped them down. Back in like 1999 I went to Gateway's website to build my system, it was a thing to do. They were the computer to have. My brother retired from Gateway back in the mid 2000's very comfortably, but didn't hurt that he also retired from the Air Force. I sit here struggling to make $70K a year when he sits in North Carolina wealthy with a paid off $400,000 house. UGGGHHHH!

Sorry didn't mean to go off on a tangent but it just seemed Gateway was the future of PCs.
I remember my first black and white square cow box.