Getting a New Computer; what components to look for?

DH has approved me getting a new computer! yippee!!

what components do i want to include in my computer? i'll probably go with either a Dell or Gateway, as i've had good success w/both.

i do a lot with photos, am a memory hog (usually have lots of windows open), kids like to play music (iTunes and Limewire) and play online games.

i'm sure i'd want a DVD player/recorder...

i currently have a wired modem and router (have 2 compies connected to cable internet)... it was suggested i go wireless...

what else do i need to know? monitor secrets/specials/suggestions??

money is not limitless, so i'll have to work within those constraints - say under $1K??

 

Take my advise and DO NOT let your children install Limewire (LW) on your new pc.

If your children want to use LW, get a cheap pc just for the internet and use that. Image the partition pre LW install so that if anything goes wrong you can copy it back with little difficulty.

Good Luck

 

Re: Limewire

you're the 2nd to say so. i've got Limewire on my XP but uninstalled it. nothing changed, tho (compy still lost connectivity...) so we put it back.

what do you mean by this:

 

There are some programs that will copy entire partitions of HDD. Let us say that you use say a 40Gb HD and have it in one partition ie C:\.

You could install your o/s, drivers, basic progs. Prior to installing AV+FW or say LW, you would copy the whole partition say to another hard disk. I use a program called Partiton Magic but and becoming friendly to BootItNG.

In the event that your o/s gets infected badly, rather than finding a time consuming solution, delete and copy back the partition which you saved.

Of course any data should be stored in a separate partition and hence will be safe.

Appreciate that my brief answer has probably left you with many questions but you can google for some greater clarity.

Good Luck

 

risk_reversal

so have 2 HDs? leave the first one un-partitioned? or have the original HD in more than one partition and have the OS, drivers, etc, installed on the C drive and all other data on the others? thats how my computers are set up now.

 

Well let me explain it to you this way.

Most of my pcs run with the following set up.

I have 2 internal HDD in each pc. Some of my pcs are multiboot ie win98 / XP, testing Linux.

However let us assume that you will only be using one type of operating system say XP. Let us also assume that you buy (have) 2x 100Gb HDD. They do not need to be the same size since no raid.

First HDD is partitioned this way:
first partition bootable 40Gb ie what is called a Primary Active Partition with o/s, drivers, progs
second partition 60Gb would be a data partition called an Extended partition.

Second HDD
60G Extended Partition which is a copy of my extended partition on disc one.
Rest of 40Gb space, use either Partition Magic or BootItNG to copy the Primary Active Partition here. Because you cannot have more than one Primary Active Partition this partition would be hidden.

Now when your system boots and you go to my computer, you will see a C:\, D:\ & and E:\ drive. C:\ and D:\ are on your first HDD and E:\ on your second. The copy of the o/s which is on the 2nd HDD will not show to XP as it is hidden.

Now If C:\ ever gets corrupted, simple just delete that partition, your data is on D:\ & backed up on E:\ (on the second HD as copy) so untouched and then copy back the hidden primary partition on the second disk back back to the 1st HDD change that partition to active and you are back in business.

I hope I have explained it clearly.

Good Luck

 

Get Intel Core 2 Duo.

 

-intel core 2 duo (the e6300 is a good deal)
-1 gig of RAM (ddr2) will be fine for memory unless your kids like to play the latest and greatest games
-300gig hard drives arent that much these days, check into a seagate 7200.10
-a 7600GT video card will be enough for what your kids want to play (maybe find out what games they like to play, that will really determine what video card to get)
-a 500W or more PSU; Antec, OCZ, Thermaltake are all good (dont skimp here, it is the base for your whole system)
-A wireless card if you want to upgrade your whole network (a wireless router and a wireless card for every computer you want to connect to the net)

-OR-

You can go prebuilt; Dells arent as bad as people make them out to be

 

wow. y'all make it sound like i'm going to build a compy! wouldnt it be 'easier' just to buy a 'prebuilt'??? goy! i'm imagining all the messes i'd make putting tog my own... thats what i'm trying to avoid right now - all the messes on both my compies that i'm almost too afraid to try to fix!!!

 

well, i'm confused now... both Viper and Josh had component suggestions that i had NOT seen yesterday, saw them this morning, went away from this page, came back and now i do NOT see those suggestions!!! was i seeing things??? i KNOW i wasnt! Josh had listed TWO HDDs... i dont have a printer attached to this compy so i was going to view this thread on my other compy so i could print it out and now its gone!!

 

lol alright, just check out the Dell website and configure one to your liking, maybe still using our suggestions

 

but i dont see your suggestions... where did they go??

 

there ya go

 

thanks. i was sure i'd seen something after you said something about the prebuilt Dells.....

 

Re: Getting a New Computer; Wireless??

i am going w/a dell prebuilt. but i've got a question on the wirefless card...

if i'm currently 'wired', i'll need a wireless card for the computer we are going to keep and one in the new computer and then one wireless router?

i'll want a wireless modem, too, wont i?

 

modem doesnt need to be wiereless.

yea, you have the right idea. a card for each computer and a router; just makes sure u get a router that has the speed and range u want/need

 

Depends what games you are playing is the 1st thing i would ask. Big difference between solitaire and oblivion!

From personal experience i would recommend a system like this though for under $1000

PSU = 400w+ Antec PSU
RAM = 1Gb Corsair RAM

GPU = Nvidia 6800GT/GS or Nvidia 7600GT or Nvidia 7900GS depending what games you are playing, if its low spec things like solitaire or counterstrike etc then id stick with onboard graphics Nvidia 6100 or whatever it is that comes with MOBOs these days.

Processor = Athlon 3200+ Had good experience with these processors in the past and they are fairly cheap. Not alot of programs support dual core yet and dual core processors are alot dearer aswell than single core, so i would stick with this.

Hard Disk = Well id just dump whatever money you got leftover into the HD space and get as much as you can.

Just make sure u get a tower with good ventilation the xblade case is really cool and is well ventilated so i would recommend that if they still make em.

Hope this helps

 

ViperBoy - how do I know what speed I need?

Thank you. I am not going to build my own computer; i would have no clue on where to start. i'd just rather pay someone to build one for me and make sure everything i need is in it.

the new computer will be mine and i wont be playing games on it (not to say when i'm done w/it, they'll get it but not before...!).

will you please clarify your opinion on the processor? i've gotten several suggestions to get the Intel dual core...

also, what is the GPU and PSU?


The Dell I'm considering has this (Dimensions E520):

intel pentium D processor 805 w/Dual-Core tech (2.8 GHz, 800FSB)
window XP media center 2005
1 gb dual channel DDR2 SDRAM @ 533MHz-2DIMMs
250 gb HD Serial ATA w/DataBurst Cache
256GB nVidia Geforece 7300LE tuboCache (Video card)
netgear wireless router (WGR614DLNA-BN)
network interface - integrated 10/100 ehternet
DVD/CD-RW/DVD combo

its about 'average' of what had been suggested earlier... i see that is also has "Single TV tuner and remote"... not sure i need/want that. why would i?

 

The dell you suggested sounds good. Its a fairly solid all round system for what your going to be using it for since you aren't going to be playing games.

To be perfectly honest with you, if you looked up a pc store near your house that does custom pcs and gave them the spec you would proberly get it cheaper than from dell and proberly get a better system at the end of the day.

I would recommend going through a custom pc store if you arent going to build one yourself and consult with them. I really hate the dells and pc world computers that come with $100s worth of extra crap you don't need who needs a netgear wireless router or windows media center 2005.

Through a custom pc store they will make something similar to that dell pc for $750 max i would be surprised if dell do it cheaper. Also dell cases are crap!

Intel dual core processors are cheaper than athlon processors but athlon processors are higher quality, easier to overclock and don't fry so easily.

GPU is your graphics processing unit or something, means graphics anyway.

PSU is your power supply unit this is proberly the most important part of your system, any system is only as powerful as its PSU, no point in having fancy graphics cards and loads of RAM if you can't power it

Hope this helps.

 

That system you posted will be great, very solid computer right there.

You dont really NEED a certain speed, its mainly preference. For example, if you are a gamer and play online games frequently then you would want a fast router to reduce lag while playing. If you just want it for convenience and you use the computers for maybe casual gaming or maybe just web browsing and other internet tasks, a basic wireless router would be fine. They rate the routers at MBPS or megabytes per second; the higher the number the faster the router (and the higher the price ) With a Dell you dont need to worry about the PSU if you arent planning on upgrading the video card so set your mind at ease; buy the Dell and be happy. Thats exactly what prebuilts are for

The TV tuner card is for allowing you to watch TV on your computer. Kinda nifty, i have one and you can record shows and all but if its not a free add-on and you dont think you'd use it, knock it off the list and save a few bucks. Hope this helps

 

http://www.techbargains.com/dellcoupons.cfm

http://www.slickdeals.net

Check out these websites daily for coupons and other good deals on Dell computers.