I Need A New Computer

[Fyvve]

I need a new computer as my laptop is finally biting the dust. Here is what i want to do with my new computer: i want a desktop and I would like it to be a pvr. I think thats the most strenuous activity i will be doing with it. I mean look at it this way, my laptop is a 533mhz p3 and ive never really wished for any more speed in it. All the computers ive looked at are like 2.5 ghz or faster and i am wondering if i really need to pay for all that for what i want. I know someone is going to say just buy a tivo or the like but i really need a new computer for other things like the internet, ipod etc so i figure i might as well kill the two birds with one stone. So the help i am asking for is what do you guys think i need to be looking for as far as processor speed, RAM, HDD size, and anything else you can think of. And maybe even how much you think i shouyld be looking to spend. Oh and a flat panel is a must. Thanks!

 

[judge0]

Hi Fyvve! (there's a pun there somewhere )

Definitely flat panel, haven't regretted mine at all.

Minimum of 512 MB ram, 1 GB if you burn a lot of disks, or do movies

Don't do integrated video, you will be disappointed.

The more hard drive space the merrier. (80 GB or better).

As for CPU speeds, if you are moving up from 533 MHz, 2.5 GHz or better. (I kind of like Intel, but AMD is a good CPU as well. Stay away from Celeron or Sempron, though)

From everything I've heard, 64 bit processors are a little quirky and not so 'standard' yet.

From the sound of it, you like your music so a good sound system (Audigy is nice) would be in order.

A DVD+-RW drive as well (doubles as a CD burner), floppy drives aren't as important as they used to be.

Try to get USB ports on the front of the unit, handy for the ipod, GP32, GP2X etc.

The above runs about $1500 CAD, after taxes.

Enjoy the new system

 

[Goity]

I'd get a 64 bit CPU.
get yourself a flat panel with 16ms response time or greater.

 

[Axeman]

16ms or less you mean?



PVR eats the space, especially when you dont get round to watching it in a hurry. A 200Gb HDD is only £60 in the uk now, so no need to skimp there...

Get 1Gb of RAM if you can. Ram makes a bigger differene than processing speed.

A 64 bit CPU is a good investment and will see you further into the future, being not much more expensive these days.

None of my PCs even have a floppy drive anymore. A DVD writer (dual layer, dual format) is now only about £25-30. This is essential for archiving shows you dont get round to watching straight away to stop your HDD space being eaten alive.

Buy the best graphics card you can afford if you are going for games. If not, then any card will do.

Thats it really.

 

[Goity]

16ms or less you mean?



PVR eats the space, especially when you dont get round to watching it in a hurry. A 200Gb HDD is only £60 in the uk now, so no need to skimp there...

Get 1Gb of RAM if you can. Ram makes a bigger differene than processing speed.

A 64 bit CPU is a good investment and will see you further into the future, being not much more expensive these days.

None of my PCs even have a floppy drive anymore. A DVD writer (dual layer, dual format) is now only about £25-30. This is essential for archiving shows you dont get round to watching straight away to stop your HDD space being eaten alive.

Buy the best graphics card you can afford if you are going for games. If not, then any card will do.

Thats it really.

​

Oops... I meant it in the context of betterer. :S

 

[deadlychicken22]

I would recommend getting 1GB of RAM as it will speed up many things. I would also recommend getting an AMD processor (but not sempron or other cheap ones) as, from my experiences, they seem to work much better for their price range. You should probably be getting a 64-bit processor anyways (as it will quickly be becoming standard), and with AMD 64-bit is standard (just stay away from the cheap ones like sempron, go for the amd 64 3400+ or something comparable). Don't get a cheap motherboard because a good motherboard makes a good base for upgrading later. Make sure you have pci express and support for a lot of RAM (probably about 4GB). Finally, make sure you buy a real graphics card, DON'T get integrated graphics.

Hope this helps,
-ben

 

[skysnapper]

You could just follow the M$ mimum spec for the media center 2005

Optimal spec to play hidef tv at 1080i with surround sound

# Windows XP
# Windows Media Player 9 Series
# DirectX 9.0
# 3.0 GHz processor or equivalent (Any AMD or P4 false economy to get either the sempron or celeron, although tbh the sempron could handle media stuff quite easily.)
# 512 MB of RAM is enough (my last pc had 512meg and handle all media stuff etc fine, you can always upgrade to another 512MB at a later date.)
# 128 MB video card (Nvidia 6600 should do the and job less than $100 or £100 or 100 something euro, but as its a media oc i would look around at reviews for the one with the quietest fan.) My 6800GT is a noisy bitch and is soon to have its cooling system ripped off and replaced )
# DVD drive (Nec 3520, best dvd writers)
# 1920 x 1440 screen resolution (that refers to monitor or TV)
# 24-bit 96 kHz multichannel sound card ( Most motherboards have on board sound and
# 5.1 surround sound speaker system (There fine for media stuff, although MSI do have creative 7.1 chips built in which is quite nice)

Avoid a cheap ass psu, by something by entec, enermax, akasa, seasonic , hiper, there all pretty quiet too. Some of tehm are fanless so 100% silent

Hard drive wise seagate (5 year warrantly very reliable ) pretty quiet or Samsung for supreme quietness.

Case ig you can get one with 92mm or 120mm fan slots means you'll be able to cool your setup nice and quiet..

Have a look at the antec range they do some nice quiet case designs and come with a decent psu.

All depends how much you want to play. Just specced up a collegues PC at work to a pretty much a similar spec and came to £508 with a AMD 3200 64bit cpu and 1 gig of ram.
Could probably knck another £50 if i shopped around as i was just using one shop. But all parts were quality bits.

drop yourself down o a sempron and 512 meg and you be looking at the region of £400

 

[Fyvve]

Thanks guys for the great suggestions. I was thinking and hoping it wouldnt be as expensive as you guys said it would be. Its all a little out of my price range right now. I thought one of those Dell budget PCs would probably do the trick but i guess not. Thanks again for the suggestions.

 

[Cyclops]

Thanks guys for the great suggestions. I was thinking and hoping it wouldnt be as expensive as you guys said it would be. Its all a little out of my price range right now. I thought one of those Dell budget PCs would probably do the trick but i guess not. Thanks again for the suggestions.

​

LOL forget DELL(apart from those 24" monitors), esp if your a windows user Vista is coming out next year, and cheap hardware for it is not due for 2. If you have a monitor, or could get one, go cheap and chearful. My freind came around to fit a new raidiator, and I bought him a windows PC(it was cheaper than a plumber) about £200. It wasn't locked and loaded, and didn't contain all the bells and whistes, but he has gradually updated it, 256Mb--->1GB DVD--->DVD-RW 40GB--->200GB, he pops around every so often to fit a new bit, I expect he will be around in a month for a graphics card. In reality all machines have got pretty powerful, unless you are seriously into the latest and greatest games, or have other high processing requirements. Look on ebuyer or whatever and choose the most popular PC, and you wont be dissapointed. Don't pay more than £250

 

[lucoxade]

Thanks guys for the great suggestions. I was thinking and hoping it wouldnt be as expensive as you guys said it would be. Its all a little out of my price range right now. I thought one of those Dell budget PCs would probably do the trick but i guess not. Thanks again for the suggestions.

​

I couldn't recomend anything but a new Mac

If ur short on cash get a mac mini and use your old keyboard mouse and screen, £359 for a cute machine and a kick-ass operating system/software suite

 

[junker]

if you can fit it, buy a x800gt or gto. i think theyre still the best midrange cards.
also definitely get 1gb of decent ram like this http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?...N82E16820220037 it's good, but there are cheaper ones...don't go too cheap with memory, though.

 

[skysnapper]

if you can fit it, buy a x800gt or gto. i think theyre still the best midrange cards.
also definitely get 1gb of decent ram like this http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?...N82E16820220037 it's good, but there are cheaper ones...don't go too cheap with memory, though.

​

Thats over kill, basically he wants a media center type pc.

 

[Fyvve]

Im really starting to think i should just find like a 1.5ghz machine for cheap and then buy a tivo. Sounds like ti might be cheaper. I mean it seems pretty silly to pay all this money for a computer that is more powerful than i need for anything except when it is doing one thing (PVR). Does that make sense?

 

[Fyvve]

Oh and i am really not interested in a mac. Sorry, i hate them.

 

[Goity]

Im really starting to think i should just find like a 1.5ghz machine for cheap and then buy a tivo. Sounds like ti might be cheaper. I mean it seems pretty silly to pay all this money for a computer that is more powerful than i need for anything except when it is doing one thing (PVR). Does that make sense?

​

I've got an AMD Athlon 2200+, Radeon 9200se, 512mb RAM, 80gb HDD. Paid £350 last year, and it does great for what I need.

 

[GPJosh]

For the PVR part I used about $150 in parts and put it into computer I had laying around (AMD 2300+, 512MB RAM). It's stable, a rare feat with a DIY MCE machine, so guess recommended.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?...N82E16815116620 - TV Tuner w/ Nvidia DVD Decoder (Get this seperatly)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?...N82E16814145067 - Graphics Card for S-video or Componet Output (Has included converter)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?...N82E16880100851 - Remote and IR Reciever (3 second install - Plug it in )

You can get MCE from Microsoft, bundled with a new computer, or from TORRENTs of BITs.

Hope that helps you a bit.
Just add it to whatever Dell you might be concidering and it should work out.

 

[PinkSpider]

Hello. Can someone recommend me a good motherboard/ graphics card/ cpu combo. Im looking for over 2.5 ghz (64bit if possible) and erm a good graphics card.

I get paid today see and have a few hundred quid spare.

 

[junker]

over 2.5ghz p4 or a64, cuz over 2.5ghz a64 will be mad expensive.
i've been out of the loop for a while, but i think a good s939 nforce4(~$100), a venice 3200+(2.0ghz) a64 (~$150), and an x800gto(~$160) would make a good combo.