Help: The best there is right now=?

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Ive had my computer since 1996 now, almost completely upgraded. No 3d card, 12 GB drive 400 MHz. Ill give you a moment to pick your jaws up.

Anyway, my mom has promised to get a new computer soon (she has said that for some time) but now it looks like its finaly going to happend. Neither me nor anyone in my family is skilled with computers, so we dont know what the best stuff out there is right now.

What I would like to know is:
What is the best computer (brand, drive and that kinda stuff), 3d card, sound card, videocard (same as 3d card ) and such. Basicly, what is the best computer with all components you could get out there, to a resonable price?

 

What can you afford?

You can find more information here at anandtech .
This guy basically works only with hardware issues.

 

It all depends on your budget. Two friends of mine recently bought new PCs. One paid $400, the other around $1500. If you're going for the "best" in all fields, you're definitely going above $1200. With small losses in certain areas, you can easily go down to $800 and get an excellent system.

I personally wouldn't go for a branded PC, as I like to get all the pieces together myself, but you may find it easier (though probably much more expensive) to get a Dell or something like that.

 

My mom is talking about some offer from Dell, that would cost us 15000 SEK, that would be something like $2000!!!! ROBBERY!

 

As I said (see 2 posts above), buying branded is much more expensive

You could probably get the very same computer for half that price if you were willing to put it together yourself. Or, better yet, if you can find a store that sells computer parts and that would put it together for you. Even if he takes as much as $200 in commission (which he won't), you'd still be saving on several hundred dollars.

If you're willing to do a bit of research, try to go through www.tomshardware.com and (As Shrikant suggested) www.anandtech.com

 

The only problem with me doing research about this kind of stuff is that I dont know anything about it! I wouldnt know what they are saying.

 

Lucky you; I was just making a list for a certain buddy of mine of what to buy. He doesn't know a thing about computers either.

Personally, I wouldn't consider anything else, as placing a few more euros now can make the machine last longer and improve the overall using experience.

 

Well if your mother's willing to shell out USD2000 for a system then you have nothing to worry about do you?

You could get just about a best possible gaming system you want for that kind of money.

For some pointers on getting your type of machine look here .

 

Ideally, building computers yourself is the way to get the best power to price ratio, but there are some pretty good computers to be found from companies that let you semi-customize computers they sell. I built my comp myself, but I've read a lot of reviews and the like about companies that build computers, so I'll include I bit about that I guess.

Now since you're located in Sweden I don't know how many of these are available, but I'll list them anyway

Dell-Usually stay away from these guys, but their XPS series are excellent computers from all accounts.

Alienware-Awesome, if you don't mind the inflated price.

Voodoo-Really powerful computers, but again, an inflated price.

Cyberpowerinc.com-Decent computers and great prices, although I heard they use really cheap components, like power supplies that die within days.

Ibuypower.com-Two guys from school have these, and one's worked great while the other got his motherboard replaced and has had no problems since then.

 

What is the approximate difference in price between buying a Dell that has been all made up vs knocking something together from a pile of components?

 

Thanks for the help guys. Keep it coming

 

I would agree with Wirhe 'cept some points...

- I would go with a Radeon graphics card.
- The mouse is a matter of preference as long it's optical and not wireless
- Mozilla Firefox instead of Mozilla (!!!)
- F-Secure Internet Security instead of ZoneAlarm 5 and Norton Antivirus
- And Debian instead of Mandrake

 

Actually, Mandrake does not require you to know anything about computers. Linux is there only to allow those "computer-monkeys" ( ) do the office work and surf the net without care. Considering security, it's much easier for them to use Linux rather than Windows; it's not only for computer-gurus.

If it were a same package, I'd say Dell would price you about 25% more of it (2500€) or offer "as good" Celeron for cheaper price. Either way, you lose.

@ Taza

Details, details... Mandrake won a comparison in a recent issue of 'Enter', so that would be my choise. Also, HEARD that nVidia has better Linux drivers than ATI, so that is why it should be GeForce. Other than that, it's just a matter of preference.

[ September 20, 2004, 12:46: Message edited by: Wirhe ]

 

I would say get what you can from Dell, they sell good computers dispite the price tag. I would -not- recommend building your own since you do not have much experience in that area. Last thing you want to do is waste a couple hundred dollars and crack the cpu core. . or use magnetic screwdrivers, or accidently shock the motherboard with static electricity. Just buy a prebuilt, will cost a bit more, but in the end is usually worth it. Also go with windows (service pack 1 ONLY), it is generally easier to use and is more compatable with games and such, even if it is less secure, that can be fixed with nortan firewall or the such.

 

@Taza: fully agreed!
@Wirhe: Don't know about comparisons, but I always liked Debian more. And besides, I found Debian to be even easier to use than Mandrake. And in any case both are MUCH easier to set up than Windows XP. Just install them, and that's it! No additional programs to install, no DLLs overwriting each other, no bizarre incomprehensible slowdowns, no security updates to get every couple of hours...

UNIX = Life Made Easy

 

I would build my own computer rather than going with a brand of prebuilt computers...unless you want an Alienware PC/Laptop.

If you build it yourself, the smallest part is also the most expensive...my Intel P4 EE costs over $1000 US, just for a chip the size of the touchpad on my laptop!

 

If you're willing to go $2000, I just priced a PC that is a heck of a lot better than what Wirhe just did.

It's pre-built: http://www.ibuypower.com, just customize it a bit.

As far as brands, I've always preferred Falcon Northwest (They're a little pricey, though) and IBuyPower. Dells are very good machines, but they tend to include a bunch of crap that I just want off the machine anyway.

If you want a pure gaming system, do not get Windows XP. It's too much of a resource hog. Windows 2000 Pro is better for gaming. If you want full multimedia, get WinXP Pro.

Here's a few other points where I'll disagree with some of the others:
-Norton Personal Firewall 2005 as your firewall
-Symantec AntiVirus 9.x Corporate Edition (if you can get it) as your virus scanner
-Hard Drive: Get a Western Digital instead of SeaGate
-Monitor: Optiquest or Sony Trinitron. Don't get an LCD-screen.
-Linux: If you want it, Gentoo not Mandrake.
-Mouse: Microsoft is fine, but I have had problems with them in the past. Logitech has been more reliable for me.
-Web Browser: Mozilla Firefox, but keep IE 6.01 around as I have found some pages that Mozilla can't handle.

I just tried that. The Dell was actually a few hundred bucks cheaper than buying all the components seperately.

No you can't. You can get a very good system for $2000, but not the absolute best.

 

Yes Windows 2000 Pro is the best version of Windows ever made, but keep in mind you might need a newer OS depending on how new your components are. I tried to install the Win 2000 Pro on my computer, and nothing worked, and there were crashes during install and whatnot. Although I felt bad about it, I went with Windows XP Pro, and it worked smooth as silk.

And remember, you can save money by buying the upgrade version of Windows.

My Computer(Reason I had probs with Win 2000 PRO)

AMD Athlon 3400+ 64-Bit
1024 MB Corsair XMS DDR-400 RAM
Visiontek XTASY Radeon X800 Pro 256Mb AGP
MSI K8N Neo Platinum Mobo Socket 754
18GB Seagate Cheetah 15,000 RPM
60GB Western Digital IDE 7,200 RPM
LSI Logic SCSI Card

EDIT: Always go with Mozilla over IE, it is so much better and you'll get much less spyware and whatnot.