Computer for $1200- Need to have someone answer my last2 questions

[mushroom3]

A Dell

 

[harobikes333]

right... that doesn't help me At all. wows.....>_<

 

[Moose1309]

Vista Home Premium - about same price as XP
20" widescreen - if you're watching movies, DEFINITELY get widescreen, otherwise, regular 19" is fine
AMD 4200+
Seasonic S12-330. Anything more is massive overkill
Geforce 7900GS

etc.

I can be more specific when I have more time

 

[harobikes333]

I'm in no way trying to be a prick/ be offensive, I'm just responding to your reply, which I greatly appreciate!)

I've thought about getting home premium but ...bugs, etc....? Not sure if I want to mess with that... although support for XP will end sooner and Vista utilizes ram better....

I've been looking at 20" widescreen reviews and a ton of them said they just don't have a fast enough response time/ they aren't that great for watching movies ( getting reviews from tom's...) :? I'm still lost

I'm trying to find benchmarks that would compare say the 4200+ to intel's E6420 ???

I'm just worried about the 12v rail

Completely agree on the 7900GS


Thanks a ton for the feedback!

 

[Moose1309]

no offense taken bro, you should let me know ALL of your concerns. Then I'll tell you why you're wrong

j/k

Give me a sec, I'll put together a rig then i'll post it here
edit - E6420 will be faster

edit 2: You are right to be concerned about the 12v rail - it's just that the amount of juice available to you in the real world has EVERYTHING to do with the quality of the PSU, and NOTHING to do with the wattage rating. I'm running the S12-500 myself, which is a truly awesome PSU. It's just that I could have saved $50, and gotten just as good of a PSU, since I guarantee your rig won't pull over 200w DC when you're gaming. that's if you're not overclocking

edit 3: If anyone's complaining about slow response times on a modern LCD, they are either (a) an extremely picky hardcore gamer or (b) just repeating what they've heard from people who listened to what some hardcore gamer said. I've installed some cheap 20" WS monitors at work, and frankly they look better than my supposedly awesome HP L2335, which was $1200 two years ago. The ONLY thing you will notice response time on is gaming, not anything else. I play FPS almost daily and I have no problem with any 16ms display I've ever come across.

 

[harobikes333]

Thanks a ton, glad that you're easy going / very tolerant :thumbsup:

 

[Moose1309]

Here we go. The prices I put are approximate and include quoted shipping. This comes to $1279.50 with shipping, in my Newegg cart. If you shopped around, you could maybe get some things cheaper. Then you've got $45 in mail-in rebates. If you want cheaper - I suggest going AMD, there's some great deals there!

I splurged and got the E6600, since that's what I would get if I built a C2D right now (overclocking or not). Listen to others' suggestions for mobo, but that one seems popular. I humored you and got XP Home (There's no point to getting Pro unless you're on a corporate network). I cheaped out on the mouse and keyboard because what the hey. I also humored you and went with a 430 Watt power supply, because the 500 W was OOS. Believe me when I tell you the S12-430 is plenty of PSU - you could definitely get by with the 330 or 380 W model.

Gigabyte Mobo - very popular - $110

C2D E6600 - $235

G.Skill DDR2-667 - I like the box, it looks like designer condoms - $115

7900GS, yay - $160

Cooler Master Centurion - people seem to like it - $65

Seasonic S12-430 - see my comments above - $100

ViewSonic Q20WB - I haven't been shopping for these, but I don't think you'll be disappointed - $225

Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 320 GB - $80

Samsung DVD-RW drive - $30

Logitech X-230 - Not exactly audiophile, but they'll work - $53

Logitech Mouse/Keyboard combo - $20

XP Home - $95

 

[Moose1309]

From Legit Reviews:

As for which $185 Intel or AMD processor is better for desktop gaming rig it's a close call, but AMD pulled off more victories than Intel on the games that we benchmarked. Thanks to the huge price cut that AMD recently set in motion consumers get a ton for their money and the AMD Athlon 64 X2 5600+ processor is a heck of a bargain for those looking to build a gaming rig.

 

[harobikes333]

>_< I typed a huge reply and then closed the window thinking I had posted it... I hadn't :

OS: I already have XP home... I was just thinking of getting vista 32bit?? or xp professional. either way they are better at handling/utilizing dual cores than xp home from what I've read.

I'm looking at tom's hardware cpu charts but I'm trying to find a comparison of the 5600+ VS E4620 since they are around the same money give or take 10 bucks.

O and so 677 Ram, that would be running 1:1 on stock? :?

O and I looked at the article comparing the E4300 and the 5600+ ...

the 4300 is now down to 125 at mwave with shipping included

the 5600 i could only find at zzf for 184

 

[Moose1309]

Changing out the processor and motherboard for a X2 4800+ Brisbane and an Asus M2N, you save $120 ish - hardly seems worth it. If you want to save some, save $90 and go for an E4400.

 

[harobikes333]

E4400? what do think about the E4620?

the difference is:
4400 4620
2.0GHz 2.13GHz
800MHz 1066MHz
Allendale Conroe

:? O and I can go up to 1300 if I have to.

 

[harobikes333]

bump. Thanks again!

 

[ScrapSilicon]

Originally posted by: harobikes333
Building it for my parents and I to use and when I leave they sure as heck won't need a faster computer.

get 2 harddrives for your peace of mind

 

[harobikes333]

then Raid 1 it?

 

[trexpesto]

I heard that vista will be able to use up to 3 gb of ram pretty easily - and a usb flash drive.

 

[ViviTheMage]

get whats in my signature great system.

 

[harobikes333]

... I"m not planning on OCing....

 

[Moose1309]

Originally posted by: harobikes333
E4400? what do think about the E4620?

the difference is:
4400 4620
2.0GHz 2.13GHz
800MHz 1066MHz
Allendale Conroe

:? O and I can go up to 1300 if I have to.

Get whatever you want. First of all I'm assuming you're talking about a 6420, since I've never heard of E4620.

E4400 = 145 shipped
E6420 = 197 shipped
E6600 = 235 shipped

E6420 is a big buy for OCers since it's got all the cache. Since you're not OCing, 6600 will be faster. However maybe once you get the 6420, maybe you'll give in and OC it a bit

 

[harobikes333]

I've been looking over the parts list :

Monitor:
Acer AL2051W Black/Silver 20" 8ms DVI Widescreen-265 with s&h
or
SAMSUNG 206BW Black 20" 2 ms (GTG) DVI Widescreen-Free shipping and after $ 20mail in rebates its 239.99
The one you linked me to is pretty good too but it doesn't have the rep that these two have.

CPU- I know... decide already! :\ I'm just wondering which one is the most for my money if I don't ever OC and I still want to stay within around 1350MAX....

OS: any reason to get other than the 32bit Vista..? :? :\ donno

Thanks again!

Mark

 

[harobikes333]

next day bump

 

[KungFused]

If it was me, I'd get the Samsung 206BW, either Vista or XP, either one 32-bit, and the fastest processor I could fit into the budget. It looks like you keep getting good processor for your money up until the 2.4GHz E6600 which is $235. I'd definitely try to shoot for an E6x00 series, though, with the Conroe core and the quicker stock FSB.

C'mon, pull the trigger and buy already!

 

[harobikes333]

amen lol I do like that samsung... the rebate is sweet..... and more reviews...

Trying to figure out the OS

 

[KungFused]

Well your system will definitely be able to handle 32-bit Vista, but it's still kinda new so you might have some software compatibility issues. If your critical software is Vista-compatible (critical software being stuff you use all the time, yadda yadda) then I'd say go for Vista. When I get my computer I'll be loading XP-Pro, because I don't want to hassle with all the fun and exciting bugs that usually come with a new Microsoft OS, and because some of the software I use for research seems like it'd get cranky on Vista.

Did you say this machine was going to be for your parents? OS is gonna largely be a matter of user preference... if they're familiar and comfortable with XP, they might not wanna have to relearn how to do some things in Vista. But if they're gonna be using a new OS either way, I'd get Vista since that's the stuff that'll be around longer.

 

[harobikes333]

My parents are pretty computer illiterate anyway so I'll just add shortcuts to the programs they use ( email, firefox, etc. ) on the desktop and they're set^ ^

Right now I don't specifically use any any programs to speak up besides,

msn messenger, picasa ( google photo thing), firefox, limewire when my sister comes home...:\, spybot search and destroy, AVG, etc.. nothing that I'v really bought besides some games.

I currently don't have a game that even requires better than an old P4 so this computer will be an eye opener for games....

FYI. I have a HP running at 789MHz, 300RAM, integrated graphics...xp home. Web browsing is a pain lol.

 

[Moose1309]

vista 32. Like the man said, if something you use all the time doesn't like vista, go with XP, but it sounds like you'll be fine. stay away frm 64-bit just for compatibility issues, for now.

On your old HP - add some RAM, format, reinstall Windows. It'll be a whole new machine. Or - at least add the RAM. I literally always forget to back something up before a reformat.