Help me with a selection on pc for business and pleasure

[Jbroad572]

I am starting a business and will need a reliable pc. I currently only use a Powerbook, which I love to death, but the software I'll be running will only run on pc. So I'm in the market to build. I was thinking about a cheap dell, but know I can get a better bang for the buck if I build. I do need to run dual monitors, would like something speedy, nice video and sound card. I don't came much, and if I do in the future it will be flight simulators, which I really miss. I'm guessing I will have budget of about $1500 for this comp. My Mac has only froze up twice in 6 months. I would love that for the pc as well. If push come to shove, I may sell the PB and add some more money to the pc and purchase a pc laptop . I haven't been to up-to-date on the latest pc components, so I was just hoping to get your opinions.

 

[Fern]

What kinda business? An accounting business will require different capabilities than graphic design.

I wholeheartedly agree that it's better/cheaper to build your own. The only caveat is that bundled software can make the Dell etc cheaper. But that depends on what software you need matched up with they offer. So do take the bundled software possibility into your analysis.

 

[Imdmn04]

It's very hard to beat DELL's deal unless you wait throughout the year for various hot deal to show up for each individual parts.
Buy DELL coupons from eBay and combine them with their periodic 10 or 15 percent offers, I doubt you can even come close to their price/performance ratio, because many times they include a lcd monitor with a system for as little as 500 or 600 bucks.

 

[Jbroad572]

Double post! Sorry!

 

[Jbroad572]

Well I would really like to build my own custom PC, but Dell is an option. I plan on running dual 19" LCD's, so the $1500 budget is for the comp alone. My business is going to be with freight brokering and also handling my family's trucking company. So I have to buy some software to handle the software and customer accounts or what not. Broker Lite, Arcline 2000, are a few programs I'll be running. I want a Powerhouse of course. I will probably order the monitors from dell, hopefully I can find some good coupons for that. So my biggest concern is reliability, but like I mentioned I want it to be able to perform while gaming and other common computer tasks. I just want the best comp for the money with the best parts I can afford. I really want a cool see through case (main reason ).

 

[AIWGuru]

Take a look at anandtech's system building guides...

 

[Cerb]

Originally posted by: AIWGuru
Take a look at anandtech's system building guides...

Ditto. If $1500 does not include monitor, you can make a nice setup.
Go through the guides, then come back with a basic system spec'd out from the likes of Newegg, and ask for a critique. That's what we do when we're bored and have internet access .

 

[Dutchmaster420]

hey jbroad tryed sending you a pm but you have it disable

 

[addragyn]

If you want to keep using your PowerBook just hookup a cheap XP box and use the excellent & free MS Remote Desktop Client for Mac. There's also VPC. You might already even have an XP Pro system at the company you can use RDC with.

A stable business computer and gaming machine is not something I would, or let anybody I was adminning, mix.

For $1500 I'd beef up the Mac to run VPC or get a cheap XP Pro box and drop the rest into a console and a projector.

 

[Jbroad572]

Originally posted by: addragyn


A stable business computer and gaming machine is not something I would, or let anybody I was adminning, mix.

.

Argh!! Don't tell me that, please! Why or why not? Why couldn't a machine that's capapble of performing very good at today's and future games be stable enough to be a business computer?
Dutchmaster420: I sent you a PM!
Also, could someone point me to the correct guides for that everyone speaks of?

 

[Jbroad572]

Nevermind found the guides. I'll look harder next time

 

[Cerb]

Originally posted by: Jbroad572

Originally posted by: addragyn


A stable business computer and gaming machine is not something I would, or let anybody I was adminning, mix.

.

Argh!! Don't tell me that, please! Why or why not? Why couldn't a machine that's capapble of performing very good at today's and future games be stable enough to be a business computer?
Dutchmaster420: I sent you a PM!
Also, could someone point me to the correct guides for that everyone speaks of?

Since you found the guides...
I have a stable, overclocked gaming PC. Why anyone would think a POS crash-a-holic office PC to be better?
If it doesn't crash a lot, then all an office PC lacks for gaming is a good video card.

Now, if you want to make 2 PCs, that's fine, but there's no reason a gaming PC would be inferior for any other uses.

 

[Abydos]

I just read this thread, and from the sound of it, I think you'd do well with a rig that had about 1GB of memory (for handling the databases, maybe more if it fits into your budget) and a P4 for the hyperthreading, since you want to be running more than one program at a time. Building or buying, I'd make sure you had at least those bases covered. Hope that helps you.

 

[Cerb]

Originally posted by: Abydos
I just read this thread, and from the sound of it, I think you'd do well with a rig that had about 1GB of memory (for handling the databases, maybe more if it fits into your budget) and a P4 for the hyperthreading, since you want to be running more than one program at a time. Building or buying, I'd make sure you had at least those bases covered. Hope that helps you.

Running more than one program at a time, HT only really helps with bandiwth-heavy apps. Overall, platform choice is a wash. RAM will make a difference (mainly the amount), as will hard drive, video card, and sound, but not CPU series choice (at least between 754 and 478). Oh, and case.

 

[Abydos]

Good point Cerb.:beer: If you're not going to be doing much digital video editing/encoding ect... hyperthreading won't really help out. I'm not too clear as to what specific programs you plan on using on this system. Having enough memory is still going to be very important for working with your databases. That $1500.00 budget allows for some primo parts though.

 

[addragyn]

Originally posted by: Jbroad572

Originally posted by: addragyn


A stable business computer and gaming machine is not something I would, or let anybody I was adminning, mix.

.

Argh!! Don't tell me that, please! Why or why not? Why couldn't a machine that's capapble of performing very good at today's and future games be stable enough to be a business computer?
Dutchmaster420: I sent you a PM!
Also, could someone point me to the correct guides for that everyone speaks of?

It's not the HW I'm talking about.