New system for a friend

[theMan]

So, my friend asked me to help him in buying a new computer. But, the problem is, he wants to buy a prebuilt computer, and i only have experience in building computers. So, we were looking at some computers from Dell and HP.

He will be gaming, and doing a bit of video editing on the computer, and his max price is around $1300.

What i keep seeing is that these companies have a base system, and you can upgrade components from there. But, there's all sorts of stuff they force you to buy like software and tv tuners.



Well, as i was typing this , i just realized that the best plan would be to go to one of those totally customizable computer places like Monarch, and get it.

Is Monarch the only one, or are there better sites out there?

 

[lobbyone]

Is it just like building it yourself, only letting Monarch do it instead? By prebuilt, i'm guessing brands like HP, Dell, Gateway, Emachines, Sony...why doesn't he want a self-built system?

 

[TBSN]

Why don't you build it for him. That way you can choose the components AND you get some money in the end (assuming you charge a little for your time)

 

[theMan]

Well, its just that i dont really want to spend all the time on it, and he doesnt have much experience with computers and i cant be dealing with problems he has. I know it seems like the best option, but it just isn't right now.

I looked at Monarch's custom computers, and it was pretty bad. Really poor selection. Anything I can do here?

 

[kjah]

nothing wrong with getting a cheap emachines....NOT!

 

[Gautama2]

Originally posted by: kjah
nothing wrong with getting a cheap emachines....NOT!

Thank you for your great contribution to this thread.


Though not recommended over building yourself, could go with cyberpowerpc. Reseller ratings says there not halfbad.

 

[theMan]

thanks Gautama.


cyberpowerpc is better than monarch, but there is still a real lack in selection, especially in the PSU, and motherboards, and monitors.

any other good places?

 

[Gautama2]

Originally posted by: theman
thanks Gautama.


cyberpowerpc is better than monarch, but there is still a real lack in selection, especially in the PSU, and motherboards, and monitors.

any other good places?

I don't think you'll find a prebuilt with a wide variety of options anywhere.

Also, you could select the no monitor option at cyberpower and choose whatever monitor you wish from newegg, I'm assuming your friend can connect a monitor

NZXT's Precise line of psu's isnt half-bad, I believe jonnyguru had a postive review on them.

 

[Gautama2]

No review from Jonny, but I assure you they are good psu's.

 

[bob4432]

Originally posted by: theman
Well, its just that i dont really want to spend all the time on it, and he doesnt have much experience with computers and i cant be dealing with problems he has. I know it seems like the best option, but it just isn't right now.

excellent choice

what about a lower end dell and then move it up to 2GB and put in a x1950xt or 8800gtx and probably psu too? dell should still take care of any issues (just lie and not tell them abou the upgrades ) and he will have a decent rig...

 

[theMan]

we were thinking about an HP system with a e6600 and just getting the 7300le for about $1250. He has $150 credit at tigerdirect, and our plan is for him to buy a 7900gs or something of the like. does that sound decent?

 

[cdmccool]

Go with Dell or Velocity Micro, imo.

<Edit>For $1300 just configure a nice E520, then throw in a 7600GT or something, no need to change the power supply. Dell has great power supplies and actually underrates them. The only issue is that the PSUs don't have a PCI-E connection for video cards that require it. You would need to go with an XPS system for that.

 

[Howard]

Try Velocity Micro.

 

[bob4432]

Originally posted by: cdmccool
Go with Dell or Velocity Micro, imo.

The only issue is that the PSUs don't have a PCI-E connection for video cards that require it.

molex->pci-e 6 pin power adapter to take care of this issue as a 7600gt is gettting a bit old and not much power for todays games, but i don't know what game your friend plays so that may or may not be a big deal. imho i wouldn't go less than a 7900gt, x1950xt(256MB version) for the approx value. plus the x1950xt i believe is more effiecient and require less power than the x1900xt, so maybe have a look at some benches that include power benches.

 

[lobbyone]

Originally posted by: kjah
nothing wrong with getting a cheap emachines....NOT!

There is nothing wrong with an Emachines, maybe those older models may have "sucked", but they were intended for basic stuff anyways. The newer Emachines have pretty good specs, and it can be upgraded. My friend who has a very basic emachines swapped out the PSU and replaced it with a ThermalTake 550, lucky fit it was lol, and upgraded to an AGP 7600GT with no trouble.
Basic machines = basic needs

 

[bob4432]

Originally posted by: lobbyone

Originally posted by: kjah
nothing wrong with getting a cheap emachines....NOT!

There is nothing wrong with an Emachines, maybe those older models may have "sucked", but they were intended for basic stuff anyways. The newer Emachines have pretty good specs, and it can be upgraded. My friend who has a very basic emachines swapped out the PSU and replaced it with a ThermalTake 550, lucky fit it was lol, and upgraded to an AGP 7600GT with no trouble.
Basic machines = basic needs

i wasn't aware they made a 7600gt in agp flavor....learn something new everyday

 

[theMan]

Here is what i just looked up from Dell. Looks pretty good. what do you think?


XPS 210:
Intel® Core?2 Duo Processor E6600 (4MB L2 Cache,2.4GHz,1066 FSB)

Operating System:
Genuine Windows® XP Media Center Edition 2005 with re-installation CD

Memory:
1GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 533MHz- 2DIMMs

Hard Drives:
250GB Serial ATA 3Gb/s Hard Drive (7200RPM) w/DataBurst Cache?

CD or DVD Drive:
8x DVD+/-RW Drive

Monitors:
19 inch E197FP Analog Flat Panel

Video Cards:
Intel® Graphics Media Accelerator 3000

Sound Cards:
Integrated 7.1 Channel Audio

Mouse:
Mouse included with Keyboard purchase

Adobe Software:
Adobe® Acrobat® Reader 7.0

Modem:
Integrated 56K Data / Fax modem

Network Card:
Integrated Intel® PRO 10/100 Ethernet

Future Operating Systems:
Windows Vista? Capable

Speakers:
Dell AS501PA 10W Flat Panel Attached Spkrs for Analog Flat Panels

Keyboard and Mouse Bundles:
Dell USB Keyboard and Dell Optical USB Mouse

Floppy Drive and Media Reader:
No Floppy Drive Included

Office Productivity Software (Pre-Installed):
No productivity suite- Includes Microsoft Works 8. DOES NOT INCLUDE MS WORD

Anti-Virus/Security Suite:
Norton Internet Security? 2006 Edition 15-months

Dell Digital Entertainment:
No preinstalled software

Warranty and Service:
1Yr Ltd Warranty and At-Home Service

Internet Access Service:
6 Months of EarthLink Internet Access Included

The total comes to $1289, and, he has $150 credit at tigerdirect, and he will buy a 7600GT, or 7900GT.

 

[TBSN]

Dell makes nice computers, I've had one that lasted me a long time. The only thing I would suggest is to look on their refurbished page for discounted computers (you can't choose the components, but there are so many computers there that you'll find one with similar specs to what you want).

And the only other thing would be possibly to upgrade the memory. Looks good though.

 

[lobbyone]

Originally posted by: bob4432

Originally posted by: lobbyone

Originally posted by: kjah
nothing wrong with getting a cheap emachines....NOT!

There is nothing wrong with an Emachines, maybe those older models may have "sucked", but they were intended for basic stuff anyways. The newer Emachines have pretty good specs, and it can be upgraded. My friend who has a very basic emachines swapped out the PSU and replaced it with a ThermalTake 550, lucky fit it was lol, and upgraded to an AGP 7600GT with no trouble.
Basic machines = basic needs

i wasn't aware they made a 7600gt in agp flavor....learn something new everyday

Newegg has them, but for a hefty price since its AGP...ah well, Sapphire will be releasing a X1950 AGP as well, and my friend is eyeing on that one!

 

[lobbyone]

Originally posted by: theman
Here is what i just looked up from Dell. Looks pretty good. what do you think?


XPS 210:
Intel® Core?2 Duo Processor E6600 (4MB L2 Cache,2.4GHz,1066 FSB)

Operating System:
Genuine Windows® XP Media Center Edition 2005 with re-installation CD

Memory:
1GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 533MHz- 2DIMMs

Hard Drives:
250GB Serial ATA 3Gb/s Hard Drive (7200RPM) w/DataBurst Cache?

CD or DVD Drive:
8x DVD+/-RW Drive

Monitors:
19 inch E197FP Analog Flat Panel

Video Cards:
Intel® Graphics Media Accelerator 3000

Sound Cards:
Integrated 7.1 Channel Audio

Mouse:
Mouse included with Keyboard purchase

Adobe Software:
Adobe® Acrobat® Reader 7.0

Modem:
Integrated 56K Data / Fax modem

Network Card:
Integrated Intel® PRO 10/100 Ethernet

Future Operating Systems:
Windows Vista? Capable

Speakers:
Dell AS501PA 10W Flat Panel Attached Spkrs for Analog Flat Panels

Keyboard and Mouse Bundles:
Dell USB Keyboard and Dell Optical USB Mouse

Floppy Drive and Media Reader:
No Floppy Drive Included

Office Productivity Software (Pre-Installed):
No productivity suite- Includes Microsoft Works 8. DOES NOT INCLUDE MS WORD

Anti-Virus/Security Suite:
Norton Internet Security? 2006 Edition 15-months

Dell Digital Entertainment:
No preinstalled software

Warranty and Service:
1Yr Ltd Warranty and At-Home Service

Internet Access Service:
6 Months of EarthLink Internet Access Included

The total comes to $1289, and, he has $150 credit at tigerdirect, and he will buy a 7600GT, or 7900GT.

Nice system, and if you can find a Geforce 7900GS, it'd make a good mid-range system, assuming of course the Dell's PSU can handle it, otherwise go for a 7600GT until you can upgrade the PSU and video card. Does the Dell have an available PCI-E slot? just wondering...

 

[theMan]

hmm, i didnt think about that. if it is just integrated, would it have a pci-e slot???

 

[lobbyone]

Originally posted by: theman
hmm, i didnt think about that. if it is just integrated, would it have a pci-e slot???

Just being safe thats all. My aunt has a 2 year old dell with P4 and integrated video, and it didn't have an AGP slot, it only had PCI slots...
But i'm betting that the newer Dell models have PCI-E slots, if not then an AGP slot.

 

[theMan]

also, would it have IEEE 1394 ports, or would i need to get a separate card?

 

[theMan]

ok, i just did another system, XPS 410. it is cheaper, and better (faster RAM, better monitor), and it has a 7300LE , so it must have a PCI-e slot. But the one thing i noticed is that it doesnt have any sort of network card. The total on this one is $1234

XPS 410 Intel® Core?2 Duo Processor E6600 (4MB L2 Cache,2.4GHz,1066 FSB)

Operating System Genuine Windows® XP Media Center 2005 Edition with re-installation CD

Memory 1GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 667MHz - 2 DIMMs

Keyboard Dell USB Keyboard

Monitor 19 inch Ultrasharp? 1907FP Digital Flat Panel

Video Card 256MB nVidia Geforce 7300LE TurboCache

Hard Drive 250GB Serial ATA 3Gb/s Hard Drive (7200RPM) w/DataBurst Cache?

Floppy Drive and Media Reader No Floppy Drive Included

Mouse Dell Optical USB Mouse

Modem 56K PCI Data Fax Modem

Adobe Software Adobe® Acrobat® Reader 7.0

CD or DVD Drive Single Drive: 16X CD/DVD burner (DVD+/-RW) w/double layer write capability

Sound Cards Integrated 7.1 Channel Audio

Speakers Dell AS501 10W Flat Panel Attached Spkrs for UltraSharp? Flat Panels

Office Software (not included in Windows XP) No productivity suite- Includes Microsoft Works 8. DOES NOT INCLUDE MS WORD

Security Software Norton Internet Security? 2006 Edition 15-months

Warranty and Service 1Yr Ltd Warranty and At-Home Service

Internet Access Service 6 Months of EarthLink Internet Access Included

Future Operating Systems Windows Vista? Capable

Dell Recycling Recycle my old system with Dell (FREE)

 

[lobbyone]

I'm not positive on the Firewire ports, but i'm sure it comes with an ethernet port. The XPS are more upgrade friendly, and I'm pretty sure it comes with a PCI-E slot. Don't forget to upgrade the PSU when planning on high-end video cards like 7900GT/7950GT/8800GTS, X1900GT/XT/XTX, X1950 etc...but the stock PSU can run a 7600GS/GTS/GT or maybe even a 7900GS/X1900GT! GoodLuck!