Need advice on new computer

[bizeebee]

I am getting ready to buy a new computer soon and would like some advice. Are there any good places online that I could configure one myself or should I just go to a brick and mortar store and buy one? What are the most important parts to make sure I get in it, ie...video card, harddrive, dvd drive... I would like to know some brand names or types of hardware to have installed. I would appreciate any help I can get with this. I am going to stick with AMD and do not want information on Pentium. I am looking to spend somewhere around $1500 (that's just a ballpark figure).

[Treebeard]

If your looking for good online prices check out
www.pricewatch.com

[harry41]

hi ..in my own oppinon stick to windows 98se...a good 40 gb hdd or above 7200 segate or western. asrock mthboard..takes 2 sticks of ddrram...2ghz amd to 2.6.....radeon 128 mgb graphics card...got your self a nice computor

[Treebeard]

If you plan on doing capturing I would suggest two seperate HD. get one for capturing only and OS on the other one.

[Rond66]

Please do your homework and build your own!
I like the ASUS boards, ATI Video cards and hard drives from Maxtor or Western Digital.

This is a good place to start.
http://www17.tomshardware.com/howto/20020904/index.html
http://www17.tomshardware.com/howto/20020918/index.html

[tgpo]

Check Here for the best computers!

[Treebeard]

Check Here for the best computers!

Very funny tgpo!!

[trillium]

I personally like Asus/NVidia/Western Digital and Corsair RAM (at least that is what is in my current PC).

Computer details have the specs on my video machine (and no this isn't my newest computer, it's the spare parts from my 1600+ Asus that I built myself for Christmas).

I'd stay way from brick and mortar stores unless you know EXACTLY what you are after, I've gotten into one to many an argument with a CompUSA sales person telling me something else was 'better'...when I knew it wasnt because I'd just spent the last 3 months researching it!

Pricewatch - excellent place to price shop
If you are looking for reviews - Tomshardware.com (I see Rond66 already has that one covered), Anandtech.com (I know there are few others but those are the two I remember using)

Places to shop:
www.monarchcomputer.com
www.newegg.com

And if you are lucky enough to live in an area where you can frequent computer shows... head there with your price list and haggle!


p.s. Nice one tgpo ...Can you buy me one while you are at it...I'd like one of those new nifty towers with the REALLY big display! Final Cut Express, and toss a 20 GB iPod on there too for me *bats eyelashes* My birthday is just around the corner!

[bizeebee]

Thanks everyone! I am hoping to get at least a 2.6 or higher AMD processor. I want a 100 G harddrive but will settle for 80 G. One day I want to learn to build my own but right now I just don't have the time. I would like to find some place that will configure one with the parts I want in it. I have noticed that a lot of the places online deal with Pentium but I haven't found a lot that deal with AMD. Keep the suggestions coming.

Treebeard,
Can you order one with 2 HD's in it?

tgpo,
I have years of experience with a PC. I have no knowledge at all with a MAC. My neighbor has a MAC. I guess I could teach her PC and she could teach me MAC.

[hwoodwar]

bizeebee:

If you should decide to buy any computer parts on the WEB, especially from resellers listed on pricewatch, I suggest you check out that resellers' reputation. I use www.resellerratings.com . Some resellers have a very poor reputation (bait and switch, sending wrong components, poor customer service, etc.) Also, you need to balance a "low Price" with the price paid for shipping. There are many places that seem to have low prices, but actually greatly increase their profit margin by inflating shipping costs.

[WeedVender]

If u don't know how to make a RIG.. then i suggest u get to a PC manufacturer like GateWAy or Dell, preferably Dell and custom build one..

[bizeebee]

Weedvender,
Does Dell have computers with AMD processors? I haven't been able to find any on their site.

[freak_in_cage_10k]

Hi m8,

this is the site you should be after, it is mainly based around gaming but if you are mainly concentrating on encoding etc and not much on games then just buy the cheaper graphics card! it lets you choose the components (so you can choose HD size, ram etc) and the computers look SWEET!!

http://www.alienware.com/

c ya m8

[jeex]

hi ..in my own oppinon stick to windows 98se...

if you're going to buy/build a new computer, dont use an operating system that is like 6 years old. if you dont want to use windows xp, atleast go with windows 2000.

[Faustus]

Of if you cannot afford alienwares insane prices try www.ibuypower.com though you need to know at least a little to configure a good one from them.

[WeedVender]

Dell uses P4. If your going to get a Dell, make sure its a Pentium, not a Celeron.

Celeron sucks compared to Pentium. Even the cheaper Duron from AMD is faster than the Celeron

[bizeebee]

Thanks, I ended up buying a Dell Pentium 4 2.66 w/533MHz front side bus/ 512 L2 cache 512MB PC 1066 RDRAM, 128mb DDR ATI Radeon 9700 TX graphics card with TV-OUT and DVI, 120GB gard drive, Windows XP Pro, 48x/24x/48x CD-RW drive and more. I would liked to have been able to get the 3.06 Hyperthreading Technology but didn't have the money for any more. This should last me a little while anyway. (g)
I still wish I could have stayed with AMD because that's all I've ever used and prefer AMD over Pentium.

[txpharoah]

Know that a P4 processor is better at video than AMD+ because of the SSE.

Also suggest ATI All In Wonder card and DDR RAM or RDRAM (best). Get at least 1 80 gig HD, preferably 2 -- 1 for OS/files, 1 for video work.

From what I see, you got one bad @$$ computer! Good job. Spend that money, you'll appreciate it in the long run. I have.

Add a DVD-R drive, and you're set for some video production.

[szelik]

With my past experiences - go with a Sony Vaio. You can get them at Best Buy or online. I use my Vaio with XP and have a second hard drive (go with Western Digital!) which I get zero lost frames. The seond hard drive needs to be a second physical unit, not a partioned drive. I have used Compaq and Gateway and have had bad experiences with both. I just bought my second Vaio this past weekend to use for my movies since it takes so long to encode with it. I have a Pioneer A03 on one and the Sony DRU500AX on the other - I have had no problems with either of them. I use my DV camera for capturing, so if you go with a capture card I have heard good things about Canopus. Hope that helps.

[MikeV]

Not knowing where your are, but guessing you live in the U.S. Here is a site to check out they sell all the parts you need and they can build it, load the OS, and test it out for you. www.askacs.com
They carry mostly AMD processors and motherboards, but can get the Intel.

[bizeebee]

I was looking at the old specs I printed out. I do have a DVD-RW drive. It's a DVD/CD combo which I don't know what to think since I haven't had one of these before.

Thanks everyone!

[VinnySem]

In my humble opinion, get yourself a Athlon XP 2400, and an Abit NF7-S version 2.0 motherboard, and 2 256 meg sticks of the fastest memory you can get, something like Corsair XMS PC3500. You can also get serial ATA hard drives, if you can find them. Whichever you prefer, ATI or nVidia, get as powerful as you can afford. Go to www.newegg.com, they have the best prices on the web. The CPU is like $115, the motherboard is around the same price, RAM is about $75 a stick.

With that CPU/MB/RAM combo, and a good headsink & fan, if you are into overclocking you can really assemble a screamer. I've those same components, I got the front side bus up to 400 mhz and the CPU at 200 mhz faster than rated, which together equate to an estimated Athlon XP3300+, as evaluated by Sisoft Sandra. I 50% transcoded a 2 hour and 45 minute movie in less than 4 hours!. No fancy watercooling or dozens of fans, either... system runs nice and cool even at full load.

If you don't want to build your own, go get an Alienware. They build REAL computers.

Just my $.02.

[txpharoah]

If you have the money, I'd agree entirely on the AlienWare.

But for video, still P4 over AMD+ because of the SSE.