?best Computer?

[meirp4]

what is the best computer?

CPU Speed
HD Size
CD 's speed
MB Size
display tipe and MB size
Moneter Size
sound card

i whant to bay a good computer for games and internet

[balamm]

Best computer is the most you can get for the money you have, and one that will satisfy you.
It doesn't have to compete with what someone else has. It only has to do what you want it to do and do it well.

[mogadishu]

build your own pc. its 10 times cheaper and 100 times better than purchasing one from the likes of gateway etc.

[Mosfos]

Originally posted by mogadishu@10 July 2003 - 03:03
build your own pc. its 10 times cheaper and 100 times better than purchasing one from the likes of gateway etc.
Actually, it costs more than to buy one from Gateway or Dell.

[adamp2p]

Originally posted by Mosfos+10 July 2003 - 06:39--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (Mosfos &#064; 10 July 2003 - 06:39)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> <!--QuoteBegin-mogadishu@10 July 2003 - 03:03
build your own pc. its 10 times cheaper and 100 times better than purchasing one from the likes of gateway etc.
Actually, it costs more than to buy one from Gateway or Dell. [/b][/quote]
Definately. There is no way possible to build a computer for cheaper than you can buy "refurbished" from Dell.

Honest, for &#036;1,000 including shipping and handling, I got:

P4 @3.0 w/HT w/800 MHz FSB
256 Dual Channel DDR 400
(for data transfer at 6.4 GB/sec)
Intel Canterwood i875P chipset w/RAID & ECC support & AGP 8X and PAT enabled
Geforce MX 440 64 MB DDR AGP 8X
Keyboard
Mouse
48X CD RW
16X variable CD ROM
Floppy Drive
SoundBlaster Live&#33; 5.1
60 GB Western Digital Caviar 7200 RPM
1 year support and warranty, etc. etc.
WinXP Home Edition SP1 integrated
6 months ISP Earthlink
Word perfect, other crappy software, etc...
No monitor

(of course reinstall the OS and get rid of all that crappy software)

Show me how you could build that for less. :P ;)

What Dell calls refurbished is anything that was assembled and then the buyer flaked, or cancelled. The computer I have is perfect. Apart from reinstalling the OS, no hassle, except no great options in BIOS. However, I may get a new mobo later to OC my P4 to 3.5 GHz. I just ordered a Sappire Radeon 9500 which I will turn into a 9700 through software emulation I learned about from the Xbit lab&#39;s knowlegeable forum members. Read about it Here (http://grahamvoce.com/rad9500/faq.html)

and

Here (http://duhvoodooman.com/9500mod/9500mod_1.htm)

I will have the system paid off in 3 months. I just installed 512 more MB RAM for a total of 768 MB. Lovin&#39; it&#33; Unfortunatly this purchase will take 3 more months of hard work to pay off, but it is worth it&#33; :)

[ilw]

thats not really any cheaper than u could have built yourself especially if u decide to get a better motherboard. (i didn&#39;t count software as i;m assuming most people on this board are not adverse to software copyright infringement) Around half the money your paying is for the chip u got&#33;&#33;&#33; Of course if u really want legal software then thats a much better deal than building your own.

[Cl1mh4224rd]

Ars Technica (http://arstechnica.com/) has some pretty decent setups that are updated every couple of months.

The Budget Box (http://arstechnica.com/guide/system/budget.html) (currently ~ &#036;650)
The Hot Rod (http://arstechnica.com/guide/system/hotrod.html) (currently ~ &#036;1,300)
The God Box (http://arstechnica.com/guide/system/godbox.html) (currently ~ &#036;10,000)

[aintgottime]

&#036;1,000 dollars for that DELL machine is expensive&#33;&#33; I would have expected a monitor in with that price&#33; I still say if you look around enough and take your time its cheaper to build one from scratch&#33;

[ilw]

In terms of what is a good computer spec and rough guesses at prices (good spec for value and performance):

AMD XP processor in the high 2 thousands (2600 - 3000) or an intel processor of similar MHz (cost: somewhere around 200 quid)
Cooler for processor (about 20 quid)
128MB AGP8x graphics card either Geforce or Radeon (check out http://www.tomshardware.com for benchmarks and comparisons) (cost: 130 quid)
A GOOD motherboard (see the thread in Hardwareworld about good manufacturers, offhand i&#39;d say Asus and Abit) (cost 110 quid)
512MB DDR ram (speed should match bus speed of processor) (cost about 75 quid)
17" Monitor (about 150 quid)
Hard drive 80 GB (about 60 quid)
CDRW drive up to 48x (about 50 quid)
Case, a better one can save u quite a bit of time (about 60 quid)

I think thats roughly what i&#39;d look for in a computer, the areas that u must do your research on are the motherboard and the graphics card.
Also look in the threads about:
building your own computer,
recommended hardware manufacturers
and the thread about good cheap retailers

Edit: All prices are off the top of my head and may be complete bollocks

[johnnytightlips2]

i think the best pc money can buy is the new f-class by voodoo and pc is fully customized and painted to perfection.

[adamp2p]

Originally posted by aintgottime@10 July 2003 - 11:56
&#036;1,000 dollars for that DELL machine is expensive&#33;&#33; I would have expected a monitor in with that price&#33; I still say if you look around enough and take your time its cheaper to build one from scratch&#33;
Show me how you figure.+ :P ;)

[ilw]

Abit IS7-E &#39;Springdale&#39; (Socket 478) Motherboard (MB-034-AB) 70 quid
Intel P4 300 quid
256MB Corsair DDR400 ram 45 quid
LG GCE-8520BB 52x CD-RW Drive - OEM (CD-001-LG) 35 quid
Connect3D ATI Radeon 9200 128Mb DDR DVI-I/TV-OUT - Retail (GX-011-CO) 65quid
IBM 180GXP 61.4GB UDMA100 - OEM (HD-009-IB) 50 quid
CPU cooler 30 quid (didn&#39;t bother finding a particular one)
case 70 quid again can&#39;t be arsed
Keyboard and mouse 15 quid
floppy drive 10quid
NB mobo has built in 6.1 audio and 10/100 network card

comes out at about 690 quid which is about 1100 dollars, admittedly overbudget, but could get better prices and better components it was just to prove that it wasn&#39;t that much of a bargain. plus i think this setup may have a better graphics card, mobo, hard drive, a faster cd burner and it has a network card.

[Spindulik]

Originally posted by Mosfos+9 July 2003 - 22:39--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (Mosfos @ 9 July 2003 - 22:39)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> <!--QuoteBegin-mogadishu@10 July 2003 - 03:03
build your own pc. its 10 times cheaper and 100 times better than purchasing one from the likes of gateway etc.
Actually, it costs more than to buy one from Gateway or Dell. [/b][/quote]
Am I missing something here, on these quotes?



YES, you can build cheaper than DELL, you just have to know where to shop.
I shop online, on eBay, and at computer shows&#33;



As far as the BEST PC? Like the people here say, it depends on what you want it to do.
For example:
Personally as a 3D gamer, I like a GOOD graphics card, but a sound card is not that important to me. So I use the onboard sound card, but spend a few extra dollars for the GeFORCE video card.

If you want a computer to do word regular processing, then an old 486 may be good enough.

[Twist3r]

850 dollers

athlon xp 2800
120 gig hard drive
512 ram
128 geforce 4
CD-RW
DVD

beat that&#33;&#33;&#33; its what im getting late this summer

[adamp2p]

Originally posted by Spindulik+10 July 2003 - 16:24--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (Spindulik @ 10 July 2003 - 16:24)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'>
Originally posted by Mosfos@9 July 2003 - 22:39
<!--QuoteBegin-mogadishu@10 July 2003 - 03:03
build your own pc. its 10 times cheaper and 100 times better than purchasing one from the likes of gateway etc.
Actually, it costs more than to buy one from Gateway or Dell.
Am I missing something here, on these quotes?



YES, you can build cheaper than DELL, you just have to know where to shop.
I shop online, on eBay, and at computer shows&#33;



As far as the BEST PC? Like the people here say, it depends on what you want it to do.
For example:
Personally as a 3D gamer, I like a GOOD graphics card, but a sound card is not that important to me. So I use the onboard sound card, but spend a few extra dollars for the GeFORCE video card.

If you want a computer to do word regular processing, then an old 486 may be good enough. [/b][/quote]
If you the "build it yourself from scrap parts" route, I am sure you could do better pricewise, but not in real time price.

You would have to add in to the final price of your computer the opportunity cost of all the time you lost searching and researching for deals. At &#036;20 an hour , 8 hours of searching is another &#036;160 dollars you have to add on the to final price. And then you would have to add in the cost of gas driving to computer shows, and the time at computer shows, and lets say you get a ticket on the way to the show, etc...etc..

Personally, my time is worth more that that. I have way too many things to do than search for a deal on ebay especially when I have to hope that I am getting a good part...not to mention I have to pay for shipping for each part, which might not be in the condition the seller claims. Then you would have to add in the costs of hours of hassle installing the coponents of the computer.

The real issue is priortites. You see, for me, time is something that I do not have enough of to just blow like a horn. Maybe time is different for you. Maybe you enjoy assembling computers. That is good too. I enjoy what I can when I can about computers. But cost is the real issue. And you have to consider opportunity cost whenever you consider anything worth purchasing in the final result. B)

Cheers, though. ;)

[Spindulik]

Buying anything on your own time is too bad. Even buying a DELL on your own time.

I love to build computers, as a hobby. I don&#39;t kill myself searching for the ultimate best buy. But I do know when I am getting ripped off.

I build my own PC, because I have the freedom to do so.

[abigspidermonkey]

the best computer i think is DELL ;)

[adamp2p]

Dell is the best manufacturer, but the BEST computer is the one that a super computer geek sets up...with excellent BIOS options, one that enables you to overclock easily a megahertz at a time, RAM timing settings, with water cooling.

The best thing about having so many options in BIOS is the fact that you can move ahead of today&#39;s technology and have tommorrow&#39;s processing speeds. But you have to know what you are doing to do it right. I guess you could fiddle around and f*#k sh#t up, but its better to learn from the pros on this board or Xbitites at Xbit labs (http://www.xbitlabs.com)

The real issue, once again, is cost. I will be in debt for the next 3 months just to barely afford my computer. But I love it. So nice. But it could always be better. But that has to wait until I finish taking all this calculus and get a fatty job and can make my own computer company...dreamin&#39;, lol...

My rant :rolleyes: :D ;)

[Keikan]

Originally posted by Cl1mh4224rd@10 July 2003 - 02:51
Ars Technica (http://arstechnica.com/) has some pretty decent setups that are updated every couple of months.

The Budget Box (http://arstechnica.com/guide/system/budget.html) (currently ~ &#036;650)
The Hot Rod (http://arstechnica.com/guide/system/hotrod.html) (currently ~ &#036;1,300)
The God Box (http://arstechnica.com/guide/system/godbox.html) (currently ~ &#036;10,000)
That is not a god box... more like could use some improvement box

[wienerschnitzel]

Originally posted by Keikan@12 July 2003 - 10:26

That is not a god box... more like could use some improvement box

:D I agree. I think win xp supports 10 monitors. I haven&#39;t seen one with 10 of the largest flat screens you can find yet. If you go to win server 2003 you can have 32 processors and 1 tarabyte (spelling?) of memory. This is just a start. I could add a &#036;50,000 sound system and other thing but that would take too long. God box should mean an infinate budget.

Maybe I should start my own post about this?

[Blaster.Master]

well someone once said that there&#39;s nothing more entertaining that building your own box, plus the emotional attachment to your creation.

[adamp2p]

Originally posted by Blaster.Master@12 July 2003 - 20:12
well someone once said that there&#39;s nothing more entertaining that building your own box, plus the emotional attachment to your creation.
Definately. But paying for it is an entirely different issue.

[Gre1]

I agree with everyone who says build one cause its fun just updating your computer on your own without having to buy a new comp

[Busyman]

Buying a computer depends what you want it for for.
I&#39;ve always stayed with Dell.
An easy way to figure it is to get the computer that has processor that you need to support the best video card out.
Other than that make sure is it has all ports (like USB 2.0) and bays (at least 2 CD-ROM bays) you need.
Buy almost all your upgrades aftermarket unless you get an extremely great deal. There are way better options out there.
ex.
If you buy a Dell with P4 3GHZ processor, get the minimum HD offered (usually 20 GB). Buy an aftermarket drive as close to or below &#036;1 per GB. I just saw a 160 GB HD for &#036;100 and a 250 GB for &#036;230. Dell can&#39;t beat that.
You usually get better deals on aftermarket memory but sometimes folks like Dells will DOUBLE your memory for free.
Forget extras like CD-RW (in the second bay) from the manufacturer unless they give it to you free. Get DVD-ROM in the first bay if possible. Buy DVD+_RW aftermarket. You can get a multi-format DVD recorder for the 2nd bay for &#036;200.

Get your monitor aftermarket. Forget flat panels unless you just don&#39;t have the space. Otherwise you trade off screen-size (CRT) and more money just to look cool.

[Blaster.Master]

i have a compaq, is not a bad puter but i just don&#39;t like the fact that i didn&#39;t choose any of the parts that came with it. Call it a mass produce pc.
Talking about prices, i don&#39;t think that dell or any other PC seller is cheap, they are just easy to buy and easy to use but i don&#39;t think they gonna use top of the line parts for a mass produce pc.
My advice is to set your prioryties, what do you need, how much money you have,do you have a job? and such.
Most ppl translate expensive=Quality and thats not always the case.
My nex box is going to be a custom build one, i&#39;m just tired of Dell, Compaq, Gateway and other brands, i want a machine that behave the way i want it to behave.

["The Avatar Man"]

Originally posted by Cl1mh4224rd@10 July 2003 - 10:51
Ars Technica (http://arstechnica.com/) has some pretty decent setups that are updated every couple of months.

The Budget Box (http://arstechnica.com/guide/system/budget.html) (currently ~ &#036;650)
The Hot Rod (http://arstechnica.com/guide/system/hotrod.html) (currently ~ &#036;1,300)
The God Box (http://arstechnica.com/guide/system/godbox.html) (currently ~ &#036;10,000)
I think that god box would theoretically be the most powerful pc you could build but why does it use pc 2100 ram?instead of a faster kind?

["The Avatar Man"]

Originally posted by Busyman@12 July 2003 - 22:03
Buying a computer depends what you want it for for.
I&#39;ve always stayed with Dell.
An easy way to figure it is to get the computer that has processor that you need to support the best video card out.
Other than that make sure is it has all ports (like USB 2.0) and bays (at least 2 CD-ROM bays) you need.
Buy almost all your upgrades aftermarket unless you get an extremely great deal. There are way better options out there.
ex.
If you buy a Dell with P4 3GHZ processor, get the minimum HD offered (usually 20 GB). Buy an aftermarket drive as close to or below &#036;1 per GB. I just saw a 160 GB HD for &#036;100 and a 250 GB for &#036;230. Dell can&#39;t beat that.
You usually get better deals on aftermarket memory but sometimes folks like Dells will DOUBLE your memory for free.
Forget extras like CD-RW (in the second bay) from the manufacturer unless they give it to you free. Get DVD-ROM in the first bay if possible. Buy DVD+_RW aftermarket. You can get a multi-format DVD recorder for the 2nd bay for &#036;200.

Get your monitor aftermarket. Forget flat panels unless you just don&#39;t have the space. Otherwise you trade off screen-size (CRT) and more money just to look cool.
I just bought a dell and the smallest hd (wich I chose :) )was 60 gig&#39;s not 20
and my dvd+rw plus 512 mor (MEGS OF RAM :) ) was free.
BTW.
also came with
gforce 4 mx 64 mb<will buy better one when half life 2 comes
2.6ghz hyper threading p4/800mhz fsb<will that even run half life 2?

[adamp2p]

Originally posted by "The Avatar Man"+13 July 2003 - 16:01--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE ("The Avatar Man" &#064; 13 July 2003 - 16:01)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> <!--QuoteBegin-Busyman@12 July 2003 - 22:03
Buying a computer depends what you want it for for.
I&#39;ve always stayed with Dell.
An easy way to figure it is to get the computer that has processor that you need to support the best video card out.
Other than that make sure is it has all ports (like USB 2.0) and bays (at least 2 CD-ROM bays) you need.
Buy almost all your upgrades aftermarket unless you get an extremely great deal. There are way better options out there.
ex.
If you buy a Dell with P4 3GHZ processor, get the minimum HD offered (usually 20 GB). Buy an aftermarket drive as close to or below &#036;1 per GB. I just saw a 160 GB HD for &#036;100 and a 250 GB for &#036;230. Dell can&#39;t beat that.
You usually get better deals on aftermarket memory but sometimes folks like Dells will DOUBLE your memory for free.
Forget extras like CD-RW (in the second bay) from the manufacturer unless they give it to you free. Get DVD-ROM in the first bay if possible. Buy DVD+_RW aftermarket. You can get a multi-format DVD recorder for the 2nd bay for &#036;200.

Get your monitor aftermarket. Forget flat panels unless you just don&#39;t have the space. Otherwise you trade off screen-size (CRT) and more money just to look cool.
I just bought a dell and the smallest hd (wich I chose :) )was 60 gig&#39;s not 20
and my dvd+rw plus 512 mor (MEGS OF RAM :) ) was free.
BTW.
also came with
gforce 4 mx 64 mb<will buy better one when half life 2 comes
2.6ghz hyper threading p4/800mhz fsb<will that even run half life 2? [/b][/quote]
Did you buy it new or refurbished?

What did you pay?

Post the specs of the deal please.

Make sure that you get either Dimension 8300c or Dimension XPSc because they both use the Canterwood i875P Intel chipset, as opposed to the lower models which use the 865 variations. And if you get 8300 or XPS you definately get dual channel RAM, whereas in the lower models you get slower ram (333 MHz) as opposed to 400 MHz dual channel.

[Denver]

What about those Aleinware computers, are they any good?

[Twist3r]

hell yeah but there spendy as hell

[endezeichen]

I built had my computer custom built by www.cyberpowerinc.com for 595&#036;&#036;
2100 athalon
512ddr ram
64 4x agp video
came with case with 7 neon cooling fans, a window and a neon light that responds to sound
Or course this was without monitor and operating system.. but it&#39;s still a very good by and the service and delivery is very good.
For about 1000 you could get a "top of the line computer" which could cost you hundreds more anywhere else. www.cyberpowerinc.com--- highly recommended

[adamp2p]

What chipset are you using?
What speed is your ram?
Is your ram single channel?

From Dell for &#036;650 you could get a much better deal, dual channel DDR 400 ram, a P4@ 2.6 GHz with hyperthreading, etc, etc. Intel 875P chipset AGP 8X... I feel like a Dell salesman now:


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dell Dimension 8300 Mini-Tower: Pentium® 4 Processor at 2.6GHz with 800MHz front side bus
System Price &#036;774.00
Promotion Discount (&#036;125.00)
Discounted Price &#036;649.00

Memory: 256 MB DDR 400MHz SDRAM (2 DIMMs)
Floppy Drive: No Floppy Drive
Hard Disk Drive: 60 GB EIDE Hard Drive (7200 RPM)
Video: 64MB GeForce4 MX 420 with TV-Out
Modem: 56Kbps Data/Fax Modem
Operating System: Microsoft® Windows XP Home
DVD Drive: 16X DVD-ROM
Software: Microsoft® Works Suite 2003
Image Expert Standard Software
Logitech PS2 Mouse
QuietKey Keyboard

[Pitbul]

my next PC is gonna be a Alienware. thats all i gotta say. :)

[adamp2p]

Alienware is, in my opinion, overpriced. Alienware is a relatively small manufacturer and has a lot of overhead (advertisements, goofy colored paints, etc). If you buy Alienware, you will be paying for the magazine ads they front and the higher overall cost of hardware due to Alienware&#39;s tiny market share. If you cross check the components in an Alienware system with Dell you will see that the consumer who purchases Alienware is one searching for a novelty and popularity rather than for only for the compoents of the system. In other words, Alienware is marketed to really rich folks who want to look cool and don&#39;t mind paying to do so.

If you the dough to buy Alienware, you might rather consider spending your &#036;2,000+ on a killer custom made system that you could build yourself, or with the help of a friend.

It is, of course, best to build your own system or find a m8 who know how to do this and pay him a few bucks and if s/he knows what s/he is doing, then you will have options like overclocking, memory timings, and other various options in BIOS. The downside of building your own computer is the overwhelming opportunity costs of searching for the right components, installing the components, and waiting for them to arrive in the mail. But some people consider this a hobby, or fun. I guess it could be. I simply do not have extra time on my hands to do this at this juncture. It may be the case in the future, as I anticipate a career in the computer manufacturing industry.

Just my opinion... B) ;)

[chalkmongoose]

The God Box seems a bit excessive... For eight thousand dollars less, I can be perfectly content :)

[stonecold1203]

I gave a gateway 300S.

I am ashamed.

[Cl1mh4224rd]

Originally posted by Keikan@12 July 2003 - 11:26
That is not a god box... more like could use some improvement box
Care to elaborate? This is supposed to be a discussion, you know. ;)

[bigdawgfoxx]

ADAM P2P your right man...dell also has increadible support that you CANT get from gaming places....that dell is an awsome price&#33; congrats on the awsome purchase