Recommend a computer... or two

[Skiz]

My Dad was looking to buy two new PC's and wanted some idea of what he should go after. He'll likely have a computer guy build whatever he decides on, as that is what he has done in the past. Both of his current setups are Shuttles and I know he prefers those, but certainly not a requirment.

Money is not a factor but there is no need to be wasteful either.

The computers will both be used for equivalent purposes, none of which would include gaming or anything graphic intensive. His uses will solely be Internet, email, Office, etc...

Must haves are pretty basic:

"DVD burner- what's good? Network card. 4 USB ports"

Suggestions?

[Acid_death69]

well seen as he's only using it for something like that you can get away with a pretty cheap system.
Are you wanting a fully built system then or a list of parts?
Just thinking will the bloke who puts the pc together (if built in parts) will he charge for labour?
Just thinking if that's the case price wise it may be equal.

[db_la_23]

i think he can go for an AMD anthon dual core 6000+ Asus mob 2gb ddr2 800 mhz ram 250 sata WD hdd LG sata dvd wtiter 19 inchs viewsonic mont.

[clocker]

What OS will be installed?

[db_la_23]

xp r vista

[clocker]

32 or 64 bit?

[Skiz]

Whoops. Windows will be the OS.

Vista I suppose will be the version.

32 or 64? I dunno? Recommendations? Pros/Cons? What's the "standard"? :unsure:

As for RAM, I'm thinking 4GB for sure.

[ryan20021982]

Whoops. Windows will be the OS.

Vista I suppose will be the version.

32 or 64? I dunno? Recommendations? Pros/Cons? What's the "standard"? :unsure:

As for RAM, I'm thinking 4GB for sure.

I have xp 64bit and its ok I had some problems with programs not working with 64 bit, but eventually found other programs that worked.

The main problem was my printer wont work on 64 bit so had to buy another printer.

Its nice to use all 4 gig ram but dont think I would do it again

[Detale]

Skizo for your pops 32bit would be the way to go so there would be no compatibility issues.

What kind of budget are we working with here as that is usually the best place to start?

Will this be his main rig or a seconsary/backup machine?

I'd say get something barebones and go from there. Tiger has this (http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/searchtools/item-Details.asp?EdpNo=3701112&sku=T71-2005) one on sale now:

Lenovo IdeaCentre K210 Intel Desktop Computer - I

ntel Core 2 Quad Q6600 2.4GHz,

3GB DDR2-667, 500GB SATA II, DVDRW,

Intel GMA3100 Graphics,

Flash Reader,

Windows Vista Home Premium SP1

$499

There are cheaper options out there but OI figure this would be a quick easy solution

On the other side if you want a better computer for him here is something I put together a few months back for a friend for just under $700. See why we need a price point homie :)

COOLER MASTER Centurion 5 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119077)

GIGABYTE GA-EP35-DS3L (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128337)

Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115017)

EVGA 512-P3-N801-AR GeForce 8800 GT (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130318)

CORSAIR CMPSU-520HX (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139001)

G.SKILL 4GB 1066 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231166)

You could always play around with the pieces to drop the price a bit, like the PSU or even the video card without much harm IMO.

[db_la_23]

well c2d is better if u can afford it. go for 2.66 2 gb ddr2 ram DG 35 intel orgni mobtherbroad Lg sata writer 250 gb sata wd hdd 19 inchs view sonic mont and 8800 gtx graphics card if u ant

[clocker]

D., why recommend a 32 bit OS AND four GB of RAM?

[Detale]

so that you would post here :P

Why 4 gigs is good right it will recognize like 3.86 or something no?? I figured his dad could possibly have problems with Vista 64 drivers.

[clocker]

The max a 32 bit system will see is 3.25GB, so I'd just go with 3 GB in that case.

Personally, I think anything less than a 64 bit OS is silly.
Drivers haven't been an issue for quite a while except with fairly old equipment.

[Detale]

OK then I concede to go with the 64 bit OS. Oops my pneub is showing.

I still say 4 gigs there I said it!

[Skiz]

There won't be any issues with software compatibility with a 64b OS?

Apologies ahead of time if that's a silly question, but I have no idea with regard to that discussion.

[ryan20021982]

There won't be any issues with software compatibility with a 64b OS?

Apologies ahead of time if that's a silly question, but I have no idea with regard to that discussion.

Depends on what programs or printers and such you use

Like I said in my first post my printer wouldn't work and its not old equipment

they still sell the same model, for the most part you an find other programs

to do what the ones that wont work did, but tis still a pain especially

if your pops isn't very computer illiterate.

Biggest problem I would see for someone is if they actually went and

bought some software and then it wont work, because you cant return

opened software

[Detale]

Bought!? What is this bought you speak of??

[Chewie]

The only software I haven't managed to install on my Vista64 system are Peerguardian2 (no Vista version), SonyEricsson's phone Update utility (Vista32 only) and the configurator program for my OCZ Equalizer mouse (no Vista version).

[db_la_23]

win xp X64 spots both 32 and 64 but softwares.

[clocker]

win xp X64 spots both 32 and 64 but softwares.
Random Word Generators FTW!

[Skiz]

Skizo for your pops 32bit would be the way to go so there would be no compatibility issues.

What kind of budget are we working with here as that is usually the best place to start?

On the other side if you want a better computer for him here is something I put together a few months back for a friend for just under $700. See why we need a price point homie :)

I did talk about price, in the first post.


COOLER MASTER Centurion 5 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119077)

GIGABYTE GA-EP35-DS3L (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128337)

Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115017)

EVGA 512-P3-N801-AR GeForce 8800 GT (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130318)

CORSAIR CMPSU-520HX (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139001)

G.SKILL 4GB 1066 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231166)

You could always play around with the pieces to drop the price a bit, like the PSU or even the video card without much harm IMO.

I'm going to let the fellow who is building the thing worry about the specific parts. It isn't like my Dad is going to be ordering the stuff and building a computer. I'm just looking for ideas on what he should be aiming for.

Reading through this a bit, I'm thinking the following:

Vista x64 - Sounds like software has finally caught up and compatibility shouldn't be an issue.
RAM - 4GB
Processor - I dunno. I think this is the one thing he should go all out on. QuadCore? Thoughts?
HDD - 500GB. He probably won't ever use 200 of it, but the price is essentially the same as 250GB so why not? Also, how about 10K RPM? I hear they are worth it.
DVD burner - I told him any brand name burner is probably fine. Recommended NEC which have worked well for me.
Network card - No idea. Never used one. Never needed one.
Audio - Get a $10 cheapo. He won't ever listen to anything but his mouse clicks anyhow and will probably keep his old, crummy, 2-bit speakers.
GPU - 6 series nVidia? That 8800 will be overkill for him. I play modern games and don't even have one of those. He just needs something basic. Again, 99% of the computers usage will be Internet and email. The only other operations will be camera related, loading maps on GPS device, etc...
USB ports - Says he needs 4 of them. I told him to let the builder know that so he can choose an appropriate mobo..

Thoughts?

[clocker]

Almost any motherboard will have onboard network and sound capabilities.
The only 10k rpm HDDs are WD Raptors and they are total overkill for the PC you're considering.

It's unlikely that any software you father uses (or will be using) is multicore aware, so I'd just pick a pricepoint for the CPU and buy the fastest CPU available, regardless of the number of cores.

Most modern chipsets support way more than 4 USB ports so I don't think that's an issue either.

Any PCI express vid card should work- get the cheapest and upgrade if necessary.
It doesn't take much GPU horsepower to put Firefox on the screen.

The only splurge I'd recommend- especially if you install 64 bit Vista- would be 8GB of RAM. DDR2 is cheap and that amount completely removes memory as a bottleneck issue.

[Skiz]

Sounds great. I'll pass it on.

Thanks. :)

[Detale]

Let us know what you go with bro k?