04 Aug 10
My old desktop compy just blew a gasket, and I'm looking to replace it with something cheap (between $500 and $1000) but effective. I'm thinking my best bet is something I can hook up to my TV, so good video specs would be the main concern. I don't do much gaming these days, so I don't need mind-bending 3D performance. Anyone have any general recommendations?
04 Aug 10
Originally posted by PBE6Do you think $500 and $1000 is a lot of money?
My old desktop compy just blew a gasket, and I'm looking to replace it with something cheap (between $500 and $1000) but effective. I'm thinking my best bet is something I can hook up to my TV, so good video specs would be the main concern. I don't do much gaming these days, so I don't need mind-bending 3D performance. Anyone have any general recommendations?
04 Aug 10
Not sure about the price range, but try to get an I7 Intel CPU, splash out for a good motherboard that can handle triple channel DDR3 and smack a 6GB kit in there. Get Windows 7 64bit to make use of it though.
Maybe some of the hardcore overclocker types can tell you if this is worth it, as I'm not very sure.
Are you hooking it up to a HiDef screen? Just make sure your GFX card with HDMI output and get a BluRay ROM.
04 Aug 10
Originally posted by CrowleySounds excellent. What do you estimate that would set me back?
Not sure about the price range, but try to get an I7 Intel CPU, splash out for a good motherboard that can handle triple channel DDR3 and smack a 6GB kit in there. Get Windows 7 64bit to make use of it though.
Maybe some of the hardcore overclocker types can tell you if this is worth it, as I'm not very sure.
Are you hooking it up to a HiDef screen? Just make sure your GFX card with HDMI output and get a BluRay ROM.
04 Aug 10
Originally posted by CrowleyI was just poking around the Dell website to get an idea of the costs involved, and I noticed that all the specs you mentioned are only included in the more expensive computers. That's fine, I'm just wondering if I'm going to hate the cheaper computers with i5 processors and 6GB of dual-channel DDR3 RAM. Like I said, I'm really just going to use this computer to surf the interwebz and watch video on my TV. If I turn on iTunes at the same time, is my living room going to explode in a ball of fiery (s)lag?
Not sure about the price range, but try to get an I7 Intel CPU, splash out for a good motherboard that can handle triple channel DDR3 and smack a 6GB kit in there. Get Windows 7 64bit to make use of it though.
Maybe some of the hardcore overclocker types can tell you if this is worth it, as I'm not very sure.
Are you hooking it up to a HiDef screen? Just make sure your GFX card with HDMI output and get a BluRay ROM.
04 Aug 10
2 edits
Originally posted by PBE6gaming vs good video specs is almost interchangeable. but yeah, i7 cpu, ddr3 ram and a motherboard to go with it, plus a decent 'gaming' graphics card is what you want to be looking for.
My old desktop compy just blew a gasket, and I'm looking to replace it with something cheap (between $500 and $1000) but effective. I'm thinking my best bet is something I can hook up to my TV, so good video specs would be the main concern. I don't do much gaming these days, so I don't need mind-bending 3D performance. Anyone have any general recommendations?
cost? depends. things to cut the cost down with marginal power decrease:
-don't get the fastest i7, look for the lower clocked ones. the real difference is whether you get a i7 or something else, NOT whether you get a 2.6ghz or 3.0ghz cpu.
-don't get the fastest graphics card (let alone 2), same idea as above. just make sure it has the video connections you need. especially if you want hd-resolution.
things to trip you:
-32bit operation systems only see ram up to 4gb (minus the size of memory in your graphics card). there's no way around that. so with 6gb or more you NEED a 64bit OS. and whichever you choose, they'll have a different max limit for ram. so if you want 6g or 12gb or more, it makes differences to which os version you choose. these days, 6gb is not that much anymore.
-triple-channel ram works with 3 separate ram modules. like a 3*2gb kit. so you need a motherboard that supports it. of course you need the motherboard to support i7 as well.
-if you don't have to, don't assemble the computer yourself. it's just useless hassle, and you can probably get it done cheap or buy a complete custom made box to begin with. it's not that it's hard or complex, but let's face it, adults have better things to do than tinker with hardware.
I guess that's about it?
04 Aug 10
Originally posted by PBE6you're gonna hate the i5, but not triple-channel vs dual channel, or ddr2 vs ddr3.
I was just poking around the Dell website to get an idea of the costs involved, and I noticed that all the specs you mentioned are only included in the more expensive computers. That's fine, I'm just wondering if I'm going to hate the cheaper computers with i5 processors and 6GB of dual-channel DDR3 RAM. Like I said, I'm really just going to use this computer ...[text shortened]... rn on iTunes at the same time, is my living room going to explode in a ball of fiery (s)lag?
6gb vs 12gb you're gonna hate the second you have your torrent downloads filling up the ram and you wanna open a big chess database. but you can make do with 6gb easily as well, it's not a big problem.
04 Aug 10
1 edit
Originally posted by wormwoodWhat's the main difference between an i5 and an i7?
you're gonna hate the i5, but not triple-channel vs dual channel, or ddr2 vs ddr3.
6gb vs 12gb you're gonna hate the second you have your torrent downloads filling up the ram and you wanna open a big chess database. but you can make do with 6gb easily as well, it's not a big problem.
04 Aug 10
1 edit
Originally posted by Palynkai5 is the watered down 'cheap' version of i7. better get a 'slow' i7 tham a 'fast' i5. because the 'slow' i7 will be faster than 'fast' i5 BUT still cheaper.
What's the main difference between an i5 and an i7?
a little disclaimer here: I don't follow the hardware development actively, and everything I say is in a general level. the 'newest fastest' i5 might well be faster than 'the oldest slowest i7', but generally speaking it won't. and in any case such a 'super fast i5' would be almost certainly much more expensive. some overclocking enthusiast can probably tell what the current situation is.