What is the fastest PC I can buy right now?

Question

I'm not sure if gigahertz are relevant, but that would help me understand as well.

#2 I also would like to know what is the BEST motherboard to get (one with 2 video slots) I want to add LOTS of RAM maybe 4 gigs if possible?

#3 What would be the best/fastest Video Card(s) to get for graphics.

This computer is for music sequencing/audio recording as well as game playing (Battlefield2 - Microsoft Flight Sim X). So I would like to have absolutely no Lag if that can be done.

I haven't upgraded or purchased a new computer in about 4 years so I really would like to go all out if possible (within limits - I'm not talkin' Alienware or anything...lol... too expensive)

Your help is greatly appreciated! Thanks!

Answer 1

You should get one of the faster core 2 duos, at least 2ghz.
You should get at least a nvidia geforce 7800 graphics card.
The geforce 8800 is the best out there, but its over $500.
I have a 6600gt and x1600, using only a 1.66ghz core duo with 1gb 533mhz ram, and they are just short of being able to run bf2 and FSX on highest without lag. I am positive that anything over a 7800 will run them flawlessly, since the 7800 is something like 3 times as powerful.
Youll also want to get a SATAII had drive, maybe two so that you can make a RAID, which will decrease loading times incredibly. thats something important for FSX.
You dont really need more than 2gb ram. after that point the increase in performance is not worth the cost.
After everything, you shouldnt have to spend more than $1500 to get to your goal, but you could spend significantly more if you wanted to make a crazy computer with dual 8800's a few terabytes of hard drive space and a core 2 extreme ($1000 by itself) and maybe a wide screen monitor.
Just a side note, Im actually a private pilot, and when i cant afford to fly, or the weather is bad, I play fsx on my 30" hdtv, and its incredible. much more realistic. If I had known it was going to make it that much better than on a monitor, then I would have gone for a 40 something inch lcd hdtv.
You can pick one up for about $50 a month from Best buy.

Answer 2

Definitely get yourself 2 gigs of RAM minimum, going for 4 won't hurt at all, except in the wallet.

I'll let others chime in on the motherboards, but keep in mind that Ghz numbers really don't tell the whole story when comparing different processors. For AMD chips, the number preceding the plus sign is what matters. For example, a 2.2Ghz AMD X2 4200+ chip actually performs a bit better than a 4.2Ghz Pentium 4 (hence the 4200 designation). The previous posters are correct- you'll get the most for your money by buying the components yourself from NewEgg or Tigerdirect and building a system, rather than purchasing a name brand.

Right now the fastest processors for consumer desktops are Intel's Core 2 Duo line- that's definitely what you want. There are various models like the E6300, E6600 and E6800. Again, the story is similar to AMDs chips- a 2.13 Ghz E6400 performs much faster than a 2.2 Ghz Pentium D or Pentium 4, it's performance is closer to a 5Ghz version of those chips (if one existed)!

Because the processor is more efficient, it gets more work done at lower clock speeds, so you can't just look at the Ghz number. The Core 2 Duos are also highly overclockable, for extreme techies who like to run them faster than stock speeds.

For graphics cards, you really have to pick a price range. The really good cards start in the $250-300 range. That's where you see things like the ATI Radeon X1950 Pro/XT and Nvidia's GeForce 7900 GT cards. There are better models, but the price jumps dramatically, so this price range is usually your best bang for the buck.

The Radeon X1950XTX runs over $400, the GeForce 7950GX2 costs over $500. The newly introduced Geforce 8800 series- ugh. And don't forget, rich people often join two of those high-end cards in SLI or Crossfire modes for maximum performance. But those scenarios are beyond the budget of most normal muggles :)

Oh, and you can always compare the performance of any video cards you're thinking about at http://www.gpureview.com

Here's a very good (and recent) buyers guide- good luck!

Answer 3

Depending on you rbudget and knowledge base, the least expensive way to go is to build it yourself...that way you will get all the components you want, and the exact match of what you are looking for. If alienware is too expensive and you want a pc that is "the fastest" then just do some saavy shopping for a gaming pc, probably a barebones kit or something along those lines, then you can get the best tower you can afford with the grahics and processor speed you want along with a pretty good base of memory, then you will want to look aound for memory upgrades, and sata hard drive upgrades, as well as monitor, keyboard, and mouse. Overall if you truly want a pc thats the best graphics, fastest processor and 4gbs or more of memory, and have no lag, your gonna end up sending alienware dollars anyways. Just if you do in pieces, you'll get the best configuration you can afford.

Answer 4

You can get alienware performance if you choose your parts wisely and built the computer yourself. Alienware does not make the parts that go into the computer. They put them all together and make a fast computer. My advice is to go with a nice Motherboard from ASUS or MSI that will handle a dual core AMD processor. Get as much DDR2 as you can afford. Preferabley 2 x 1 GB sticks 667 or 800 MHz. Put them in and run them Dual Channel. Get a board with dual PIC express slots. I like to match the chipset maker of the motherboard to the chipset maker of the video card. If you can afford it get 2 video cards and you are all set. Otherwise enjoy the system with one video card and get the other one later. Get 2 matching hard drives and set up a RAID 0 for 40% improvement in disk access time. Oh yeah...get a nice antec case with a an antec 500W power supply. Check out newegg.com or tigerdirect.com. If you want to trick it out go to frozencpu.com.

Answer 5

Adding 1gig of ram when you only had 512mb to start with give you a performance boost for gaming and everything else you use your computer for...Your OS will run faster to,pages will load faster,boot up time will be a bit faster and if you do work with photo editing etc it should speed it up some.... Scott Update---I would say its time for am upgrade then...It is old and ddr is slow along with your processor.....Save your money and dont by the 1 gig stick,put it towards a new pc... JMHO......

Answer 6

Just look at the reviews and benchmarks

http://www.tomshardware.com

for audio recording you're gonna want a decent sound card...maybe an audiophile or something like that depending on what type of equipment you want to hook up. the soundblaster crap is mainly for gaming

for gaming you're gonna want a core 2 duo processor on either a intel 965/975 board or the nforce sli chipset with a decent amount of ram

It's possible to have 2 graphics cards installed at the same time but not sure what the benefit would be....you wouldn't be using them both at the same time.
there's a ton of decent pci-x cards out there just look at the benchmarks

The cost saving on building your own box isn't quite what it used to be.
If you're not into the alienware there's other sites out there that offer a decent range of component options for reasonable prices.
http://www.ibuypower.com is one of the better ones

Answer 7

You can buy Quad core processor built computers now. Add 4GB of DDR2 RAM and WOW!!! SMOKIN'!!!

Answer 8

Its always faster to start with just a bare tower and build it yourself, you can get really good stuff cheaper than what the markets will charge you.

Answer 9

Apple set with Windows vista.

Answer 10

This has every thing you are looking for but you got to spend the $$$
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=2699859&CatId=114