buying a new pc?

Question

Hi,

I am looking into buying a new PC but not sure what I should be looking forward. I always assumed the more money you spent the better the PC... is this the case? Not wanting to seem like a total div walking into the shop and to be sold any old rubbish.

It will be used for home use, internet, ipods, PC Games. Quite a large memory would be good - how would I recognise this? Good Graphics card I presume as I will be running a few games - e.g. Zoo Tycoon, Rollercoaster Tycoon, CM.

Please help.

Thanks

Answer 1

Well, you can get some good desktops for around $800. i would recommend at least 1gb of RAM (preferably 2gb), at least 160gb hard drive (for a desktop), a Core 2 Duo processor, and most desktops come with CD-RW/DVD+RW or -RW. The games you're looking at running don't require a heavy-duty video card, but most of the ones out there will handle them just fine. And make sure you've got a handful of USB ports

i hope this helps!

Answer 2

I'll give you a list of what to look for:

Processor - This is the heart of your computer. This is the chip that does most of the calculations. So the faster this is, the faster your computer will be (but other components are important too!).
Currently, the best processors available are the Intel Core 2 Duo's. Don't worry, they make budget versions as well as high-end ones. If a PC has an Intel Core 2 Duo in it, you know you're good on the processor departement. Also quite good are the AMD Athlon X2's.
AMD Athlons(Those that are not X2) and Pentium 4's are not as good, but you can end up with a decent PC too. Watch out, though, these vary in speed greatly. When shopping for a Pentium 4, make sure it's 3.4Ghz or higher, and when shopping for normal Athlons, make sure they are designated 3700+ or higher, otherwise you will end up with quite a slow processor.
Avoid Celerons and Semprons. They are cheap, but also more prone to failure and slower. This is the heart of your PC, you don't want to skimp on that.

RAM Memory - RAM Memory is used to quickly write to and read information from. Simply said, this is your PC's short term memory. It's fast, but lower on storage space then a harddisk and not permanent.
The more the better here. 1 Gigabyte is the sweet spot though, for the price/performance ratio.

Harddisk - The more memory, the better. Most PC's come with 200 Gigabyte harddrives nowadays.

Video cards - This is a little complex. There's a lot of different cards with different specifications. To give you an idea of what's what, a Radeon X1650 Pro is a really good card for the price/performance ration. You can compare it to the other cards in this list: http://www.overclock.net/graphics-cards-general/114450-graphics-card-rankings-2-a.html
Those are all the graphics cards currently available. Look up the one that you're offered in that list, and if it ranks high, you know it's a good one (I'm recommending the X1650 Pro as good price/performance, so the closer to that card you get, the better!)

I hope that helps you in your search. Good luck!

Answer 3

Hello. My ID is Dell Tech, and I am please to assist with your inquires... Well, it is logical when you spend more money, you get a better product, but does that mean you have spend a heap of money to get an excellent product? Absolutely not!

Let me help you build a machine. Make sure to copy my message.....

Please note that you should get a Dell... Why Dell? Because Dell is much better than most PCs out there, and also note that Dell bought out Alienware company.

The first thing you need to consider whehn buying a computer is the CPU.... The CPU is very important because it is the speed of your computer, and since you want to play games, I would highly recommend Intel® Core™2 Duo Processor E6400 (2MB L2 Cache,2.13GHz,1066 FSB. You will get this with the Dell XPS 410

Memory is another important thing you need to worry about... You need enough memory to play games and improve your computer performances to prevent your system from freezing up a lot, so you also get 1GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 667MHz - 2 DIMMs with the Dell XPS 410

Hard drive is something you store your data on. the bigger the hard drive, the faster your computer will be and be able to store more storage, so you also get 320GB Serial ATA 3Gb/s Hard Drive (7200RPM) w/DataBurst Cache™ with the Dell XPS 410

Single Drive: 16X CD/DVD burner (DVD+/-RW) w/double layer write capability

19 inch E197FP Analog Flat Panel

With 256MB nVidia GeForce 7900 GS GPU, you will play almost every game... The final price of this PC is just $ 1,299

This is all you need. You will be able to do everything in one.

Yes, you will be able to play 96% of games, which is VERY good.

To view the sexy, awesome desktops from Dell, visit the link below.

http://www.dell.com/content/products/category.aspx/xpsdt?c=us&cs=19&l=en&s=dhs

Answer 4

Well if I had the money to burn I would recommend either a new Macintosh or if you are really into computer games Alienware makes great PC's for the gamer in mind. Dell also has some great deals, online only, don't buy a Dell in a retail store you will get burned. Compaq also has some great deals too, but I like Dell's a little better.

Answer 5

What brand are you intrested in? I would probably just say that you get a Entertainment one. They usually have large hard drives, better video cards, and a lot of Ram for games. I'll give you an example...

http://www.gateway.com/systems/series/529596912.php

but that is just gateway, look at the details and make sure when you do buy a pc you get what you want.

Answer 6

well, yes you can spend 5 or 6 thousand if you want. would get two 160 gig drives installed one for programs and one for other things. 2gigs of ram, a good not great graphics card duel core cpu. had my new one built by a local tech without all the garbage pc makers install. cost about 1300. good luck

Answer 7

I read all the anSwers, NONE OF THEM in my match.

***3ghz p4 925 model. 4mb L2 chace, 800 FSB with 945g Intel board, 2gb ddr2 667FSB ram = cheap

*****intel6800 p4 8mb cache, 1066 FSB, with 975X intel Board 4GB DDR2 800 FSB ram = COSTLY

NO NEED OF AGP/GPU/PCI CARDS.