Computer/ tech guys, new computer question.

[pontiacfreak142]

Ive just been using a a little older dell my parents had, but its seen better days lol.

 

Its been awhile since ive been into computer stuff or even really looked at it, so whats decent stuff/specs these days?. Found an hp over at best buy with an amd a8 preccessor, 8 gig of ram and 1 tb hard drive for 350. That a pretty decent deal? Or can you still build em cheaper yourself?

[Spidey2721]

build. 5 mins at pc part picker... http://pcpartpicker.com/b/JnYrxr. if you dont know of the site check it out. some reason the ram isnt listed, but its cheap enough. i would run 16 gig not 8, but thats me. take some time, poke thru the site, look at some builds and you can theory craft your own.

[Coaster]

It's hard to build one cheaper yourself anymore once you buy a copy of Windows.

 

You are cheating yourself though if you don't plan for a Solid State Drive in your new system.

[Rally Pat]

I would buy what you're looking at or something similar. AMD A series APU computers are good and reliable, but please for the love of god pick up an SSD. In my opinion thats the single most important thing to a positive user experience and longevity. You might even want to try putting one in your older machine first. Also install Windows 10 if you are running Windows 7 or below, it has colossal performance improvements over the older OS's. Window 8.1 runs about the same as Windows 10 as well, but Windows 10 is free right now if you are upgrading so might as well go for the full upgrade. Either way, install ClassicShell to get a regular Windows 7 style start menu back.

 

I use old Core 2 Duo Optiplex 7XX series office PC's from my work as HTPC's on the TV's in my house all running Windows 10 with SSD's and honestly they would work just fine as my daily driver PC and I spend more time using them than my gaming PC.

[Richard Cranium]

I'm a fan of buying refurbished. Normally still has at least some warranty, and roughly 20 or 25% off new. Microcenter typically has a decent selection. I would also recommend watching Woot, they usually have PCs once or twice a week.

 

For a normal PC just doing regular stuff 8GB is fine, 12 would be nicer. An SSD would be really nice, but either expensive or cuts way down on storage. Maybe a smaller SSD for the OS and software with a mechanical disk for storage.

[pontiacfreak142]

I would buy what you're looking at or something similar. AMD A series APU computers are good and reliable, but please for the love of god pick up an SSD. In my opinion thats the single most important thing to a positive user experience and longevity. You might even want to try putting one in your older machine first. Also install Windows 10 if you are running Windows 7 or below, it has colossal performance improvements over the older OS's. Window 8.1 runs about the same as Windows 10 as well, but Windows 10 is free right now if you are upgrading so might as well go for the full upgrade. Either way, install ClassicShell to get a regular Windows 7 style start menu back.

 

I use old Core 2 Duo Optiplex 7XX series office PC's from my work as HTPC's on the TV's in my house all running Windows 10 with SSD's and honestly they would work just fine as my daily driver PC and I spend more time using them than my gaming PC.

 

Yea i looked into the free windows 10 upgrade, but it looks to be only if you have windows 7 or 8, this thing still has vista on it lol

[pontiacfreak142]

It's hard to build one cheaper yourself anymore once you buy a copy of Windows.

 

You are cheating yourself though if you don't plan for a Solid State Drive in your new system.

 

Thats what i was wondering. Has windows at least come down in price? The last time i bought a new copy, was like $300 lol

[jeffro]

Avoid Best Buy and any other pre-built systems. They usually come with loads of bloatware. Unless, you buy a prebuilt system then reinstall using the VLK on the side of your box.

 

Microcenter > BB

[pontiacfreak142]

build. 5 mins at pc part picker... http://pcpartpicker.com/b/JnYrxr. if you dont know of the site check it out. some reason the ram isnt listed, but its cheap enough. i would run 16 gig not 8, but thats me. take some time, poke thru the site, look at some builds and you can theory craft your own.

 

Ram isnt a huge issue if thats what it comes with. Its fairly cheap and easy enough to replace, but thank you, ill be checkiing it out

[unfunnyryan]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/HP-Z800-2x-Xeon-2-66GHz-E5640-QC-12GB-Workstation-Tower-PC-/121989900675?hash=item1c672a2983:g:jWUAAOSwhRxXLP22

 

that expired, here's another set

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Hp-Z800-Dual-Xeon-2TB-16-Gb-HDD-Dual-Video-Output-Tested-Win-7-Pro-Desktop-/162063586084?hash=item25bbbe1324:g:owEAAOSw3mpXLqdU

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/HP-Z800-Workstation-2x-Xeon-Quad-Core-X5620-2-4GHz-24GB-RAM-1TB-Quadro-Win-7-/331824331164?hash=item4d4245799c:g:-9kAAOSwSzdXBTyR

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/HP-Z800-Workstation-Intel-Zeon/201585837623?_trksid=p999999.c100623.m-1&_trkparms=aid%3D222007%26algo%3DSIC.MBE%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20160323102634%26meid%3D01e8f909743f4af4bdaf9760203712c9%26pid%3D100623%26rk%3D3%26rkt%3D6%26sd%3D162063586084

 

you wont beat the price/performance of these. Add SSD, laugh.

Edited May 18, 2016 by unfunnyryan

[Not Brian]

Buy a 1 year old built pc on craigslist. And yeah, SSD or nothing.

[jerrodh]

You can probably get more bang for your buck if you build but honestly if you were "fine" with the old dell you can literally buy pretty much any computer deal out there and you would be lightyears ahead. Last computer I bought off a guy on here really nice build and has been amazing. Might want to consider used Craigslist deals. If your worried find a computer nerd buddy to go with you and check it out.

[pontiacfreak142]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/HP-Z800-2x-Xeon-2-66GHz-E5640-QC-12GB-Workstation-Tower-PC-/121989900675?hash=item1c672a2983:g:jWUAAOSwhRxXLP22

 

that expired, here's another set

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Hp-Z800-Dual-Xeon-2TB-16-Gb-HDD-Dual-Video-Output-Tested-Win-7-Pro-Desktop-/162063586084?hash=item25bbbe1324:g:owEAAOSw3mpXLqdU

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/HP-Z800-Workstation-2x-Xeon-Quad-Core-X5620-2-4GHz-24GB-RAM-1TB-Quadro-Win-7-/331824331164?hash=item4d4245799c:g:-9kAAOSwSzdXBTyR

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/HP-Z800-Workstation-Intel-Zeon/201585837623?_trksid=p999999.c100623.m-1&_trkparms=aid%3D222007%26algo%3DSIC.MBE%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20160323102634%26meid%3D01e8f909743f4af4bdaf9760203712c9%26pid%3D100623%26rk%3D3%26rkt%3D6%26sd%3D162063586084

 

you wont beat the price/performance of these. Add SSD, laugh.

 

those are epic, 24 gb ram lol. i think i might have to put a bid in on the last one $124, only has 2 gig of ram, but does have a 256 gig ssd. not mention if uses ddr 3 ram, ive got about 4 gigs worth sitting here already lol

[pontiacfreak142]

guess ill be checking craigslist as well to see what i can find. appreciate the help guys.

[pontiacfreak142]

question though while im thinking about it, anyone have any experience with alienware? always wanted one and it seems like there prices have come down a bit over the years

[Rally Pat]

question though while im thinking about it, anyone have any experience with alienware? always wanted one and it seems like there prices have come down a bit over the years

 

Nothing wrong with them per se, but they are just fancy Dell's.

[unfunnyryan]

those are epic, 24 gb ram lol. i think i might have to put a bid in on the last one $124, only has 2 gig of ram, but does have a 256 gig ssd. not mention if uses ddr 3 ram, ive got about 4 gigs worth sitting here already lol

 

it has 6x2gb sticks, 12gb ram. It isn't regular ram, but it is still pretty cheap

 

I have similar processors in my server - a pair of hyperthreaded xeons quad cores. It's no joke in CPU heavy task. If you can utilize all 16 threads, the performance is about the same as the i7 4790k OC'd to 4.7ghz in my desktop.

 

Lately I've been planning for a new home server utilizing a pair of these so I can have plex happily reencode videos all day in the background

[Mojoe]

I just picked up a new notebook last night. I have a toshiba satellite P745 I will be letting go of once I reset it.Windows 7 ultimate will be on it. i5-2430M CPU @ 2.40GHz, 750 gig HD, 6 gig of ram.

 

It's been a good computer, I just went with something slimmer, due to all the crap I carry daily.

Edited May 19, 2016 by Mojoe