Thread: Looking at Desktops

Well Uncle Sam is being generous for me this year and has seen fit to provide me with enough of a refund to possible get a new desktop. I know building your own is probally the best bang for your buck but I want to consider all my options. If I do decide to go the custom build route I will most likely be looking at a BD box as he has built some pretty sweet running rigs for a awesome price. I would like is to have some input on a couple of name brand desktops and what more I could get if I go custom. So far I've tweeked these two from Dell and HP:



Your HPE-150t series

Operating system Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit edit
Processor Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-860 quad-core processor [2.8GHz, 1MB L2 + 8MB shared L3 cache] edit
Memory FREE UPGRADE! 6GB DDR3-1333MHz SDRAM [3 DIMMs] from 4GB edit
Hard drive FREE UPGRADE! 640GB 7200 rpm SATA 3Gb/s hard drive from 500GB edit
Graphics card 1GB NVIDIA GeForce GT 220 [DVI, HDMI, VGA] edit
Primary optical drive LightScribe 16X max. DVD+/-R/RW SuperMulti drive edit
Networking Integrated 10/100/1000 (Gigabit) Ethernet, No wireless LAN edit
Front Productivity Ports 15-in-1 memory card reader, 1 USB, 1394, audio edit
TV & entertainment experience No TV Tuner edit
Sound Card Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Xtreme Audio edit
Speakers HP USB 2.0 stereo speakers edit
Keyboard and Mouse HP multimedia keyboard and HP optical mouse edit
Productivity software Microsoft(R) Works 9.0 edit
Security software Norton Internet Security(TM) 2010 - 15 month edit
Your additional options:
Click edit to modify. NOTE: These items are in stock and will ship immediately.
Monitor HP 2009m 20-inch 16:9 HD Ready Widescreen Monitor edit

$1209.98


Studio XPS 9000

PROCESSORS Intel® Core™ i7-920 processor(8MB L3 Cache, 2.66GHz) edit
OPERATING SYSTEM Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium, 64bit, English edit
WARRANTY AND SERVICE 2 Year Basic Service Plan edit
MEMORY 8GB Dual Channel DDR3 SDRAM at 1066MHz - 4 DIMMs edit
HARD DRIVE 750GB 7200 RPM SATA Hard Drive edit
VIDEO CARD nVidia GeForce GTS 240 1024MB edit
MONITOR 21.5" Dell ST2210 Full HD Monitor with VGA cable edit
OPTICAL DRIVE 16X DVD+/-RW Drive edit
SPEAKERS Dell AX510PA 10W Attached Speaker for Dell Flat Panel Monitors edit
SOUND CARD Integrated 7.1 Channel Audio edit
WIRELESS Integrated 10/1000 Ethernet edit
KEYBOARD Dell Studio Consumer Multimedia Keyboard edit
MOUSE Dell Studio Optical Mouse edit
MODEM No Modem Option edit
OFFICE SOFTWARE Microsoft® Works 9 edit

$1239





Idealy I would rather pay $1000 or less but I am unsure if that is possible for a rig that has update potential. Please post better builds if you know them and the price tag for the parts. I do not know a huge amount about computers, just enough to get by IMO. Thanks in advance of the help.

Get some of the egg heads on here to pick out a parts list, order them from newegg using the TTP link, and build it yourself. I bet for a grand you could get a system that would smoke either of those.

Pure awesomeness, I was going to post a similar thread... Following this one Loki let me know how it goes, I'm looking to build a pc that kills BC2 so that I can run BF3 on med? I've a budget of $1500 - $2000 Canadian, lol cheaper the better though Looking to build end of March to end of June......

both of those PCs are nice for a general family computer but neither has a video card worth a damn and you will kick yourself repeatedly whenever you try to play video games

Originally Posted by Mcstrange

both of those PCs are nice for a general family computer but neither has a video card worth a damn and you will kick yourself repeatedly whenever you try to play video games

Good point, those cards are performed by a nearly 2.5 year old 8800GT. For $1000 you can build a kickass i7 system with a good card. I've posted probably 6 lists in the past 6 months and don't have it in me to post another one.

I'll say one thing though... it is awesome that i7 has such staying power. The system I built 11 months ago is still top of the line. Never in my 13 years of building PC's have I had a PC that wasn't at least somewhat outdated after a year. GPU's are still growing pretty quick, but CPU's are finally leveling off somewhat...

Originally Posted by Veovis

Originally Posted by Mcstrange

both of those PCs are nice for a general family computer but neither has a video card worth a damn and you will kick yourself repeatedly whenever you try to play video games

Good point, those cards are performed by a nearly 2.5 year old 8800GT. For $1000 you can build a kickass i7 system with a good card. I've posted probably 6 lists in the past 6 months and don't have it in me to post another one.

I'll say one thing though... it is awesome that i7 has such staying power. The system I built 11 months ago is still top of the line. Never in my 13 years of building PC's have I had a PC that wasn't at least somewhat outdated after a year. GPU's are still growing pretty quick, but CPU's are finally leveling off somewhat...

I was afraid that the cards would be under powered in those builds. Always seems the issue with these companies, under powered cards with low end Power supplies. I'm all ears for what a good system would entail. I've checked out an alienware but they are way too over priced.

Keyboard and mouse are optional (or cheap ones will suffice), I would how ever need to update my monitor. The one I am using now is showing signs that it's life is slowly coming to a close. So if you guys have ideas on good builds (or know which post some are already in) please feel free to post them. When I finally get the money in I would love to have at least a base to start from.

Originally Posted by loki2158

So if you guys have ideas on good builds (or know which post some are already in) please feel free to post them.

Here is a recent discussion with lots of good info:
http://www.texasteamplayers.com/index.php?topic=78652.0

Originally Posted by Veovis

Originally Posted by loki2158

So if you guys have ideas on good builds (or know which post some are already in) please feel free to post them.

Here is a recent discussion with lots of good info:
http://www.texasteamplayers.com/index.php?topic=78652.0

Thanks!

I have a few questions:

1: Nvidia or ATI?
2: Dual GPU worth it? Or should I spend twice the money on one card?
3: Is Quad a must for an endurance pc? (Making it last past a few years...)
4: Is it better sometimes to compromise and buy a HP or Dell and plop in a decent GPU? Or is self build best?