Thread: Need a New Computer

Well, it is my turn now to ask for suggestions on a new computer. A little background first of all. This computer will be used for general family use (homework, surfing), music, photo editing, video editing and gaming.

My current computer (Dell) was purchased way back in 2004. Pentium 4 / 3.2. It is still chugging along just fine, running BF2 to acceptable playing levels.

Reason for the need to upgrade is to play newer games and really most of all, for video editing. I tried video editing on this one and it is just too slow, and that was before I even started uploading video files.

This brings me to my needs today. I have never built a computer. Always has been off the shelf. As you can tell, I keep them around for a long time, because well, I'm cheap. I have only had two computers ever (Dell and started out with a Gateway - think the hard drive on the Gateway was an 8 GB).

I'm leaning towards off the shelf as opposed to building, but haven't written building off. I really want something that is stable, has good performance and that I don't have to worry with components not working well together, overheating, etc. If I was superstitious, knock on wood, the Dell has actually been great all of these years - only hard drive issues.

The amount of money I'm looking to spend is around $1200 w/out monitor, but need everything else on the computer. I certainly can go higher if needed, but using $1200 as a starting point. The old computer is still very usable and will be given to the kids.

I was on the Dell website looking at their XPS lines. They have two models I looked at, which are 8300 and 9100. What I have a question on now is regarding the CPU. The 8300 line, which they do not tout as their performance line, looks to be using the Sandybridge processors (i7-2600 - and I don't believe this is the i7-2600k). The 9100 series looks to be using i7-930, or 960, etc. First of all, what are the differences between the 2600 vs 930 series? Is it anything I will notice?

It is important to note that I'm facing some serious forces in my household trying to get us into an iMAC. Yes, and sorry for cursing on the forums, but it had to be said.

Thanks in advance for the advice.

Primer

Originally Posted by HeavyG

The Sandy Bridge 2600 will blow away the 930 in absolutely everything, except for overclocking. Even so, a highly overclocked 930 will have trouble taking down a stock 2600.

Charts, benchmarks Desktop CPU Charts 2010, 3DMark Vantage Overall Performance[4786]=on&prod[4477]=on

Just look at the charts. The 2600 beats the 930 hands down, especially when dealing with encoding and transcoding, which will be a big part of your video editing.

If you are not comfortable building your own PC, there is nothing wrong with getting adell. Wait until you find a coupon code and maybe it won't be such a bad deal. If you think you can handle the task, you could save hundreds over a pre-built machine, allowing you to either buy better components, or put that money back into your wallet for a rainy day.

That's interesting you say that about the 2600 over the 930. I wonder why Dell is pushing the 900 series in what they say is their performance line. Sounds to me they may be trying to dump inventory.

So what would you recommend for a build from about $1000 - $1200 (excludes monitor, keyboard, mouse and speakers, but need everything else)? Again, can go higher, but if don't need to, I won't. Used for gaming, video / photo editing, family stuff, etc. I'm looking for something that gives great performance and is stable. I'm a novice when it comes to trying to figure out what is wrong with the computer, so stability is a must.

Thanks again for the help.