Needing a new computer...

[Delfestra Ruinvorn]

My poor laptop is an Inspiron 8100 from 2002...and while she handles NWN rather well, the new games are just beyond her poor RAM and Graphics card power.

So, I'll be looking for a new machine - and don't know that much about what is good technologically, really.

Any advice out there as to what hardware or equipment is worth it, and what to avoid? I want something that lasts and can do what I need it to, but I don't want to be suckered since I'm definately clueless in a lot of areas.

I know the difference between RAM and ordinary storage space, but I couldn't tell you the difference between an Nvidia graphics card and...well, some other kind.

[shadowspawn]

For starters:
highergroundpoa.proboards3.com/index.cgi?board=Tavern&action=display&n=1&thread=3084&page=1

Definitely PCI Express for video card, would stay away (IMO) from SLI (see above thread)

From personal experience - when looking at Nvidia vs. ATI cards, one thing to look at is which version of pixel shading they use. I got burned when I bought a TI4200, which by all accounts was superior to comparable speed ATI versions, but was unable to make the switch from BF to BF2 because Nvidia in their limited wisdom at the time did not support the latest pixel shaders needed. Slower ATI cards did (on the bright side, it pushed me towards NWN and HG)

ss

[mubu]

For the latest and greatest games on the market i would suggest you get the following for both cost efficiency and output:

-7800series Nvidia graphics card <ATI is a driver nightmare>

-Pentium 4 Socket 775 Processor 3.0 or higher if going hyperthreading and 2.4 or higher if you are going Duo Core.

-2Gigs of DDR2 533 or faster memory that the motherboard supports

-I recommend ASUS motherboards preferably if you can afford it the 965 chipset to be exact.

-Sata II Hard Drive of any size but sata2 because of the speed and longevity

-Power supply of 500wats or better because good power = lower heat and better operation

-Good airflow case and when i say airflow the area where the processor is and video card are is the major heat zones in the computer and shouldnt be unable to ventilate, the best cases in my opinion are Thermaltake cases.

I can elaborate or even help you find anything you are looking for but i will tell you if are looking to keep with a laptop the price of gaming on one is going to go through the roof with new technology. For those who do not know you can find great deals for parts on Newegg.com and Tigerdirect.com but there are a ton of bad companys out there so don't be afraid to send me email<[e-mail] or [e-mail]> or msg me ingame if you can find me.

[jillybean]

If you are building yourself, I usually refer to Tom's Hardware for specs. They do much testing and make recommendations on the best buy. Then I go to Pricewatch, type in what I want, and find out who has the best prices.

For a brand name PC, I recommend Dell desktops, or Sony laptops. Many brand name desktops don't have much room/support for future upgrades (video/chip), so keep that in mind.

Also, if you have the time and are familiar with it, eBay is a great place to buy parts and brand name PCs; both new and used (some that still have oem warranties too). But the more familiar you are with ebay the better in regards to this.

[phalthallus]

Another good place to look is Dell's Refurb Site. They have machines that are almost always under warranty, and sometimes brand new (returned because people didn't like something about it). It's a good place to find great deals.

[DragonChyld]

One thing to note, if you buy a manufactured PC be aware that they come loaded with "Shovelware" Thats why you get a "System restore disk" Instead of an actual windows disk. so IF you have to reinstal windows you also reload all the Shovelware on your PC. A very simple fix is take your PC to most PC shops and tell them you would like them to reformat your PC as soon as you buy it, and request that they give you a copy of Windows using the CD key that came with your new PC. Should run ya about $50 but well worth it. Shovelware companys pay more for your Computer than you do FYI.

Also, no to Disagree with MuBu but I would go with an AMD Athlon 64 FX 3400+ or better and build the system around that. AMD always has the leading edge over Pentium Tech wise.

~ DC

[reelroleplayer]

phalthallus said:

Another good place to look is Dell's Refurb Site. They have machines that are almost always under warranty, and sometimes brand new (returned because people didn't like something about it). It's a good place to find great deals.

As far as Dell: beware. Google "Dell customer service issues" before buying a Dell--you'll be amazed at what you find. They are basically still relying on their brand recognition and marketing dolars to sell PC's these days and have the worst support in the industry, and I would recommend avoiding them at all costs. The first hit I got when I did this is a scathing article written by Dell purchasers: www.consumeraffairs.com/computers/dell_svc.html

[whodat1]

<Sigh> I really dont want to have to defend dell but in all honesty pick any major brand of anything and you can find hundreds of complaints on the web about them.

Regardless of the support issues, Dell machines are popular on the secondary market, and thats probably why people are offering it as an option here. Theres gateway, hp, etc too, if dell is not teh win 4 j00.

[Ironfang]

Dell also offers "In home warranty" where if you dont buy the Big Box extended coverage you will be paying shipping back to California for most other brands.

www.NCIX.com is a great Canadian site for parts 'specially if u dont live in BC as you get to skip on Provincial sales tax which can more than cover shipping costs.

[chainlink]

Go on build it yourself, you know you want to. At least you'll know who to blame when it goes tits up. As to what to get I'd wait to ask until you're ready to splash the cash as stuff changes so quickly in the pc market that any suggestions I give you now are likely to be completely out of date in a months time. As for laptops they are fine if you don't mind stumping up to get one with a decent graphics subsystem but when they go wrong its not so easy to replace individual components so its likely to have to go back to the manufacturer. My desktop machines have had just about all their internals replaced/upgraded over their lifetimes, including full motherboard/CPU swaps when they were getting a bit tardy.

[bort]

I found www.dabs.com useful for ease of use, allowing you to specify the range of acceptable criteria for your machine, then giving you a list of what fits that range of criteria.

I was also suprised to find my ideal laptop spec (for my price range) on dabs was much cheaper there than anywhere else I looked.

[Yomi]

I've found Anandtech's Buyer's Guides to be very handy when specing out systems to build, even if you just use it for ideas. Toms Hardware is also good for reviews.

As Gald mentioned, laptops are neat, but they do have repair issues (if your keyboard craps out on a desktop system, you're out very little in time or money -- not true for either with a laptop). Generally impossible to upgrade just one thing (monitor, graphics card, processor). But they sure are nice (and you pay for it).

HP and Dell are both worth looking into for generic systems -- also check out places like Costco / Sams Club, as they can have some pretty good deals and Costco has super easy returns if you don't like it.

I'm going to be building a new computer in a few weeks, which will make my son very happy as he'll finally get sole use of the computer I am using for NWN. At this point I'm thinking: Asus P5B-E Plus motherboard (may not be available yet, alternately the regular Asus P5B-E), Intel E6400 Core2 Duo processor (perhaps overclocked), either 1 or 2GB of memory, ATI X1950 Pro video card, Antec Sonota II or P180 case, Logitech MX 1000 mouse, some TDB keyboard, some TDB speakers. For hard drives either a 320GB SATA drive or do some sort of swap arrangement with our photo computer to upgrade its RAID drives and use a couple of the old ones in this computer. For monitor, still undecided between the ~$350 20" monitors (Dell 2007WFP, Samsung 204T) or the ~$700 24" ones (Dell 2407WFP, Samsung 244T). O/S will be Windows XP Professional 32-bit. I might buy another copy of Acronis TrueImage for backups.

[lala]

Not sure where you are based Delf but it can be worth checking some of the more reputable magazines for their reviews.
These days its just as cheap to buy a ready built dekstop from a manufacturer than to build one yourself.

The link I am providing is the A-list from PCPro (UK magazine) which does some nice testing of machines.
Also has sections for graphics cards, etc if your interested in reading up on them.

The only hassle I have found is that it can ask you to register after checking a few of their articles, on the plus side they have never sent any junk mail to me so far

www.pcpro.co.uk
Bah it takes me to register page so changed it to their homepage... Select A-list from the menu on the left.

Hope it helps
Lala