Reply With QuoteSo this HP computer seems to be almost the same, but a bit better than this Dell computer. Hmm..
So the custom computer I bought off a friend (I really need to stop buying things from him) just crashed. Geek Squad told me it was a fried motherboard. So, since I'm not terribly satisfied with the other parts of my computer anyhow (except monitor and HDs) I'm looking to buy a new computer.
Ideas?
I'm looking now at some HPs, but I really don't know what the difference is, or whether the differences between different options is worth the price differences.
Basically I want a computer that can handle running photoshop, Trillian and winamp at the same time as Firefox with like 30+ tabs open. And a computer that can handle Civ4/Civ5/Fallout/Oblivion/etc at a reasonable speed without going to pieces. Not necessarily at max graphics.
$700 is the most I want to pay. Hopefully less.
Ideas?
Captain of Team Apolyton - ISDG 2012
When I was younger I thought curfews were silly, but now as the daughter of a young woman, I appreciate them. - Rah
So this HP computer seems to be almost the same, but a bit better than this Dell computer. Hmm..
Captain of Team Apolyton - ISDG 2012
When I was younger I thought curfews were silly, but now as the daughter of a young woman, I appreciate them. - Rah
Is building it yourself out of the question?
Indifference is Bliss
Its not out of the question. Though my current computer (which just blew up) was a custom built one. It never sounded good when it ran, so I suppose it was just a matter of time before something blew. I worry it was just a hodge podge of components that never really worked well together, so I'm thinking something designed to work together would be safer... but maybe I'm wrong.
Plus I think I'm due for an upgrade for processor, memory, motherboard & graphics card. Could I get all four of those cheaper separately?
Last edited by OzzyKP; January 20, 2011 at 16:55.
Captain of Team Apolyton - ISDG 2012
When I was younger I thought curfews were silly, but now as the daughter of a young woman, I appreciate them. - Rah
You could tailor your computer more to your needs. I'm not sure in the US, but over here, pre-built PCs usally have very little RAM, for example, and crappy PSUs.
I got an i5 750, a 650W PSU, 4GB RAM, a Radeon 5750, and a 750GB HDD for ~800 UDS about a year ago, and over here, so you'll surely manage to get something on that line for much less.
Indifference is Bliss
I don't really know how to compare different parts.
Like the $639 HP has: "8GB DDR3-1333MHz SDRAM [4 DIMMs]"
The $699 HP has: "6GB DDR3-1333MHz SDRAM [3 DIMMs]"
I would guess that the pricier computer would have better stuff, but it seems like the $639 one has 8 GB (of RAM?) vs. 6 in the $699 model. What is a DIMM? And how does that compare to the 6/8GB? Without really understanding things it seems like the cheaper model's 8 Gigs is better than the more expensive model. But I have no idea.
Also, for processor,
$639 HP: AMD Phenom(TM) II X6 1045T six-core processor [2.7GHz, 3MB L2 + 6MB L3 shared, up to 4000MHz]
$699 HP: Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-2300 quad-core processor [2.8GHz, 6MB cache]
This is gibberish to me. Is six core better than quad-core? I assume 2.8GHz is better than 2.7, but what is the stuff about cache and L2 + L3? I have no idea what this means.
And, again, with the graphics card:
$639 HP: 1GB DDR3 ATI Radeon HD 5450 [DVI, HDMI, VGA adapter]
$699 HP: 512MB DDR3 NVIDIA GeForce 315 [DVI, HDMI, VGA adapter]
Does that mean the cheaper model (1GB) has a graphics card that is twice as good as the other one (512MB)? I have no idea.
So I have no idea how to price out and compare individual components when I can't really figure out what is a good value when comparing two pre-built HP computers. Any assistance would be greatly appreciated. Not only do I not understand the difference between different specs, I don't know what that'll mean for my actual experience using the computer. Is 4 GB of RAM a lot? Will it be enough to run Civ5 without slowdowns? Is 5GB a big step up? Is it worth $200 for that step? $100? $50? Will my performance be noticeably different? I don't know.
Just about the only thing I clearly understand is hard drive space. But I don't even need one.
Captain of Team Apolyton - ISDG 2012
When I was younger I thought curfews were silly, but now as the daughter of a young woman, I appreciate them. - Rah
A DIMM is a memory card for RAM. The number doesn't really matter, smaller numbers just means it's easier to add more in the future (assuming that means there's spare slots).
It boggles my mind how the Core i5-2300 chip can have a 3-DIMM memory configuration (that can't be right). It's dual channel RAM, it should be installed in pairs (2,4).
You don't need to worry about the cache info. I'd just go for the Core i5 2300. It's a faster chip, IIRC.
The memory of the graphics card doesn't tell you too much either. Your best bet is to just google for benchmarks. I've no idea how fast those are, because they're ridiculously low-end.
Your best bet here is simply to post links to the computers you're configuring if you're buying OEM and describe how you'll use the computer. If you're up for building a computer, give a budget and what you'd need (eg, you keeping your existing monitor?) and what you'd like to do with it.
"The issue is there are still many people out there that use religion as a crutch for bigotry and hate. Like Ben."
Ben Kenobi: "That means I'm doing something right. "
Thanks.
Budget: $700-$750
Already Have: Monitor, Keyboard/Mouse, Speakers, Wireless card, DVD drives, hard drives, sound card?, box, fans, power supply.*
Need/Want: Motherboard, processor, RAM, Graphics Card
Basically I want a computer that can handle running photoshop, Trillian and winamp at the same time as Firefox with like 40+ tabs open. And a computer that can handle Civ4/Civ5/Fallout/Oblivion/etc at a reasonable speed without going to pieces. And any other not extreme games to come out in the next 3-4 years. Not necessarily at max graphics.
*Though I don't know if the power supply will be enough, or if everything will fit in the box fine. Or if the different parts will work together well.
Last edited by OzzyKP; January 20, 2011 at 17:42.
Captain of Team Apolyton - ISDG 2012
When I was younger I thought curfews were silly, but now as the daughter of a young woman, I appreciate them. - Rah
Could you find out how many watts your PSU is? Should say somewhere on it.
"The issue is there are still many people out there that use religion as a crutch for bigotry and hate. Like Ben."
Ben Kenobi: "That means I'm doing something right. "
I'm at work at the moment, but yea, when I get home I can check that out.
Captain of Team Apolyton - ISDG 2012
When I was younger I thought curfews were silly, but now as the daughter of a young woman, I appreciate them. - Rah
I guess I wouldn't be terribly opposed to a new HD either... just depending on the price and how much everything else costs. I have an external HD that I also bought second hand off the same friend who sold me the computer, and it doesn't entirely work all the time. With that and the two internal ones I've got, I'm ok for space. Though not swimming in it. Might feel the pinch over the next few years. Plus with the external drive being kind of crappy... I dunno.
Either way, would be nice to have, but not at the top of my list of priorities.
Captain of Team Apolyton - ISDG 2012
When I was younger I thought curfews were silly, but now as the daughter of a young woman, I appreciate them. - Rah
Hard Drives are so cheap now that it's almost always worth upgrading. Your Windows install needs to be replaced anyway.
Newer HDDs are going to be faster with more space.
"The issue is there are still many people out there that use religion as a crutch for bigotry and hate. Like Ben."
Ben Kenobi: "That means I'm doing something right. "
Ok, 480 watts for the PSU.
I'm trying to figure out what my video card is, but I can't see anything written on it that I can use to place it exactly. I see HIS IceQ Turbo, which may just be the name of the fan on the video card, and not the name of the card itself. I do see something on the card that says 512MB, but the rest isn't helpful.
Captain of Team Apolyton - ISDG 2012
When I was younger I thought curfews were silly, but now as the daughter of a young woman, I appreciate them. - Rah
Ok, I found a number that led me somewhere: H467QT512
I think this is what I have:
http://www.hisdigital.com/un/product2-65.shtml
At the benchmark site I found, I don't see anything about HIS, but it is possible that I have the Radeon HD 4670. It does say 4670 and Radeon at that link. So, if that's the case, it looks like a fairly decent video card. Right? Maybe I'll just keep this one.
Captain of Team Apolyton - ISDG 2012
When I was younger I thought curfews were silly, but now as the daughter of a young woman, I appreciate them. - Rah
Ok, and stuck into the mother board are two thin, shiney looking things. They both say PC 3200 1024 EL Dual CH Platinum Edition on them. OCZ.
So are these the things that get plugged into the DIMM slots? How does this change what kind of ram I need?
Captain of Team Apolyton - ISDG 2012
When I was younger I thought curfews were silly, but now as the daughter of a young woman, I appreciate them. - Rah
I also have this super cool looking orange fan that blows out the side of the case by Thermaltake.
The motherboard seems to be this:
http://www.biostar.com.tw/app/en/mb/....php?S_ID=184#
Captain of Team Apolyton - ISDG 2012
When I was younger I thought curfews were silly, but now as the daughter of a young woman, I appreciate them. - Rah
That card isn't too great, but it should do what you want. When it stops being good enough, upgrade then to something much better for $100 as tech improves.
It looks like you can just replace your motherboard, RAM, and CPU and leave the rest of the system intact. You would need to reinstall Windows, though.
"The issue is there are still many people out there that use religion as a crutch for bigotry and hate. Like Ben."
Ben Kenobi: "That means I'm doing something right. "
Yeah, those are RAM DIMMs.Originally Posted by OzzyKP
It doesn't change anything for you. You'll want a new motherboard, which means you'll need a CPU that uses the new socket on the motherboard and RAM that is the same type as the new motherboards (DDR3).
"The issue is there are still many people out there that use religion as a crutch for bigotry and hate. Like Ben."
Ben Kenobi: "That means I'm doing something right. "
So the RAM DIMMs I've got won't do me any good? The power supply looked good?
What motherboard/ram/cpu should I get?
Captain of Team Apolyton - ISDG 2012
When I was younger I thought curfews were silly, but now as the daughter of a young woman, I appreciate them. - Rah
So here's a brief rundown, hopefully not too technical, of some options.
I would go Intel right now, so my options are limited to that. AMD would work too, I just haven't paid attention to their offerings lately and from last I saw, they weren't quite as good.
You have two CPU socket choices: LGA1155 and LGA1156. Despite the higher number, LGA1156 is the older socket that is being replaced by LGA1155, which just came on the market.
If you want to use the new generation Core i3/i5s (these are the 2000-series numbers), you will need an LGA1155 board. They're generally ~20% faster than the older Core i3s/i5s.
If you want to use last generation Core i3s/i5s (these are the series numbers just in the hundreds), you will need an LGA1156 board.
If you're going the new gen route (which I would suggest), consider something like this:
Motherboard: ASRock P67 motherboard (uses DDR3 RAM) for $123.99 : http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813157222
CPU: Intel Core i5-2400 (3.1GHz quad-core) for $194.99 : http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819115074
Total: $318.99
Then just add some RAM:
Corsair XMS3 (2 x 2GB RAM, 4GB total) for $49.99 ($39.99 after mail-in rebate): http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820145260
That brings you to $368.98, plus tax.
Your videocard would most certainly be a bottleneck, so you may want to replace that too.
You also need to be sure that for all of the stuff you'd want to migrate from your old computer to your new one, that you have enough space. For instance, if your old harddrives are IDE (the thick ribbon cable), make sure there's enough connections on the new motherboard. They may not have enough.
You won't need a soundcard on the new one, the motherboard's sound chip is good.
"The issue is there are still many people out there that use religion as a crutch for bigotry and hate. Like Ben."
Ben Kenobi: "That means I'm doing something right. "
If I had to get a graphics card that'd go nicely with that board, I would get an AMD Radeon 6850 like this one: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814125353
It's $189.99, $169.99 after mail-in rebate. It's a DirectX 11 card (the latest standard) and is much, much faster than your old one.
And your PSU sounds like it should be fine.
And don't worry about the specific models I'm showing -- there's so many to choose from, I just picked ones quasi at random. The important thing to keep in mind is make sure your CPU socket and motherboard socket match (LGA1155 or LGA1156 for Intel), and make sure you get the proper RAM for your motherboard (it should always be DDR3). The RAM number like PC10800 or PC12000 or 1333/1600/etc are just the speed ratings.
You'll want a 1333/PC10666 for an LGA1156
You'll want a 1600/PC12800 for an LGA1155.
The 1333/1600 numbers are the effective clock speeds in MHz.
The PCxxxxx numbers are the memory bandwidth per channel in MB/s.
Your current motherboard is PC3200, or 3.2GB/s per channel (times two, since it is dual channel, which is 6.4GB/s total).
The new motherboard will be PC10666 (10.6GB/s per channel, 21.4GB/s total) or PC12800 (12.8GB/s per channel, or 25.6GB/s total)
Last edited by Asher; January 21, 2011 at 00:06.
"The issue is there are still many people out there that use religion as a crutch for bigotry and hate. Like Ben."
Ben Kenobi: "That means I'm doing something right. "
Fantastic, thank you so much.I'll definitely check that out. One of my two HDs is IDE.
Captain of Team Apolyton - ISDG 2012
When I was younger I thought curfews were silly, but now as the daughter of a young woman, I appreciate them. - Rah
So it appears as if the motherboard has one IDE slot. But on my current set up I have two, one being used by a DVD drive, and the other by a hard drive. I guess I could get a new HD too, but then how do I transfer the stuff off the old one?
Captain of Team Apolyton - ISDG 2012
When I was younger I thought curfews were silly, but now as the daughter of a young woman, I appreciate them. - Rah
You can connect two IDE devices per IDE slot (master & slave nonsense of IDE). So that should be fine.
As for the hard drives, you may want to get a new one of those too...just to start fresh. They're just so cheap.
For your old harddrive, you can just connect it normally (you should be able to have both the DVD + HDD hooked up to the one IDE). Or you could get an external harddrive case, just install the harddrive in that and connect it via USB (I've done this before).
"The issue is there are still many people out there that use religion as a crutch for bigotry and hate. Like Ben."
Ben Kenobi: "That means I'm doing something right. "
BTW, don't forget the cost of Windows. You'll need a new copy of Windows 7 for this computer.
Look for the "OEM" versions of it at your local computer shop. Or newegg may even sell them. They're much cheaper for the same thing. I think you just don't get the useless tech support.
"The issue is there are still many people out there that use religion as a crutch for bigotry and hate. Like Ben."
Ben Kenobi: "That means I'm doing something right. "
Ah yea... Hmm, I guess I'm doing that currently too with my two DVD drives. Though I suppose I don't really need two DVD drives.
Captain of Team Apolyton - ISDG 2012
When I was younger I thought curfews were silly, but now as the daughter of a young woman, I appreciate them. - Rah
I've got Windows 7 discs from TechSoup through work, I forget how many licenses we got with that or how it works, but I do plenty of work from home, so it seems like it'd be ethically ok at least...
Captain of Team Apolyton - ISDG 2012
When I was younger I thought curfews were silly, but now as the daughter of a young woman, I appreciate them. - Rah
I don't know if it's ethical, but I know I do it. I've got 10 licenses of every version of every release of Windows through work. Ditto Office.
"The issue is there are still many people out there that use religion as a crutch for bigotry and hate. Like Ben."
Ben Kenobi: "That means I'm doing something right. "
Ah, and you're right about HDs being cheap, 2TB for $80 seems pretty decent. Your thoughts on this?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822148413
Captain of Team Apolyton - ISDG 2012
When I was younger I thought curfews were silly, but now as the daughter of a young woman, I appreciate them. - Rah
You'll want to avoid the Seagate "LP" and Western Digital "Green" drives for general desktop use. These are slow, energy efficient drives mostly used for archival purposes only (I've got 5 of 2TB energy efficient drives in a storage array for media). That's also why they're cheaper.
You'll want a 7200rpm drive.
"The issue is there are still many people out there that use religion as a crutch for bigotry and hate. Like Ben."
Ben Kenobi: "That means I'm doing something right. "
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