Computer guys? What should I get?

[The Violator]

I am in the market for a new computer. Mine had been acting up. I replaced the power supply and it is back to working OK, but I feel like it still runs slow. I wiped it and reloaded Vista. I tried windows 7 but I felt like it really slowed it down.

Current specs.

Operating System
Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium 64-bit SP2
CPU
Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 @ 2.40GHz 39 °C
Kentsfield 65nm Technology
RAM
4.00 GB Dual-Channel DDR2 @ 400MHz (6-6-6-1
Motherboard
Dell Inc. 0M017G (CPU 1) 44 °C
Graphics
DELL S2409W (1920x1080@60Hz)
ATI Radeon HD 3400 Series (Dell) 49 °C
Hard Drives
466GB Western Digital WDC WD5000AAKS-75A7B0 ATA Device (SATA) 39 °C
Optical Drives
TSSTcorp DVD+-RW TS-H653F ATA Device
ATAPI iHAS424 Y ATA Device
Audio
Realtek High Definition Audio



I don't game. I really only use it for the internet, and basic stuff. Burning dvd's, music, etc. I was thinking about a laptop, but really like my 24" monitor.

So in the end. What specs should I look at. Is processor speed better, or more cores, or better video card, etc. Help a brother out. I am probably going to keep it common brand stuff. HP, acer, dell, etc.

[DickyT]

What is your budget?

[The Violator]

Originally Posted by DickyT

What is your budget?

I would love to keep it cheap, but I am thinking $500-$800 for the tower. I have everything else.

I even considered just picking up a laptop and keeping it in the spot under my desk that I keep the tower now. It would just need to have an HDMI or DVI port so I could use my current monitor. But I feel like I get a little more computer for the money with a tower. But I could be wrong.

[JeremyH]

Ted, you can get a damn good barebones kit for $500. Have you checked out Tiger Direct? I you can build an RC, then you can put together one of these kits.

[OTHGbronco82]

We just got a new tower, monitor, and two small speakers for like $800. It's a HP and we got it at costco. Don't know a whole lot about it but I really like it.

[The Violator]

Originally Posted by JeremyH

Ted, you can get a damn good barebones kit for $500. Have you checked out Tiger Direct? I you can build an RC, then you can put together one of these kits.

I thought about it, but I would rather have someone to bitch at if it does not work well. I can't throw it through the front window of Tiger direct, I can throw it through the local Staples or Worst Buy.

[TexasSP]

If your in a major city, see if you have microcenter. Micro Center - Computers, Electronics, Computer Parts, Networking, Gaming, Software, and more!

Way better and less mark up than the big box stores.

[Thorsteenster]

You can still connect your monitor to your laptop.

For what you described above, any modern computer will do the job.
My recommendation would be Google Dell outlet coupons, keep an eye out for one and then look through the Outlet.
You get the same warranty as new, and often the same specs as current at a great price, especially with the coupon.

[DickyT]

Anything on a store shelf will have windows 8 now, it is pretty cool. I have it at work. Go laptop! You can get a lot of power and portability. I love being able to take mine to the workshop, or while sitting on the couch

At Worst Buy
At the bottom of your price range:
HP ENVY 17.3" Laptop 6GB Memory 750GB Hard Drive dv7-7255dx - Best Buy

These are kind of cool. All of the execs at work just got the dell version:
Lenovo 23" TouchScreen AllInOne Computer 4GB Memory 500GB Hard Drive B540 - 57310400 - Best Buy

Gateway One 23" TouchScreen AllInOne Computer 6GB Memory 500GB Hard Drive ZX6980-UB308 - Best Buy


Middle:
HP ENVY 14" Laptop 8GB Memory 1TB Hard Drive m4-1015dx - Best Buy

High:
HP ENVY TouchSmart Ultrabook 14" Laptop 4GB Memory 500GB Hard Drive 4-1115dx - Best Buy

There are certainly better deals out there. This is the 'convenience' list. The first one I listed is a good deal though.

[JeremyH]

Originally Posted by TexasSP

If your in a major city, see if you have microcenter. Micro Center - Computers, Electronics, Computer Parts, Networking, Gaming, Software, and more!

Way better and less mark up than the big box stores.

Hell yes! Microcenter is the chit! It's BAD NEWS that they are on my way home from work...

[Thorsteenster]

MicroCenter is bomb, I got two in my general area.
If computers are coming with Windows 8, I'd definately look at something with a touchscreen.
When i was beta'ing it, I thought it blew until trying it on a Dell Duo.
As soon as the Dell XPS 12 hits the Outlet I'm snagging one. The screen rotates to use as a laptop or tablet. As above I had the Duo and it was nice, felt nice and tight in how the screen rotated.

[C*H*U*D]

Originally Posted by JeremyH

Ted, you can get a damn good barebones kit for $500. Have you checked out Tiger Direct? I you can build an RC, then you can put together one of these kits.

I'd still go this route too. Especially since you said you already have Windows 7 that you can install.

[Zeus.:God]

Windows 7 should run a whole lot faster than Vista... If it ran slower then it must be in your head or something is wrong elsewhere.

I wouldn't be afraid of building a computer, or worry about having someone to bitch to if something doesn't work. Learning how to throw one together and the research, learning what parts do what, pro's and con's, etc, etc, isn't much more difficult than building an RC. TigerDirect or Newegg, just go and look at their barebones kits, or keep an eye out for Newegg's shellshocker sales. They often have decent barebones kits for a couple hundred bucks that would do all the email/web surfing/video watching/music playing you could want.

[Red Rockcrawler]

Buy a Mac Mini.

[Thorsteenster]

Originally Posted by Zeus.:God

Windows 7 should run a whole lot faster than Vista... If it ran slower then it must be in your head or something is wrong elsewhere.

I wouldn't be afraid of building a computer, or worry about having someone to bitch to if something doesn't work. Learning how to throw one together and the research, learning what parts do what, pro's and con's, etc, etc, isn't much more difficult than building an RC. TigerDirect or Newegg, just go and look at their barebones kits, or keep an eye out for Newegg's shellshocker sales. They often have decent barebones kits for a couple hundred bucks that would do all the email/web surfing/video watching/music playing you could want.

Ditto, they're not difficult to build from selecting components to assembly.
Main components are going to be:
Case
Motherboard
CPU
RAM
Hard drive
Optical drive.

If you can build an RC, you can puild a PC

I've built my own last few desktops.
Shoot me a PM, I'll be happy to offer a little guidence.

[RCOG]

I have built several desktops and if you can plug and screw things together then the build is the easy part. the tough part is picking the parts. Try MaximumPC to start they have great build articals and they know how to pick parts. Newegg is a great place to reacerch and read reviews on parts. Pick your processor first (IMO intel socket 1155 is the way to go for the price\performance) then search for a good Mobo. Use the Newegg "best rating" filter to help and its hard to go wrong. make sure the Processor and Mobo sockets are the same i.e. 1155. After your first build you will probably never buy a pre-built desktop again. Feel free to PM me with any questions about parts.....

[FireWire79]

I just finished build a tower for the first time in a few years. I did really well, and ended up with a gaming rig that came out to $650 including monitor.

AMD 965 Phenom II Black Edition 3.8 GHz
16GB DDR3 RAM
Nvidia 550ti Graphics Card (Aprrox 1GB)
Gigabyte MOBO (970-UD3)

And some other stuff. I used a website that I found in Maximum PC Pick Parts, Build Your PC, Compare and Share - PCPartPicker . It was really easy through there. I selected a few things, and it would filter out non-compatible devices and then show me where I could find the best deals on them. If I hadn't had to get a monitor, I think I could have had a lot more power available. But so far this tower can handle everything I throw at it, and if anything ever goes wrong with it, I know how it was assembled and that I can replace it.

AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black, Gigabyte Radeon HD 7770 GHz Edition, Thermaltake VL800P1W2N (Black/Red) - System Build - PCPartPicker

Here is a link to my build, and like I said, I did really good for not having any idea of what I was getting into.

[Charlie-III]

Originally Posted by The Violator

I am in the market for a new computer. Mine had been acting up. I replaced the power supply and it is back to working OK, but I feel like it still runs slow. I wiped it and reloaded Vista. I tried windows 7 but I felt like it really slowed it down.

Current specs.

Operating System
Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium 64-bit SP2
CPU
Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 @ 2.40GHz 39 °C
Kentsfield 65nm Technology
RAM
4.00 GB Dual-Channel DDR2 @ 400MHz (6-6-6-1
Motherboard
Dell Inc. 0M017G (CPU 1) 44 °C
Graphics
DELL S2409W (1920x1080@60Hz)
ATI Radeon HD 3400 Series (Dell) 49 °C
Hard Drives
466GB Western Digital WDC WD5000AAKS-75A7B0 ATA Device (SATA) 39 °C
Optical Drives
TSSTcorp DVD+-RW TS-H653F ATA Device
ATAPI iHAS424 Y ATA Device
Audio
Realtek High Definition Audio



I don't game. I really only use it for the internet, and basic stuff. Burning dvd's, music, etc. I was thinking about a laptop, but really like my 24" monitor.

So in the end. What specs should I look at. Is processor speed better, or more cores, or better video card, etc. Help a brother out. I am probably going to keep it common brand stuff. HP, acer, dell, etc.

I'm not as "up" on the newer PC stuff, but I built systems for years.

Since you're looking at a pretty basic system:

Don't skimp on a power supply, cheap ones dies faster in general.
Max out the RAM, I may buy minimum from the OEM (with the system) then go to www.Crucial.com , they have an app you download, it checks your system and then makes recommendations.
RAM is cheap today and is among the best ways to speed up a system. Crucial will only recommend what will work in YOUR system. You may ditch some of what you have to max out what it will take.
I like faster HD's, a lot of inexpensive ones are 4200-4700RPM, faster is 7200RPM. You can go faster but the price takes a jump.
Nice list... Performance Charts Hard Drives and SSDs - Benchmark
Nice speed vs. price.... Seagate Barracuda 7200.14, (1 TB, 7200 rpm, SATA 6 Gbit/s)

Do some clean-up in the system. Turn off crap you don't need like "printer monitors", "Weatherbug", etc. You can use "task manager" to see how much the system is loaded down with crap that just runs but is not needed.
Do full shutdowns now & then, NOT just reboots. Windows is know to use resources but never fully release them. A full shutdown fixes a lot of this.

If you're big into:
Gaming
Video editing
Photo editing

Other aspects become more important.
I have bought "refurbished" Dells & IBM's in the past with good luck. Some are business leases some are returns. The downside is they are usually lacking in fast video ports (if they're ex-business systems), but that's not much of an issue for a basic machine.

Just my thoughts.

[Rocklobst3r]

Originally Posted by The Violator

I don't game. I really only use it for the internet, and basic stuff. Burning dvd's, music, etc. I was thinking about a laptop, but really like my 24" monitor.

So in the end. What specs should I look at. Is processor speed better, or more cores, or better video card, etc. Help a brother out. I am probably going to keep it common brand stuff. HP, acer, dell, etc.

If your using the PC for just basic web browsing a dual core system would suit you fine. Higher processor speed will make it work faster, and more cores is if you multitask a lot. A dedicated video card is not needed for your uses, however, if you plan on watching HD video or something like that, I would look into something with an AMD APU. Since Intels integrated graphics chips are junk...although they are getting better. As for RAM, 4GB of DDR3 is minimum.
As others have said, if your looking to save some money, you can build a sytsem yourself. Could even salvage some parts out of the old rig (optical and hard drive)
Probably the best way to get a notable performance gain is to install a SSD drive.

[JeremyH]

Originally Posted by Rocklobst3r

Probably the best way to get a notable performance gain is to install a SSD drive.

Agreed! Especially if you already have plenty of hard drive space. Continue using that for storage and use the SSD for the OS.