new computer

[madali]

Hi all,

I am looking at buying a new pc and have no clue as to what to get. I used to have a team of tech experts at work who used to help me out with such decisions but due to the recent round of redundancies no longer have them on hand to help out.
My requirements are as such. 3 teenagers using the computer from everything from gaming, to school work, to music etc etc. Then we have the poker requirements for my husband (I have my own laptop so will not be using this computer). Currently run the pc from an ADSL 2 connection. I have seen the following offers and would appreciate any suggestions

Deal 1/ 3ghz processor, 4gig ram, 1tb HDD, 20 inch monitor , dvd writter and windows 7 op system. $998

Deal 2/ Quad core AMD 2.6 ghz processor, 4 gig ram, dvd burner, 22 inch monitor, 1tb storage, windows 7 op system $799

Deal 3/ 6 core 2.8 ghz turbo core 3.3 ghz Processor, 4 gig ram, 1tb storage, windows 7 op system, 24 inch lcd monitor and 1 gb ati 4350 graphics $1100

Need to purchase this asap as my son who is a computer Whiz has put so much crap on the old one that it is now doing the most amazing things ( not good ) and since we are not talking at the moment I cant get him to come and fix it or to give me advice on the new one. Half of the programs on there I am not sure what they do but I am sure they are not there for good. Don't have the heart to format it in case he has something important on there.PLEASE HELP ME

[bennymacca]

do you have a msy store near you?

worth checking out their website

www.msy.com.au

[madali]

Unfortunately not benny the cunt I am in country Vic so limited options. Do not want an all in one option ( without the tower) as I may want to build on when I am talking to my son again. I really have no idea what I need as have been out of the tech side of things for a long time. It is funny helped out tech support at work ( worked for a telecommunications company) when they were under the pump a few years ago. Not sure how now because looking at the brochures I am clueless

[bennymacca]

do you have a "proper" computer shop?

i.e NOT A & R or harvey norman etc?

[John Miller]

It all comes down the the quality of the components...

My choices for great performance and value Mainboard,(Asus M4A89GTD PRO)
Ram, CMP4GX3M2B1600C8 Corsair 4GB kit (if you can get x2 of these)
HDD, Hitachi 1TB Ultrastar A7K2000 7200rpm Enterprise
CPU, AMD PHENOM II X6 SIX-CORE 1055T CPU, 2.80 GHz

You also havnt mentioned a graphics card? very important if the kids are doing games or any CAD or graphic arts stuff with school/uni.
Asus GF GTS250 V2 PCI-E 2.0 1GB DDR3,
and dont skimp on the PSU...650W Antec EA 650 Power Supply.

Let me know if this helps or hinders... I have suppliers in Vic/SA and they can ship direct to you.
Just PM me

[madali]

benny the cunt Option 2 and 3 is from a local computer shop and I was leaning towards option 3. Just spoke to one of my tech savy friends and they have said the following online company http://store.9289.com.au does a decent deal. With them I was looking at
Namio 3.06 Ghz intel core i3,
CPU Intel CORE i3 540/3.06GHz/4MB CACHE/LGA1156 ,
MOTHER BOARD Gigabyte GA-H55M-UD2H
MEMORYKingston KVR1333D3N9K2/4G
HDD3.5" CAVIAR BLACK, 1TB, 7200RPM, 32MB, SATA II, 5YRS
LG GH22NS50 DVD/CD Writer
to this I have added a 24 inch monitor, windows 7, keyboard and monitor and will leave upgrading graphics card til later although she advises that it does come with graphics card and this would be sufficient for my kids. Cost of this one is just over $1100 including shipping and handling. Problem with this one is this one is I have to order it online and wait up to a week to have it delivered and was looking for something now.
I am just really lost as I have always depended on my son to do help me select the best computer or leaned on the tech guys at work. And prior to that had my computer guy Stanley at Digistar who used to do me a good deal.
I am sorry Codger but I really did not understand too much about what you have written but thank you for the offer as I can tell you really know your stuff when it comes to computers.
Hey I may even just have to tell the kids yet " Back in my day we went to the library on our bikes and wrote everything down on paper. And we rode to with our friends so we did not have to message them "

[bennymacca]

that computer looks ok to me.

you really do want a standalone graphics card though. you can get a decent one for around $100 these days

[madali]

It has the following written when it comes to the graphics card

- H55/H57 DDR3 can achieve up to 2200+ MHz when using PCIex16 graphic card.
* To reach DDR3 2200+ MHz and above, you are required to go with Intel Lynnfield CPU and install a discrete graphics card.

- The most powerful graphic engine – Intel Clarkdale CPU + Intel H55 m/bs
Clarkdale CPU i5 & i3 Gfx performance is equal to AMD 785G, 55% better than G45 !

Can anyone tell me what that means. Does mean I have to purchase as separate graphics card and change the cpu if I do or does it come with one installed?

[John Miller]

all it means is the new CPU's have a controller built into them for graphics performance... they are NOT as good as a stand alone Graphics card...

But like the salesperson said you can upgrade to a better card later on.
and the Intel core i3 is at the bottom of the CPU ladder... if you remember Celeron CPU's? basically the same... sorta

the Phenom 6 core that you had quoted in option 3 is by far the better system, just take my advice and at least add extra ram... you will find with Windows 7 and a few programs running your system will benefit greatly from the extra..

[bennymacca]

the Phenom 6 core that you had quoted in option 3 is by far the better system, just take my advice and at least add extra ram... you will find with Windows 7 and a few programs running your system will benefit greatly from the extra..

gayle, are you planning on getting the 32 or 64 bit windows?

these days there aren't many compatibility issues with 64 bit systems like there used to be, so it will be worth it.

then you can upgrade to 8 gig of ram, and it will fly