Computer question.

[Kiwifan]

Hi Nerds, I'm "thinking" about updating my 4 year old PC and was thinking about this system. :) Can anyone see anything obvious that sticks out as over or underkill?

Intel Pentium 4 3.0Ghz Hyper-Threading
Gigabyte GA-8PENXP
Memory Channel 1: A-Data 512MB PC3200 DDR (400mhz)
Memory Channel 2: A-Data 512MB PC3200 DDR (400mhz)
Chaintech GeforceFX 5700 256MB DDR
Hard Drive 1: Seagate 80GB SATA 7200rpm Hard Drive
Hard Drive 2: Seagate 80GB SATA 7200rpm Hard Drive
MSI DVD/CD-RW Combo Drive
Creative Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS
No Speakers
Onboard 10/100 LAN
No Modem
Panasonic 1.44MB Floppy Drive
Auriga CS-8601 Midi Tower Case (black) & 300W PSU
Proview 17 Inch Flatscreen Monitor (black)
No Keyboard
No Mouse
Microsoft Windows XP Professional Edition OEM
Microsoft OEM Works Suite 2004
No Internet Connection
Value Cover 12 Months RTB Warranty

$2900 Including GST & Shipping



I haven't put down a keyboard or mouse 'cause I like to test them and they are cheap to pick up. I haven't added a modem as I have a brand new ADSL unit.

At the site they have AMD and Intel with the latter showing 2.8, 3.0 and 3.2 hyper threading. What's up with that? I just went for the one in the middle! :) :confused:

Remember the price shown is in NZ dollars. .65US =$NZ1.00.

Cheers guys and girls,

Rusty.

PS, nzclimber, it's unleash.co.nz in Christchurch. ;) Check it out brother.

[chop456]

For $1,800, I'd buy a nice Mac, but that's just me. ;)

Looks like a pretty stout system, but a little on the pricey side.

I'm unfamiliar with the terminology used for the combo drive, I guess. Does it burn DVD's, or just CD-R's?

[pfc_m_drake]

1 observation and 2 comments:

Observation - for what it is, the system would be a bit expensive IF you were located in the US. I don't know how computers are typically priced in NZ, so it may well be that this is a perfectly good price for where you live. I suggest doing some checking around in *your* area to confirm that you're not getting a bad deal.

Now, 2 comments:

1) The GeForce 5700 is getting a bit long in the tooth as far as video cards go. If you play a lot of 3D games, you may wish to consider an upgrade.

2) The 300W power supply is probably adequate for this configuration, but overall it's a bit on the low side - particularly if you upgrade the video card. If you're going to go with the system here, it'll probably be just fine, but it's one of those things you may wish to make a mental note of for the future.

[MAXAR RE]

A good looking system on paper. I will second pfc's video card comment and state that you may want to get the on-board or default video option, then buy a better card separately and install it yourself.

My other comment is to suggest that you get Office XP Standard or Office 2003 Basic edition so you can have Word and Excel. MS Works tends to make files that can only be read by other people with MS Works, where-as everyone with a computer will be able to viw Word and Excel files using the programs themselves or the free "viewer" plugins for Internet Explorer. I can't tell you how frustrating it is to have a friend or family member keep sending important documents to you in a format that you cannot open or read - my wife is on the alumnae advisory board for her sorority, and one of the other alumnae's kept emailing out the meeting notes in Works format. Of course, if you need to view a Works document, and you have Word 2000 or higher, you can install a Works converter plugin for Word, but that's extra legwork and still doesn't help people who are using STAR Office or a similar non-Microsoft product. (Yes, I have Word, and I have the plugin, so I am forever getting flooded with requests from collegiates and alumnaes requesting a converted copy) </rant>

Anyway, whatever you decide, I hope you enjoy your new computer! :)

[racer2c]

If 3D games on the PC are your 'thang', two words...PCI Express. nVidia just announced the 6600 and 6600 GT PCI Express cards based on their top of the line, very expensive 6800 series. The cards come in at $149 base and $199 GT. Both would bury a 5700, but don't hit shelves until next month.
You can get a AGP 8x, 128mb, GeForce 6800 for just under $300.

I would get at least a 400w power supply.

[WickerBill]

I would get at least 1.5GB of memory.

[Kiwifan]

Thanks so much! Re the pricing, you can get some imported Dells for $NZ1000. which would be fine for just net stuff but you would need to upgrade everything on them in my opinion. A Dell, from Dell would cost about $2600 for a similar system depending on what they were offering.

I just included Works as the cheapest option because I have a (genuine) copy of Office 2000 Pro ready to slip in if MS will let me. ;)

I did a bit of checking on the video card and couldn't come up with much in the way of reviews. The only games my son plays at the moment is Americas Army if that helps.

If the maths is right $2900 should be about $US1900. Now for the hardest part, to get her-in-doors to loosen the purse strings. :rofl:

Once again, Thanks. :thumbup:

Rusty.

[Wabbit]

1 - Dump the 2 - 80GB drives and goto 1 - 250MB drive. You'll appreciate having the room to add more drives in the future. Especially if you want to do any video editing.

2 - Hyperthreading probably won't do you a heck of a lot of good if you just want to play games. Most games aren't and probably won't take advantage of it for a loooooooong time (if ever).

[racer2c]

1 - Dump the 2 - 80GB drives and goto 1 - 250MB drive. You'll appreciate having the room to add more drives in the future. Especially if you want to do any video editing.

2 - Hyperthreading probably won't do you a heck of a lot of good if you just want to play games. Most games aren't and probably won't take advantage of it for a loooooooong time (if ever).

I prefer two separate physical drive instead of one large partition or even logical partitions on a single drive when doing Photo Shop work or DVD editing. The performance boost of not having to read/write gigs of info from the same drive is very noticeable. I also never have my operating system on the same drive as my data storage partitions.

[Insomniac]

If 3D games on the PC are your 'thang', two words...PCI Express. nVidia just announced the 6600 and 6600 GT PCI Express cards based on their top of the line, very expensive 6800 series. The cards come in at $149 base and $199 GT. Both would bury a 5700, but don't hit shelves until next month.
You can get a AGP 8x, 128mb, GeForce 6800 for just under $300.

I would get at least a 400w power supply.

PCI-e has shown very little advantage (currently) over AGP 8x cards. He would need to get a different main board and processor if he wants to stick with Intel.

I agree with another poster, get the default video and buy a card later that fits what you want to do with your computer. Those prices seem high, even considering you bought it from the US and they shipped it.

[Insomniac]

1 - Dump the 2 - 80GB drives and goto 1 - 250MB drive. You'll appreciate having the room to add more drives in the future. Especially if you want to do any video editing.

2 - Hyperthreading probably won't do you a heck of a lot of good if you just want to play games. Most games aren't and probably won't take advantage of it for a loooooooong time (if ever).

I believe the 2 80 GB drives are set up for RAID. At first, I didn't like seeing that. I would recommend one WD Raptor and a large second SATA drive for file storage, video editing, etc. if you're thinking about going for 2 drives. You will get the faster drive for your OS and applications while having a second drive to store plenty of data.

[nz_climber]

Hey rusty

is that a LCD screen or just a CRT?
like others have said ditch MS works - but you already going to do that!
I know when I brought my computer (a few years old now) it was cheaper to buy a dvd drive and a cd-rw drive seperate - I prefer this configuration makes for faster burning from cd to cd.

not too sure about the video card

the rest of the system sounds ok - a bit over kill for what I would need - but I dunno what jace gets upto ;) I would probably drop to 1 Hard drive - unless you plan on doing lots of video editing?

prices in nz are pretty expensive

might also want to look at dragonpc.co.nz (thats where I got my stuff) they have some pretty good deals...

[Nosuchsoul]

Good luck on your computer purchase. There is a website that I frequent that gives good computer advice and they usually have computer guides. Here is one that I think may help you out a lot:

http://www.anandtech.com/guides/showdoc.aspx?i=2122

I strongly recommend you going for the AMD Athlon 64 processors. Currently they outpeform any similar pentium model and are a lot cheaper also. You also have the added long term benefit of a 64bit processor. The next Windows Operating System will be 64-bit which will really take advantage of the A64.

[Clown]

2x80gb = stupid, a single 250gb drive would cost less.

But $2900 is a so-so deal, look into getting a PC custom built.

[pfc_m_drake]

2x80gb = stupid, a single 250gb drive would cost less.

Since a few people have echoed these sentiments, I'll put in my thoughts.

If you've ever had the pleasure of copying a large amount of data from one place to another (e.g. video editing, mastering audio recordings, .iso images, data backup/archive, etc.) or simply copying large amounts of small files, you'll appreciate having 2 seperate physical drives. The time savings is enormous. It's truly unbelievable - something you really need to experience for yourself to believe.

Truly one of the best decisions I ever made was to move to 2 physical drives. I have had 2 74 Gb Western Digital 10k Raptor drives in my system for almost a year now, and I think I'd be lost if I had to go back to a single drive.

Furthermore, having a second physical drive to store backup copies of your important data (either via RAID 1 or just keeping a second copy via 'manual RAID') is a tremendous piece of mind.

Of course, this does violate rule #1 of computer usage - which is that users have exactly one copy of their mission critical data, thereby maximizing any pain associated with hardware failure.

[Insomniac]

Good luck on your computer purchase. There is a website that I frequent that gives good computer advice and they usually have computer guides. Here is one that I think may help you out a lot:

http://www.anandtech.com/guides/showdoc.aspx?i=2122

I strongly recommend you going for the AMD Athlon 64 processors. Currently they outpeform any similar pentium model and are a lot cheaper also. You also have the added long term benefit of a 64bit processor. The next Windows Operating System will be 64-bit which will really take advantage of the A64.

Longhorn will be both 32 and 64 bit. Just like Windows XP, there will be separate versions of the OS for each platform. I wouldn't choose the A64 because you want 64-bit in the future (Longhorn won't be out until at least 2006). Get it because it performs better courtesy of the on die memory controller.