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Random Quote: The sea was angry that day my friends, like an old man trying to return soup at a deli! ( George Costanza )
5 years ago, I splurged and built a really nice machine for my desktop. Abit board, AMD 3200 Socket A, Sata Raid on western Dig HD's striped, Nvidia 64 meg graphics in an AGP slot (dual screen),TV tuner, 2 gigs DDR ram, win Xp pro, 200 gigs storage on an IDE chain, DVD burner, 10/100 ethernet. Spent about 1200 on this machine.
Now,
The machine is slowly dying. I'm proud to have driven this thing for 5 years, but it's consistently slowing down, I can't stream video anymore in one window while surfing the net on the other window without lag times. I run a 7 meg up, 15 meg down cable connection. It sits in a dusty environment. I've got three laptops off the router upstairs, but really like my desktop for watching video and all.
Looking over at newegg, I could build a hell of a machine for 750$ or such nowadays, 1 Tera byte of storage, quad core, 8 gigs of ram, Vista, all the cool crap.
But then run over to the Walmart and Staples stores, and it's all pre done for me for less than 700 in a hp or acer branded machine.
I don't game, and I'm thinking thats about the only reason to build a really high end desktop these days.
What do you guys think, build or just pre buy. These days, tech changes so fast, I can't keep up with it, and I don't want to either.
dont buy anything with 'Resource Hog' Vista, Window's 7 is just around the corner and Waaaaaaaay better, its still 'Free To Use' and downloadable till the end of this month and doesnt expire till May 2010, was released to manufacturing in july 2009.
Go with an INTEL and stay away from the walmart pc's, but for the use you state i would'nt build either.
__________________ Beware of A1outboards aka Blackbird ind , = Google
dont buy anything with 'Resource Hog' Vista, Window's 7 is just around the corner and Waaaaaaaay better, its still 'Free To Use' and downloadable till the end of this month and doesnt expire till May 2010, was released to manufacturing in july 2009.
Go with an INTEL and stay away from the walmart pc's, but for the use you state i would'nt build either.
Yeah I don't wanna lose Xp Pro. I've got a free one licensed to the USS Ronald Reagan that never expires. I run a Vista laptop upstairs and don't really like it.
Maybe I should build a machine running Ubuntu for downstairs, just, I'm getting older and not that geeky anymore. So I can't keep up with all the tech changes, I just want it to work and not change hardware or have to research my software anymore.
BTW, my current machine, the CPU fan is clogged with dust and that's what is slowing me down. Now it works much better after a few shots from the air compressor. My CPU performance wa sat 100%, now I'm running at a cool 8% with 8 windows up streaming.
purpose of building a machine is so you can improve things or fix as time goes by, store bought most everything is on motherboard except for hard and dvd drive. if your back to speed keep trucking for another year
Yeah I don't wanna lose Xp Pro. I've got a free one licensed to the USS Ronald Reagan that never expires. I run a Vista laptop upstairs and don't really like it.
Ditto what Mac25 said -- avoid Vista, Windows 7 is cleaned up. Actually, Win 7 is built on Vista so if you have Vista you run a simple update, reboot, and you're good to go with Win 7. An Xp machine requires backing up all of your data and programs, reformatting the disk, installing Win 7, reinstalling programs and data ...
Win 7 requires a lot of resources that older hardware doesn't have. MS is already saying many Xp machine owners will be better off buying a newer computer instead of trying to upgrade the hardware on their existing Xp machine.
Like Mac25 said, Win 7 is just around the corner -- wait for it.
In your situation, I would wait for Win 7, maybe wait a bit to see what problems exist, and then buy a Dell. The reasons to build are to have control over your components, more flexibility, push the machine by overclocking, etc. You can get a perfectly good mainstream computer cheaper than you can build one.
I have built all of my computers since 1994, so I have a pretty good perspective when I say to buy rather than build unless you just enjoy building them or have objectives that cannot be met from a production line.
By the way, dust is one of the most common causes of computer hardware problems. A quick (but careful) vacuuming once or twice a year can really help.
to hell with that malarky, wait a few months, get a new mac with snow leopard.... if you really want to exercise your brain , pm me i'll walk you through a linux box install "we can even use your old hardware"
whether you build or buy, go with the Intel Core i7... it is far superior to any other processor out there right now... preferably go with DDR3 ram.... i would still build because you can do everything exactly how you want it and not compromise on anything.... If you buy, go with something like this...
whether you build or buy, go with the Intel Core i7... it is far superior to any other processor out there right now... preferably go with DDR3 ram.... i would still build because you can do everything exactly how you want it and not compromise on anything.... If you buy, go with something like this...
That thing is a beast. I've always been partial to AMD procs, but that thing rocks. My single core 2.66 AMD is what I'm typing on now, and I've seriously abused it. Can't imagine what I'd do with Quad 2.6's and the OS to handle it.
This machine screamed when I had Linux on it, but it just got to be too frustrating so I reverted back to Windows.
Suppose I'll wait till Win7 comes out, then build from there.
While it is always fun to shop for the new fast model, you may find that upgrading some key components on the current model (suggest you don't use the word old) will likely turn out to be a better long-term investment
I used to build my own. I think I built 4 beginning with a 286. Then I bought a high end Dell..not a bad computer, but a lot of special parts and all and terrible support. Then I tried a HP. It came loaded with so much junk that it was nearly impossible even to get the OS to run! (NEVER HP again except for printers.)
The last one, I stopped in my local "mom and pop" computer shop and told the guy what I wanted. He put a really nice system together with a clean liscensed OS and some good utilities for less than I could have built one buying the same parts.
That will be the way I go next time as well.
__________________ Dog Tired
I'm for a government that is by the people and for the people!
While it is always fun to shop for the new fast model, you may find that upgrading some key components on the current model (suggest you don't use the word old) will likely turn out to be a better long-term investment
Thou art most wise
Big Al
__________________ "Pedophiles must die" - Ted Nugent
Time to build a new computer...Advice Please 
= Google 
