Dark Bit Factory & Gravity

GENERAL => General chat => Topic started by: Shockwave on August 02, 2009

Title: Shopping around for a medium powered box
Post by: Shockwave on August 02, 2009
I don't want anything too extravigant, I don't believe it's good to have anything too state of the art if you are a programmer anyway (one of my eccentricities).

I think I will be in the market for something soon because this old desktop is starting to have problems with some components.. I have been getting memory parity errors occasionally and tbh these days I need to download the video for most releases because my 256mb card won't cut it any more. Anyhow.

I like this look of this;

http://www.acerdirect.co.uk/Acer_Aspire_M5201_-_Phenom_X4_9650_-_22_Inch__TFT_9C.LOR71.UAP/version.asp?PID=488 (http://www.acerdirect.co.uk/Acer_Aspire_M5201_-_Phenom_X4_9650_-_22_Inch__TFT_9C.LOR71.UAP/version.asp?PID=488)

It seems to have a good processor, enough ram, space for expansion and a fairly good (but not great) gfx card.
More importantly it is in the sort of price range I was looking for.

I don't want a monitor with my computer, I wonder what everyone else would reccommend.
Title: Re: Shopping around for a medium powered box
Post by: Jim on August 02, 2009
That seems a bit expensive (edit: even with the screen).  Have you considered building your own?  I would think you could get something in the 400-500 range if you do that, plus you'd get the bits you want.

Jim
Title: Re: Shopping around for a medium powered box
Post by: va!n on August 02, 2009
uhhh.. i think its expensive too.. even i dont know the prices in britain... but it would be  684,89 euros... for less money i have build my own pc with following config:

- Asus P5Q Mainboard
- Intel Q8200 CPU
- 4 GB DDR2 800 RAM
- Radeon 4870
- DVD Burner
- 640 GB SATA Harddrive


Edited:
ahhh.. okay... i see now, it comes with an 22" tft...  need to calculate all the build things to compare if its a really good or not good offer... but however, personally i would build my pc ever by myself ^^

Btw... GPU == GT 120 ?? What is that? Onboard? I dont know a GT120..
Title: Re: Shopping around for a medium powered box
Post by: benny! on August 03, 2009
Personally I am really not up to date when it comes to modern PC hardware.
So I cannot really help you there. Most important for me are just a good amount
of fast RAM and a decent GFX card. About the CPU, mainboard, HD etc I do
not spend so much attention on.

Just my point of view - but I am really anything but an hardware pro!
Title: Re: Shopping around for a medium powered box
Post by: TinDragon on August 03, 2009
I think its to expensive as well for the spec tbh, I agree with Jim you could build a system with that spec or maybe higher for less money. My PC is a cheap pre-built quad core and with the new gfx card/psu I put in this year it still less than that price but it was fairly close to that spec. even before I updated the gfx card.

Alot of my firends use this place to get there components http://www.scan.co.uk (http://www.scan.co.uk), they do systems as well. There are other source but scan seem fairly decent.
Title: Re: Shopping around for a medium powered box
Post by: Jim on August 03, 2009
Just as a 'for instance':
http://h10010.www1.hp.com/wwpc/uk/en/ho/WF06b/12454-12454-3329740-64546-64546-3942799-3971761.html (http://h10010.www1.hp.com/wwpc/uk/en/ho/WF06b/12454-12454-3329740-64546-64546-3942799-3971761.html)
http://h10010.www1.hp.com/wwpc/uk/en/ho/WF25a/12454-12454-3329740-64546-64546-3942799.html (http://h10010.www1.hp.com/wwpc/uk/en/ho/WF25a/12454-12454-3329740-64546-64546-3942799.html)
And that's from HP/Compaq, so you're instantly paying 50-100 over the odds.

Jim
Title: Re: Shopping around for a medium powered box
Post by: Moroboshisan on August 03, 2009
Why not something like http://www.acerdirect.co.uk/Acer_Veriton_M670G_Desktop_Tower_PS.M6GE1.U02/version.asp?PID=406 (http://www.acerdirect.co.uk/Acer_Veriton_M670G_Desktop_Tower_PS.M6GE1.U02/version.asp?PID=406) with a mid-range nVidia [or ATI... as you like] gfx card?

I prefer Intel CPU's with Intel-chipset-based motherboard.

Maybe you can save some money looking for a FreeDOS or Linux preinstalled OS... if you do not need a M$ OS...

Assembled machine gives you the freedom to mix hardware to suit your needs (do you really need a QuadCore machine?)

a base would be:
Asus P5Q3 MoBo [up to 1333MHz FSB]
Intel Core2DUO or Core2Quad CPU [Boxed]
3Gb Kingston/Corsair 1333MHz RAM (unless you have a 64bit OS you can't see more than that)
ASUS Nvidia GF9600GT 1G DDR3 HDTV 2xDVI PCI - E
Pioneer DVD burner
500Gb SATA-II HDD
Midi-tower w7600W PSU

more or less you will pay a fair price for some good hardware... (maybe I would consider a smaller CPU to save money: say core2duo in place of a QuadCore)
Title: Re: Shopping around for a medium powered box
Post by: Shockwave on August 04, 2009
Seems like it may be a lot of fun to build my own PC then.

Thank you all for the pointers on getting a good one. scan looks like a great site :D

Cheers. I'll let you know what I decide to do, it wont be for a few months at least, I am just planning for the day when my pc goes totally tits up.
Title: Re: Shopping around for a medium powered box
Post by: Hotshot on August 07, 2009
I think Nick should check these out

http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/rangecat.jsp?t=pc
Title: Re: Shopping around for a medium powered box
Post by: Shockwave on August 08, 2009
I'm suitably impressed by some of those desktops Hotshot :)

The gaming ones are quite resonable really.
Title: Re: Shopping around for a medium powered box
Post by: Moroboshisan on August 08, 2009
I think Nick should check these out

http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/rangecat.jsp?t=pc

NTT price-range seems very reasonable for the hw you'll buy... iQ9550, nVidia GT260... nice, really!

only drawback I see is "Memory 4GB DDR2 800MHz Dual Channel Ram"...
Title: Re: Shopping around for a medium powered box
Post by: Jim on August 08, 2009
Those 'Hotshot' nettops are great for those home users who want to browse the web.  The problem for SHockwave will be the lack of expansion, the built-in GMA graphics and the 2Gb memory limit. Definitely a market for them, but not for a demo coder.
 
Jim
Title: Re: Shopping around for a medium powered box
Post by: Shockwave on August 08, 2009
This one seems pretty good..

Quote

Processor       AMD Phenom 9550 Quad Core Processor
      AMD Phenom II Quad Core 955 Processor (Pro version)
Processor Speed       4 X 2.6GHz
      4 X 3.2GHz (Pro version)
Memory       4GB DDR3 1600MHz Ram
Hard Drive       1TB Serial ATA II Hard Drive
Graphics       Ati Radeon 4870 1024Mb Graphics Card
      ATI Radeon HD 4890 1024MB DDR2 PCI-E Graphics (Pro version)
Drive 1       22x Dual Layer +R/-R/RW DVD burner
Drive 2       NA
Sound       Realtek 1200 8 -Channel High Definition Audio CODEC
Motherboard       AMD 790FX/SB750
Case       Hiper Osiris Midi Tower Case - Novatech Exclusive Edition
Drive Bays       4 x 5.25", 5 x 3.5" (4xInt, 1xExt)
Memory Slots       4 x DDR2 Slots
Memory Capacity       16GB
Keyboard & Mouse       Logitech Keyboard & Optical Mouse
USB Ports       12 USB 2.0 ports (6 ports at mid-board, 6 ports at back panel)
Firewire       VIA VT6315N controller supports 2 x 1394a ports (1 at mid-board; 1 at back panel)
Networking Port       RealtekĀ® 8112 Gigabit LAN controller featuring AI NET 2
Serial Port       NA
Dimensions (mm)       190 (W) x 420 (H) x 400 (D)
Front Side Bus       Supports 1333 / 1066 / 800 / 533 MHz
Warranty       12 Mths RTB
Colour       Black and Silver
Screen       NA
Title: Re: Shopping around for a medium powered box
Post by: Jim on August 09, 2009
Looks like a beastie!  You'd want to be running 64bit Windows to make use of all the ram and the 1Gb graphics card at the same time.

Jim
Title: Re: Shopping around for a medium powered box
Post by: Moroboshisan on August 09, 2009
Looks like a beastie!  You'd want to be running 64bit Windows to make use of all the ram and the 1Gb graphics card at the same time.
as Jim said! 64bit OS is a must, you can still run multiple OS instances via Virtual machines using such powerful beast!  :clap:
Title: Re: Shopping around for a medium powered box
Post by: Shockwave on August 09, 2009
It's just about in my price range so what I will do is take the spec from their site and then buy the bits and build it myself :) I will use 64 bit windows I agree with you.
Title: Re: Shopping around for a medium powered box
Post by: Moroboshisan on August 09, 2009
take the spec from their site and then buy the bits and build it myself :)

honestly I must tell you that buying the single bits would cost a little more than a pre assembled one... choosing every single piece of hardware gives you the ability do choose exactly the spec you're looking for...
Title: Re: Shopping around for a medium powered box
Post by: Hotshot on August 15, 2009
here another one

http://www.aria.co.uk/Systems/Gaming+Range

#  Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium with FREE Upgrade to Windows 7 When Available...
# Intel Core 2 QUAD Q9550 2.83GHz Processor
# 4096MB Kingston DDR II 800Mhz Memory
# 1.5TB SATA II Hard Drive
# 22x Multi Format DVD/CD ReWriter
# Internal multi-card reader
# 1GB 9500GT nVidia GeForce Graphics
# 5.1 High Definition Surround Sound
# Network adapter - Realtek RTL8102EL - Ethernet, Fast Ethernet LAN
# 7x USB2.0 Ports

Ā£489     Not Bad price!  :)
Title: Re: Shopping around for a medium powered box
Post by: Shockwave on August 15, 2009
Thanks mate, that does indeed look quite good value, it's not a make I have heard of before though.