| geek_rosehonda | January 31, 2010, 5:34 pm | #1 |
| i am thinking of replacing my pc and spending about $200-300 on a new one. I am pretty good with computers and know a thing or two but no more. I want about 2. 6 ghz, 2gb ram (can easily put another 1gb in myself if i find a pc with only 1gb ram), my current 40gb hd is more than half free space so i would be happy with 80 gb +. I have downloaded and watched a couple of movies, have an interest in photography so must easily be photoshop, corel draw etc capable. Im not into games but if i wanted something it would be nice to know my pc could run it, ofcourse will be used for youtube, emails, downloading songs, itunes etc. I want a dvd writer, blu ray and hdmi would be nice but i guess not for $200-300 and to be honest i dont need them. It would be good if i could watch tv on the computer but not needed. I will just keep my current screen. I will run xp on the system and maybe one day vista, 7 or the next windows. Must be reliable dont want cheap broken and only 3 years old crap because the components are all random knock off cheap poor quality brands. Is buying a second hand computer a bad idea? Is my budget too low? How much roughly to build one myself? what specs graphics and video card etc do i need? I hope overall you see my needs comments and tips etc on how i can get what i want would be greatly appreciated. all comments welcome. thanks in advance. |
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| geek_r.g.nixon | January 31, 2010, 5:39 pm | #2 |
| New would be $450 + GST or more. (At pbtech.co.nz) |
| geek_lilyfield | January 31, 2010, 5:46 pm | #3 |
http://h10010. www1. hp.com/wwpc/nz/en/ho/WF06b/12454-12454-33
29740-64546-64546-3884665-3888564.html
$560. - dse |
| geek_rosehonda | February 1, 2010, 12:53 am | #4 |
| what about buying second hand is that a bad idea? what brands etc should i stay away from? |
| geek_r.g.nixon | February 1, 2010, 7:28 am | #5 |
You said, "Must be reliable dont want cheap broken and only 3 years old crap".
That's what you get with second hand. |
| geek_r.g.nixon | February 1, 2010, 7:33 am | #6 |
You could upgrade your current computer.
1. Get a suitable motherboard/CPU/ram combo.
2. Add a DVD drive & another HDD later. |
| geek_rosehonda | February 1, 2010, 9:26 am | #7 |
Just to confirm i meant i dont want something cheap made with cheap unreliable brands that will be broken when it is only 3 years old. I did not mean that i do not want a computer that is 3 years old. So if somebody bought a good computer today like suggested above and sold it in 3 years i would want to buy that computer. that is what i mean by second hand or is that still not a good idea? |
| geek_rosehonda | February 1, 2010, 6:03 pm | #8 |
| bump. . what should i look out for when buying a computer what brands are good and what brands should i stay away from? |
| geek_rosehonda | February 1, 2010, 7:41 pm | #9 |
| ok i have looked at building my on but have decided not too i would be fine putting it together but would have trouble with compatibility e. g i dont know enough about computers to know that the video card doesnt work with this motherboard or this harddrive has the wrong connections or specs for this motherboard etc. Is there any online sites you can buy from in nz that sell cheap computers (still made with good quality parts), or sites that let you choose what you want in the pc ? |
| geek_r.g.nixon | February 1, 2010, 9:55 pm | #10 |
New motherboards have PCI-e slots for videocards & SATA ports for HDDs. Just check that the videocard is PCI-e and hard drive is SATA,
CPUs are a little trickier. The have to match the socket of the motherboard. AMD's go into AM2+ or AM3 sockets. Intel, not sure.
There are plenty of sites, pp.co.nz is one, where you "build one online" - pick a motherboard, then it shows a list of compatible CPUs. Play around in there as if you were going to purchase the parts. Write down the ones you want. Then cancel out of the site and go looking for a good price at other places like computerloung.co.nz or pbtech.co.nz or edencomputers.co.nz or qmb.co.nz |
| geek_laj3 | February 1, 2010, 10:00 pm | #11 |
| You can easily work out which CPUs go with mother board ect. Easiest is Google the specs of what you may want then find out what socket ect. then look up motherboard specs ect. Or ask here, people will know what goes together. |
| geek_rosehonda | February 2, 2010, 3:09 pm | #12 |
| i dont think im up to building my own because i dont know what the specs of the mother boards etc mean and i dont feel like learning. Would be way easier to buy a machine thats already built. |
| geek_rosehonda | February 2, 2010, 10:29 pm | #13 |
| i know nothing about graphics card sizes. My current one is 32 mb. I am looking at a computer with 64mb ? is that good? |
| geek_r.g.nixon | February 2, 2010, 10:39 pm | #14 |
| No. That is very basic minimum these days. |
| geek_rosehonda | February 2, 2010, 11:05 pm | #15 |
| what would you call lightly above average keeping in mind i am not a gamer just photoshop youtube etc? |
| geek_r.g.nixon | February 2, 2010, 11:15 pm | #16 |
In that case 64MB would work OK.
Asus GeForce EN6200LE TC256/TD 64MB $43. 88
In fact, you would get away with onboard graphics. |
| geek_rosehonda | February 3, 2010, 3:13 pm | #17 |
| what is on board graphics is that like virtual memory for ram? |
| geek_lostdude | February 3, 2010, 3:28 pm | #18 |
Nice contradiction there.
$200-300 will just get you a "decent" MB & CPU. Add RAM, HDD, Case, PSU & maybe graphics card & you're well on your way over $500. Not to mention software, but photoshop is $1000+ alone (http://is. gd/7ABiM if you don't believe me). Unless you get budget but as the saying goes, you get what you pay for... + since you don't want to build or learn to build it yourself, dreams are free... |
| geek_r.g.nixon | February 3, 2010, 6:05 pm | #19 |
| It means that it shares some of your RAM with the CPU. Onboard graphics also means modern fast action $150 games will run with slow frame-rates. You also may have fewer resolutions to choose from in the video driver - but that is only relevant if you have a CRT monitor. |
| geek_rosehonda | February 3, 2010, 9:55 pm | #20 |
i intend to get a second hand one like this Listing #: 268317355
For about $200 what do you think. I would run my current xp disc and ms office at first and upgrade one day. I guess im not getting photoshop then, but will still do image work, large corel files etc. What brands do you call "decent" i is asus good or bad, what brand harddrives should i stay away from, what are the good brand motherboards etc? . . i have no idea what brands are good or bad when it comes to computers |
| geek_r.g.nixon | February 3, 2010, 10:03 pm | #21 |
Just go for common brands, they are all fine most of the time.
Oh! Acer is the worst brand, BTW. |
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| geek_rosehonda | February 3, 2010, 10:14 pm | #22 |
This sparks an interest. . Listing #: 269221331closes soon.
Hopefully i can pick something up like this second hand for $200 ish , $250 including post. Will just keep my current xp os for the meantime and hopefully because the pc will be clearly vista capable xp will run lightning fast. Badically i want something newer which is a clear upgrade on my current, 1. 7 ghz, 32mb graphics, 1. 25 gb ram and cd writer. Ok will keep away from acer, any others? Apart from that though what do you think of my plan? |
| geek_vtecintegra | February 3, 2010, 10:18 pm | #23 |
Looks fine from the very vague description.
As there is no mention of graphics setup it clearly isn't a gaming system, so don't plan on trying. |
| geek_rosehonda | February 3, 2010, 10:30 pm | #24 |
I dont plan on using my pc as a gaming system. . Im going to look around a bit more first, i have just been reading about 32 bit vs 64 bit. Is there any quick to download program or something that gives all the neccesary specs fsb speeds, grahics card brand, hdd brand etc of the computer that i can ask the seller to copy and paste the results on to trademe because it seems so hard to find out the computers specs e. g " i dont know the cpu speed sorry" or what size graphics car. . 2 days later dont know but it works on youtube fine. just examples but you get the idea. |
| geek_r.g.nixon | February 3, 2010, 10:40 pm | #25 |
SIW. Freeware, extensive info.
From www.gtopala.com |
| geek_rosehonda | February 4, 2010, 9:59 pm | #26 |
thanks, ac couple of things. .
i guess for my budget i would be looking for a 32 bit os is that what most computers are these days or is 64 bit more common?
Should i be looking for dual core ? And there seems to be two main type of cpu's amd dual core 2. 4 ghz ish and intel 3 ghz ish. Would a dual core of 2. 4 ghz ish out perform a 3 ghz non dual core?
Is sata hdd better than ide? I have heard of two types of hdd, i think ide and sata, and sata is better is that correct? |
| geek_r.g.nixon | February 4, 2010, 10:11 pm | #27 |
Because of yourbudget. you have to ask yourself if you really *need* Windows. You can do "youtube, emails, downloading songs, itunes etc" using a flavour of Linux; such as "Mint".
A 32bit OS is good if you have 4GB of RAM or more; otherwise don't bother.
Dual core basically means the computer can do two things at once without bogging down. But a single core 3GHz is always going to be faster than a dual core 2. 4 GHZ if you are only doing one intensive task.
SATA is cheaper and potentially quite a bit faster (if you have a good motherboard) - SATA versons 1, 2 & 3 can potentially trasnfer at 1. 5, 3 or 6 Gbps. If you have an old motherboard with only IDE ports, you can still use an SATA drive internally with a cheap adapter card, or externally via USB (slower). |
| geek_dino7 | February 4, 2010, 10:43 pm | #28 |
i don't agree with you on the 3ghz v a 2. 4ghz dual core ... ... . . a modern dual core or quad core using just one core can out perform say an old 3ghz northwood on single core apps... ... . easily.
Its not all clock speed as you know, FSB, Cache, etc |
| geek_rosehonda | February 4, 2010, 10:55 pm | #29 |
so what do you think would be better for me a dual core 2. 4 ish ghz or a 3ghz ish single core? I guess as most of the time i would not be doing one intensive task i. e would just be on emails etc a dual core would be better. For arguments sake would a 2. 5 ghz dual core out perform a 2. 5 ghz single core while doing emails etc but if you were working on some massive photoshop file and waiting for it to save etc the single core would perform better ? |
| geek_r.g.nixon | February 4, 2010, 10:57 pm | #30 |
Yes, I think you could be correct, especially as you probably can't buy a new single-core CPU now.
But if you are comparing a couple of 3 year old CPUs, maybe you should go for the 3GHz. (In post #20 it appears she is looking second-hand now. ) |
| geek_r.g.nixon | February 4, 2010, 11:02 pm | #31 |
Whoops, yes I meant 64bit for 4GB or more RAM. Sorry!
Re: dual-core. My single core PC at work really gets bogged down doing a backup to USB drive, while writing to DVD, while trying to use my GIS program, and email, and web browser... which reminds me, I must put a case to the boss that I need a quad-core to be more productive. |
| geek_laj3 | February 4, 2010, 11:30 pm | #32 |
| You wont get much for $200, really, unless you get a bargain. |
| geek_kiwigal | February 4, 2010, 11:45 pm | #33 |
Not read the whole thread...
I replaced the mothboard & cpu chip (dual core) in my wifes (hubby here) computer that cost $230. oo from PBtechadd another $80 ($310 total with 2gigs ram)the hard drive & cd drive was kept...
You can buy a Brand new upgrade Box (intel) from PBtech for around 500 plus gst. Sounds like you only need on-board video, the motherboard that my wifes has users on-board & that is 256megs (taken from the motherboard Ram).
Personally push the budget just that little more & get the computer that will last another 10 years... Keep AWAY from laptops... |
| geek_rosehonda | February 5, 2010, 8:35 am | #34 |
| can anyone tell me what is wrong with buying a secondhand pc that 2 or 3 years old? |
| geek_malachiman | February 5, 2010, 9:31 am | #35 |
No warranty - if your on such a small budget and it dies in a month, what are you going to do.
By the way you can pick up Photoshop Elements (which is a cheaper version and is only missing some of the more complex features) |
| geek_rosehonda | February 9, 2010, 12:17 pm | #36 |
dual core . . if a cpu has two cores which are 1. 5 ghz is it a 1. 5ghz dual core processor or is it a 3ghz dual core processor?
i see auctions that have cpu speeds like 4 ghz then in the description it is like 2 ghz dual core so 2 time two 2 ghz processors = 4 ghz ? |
| geek_r.g.nixon | February 9, 2010, 1:17 pm | #37 |
False advertising. Very common with CPU speeds on TM.
It is a 1. 5ghz dual core processor. |
| geek_r.g.nixon | February 12, 2010, 11:24 am | #38 |
Rose/Jo? , did you get a computer yet?
If not, this deal http://is. gd/8bE6N at FirstIn today looks good. Limited stock, I believe. |
| geek_rosehonda | February 15, 2010, 9:27 pm | #39 |
missed it sorry , should of checked back more often. Have just been keeping an eye out on the auctions.
Graphics, ...
http://www.intel.com/products/chipsets/gma950/index.htm
I dont really understand what this is, is this what you call on board graphics? and is a graphics card better? |
| geek_r.g.nixon | February 15, 2010, 9:42 pm | #40 |
| Yes to both questions. But a graphics card is only really required for fast new $150 games. |
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