buying a new computer???

[shimmyg]

Hi ,

I am thinkin of getting a new computer and am lookin for some help!!

i was thinkin a new or reconditioned desktop pc. sumthin that is fairly powerfull with plenty of hard drive space for storing music, films,etc...and most importantly playing games on!!! but i dont want sumthin that will be out of date and useless in 12-18 mths time!!!

dunno weather to go for AMD 64, or P4 or Pm???
Or should i wait til this new longhorn system comes out??
what about graphics card sizes, RAM etc... etc...??

i was online checkin out a few sites today and saw a couple of things....but i dont ave a clue about the prices!!!

im thinkin of buyin it on e-bay would you recommed this or are there too many dodgy dealers on there?!!!

Any help with this would be greatly appreciated.

thanks.

[Mochan]

I don't know anything about ebay, and prices aren't my real concern.

But what I can say is:

Go for Athlon 64
Get a vidcard with 256MB RAM and don't skimp on it either, be sure to get a current gen card not a last gen card. (Last gen ended around Radeon 9800 and GF5900 series)
RAM isn't a big issue since it's easy to add on but you'll probably want to get matching sticks and they should be PC3200 at least in this day and age, try for PC3500 or something. For now you'll want to be in the 1GB to 1.5GB range.
I dunno about Longhorn, but sometimes I think that Win98 is the way to go for gaming.

[Suicides-by-Steve]

Hi ,

I am thinkin of getting a new computer and am lookin for some help!!

i was thinkin a new or reconditioned desktop pc. sumthin that is fairly powerfull with plenty of hard drive space for storing music, films,etc...and most importantly playing games on!!! but i dont want sumthin that will be out of date and useless in 12-18 mths time!!!

dunno weather to go for AMD 64, or P4 or Pm???
Or should i wait til this new longhorn system comes out??
what about graphics card sizes, RAM etc... etc...??

i was online checkin out a few sites today and saw a couple of things....but i dont ave a clue about the prices!!!

im thinkin of buyin it on e-bay would you recommed this or are there too many dodgy dealers on there?!!!

Any help with this would be greatly appreciated.

thanks.

Longhorn is only the codeword for Microsoft's new operating system, it's not a new computer board architecture...

[E.T.]

Mochan is on target w/AMD 64 processor [though Intel has entered the 64 bit fray]. For GPU, check out the Radeon X850 Pro [or for less $ the Radeon X800 XL].

I'd personally avoid buying a reconditioned system as they seldom save much $ compared to new units.

For pre built units, Dell is hard to beat for the money, but options are limited for upgrading.
Check out also Gateway's 9310X . This system can be customized as gaming rig [dump the flat screen lcd, swap the vid card etc]. ALSO, ALienware has become more competitive price wise..serioulsy! They offer the AMD 64 powered Auroa 5500 for $1400, & can be configured into great rig for a few hundred more.

Price for a middle of the road unit you can game on for a year or two w/o upgrading should be near $1500 for pre built, $1300 for build yer own.....

[Mochan]

I bet about a third of that price goes to the vid card, lol.

[E.T.]

Darn close to being a third of system cost, but again, thats for a 256mb ATI Radeon X800 Pro. The Radeon 256mb X800 XL card is about $100 less [Pro being aprox $450, XL being aprox $350].

For a budget system, why would'nt a 9800 Pro Ultimate 256mb card hold up for the next two years of gaming? This card is aprox $200-$250 less than X800 Pro. That would be my pick over the "next-gen" high cost GPU's.

[Mochan]

I dunno. The 9800 Pro Ultimate pays a high price premium for the cool-looking and silent heatsink, but doesn't really perform that much better than a regular Pro or XT, while being at a much higher price. You can't even overclock it past the XT's capabilities, because for all the mammoth size of the sink, it doesn't cool too well for the lack of a fan.

Are you sure the Ultimate 9800 256MB is the one you're referring to? I'm pretty sure that card costs about the same as an X800 Pro.

For a budget system, I would rather plunk down for a 9800XT 256MB. The price is just about right, they sell for roughly $250 around here, and allegedly using the current Omega drivers you can take advantage of the 256MB memory to get performance beyond 9800XT specs. Previously the 9800 Pros couldn't do anything wiht the extra 128MB, which is why I stuck to getting a 9800 Pro myself. I sort of wish I did get the XT instead but I'm fine with my current card right now.

[DBS]

I am using a Rad Pro 128 as well as so far I have been perfectly happy with the results. I also got along fine with a GeForce 3 card for nearly 3 years too. I think sometimes we focus too much on frames per second instead of running the game acceptably. Just my 2.5 cents

[Mochan]

Yeah, I only ever complain about my vid card when the frames start chopping. So far I'm very happy with my Radeon. Some games don't run flawlessly (Doom 3 still chugs just a wee bit and Thief 3 wasn't exactly smooth) though I think that's also partly because I need to upgrade my processor.

I will probably upgrade when Stalker comes out, which I think will probably be by the end of this year (if we're lucky). However I think my upgrade will be to an Athlon 64 rather than to pump up my vid card.