New budget PC, AMD or Intel??

[MadCow809]

Yeah, ECS is pretty dodgey around the whole world, IMO they are on par with Jetway, and that is really saying something cos Jetway is probably one of the worst brand Ive ever come across.

Im 24, which means I got loads of things to do during day instead of sitting on my arse and play games everyday, so yeah.. it might be a good idea to get my aunt an Asus board, seeing that I prob wont have time to fix her pc if something goes wrong.

 

[lunyone]

Yeah, ECS is pretty dodgey around the whole world, IMO they are on par with Jetway, and that is really saying something cos Jetway is probably one of the worst brand Ive ever come across.

Im 24, which means I got loads of things to do during day instead of sitting on my arse and play games everyday, so yeah.. it might be a good idea to get my aunt an Asus board, seeing that I prob wont have time to fix her pc if something goes wrong.

Now that is what I'm talking about!!!! I built my mother-in-law a PC 2 years ago and she still has me work on it. Last time she thought is was bad was because her computer wouldn't get online. Come to find out, her wireless ISP modem wasn't picking the signal up well in the back room, so I moved the modem to the front of the house and "BINGO" it all of a sudden worked!!! Well you get my point. If you build it for a friend/family your going to be tied to it for its life, so put in quality parts and you hopefully won't have to work on it again!!

 

[quicsilver]

Yeah, ECS is pretty dodgey around the whole world, IMO they are on par with Jetway, and that is really saying something cos Jetway is probably one of the worst brand Ive ever come across.

Im 24, which means I got loads of things to do during day instead of sitting on my arse and play games everyday, so yeah.. it might be a good idea to get my aunt an Asus board, seeing that I prob wont have time to fix her pc if something goes wrong.

You know that Dell with a 19in flat screen, 2gb's RAM and a Dual-Layer DVD for $439........if it breaks, make them fix it.

 

[compy386]

Ask Dell to fix it... Yeah try that and let me know how it works out for you. I got a Dell laptop for school... worst purchase ever. Though I doubt any other mainstream brand is any better.

 

[lunyone]

Ask Dell to fix it... Yeah try that and let me know how it works out for you. I got a Dell laptop for school... worst purchase ever. Though I doubt any other mainstream brand is any better.

Funny thing is I have had a Dell laptop for over 2 yrs without any issues whatsoever. All manufacturers have issues with some of their systems, but if there are too many than I would say that there is a problem. Hopefully your Dell laptop was able to be fixed without too much fuss.

 

[blackened144]

Does your Aunt Game?

If So, Get a Dell Dude!

http://configure.us.dell.com/dellstore/config.aspx?c=us&cs=04&kc=6W300&l=en&oc=brcbsaz&s=bsd

This includes everything down w/monitor for $399.
Updated the RAM to 2GB for $25.

If she really needs to game, find a 8600GT or other GPU that does not require a Power Adapter and you should be fine if she is a gamer.

I have to second this one.. Building the actual machine out is never a problem. Its supporting the machine for people who dont know how to use it that makes me send everyone to Dell and the like. And as someone who worked tech support for both Dell and Gateway, its all hit or miss as far as real support goes. Sometimes you get someone who knows whats going on and can fix your problem in 10 seconds and sometimes you get someone who cant speak a damn word of English. But as long as they dont call me, I dont have a problem with that.

 

[zenmaster]

I have to second this one.. Building the actual machine out is never a problem. Its supporting the machine for people who dont know how to use it that makes me send everyone to Dell and the like. And as someone who worked tech support for both Dell and Gateway, its all hit or miss as far as real support goes. Sometimes you get someone who knows whats going on and can fix your problem in 10 seconds and sometimes you get someone who cant speak a damn word of English. But as long as they dont call me, I dont have a problem with that.

I also agree with that.
Supporting computers for others is a real pain.

In the Link above, for $40 you can get updated to 2GB of RAM and a DL DVD Burner.
For another $100 you can get a real nice upgrade to the E8200 processor.
(Less Upgrades if you are on a real tight budget available.)

Much comes down to how many parts you really need.
OS as well as Monitor, keyboard, Mouse, and speakers really eat into a budget.
And After Build Support is never fun.

 

[EXT64]

Unless it is your own rig. I'm always looking for an excuse to rip out components and replace them :lol:

 

[69camaroSS]

Hate to change the AMD direction, but I would stretch to get an intel board. Intel is leading the processor battle by a good length, so future upgrades of your processor will be easier if you already have a Mobo for Intel. Intel is better now, and it will be better for a while. Those really fast quad cores will be cheap in about a year an a half, which will help in photoshop and illustrator.

Again this is my opinion. I tend to spend more money to get the right foundation and then keep upgrading everything else as I need to. I am by no means saying that AMD sucks or isn't good, but right now they are behind.