- Oct 29, 2007
- 44
- 0
- 18,540
My current PC (AMD 2500+, 512MB RAM, Ti4200 video card) is getting a little dated, and I'm looking to replace it. I don't pay much attention to the PC world any more, and so am pretty out of touch and need some advice.
I do not like spending huge amounts of money for top-of-the-line systems. I use it mainly for Internet access, email, word processing / spreadsheets, etc. I play some games, but I also don't run out to pay $70 for the latest games, either... Half Life / TFC is about the newest I have right now
I will probably get Half Life 2 once I have a newer system, and maybe the first Halo to play on-line with my brother. The only other resource-intensive task I do is video editing and burning DVDs. Oh, and this system will be a dual-boot one... XP and Linux, probably Fedora, so I want to avoid anything that may have any driver or compatibility issues.
I also don't like to upgrade PCs. I have a black thumb when it comes to hardware, and it gets difficult to find the right parts after a couple of years.
1) AMD vs. Intel - I've been a huge AMD fan for years, but I hear that the Core 2 Duos are a much better "bang for the buck". Still true?
2) Chipset - It seems like I'd have to pay about twice as much to get the newest chipsets that support 1033MHz FSB. At least looking at preconfigured systems in my area. If those chipsets include a lot of other goodies that will help to ensure some degree of future compatibility, that might be worth it to me.
3) Video card - I don't need the latest $400 card. I want something that will play my older games, have an S-Video output, and that has a DB-15HD as my current monitor is analog only, and I may not run right out for a new one. ATI vs. GeForce?
4) Storage - It looks like everything is SATA2 3.0Gb/s now. Is there anything else I should be looking at? I/O is a big issue with my video work.
5) DVD-R - Currently, I have a Lite-On SOHW-1633S which was, at the time, "the" burner to get... low price combined with good performance and lots of firmware upgrades and hacks. It's important to me to get a burner that is going to play along very nicely, as I burn a lot of DVDs. I'd buy a Plextor if I had to, but I've been very happy with my $30 Lite-On and am hoping there's a newer equivalent that uses SATA instead of ATAPI.
And if there's anything else I should be thinking about... I'll get a good case with a good PS, not the $20 special
I do not like spending huge amounts of money for top-of-the-line systems. I use it mainly for Internet access, email, word processing / spreadsheets, etc. I play some games, but I also don't run out to pay $70 for the latest games, either... Half Life / TFC is about the newest I have right now
I will probably get Half Life 2 once I have a newer system, and maybe the first Halo to play on-line with my brother. The only other resource-intensive task I do is video editing and burning DVDs. Oh, and this system will be a dual-boot one... XP and Linux, probably Fedora, so I want to avoid anything that may have any driver or compatibility issues.I also don't like to upgrade PCs. I have a black thumb when it comes to hardware, and it gets difficult to find the right parts after a couple of years.
1) AMD vs. Intel - I've been a huge AMD fan for years, but I hear that the Core 2 Duos are a much better "bang for the buck". Still true?
2) Chipset - It seems like I'd have to pay about twice as much to get the newest chipsets that support 1033MHz FSB. At least looking at preconfigured systems in my area. If those chipsets include a lot of other goodies that will help to ensure some degree of future compatibility, that might be worth it to me.
3) Video card - I don't need the latest $400 card. I want something that will play my older games, have an S-Video output, and that has a DB-15HD as my current monitor is analog only, and I may not run right out for a new one. ATI vs. GeForce?
4) Storage - It looks like everything is SATA2 3.0Gb/s now. Is there anything else I should be looking at? I/O is a big issue with my video work.
5) DVD-R - Currently, I have a Lite-On SOHW-1633S which was, at the time, "the" burner to get... low price combined with good performance and lots of firmware upgrades and hacks. It's important to me to get a burner that is going to play along very nicely, as I burn a lot of DVDs. I'd buy a Plextor if I had to, but I've been very happy with my $30 Lite-On and am hoping there's a newer equivalent that uses SATA instead of ATAPI.
And if there's anything else I should be thinking about... I'll get a good case with a good PS, not the $20 special
I know that OCing is very different today, and if I wind up with a setup that will OC with zero problems, why not? But in the absence of a dozen people swearing that that particular setup runs perfectly, I'd just as soon run at the "normal" speed and not have to worry about any instability, or experimenting with different coolers, etc.
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