Looking for a new computers. What baseline specs?

[Psionicist]

I want to take it out of the box and plug it in and go. I just don't have time these days to put much effort into building a computer.

Quasqueton

Can't help you then, sorry. I haven't dealt with prebuildt computers since my Dell P2 400.

 

[Angcuru]

My advice when buying a new computer is never to use Dell, Gateway, or buy one off the shelf. You will save incredible amounts of money and get much more value if you either build it yourself, or get one custom-made from someone who knows what they are doing. My brother does this, building custom computers for people, that is, the actual computer, not the monitor, keyboard, mouse, etc. You can contact him at sirhonorable@comcast.net , and tell him that Jeremy sent you.

Basically what he does is takes the information you give him on what you want to do with it I.E. gaming, media, graphic design, etc., and he'll work out the specs with you so it's designed for optimum efficiency and power, assemble it, and charge for the cost of parts, shipping and a bit for labor etc. Trust me, he knows what he is doing. I live with the guy, this stuff is his life.

 

[Quasqueton]

Can't help you then, sorry. I haven't dealt with prebuildt computers since my Dell P2 400.

So you could tell the specs to consider for a computer I built myself, but can't tell me the specs to look for in a prebuilt computer? Does the size of the hard drive differ because of who physically installs it in the box?

I'm just looking for a baseline, here. Minimum RAM, processor, CD-ROM, HD, etc.

And thanks for the pointer to your brother, Angcuru, but I'd rather deal with someone face-to-face, or with a reputable company. If your brother wanted to give some baseline specs to keep in mind, I'd appreciate it.

Quasqueton

 

[NeghVar]

OS: Windows XP Home or Pro
RAM: 512 MB
CD: CD-RW/DVDROM
HD: 120 GB (80 GB or more is base for most PCs today)
Video: 128 MB ATI or NVidia graphics card

I have bought hundreds of PCs for work - both Compaq and Dell come out as winners.

So you could tell the specs to consider for a computer I built myself, but can't tell me the specs to look for in a prebuilt computer? Does the size of the hard drive differ because of who physically installs it in the box?

I'm just looking for a baseline, here. Minimum RAM, processor, CD-ROM, HD, etc.

And thanks for the pointer to your brother, Angcuru, but I'd rather deal with someone face-to-face, or with a reputable company. If your brother wanted to give some baseline specs to keep in mind, I'd appreciate it.

Quasqueton

 

[Aeolius]

If your knowledge of Windows is not up to speed, I can think of no better time to suggest the following links:

http://www.apple.com/switch/
http://www.apple.com/games/

 

[CrusaderX]

Here are the specs of my Dell machine that I bought about a year and a half ago:

Pentium IV 2.66 ghz
1 GB RAM
120 GB HD
128 MB Radeon 9700 Pro Video Card
40x CD-RW Drive
Soundblaster Live soundcard
Win XP Home

I love my machine, and it handles everything I throw at it with ease. If possible, I highly recommend getting a gig of RAM, since 512 MB is the low end anymore, as mentioned. And for my money, the excellent tech support from Dell is great peace of mind.

 

[drothgery]

Recommendations based on buying a system from a major vendor (Dell, HP-Compaq, Gateway/eMachines, IBM, etc.)

CPU: 2.8 GHz (or faster) Pentium 4 or any Athlon 64. Celerons are very bad. Retail Athlon XP systems are slightly bad.
RAM: 512 MB. More costs a lot; less isn't cost-effective.
Hard Drive: 80 GB+. More if you're keeping a lot of video around.
Optical Media: At minimum, a DVD reader and a CD-RW. You'll probably really want the DVD reader at some point in the not to distant future, and they don't cost that much.
Video: Make sure you've got an AGP or PCI Express slot (note: PCI Express is not the same as PCI or PCI-X), so you can upgrade later (for occasional gaming or the next version of Windows) -- an integrated-video only system is bad -- but anything will do for office apps and web surfing for now. Best value for now is probably in the Radeon 9600/GeForce FX 5700 range.

Worth noting: Intel is launching new CPUs and chipsets at the end of this month. AMD launched some new CPUs and new socket designs last week. So waiting a few weeks is probably a good idea. But it's easy to get into the trap of always waiting for something better (as there always is something better coming soon), so if you've got the money and want a new system, don't put it off too long.

For the person who asked up-thread - the chipsets Intel launches on June 21 will be the first that support PCI Express. Athlon 64 chipsets that support PCI Express are expected later this summer.

 

[mps42]

New box?

Well, heres my $.02 worth:

Since you've stated that you want something that can do a bit of everything (plus games!), here's what I'd spend MY money on:

Case: Aspire X-Dreamer II (with 350W PSU) - $50
CPU: AMD Athlon XP 2800+ Barton Retail - $121
Cooling: Included Retail HSF - $0
Motherboard: MSI K7N2 Delta-L - $72
Memory: 512-MB (2x256-MB) Corsair PC3200 DDR - $112
Hard Drive: 80GB Western Digital SE (8-MB) - $67
Video Card: ATI Radeon 9700 Pro 128-MB OEM - $169
Sound Card: SB LIVE! 5 channel OEM $45
Speakers: Logitech Z640 6-Piece Speaker System - $60
CD/DVD-ROM: AOpen 48x24x48x16 Combo Drive - $50
Communications: Onboard LAN - $0
Operating System: Windows XP PRO - $89
Floppy: - $10

Total: $870.00
The problem with this is that you said that you had no time to assemble it and you would need to either assemble this yourself or have someone do it FOR you.

 

[LightPhoenix]

For general purposes, and of course for playing the current games, what are the baseline specs I should be looking for?

For "general purposes", your computer now it probably pretty good, except perhaps the hard drive. My 400MHz P2 runs most of the non-game, non-graphics programs fine, and I don't even have 512MB RAM.

For games, my advice is to go to your local video game store of choice and look at some of the games on the "new releases" shelf. That will give you a pretty good idea of both the baseline (minimum reqs) as well as a decent system (recommended reqs). Generally you want a decent graphics card and a fair bit of RAM.

Contrary to what other people are saying, hard drive space shouldn't be a problem... 60GB (which is pretty standard in pre-builts now) should be fine unless you're one of those people that leaves games you haven't played in three years on your computer and downloads hundreds of songs off of iTunes or less legal means. Also contrary to what people are saying, a CD-RW and DVD drive are nice, but not required at all. They come standard on most pre-built systems today, and aren't particularly expensive, so there's no reason not to have them, unless money is a real issue. DVD drives especially you could leave off, unless you're using your PC to watch DVDs, in which case you could just spring fifty dollars for a cheap DVD-player at Walmart.

I would recommend going to a place that will build a computer for you. The problem with pre-built systems, as many people have said so far, is that you pay for a lot of crap that you'll never use. Especially on the software side of things. It may seem like a bit more trouble and effort, but you'll actually be saving a bit of money, I suspect.

Also, shop around. I know it sounds dumb and silly and like I'm talking down to you, but I'm really not... or at least, not meaning to. The computer is going to still be there if you decide to take a week or two to think it over and look around some more. I've seen way too many people buy higher-end electronics (and appliances) and then be disappointed after that initial bout of excitement over something new wears off.

 

[Quasqueton]

Thank you very much for the info, guys. It gets me started with some numbers and good advice.

Quasqueton