-=PCTechTalk=- Re: Another Computer Shopping Questions
- From: "Andy" <barneystorm@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <pctechtalk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Thu, 7 Aug 2003 16:57:20 +0100
----- Original Message -----
From: "Lacey" <stormy1@xxxxxxx>
To: <pctechtalk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> I'm also shopping around for a new computer and am completely baffled by
all
> the new terms and technology. I currently have a AMD Athlon 850 Mhz ....
> processor? I know my motherboard is a Gigabyte board, and I know my video
> card is an NVidia TNT...and I have 256 mb PC 133 Ram -- this computer is
> going to the kids so its not an issue of making new stuff fit in the old
> one.
>
> Question I have are -- I want something faster than the old one -- but I
> don't want to spend a lot of money. I like the AMD Athlon.... I like the
> NVidia video card, and I like the Gigabyte mobo.
>
> What is comparable in "faster" ? the AMD XP stuff vs. Pentium 4 is
confusing
> me -- I don't think I really grasp what part is the motherboard and what
> part is the processor (even though I put them together myself! how scary
is
> that?!)
>
> And what about the different kinds of RAM? there seem to be many more than
> there used to be and I 'd prefer not to run into a situation where its
hard
> to add more later because its hard to find.
>
> My use of the comptuer is pretty much Internet, some gaming (like the Sims
> which is memory and graphics intensive), Adobe Photoshop and Dreamweaver,
> but I'm not really doing any video or audio editing -- just graphics.
>
> So what should I be looking for? Name brands to avoid in motherboards?
What
> processor goes with what motherboard and what is the different between
> pentium 4 and AMD XP stuff -- help?
Processor ...OK, first thing to say is forget the numbers or names on the
processors!!! AMD and Pentium are pretty much like for like these days-They
both d othe job and do it well, some people prefer one to the other, and men
in white coats in a lab somewhere could probably give you reasons why one is
better than the other, but not so you'd notice!
Allegedly, the bigger the number, the faster the processor, but as a
general rule of thumb, unless you've got money to burn, never buy something
with the very latest processor in it..the difference you will see in
performance between ,say, an Athlon 2400 and an Athlon 2000 will more than
likely be un-noticable, but it will leave you with more money in your budget
to spend on something else. I'm.just taking a quick look on a site that
sells processors, XP have now reached 3200 speed-and the price for the
processor alone is £370 (That's about $570). The next one down, the 3000, is
£210 ($320), but if you drop down a couple more, to the 2600 we are down to
£82 ($130)-and you can half that if you drop to 2000, and that will do all
you want it to and plenty more besides. The difference you will notice in
performance between them in day to day operations will be so neglible, so
don't be blinded by the numbers.
Memory? Well, the days of PC133 memory is numbered as DDR is now becoming
the industry standard, but if it is PC133 memory that is being offered,
check whether the machine can also take DDR (Some boards have slots for
both) in case you ever want to upgrade the memory-I honestly doubt this
would be an issue though, as you'll probably only find DDR memory offered if
you are buying a new PC.
Motherboards? AMD's website has a list of 'recommended' boards on it's
website http://www.amd.com/us-en/ . If you are buying an 'Off The Shelf'
box, there shouldn't be too many issues here, though the obvious things like
making sure you have enough expansion slots to take all of your peripherals
is vital.
Other things to keep an eye on-Hard drive...As big as you can get..80mb
should come as a minimum now, you may wonder how the hell you are going to
fill that-well, I remember wondering how I was going to fill my 1.6gb one
only 6 years ago!!.. and make sure you get a 7200 speed one, not 5000.
Whether you want to go for a TFT monitor is a personal choice only you can
make-though if you are playing games on it, I honestly wouldn't go for one.
Take a look at the software bumdle they are offering -Obviously W2000 as a
minimum-in all liklihood, you won't be getting the Xp disc though, just a
'Restore Pack' in case you need to replace the Windows installation.
CD ROM? DVD ROM? CD WRITER? DVD WRITER? I'd expect a CD Writer as an
absolute minium these days-you can pick them up for under £30 ($50) these
days, so I'd say forget anything with only a CD Rom in it...I'd be wondering
what other costs they were cutting!! DVD writers are gradually coming down
in price now, and they do offer great back up capability (4.7GB on one
disc!!), but unless it's something you REALLY want to do, I'd stay away from
a DVD Writer for a year or so, let the standards war, which is still raging,
subside and the prices will probably drop even more in that time too. Go
for a machine with a reasonably fast writer (X32 writing speed or more) and
a maybe separate DVD Rom drive if you want the PC to be an all round
entertainment centre
>
> I've also been given the task of finding a computer for an older couple
who
> want to do geneology -- and probably not much else. They are willing to
> spend whatever money it costs but of course I don't want to hose them.
> Should I be looking for any different features than the standard stuff ??
>
> Any help, websites that could educate me, suggestions, etc. are much
> appreciated!
For something like that, they'd be just as well spending next to nothing./
Here in the UK, at a computer fair I go to every couple of weeks, you could
pick up a second hand unit with a Pentium 2 processor (about a P300), 256mb
RAM, 17" monitor, modem, LAN, speakers, mouse and keyboard for about £80
($130)-this would do all they want and more. Maybe that wouldn't suit them,
but really speaking they have no need to spend hundreds of pounds or dollars
unless they want to
Cheers
Andy
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