"Run of the mill" or custom?

[playzone2]

Hej!

Went in to this forum origanally, as I wanted to get a bit of info on Dell XPS 700.
Now some may shake their heads when I mention that I have no specific interest in gaming :o ...not as yet anyway!
In fact I am "one of those" who is still trying to fathem out how a pc works.

What I am actually looking for is something that I can run my home entertainment on, tv, radio, music programs such as "fruity loops" and indeed something I can edit movies on aswell as the usual functions for small office use and so on. The best sound and Image reproduction I can get...something with a bit of "wow factor" if you know what I mean and that can be upgraded in time if neccasairy!

After reading a couple of threads from users on this site like "SOUPNATIZZLE and SAPHALLINE, (both of whome were very interesting to read and indeed would be of a hell of a lot of value if only I understood all the technical stuff,) I have formed the impression that Dell is a "no go" zone and I can expect some form of system failiure if I purchase a factory built pc fx. from Hp, which would have been my next choice of brand after Dell.

Obviously, the best thing to do is build my own, or get it built by a man who can......or is it? :confused:

I would really appreciate a bit of help on this one, maybe a rundown of componentes from A-Z to give me the thrill I'm looking for!

It's not a question of being "flash" or trying to impress with money I dont have and is hard earnt, but I am prepaired to spend on good solid value for money!

Look forward to hearing from "a man who can"...or woman! :)

With thanks!
Steve, Copenhagen.

[bassman]

Hello Steve and welcome to http://www.pcguide.com/ubb/pcgubb.gif
I myself would strongly recommend a home built. But if you are mechanicly and/or technicaly challenged, this can be a daunting and expensive task. That is a decision you will have to make on your own ;)
I use a local shp for most of my parts now as I can walk there if I wanted, they are very nice and helpful, and their prices (after shipping) are close enough to online shopping for me. Anyway, they sell a real nice "Barebones" machine that I have built several systems on. A barebones is just a case, motherboard, and PSU all assymbled and tested. You can then pick a processor from a range that the mobo is capable of, how much RAM you want, optic drives, HDD ('s), video, sound, etc...
I can tell you right now, you will be more costly then buying a Dell, but what is the value of peace of mind ;)

[azzey]

Custom building is great because you can tailor the computer to your exact needs. With off-the-shelf systems, you get what the manufacturer 'intends' for you to use it for. You might be able to find a couple things that the computer specializes in (ie. a multimedia center PC will have a video card with TV out, but probably not as powerful of a processor).

You also mentioned that you wanted to have a 'wow' factor. There are several ways to achieve this--the most obvious of which is to have just pure, raw performance. This, however, is usually very expensive (in the thousands of dollars). If you don't have a terrible amount of money to spend on performance, you can take something average or slightly above average and just make it your own. Personally, I enjoy modding my cases and such so that I have something that nobody else has or has even thought of.

Go with an AMD Athlon X2 4200+ AM2 (dual core for encoding videos and editing), a good gigabyte of RAM (DDR2 800 would be perfect), a nice solid motherboard, and you're just about set. All that's left is a good, reliable power supply and your drives. Definetly get a DVD burner combo drive (maybe even two?), a large SATA hard drive (around 250GB or so). Throw that in a case, and you're done.

These days, building a computer is fairly easy work--the hardest part is choosing components that are compatible, so it's best to have the help of someone experienced for your first time. Other than that, there isn't really a whole lot you can screw up on, and there are plenty of guides for assembly.

[playzone2]

Hej Bassman & Azzey.
Would like to thank you both for a quick reply and of course to anyone else who would like to feed me with usefull info!

I will certainly keep the advise you have given in mind.

Azzey mentions that Micro soft offers "crappy sytstems" which prompts me to ask if anybody knows anything usefull about "Vista" ...I think it's called and if I would be better to stick to a system like windows, which I would imagin, after being around for some years and got to the point where it will be superceded by Vista would be an old approved system where as Vista must at some point go through a whole variety of changes and improvements like "Windows" or would Vista be a good option or is Microsoft still very secretive about it performance before its launch, which I believe should be around September sometime?

Maybe somebody could recomend me a better system??

[soupnatizzle]

the fact of the matter is with PCs built buy any company your over paying on parts.

an example my freind is buying a new computer from dell stats where 2.6ghz single core prossessor, 1g of ram, crappy videocard, radeon x600 i believe, and a monitor all for 700 bucks..

i told him not to buy it and in 5 mins put together a system that would crap all over that dell for the same exact price with a 19 inch CRT monitor.. stats are, althlon AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+, 1g of ram, and infinity better videocard (Geforce 7600GT) and a rock solid ASUS Motherboard..

even if you dont know computer componants and what im talking about, take my work for it that dell is extremly over priced, buying from them in my mind is somthing you do if you just need a computer and wont be using it for anything besides basic word prossessing and internet browsing

[saphalline]

What sort of special considerations are there with your content? As in, do you need a TV tuner and radio tranceiver in your computer for the TV and radio music you mentioned? Are you looking at a Media Center type of PC? Will you be streaming live audio and video? What other hardware do you need for your usage?

[playzone2]

I want to use it as a Media Center and be able to process my fotoes and dvd cam films, music programs, where you make your own music, put it on a dvd with film and maybe text and as I will be moving in with my girlfriend at some point who has 4 kids plus my 2, so there would be a pretty good chance that gaming may become a very tempting option!
I suppose that I am like everybody else thats a bit in to gadgets...I want the sound and visuals to be as good as possible! As for games, exelent graphics, speed and a good portion of memory.
I may well use it for designing, drawing aswell as using it for my "small buisness" requirements!

There you have it!

At the end of the day, I want a good, solid, reliable pc with the above mentioned qualities without being ripped off!

[saphalline]

If you have any aspirations of gaming or powerful video editing, an off-the-shelf system is out of the question. 95% of them use onboard video, and the few that do come with a dedicated vid card use the cheap $60 ones. While it doens't take a lot of graphical power to edit video with ease, the CPU power and amount of RAM are almost always lacking. You could easily spend up to $2000 on an off-the-shelf system with enough power for video editing, but it would also come with several GB's of unwanted cr@pware installed, you'd still get ripped off, and it would never be up to par for true gaming.

No, what you need is a boutique custom built system, or just build your own. Obviously you know that building is preferred around here, but we also know of a few online PC assemblers that use standard parts you can buy off Newegg or ZZF, etc. These have the advantage of being customizable to the point where I would actually approve of their configs! :p They also have the advantage of being just as upgradable as a build-it-yourself, rather than being largely disposable like off-the-shelf OEM systems.

If you do decide to build your own, many find the experience to be very fulfulling, if a little anxious at times. When everything works, it's glorious. When something goes wrong on your first build, you lose sleep and develop an ulcer. That's the way it goes. But as long as you have a lifeline to the forums here, we can help you. There are many tricks of the trade when it comes to building your own, and not all of them are intuitive to the newly initiated.

As far as the hardware goes, timing is a concern here. But right now, Intel's Core 2 desktop CPU's are still vaporware. So AMD it is. I'm thinking an Athlon64 X2 3800+, 2GB of DDR2-800 RAM, NF 570 Ultra mobo, GeForce 7600 GS vid card, 250-320GB SATA 300 hard drive (perhaps multiple), dual-layer DVD burner (maybe even a LightScribe version), good PSU and case, and...

What else do you need? Are you looking to buy a complete system including monitor & mouse & keyboard & speakers, or just "the box"?

As for the Microsoft OS issue, Windows XP with Service Pack 2 (WinXP w/SP2) is the way to go right now. Home or Pro, it matters little except for cost and administrative/networking abilities. Most go with Home. But Vista is another OS entirely. You are correct in that it will be the replacement for WinXP, but when it will actually be released is anyone's guess. And the sheer number of different versions will have most people lost in the techno-babble. Best to avoid and ignore it for now until we see some actual results. Stick to WinXP.

[playzone2]

Thanks for the rundown..starting to feel more confident in splashing out now for a DIY option with parts from Newegg or ZZF that you mentioned of which (if I understand you correctly comes assembled) and that the place to purchase it, or parts to build it myself, would be on line...... would that be direct from the company outlet or could you recomend a relable site to order from?

May well need the advise of "the life-line" you mentioned and "Azzey" mentioned that there are plenty of good guids to buy once you know what parts are compatable!

I have a Samsung SyncMaster 913N monitor (if thats sufficient for the compilation of parts you recomend) and a Microsoft wireless keyboard & mouse but I may well be interested in a good speaker system! ....What about surround sound...is that something that can be installed in the Pc or is that another thing entirely?

Not too sure what you mean by "vaporeware" by the way??

[saphalline]

Newegg (www.newegg.com) and Zip Zoom Fly (www.zipzoomfly.com) are both online retailers that sell individual computer components, as well as other things. I use them mostly for parts, but they are also a great source for OEM OS'es and "barebones systems" (which are partially assembled PC's that you can build off of).

The online PC assemblers that come to mind are iBuyPower (www.ibuypower.com), CyberPower PC (www.cyberpowerpc.com), and ABS Computers (www.abs.com). All of these companies do custom builds using standard parts that you could buy yourself and assemble. But for a bit of extra money, they'll do it for you and act as support in case something goes wrong. Get our help before you decide on any one config, however.

There are many good books at your local book store that can help you learn to build with pictures, and they may even be able to help you with the latest hardware if they were published within the last 9 months. Hardware moves fast, so look up online how-to guides as well. For nitpicky details and overall support, you can come here.

Yes, that monitor should be just fine.

Speakers? They're pretty cheap these days for decent ones. As long as you're not an audiophile, you can get a nice 2.1 or higher set starting at about $40 at most big computer stores. You can buy online, but speakers are heavy and shipping is expensive, so they aren't any cheaper online than in a store with tax. Logitech and Creative Labs make excellent speaker sets for the average user. Plenty of power and volume with little distortion at a great price. Check out the Logitech X230's (or whichever specific model number you see) the next time you're at Best Buy or Circuit City or whatever.

Much like hardware is the set of physical components of a computer, and software is the set of logical programs that run on a computer, vaporware is the set of all computer products that have either failed to materialize on store shelves or has not yet materialized on store shelves. Intel's upcoming CPU's are still vaporware since you cannot yet buy them.

[TopChip7]

Research EVERY part you buy - look for reviews on the net before you buy anything.

Budget for the following parts:

Case
Power Supply
Fans (If not included in case or more required)
Monitor
Motherboard
CPU
Memory
Hard Disk Drive
DVD RW
Graphics Card
Sound Card (If not included on motherboard)
Keyboard & Mouse
Operating System ie XP Media Centre 2005 Edition
TV Tuner with PVR - perhaps?
Case of beer for when you've finished