Need opinion on a few PC's I'm considering...

[mrdruid]

Been lookin for a new PC. Mainly internet, movies, and playing a few games here and there but with all these new chips and "new technology" coming out I don't know whether to spend more or just get what I need. I have leftover RAM and a decent Nvidia GFX card to upgrade but does differences in Cache Memory, processor speed, or system bus make that much of a difference?

I don't wanna end up upgrading by next year but I don't wanna spend a lot either heh if that made sense...anyways I've found 3 that may fit my budget and PC needs.

PC #1 (http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=999975400050000&type=product&id=pcmprd75300050000) $359

PC #2 (http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=8398753&type=product&id=1179877268208) $499

PC #3 (http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=8295409&type=product&id=1173577986927) $559

Of course, spending more "usually" means getting more but let's say I"m playing World of Warcraft or converting a movie. These are system intense processes, will I notice a big difference with these particular systems in mind? Or will it barely be noticable?

If I can save $60 to $200 and it barely makes a difference then that'd be a huge help, with my budget. But if spending that $60 to $200 WILL make a huge/noticable difference, with those particular systems, then plz lemme know.

So basically, noticable difference in gaming/converting speed? Or not much and I can just go with the cheaper one?

Thanks guys.

Oh one more question, my cousin has a 3.2ghz Intel Pentium with 1 gig ram. Will a 1.6/1.8GHZ Intel Core 2 Duo stand up to that speed? I know it's a newer processor but it sounds like it's half the speed, how does that compare/work?

[PrntRhd]

The biggest component for games is the video card, what card do you have right now?
What power supply are these systems including?

[mrdruid]

I have a GeForce 7300 GT, pci express. WoW runs fine now on my current system but when I try to 2box(run 2 instances of WoW) it lags a lot. When I go over to a buddies house, he has 2 open and it's pretty smooth. We both have 1.2gig ram. And yes, it's pretty virus/spyware free.

[mrdruid]

Well, not just 2boxing wow but sometimes multitasking with 1 open WoW process lags too. But my old systems not the issue, just wanna know what which one to get that'll give me the best and noticable speed without kililng wallet.

[mrdruid]

can anyone shed some light?

[saphalline]

I have a GeForce 7300 GT, pci express.There's your problem right there. That's a low-end budget vid card. It can't compete with the big boys for gaming. It's a 4-pipe design with only 10.7 GB/s of RAM bandwidth.

Moving up to a 7950 GT, for instance, would give you a 24-pipe design with 44.8 GB/s of RAM bandwidth! :eek: Quite the speed boost, among other performance considerations (shader count, ROP's, etc). If you've got a PCIe-based system right now, and you're into gaming, the money would be better spent on a new vid card and maybe a CPU upgrade or more RAM.

What does your current system have for specs? What OS?

[mrdruid]

2ghz celeron with 1.2gig ram, not sure what kinda ram, pc4300 i think. and XP. Yea i know, celerons anotehr one of my problems.

I know "building my own" is the best way to go but I relaly dont wanna deal with it, had a lotta bad experiences with custom builts and buildING.

[saphalline]

Given the specs of your system, it's never going to be really awesome at anything other than low-impact usage :p but yeah, a vid card upgrade would help your gaming immensely! There's no doubt that your sucky 7300 GT is holding back your graphical capabilities! Upgrade that and you'll be back in business...