What do I need?
 

Hi,

I'm not much of a computer guy but my wife and I want to get one that we can do some fairly basic stuff on. Our primary goal is to edit some home video stuff, as well as do some Internet stuff and maybe some other basic computing things and the occassional game or two. We don't have a ton of money so I was wondering what the minimum reguirements [HD size, memory, video card, etc.] we should be shopping for. [it'll probably be a PC not a MAC as he price for MACs gets a little too high, due to the lack of competitors].

Thanks in advance!

Are you gonna custom built it, or buy it at a store? And what games are you planning on playing...$50 games at a store that require 3D acceleration, or simple flash Internet games?

-Lasereth

I would custom build it if that is the best/cheapest way to get what I need. as for games [and again, not the main reason for the computer] probably a little of both.

are you going us to factor in a monitor, keyboard, mouse, printer, speakers, etc... with our recommendations? what's the highest price you're willing to go?

a monitor yes, the rest I either have or will go with what basics ...can probably go about 2,500 overall

wow! for $2500 you can build a really bad ass system...

lets start with the processor... are you partial to AMD or Intel?

I've only had systems with Intel so far [mostly from work--also been on MACs a lot] so I guess I'd say partial to Intel.

http://secure.newegg.com/app/WishR.asp?ID=736207

this is a machine I recently put together for someone. dump the wireless stuff if you don't need it, and add more HD space. then the only thing you'd be missing from a top of the line DV system is a real time editing card, and they go for about $1,000.

$2,500 is enough to build the best custom computer on the market. Are you really wanting to spend that much? If you spend $2,500 on a PC, it'll be extreme overkill. Hell, if you spent $1,000 it would be overkill for what you need.

Have you ever built a custom PC before? People like to say it's really easy, but the first time is always tricky. I might recommend a store-bought PC unless you know how to put a PC together or have a computer dork friend.

We gotta come to the conclusion on whether you're up to building a custom PC or not. If not, $2,500 will still get ya a damn nice store-bought PC, it simply won't be nearly as good as a custom built.

-Lasereth

Intel Pentium 4 E Core 3.0 GHz HT Processor - $220
Abit IC7-MAX3 Motherboard - $182
1 GB PC3200 Corsair RAM - $186
Western Digital Raptor 36.7GB 10,000 RPM SATA Hard Drive - $111.25
Seagate 120 GB 7200 RPM/8 MB Cache IDE Hard Drive - $93.50
Lite-On Black DVD-Dual Drive Burner - $81
Sony Black Floppy Drive - $11
BFG NVIDIA GeForce FX 5700 Ultra 128 MB Videocard - $152
Any Case You Want - $50
Enermax 350w Noisetaker PSU - $55
Scanport 17" CRT Monitor - $80

This PC is $1,221.75 before shipping. It's all you'd ever need, including a monitor. Add $100 if you want a videocard that supports a ton of TV-Tuning, TV-OUT, TV-IN, A/V, etc. options. The current videocard will play today's games fine. Everything else is well above average.

If you're really set on spending $2,500, then of course I can make it better, but I'm saying there's no need to. :)

-Lasereth

You can get a pretty decent mac for $2500, but like Lasereth says, you don't need to spend that much.

Just want to echo the thoughts here... $2500 is enough to get you an insanely fast, totally top of the line machine, if you custom build it yourself (or even if you get it custom built by someone else, usually.)

For home video editing, you probably need a Firewire connection (aka an IEEE 1394 port), and you will definitely need a large hard drive (I'd go with at least 120 GB).

For gaming, you'll need a respectable video card. The Geforce 5700 that Lasereth mentioned is fine, and you can get better ones for a little more money, or slightly les powerful ones for a little bet less money. I prefer ATI Radeon video cards to nVidia Geforce, but I determined before that it's because I'm an elitist bastard, not because they're necessarily better. Either one will do you just fine.

For memory, I would get at least 1 gigabyte, and it has to be at least 400 MHz. (Is that PC 3200? I can't remember off hand) There are different speeds of memory, just like there are different speeds of processors... a lot of people don't know that, and they try to beef up their machine by getting a lot of really slow RAM. Many commercial companies do this, too, to save money.

My recommendation would be NOT to buy a commercial PC, because they cost more and are less powerful. The one main point for buying from someone like Dell, however, is that they offer support. If you aren't very comfortable with computers, it IS nice to have someone to fall back on (I mean besides us at TFP :p)

If you want it custom built, I'm sure any one of us here can get a good system put together for you (Lasereth already did one possible version). If you're worried about building it yourself, one of us could probably even put it together and ship it to you for less than the cost of a commercial PC. Or I could do it, and you could come to my house in Maine and get it. Heh. :lol:



What it really comes down to is whether you'd trust having a custom computer or if you would prefer to have the warranties and service that come with an expensive pre-built machine.

Everyone here will tell you to get a custom built machine. You just need to decide for yourself. If you want a pre-built machine, then we can also give you advice on which brands to look at, and even which specific models to look for. Just say the word, and I'm sure someone will be happy to talk your ears off (like I have) about buying pre built machines. I mean, that's what we're here for, right?


And just a quick question for Lasereth... why would you include that Raptor hard drive? I'm just curious what exactly the effect of it would be on the machine. Would having the OS on the SATA drive make it faster overall, or what?

Thanks. More than happy to spend less...I think I know someone that can help build one. If not, I'll probably go with a Dell or something but wanted to know the options. Thanks!

SATA isn't faster than IDE right now, but the Raptors are 10,000 RPM. Having a SATA hard drive that's as fast as a 10k RPM SCSI HDD is very nice, especially considering the Raptors aren't nearly as loud as a SCSI HDD (dustbuster). It'll certainly speed things up. But you're right, the fact that it's a SATA HDD isn't what's making it fast...it's the increased RPM's. A 7200 RPM SATA HDD is useless (well, it *does* have a smaller cable! :) ).

-Lasereth

IMHO, the system deascribed is okay, but, I'd add a second fast drive (then you one drive where your SW can write the movies while the first drive works with your software [makes it faster overall]) and also add more RAM. You can't have enough RAM whem editing video. My company is making vids for in-house training. That is our experience. Two fast drives (I'd make one of them at least 200GB - The files get damnd big while you're working on them) and 3 GB of RAM is the minimum you want to think about.