Need help picking computer parts or a new computer? Click here.

[Fiel]

We need to know the following information to help you as fast as possible.


[b]What is your current budget?:[/b]
$

[b]What part are you looking for? Why do you need it?:[/b]


[b]What parts are in your current computer? Be as specific as possible. Links to Newegg/Tigerdirect are best. If you have a pre-built, include the make and model.[/b]


[b]How do you intend to use this new part or new computer? What's the heaviest load it's likely to encounter?[/b]


[b]If you live anywhere other than the United States, please indicate your country.[/b]

[Xephia]

What is your current budget?
$600-$800

What part are you looking for? Why do you need it?:
My current computer is crap in every way, extremely old (7 years?) and I can't even browse the internet without risking freeze, so I'll need a brand new one. I'd prefer this computer to have Windows 7, and if possible, being able to dual boot with XP. The XP part isn't completely necessary, but convenient.

What parts are in your current computer? Be as specific as possible. Links to Newegg/Tigerdirect are best. If you have a pre-built, include the make and model.
I currently use Dell, but again, I need a new computer, not new parts.

How do you intend to use this new part or new computer? What's the heaviest load it's likely to encounter?
Regular use of internet and instant messaging programs, most likely just AIM and MSN. The heaviest load it's likely to take is playing Maple Story, so I'd like a computer that will generally result in being able to handle major bosses to a reasonable degree.

If you live anywhere other than the United States, please indicate your country.
I live in the US.

Side note: I'm a major computer noob, so apologies if I didn't answer a question in the correct fashion. Thanks. :]

[Fiel]

When you upgrade a system, there is a chance that you can pull parts from your old system to your new system to save on costs. This is why that question is there.

http://outlet.us.dell.com/ARBOnlineS...=22&l=en&s=dfh

Then throw this in there:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-572-_-Product

That will cost about $650 shipped with a new OS and free Civ V to go with it. Since your computer is old, your monitor might not be supported with the new graphics card. You might have to get a DVI to VGA adapter, but these are very cheap ($5 - 10, should be able to pick up at Wal-Mart). The adapter might ship with the graphics card. This graphics card will allow you to play Maplestory with ease, as well as play most of today's games on medium settings or so.

You will be able to dual boot with this system for sure.

[Dusk]

Worth a shot.

What is your current budget?:
$800-1100

What part are you looking for? Why do you need it?:
I need a new laptop. My current one has terrible specs and I can barely run W7 + AutoCAD, Photoshop or MapleStory or any sort of application on it without closing out of other stuff first.

What parts are in your current computer? Be as specific as possible. Links to Newegg/Tigerdirect are best. If you have a pre-built, include the make and model.
I'm using a Toshiba Satellite right now. Nothing to salvage there. I could probably still use it as a backup computer, anyway.

How do you intend to use this new part or new computer? What's the heaviest load it's likely to encounter?
I'm a college student and I need to be able to take my computer around with me, and prefer a 13~15" monitor size. I plan on using it just for everyday work and gaming. I'm not a HUGE gamer and I rarely play any super high-end graphics games, so I don't need crazy specs. Just good enough to play current games and maybe games 2 years from now on medium settings and being able to alt-tab to do other things without any lag issues.

If you live anywhere other than the United States, please indicate your country.
N/A

I have an MSDNAA account and my college provides some free software so I'm set in that department. I can order a new computer without needing to pay for any software, including an OS.

[Fiel]

At HP:

Build

Make sure to get a carrying bag if you need one. Sign up for student discounts to knock 3 - 5% off the price too. You can customize it for slightly higher performance on the graphics card or CPU. Since you use AutoCAD/Photoshop, I'd go for the CPU upgrades first.

If your build is going to go above $1000, make sure to use a coupon here:

http://www.techbargains.com/vendor_d...oupon-code?r=1

[Xephia]

When you upgrade a system, there is a chance that you can pull parts from your old system to your new system to save on costs. This is why that question is there.

http://outlet.us.dell.com/ARBOnlineS...=22&l=en&s=dfh

Then throw this in there:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-572-_-Product

That will cost about $650 shipped with a new OS and free Civ V to go with it. Since your computer is old, your monitor might not be supported with the new graphics card. You might have to get a DVI to VGA adapter, but these are very cheap ($5 - 10, should be able to pick up at Wal-Mart). The adapter might ship with the graphics card. This graphics card will allow you to play Maplestory with ease, as well as play most of today's games on medium settings or so.

You will be able to dual boot with this system for sure.

Hey Fiel, thanks a lot for the info, but the first link doesn't work. Do you have any alternative links?

[iamflip]

Am lazy to look / hoping for different opinions. xd

What is your current budget?:
Max $800 for a new laptop. This is including tax (and S&H if ordering online is the choice).

What part are you looking for? Why do you need it?:
Quad-core CPU (Dual-core would do nicely if this isn't possible) - Because six cores are too expensive. :P
At least 4 GB RAM - The more RAM the better
A Nvidia video card with dedi memory - Essential if I'm gonna use the laptop to game or watch movies anywhere. Size of the dedicated memory doesn't matter to me too much, but it'd be nice if I can get like 1 GB.
At least +6 hours of battery life - There'll be times I won't be able to plug this in, so I'll need all the battery life I can get.
Windows 7 32-bit! - Probably not important, but it'd be better for me in terms of compatibility with many games. I wouldn't mind 64-bit if no options show up.

What parts are in your current computer? Be as specific as possible. Links to Newegg/Tigerdirect are best. If you have a pre-built, include the make and model.
I used to have an IBM Thinkpad R60... and it's a sucky dual core with 2 GB RAM. And it was from university. And it's busted now, so now I just need something that blows away my old broken laptop.

How do you intend to use this new part or new computer? What's the heaviest load it's likely to encounter?
Mostly gaming. And I mean something more graphic intensive than MapleStory... say like Starcraft 2 at the highest settings. :P

If you live anywhere other than the United States, please indicate your country.
I'm in the you ess of a. :P

[Cancambo]

What is your current budget?:
Low but I am not quite sure yet. I am sort of hoping I can see what I can get for how much so I can attempt to get it. Also, it should make sense. I shouldn't get the newest video card if I can't upgrade the rest of my PC to go along with it.

What part are you looking for? Why do you need it?:
A video card so I can hopefully play Vindictus, Call of Duty: MW1, and other games that are more graphic intensive than Maple Story. I don't mind if I can't play newer games like MW2, I just need something better than MS.

What parts are in your current computer? Be as specific as possible. Links to Newegg/Tigerdirect are best. If you have a pre-built, include the make and model.
http://www.e4me.com/support/product_...es&model=T2893
I've added 256MB of RAM for a total of 768

How do you intend to use this new part or new computer? What's the heaviest load it's likely to encounter?
To hopefully play new games. The heaviest load it is likely to encounter is probably MW1. If I can play something better than MW1, though, I'd love to.

[Fiel]

iamflip - Your budget is too low for a computer like that. Try looking refurbished. Even then you'll need prayers. If you bumped up your budget to $1000 - $1300 then we're talking.

Cancambo - No budget means I can't do much for you. I need to see a budget to show any PCs. Your current PC is too old to salvage anything unless you've got a monitor that you don't mind. Other than that, you're going to be buying everything new. Budget about $800 - 1000 and you'll do fine for what you're looking for and you'll be able to play MW2. Most of your budget will be eaten up by OS/Monitor.

This thread isn't just for me posting ideas, people. Anyone can post.

[Cancambo]

iamflip - Your budget is too low for a computer like that. Try looking refurbished. Even then you'll need prayers. If you bumped up your budget to $1000 - $1300 then we're talking.

Cancambo - No budget means I can't do much for you. I need to see a budget to show any PCs. Your current PC is too old to salvage anything unless you've got a monitor that you don't mind. Other than that, you're going to be buying everything new. Budget about $800 - 1000 and you'll do fine for what you're looking for and you'll be able to play MW2. Most of your budget will be eaten up by OS/Monitor.

This thread isn't just for me posting ideas, people. Anyone can post.

The problem is that I don't have the money for a new PC, and I won't for a very long time. I was hoping that maybe, just maybe, getting a video card could bump up my system enough to play "decent" games. At the moment, my PC can't even play Call of Duty 2 or Vindictus.

[Fiel]

My bad. I thought I read you wanted a whole new PC.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-046-_-Product

That's about as good as you're going to get. No AGP and no PCI-E means no good graphics cards. You'll be able to play Vindictus on this, but not at any super high resolutions or anything.

If I could, I would have gotten you the 512MB version if I could find it. 1 GB on a card that weak is worthless. There's a 9400 GT that's about $15 cheaper if you're up for it.

You need a PCI (NOT PCI-E) card.

[Cancambo]

My bad. I thought I read you wanted a whole new PC.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-046-_-Product

That's about as good as you're going to get. No AGP and no PCI-E means no good graphics cards. You'll be able to play Vindictus on this, but not at any super high resolutions or anything.

If I could, I would have gotten you the 512MB version if I could find it. 1 GB on a card that weak is worthless. There's a 9400 GT that's about $15 cheaper if you're up for it.

You need a PCI (NOT PCI-E) card.

How important is the jump from 64-bit to 128-bit? Also, I have a 300W power supply and both those require a 400W.

EDIT: So, I looked around, and how about this? It is really cheap and I believe it meets the requirements to run MW1, which is probably the most graphically intensive game I want to play. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814133233

[Fiel]

The TDP is only 50w. You should be fine.

Calculate your power requirements here. It's surprisingly accurate.

EDIT: Yes, the 5200 FX will meet all requirements of MW1 and you will be able to run it substantially better with than without, but I still recommend the 9500/9400GT. If you do a flat comparison of specs, the 9500GT is 4x stronger than a 5200FX. You get a far greater bang for your buck with the better card. I can understand if you're scrapped for cash, though.

[Cancambo]

The TDP is only 50w. You should be fine.

Calculate your power requirements here. It's surprisingly accurate.

EDIT: Yes, the 5200 FX will meet all requirements of MW1 and you will be able to run it substantially better with than without, but I still recommend the 9500/9400GT. If you do a flat comparison of specs, the 9500GT is 4x stronger than a 5200FX. You get a far greater bang for your buck with the better card. I can understand if you're scrapped for cash, though.

Alright, I'll see what I can get. If I can, I'll do my best to go with the higher end cards, but if not I'll try and fall back on the PNY card.

[Fiel]

Have fun with the 5200 FX. May it serve you well.

[singularity]

EDIT: Yes, the 5200 FX will meet all requirements of MW1

No, it won't...... here are the requirements for COD4:

“Recommended Specs”
CPU: 2.4 GHz dual core or better is recommended
RAM: 1GB for XP; 2GB for Vista is recommended
Harddrive: 8GB of free hard drive space
Video card: 3.0 Shader Support recommended. Nvidia Geforce 7800 or better or ATI Radeon X1800 or better

“Required (min) Specs”
CPU: Intel(R) Pentium(R) 4 2.4 GHz or AMD(R) Athlon™
64 2800+ processor or any 1.8Ghz Dual Core Processor or better supported
RAM: 512MB RAM (768MB for Windows Vista)
Harddrive: 8GB of free hard drive space
Video card (generic): NVIDIA(R) Geforce™ 6600 or better or ATI(R) Radeon(R) 9800Pro or better

With that said, the Celeron D 330 is borderline. It loses out to all P4 2.4 GHz versions in the gaming benchmarks in this review: http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/cpu...d_8.html#sect2
Performance of that processor is pretty close to the various P4 2.4 CPUs though.

Hard to find any benchmarks with a system that uses the minimum req. specs, but best I could find was at the bottom of: http://www.gamespot.com/features/6183967/index.html

(If you don't wanna click...) They measured 26 fps on "The Bog" at 800x600 and lowest quality with a P4 2.4 GHz, 1GB RAM, and 6800.

[Jon]

Instead of making a new thread, I'll just ask here:

Do you think this a decent laptop for the price?

[Zelkova]

Instead of making a new thread, I'll just ask here:

Do you think this a decent laptop for the price?

100 dollars more than mine:

I have a larger screen, harman/kardon speakers, and a 12 cell battery.
This laptop has 2 more gbs of ram, a "Standard Battery", and an upgraded gpu from my 360m.

They share the same processor though.

I suppose its an okay deal for a high-end laptop. Mind you, you might have to pay tax and I dont know about their warranty system.

[Cyadd]

Hey, how can I check my RAM timings? I was considering buying more RAM... So, I guess it fits in this sticky?

[Jon]

100 dollars more than mine, but you have 2 more gbs of ram and an upgraded gpu. I suppose its an okay deal for a high-end laptop. Mind you, you might have to pay tax and I dont know about their warranty system.

Eh, approx $90 tax. And I'm not worried about the warranty at all. It's the manufacturer's warranty plus two years.

EDIT: Does yours have a bluray RW? o-o