Must Upgrade PC :: Suggestions?

And dont forget cooling and a top end PSU, very important in todays fast CPUs and heat problems

I have built Pcs for quite a long time, just as a hobby, not for a few months though, as they tend to last a lot longer now days. Price wise though you do not save anything for building your own, the only benefit now is you can build to your own spec.
would not bother with raid unless you are going to use 4 drives, or 5 even.

But I use a mac for all photo work etc, Imac, seems to work pretty well.

MaDProFF wrote in post #3377198
And dont forget cooling and a top end PSU, very important in todays fast CPUs and heat problems

I have built Pcs for quite a long time, just as a hobby, not for a few months though, as they tend to last a lot longer now days. Price wise though you do not save anything for building your own, the only benefit now is you can build to your own spec.
would not bother with raid unless you are going to use 4 drives, or 5 even.

But I use a mac for all photo work etc, Imac, seems to work pretty well.

You don't save anything building a PC yourself when you are competing against the $399 Celeron special at Walmart. But if you are looking at top end the savings are huge. Checkout the insane prices on a Dell XPS or those alienware PCs.

Sathi wrote in post #3377147
If he has the skill to build his own machine then why not? The warranties on individual components are usually superior and he will be able to ensure top quality parts. $3,000 seems pretty excessive to me though. At a certain point diminishing returns on bleeding edge components takes over. You would get overall better performance over time if you spent $1500 on a PC now, and then buy another PC for $1,500 in 18 months then you would by dropping all $3K in one shot today.

I agree, there is a point when you do not want to spend $400 more for 200 mor MHz on a processor.

On the building it yourself thing, I have always build my own because I would do it for a little less money. The only problem is when something breaks. You have to rely on the manufacturer warranty which a lot of times is only 1 year. The other thing is you have to RMA the components and that takes a decent amount of time. I have never had anything RMA's in under 2 weeks. That is a long time to have your computer down if you need it to do anything.

With a 3 year Dell warranty, all the parts are covered for that term. With the next day service you are only down at most 2 days depending on when you submit the trouble ticket.

Just my 2 pennies

Sathi wrote in post #3377211
You don't save anything building a PC yourself when you are competing against the $399 Celeron special at Walmart. But if you are looking at top end the savings are huge. Checkout the insane prices on a Dell XPS or those alienware PCs.

I just configured a Dell XPS 410 with a 2407FPW monitor, core 2 duo 2.4Ghz, 2 gb memory, 256mb video card, 320gb hard drive (with hidden reserve hard drive), and others for $2300 without any coupons.

It would be different if you were wanting to run dual video cards, extreme performance with overclocking, etc. Then you would look to pay upwards of $6000 for a desktop you could build for $4500 or so.

But if you feel comfortable with building it yourself and doing the warranty stuff yourself, then that is a great way to go. If you want to not have to worry a lot about it and cannot afford to be down for any length of time, someone like Dell is the way to go. That is something you would have to decide.

dave_borg98 wrote in post #3377364
I just configured a Dell XPS 410 with a 2407FPW monitor, core 2 duo 2.4Ghz, 2 gb memory, 256mb video card, 320gb hard drive (with hidden reserve hard drive), and others for $2300 without any coupons.

It would be different if you were wanting to run dual video cards, extreme performance with overclocking, etc. Then you would look to pay upwards of $6000 for a desktop you could build for $4500 or so.

But if you feel comfortable with building it yourself and doing the warranty stuff yourself, then that is a great way to go. If you want to not have to worry a lot about it and cannot afford to be down for any length of time, someone like Dell is the way to go. That is something you would have to decide.

I just put together a PC at Newegg for $1929.07 shipped to my door, no coupons.

Asus MOBO with core 2 duo 2.4, 2GB RAM, 320GB WD Sata, 256MB vid card, case, fan, psu, 2 DVD burners, XP Pro Retail, and a 24" BenQ monitor.

In2Photos wrote in post #3377473
I just put together a PC at Newegg for $1929.07 shipped to my door, no coupons.

Asus MOBO with core 2 duo 2.4, 2GB RAM, 320GB WD Sata, 256MB vid card, case, fan, psu, 2 DVD burners, XP Pro Retail, and a 24" BenQ monitor.

Not to bad at all. The extra price for the Dell comes from the service plan, other than that that is almost identical to my configuration. NewEgg is top notch to purchase from.

dave_borg98 wrote in post #3377509
Not to bad at all. The extra price for the Dell comes from the service plan, other than that that is almost identical to my configuration. NewEgg is top notch to purchase from.

Agreed. I have bought many things from them with only one goof up on their part that was easily resolved.

FYI, the 24" Dell is not an S-IPS monitor... it is S-PVA. The following Dell monitors are S-IPS.

3007WFP (30" WIdescreen)
2007FP (20") - I use this at the office and it's pretty darn good
2007WFP (20" Widescreen)

You can create a whole list of S-IPS panels by going to the link I posted earlier and putting S-IPS in the search bar.

prime80 wrote in post #3377965
FYI, the 24" Dell is not an S-IPS monitor... it is S-PVA. The following Dell monitors are S-IPS.

3007WFP (30" WIdescreen)
2007FP (20") - I use this at the office and it's pretty darn good
2007WFP (20" Widescreen)

You can create a whole list of S-IPS panels by going to the link I posted earlier and putting S-IPS in the search bar.

Actually the first batches of Dell 2007WFPs were S-IPS monitors. The current run of Dell's 2007WFP are S-PVA I believe. Here is a great guide of monitors created by the people on the Anandtech Forums. http://forums.anandtec​h.com …did=2049206&ent​erthread=y

Yea, that monitor is kind of a crap-shoot. The specs posted on Dell's site are for the S-IPS version (16ms Response), but that might not mean much.

guess best bet, buy a Dell and upgrade it with the money u save! works for me.

Sathi wrote in post #3377147
If he has the skill to build his own machine then why not? The warranties on individual components are usually superior and he will be able to ensure top quality parts. $3,000 seems pretty excessive to me though. At a certain point diminishing returns on bleeding edge components takes over. You would get overall better performance over time if you spent $1500 on a PC now, and then buy another PC for $1,500 in 18 months then you would by dropping all $3K in one shot today.

You might want to checkout www.slickdeals.net They have a link to 2Gigs corsair PC 1066 ballistix ram for $87 AR selling on newegg. You could get 4 gigs of some of the best ram available for $175. Doesn't get much better than that. See what I mean? It would be kinda hard almost to spend $3K on a machine without getting a little silly. Maybe you could fit this into your budget as long as your Johnny BigBucks. I know I would.

http://www.dell.com …wfp?c=us&cs=19&​l=en&s=dhs

Making a machine takes time, and effort, and you usually save very little. Also if something goes wrong they can blame you, plus there's no tech support. Depends if you want a reliable tool or a hobby/toy I guess.

tim wrote in post #3380227
Making a machine takes time, and effort, and you usually save very little. Also if something goes wrong they can blame you, plus there's no tech support. Depends if you want a reliable tool or a hobby/toy I guess.

Every PC I've ever built has been far cheaper than OEM, has very nice warranties on all included components, and has been an extremely reliable tool, as well as toy.

Your dislike of non OEM PC's is strange, to say the least.

Anyway. For 3k - well, that's a whole lot of money for a self-built PC. The new chipsets from intel will be out soon, P35 and X38. As will DDR3, and the new 45nm Quad/Dual cores, Penryn. If you want to spend 3 grand, wait for that.

Otherwise, here are my suggestions. Your milage may vary.

Core2Quad Q6600 (Thermaltake Big Typhoon or Scythe Ninja for CPU Cooler) or E6600/6700 (Dual Core)
4GB G.Skill or OCZ Ram, PC6400 or above.
Nvidia 8800GTS 640MB (This could use an aftermarket cooler as well)
Asus / DFI 965(Chipset) Motherboard (DFI 965-S Dark or Asus P5B Deluxe)
PC Power and Cooling Silencer 610 or 750 Power Supply ( DO NOT SKIMP ON THE PS!)
Seagate or Western Digital Drives, stay away from off brands.

I cannot stress this enough, you need a decent case, with decent airflow. Buy aftermarket fans (Yate Loon is good) to replace all crappy fans that may or may not come with the case.

These boards offer built in raid options with the intel ICH7/8R raid chipset. You'll have to read up in the manual for configuration.

Anyway, that's my 30 seconds of advice. If you like, you can PM me for any further info about PC stuff, I kinda keep up on it

tim wrote in post #3380227
Making a machine takes time, and effort, and you usually save very little. Also if something goes wrong they can blame you, plus there's no tech support. Depends if you want a reliable tool or a hobby/toy I guess.

Ive built my own for years and the money saved is very substantial. And with good reliable components , these homebuilt computers are rock solid. Ive never had a component fail yet(knock on wood) and its only bloated with crap if you want it that way. The Dells at my work get replaced WAY faster than my homebuilt rigs.

My PC is home built, and has a few weird quirks, which is why i'll probably buy a Dell next time. You'd have to keep upgrades in mind, I think a Dell might be harder to upgrade.

Out of interest I put together a Dell system, Core2 duo, average specs with 22" monitor, then put together a similar system from parts at a well known online store here in NZ. The system cost $1978 from Dell and $2328 buying as parts, and the parts didn't have a system warranty. It might be different in the US where the volume is higher and components are cheaper.

Doing it from components is really only for experts. Even then to me a PC is a tool, and I need a reliable tool with decent support. Each to their own though