Ive had my computer since 1996 now, almost completely upgraded. No 3d card, 12 GB drive 400 MHz. Ill give you a moment to pick your jaws up.

Anyway, my mom has promised to get a new computer soon (she has said that for some time) but now it looks like its finaly going to happend. Neither me nor anyone in my family is skilled with computers, so we dont know what the best stuff out there is right now.

What I would like to know is:
What is the best computer (brand, drive and that kinda stuff), 3d card, sound card, videocard (same as 3d card :confused: ) and such. Basicly, what is the best computer with all components you could get out there, to a resonable price?

What can you afford? :p

You can find more information here at anandtech (http://www.anandtech.com) .
This guy basically works only with hardware issues.

It all depends on your budget. Two friends of mine recently bought new PCs. One paid $400, the other around $1500. If you're going for the "best" in all fields, you're definitely going above $1200. With small losses in certain areas, you can easily go down to $800 and get an excellent system.

I personally wouldn't go for a branded PC, as I like to get all the pieces together myself, but you may find it easier (though probably much more expensive) to get a Dell or something like that.

As was said above, it entirely depends on how much you're willing to spend. Once you have a figure, any computer store will be able to put together the best machine possible for the amount of money you have.

My mom is talking about some offer from Dell, that would cost us 15000 SEK, that would be something like $2000!!!! ROBBERY!

As I said (see 2 posts above), buying branded is much more expensive :D

You could probably get the very same computer for half that price if you were willing to put it together yourself. Or, better yet, if you can find a store that sells computer parts and that would put it together for you. Even if he takes as much as $200 in commission (which he won't), you'd still be saving on several hundred dollars.

If you're willing to do a bit of research, try to go through www.tomshardware.com (http://www.tomshardware.com) and (As Shrikant suggested) www.anandtech.com (http://www.anandtech.com)

The only problem with me doing research about this kind of stuff is that I dont know anything about it! I wouldnt know what they are saying.

Lucky you; I was just making a list for a certain buddy of mine of what to buy. He doesn't know a thing about computers either. ;)

CPU: AMD Athlon 64 3400+ Boxed [300 €] --Goes down about 100€ in a few months, to the price of 3200+.
Motherboard:MSI K8N Neo2 Platinum [150 €] -- Ask if that CPU can be fitted to this, not sure.
Mouse: Microsoft Optical Mouse Blue [22 €] -- Just a matter of preference as long as it is optical.
Keyboard: Microsoft Black Value Pack [15 €] -- The same. Just make sure it has wires and looks good. ;)
Audio: Creative Sound Blaster Audigy 2 [75 €] -- Don't forget to buy headphones or PROPER stereos with support for surround sound.
HDD: Seagate Barracuda 7200.7 Plus (120 Gt) ST3120026A [85 €]
RAM: 1024 Mt, 400 MHz DDR [150 €]
AGP: Gainward GeForce 6800 256 Mt AGP [420 €]
Monitor: 17" TFT-screen. (Flatscreen.) [~600€]
TOTAL: 1967 €

OS1: Mandrake Linux 10 (25% of HDD)
- OpenOffice 1.1
- Mozilla 1.7
- WineX

--> Office work, Internet, and movies, also some games.

OS2: WindowsXP with 64-bit support (75% of HDD)
- MS Office 2003
- Mozilla 1.7
- ZoneAlarm 5
- Norton Antivirus 2003Personally, I wouldn't consider anything else, as placing a few more euros now can make the machine last longer and improve the overall using experience.

Well if your mother's willing to shell out USD2000 for a system then you have nothing to worry about do you? :)

You could get just about a best possible gaming system you want for that kind of money.

For some pointers on getting your type of machine look here (http://www.anandtech.com/guides/showdoc.aspx?i=2185&p=1) .

Ideally, building computers yourself is the way to get the best power to price ratio, but there are some pretty good computers to be found from companies that let you semi-customize computers they sell. I built my comp myself, but I've read a lot of reviews and the like about companies that build computers, so I'll include I bit about that I guess.

Now since you're located in Sweden I don't know how many of these are available, but I'll list them anyway

Dell-Usually stay away from these guys, but their XPS series are excellent computers from all accounts.

Alienware-Awesome, if you don't mind the inflated price.

Voodoo-Really powerful computers, but again, an inflated price.

Cyberpowerinc.com-Decent computers and great prices, although I heard they use really cheap components, like power supplies that die within days.

Ibuypower.com-Two guys from school have these, and one's worked great while the other got his motherboard replaced and has had no problems since then.

What is the approximate difference in price between buying a Dell that has been all made up vs knocking something together from a pile of components?

Thanks for the help guys. Keep it coming ;)

I would agree with Wirhe 'cept some points...

- I would go with a Radeon graphics card.
- The mouse is a matter of preference as long it's optical and not wireless
- Mozilla Firefox instead of Mozilla (!!!)
- F-Secure Internet Security instead of ZoneAlarm 5 and Norton Antivirus
- And Debian instead of Mandrake

:p

Considering he doesn't know much about computers, I doubt he's interested in Linux at all.

Actually, Mandrake does not require you to know anything about computers. Linux is there only to allow those "computer-monkeys" ( :p ) do the office work and surf the net without care. Considering security, it's much easier for them to use Linux rather than Windows; it's not only for computer-gurus. ;)

What is the approximate difference in price between buying a Dell that has been all made up vs knocking something together from a pile of components?If it were a same package, I'd say Dell would price you about 25% more of it (2500€) or offer "as good" Celeron for cheaper price. Either way, you lose. :shake:

@ Taza

Details, details... Mandrake won a comparison in a recent issue of 'Enter', so that would be my choise. Also, HEARD (http://forums.animesuki.com/showthread.php?t=20575) that nVidia has better Linux drivers than ATI, so that is why it should be GeForce. Other than that, it's just a matter of preference.

[ September 20, 2004, 12:46: Message edited by: Wirhe ]

I would say get what you can from Dell, they sell good computers dispite the price tag. I would -not- recommend building your own since you do not have much experience in that area. Last thing you want to do is waste a couple hundred dollars and crack the cpu core. . or use magnetic screwdrivers, or accidently shock the motherboard with static electricity. Just buy a prebuilt, will cost a bit more, but in the end is usually worth it. Also go with windows (service pack 1 ONLY), it is generally easier to use and is more compatable with games and such, even if it is less secure, that can be fixed with nortan firewall or the such.

@Taza: fully agreed!
@Wirhe: Don't know about comparisons, but I always liked Debian more. And besides, I found Debian to be even easier to use than Mandrake. And in any case both are MUCH easier to set up than Windows XP. Just install them, and that's it! No additional programs to install, no DLLs overwriting each other, no bizarre incomprehensible slowdowns, no security updates to get every couple of hours...

UNIX = Life Made Easy :)

I would build my own computer rather than going with a brand of prebuilt computers...unless you want an Alienware PC/Laptop.

If you build it yourself, the smallest part is also the most expensive...my Intel P4 EE costs over $1000 US, just for a chip the size of the touchpad on my laptop! :eek: :rolling:

If you're willing to go $2000, I just priced a PC that is a heck of a lot better than what Wirhe just did.


Processor: AMD Athlon 64 3700+
Motherboard: Foxconn 755A01-6EKRS SIS-755 Chipset w/5.1 Sound, LAN, IEEE-1394, USB 2.0 8x AGP Motherboard
Memory: Kingston Hyper-X 2048 MB DDR-400 PC3200
Video Card: ATI Radeon 9600-XT 128 MB
Hard Drive: 7200 RPM 80 GB Ultra-ATA100
Optical Drive: 8X DVD+R/+RW + CD-R/RW Drive
Sound Card: Creative Lab Sound Blaster Audigy-2 ZS Platinum 7.1
Speaker System: 600W PMPO 3 PCS Super Bass Subwoofer Speaker System (I would have rather gone with Klipsch, but you won't get that at that price.)
Modem: Creative Labs V.92 56K Fax/Modem w/Voice
LAN: 10/100 Network Onboard
Mouse: Microsoft IntelliMouse 1.1A USB Internet Mouse
OS: Windows 2000 Pro
It's pre-built: http://www.ibuypower.com, just customize it a bit.

As far as brands, I've always preferred Falcon Northwest (They're a little pricey, though) and IBuyPower. Dells are very good machines, but they tend to include a bunch of crap that I just want off the machine anyway.

If you want a pure gaming system, do not get Windows XP. It's too much of a resource hog. Windows 2000 Pro is better for gaming. If you want full multimedia, get WinXP Pro.

Here's a few other points where I'll disagree with some of the others:
-Norton Personal Firewall 2005 as your firewall
-Symantec AntiVirus 9.x Corporate Edition (if you can get it) as your virus scanner
-Hard Drive: Get a Western Digital instead of SeaGate
-Monitor: Optiquest or Sony Trinitron. Don't get an LCD-screen.
-Linux: If you want it, Gentoo not Mandrake.
-Mouse: Microsoft is fine, but I have had problems with them in the past. Logitech has been more reliable for me.
-Web Browser: Mozilla Firefox, but keep IE 6.01 around as I have found some pages that Mozilla can't handle.

If it were a same package, I'd say Dell would price you about 25% more of it (2500€) or offer "as good" Celeron for cheaper price. Either way, you lose.I just tried that. The Dell was actually a few hundred bucks cheaper than buying all the components seperately.

You could get just about a best possible gaming system you want for that kind of money.No you can't. You can get a very good system for $2000, but not the absolute best.

Yes Windows 2000 Pro is the best version of Windows ever made, but keep in mind you might need a newer OS depending on how new your components are. I tried to install the Win 2000 Pro on my computer, and nothing worked, and there were crashes during install and whatnot. Although I felt bad about it, I went with Windows XP Pro, and it worked smooth as silk.

And remember, you can save money by buying the upgrade version of Windows.

My Computer(Reason I had probs with Win 2000 PRO)

AMD Athlon 3400+ 64-Bit
1024 MB Corsair XMS DDR-400 RAM
Visiontek XTASY Radeon X800 Pro 256Mb AGP
MSI K8N Neo Platinum Mobo Socket 754
18GB Seagate Cheetah 15,000 RPM
60GB Western Digital IDE 7,200 RPM
LSI Logic SCSI Card

EDIT: Always go with Mozilla over IE, it is so much better and you'll get much less spyware and whatnot.

Considering he's in Sweden, forget any American online stores.

@ Rastor

That is better only because the prices in US are generally cheaper than in Europe (drastically, in some cases). The prices I displayed are from www.mbnet.fi (http://www.mbnet.fi) and Finland having similar taxes with Sweden, I bet that is the machine he would get with that amount of money. ;)

I still say Mandrake is better, if only because it's based on that (full-fledged) comparison and not some single user-experience. As to the Windows, I agree that Win2k is the best of them, but having 64-processor also requires 64-bit OS to take full advantage of it. Sadly, this means WinXP 64-bit edition.

TFT vs. LCD, and again all reviews point towards TFTs. Besides, who would want to have a ugly, bulky monitor when he could have a sleek, modern one that also saves your eyes? :D

Considering that you are not computer savy, I'd choose the easiest way to purchase your next system. Go to several local retail stores and find out what is available. Then buy one.

You will have to get some education about the current technology to determine what you need from the PC, depending on what you're planning to do with it. It sounds like it's a family PC that you use for gaming some too.

Talk to the salespeople, odds are that you may find one who not only knows what (s)he's talking about, but is willing to be honest and helpful. Ask questions of all of them about what they recommend. You'll get a lot of the same answers that you see here, but the more input you get, the better informed you'll be.

Processor: AMD Athlon 64 3700+
Motherboard: Foxconn 755A01-6EKRS SIS-755 Chipset w/5.1 Sound, LAN, IEEE-1394, USB 2.0 8x AGP Motherboard
Memory: Kingston Hyper-X 2048 MB DDR-400 PC3200
Video Card: ATI Radeon 9600-XT 128 MB
Hard Drive: 7200 RPM 80 GB Ultra-ATA100
Optical Drive: 8X DVD+R/+RW + CD-R/RW Drive
Sound Card: Creative Lab Sound Blaster Audigy-2 ZS Platinum 7.1
Speaker System: 600W PMPO 3 PCS Super Bass Subwoofer Speaker System (I would have rather gone with Klipsch, but you won't get that at that price.)
Modem: Creative Labs V.92 56K Fax/Modem w/Voice
LAN: 10/100 Network Onboard
Mouse: Microsoft IntelliMouse 1.1A USB Internet Mouse
OS: Windows 2000 Pro
This is a pretty good list of parts, but there are a few things I would change:

Right now AMD, with the 64, holds the cards, and best technology. I would not change that. Intel has to play catch up.

I would scrap the 9600XT since it is already aging technology, soon to be replaced by ATI. Look for something newer. The nVidia 6600GT blows the doors off the 9600. Besides, why put a second rate 3D card on an Athlon 64 anyway?

Also, as Rastor says Western Digital makes pretty good drives, but for a few bucks more, go with at least 120GB. You can never have too much HD space. Remember you kept your last computer for 8 years. With your new computer you may want to install a lot of MP3s and do some video editing. Also, scrap Win 2000. I have to work on that worthless piece of OS everyday at work and hate it, hate it, hate it. Go for XP Pro instead - it's the future...not your father's Windows...

XFX GeForce 6800 Ultra 256MB
GeIL 1GB
AMD Athlon FX53

Them 3 ownage parts alone will cost you around 18000 SEK. Probably more in Sweden because of your 25% vat. It would be a very good PC! :wave:

There's 7.38 Korona per USD, so I'll convert at the end of this and add a bit for market seperation.

Full tower case $55
3 80mm case fans $12
60gig Hitachi harddisk $60
Liteon 16x DVD reader $35
Liteon 8x DVD writer $65
512MB of Samsung PC3200 $75
Athlon XP 2600 $68
Biostar M7NCD Nforce2 mainboard $46
IDE cables $8
Heatsink $15
Onboard sound $0
Onboard ethernet $0
Plastic spacers and screws $5
400w ATX powersupply $35
Viewsonic 17" 70khz monitor $108
Radeon 9600pro $110
-------------------------------------
$697 USD
$5143 SEK

Those numbers don't include shipping and handling (or tax!), but are slightly liberal; I didn't pick the lowest prices I found.

Add 10% for the market, and you pull $5660. Try to put together a mid-level system like this for around $5700, in your part of the World. Technically, you can do without the DVD writer; but you'd absolutely want something to "write on". A cd burner or a USB NVRAM "keychain" would do. You can resort to a floppy disk, but the drives cost $20 USD over here and a cd burner can be found for $25 USD (including shipping and handling). A system comparable to this will play Unreal Tournament 2004 and Doom 3, as well as Temple of Elemental Evil and Dragon Age (when it comes out). The Hitachi drives made these days are just fine, but if you're still scarred by the 75gxp/deathstar thing, get whatever you want; you won't find a drive comparable in both price and performance, but if it helps you play the game, play the game. Same thing with the Radeon, but you'll have to move up to a Geforce 5700 (which costs more) to match that 9600pro. And with the monitor, get whatever you want; 70khz will let you do 1024x768@75hz, which should keep you headache free.

[edit: Oh. Thermal paste. Usually there's a tube of silicon that comes with the heatsink, but if not just add $30 SEK and buy some generic "Arctic Silver".]

Gah, I looked closer at the special offers Dell has. One of them costed about 7000-8000 SEK, and it had a picture of a compter with a flatscreen next to it. I pressed "configurate" and found that the flat screen wasnt in the offer. Furthermore, I found that a number of other vital components werent either in the offer. The price actualy more than doubled after I marked the components I needed. Bastards...

That's a fair decent computer I built, above. I didn't include a mouse or keyboard, but I figured you can cannibalize those from your old computer. You can get new ones, if that's what you want. Surely you can piece together something close to it, even in Sweden.

Order a "barebones" system, if you can.

This is one offer (customized by me) from Dell:

Service
=======
3 years on the spot-service,

Processor
=========
Intel® Pentium® 4 Processor 520 med HT teknologi (2.80GHz, 800MHz FSB, 1MB cache)

Memory
============================
Special offer(otherwise half) : 1024MB Dual Channel DDR2 400MHz [2x512]

Harddrive
========
160GB Hårddisk SATA (7200RPM) m. 8MB DataBurst™

Graphiccard
==========
New: 256MB PCI Express™ nVidia Geforce 6800 GTO med DVI (+ SEK 3 000 kr)


2. Monitor (this offer might actualy include 2 monitors)
============
Dell M993 19" (18.0 VIS) UltraScan™ CRT-monitor (+ SEK 2 613 kr)

Optical unit
============
48x/32x/48x/16x CD-RW/DVD-ROM combo-enhet

Speekers
=========
Dell Stereo högtalare (+ SEK 425 kr)

Soundcard
========
Integreted soundcard

Dell Picture Studio
===================
Dell Picture Studio Standard Edition


Keyboard
===========
Dell QuietKey tangentbord, standard PS/2

Mouse
===
Dell USB mus med scroll wheel, optisk (+ SEK 163 kr)

Software
========
Microsoft® Works 7.0

Språk på operativsystem och mjukvara
====================================
Svenska

Installationstjänster
=====================
Privat installation av din nya Dell dator + Internetuppkoppling (+ SEK 1 999 kr)


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

System
======
Pris exkl.moms : 14 066 kr
momssats : 25%
Pris inkl.moms : 17 583 kr

Frakt
=====
Pris exkl.moms : 675 kr
momssats : 25%
Pris inkl.moms : 844 kr


================================================== =============

Summa exkl.moms : 14 741 kr
Summa inkl.moms : 18 426 kr


Expensive: YES! Good: I have no idea :confused: