Hi everyone. I just joined because after reading a lot of the replies there seem to be many helpful people here who know a lot about computers - and I need your suggestions!

I may be getting a personal loan ($1200 for the new PC) so I can upgrade my aging home PC, but I would like some feedback on the choices I've made...

What I want from this new system is to have plenty of power and elbow room to run my graphics programs (Photoshop, Illustrator, etc.). I'm starting with a TigerDirect base system which you can view here.

I've decided to go with Microsoft Windows XP Professional since it comes at no cost and I can always upgrade to Vista later if I want.

It comes with a Asus M2A-VM mobo (AMD 690 w/ATI X1250 Video).

I'm choosing the AMD Athlon 64 X2 6000+ 3.0GHz Dual Core Processor.

For RAM I'm getting 4GB DDR2 PC6400 800MHz Dual Channel (1GB x 4).

I'm going with the included 80GB 7200RPM 3G SATA II HD and no second HD since I already have 2 Seagate 300GB SATA drives.

I'm just going with the standard 52X32X52/16x CDRW/DVD Combo Drive, because I'm giving my old system to my mom and I can throw this in there and take out my Lite-ON DVD burner for this system.

I'm grabbing the 9-in-1 Card Reader (it's only $15 extra, might as well).

Also I'm grabbing the 1394 Firewire PCI Card.

I'm going with the included keyboard and mouse.

I chose the Cyber Acoustics 2016 2-Piece Speakers - again for my mom to put on my old system (I have Logitech X-530s for myself).

I chose the Radeon X1650 Pro 256MB PCI-Express (1DVI / 1VGA).

I chose the 17" Black Widescreen LCD Monitor (VGA) - again, for my old system, for my mom.

I got the 500W PSU and a surge protector.


I would really love to hear your feedback on this set up. Also, if you feel I would be better off purchasing each component separately and building it up myself then please let me know (with your recommendations, of course). Thank you.


Oh yeah....here are some of the "extras" I will be treating myself to:


Ergotron Neo-Flex LCD Arm for hooking up my existing HP f1905e to my desk.

Intuos3 6x11 Special Edition Wacom tablet.

Adobe Creative Suite 3 Design Standard.

CHIMEI 22" Widescreen LCD monitor.

And of course the Logitech MX Revolution mouse, because I've wnated one forever.

:)

This post has been edited by dcloud: Dec 19 2007, 08:09 PM

$703.87

The price of all that stuff on newegg.com

It"s alot better if you buy everything separately.

Of course then you have to factor into the cost the case, mouse, keyboard, etc.

If you take a closer look, vista is actually cheaper then XP. I'd suggest Vista home premium.
You will not notice the difference between the 667MHz RAM and the 800MHz RAM, the price difference between the two are unacceptable.
I'd also suggest getting the Radeon X1650 Pro 256MB PCI-Express graphics card if you are planning on doing and video editing.
Though, I suggest going to Bestbuy or a local store if you want a prebuilt system.
James

This post has been edited by james_8970: Dec 19 2007, 09:12 PM

James, thanks for the input. I was considering buying XP Pro, then upgrading to Vista (if I want to), but I will check and see what the advantages are to owning Vista now. I'm not into gaming or watching movies (that's why I have a DVD player and a Gamecube).

I'm seriously considering buying each component myself and skipping the pre-setup rig. Right now I'm looking at a MSI K9NBPM2-FID AMD mobo. I want to stick with the AMD X2 6000+ for the CPU.

I couldn't locate that Radeon X1650 Pro video card on Newegg. Is that an older card?

I guess the rest of what I need will depend on the mobo I buy, right?

Yes it is a older card, though not a bad one if you don't intend on playing games at high resolutions. For multimedia purposes it'll be more then enough to get the job done.

If you go and build you own rig let me know. I personally suggest it because the components are of much higher quality.
James

I would like to build my own. If you could recommend some components I would really appreciate it (and I would speak highly of you at all times : ). How about that MSI board I mentioned? It seems like a decent budget board, or should I go with something else to start?

If you are building your own at Newegg.com I suggest you get an Intel system. You will not have to spend that much on this system since the most expensive part which is teh Video Card isn't so expensive. Here is a list of parts that I recommend:

Video Card: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16814161178
CPU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16819115029
CASE: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16811119068
PSU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16817341010
MEMORY: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16820231098 X 2
MOBO: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16813128059
CPU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16819115029

Total : $630.93


So as I read you have the hard drives. I sorta went out on the CPU and PSU if you guys find any other alternatives then by all means speak up.

Soorena

Considering you want to use photoshop, I suggest you buy the Q6600 Intel processor as Photoshop is multithreaded and the additional 2 cores will go greatly to your benefit.
I'd get this memory instead.
For a case I suggest the following from best to worse.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16811129025
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16811129021
Since I don't see a hard drive mentioned, I suggest the one below.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16822148288

You could get a HD3850 for high definition playback if you think you might go that route, otherwise I'd stick with what SOORENA suggested.

James

This post has been edited by james_8970: Dec 20 2007, 01:51 PM

I thank all of you for your input but unfortunately I did not get my loan. So now I am going to focus on just getting some upgrades for my current system.

Alright, sorry to hear about that. If you need any suggestions for upgrade post your current system and budget.
James

James, thank you for you reply.

Here is my current system:

Windows XP Home (SP2)
ASUS P4P800 mobo (with most updated BIOS)
Intel P4 2.4GHz
2046MB Kingston PC3200 RAM
Ultra X-Connect 500W PSU
2 Seagate 300GB 7200RPM SATA Drives
1 Lite-On SOHW-1673S
SAPPHIRE 100945L-BK Radeon 7000 64MB PCI Video Card

My main upgrade concerns for this system are as follows:

New LCD Monitor
New Graphics Card
More RAM

Here is what I am considering for the items I just listed above:

CHIMEI 22" 5ms DVI Widescreen LCD Monitor

SAPPHIRE 100198L Radeon X1650

Kingston ValueRAM 2GB (2 x 1GB) RAM (buying two of these for 4Gigs)

I would only invest into 2GB of RAM, 4GB would be over doing it for your setup.
James

SOORENA, thanks for those links. The personal loan fell through, but now I have some tax money coming back so the new build is on again

I started things off by purchasing a new case last night - the Ultra m998 from TheNerds.net for $154.73.

I love that Gigabyte board you linked me to as well as the CPU. I definitely want a Quad-core processor. And since my new case comes with a nice large window on the side I might as well start buying components that have a little "flash" to them. Aiye ... am I becoming a modder now? (lol)

I will also need some RAM and a new PSU, since I'm going to give my old PC to my mom to use. Now I couldn't tell if those CPUs you linked me to were Q6600 or not. Is there a difference? Also, with this new set up I could easily do 4GB of RAM.

Didn't care for the HIS vid card so I'm still looking for one of those. Only now I can shop for a PCI Express card instead of an AGP one.

And if I'm going to go all out for a CPU how about this one? Or is that too much?

This post has been edited by dcloud: Jan 18 2008, 08:56 PM

Word of warning, if you can cancel that order I would. That case limits you to microATX which are poorer motherboards most of the time and it hinders what you can and cannot do.
James