[cowjuice]

Hey!

So basically, I need someone knowledgable about computers to help me choose between 10 computers I've found for sale on Craigslist. I'm not completely computer illiterate but I really have no idea which one I should go for, I'm feeling a little overwhelmed. I know this isn't the most interesting inquire to respond to, but I'd REALLY appreciate your help.
The ideal machine needs to be able to run new games very well, and be able to handle extensive music production (Logic, Reason etc.)
Also, I'm aware that the most expensive computers may be the best ones, but I'm looking for the best bargain that will fulfill my needs.
Below I will list the computer specs as stated, along with the listed price. Thanks again to anyone who can help me!



1) Operating System: 64-bit Windows7
Processor: i5-650
Hard Drive: 1 terabyte
Graphics Card: ASUS ENGT-430
Case: AZZA Toledo 301
Ram: 8GB DDR3
Cooling: 1 250mm fan, and 3 120mm fans. Also room for 3 extra 120mm fans.
Disk Drive: Re-writable

Price: 700$




2)Core i5 2500k 3.30Ghz Processor
Asus P8P67-PRO B3 Motherboard
Gigabyte GTX 560 Ti (factory overclocked at 950Mhz) equal to a Radeon HD 6950
1TB Western Digital Caviar Black 6Gbps Hard Drive
Coolermaster Storm Enforcer Case
60GB OZC Sata2 SSD
8GB Blue Corsair Vengeance Low Profile 1600Mhz DDR3 RAM
Asus DVD Reader/Writer
Windows 7 Enterprise 64-bit

Price: 900$




3)3.6 GHZ 6 Core Processor AMD Phenom II X6, Fastest processor on the market!
4 GB Ram G.Skill,
500 GB Hard Drive Western Digital,
5 GB Video Card Radeon 6970 HD GDDR5 (100% capable of 3D) - Best graphic card in the world!
650W Power Supply Antec Truepower

Price: 1300$




4)AMD Phenom II X6 1090T Black edition.
60G OCZ VERTEX SSD Drive
1TB Western Digital BLack Hard drive.
Professional Series™ Gold AX750 -- 80 PLUS® Gold Certified Fully-Modular Power Supply
CoolerMaster HAF 932 Full Tower.
Asus Radeon™ HD 6870 graphics Card 1 GB
8GB RAM

Price: 1100$





5)ATI 5870 2GB (EYEFINITY support, capable supporting six monitors)
i7 920 2.6 GHz Quad-Core (never been overclocked but can run at 4.0 GHz comfortably)
6GB DDR3 1600 RAM
1000 GB Hardrive
Windows 7 Home Premium Included
Intel Gigabit Network Card
1000 Watt Corsair Silent Series Power Supply (You can add any parts you want and not worry about wattage)
HUGE Antec case full of fans, graphics card(s) never go over 40'C, also tons of room for more hard drives or video cards

Price: 1200$





6)Graphic card: XFX Radeon HD 6950 2GB (Can be unlock to 6970)
CUP: AMD Phenom II X4 965 3.40GHz
Ram: 8GB DDR3 PC3-12800 Ram
DVD & CD player.
Build in 2/5.1/7.1 Sound card
PSU: Antec 550W
Fan: 2x quiet cool fans with blue led
Hard drive: 320GB 3Gb/s 7200 RPM
Come with pre-installed windows 7 64x and Microsoft word 2010

Price: 800$





7)Intel® Core™ i7 960 Quad Core Processor (3.2GHz, 8MB Cache)
Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium, 64Bit, English
12 GB3 Tri-Channel DDR3 SDRAM at 1600MHz
ATI Radeon HD 5870 1Gb video card with crossfire
1000 GB4 SATA II hard drive (7200RPM)
This one also has 2 extra hard drives of 500 Mb each so 2000GB total

Price: 1175$





8)Processor: Intel Quad Core i5 2500k Unlocked 4.2ghz SandyBridge
Prosessor Cooler: Coolermaster Hyper 212 Plus (MX-2 Thermal Paste applied)
Graphics: MSI NVIDIA GTX 560 ti 1gb DDR5 TWIN FROZR OC
Ram: G.skill RIPJAWS 8gb DDR3 1600mhz
Hard Drive: Western Digital Black 1 TB (1000gb) SATA 3.0 Dual Processor 64mb Cache
MotherBoard: ASUS P8Z68-V LE (USB 3.0, SATA 3.0, 7.1 Surround HD audio, internet port, PS2 keyboard etc.)
Case: CoolerMaster HAF 922 Gaming Case with
2 200mm front/top large cooling fans and 1 120mm rear fan
PSU: XFX (Seasonic) Core edition 550w Gaming Power Supply (sleeved cables and bronze efficiency rating)
OS: Windows 7 64bit

Price: 1000$





9)- Fractal Design R3 case (fantastic case with sound deadening built in - very quiet)
- Asus Sabertooth 990FX Motherboard
- AMD Phenom II x6 1100T Black Ed. - 6core 3.3GHZ (easily overclockable to 3.8ghz)
- 16GB Corsair Vengeance RAM (1600mhz)
- Corsair H80 Hydro CPU Cooler
- Corsair AX650 Modular Power Supply
- OCZ Vertex 3 60GB SSD
- Seagate 2TB Sata HDD
- Lightscribe DVD-DL Burner
- Firewire
- Gigabyte GTX 550 Ti 1GB 4.2Ghz GDDR5 Video Card
- Windows 7 Professional 64bit

Price: 1250$




10)Alienware Aurora-R3 Desktop
Processors: Intel® Core™ i5-2300 (6MB Cache) Overclocked Turbo Boost to 3.3GHz
Memory: 4GB Dual Channel DDR3 at 1333MHz
Keyboard: Alienware Multi-Media Keyboard
Monitors: No Monitor
Video Card: Single 1.5GB GDDR5 NVIDIA® GeForce® GTS 450
Hard Drive: 1TB SATA 3Gb/s (7,200RPM) 32MB Cache
Chassis: Color Matte Stealth Black Chassis with 525W Multi-GPU Approved Power Supply
Operating System: Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium, 64bit, English
Mouse: Alienware Optical Mouse, MG100
AlienFX: AlienFX Color, Terra Green
Adobe Reader Software: Adobe® Acrobat® Reader
Optical Drive: Single Drive: 24X CD/DVD burner (DVD+/-RW) w/double layer write capability
Sound Card: Integrated 7.1 Channel Audio
Wireless: 802.11n Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 2.1 EDR USB Combo Adapter
Automatic Updates: Critical Updates Only
Avatar: Alienware Logo
Security Software: McAfee SecurityCenter (free trial) <-- I never used it. (I used other security software.)
Wallpaper: Alienware Logo
Cooling Option: Alienware™ High-Performance Liquid Cooling


Price: 859$


All prices are in Canadian dollars. Thanks!


Will

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Hi cowjuice

For me it is between #2 and #8 and why;

2)Core i5 2500k 3.30Ghz Processor
Asus P8P67-PRO B3 Motherboard
Gigabyte GTX 560 Ti (factory overclocked at 950Mhz) equal to a Radeon HD 6950
1TB Western Digital Caviar Black 6Gbps Hard Drive
Coolermaster Storm Enforcer Case
60GB OZC Sata2 SSD
8GB Blue Corsair Vengeance Low Profile 1600Mhz DDR3 RAM
Asus DVD Reader/Writer
Windows 7 Enterprise 64-bit

Price: 900$

Pro`s, it has everything you need, no after market CPU cooler mentioned suggesting no O/Cing and the CPU warranty still being valid. Cons, No PSU details provided and the case does not have removable washable dust filters.


8)Processor: Intel Quad Core i5 2500k Unlocked 4.2ghz SandyBridge
Prosessor Cooler: Coolermaster Hyper 212 Plus (MX-2 Thermal Paste applied)
Graphics: MSI NVIDIA GTX 560 ti 1gb DDR5 TWIN FROZR OC
Ram: G.skill RIPJAWS 8gb DDR3 1600mhz
Hard Drive: Western Digital Black 1 TB (1000gb) SATA 3.0 Dual Processor 64mb Cache
MotherBoard: ASUS P8Z68-V LE (USB 3.0, SATA 3.0, 7.1 Surround HD audio, internet port, PS2 keyboard etc.)
Case: CoolerMaster HAF 922 Gaming Case with
2 200mm front/top large cooling fans and 1 120mm rear fan
PSU: XFX (Seasonic) Core edition 550w Gaming Power Supply (sleeved cables and bronze efficiency rating)
OS: Windows 7 64bit

Price: 1000$

Pro,s Higher spec, better case cooling. Cons, After market CPU cooler so Intel warranty is void, no SSD and again no removable washable dust filters.

Summary.
Talking hypothetically now it would be an easy decision to make if both rigs were new, #8 would be the better purchase, fit an SSD and it would be even better, now here is the but, you need to consider the O/Cing element.
With #2 if you can establish the build has a good quality PSU it is worth considering, the MB however is not on a par with the opposing #8 build though.

[phillpower2]

Hi cowjuice

For me it is between #2 and #8 and why;

2)Core i5 2500k 3.30Ghz Processor
Asus P8P67-PRO B3 Motherboard
Gigabyte GTX 560 Ti (factory overclocked at 950Mhz) equal to a Radeon HD 6950
1TB Western Digital Caviar Black 6Gbps Hard Drive
Coolermaster Storm Enforcer Case
60GB OZC Sata2 SSD
8GB Blue Corsair Vengeance Low Profile 1600Mhz DDR3 RAM
Asus DVD Reader/Writer
Windows 7 Enterprise 64-bit

Price: 900$

Pro`s, it has everything you need, no after market CPU cooler mentioned suggesting no O/Cing and the CPU warranty still being valid. Cons, No PSU details provided and the case does not have removable washable dust filters.


8)Processor: Intel Quad Core i5 2500k Unlocked 4.2ghz SandyBridge
Prosessor Cooler: Coolermaster Hyper 212 Plus (MX-2 Thermal Paste applied)
Graphics: MSI NVIDIA GTX 560 ti 1gb DDR5 TWIN FROZR OC
Ram: G.skill RIPJAWS 8gb DDR3 1600mhz
Hard Drive: Western Digital Black 1 TB (1000gb) SATA 3.0 Dual Processor 64mb Cache
MotherBoard: ASUS P8Z68-V LE (USB 3.0, SATA 3.0, 7.1 Surround HD audio, internet port, PS2 keyboard etc.)
Case: CoolerMaster HAF 922 Gaming Case with
2 200mm front/top large cooling fans and 1 120mm rear fan
PSU: XFX (Seasonic) Core edition 550w Gaming Power Supply (sleeved cables and bronze efficiency rating)
OS: Windows 7 64bit

Price: 1000$

Pro,s Higher spec, better case cooling. Cons, After market CPU cooler so Intel warranty is void, no SSD and again no removable washable dust filters.

Summary.
Talking hypothetically now it would be an easy decision to make if both rigs were new, #8 would be the better purchase, fit an SSD and it would be even better, now here is the but, you need to consider the O/Cing element.
With #2 if you can establish the build has a good quality PSU it is worth considering, the MB however is not on a par with the opposing #8 build though.

[iammykyl]

Agree totally with Phillpower2.

The other consideration is to take the best from both builds, estimate the cost, and if feasible, built it yourself.

This insures you get the best build and everything is new, under warranty and you know that if a part is not up to par, you can return it for a replacement

Edited by iammykyl, 26 December 2011 - 07:08 AM.

[cowjuice]

Okay, thanks very much for the help guys!
Incidentally, option 2 got taken off of Craigslist so it looks like it's gonna be number 8. I'll just buy a SSD. Any recommendations on a good one to buy?

[iammykyl]

Make sure that all installation discs and manuals come with the purchase.

I'll just buy a SSD. Any recommendations on a good one to buy?

This is the one I would buy. As it is a Bare drive, you will need to purchase, or have handy, a SATA cable.

http://www.newegg.co...N82E16820233206 With a Corsair SSD this is the only recommended system tweak, "

Enabling AHCI storage mode in your BIOS is the only setting we recommend adjusting for optimal SSD performance." (may not apply to every manufacturer) do not defrag an SSD.

Most often, this setting is done BEFORE the OS is installed, you will have to check your manuals. perform a clean install of the OS.

When updating the video card drivers, make sure to totally uninstall the existing ones before installing the latest. I recommend using only the drivers from the video card manufacturers website.