Getting a new PC in November/December...

[trenzterra]

Well I was suppose to get it in June, but due to SARS and people dying, my mum postponed moving house to after my exams in October, and that is when I get my new PC.

What is the recommended configuration should I get?

Is 1GB or DDR-SDRAM 400MHz good enough, or should I upgrade to 2GB for only SG$328 (divide it by 1.7 to find it out in USD)?

I want this system to last a good 3-5 years, and be longhorn compatible.

Is ATi Radeon 9800 Pro good for gaming? I've never been a fan of Nvidia though, so I don't know how GeForce FX 5200 Ultra is like...

Radeon 9800 Pro is better than the 5200 right?

Should I get a 19" CRT or a 17" LCD? I heard that the CRT can go to far higher resolutions than the 17" LCD, and its cheaper by SG$188.

Altec Lansing or Harman/kardon?

Is audigy2 a good sound card?

Do you think I should buy two CD drives or one is enough?

Is a 120GB HDD good enough? (I use a 20GB HDD now, last time 4.75GB is more than enough and now I feel 20GB is far too small)

Windows XP Pro, far better than Home right?

Please answer my questions, before I decide on my budget... As I said, I'm looking for a good system that can last me quite long.

[el crapo]

1) 1gb of PC3299 RAM should do u fine, 2gb's is unneccesary unless u have money coming aout the wazoo.
2) ATi Radeon 9800 Pro (IMO best card on the market atm) should be fine and it is A LOT better than a Nvidia GeForce FX 5200. IF you want an Nvidia competitor for the 9800 Pro than look at the Geforce 5900 Ultra.
3) I have no idea about the Speakers.
4) Creative Audigy 2 is a very good sound card.
5) Well you should decide for yourself if you will utilize both. Say want to make copies of CD's, 2 CD drives would be nice.
6) 120gb should be good, make sure you get the ones with 8mb cache tho.
7) WinXP Pro > WinXP Home

[Wojtek]

altec lansing

[dawizman]

1) 1GB PC 3200 DDR SDRAM will be sufficient

2) This system will most likely not be longhorn compatable. According to Microsoft, "Longhorn" may not be able to run on any current processors. It will most likely require Intels "LaGrange" hardware platform to run.

3)Stick with the Radeon 9800 pro 256mb

4) Go with the CRT if you are a gamer, but the LCD will be fine if you are not a hardcore gamer.

5) I've got Creative Megaworks 550 THX, they rock!!. I highly reccomend them.

6) Yes, audigy 2 is THE sound card

7) Get a DVD drive and a CD-RW, or if you got the cash, a DVD-RW

8) 120GB should be fine for a while.

9) XP Pro is way better than home!

[AdY]

I totally agree with dawizman, but...
What processor are you planning to use?
And i should also add that if you really want NOT to upgrade within the next few years you should buy at least a DVD drive, if not DVD-RW, as dawizman said.
I would recommend to go for a LCD instead of CRT.
Reply us with your budget limits so we can recommend a good hard-drive and so on :classic2:

[tandoc]

unless you're running a server, or are a hard-core gamer.. stick with with 1gb of ram.. 512 is more than enough anway...

ATI Radeon 9800 Pro is comparable to the FX 5900 Ultra, hell, my ATI Radeon 9600 Pro is better than a Fx 5200 Ultra.

19" CRT. Any day. LCD pixels have a tendency to die faster than CRT, and CRT is far better IMO.

Altec Lansing is good.

Audigy 2 is good.

120gb is more than enough.

Unless you access a network that has a domain, just get Xp Home.

It seems you don't know a lot about what you're getting, so I recommend that you research what you're doing first

i'm actually saving up to go to singapore to buy parts for a new computer, i'll be there late 2004/early 2005, maybe i'll see you there

[goirulz]

Okay trenzterra, I hope my earnest advice will help in purchasing your new computer (which obviously sounds like a Dell).

1) 1gb of PC3200 DDR SDRAM should be enough for anything you plan on doing, including extreme gaming. Unless you plan on performing heavy-duty workstation-like tasks on this computer, 2gb is complete "overkill"

2) Believe me, in 3-5 years, you'll probably want to purchase a new computer with the advent of 64-bit platforms and further advanced technology, which will possibly be necessary to support future operating systems, like Longhorn.

3) The ATI Radeon 9800 Pro 128/256 mb is currently best video card on the market for gaming (both for its value and performance) . It's surpassed the nVidia Geforce FX 5900 Ultra 128/256 mb in benchmarking tests at almost all resolutions except those above 1600x1200, is some tens of dollars cheaper than the FX 5900 Ultra, and does NOT take up two whole PCI slots like the nVidia card. The FX 5200 Ultra card has approximately the same performance as its predecessor, the GeForce4 Ti4200, and its ATI counter-parts, the lower Radeon 9000s series (9000 Pro, 9100 Pro, 9200 Pro), so you'd probably want to aim for the 9800 Pro if you happen to be into serious gaming that involves anything with a 3D engine.

4) Your choice of monitor (19" CRT vs. 17" LCD) will be determined by your computing habits, desk space, willingness to spend, and, believe it or not, your eyes. If you're a serious gamer, you should opt for the CRT, which continues to produce much faster frame rates and a wider selection of resolutions than LCD screens. However, if you happen to have limited desk space, work more often with text (spreadsheets, word processing, etc.) than graphics (3D animation, gaming, video editing, etc.), or sit in front computer for several straight hours at once, which leads to eye strain, drowsiness, and possibly the worsening of your vision, you may want to consider purchasing the 17" LCD, which solves the desk space and eye problems, in addition to providing crisper, sharper text than a CRT monitor. On a side note, 19" CRT monitors generally go up to 1600x1200 resolution, while the native resolution of a 17" LCD is 1280x1024.

5) Altec Lansing produces higher quality speakers and you should go for its THX-certified model (ADA995 5.1, I believe), if you're willing to spend the extra money. Harmon/Kardon is Dell's baseline speaker brand, and in my opinion, after using their HK-395 speakers for a year (I have a Dell computer too), their speakers are quite awful.

6) SoundBlaster Audigy 2 6.1 is a very good sound card and when compared to the other options that Dell offers, it's probably your best choice.

7) Always, and I mean always, get two optical drives. One DVD-ROM drive, for dvd movies and the increasing number of software that comes in a DVD-ROM, as they carry about 6-7 times more data than traditional CD-ROMs. One CD-RW drive (you can now get 52x/24x/52x for like $40, but Dell only offers 48x/24x/48x) for burning. The benefit of having two drives is that you can burn directly from another disc in the dvd drive, which copies the data straight from that disc to your CD-R/RW instead of having to transfer the data to your computer's hard drive and the copying it onto the CD-R/RW. Another benefit of the multiple drive system is that you can have multiple discs in your computer at once! So instead of having to switch discs every time you want to play a different game, listen to another music CD, or watch a dvd movie, you can just leave it all in there! (assuming that you're as lazy as I am :o) Of course, as others have mentioned, if you have the money, you could always go for a DVD-RW drive (which you should arrange with CD-RW drive in your second bay). I wouldn't recommend you buy a dvd burner yet, as they're still quite expensive and Dell doesn't offer any multi-format dvd burners (DVD -/+ R/RW).

8) 120gb should be enough, but if you're the type that downloads lots of video clips and movies, you might want to go for a 200gb drive. (330 video clips, average of 80 mb each, take up about 65 gb) Of course, if you have a dvd burner, you can just take the 120gb and burn all your video clips onto dvd-r/rw to free up space. And by the way, most new games will take up at least 3gb in space (at least that's how much 'Enter The Matrix' took up on my hard drive!)

9) Yes. Windows XP Professional is better than XP Home Edition because of its better and more advanced networking capibilities and support of up to 10 something users (I remember reading about its limit somewhere in this forum, but i forgot), as well as numerous additional administrator options and tools. XP Pro :: Windows 2k, as XP Home Edition :: Windows ME (without all the crashing and instability :confused2 )

Well, I hope I've helped you with all your computer questions, so have fun with your new Dell.

[LeX]

Originally posted by tandoc
i'm actually saving up to go to singapore to buy parts for a new computer, i'll be there late 2004/early 2005, maybe i'll see you there I'd save the money for the cost of the trip and time to use elsewhere.

Not that I have any problems with Singapore, but why specifically go there for computer parts?

[trenzterra]

Yeah, I'm thinking of a Dell.

And why go to Singapore? You can hardly find an Intel P4 3.2GHz CPU here.

Erm, as for the CPU, I've decided to wait for December too, as exciting new stuff will come...

[GregT]

a nvidia 5900 ultra is faster than a radeon 9800pro 256mb. By december a nvidia 6200ultra will prolly be out. nVidia is catching up with ati, the nv30 suxed ---, but the nv35 beats ati top gpu.

[Daniel]

ATI 9900 is already in the works. The 5900 Ultra is only marginally faster than the 9800. Your not going to notice a damn thing.

Oh btw, the 5200 is the equiv. of a Radeon 9000 non-pro. About as good as a GeForce 4 MX400. :p

[Bruce]

Originally posted by Daniel
The 5900 Ultra is only marginally faster than the 9800. Your not going to notice a damn thing. Aside from teh horrendous sound of the that leaf blower. Your ears will thank you for sticking with ATi if nothing else.

[goirulz]

AMD's 64-bit processor for desktops is coming out in September 2003, along with Window's 64-bit compatible version of its XP operating system.

I can't wait to see how it performs on normal computers, instead of the servers and workstations that 64-bit processors (like the Itanium 2) are usually on.

[trenzterra]

So for the graphics and CPUs, we will leave it to December.

Which game requirers 128mb/256mb of video ram now?

[GregT]

None. Pretty much all games now will run on 64mb, but thats cutting it close. Doom 3 and Half-life 2 will need a radeon 9800pro+ or a geforce fx5900+ to run at its full potential. Then you have to figure if PCI express will be out by december and if its worth waiting for. Buying a new gfx and mobo just to have them obsolete in 4 month isnt to smart.

[tandoc]

look @ the benchmarks.. paying $100+ extra for 256mb Vid Card isn't worth it

wait for the AMD 64bit.. definately worth the wait.

and winxp 64bit edition has been out for a LONG TIME..

i'm just going to install win server 2003

[Bruce]

Originally posted by tandoc
and winxp 64bit edition has been out for a LONG TIME..
Nonsense. Longhorn hasn't even had an official beta release yet. Though it has been readily available in Juarez, Mexico, or so I've heard anyway.

Current [MS] operating systems aren't even capable of using the 64bit processor, so when it comes time to upgrade our machines, we'll also be upgrading our OS as well.

[Daniel]

Games like RtCW running at 1600x1200 with full AA/AF and max settings can easily eat up way more than 64mb of memory on the video card.