Is this a good computer?

[somethingwild]

Hey guys, I'm looking to buy a new computer and I think I found something pretty decent. I wouldn't say I'm an expert at computers, though I know basic things. Anyways I found this:


http://www.futureshop.ca/catalog/pr...929DC3230DAB6E7BB684E6FD9CFA6F9&test_cookie=1


From what I know of computers, that seems to be a good computer to me and for a good price. What do you guys think, should I go ahead with this? I use my comptuer for a little bit of gaming such as world of warcraft(possibly something more demanding in future). Nothing graphfically intenese but i wouldnt mind that nice 9800 nvidia.


ps- I'm sorry if this has been posted already. The computer im currently using is horrible and is very slow. Therefore searching the forums is not easy going.

 

[outlw6669]

Well, it is not a terible machine but you could definatly build one for less.
It should have no issues playing WOW and, depending on the resolution, should be a decent mid range gaming setup.
Just make sure it comes with Vista 64 if you decide to purchace it.
If is does not, you will only be able to use about 3.5Gb of it's 6Gb RAM.

 

[evongugg]

Welcome to the forums!

An Intel Core2Duo or Core2Quad computer with a P35/P45 chipset would be preferable. Much faster.

 

[radnor]

Welcome to the forums!

An Intel Core2Duo or Core2Quad computer with a P35/P45 chipset would be preferable. Much faster.

He's not badly served with the AMD.

But i must support outlw6669. Building yourself would get much cheaper. Or much better for the same price.
I hate computer brands, they just focus on some aspects and rip a lot of features from the PCs.

Don't be a Joe Consumer. And get Vista 64 Bits.

 

[Wisecracker]

Actually that's a pretty good deal.

It's an Asus mobo with an nVidia AM2+ chipset.

I think you would be better of with a different video card, though. A 9800gt is essentially a tweaked 8800gt - it's not really close to the 9800gtx if that is what you were thinking. If you could drop that for an HD4850/4870 you will have something.

And the other questions are the WiFi and ASTC tuner. Is this stuff you will use? If not consider the $600 X2 5400+ at 2.8 GHz, buy a Radeon HD4870 and a new power supply ... should bring you in around $950 total.

http://www.futureshop.ca/catalog/proddetail.asp?logon=&langid=EN&MSCSProfile=3C79F0C7EA3162B2F284847AD36A6DE602E742D7D9BFC09F0F44505AA75D88D9F437A8502B673AAFD7EB0D29ACFB5A483ADC52C28C609F486907B66C972250C26AB9460BBF41C06770763249572918563359509066239C8319C094CE6532EC0EDAFDF7C99727DBFE23D17254A841043F99654E41B28FEF23&sku_id=0665000FS10107755&catid=

The Q6700 for $1,100 would be an option but you still need to upgrade the video and power supply.


There also seems to be a lot of stuff "out of stock". I'd make sure they will be around - or make sure to purchase an OEM like HP or Dell with a good factory warranty.

 

[thermalkisht]

yes i prefer an Intel base system than an AMD based(especially Phenom),because it does not worth the price and the performance also is not comparable to an Intel Core2Quad(in the case of performance and money).
if search a little more you can find a better and cheaper one.

 

[sedaine]

If you are really eager on AMD then try these guys...

http://www.pcusa.com/shopKitConfig.asp?id=KIT-555

 

[sedaine]

$1095.75 for Package 555: >> Configuration: # 1

Warranty : Fully assembled and tested. Shipout in 3 Days. 3-Year limited warranty plus lifetime tech support. QTY: 1
Case : aBX: [ CA-IMJ233P ] ( Front USB, Audio ), Black w/ 400W PSU QTY: 1
Power Supply [ PSU ] : aBX, 650W Power Supply [ PSU ]. Model: BLACK-650 QTY: 1
CPU Processor : AMD Phenom 9850, Socket AM2+, 2.5GHz, 64-Bit Quad-Core, 4x512KB Cache QTY: 1
Cooling Fan : ASUS Silent Vapo CPU Air Cool [ Triton 70 ] QTY: 1
System Board : Abit AMD 770, AM2+, 8GB Max, Crossfire, RAID, S/PDIF, Audio, GbLAN. [ AX78 ] QTY: 1
RAM Memory : 4G (2x2GB) PC6400 DDR2/800 QTY: 1
PCI-E VGA : Radeon HD 4850: 512MB QTY: 1
CrossFire VGA : OPTIONAL QTY: 0
Monitor LCD : OPTIONAL QTY: 0
Hard Drive 1 : 750GB SATA-II 7200RPM QTY: 1
Hard Drive 2 : OPTIONAL QTY: 0
Hard Drive 3 : OPTIONAL QTY: 0
Hard Drive 4 : OPTIONAL QTY: 0
Optical Drive 1 : Blu-ray DVD Player Drive w/ DVDRW Rewriteable Combo QTY: 1
Optical Drive 2 : OPTIONAL QTY: 0
Floppy : OPTIONAL QTY: 0
Flash Reader : OPTIONAL QTY: 0
TV Tuner : OPTIONAL QTY: 0
Sound Card : High Definition 7.1 Digtial Surround Sound QTY: 1
Speakers : OPTIONAL QTY: 0
Network : Integrated onBoard 10/100/(1000) Port(s) QTY: 1
Wireless Net : OPTIONAL QTY: 0
Modem : OPTIONAL QTY: 0
Operating System : Windows Vista Home Premium - 64 Bit Edition - w/ DVD set QTY: 1
Software : OPTIONAL QTY: 0
Keyboard : OPTIONAL QTY: 0
Mouse : OPTIONAL QTY: 0
URL Link : http://www.pcusa.com/shopKitConfig.asp?id=KIT-555&selectList=0,0,2,7,1,0,3,7,0,0,6,0,0,0,3,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,5,0,0,0,

 

[geofelt]

Off the top of my head, I don't think it is a particularly good deal.
Price out the components on NEWEGG to see how much they are charging you for assembling it.

For your use, a good duo like the E8400 and 4gb of ram should be sufficient, and perform better.
No doubt, you can get a good list of suggested parts from some forum members here.
It will take you only a couple of hours to assemble it; it's not very hard.
The satisfaction you get will be priceless.

 

[Wisecracker]

He's in Canada, guys ...

edit: And they just opened their storefront !!!

http://www.newegg.ca/


Congratulations to the Great White North, eh?

edit again: Well, then again, maybe not ... sez opening 10/01/08

 

[gamerk316]

As a general rule, don't buy pre-built PCs. If you want one made, there are a few companies which make some really cheap gaming PC's (I just built my friend a AMD BE (the best quad they have, forget the model), 4GB DDR2 800, and a 4870 for under $800 (overspent a bit on mobo and case, to for stability/temperature reasons).

My recommendations:
Digital Storm (mid to high range, they are lacking in the low range area, but offer the most high range options out of everyone I compared)
Cyberpower (old reliable, although some of their special models can be built slightly cheaper than the configures can, go figure)
iBuyPower (a bit more expensive than above, but worth a look)
FalconNorthwest (another oldie)

 

[somethingwild]

If you are really eager on AMD then try these guys...

http://www.pcusa.com/shopKitConfig.asp?id=KIT-555

I checked out that link above and seems like a good idea. Yes, I am in Canada and I did notice the site was unfortunatly USA, meaning its going to slightly cost more. Or so according to xe.com.


What sedaine put together seems good to me, though im not 100% on the graphics card. Is it better than the 9800 Nvidia i listed? Well heres something that i came up with using that site


http://www.pcusa.com/shopKitConfig....,3,7,0,0,6,0,0,0,3,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,5,0,0,0,


I used Sedaine's idea as a template. It's pretty much the exact same thing. I just made it so that instead of having one harddrive, it has two. I was thinking one mainly for the operating system and the other for my own things. So the system runs smoother? and incase one fails I suppose. I dont know what do you guys think of that? I'm Also wondering if that computer in the link above is really worth it compare to the one i listed. It's not much much cheaper. Also, it would have to be shipped to me , which I'm skeptical about. Anyone know if these guys a reliable and actually got a computer from them?



ps- I would probably build my own PC but I am not THAT knowledgeable of computers.



By the way, thank you all very much for the feedback so far. Greatly appreciated.

 

[Wisecracker]

It's well worth it to build your own. You have to learn some time and there are many here to help (and hinder!) you ....

ASUS EAH4850/HTDI/512M Radeon HD 4850: $191.19 ($161.19 AR)
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121253

AMD Phenom 9850 BLACK EDITION 2.5GHz & ASUS M3A78-T AM2+/AM2 AMD 790GX
Combo deal: $306.36
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/ProductCombos.aspx?Item=N82E16813131331&SubCategory=22&SortField=0&PageSize=10&page=1
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103249
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131331

OCZ Platinum 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 DDR2 1066: $111.47
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227298
On Asus QVL list

Western Digital Caviar 640GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive: $79.49
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136218

SAMSUNG Black SATA 22X DVD±R DVD Burner with LightScribe: $27.99
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827151173


I made it this far through NewEgg of Canada and then I saw how much a copy of Windows costs
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=2060350368&name=Operating%20Systems&SpeTabStoreType=6


Go check out these pre-builts and pick a few we can discuss
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=2032280010&bop=And&SpeTabStoreType=3&Order=PRICE

 

[aford10]

If you are comfortable with assembling a pc or know someone who can help you, that is the cheaper way to go. Intel cpu's are outperforming all of the AMD's. I just put a pc together on a gigabyte board using the E8500, OCZ Reaper DDR3, and 160G WD 10K Reaper for under $700. You would probably want a better video card so it might push your bill up to around $750. Still much cheaper than $1200 and it would outperform in almost every aspect. Most users don't utilize the quad core, dual core is better performance for the $$. Check some of the benchmarks Tom's did on the various CPUs.

 

[outlw6669]

Here is a good option for under $1000 including an overpriced copy of Vista.

Antec Sonata III case + 500w PSU $85.24
Gigabyte GA-EP45-DS3L Motherboard $111.49
Q6600 $201.49
Xigmatek X1283 CPU Cooler $39.49
Xigmatek S775 Retention bracket $7.49
4Gb DDR2 800 4-4-4-12 $74.56
Saphire 4850 $169.88
Wd 640Gb Hard Drive $90.49
Samsung DVD/RW $27.99
Vista Home Premium $184.67

Total $992.79

There are other cheaper options out there if you wanted to spend less but this will outperform the $1200 system you were looking at.

 

[ravenware]

If you are not comfortable with building your own rig than check the following links.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883227091

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883227083

I would have to lean towards the q6600 machine given the ability to uprade. With the athlon machine the 9950 or 6500+(if ever released) will be the fastest chips available for the platform, so upgrade choices are limited.

 

[somethingwild]

I was looking at these two earlier


http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883229040


http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883229046


But yeah wow theq6600 machine

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883227083


It's appealing most definably spec wise. Not the biggest fan of the case but still a great machine from what i can see. I like the graphics card in it. Also, i think the ram maybe more than i need but either way still good machine. Thanks for the links everyone.


Over all I think I am gonna have to build one. That seems the way to go. I think I may have someone that could help me with it. I hope anyaways. I think it would be intereting too and to actually learn for my self. I mean I wouldn't mind geting one online, though I don't want to run into problems. All the reviews are mixed so really, you don't know whats up till you open the box.