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help me buy a computer, you nerds
look out! Ninjas!:
The video card plugs into one of the longer blue slots running vertically on the left, which are PCI-E 16x. The white ones are for other cards, like a soundcard. The big ones are older PCI slots, the smaller ones are the new PCI-E 1x.
bicostp:
PCI Express 2.1 refers to the slot (PCI Express) and revision to the standard (2.1). They're the long expansion slots on the motherboard. Don't sweat it if you buy a 2.1 video card and a motherboard that only supports 2.0, they're backwards compatible. Yes, that video card will work in that motherboard.
Don't worry about how much RAM to get, just slap in 4 gigs and call it a day. That's more than plenty for desktop stuff and moderate gaming, and RAM is pretty cheap.
The amount of memory on a video card is less important than the graphics core the card is built around. Bigger model numbers are better. So for example a 5750 is probably better than a 5570. Just search for "[card1] vs [card 2]" or "[card] benchmark" and you'll get some bar graphs and recommendations. Reliable sources include Tom's Hardware and Hardware Canucks.
Because you don't plan on doing top-of-the-line, 700 FPS in Crysis gaming, you don't need an expensive, fancy card. Something like a GeForce GTS 450 or Radeon HD 5750 will be more than enough for your current needs, and it will handle whatever you might throw at it in the next few years. A lesser card such as a GeForce 430 or Radeon 5570 would probably be okay for now, but you might be disappointed with it within a year or two if you try to run newer games it can't keep up with. (Plus the really low end cards sometimes lack features such as audio over HDMI, HDCP, and GPU HD video acceleration.)
--- Quote from: Caleb on 03 Mar 2011, 09:21 ---Is thinkcenter the same as lenovo?
--- End quote ---
It's the name of their tower PC line, just like ThinkPad is their business laptop line.
Scandanavian War Machine:
new possible option: one of my roommates bought his computer custom from costco.com, and he just helped me find a good model to start with, and i'm thinking about going that route, just for simplicity's sake, and also it's potentially cheaper.
like, i just came up with this for $687.99:
* AMD Phenom(TM) X4 840T quad-core processor [2.9GHz, 2MB L2 + 6MB L3 shared, up to 4000MHz]
* 6GB DDR3-1333MHz SDRAM [3 DIMMs] from 4GB
* 1TB 7200 rpm SATA 3Gb/s hard drive from 750GB
* 512MB DDR3 AMD Radeon HD 6450 [DVI, HDMI. VGA adapter]
* Integrated sound
* 15-in-1 memory card reader, 1 USB, 1394, audio
* Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
* No additional office software
* HP wireless keyboard and wireless optical mouse
* Integrated Ethernet port, No wireless LAN
* LightScribe 16X max. DVD+/-R/RW SuperMulti drive
seems just about right, i dunno.
KvP:
Make sure your mobo has at least 6 more USB ports, else you'll need an expander.
bicostp:
--- Quote from: Scandanavian War Machine on 03 Mar 2011, 21:48 ---new possible option: one of my roommates bought his computer custom from costco.com
--- End quote ---
--- Quote from: Scandanavian War Machine on 03 Mar 2011, 21:48 ---computer custom from costco
--- End quote ---
--- Quote from: Scandanavian War Machine on 03 Mar 2011, 21:48 ---computer from costco
--- End quote ---
--- Quote from: Scandanavian War Machine on 03 Mar 2011, 21:48 ---computer from costco
--- End quote ---
It's this thing, isn't it? The CPU is noticeably inferior to the one in the bundle linked earlier, the motherboard is bound to be rubbish, the hard drive is probably a Maxtor, the power supply is going to be barely adequate for the included hardware. Add a reasonably priced video card to that bundle and you'll have better performance for the same price. (You just have to build it yourself.)
Playing computer shopping again:
Different combo with the same motherboard and CPU as before, but with a 1.5 TB hard drive and no case and power supply: $420
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboBundleDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.611151
ThermalTake V3 Black Edition case: $40 (There are lots of decent cases for $30-$40)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811133094
Cooler Master 500w power supply: $30
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817171031
Price so far: $490. Add in a decent graphics card and a cheap Windows license and you'll be set. (But even if you have to buy it for $100, a $100 video card is still within your $700 budget.)
An OEM windows 7 Home Premium license is $100. College students can get it dirt cheap, and someone earlier in the thread said they might be able to help as well.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116754
Grocery store computers are rubbish. No exceptions. They're built as cheap as possible because they're sold like disposable appliances.
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