A little computer advice...for a christmas gift

Published on December 12, 2003 By Hus In WinCustomize Talk

My sister wants to get her boyfriend a PC for Christmas (what a nice sister, huh?), anyway...her absolute limit is $1000, that has to include everything. I did a little research on companies other than Dell. Here's what I found, and would like to know if you think this is a good deal before I make her buy it...

Abit NF7 Motherboard (LAN, Audio, USB, etc.)
512mb Dual Channel DDR RAM
AMD Athalon XP 2600+
Western Digital 80gb HD
nVidia Geforce FX 5200 128mb DDR w/TV out & DVI
NEC Dual Format DVD Burner
6-in-1 Flash media reader (they give it to you for free)
17" Viewsonic E70fb monitor
XP Home Edition
Free ground shipping

Total cost: $972

His current PC has a nice set of speakers which he bought as an upgrade, audio and LAN are onboard, plus is comes with your generic keyboard, mouse and a ATX case etc.

What do you think?

BTW, this is from CyberPower Inc. http://www.cyberpowersystems.com
[Message Edited]

Comments (Page 1)

EventHorizon

on Dec 12, 2003

Looks good to me...

Kevin_C

on Dec 12, 2003

Wow!!! I think that's a great setup.. What is he currently running? A general rule as far as noticable performance increase is that unless he is doubling his CPU speed he probably won't notice a huge difference. Anyway, those are some great components, they aren't no name generics you're getting some good pieces for a great price and generally good parts will equal a good running system. Do they post any information about the RAM timings or the speeds of the DVD burner? Those are the only details I'd look into. As long as the RAM isn't the cheapest stuff out there I'd say tell her to go for it!

HTH!

kona0197

on Dec 12, 2003

I think you should talk to Dell.

As for that setup, ditch nvidia and get ATI and get XP pro. Try to get a AMD 2800 or 3000
processor.

All my opinion.

EventHorizon

on Dec 12, 2003

Kona...

I did a little research on companies other than Dell.

Mean anything to you?

kona0197

on Dec 12, 2003

Not really how about this:

you can get a better stup than that for 400 dollars less than a grand from dell.

You could get a nice top end AMD 3000 system for about 500 or 600 if you built it yourself.

But I stick by my Nvidia comment, ATI is the way to go.

Congrats on chossing AMD. Sorry for upseting you.

kona0197

on Dec 12, 2003

stup

setup - spelling

EventHorizon

on Dec 12, 2003

In other words...

Dell has already been looked at in this purchase (Which I think is a great deal... ) and will not be considered further...

Id like to see a better setup for $600...from dell.
[Message Edited]

Hus

on Dec 12, 2003

Kona, you really have no clue what you're talking about. I went to Dell, it was actually the first place I went too, but what they were offering for the same price did not compare when it came down to performance. So, try do a little research to back up your silly claims...

F0r3, the speed for the DVD burner is 4X DVD & 16X CD-R and they do not list the brand of RAM so I'm really in the dark on that one. This computer is probably 7x faster than the one he's currently got..

Thanks for the input guys!

Kevin_C

on Dec 12, 2003

Hus, sounds good!! I'd definitely say he will notice a huuuuuuge difference if he is currently working on something that slow. I would however agree with Kona on the XP Pro, it has more networking options if he decides to setup a home network or something down the road. If I'm not mistaken you can find XP Pro OEN on-line for arount $100. I'll see what I can find and post here if I find anything really good..

kona0197

on Dec 12, 2003

Well I did some research.

I was wrong. Dell priced the same system with a Pentium 4 @2.40 Ghz at $1013 dollars.

I did some research at my local computer shop website as well.

I could built a better system for about 700 bucks.

Sorry I was wrong, Dell sucks with their prices.

The setup you mentioned in the first post is outsatnding! Go for it.

kona0197

on Dec 12, 2003

But change the video to ATI you will not regret it.

Hus

on Dec 12, 2003

It's ok Kona...but next time...I let EH take you out back and beat the snot outta ya!

kona0197

on Dec 12, 2003

sounds good.

Jafo

on Dec 12, 2003

Hus...that system sounds fine.....

kongit

on Dec 12, 2003

That system does look good, but i'd try to get an intel.

Kona has guns I wouldn't mess with him

Welcome Guest! Please take the time to register with us.
There are many great features available to you once you register, including:

Richer content, access to many features that are disabled for guests like commenting on the forums.
Access to a great community, with a massive database of many, many areas of interest.
Access to contests & subscription offers like exclusive emails.
It's simple, and FREE!