Getting a new PC

[kiat]

Hi tech gurus and those in-the-know

Will need to change my PC soon as it is getting old and cranky. Would appreciate if you can give me some suggestions on a good config for a SLS-built PC.

Budget: $1000 inc MS OS but exc monitor
1. Used mainly for work (spreadsheets, powerpoints), photo editing, surfing, mails.
2. I do not play games so would on-board video and sound capability be sufficient? Want to save some cost by not buying additional video and sound cards. I don't play music or videos or TV programs on PC as well.
3. Thinking of 1G RAM. Good and fast enough especially for photo editing? What about video editing (may do that in the future)?
4. Any min CPU speed I need to take note? I am hoping 2.8 MHz would be good enough. Super blur about L1 and L2 cache though. Won't be over clocking.
5. HDD - 7200 rpm good enough?
6. Existing PC is on AMD chip. Has been very reliable for the past 5 years. If Celeron chip can suffice for my needs, may consider that as well (cost factor). Do you think it will be a compromise?

Thinking of going to Fuwell again but would also appreciate if you can point out other reliable shops as well. Thank you for the recommendations/suggestions.

 

[espn]

Mac Mini :thumbsup:

 

[Del_CtrlnoAlt]

Mac Mini :thumbsup:

u funny rite... ppl wan a MS OS.. u give a Mac... :nono:

 

[kiat]

Not considering Mac but thanks for the suggestion.

 

[kiat]

No recommnedations?:cry:

 

[Big Kahuna]

Erm...very hard to DIY with that budget....I think it's more worth while to buy package from Dell......also you can always sell away the LCD to fund for the upgrade of Ram, HDD, DVD writer from SLS....it's not expensive

check it out...there is free upgrade to 512MB ram now...and you can pay installment with the right credit card

http://www1.ap.dell.com/content/pro...2006-01-14_dimen_3100_N210145?c=sg&l=en&s=dhs

Processor
Intel® Pentium® 4 Processor 630 with HT Technology (2MB L2 cache, 3.00 GHz, 800MHz FSB)

Operating system
Genuine Windows® XP Home Edition

Memory
256MB DDR2 SDRAM at 533MHz

Monitor
17" Flat Panel Monitor (17.0"v.i.s.)

Harddrive
80GB (7200rpm) SATA Hard Disk

Optical Drive
16X DVD-ROM Drive

Graphic Card
Intel® Graphics Media Accelerator 900

Speakers
Dell™ A215 Stereo Speakers

Service
1-Year Limited Warranty

 

[jumbocrab]

Hi tech gurus and those in-the-know

Will need to change my PC soon as it is getting old and cranky. Would appreciate if you can give me some suggestions on a good config for a SLS-built PC.

Budget: $1000 inc MS OS but exc monitor
1. Used mainly for work (spreadsheets, powerpoints), photo editing, surfing, mails.
2. I do not play games so would on-board video and sound capability be sufficient? Want to save some cost by not buying additional video and sound cards. I don't play music or videos or TV programs on PC as well.
3. Thinking of 1G RAM. Good and fast enough especially for photo editing? What about video editing (may do that in the future)?
4. Any min CPU speed I need to take note? I am hoping 2.8 MHz would be good enough. Super blur about L1 and L2 cache though. Won't be over clocking.
5. HDD - 7200 rpm good enough?
6. Existing PC is on AMD chip. Has been very reliable for the past 5 years. If Celeron chip can suffice for my needs, may consider that as well (cost factor). Do you think it will be a compromise?

Thinking of going to Fuwell again but would also appreciate if you can point out other reliable shops as well. Thank you for the recommendations/suggestions.

If you don't play games, onboard sound is good enough. But I would still recommend a separate video card, a low end one would do. Find one that can support DVI. You should be able to get that for less than $100.

2.8MHz is not too bad. Don't stinge on RAM. Go for 2GB if possible. 7200 rpm HDD is good enough.

I think you should be able to make it within your budget if you avoid spending on the "latest and greatest". Look for latest pricing from hardwarezone.com

 

[simon80]

do u need the set urgently?
I am getting one as well but after CNY

will be asking a friend to build for me. he frequent sls and should be able to find a better price if we get 2 com of the same specs.

so u thinking of getting everything at fuxxxx and ask them to fix for you? if thats the case , I think let my friend earn some kopi $ loh .. hehehe

he owns sgxtreme.org / com.sg

 

[alan1996]

Hi tech gurus and those in-the-know

Will need to change my PC soon as it is getting old and cranky. Would appreciate if you can give me some suggestions on a good config for a SLS-built PC.

Budget: $1000 inc MS OS but exc monitor
1. Used mainly for work (spreadsheets, powerpoints), photo editing, surfing, mails.
2. I do not play games so would on-board video and sound capability be sufficient? Want to save some cost by not buying additional video and sound cards. I don't play music or videos or TV programs on PC as well.
3. Thinking of 1G RAM. Good and fast enough especially for photo editing? What about video editing (may do that in the future)?
4. Any min CPU speed I need to take note? I am hoping 2.8 MHz would be good enough. Super blur about L1 and L2 cache though. Won't be over clocking.
5. HDD - 7200 rpm good enough?
6. Existing PC is on AMD chip. Has been very reliable for the past 5 years. If Celeron chip can suffice for my needs, may consider that as well (cost factor). Do you think it will be a compromise?

Thinking of going to Fuwell again but would also appreciate if you can point out other reliable shops as well. Thank you for the recommendations/suggestions.

If you want to do video editing (VE), you will need to pay more. Need to get a motherboard (MB) that can upgrade to faster CPU and at low price. Only AMD MB that use AMD 64 CPU can do it. They, most of them, allow you to upgrade to dual core AMD 64 CPU. For Intel, to upgrade from 1 core CPU to dual core CPU, you need to change MB too. Video editing need fast CPU and video card. Most video card that is on the MB is very slow, cannot do video editing. Wait, it can do video editing but there will be a lots of waiting. VE need a lot of HDD. If you use DV tape, you will need around 15GB for every 1 hr of video (from DV). This may means that a MB that can use a lot of HDD is good. But this type of MB cost a lot. Some MB can have 4 IDE disk and 4 SATA. This means 1 DVD-ROM (IDE), 1 DVD-Writer (IDE), 2 HDD (IDE) and 4 SATA that can connect HDD to it.

Using the slowest AMD64 dual core CPU will make a 30 sec video faster by 1.3 minutes faster than a 2.8GHz CPU (AMD) when using Studio 9. For avi (DV) to mpeg2 (DVD).

 

[sharky]

1k seems to be insufficient for DIY. If you want to have a fuss-free experience, get a Dell and upgrade to 3-yr warranty.

I like AMD processors (Dell is 100% intel shop), and I like SFF PCs. I have 5 Shuttle XPC all use AMD. I always buy from StorageStudio. On average each costs 1.5k.

5th one cost 3k. Spec: Shuttle XPC SN25 (or 26?), Athlon dual core, 2gb RAM, DVD writer, 2x 80gb and 1x 250gb SATA2 disks, ATI display card with 256mb ram, APC UPS. Just got it last week.

I don't do video edit except capturing DV from my video cam. I don't play game. I use the latest PC solely for post processing.

By the way, you need to calibrate the screen. The LCD colour is always off, showing wrong spectrum of colors.

Hope this info help you.

 

[kiat]

Thanks everyone for all the helpful comments.

Seems like $1k is a little low :cry:

I may pass out on Dell as I have had good and also bad experiences with them a few years ago. But still undecided at the moment.

Got quite lost on alan1996's reply but I think I roughly have an idea what you are talking about, ie, my config not good enough for fast VE and will need more $$$ . Thanks for your input. I have not even bought my DV cam yet so VE may still be some way off. I'll probably stick to photo editing for the time being.

The only reason why I am considering changing PC is because the current one is already 5 years old and is really damn slow for photo editing. So slow until I practically give up on editing anything. :complain:

Simon80, your suggestion is worth considering though. What are your requirements? Mine is mainly for work and the occasional photo editing? Does your friend provide some form of warranty after the set is done up?

 

[eug]

Go down to SLS and choose your parts and get the shop tp assemble for you for $30 which includ one year service warranty.

Try Bell Systems.

$1K can get you a good system... everything in ... including DVD burner ... etc.

 

[Big Kahuna]

Just saw this, this might fit your bill with some spare change http://www.vr-zone.com.sg/?i=2995

 

[wildstallion]

Erm...very hard to DIY with that budget....I think it's more worth while to buy package from Dell......also you can always sell away the LCD to fund for the upgrade of Ram, HDD, DVD writer from SLS....it's not expensive

check it out...there is free upgrade to 512MB ram now...and you can pay installment with the right credit card

http://www1.ap.dell.com/content/pro...2006-01-14_dimen_3100_N210145?c=sg&l=en&s=dhs

Processor
Intel® Pentium® 4 Processor 630 with HT Technology (2MB L2 cache, 3.00 GHz, 800MHz FSB)

Operating system
Genuine Windows® XP Home Edition

Memory
256MB DDR2 SDRAM at 533MHz

Monitor
17" Flat Panel Monitor (17.0"v.i.s.)

Harddrive
80GB (7200rpm) SATA Hard Disk

Optical Drive
16X DVD-ROM Drive

Graphic Card
Intel® Graphics Media Accelerator 900

Speakers
Dell™ A215 Stereo Speakers

Service
1-Year Limited Warranty

Dell is very cheap, and you get what you pay for, Dell is therefore unreliable, have heard many people say this.

 

[kiat]

Thank you all for the suggestions. I will go SLS look look see see for current prices/promotions.