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Help me Dakka! I'm finally getting a new computer soon (my current one is seven years old), but I don't know what to look for or what I should pay for it, because I don't know much about system specs or the fiddly gubbinz. Can anyone give me details of what a good, new computer's specs would be, and what kind of price I should look for? (In Australian dollars, of course)

It all depends on what kind of programs and operating system you want to run.

If you want to use Vista to run Crysis at max settings when you aren't rendering million-polygon scenes in 3d Studio or Maya, you'll need a much different system then if all you do is surf the Internet and check your email in Linux.

Assuming you want to play most new or recent games at decent graphical settings.....I'd say wait a few more months for Windows 7 and the Core i5 processors to be out, then check in again.

Form Factor. Do you want:

1. A gigantic desktop.
2. A really small desktop.
3. A laptop.

Are you worried about your energy bill? What about noise level?

I would get an Acer with a half decent video card. 2GB of RAM and Duo Core minimum. I do not think you have to worry about the harddrives or the this or the that much, just make sure it is new (Windows 7/ Windows Home Premium), it has RAM and it has a decent video card. For gaming say 4GB of RAM and 512 MB? video card.

I will probably be building an AMD 3x Core just because that sounds so awesome.

Edit: Core i5? Maybe I will shell out the big bucks for that although at that price I could probably get TWO computers ... oooooooo .....

Yeah, it's going to be for gaming mostly, so I want something fast with lots of RAM and a godly video card; I don't want to be playing Halo with less than 30 FPS like I am now.

Cheese Elemental wrote:Yeah, it's going to be for gaming mostly, so I want something fast with lots of RAM and a godly video card; I don't want to be playing Halo with less than 30 FPS like I am now.

http://www.dell.com/content/products/productdetails.aspx/laptop-alienware-m17x?c=us&l=en&s=dhs

Nope. No laptops. I've already got my netbook for my portable needs (it can run Doom!). It's my desktop that's outdated, and I want it replaced.

Besides, laptops are easier to steal, run on a battery, and break far too easily. I've had my netbook replaced three times now because the screen kept cracking when I put it in the case and carried it around. Furthermore, I like having a proper-sized mouse and keyboard, not a piddly little thing I have to be super-careful with. I need a beast of a machine that lets me render stuff in Blender and Terragen without waiting for hours.

Build your own mate.

You will end up saving... wait... you are in AUS... hmmmm.

I am not actually sure that you would save money building your own, but if you do some research you can find some really nice laptops... no laptops... okay then,

Build your own, and I recommend getting advice from better sources. This pond dem awfully small mate, you mightn't grab some dem fish from the ocean instead eh?

Just thinking beyond... the pond that is.

Nah, like I said, I can't build a computer for gak. I tried putting one together earlier this year, and it broke when I turned it on. I'd feel safer buying one, and ones that you buy come with all the free software and whatnot.

In that case I'd recommend a Dell XPS 630 as a straight-forward solution with decent customer support.

http://tinyurl.com/ny7tnw

With the following features:
Core 2 Quad Q9400 2.66GHz
6GB RAM
SLI 2x Nvidia GT240 w/ 2GB VRAM

That's a pretty decent gaming/rendering rig but it costs ~$1,200 USD. However, it gives you a system that is not only good today but should also, IMO, be good for at least a few years. Honestly very few programs properly take advantage of quad-core processors so having even a decent one today sets you up with a good "buffer zone" of capability.

Tacobake wrote:Edit: Core i5? Maybe I will shell out the big bucks for that although at that price I could probably get TWO computers ... oooooooo .....

Well the Core i5 is supposed to be the lower-cost "mainstream" version of the performance-oriented i7 so they should be cheaper.

I'm not worried about price really, because a brand-new computer over here at JB-HiFi or Dick Smith is only $800 AUD.

I would honestly hold out for one of the brand manufacturers to come out with models using the core i5's. Not as expensive as the i7's but close performance wise and more affordable.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

Cheese Elemental wrote:I'm not worried about price really, because a brand-new computer over here at JB-HiFi or Dick Smith is only $800 AUD.

What do you get in it for that low of a price?

Wrexasaur wrote:Build your own mate.

You will end up saving... wait... you are in AUS... hmmmm.

I am not actually sure that you would save money building your own, but if you do some research you can find some really nice laptops... no laptops... okay then,

Build your own, and I recommend getting advice from better sources. This pond dem awfully small mate, you mightn't grab some dem fish from the ocean instead eh?

Just thinking beyond... the pond that is.

Yes, you will still save heaps. Gaming computers are way over priced.
It's always cheaper to buy the parts and build it yourself. Seeing as you don't know how, try to get a friend that knows how to. If not, I can try to find the program I got in a course a while ago. You build a computer digitally, it's to practice building one yourself. The point of it in the class was to see how fast you could build one (I got 3 mins 20 seconds). But, it does have a part that teaches you as well.

To put it bluntly, my cousin is on the Board of Dell, and when I was considering getting a new comp, he took me aside and said, 'Don't get a Dell.'

I've had so many Dell computers, it isn't funny, and they're all fine. My office has an exclusive deal with dell, so every PC we have is a dell, and they're all fine too.

I got my current desktop from dell, a gaming rig, and I've not had problems with it either.

I cannot believe that someone on the board of a company would advise against that companies product. If anything, I'd find a way to get a free one from them.

Cheese Elemental wrote:Nah, like I said, I can't build a computer for gak. I tried putting one together earlier this year, and it broke when I turned it on. I'd feel safer buying one, and ones that you buy come with all the free software and whatnot.

Wow, sucks to be you. Building a PC is as easy as being able to use one. You have the internet at your disposal though.

What's even funnier is that after I said I didn't care paticularly, he got me the equivalent of a £2000 computer for about £300.