one of those threads: buying a new computer

x · 2007-03-04T12:22:49

Hi guys, here goes one of those threads: buying a new desktop computer. First thing is about my current computer. It's a laptop 850Mhz P3, 256 MB RAM, 16MB VRAM. I have used this laptop for almost three years. It is currently in a stable state, but it has its own crash history, including random hardware malfunctioning, bad sectors, etc. I have run into those hardware limits several times. I can't play any 3D games here (or develop one), or even displaying any bit of animation on the screen because then the fans would start spinning like crazy and (used to) eventually crash if I kept on doing it. Even a simple thing such as click and drag the line tool on MSPaint for just a bit too long will cause the fan to start spinning. It's time to upgrade. Budget: <$1000. I am not looking for the next gen desktop computer. As a matter of fact, I have been looking at those premade $300 desktop computers. I am assuming those computers are already 5x faster than this one. As long as I can have some 3D stuff on screen without the computer going crazy I am fine (because apparently all game development tools are in 3D mode right now). Graphics Card: I am not a graphics programmer, so I won't be able to utilize a $500 gfx card if I ever had one. I don't play new games a lot either. Games I play are older games. So any gfx card is fine, as long as it supports some version of pixel/vertex/geometry shaders (2.0 maybe?) that if I download and buy some game development tools, I can at least use their shader engine. RAM: RAM is a necessity. I am aiming for 1GB and more here (2GB or 4GB). I have the free Business edition Vista laying on my desk right now waiting to be installed. Oh, I am planning on installing Linux, but that's no problem. Processors: And absolutely some type of multi-core processors that I can peek and poke on. I heard it's the next 'thing'. So fellow GDNetters, if you have any recommendation on the above items, please let me know. I need as much input as possible. I don't want to upgrade this computer, ever. Upgrading takes a lot of time and effort, and most of the time it's not worth it. So, I'll buy this computer, and use it for another 3-4 years, then buy a new one. If you know any deals that doesn't include Vista/XP (because I already have one) but it includes other sweet deals such as monitors or printers, then I'd be interested to know too.

Hardware Discussion Technical

Started by alnite February 25, 2007 11:36 PM

19 comments, last by hplus0603 17 years, 6 months ago

hplus0603

11,938

March 04, 2007 12:22 PM

For what it's worth: If I were buying today, I'd buy a Core 2 Duo based machine, probably E6600 based (for price/performance) or E6300 (for price alone).
A year ago, when I bought my current machine, the X2 4400+ was the sweet spot, so that's what I have right now. In another half-year, or so, I'll probably build something new; who knows what will be the sweet spot then?

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one of those threads: buying a new computer

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one of those threads: buying a new computer

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