New PC system with sound & graphics

aaf

Ok, here goes. Basically, I'm going to be purchasing a new computer in the next few weeks. I've narrowed it down to 3 pc's. Two are on sale at PC World. The spec's are as follows:

Advent
P4 3.2 Ghz
1024MB Ram
320GB Hard Drive
16x DVD
4x DVD+-RW
256MB GeForce FX5200 Graphics Card
€1999

Packard Bell
P4 3.06 Ghz
1024MB Ram
160GB Hard Drive
DVDRW (don't know speeds)
128MB ATi Radeon 9200 Graphics Card
€1799

The third option will be chosen online at dell.ie and will be similar to the specs above. I'll be mainly using it for Digital Imaging with Adobe Photoshop and website design. I also want to use it to listen to music so I'd need a fairly decent sound card and speakers. I'm not a gamer at all so I don't need a powerful graphics card but I would like a semi-decent one incase I do want to play the odd game or two.

I've been reading threads here on boards.ie for the past few days relating to sound cards, speakers and graphics cards. Still not too clear on what I should purchase. According to other threads, a 2.1 sound card will give me the best quality for music? Not sure at all about speakers and graphics cards. I have a few in mind so I'll list them below. Any more suggestions welcome. I will buy from either PC World or online at elara.ie or komplett.ie. Whichever is cheaper for the product I'm after.

Sound Cards

Creative Audigy 2 ZS
Creative Audigy 2 NX
Creative Extigy


Speakers

Creative Inspire T7700
Creative Inspire 4.1 4400
Creative Inspire 5.1 T5400
Altec Lansing 5100
Labtec Arena 675 5.1

Graphics Cards

Looked up a few but haven't a clue

I'm going to say no more than €200 each for sound card, speakers and graphics card.

Also, I'm going to purchase a decent printer and scanner. I've narrowed the printers down to the Canon i865, Epson Stylus Photo R300 Monitor and the Epson Stylus Photo R300. I'll be printing photo's and documents so need a decent printer. I have an inkling for the Canon.

The choice of scanners is Epson Perfection 3170, Canon CanoScan 5000F. I've read a lot of reviews of scanners and these two look the best for the price.

Well, there you have it. It'll be quite a system when I get it all together but in the mean time, I need some advice. All suggestions welcome. Thanks.

P.S. Sorry about length of post

El_MUERkO

If you have any knowledge of computers I strongly recommend you build yourself, you'll save youself €500 easy... for example heres stuff from komplett that far exceds either spec you've shown.

120919 AMD Athlon 64 3200+ 2.0 GHz
- Socket 754, 1 MB cache, BOXED €309.75

121241 Abit KV8-MAX3 mainboard for Socket 754
- K8T800, SATA, LAN, ATX, Raid, Firewire €174.24

117680 Seagate Barracuda 7200.7 120GB S-ATA
- S-ATA/150 8MB cache 7200RPM €212.96

120855 Corsair XMS PRO 3200 DDR-DIMM 512MB CL2
- 32Meg x 8, 400MHz, with LED €142.78

115392 Sky Hawk PSR5601 Miditower, Silver
- Aluminium case, without power supply €80.39

119939 Enhance Power supply ATX 520W 1fan
- Power supply for P4/AMD CPUs w/PFC UK €85.23

118986 LG DVD-recorder IDE GSA-4040B, Retail
- "Super-Multi" DVD+R/RW/DVD-R/RW/RAM €156.01

100727 Sony Floppy Drive 3,5" 1,44MB MPF-920
- Floppy Drive, Internal €15.58

122900 Sapphire Radeon 9600XT Atlantis 128M DDR
- AGP,ATI9600XT,DVI-I,TV-Out, Lite-Retail €164.56

120864 Creative SB Audigy LS
- PCI soundcard w/Hitman2, Retail €75.02

119744 Samsung 19" CRT Syncmaster 957P TCO99
- Screen (EN) €216.59

121560 Logitech Internet Navigator Keyboard SE
- (English), PS/2 og USB, Retail €35.43

114398 Microsoft Intelli Mouse Explorer v. 3.0
- Mouse PS/2 & USB, Bulk €36.7

Total: €1606.18

aaf

El_MUERkO, while I do have a reasonable knowledge of computers such as upgrading hardware and software, I am too busy and too lazy to go about building a pc. While it sounds like a good challenge, I don't really see the point of all the hassle when I can pick a pc off the shelf or online that will suit my needs for pretty much the same cost. I don't see how the components you've listed exceed the specs I laid out. You've only included 512 ram and a 2.0Ghz processor. As space will be tight, I also would like a Flat Screen TFT monitor. Thanks for the suggestion though.

Col_Loki

The System El_MUERkO set out would be a much better performer in almost anything than the ones you have listed. Especially in games.......

If you plan on gaming at all then id stay away from the Fx5200 and the 9000-9200 radeons........ the 9600pro is a great card that is a very good price at the min........9600xt is even better. The AMD64 2.0ghz would be comparable if not better than the 3.2ghz P4 ..

A closer speced machine...........(intel)

117322 Intel Pentium 4 3.0 GHz Boxed PC800
- Socket PGA478, 512kB "Northwood" - €288.51

117443 Abit IC7 Mainboard for S478/800mhz
- I875P,SATA,ATX,Dual-DDR,1394 - €127.05

108596 Chieftec Dragon MidiTower, w/Door, Blue
- Case w/360W power, w/USB&Firewire (UK) - €121.34

118986 LG DVD-recorder IDE GSA-4040B, Retail
- "Super-Multi" DVD+R/RW/DVD-R/RW/RAM - €156.01

118737 Corsair Value S. PC3200 DDR-DIMM 1024MB
- Kit w/two matched Value Select 512MB - €168.19

120318 PowerColor Radeon 9600 PRO EZ 128MB
- AGP, ATI 9600PRO, DVI-I, TV-Out, Retail - €129.47

115561 Maxtor DiamondMax Plus 9 160GB S-ATA
- S-ATA/150 8MB cache 7200RPM - €137.94

119744 Samsung 19" CRT Syncmaster 957P TCO99
- Screen (EN) - €216.59

118269 Labtec Mouse Wheel Mouse PS/2
- PS/2, Retail - €11.3

111057 Trust Internet Keyboard PS/2
- Retail - €18.22

Surcharges: 0
Total: 1374.62


That spec of a machine would be a better performer than the ones youve listed, especially when gaming........and theres plenty of money left over to add a nice Audigy 2 , 5.1 Speakers, and possible change the 19" to a 15"/17" flat screen.

It probably wont take you that long to build it yourself (few hours) and you will have a much better system TBH...

[edit] On the subject of what soundcard & speakers & graphics card to get.....

How about.... Audigy 2 (retail package) - €90 , Creative 6.1 Speakers - €129 , 9800pro Graphics Card (click twice on link) .... the best graphics card you can buy at the min its fantastic (ignorine the 9800xt which costs a bomb)..

You could get all these included in a monster system for roughly €1800-1900 ..........why not even think about it??

OfflerCrocGod

aaf you came to the wrong forum to ask about Dell computer purchasing advice:D; the above Athlon64 system is brilliant - you will have it built in a couple of hours at most, stick windows on it and away you go!. By the way you mention that 2.1 is the best (!!??) and then list 4.1 and 5.1 speakers as your speaker choice?!, do you understand what the numbers mean, or was it a misprint?.

joePC

For gods sake man!!! Stay away from Avent and Packard Bell...................

Build your own as suggested or get someone to build for u, you'll save a bomb, get better components, and a all round faster system.
If you buy from PC world your a fool no two ways about it. Don't do it. As for Dell low grade components e.g. MB, DVD-RW drive, memory --> they cut quality to save money.

Thanks joePC

joePC

Heres a system that could be built:

LG DVD-recorder IDE
(DVD+R/RW/DVD-R/RW/RAM)

ATI Radeon 9600XT 128MB DDR

Sony Floppy Drive

Intel Pentium 4 3.0 GHz, PC800

Maxtor DiamondMax Plus 9 160GB S-ATA
(S-ATA/150 8MB cache 7200RPM)

PC3200 DDR-DIMM 1024MB Dual

Asus P4P800 Mainboard for S478/800mhz
(Dual DDR, SATA, sou, ATA133, LAN)

17" LG1720B TFT Monitor

Creative Sound Blaster Audigy 2

Altec Lansing 251 Versatile 5.1 Speaker System






Total = €1900

As you can see this system would destroy any of the systems listed in any benchmark. I would reconsider, PM me if you have any questions.

Thanks joePC

astrofool

indeed, stay away from advent/pacbell and even dell.

They

are

sh*te



thats if u want value for money anyway.

They sell by getting a fast chip, and sell on megahertz, usually the rest of the pc's components are cheap bad performing parts. It's how they make their money

unkel

Agree with all posters and I hope you'll stay away from PCWorld

If you are unwilling / uncomfortable / too lazy / whatever to build it yourself, have someone on boards.ie build it for you after you purchase all the parts agreed. That way you still have the warrantee

I'm confident some people here would be interested to do that for you for somewhere between €100 and €200 within a day of you delivering all the parts. JoePC seems to be into this - am I wrong JoePC?

You'll have to purchase an OS as well and compare the total price with OS to the other offerings you mention in Dell and PCWorld to be fair

You will end up having just about (almost) the best PC money can buy for your budget, that would make a joke of the PCWorld and even Dell offerings and probably still save yourself a couple of hundred €

I honestly hope we can convince you here m8 :cool:

unkel

Originally posted by astrofool
They sell by getting a fast chip, and sell on megahertz, usually the rest of the pc's components are cheap bad performing parts. It's how they make their money

Indeed good point you're making. If you buy from Dell the standard graphics card is typically FX5200. Try running 3DMark03 with that: No Score To get a typical Dell dimension 8300 (the higher end model) up to scratch, you're looking at adding €500 - €1000 to the price

I reckon it gets even worse than that I'm afraid. They sell you a P4 3.06 GHz system and I reckon at least 90% of customers of PCWorld would think that would be a faster pc than a P4 3.0 800FSB :mad:

wes

I would reccommend staying away from PC World. I have had no end of problems with them. I am not too sure about Dell but they can not be worse than PC World.

joePC

unkel

Thanks for that

aaf

If your interested just PM me and we'll sort it!!!!!

aaf

First of all, thanks to everyone that has replied so far. OfflerCrocGod, I do know the difference between 2.1, 4.1, 5.1 etc. It’s just that I had read on boards somewhere, that a 2.1 sound card was more suited to music. Obviously not. Anyway, I’m starting to come around to the idea of building a pc from scratch although I wouldn’t be able to do it myself. Won’t be in a position to purchase till end of month and I will need help, for a price I know.

Anyway, I’ve gone and saved a spec on dell.ie to see what you lot think. It’s not bad. The basket number is BR2083-2215783 and the memorable word is “desirable?”. On the home page, click on home and home office and then my cart. Would still need speakers but all in all, that’s not bad right? My home pc is 5 or 6 years old. Bought from PC World. All problems were fixed by myself over the years so support isn't a major worry.

One thing to note is that I’m not a gamer at all so won’t be needing top notch graphics card. Also, if anybody has some more advice on the printer/scanner side of things, please advise. Am thinking of the canon i865 and the Epson 3170 although somebody has pointed out that it would be better to buy same brands for colour calibration? If so, I would probably go for an Epson printer but which one?

If I do decide to build a pc, I have W2K Professional and Norton Antivirus Corporate edition 2002 and all other software I need. COL_LOKI, I’ve heard that the PowerColor cards aren’t up to scratch?

Any opinions?

Woden

i have that powercolor 9800 pro card and its fine, i had a problem with its fan but i just returned it and another one don't let this put you off as a number of sapphire 9600's have had a problem also. powercolor make a card that meets the specs but it mightn't overclock well but it does the job

aaf if your in dublin www.itdirect.ie will built a system for you if you bring them all the parts i enquired into it a few months back. i think they charge by the hour but it might be worth looking into if you not comfortable building it yourself.

data

aaf

I am in dublin but if I was going to get a pc built, I'd probably ask someone from on boards to help me out. They'll know better than any shop which components to use and they won't be giving me the sales pitches every few secs. Cheers for the advice on the powercolor range of cards. Noted.

Woden

ah i mean you can bring your preselected componets to itdirect for the built you don't have buy there if ya don't want to

peckerhead

Firstly, thanks to aaf for posting this, and to all the others who've offered advice.

I'm in a very similar position to aaf, want to spend about €1500/€1600 later this month on a decent PC for home. Gaming performance isn't really a priority, but good sounds is — this will be going in the space currently occupied by my ancient Sony stereo system. I don't need a printer or scanner, but I might add a TV card. I also don't need OS or software, I can get it all from work. And I'm comfortable with basic installation & maintenance, but I wouldn't fancy my chances of actually assembling the thing properly in the first place...

Can anyone recommend a place/person in or near Limerick city that could do the job reliably and reasonably? (I've heard good things about Hamsoft, in the Tait centre...)

Or alternatively — what do you think about the PC likely to show up in LIDL in the next few weeks (according to this post : http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?s=&threadid=134259. €999, then shop around for a monitor/speakers/keyboard...? There's a LIDL halfway between my home and workplace, which makes it very handy for me...)

Thanks for any further advice you can offer,

peckerhead

The Brigadier

See if Matt Simis is looking to upgrade!:D Matt normally has a pretty demon system and upgrades often.. I have seen him sell some really top end kit, for less than i is worth.....

joePC

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aaf

Originally posted by joePC
????????Post taken off

What? The post seems to be working fine now. It may have been taken off temporarily due to my signature, which I have now deleted. It was a quote from Blazzing Saddles but may have been offensive to some so I offer my apologies.

Am 70-30 in favour of building my own pc. Don't want to do it myself as my knowledge of doing so is minimal although I am reading up on the latest posts here on boards. Looks like a few people are wanting to get a new pc. Anyone willing to help me buy the components and build one? JoePC?

superfly

if you dont feel safe with the powercolor i think if you paid €12 more you could get the Sapphire version which you would have an easier time of overclocking
http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.asp?action=info&sku=122901&p=&t=278&l=2&AvdID=1&CatID=24&GrpID=1&cks=PRL

MiCr0

have a look @ the elara site
they seem to make much more customized pc's to spec

Big Chief

do not as people have said go to the main high street pc dealers, total waste of time and effort and alot of cash...

on a side note joepc - LG DVD-recorder IDE
(DVD+R/RW/DVD-R/RW/RAM)

how much are they going for and from where? linkage would be nice also please

i would build it for you, but ive just finished building my 3rd one and im kind of lazy myself

although wait till its nearer the end of the month and ill be beggin for the cash

VeVeX

Ive Just recently bought a dell ....

Its a P4 3.06ghz it cost me €836

I didn't upgrade anything bar the processor.

Since its delivery on tuesday I've added 1GB of ram and a Leadtek FX5900xt

It bench's well with 15071 in 3d2001 and 6051 in 3d2003.340

Which isn't bad in anyone's book.

Total cost :

System : €836
Ram : €165
GFX : €280

Total : €1281

Woden

that leadtek is a nice card which overclocks well but why did you go for the 3.06Ghz processor and not the 3.0Ghz one.

another point to note iirc dell uses intel motherboards and you can't overclock which is a pity

unkel

Originally posted by Dataisgod
why did you go for the 3.06Ghz processor and not the 3.0Ghz one.

Probably because, as I suggested in another thread, a lot of people think it is faster. 3.06 > 3

They don't realise they get the now obsolete 533 FSB technology :mad:

There's hardly a point going for intel 533 over athlon xp, apart from HT

VeVeX

For upgrade purpose's in the future your right but......

Bearing in mind my 1.5ghz P4 with a Ti4200 still runs every game you through at it I think it will be a while before I have to upgrade. And when this may be the case 64bit processors will be common place and your 800mhz FSB will also be a thing of the past.

Depending what you use ur PC for is the deciding factor IMHO when buying. I play games. I thought it more nessasary to get a decent enough graphics card then paying extra for the 3Ghz. My 1.5ghz P4 out preforms my m8's P4 2.66 in 3D benchmarks purely because it has a GF4-440mx.

unkel

Originally posted by KeithD
Bearing in mind my 1.5ghz P4

I thought you just bought a P4 3.06 533FSB

VeVeX

I did, the 1.5ghz is my old machine.

Woden

yeah the 1.5 not suprisingly out performs a 2.66 that would only have a geforce 4 mx. i think those benchmarks are highly graphics card dependent

e.g i get 17500 with a 3200+ and a radeon 9800 pro and about 2000 with the same processor and a geforce 2mx. with regards to processor sensitivity 3dmark went up about 2000 by overclocking the processor from 1.8ghz to 2.2ghz