New Poker system

valor

Im planning on buying a new computer for playing poker.
The basic requirements are an ability to run a database program called poker tracker and Run a good resolution on Dual 20" monitors. Graphics/hardrive space etc are all irrelevant. Ill also want a wireless card in the computer.

What should I go for [and where to get the monitors?]


Thanks

Gavin

{also posted on computers btw, if the mods feel it is inappropriate please delete..]

staringelf

if you can afford it, get a couple of dell flat panels - or if you're feeling especially frisky/rich go and get the new 30" dell flat panel - you'll only need one monitor then. its an absolute beast but i think its around 2k. you can 20 table at party on one monitor then if you were insane enough to want to try it.

if you do get the monitors from dell you might as well get the computer there as well - they'll probably give yoou some sort of a deal. i've got an dell XPS 600 and its sweet - never had any problems. any reputable brand name should be grand tho. spend the money on the monitors and get a decent , basic enough system. that would be my advice.

valor

Yeah im probably gonna go the dell route alright. Is 256MB ram and the basic processor enough to run party and poker tracker properly?
Thats the basic question

ocallagh

valor wrote:

Yeah im probably gonna go the dell route alright. Is 256MB ram and the basic processor enough to run party and poker tracker properly?
Thats the basic question

If i were u i'd get 528MB ram. From your specs I'd say your looking to spend under 1k. For an extra few hundred you'll get a decent PC. I know u won't need the memory/processing power now.. but I guarantee in a year or two 528MB will come in handy.. I have Prima Poker open along with Microsoft Word and Internet Explorer.... Between my system and those few applications 120MB RAM is gone. I use to run out of memory the whole time on my old PC (256MB RAM)..

Also, anti virus stuff will eat up your RAM..

In terms of a processor... Anything over 1GHZ is ok. (you should be able to get something with 1.5GHZ+ cheap enough)

Don't worry about hard disk space.... you can always buy more.. external hard drives (160GB) will set you back about 200.

€1200 should get you something decent.


ps: also, you can get some nice widescreen LCD monitors (26" and 24") for around 900.. from the likes of PC Store, www.komplett.ie, Dixons etc etc...

plonk

get 1 gb of ram and graphics card with 2 connections for monitors

valor

WIll a standard dell pc not allow 2 monitors to connect? Why do i need 1 gb ram?

plonk

basically 1gb is said to be the right amount. you always have extra ram incase of emergency. You dont want to have your computer crashing when an antivirus scan comes up especially if your playing poker.
Im not to sure about standard dells if they connect 2 monitors or not.Depends on the graphics card really

BrokenArrows

ocallagh wrote:

If i were u i'd get 528MB ram.

Its not possible to get 528MB of ram. You prob mean 512MB

Nalced_irl

valor wrote:

WIll a standard dell pc not allow 2 monitors to connect? Why do i need 1 gb ram?

I dont think most Dell computers have a graphics card with 2 monitor inputs. If it comes with the integrated graphics then it doesnt allow for it as far as i know, which most do come with apart from the dearer computers. You can pick up a graphics card that allows 2 inputs fairly cheap tho. For example, follow this link altho you can get them cheaper than this also if you shop around: http://komplett.ie/k/ki.asp?sku=318007
Im not sure where your based, but you can pick up a card like the one in the link in the computer shop that i use on Nutgrove Avenue in Rathfarnham for about €20 except its actually more powerful(not too sure about the quality but i had one and it worked perfectly for me. Only used it for a few months tho). They also do good deals on flat panel monitors. Cant remember the name of the place tho.

Hitman Actual

The question is, will you only ever need it for poker and low-level apps (browsing, word apps, etc), or do you ever intend to use it for gaming and such. If just for poker, then my recomendations:

Graphics cards for dual monitors: I think you'll need a PC with either AGP or PCI-extended slots; AFAIK, standard PCI graphics cards dont support dual monitors (does anyone know different?), or at least if they do they're hard to find. That could be a problem with going with Dell, as their lower-spec'd systems seem to only support PCI slots. For an AGP card, something as simple as this will do : http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.asp?sku=318274.
Just connect one monitor using the DVI input, and the other using the standard DSUB. If you want to be sure your PC is future-proof, then you should get a system which supports PCIe (x16), although I cant see AGP being outdated for a while yet.

For RAM, get 512MB minimum. Dont worry about things like anti-virus running in the background. This should be disabled anyway. (Just update once a week and do a scan).

For HDD, an 80GB IDE drive will do fine, unless you intend to store a lot of media from your cousin in America.

Monitors: Not really clued in on monitors (I just have a 22" CRT), but komplett have some good cheap 20" LCDs.

For wireless connection, just buy a PCI card or USB dongle for about €50.

Thats a fairly basic system, and I'd say you could buy all the parts separate and build a system cheaper than the price you'd pay in Dell.

Edit: For processor, even a low spec'd celeron should be fine.

ntlbell

BrokenArrows wrote:

Its not possible to get 528MB of ram. You prob mean 512MB

Sure it is,

he could get a 512mb and a 16mb dimm

Hitman Actual

ntlbell wrote:

Sure it is,

he could get a 512mb and a 16mb dimm

LOL

ocallagh

BrokenArrows wrote:

Its not possible to get 528MB of ram. You prob mean 512MB

close enough!!