Advice On New PC Please

jonnner

I was hoping you guys could help me choose a new P.C;
It will be mainly used for online Poker and I have 2 Dell 2001FP's to connect to it.
I would also like to store Music and Video on it but it won't be used for gaming.
I don't want to spend more than i have to and I found this below from Dell for €500 (ex VAT,which i won't have to pay);

Dimension 3100
Base Intel® Pentium® 4 Processor 630 with HT technology (3.00GHz, 800MHz fsb, 2MB cache)
Microsoft Operating System Genuine Windows® XP Professional, SP2
Memory 1024MB Dual Channel DDR2 533MHz (2x512) Memory
Hard Drive 250GB 7200rpm SATA Hard Drive #1
CD/DVD Drives 48X/32X DVD/CDRW Combo Drive + DVD 5.1 Power Software + Sonic DigitalMedia v.7
Sound Cards Integrated 2.0 Channel High Definition Audio edit
Video Card Integrated Intel® Graphics Media Accelerator 900


Would this come with an Ethernet port? I use NTL broadband at the moment through an Ethernet cable.
I looked for info on the graphics card to see about dual Monitors and all I can find is that it has 2 SVDO outputs, is that the same as DVI?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated:)

8T8

Intel's Serial Video Digital Out is essentially a means of out putting a DVI signal via the integrated graphics through the PCI-Express port with an add-in card like one of these. It's not very common and is a cost saving exercise so they don't have to put a DVI port on the motherboard.

In the Dell Dimension 3100's case it comes with a single VGA output and no PCI-E x16 port for a graphics card but yes it does come with an integrated ethernet port.

If you do go with the Dell check out the Dell De-Crapifier for purging the system of the bundled crap that comes with it.

jonnner

Thanks 8T8,
But i can't open that link so i'm still confused about the graphics card.
As you can see i haven't got a clue about computers.:o
The main purpose of the P.C is to run the two Monitors.Should I try somewhere else instead of Dell?

8T8

Which link do you mean the one in black that was just underlining to hammer home the point the Dell 3100 cant use add-in graphics cards so dual monitors is not possible with that system.

The lowest end Dell that has a PCI-E x16 slot which is what a PCI-Express graphics card plugs into is the Dell Dimension 5150, you'll need a graphics card for dual monitor support.

The one going for €879 will fit your needs the graphics card that comes with it has one VGA output and one DVI output.


However if you want an alternate cheaper option Komplett sell a very cheap system for €533 which will do everything you need plus it has the slot for a graphics card however you will also need to increase the system memory as well. So if you increase the RAM to 512MB and purchase a graphics card separately like this one the total should be around €606.

All of the above have a graphics card with 1 VGA and 1 DVI output, if you want dual DVI outputs for your Dell 2001FP displays this graphics card for €95 will do the job. That last one isnt actually in stock but if you need it now then you may as well pay a little more and get something a bit better for €120 get this one.

jpboyne

Video Card Integrated Intel® Graphics Media Accelerator 900 theres your graphics, its integrated into the chipset i.e the motherboard

jpboyne

http://www.intel.com/products/chipsets/gma900/index.htm

Wertz

jpboyne wrote:

Video Card Integrated Intel® Graphics Media Accelerator 900 theres your graphics, its integrated into the chipset i.e the motherboard

The Intel 900 has ONE VGA output and the 3100 does not have a facility to fit a GPU card with multiple outputs, therefore it can't support dual displays.

Something like the 5150 has a dedicated GPU card with both VGA and DVI ports;



To the OP; why not try buying 2nd hand, something mid level with an AGP card (or slot)?
2-3 yr old PCs go for next to nothing with new hardware so relatively cheap. Since you're not going to be taxing the system with heavy appliactions or games, why spend too much?

jonnner

Thanks for the advice guys.
I think i will go with a Dimension 5150.
I've noticed Dell sell slightly damaged units from their outlet store on ebay.
Is it o.k to buy these?
I'm lookin at this:

5150 (slightly scratched),
P4 3.00Ghz,
2048MB DDR400 (2 x 1024),
250GB,
ATI Radeon X600 256MB,
XP Media Centre

Highest bid is €405 at the moment and it closes in 24hours.

At first i thought i should just buy the cheapest thing to run dual monitors,
but seeing as i spend alot of time using my computer i should buy something half decent. i would like to watch T.V on it also.

Any thoughts?

8T8

jonnner wrote:

Thanks for the advice guys.
I think i will go with a Dimension 5150.
I've noticed Dell sell slightly damaged units from their outlet store on ebay.
Is it o.k to buy these?
I'm lookin at this:

5150 (slightly scratched),
P4 3.00Ghz,
2048MB DDR400 (2 x 1024),
250GB,
ATI Radeon X600 256MB,
XP Media Centre

Highest bid is €405 at the moment and it closes in 24hours.

At first i thought i should just buy the cheapest thing to run dual monitors,
but seeing as i spend alot of time using my computer i should buy something half decent. i would like to watch T.V on it also.

Any thoughts?

That'll do the job just fine, in regards TV MCE requires special tuners not just any old one so if you want to watch TV through the XP MCE interface then you need one like this if the computer doesnt come with one.

jonnner

Thanks,
I just bid €450 on it but i'm not the highest bidder.
How much do you think its worth?

8T8

Honestly dont know, it's got higher specifications than the most cheap 5150 model Dell sell new.

jonnner

Ok, so i got the Dell 5150 today and I'm very happy with it:)
I downloaded a trial of Ultramon and its great but I have one problem;
I cannot stretch any video over the 2 monitors, you can only watch on one or the other.
I've tried DivX,VlC,media player and Winamp.
I can however get a screensaver and wallpaper two stretch over the 2.
I've searched allover the net and can't find a solution, any ideas?

Also if i buy a set of 5.1 speakers, will most have the correct connections
to connect to this machine? I will probably getting Creative speakers as a friend can get a great discount.

8T8

jonnner wrote:

Ok, so i got the Dell 5150 today and I'm very happy with it:)
I downloaded a trial of Ultramon and its great but I have one problem;
I cannot stretch any video over the 2 monitors, you can only watch on one or the other.
I've tried DivX,VlC,media player and Winamp.
I can however get a screensaver and wallpaper two stretch over the 2.
I've searched allover the net and can't find a solution, any ideas?

Also if i buy a set of 5.1 speakers, will most have the correct connections
to connect to this machine? I will probably getting Creative speakers as a friend can get a great discount.

Can't offer any advice about the video other than according to some info from the Ultramon site that sort of activity is not possible because of the video overlay, although why would you want to watch it over two displays wouldn't the frame of the displays put you off ?

As for audio see this guide on hooking up surround sound systems, even if you don't have the connections for the surround system you can still use it just not in 5.1 mode. Check the back of your computer to see what you have already.

TempestSabre

Incidentally you can add more monitors to nearly any system using PCI cards.
You don't need PCI-Express or AGP to do this.

Video over dual monitors
To do this you need to disable video overlays. Unfortunately you can't do this on Windows Media Edition.
http://www.realtimesoft.com/multimon/forum/messages.asp?Topic=5200&tmpl=UltraMon

Not sure if this does it. Matrox DualHead2Go
http://www.matrox.com/mga/offhome/dh2go/home.cfm

Windows Media Professional Exhibitor might help. Not used it myself.
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/forpros/encoder/utilities.aspx