2000 euro to spend HELP!!!!

zonic man

Hi guys,
I'am a total computer donk, i have 2000 to spend on a computer and two monitors. It will be mostly used for playing poker on,so something fast needed,also i will be storing a large database, if that makes sense?!?
Will need to watch videos and play the odd game or two, Any help on what products too purchase i would be grateful.
Self build not an option.
thank you.

StopNotWorking

Good grief 2 grand! you get a computer with a great graphics card and 5TB of storage for less then 1200..

I have college work though so I'll have to stay away from this for a while.

zonic man

Thats sounds about right as i would be looking to spend about 800 on two monitors,any hints on make or spec of computer needed?

sdanseo

zonic man wrote: »

Self build not an option.

How come? I had the same attiude till' I said I'd give it a go. Read some tutorials, bought the book, then took the plunge - I'll never buy a prebuilt PC for myself again. Mainly on money grounds, it can work out so much cheaper to build.

zonic man wrote: »

Hi guys,
I'am a total computer donk, i have 2000 to spend on a computer and two monitors. It will be mostly used for playing poker on,so something fast needed,also i will be storing a large database, if that makes sense?!?
Will need to watch videos and play the odd game or two, Any help on what products too purchase i would be grateful.

What sort of games?
What size monitors?
What software running the DB? MySQL etc.

I reckon a Q6700, at least 4GB DDR3 and a decent GFX card along the lines of GTX260/HD4850 or HD4870 will do you fine for what you described, with a couple of 1TB Spinpoints plugged in the back. Such a setup would cost under a grand to build, including 2x19" monitors. Obviously if you want to spend €800 on these a better GFX again would look better - but for "the odd game" I reckon you'd be wasting your money

To buy same would probably be a tad more expensive, especially if you don't like Ankermann - Komplett will build for you as will hardwareversand relatively cheap or even free IIRC.

requiem1

Intel Core i7-920 Tray 8192Kb, LGA1366
ASUS P6T SE, Sockel 1366, ATX, DDR3
6GB-Triple-Kit Corsair TR3X6G1600C8D DDR3, CL8
Club3D HD4770 512MB DDR5, ATI Radeon HD4770, PCI-Express X2
Samsung HD103UJ 1TB 32MB SATA II X2
Pioneer BDC-S02BK Blu-Ray ROM, SATA schwarz
Cooler Master HAF 932 schwarz, ohne Netzteil
Seasonic M12-700 80Plus, 700Watt

Total Price 1256.66 excluding delivery incl. tax

I'd advise a third party cooler but you won't get a great one on hardwareversand (where i price this)

zonic man

Well this is what i ended up buying

Studio XPS™ -(D05SX01)
Intel® Core™ i7 Processor 920 (2.66GHz, 8MB cache, 4.8GT/sec), Genuine Windows Vista® Home Premium SP1 64Bit - English
€ 1,061.79
1
€ 1,061.79
Item
Description
Base
Intel® Core™ i7 Processor 920 (2.66GHz, 8MB cache, 4.8GT/sec)
Memory
4096MB (4x1024) 1067MHz DDR3 Dual Channel
Keyboard
Dell Multimedia Wireless Keyboard & Mouse Black - UK/Irish
Monitor
Display Not Included
Video Card
256MB ATI® Radeon™ HD 3450 graphics card
Hard Drive
750GB Serial ATA (7200RPM) Hard Drive
Floppy Drives and Additional Storage Devices
19-in-1 Media Card Reader
Microsoft Operating System
Genuine Windows Vista® Home Premium SP1 64Bit - English
Mouse
Mouse Included in Wireless Keyboard and Mouse option
Optical Devices
16X DVD+/- RW Optical Drive (DVD & CD read and write)
Sound Cards
Integrated HDA 7.1 Dolby Digital Audio
Speakers
No Speakers (Speakers are required to hear audio from your system)
Wireless Networking
Internal Enhanced Wireless 802.11n PCIe Card - Europe
Shipping Documents
English Documentation with UK/IRL Power Cord
Gedis Bundle Reference
D05SX01
Standard Warranty
1 Year Premium Warranty Support
Enhanced Service Packs
3 Year Premium Warranty Support
Order Information
XPS Desktop 430 Order - Ireland
Dell System Media Kit
Resource DVD - (Diagnostics & Drivers)
Accidental Damage Support
No Accidental Damage Support
Microsoft Application Software
Microsoft® Works 9 - English
Protect your new PC
McAfee® Security Centre - 36 Month Protection - English
Total excl. VAT VAT Rate VAT Total incl. VAT
Sub-total(s): € 1,061.79 21.50% € 228.28 € 1,290.07
Delivery Charge: € 24.69 21.50% € 5.31 € 30.00
Total Price: € 1,086.48 € 233.59 € 1,320.07


Also two monitors:
2,00 PCS 364179 Samsung 24" LCD Syncmaster T240HD,
1920x1200, DVI/HDMI/VGA, 10000:1, 5ms

2,00 PCS 107052 Power Cable PC 2m (UK)
w/fuse



Total Order Amount:


Net 584,36
Freight 9,47
VAT 21,50 % 127,67
Order Total 721,50


Does this look ok?

TerrorFirmer

Seems like a waste to me (2K for that machine and the 2 monitors is very expensive), when companies like HWV will build your chosen components for a few euro. It's - the machine you've bought - utterly shit for games by the way, so you'd have to replace that card with a new one straight away for that purpose. Well. Unless you like playing new games at 1280x1024 low settings stretched on a 1920x1200 monitor of course. :P

Effluo

zonic man wrote: »

Does this look ok?

NO!!!! Send it back! quickly!

sdanseo

OP, cancel that order sharpish. You may as well have set fire to the money.

PLEASE don't ask for our opinion and then feck off and do your own thing, it's unbelieveably annoying and disrespectful.

godskitchen

zonic man wrote: »

Hi guys,
I'am a total computer donk

Man o man o man, if only you had waited, someone on here would have pretty much walked you through every stage from where to look, to what to avoid......and it was have all been free advice from people who know what they are talking about.

I got a system that is 18months old for E400 and it would kill what you have.

I would have sold it to you for E1000 if you had asked nicely.

ve

The way I look at it OP is that you have every right to ask for advise on here and not take it if you choose not to. Another thing I have to say in your defence is that you did say "self build" is not an option, so there is no point any of us throwing component specs on the table and expecting you to take us seriously. I find these days the people that know components, tend to build themselves, and the rest just walk in a hope to christ that some sales pitch doesn't make a mockery out of them.

There was a time when the likes of Dell offered value, but these days building yourself definately has its merits when it comes to value for money. All you need to do is have someone build it for you. What I suggest you do is find someone on here (that is conveniently located nearby) that would help you pick components and then put the system together for you. €2000 on a computer these days is a lot of money. I think you could put a few quid in a local's pocket and come out with a much better machine for the money.

My personal opinion is that if the likes of Dell are going to chop a load of jobs in Ireland, hike up their prices, give crap after sales support, then off with them. Building computers is not rocket science and there are thousands of people on boards alone that can do it, I say let them do something for you and reap the rewards from local talent.

godskitchen

ve wrote: »

The way I look at it OP is that you have every right to ask for advise on here and not take it if you choose not to. Another thing I have to say in your defence is that you did say "self build" is not an option, so there is no point any of us throwing component specs on the table and expecting you to take us seriously. I find these days the people that know components, tend to build themselves, and the rest just walk in a hope to christ that some sales pitch doesn't make a mockery out of them.

There was a time when the likes of Dell offered value, but these days building yourself definately has its merits when it comes to value for money. All you need to do is have someone build it for you. What I suggest you do is find someone on here (that is conveniently located nearby) that would help you pick components and then put the system together for you. €2000 on a computer these days is a lot of money. I think you could put a few quid in a local's pocket and come out with a much better machine for the money.

My personal opinion is that if the likes of Dell are going to chop a load of jobs in Ireland, hike up their prices, give crap after sales support, then off with them. Building computers is not rocket science and there are thousands of people on boards alone that can do it, I say let them do something for you and reap the rewards from local talent.

Plenty of online sellers of components will build the PC for you at no extra cost.

Coming on the internet and asking advice, being given good sound advice and then coming back to tell us he went and did something totally opposite.....well he deserves all the flaming he gets as far as I am concerned.

I get pretty peed off with people using forums as personal research centers and giving nothing back, the one exception I make is with PC's. I am a seasoned builder and even I find if I am out of the loop for a few weeks things have moved on. What I take issue with is the word DELL.

kaimera

2k and no ssd?

fail.

Hagar

All these high spec video cards and huge flats screens and nobody suggested a Blu-Ray drive?
I would have squeezed one in somewhere, but I'm no expert.

/Edit/ My bad I missed it in requiem1's post.:o

Hitman Actual

kaimera wrote: »

2k and no ssd?

fail.

Even worse when you consider that some online poker applications do a hell of a lot of reading/writing to databases. A lot of poker pro's are switching to SSD-based systems. Opportunity missed by OP in general with that build.

PogMoThoin

Bit of a waste for just playin poker, it'll not play games at any detail

godskitchen

Hitman Actual wrote: »

Even worse when you consider that some online poker applications do a hell of a lot of reading/writing to databases. A lot of poker pro's are switching to SSD-based systems. Opportunity missed by OP in general with that build.

Why do they do that?

Just to add some more, if they do indeed do a lot of reading/writing you would be looking at a SLC SSD, not MLC.

Hitman Actual

godskitchen wrote: »

Why do they do that?

Just to add some more, if they do indeed do a lot of reading/writing you would be looking at a SLC SSD, not MLC.

Any knowledgeable pro/semi-pro uses tracking software (Holdem Manager or Pokertracker) on their own play and on the play of everyone else at the table, where for every hand played, the DB is updated. Serious players will be playing 6-16 tables at a time, with 6-9 players at each table, and many will play 8+ hour sessions, which is a lot of DB accesses. The player can then use the stats to either gain information on an opponents likely actions, or analyse their own play later on.

About the SLC-MLC issue, yeah, I was aware of that, but most poker players are computer idiots, so I'm sure many aren't.

Slutmonkey57b

2k on a computer to play online POKER?

Somebody is taking the piss.

Also, Dell ripped you off like a mother****er and you deserve it.

You didn't even have to ask us, you could have gone here and you would have been given a step by step guide on which computer is right for you in terms of your online poker needs.

Go for the top of the range model and you'd have been able to run Minesweeper in the background AS WELL.

AlmightyCushion

Slutmonkey57b wrote: »

2k on a computer to play online POKER?

Somebody is taking the piss.

Also, Dell ripped you off like a mother****er and you deserve it.

You didn't even have to ask us, you could have gone here and you would have been given a step by step guide on which computer is right for you in terms of your online poker needs.

Go for the top of the range model and you'd have been able to run Minesweeper in the background AS WELL.

That link is brilliant. Cheers, man.

Hitman Actual

Slutmonkey57b wrote: »

2k on a computer to play online POKER?

Somebody is taking the piss.

It's not as absurd as you think. It's a profession for some people, and an extremely well paying profession in some cases as well (there are quite a few extremely good pro's over on the poker forum). A good system for online poker might not need a lot of processing power re. CPU, MB and RAM, but you could still be talking two or three 1920x1200 24" monitors, and maybe an SSD (or ideally two set up in a RAID mirror, with another 500GB drive to back up your databases). You also need a good robust gaming mouse that you're comfortable with, and a decent keyboard as well. It really wouldn't be hard to break the €2K barrier, tbh.

Slutmonkey57b

Are you joking? The equipment to run a setup like that , even with 2 monitors, should be less than half what he spent.

AND he was ripped off on what he did get.

A "good robust mouse"? Oooooh, hard to find something suitable there for less than 100 bills.

For the record:
Processor: €60.
Mobo: €60
SSD (assuming you think you need one which you don't since they don't perform well at frequent small random writes which internet browsers are all about): €140
1TB hard drive for that "massive" poker database: €90
Graphics card capable of running that complicated poker game: €50
4 gigs of ram: €40.
PSU: €40
Case: €40
3 monitors: 3x €250 = €750.

Total: 1,270 and that's overstating the case with an unnecessary SSD and 3 24" monitors - could go 19" or 22" just as easily.

Hitman Actual

Slutmonkey57b wrote: »

Are you joking? The equipment to run a setup like that , even with 2 monitors, should be less than half what he spent.

AND he was ripped off on what he did get.

A "good robust mouse"? Oooooh, hard to find something suitable there for less than 100 bills.

For the record:
Processor: €60.
Mobo: €60
SSD (assuming you think you need one which you don't since they don't perform well at frequent small random writes which internet browsers are all about): €140
1TB hard drive for that "massive" poker database: €90
Graphics card capable of running that complicated poker game: €50
4 gigs of ram: €40.
PSU: €40
Case: €40
3 monitors: 3x €250 = €750.

Total: 1,270 and that's overstating the case with an unnecessary SSD and 3 24" monitors - could go 19" or 22" just as easily.

With respect, you clearly have no idea how serious, and in some cases professional, online poker actually is. Did you read my post above (#18)? Using SSD's has nothing to do with the poker client, it's to do with the databases that poker players use to track their opponents game and their own game. And ideally, if I was playing seriously, I'd have 2x128Gb SLC drives set up in a RAID mirror config. Regarding the use of three 24" monitors, I'm talking about pro's who will be multi-tabling anything up to 16 tables at a time. Three monitors is important to be sure of doing this without overlap (some sites don't have re-sizeable tables). For the mouse, all I'm talking about is having a decent quality gaming mouse that you're comfortable with- you could be playing 8hours+ per day in what can be an extremely stressful occupation.

Admitttedly, I haven't been following prices of late since my last build, but I assumed that 24" monitors were still around the €400 mark, and two 128Gb SLC SSD's would cost at least €600, so perhaps I'm overestimating the cost now. But that doesn't take away from the fact that a good system for online poker for a serious player can require some relatively expensive parts. [Obviously Im not talking about the mope who plays for a few hours in the evening or after a few beers.]

Edit to add: I know the OP was ripped off, I wasn't trying to argue his case at all. It's a horrible, horrible, system for the price.

Slutmonkey57b

You seem to assume I'm arguing that professional poker players don't take their game seriously.

I'm not.

I'm stating that the technical requirements to run, for example, 16 online poker tables are effectively minimal in terms of today's hardware. Firstly, it's not a "real time" system so there is no hardware pressure. Secondly, the databases involved are trivial and performance will be far more limited by the consumer-level database structure itself or the app they use to access it, than it would be by the hardware.

These guys aren't running fluid dynamics from an Oracle system here.

Hitman Actual

Slutmonkey57b wrote: »

You seem to assume I'm arguing that professional poker players don't take their game seriously.

Well, yes, that's exactly what I thought. The sarcasm of your post led me to believe that, and pissed me off at the same time.

Slutmonkey57b wrote: »

I'm stating that the technical requirements to run, for example, 16 online poker tables are effectively minimal in terms of today's hardware. Firstly, it's not a "real time" system so there is no hardware pressure. Secondly, the databases involved are trivial and performance will be far more limited by the consumer-level database structure itself or the app they use to access it, than it would be by the hardware.

There's a lot of truth in what you're saying here, especially in that the apps themselves can be the main problem, but nevertheless players do see improvements in the app responsiveness (e.g. with heads-up displays updating, doing hand imports, running queries on certain data they want to analyse, etc) by having higher performing storage media for their DB's. 10K raptors have been the preferred drive for a while now, but I recall some forum posts about players experimenting with systems with 15K SAS drives. Lately, people have been experimenting with SSDs, with mixed results- some are reporting big improvements, while other are reporting no improvements at all. I get your point that this might not be directly related to DB accesses, but the fact that there is an improvement is all that matters. Like any other business or enterprise, poorly performing systems hit the poker players hourly rate.

Also, like I said, monitor setups are very important, and here are a few examples that I'm talking about: Example 1; Example 2; Example 3.