New Computer What do you recommend?

[xboxrulz1405241485 0]

Well, my laptop's now officially "old". Despite being able to run a fair portion of "classic" games, Thief: Deadly Shadows proved too much for it. The video card was what let it down, which is hardly suprising. GeForce4 440 Go (64 MB) or somesuch, so it looks like it could be time for an upgrade.

 

Now, my question for you all would be: if this old thing's lasted so long at a reasonable rate (nothing top end, and I always turn the graphics down to near minimum to keep the frame rate above 20) and is able to play a fair portion of newish games without too much complaint (namely tolerably, and without too much stutter), how long do you reckon it would be before I would need to upgrade significant portions of a desktop computer to keep things running? Basically, I'm definitely considering going for a laptop of some description for the portability, but I'd rather not have to buy another one next year just to keep in step.

 

Sure, I realise that the computer industry's moving at a ridiculous rate, so within a year even a brand new desktop will probably be needing a few bits upgraded to keep with technology, but would laptops / desktops have any real differences in how quickly they need replacing? Laptops are notoriously difficult to upgrade, so if I buy a top end laptop now, thoughts on how well it would last me?

I suggest an important overhaul when you can't upgrade your RAM anymore. Actually, right now, you should head out and rebuild that machine. If you buy a new HDD, CPU, GPU (low gamer's grade) is about $400 CAD and you could still play games like Crysis with decent graphics and speed.

 

All CPU, GPU are AMD/ATI for that price.

 

xboxrulz

[xboxrulz1405241485 0]

Well, my laptop's now officially "old". Despite being able to run a fair portion of "classic" games, Thief: Deadly Shadows proved too much for it. The video card was what let it down, which is hardly suprising. GeForce4 440 Go (64 MB) or somesuch, so it looks like it could be time for an upgrade.

 

Now, my question for you all would be: if this old thing's lasted so long at a reasonable rate (nothing top end, and I always turn the graphics down to near minimum to keep the frame rate above 20) and is able to play a fair portion of newish games without too much complaint (namely tolerably, and without too much stutter), how long do you reckon it would be before I would need to upgrade significant portions of a desktop computer to keep things running? Basically, I'm definitely considering going for a laptop of some description for the portability, but I'd rather not have to buy another one next year just to keep in step.

 

Sure, I realise that the computer industry's moving at a ridiculous rate, so within a year even a brand new desktop will probably be needing a few bits upgraded to keep with technology, but would laptops / desktops have any real differences in how quickly they need replacing? Laptops are notoriously difficult to upgrade, so if I buy a top end laptop now, thoughts on how well it would last me?

I suggest an important overhaul when you can't upgrade your RAM anymore. Actually, right now, you should head out and rebuild that machine. If you buy a new HDD, CPU, GPU (low gamer's grade) is about $400 CAD and you could still play games like Crysis with decent graphics and speed.

 

All CPU, GPU are AMD/ATI for that price.

 

xboxrulz

[docduke 0]

I have friends with DELL computers, with paid support. They often ask me to come over when then need to call tech support. That is because:(1) I have spent time overseas, so I am better at understanding the "English" DELL's tech support folks speak, (2) I know enough about computers I can provide some protection. For example:One friend had a computer with dozens of viri in it (he had grandchildren who liked to download every file they could find, and try running them). We called tech DELL tech support. The guy we got said "No problem," and started explaining how to reformat the hard drive. He could not have been less interested in backing up all the data my friend had on the hard drive.We hung up on that "tech support person" and called back a few hours later. The next person explained how to do a "system refresh" that restored all system files to the factory originals (many of which are from DELL, not Microsoft), without deleting any data files.Much of a user's experience with DELL tech support depends on the luck of the draw -- what kind of knowledge the person you talk to actually has with the systems.

[FirefoxRocks 0]

Before you make an election take a look at this...Tablet PC vs Laptops
http://forums.xisto.com/no_longer_exists/

Tablet Kiosk
http://forums.xisto.com/no_longer_exists/

Best Regards.

Before you make an election

Sorry, but what are you talking about?

[xboxrulz1405241485 0]

Sorry, but what are you talking about?

I think it's just a poorly translated meaning your choice, he doesn't mean an actual election.

xboxrulz

[FirefoxRocks 0]

After a few months of checking the weekly offers from Dell, reading input from this topic, this topic as well as this topic, we have finally purchased our new desktop system. Here are the technical specifications on it:

Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo E8200 2.66 GHz
Hard Drive: 500 GB
Memory: 4 GB
Windows Vista Home Premium
TV Tuner (works really well!)
128 MB ATI Graphics Card
22" Widescreen monitor
3-Year Warranty

and all of the regular stuff (DVD burner, mouse, keyboard, etc, etc)

I also included in my accessories a Wireless-N router, and the total price before taxes was $1088. I thought that was very reasonable.
So any thoughts on it? It seems to work really well right now, and I love Windows Speech Recognition.

[Saint_Michael 3]

unless your running Vist x64 your wasting a gig of RAM, the gfx card is ok, but 256MB would seem a bit better especially if your running a TV tuner as well, but other then that you have good system.

[xboxrulz1405241485 0]

That's true, I have Windows Vista x64 and glad I do since I need to have those 4GB in my system, Vista is not optimal for games unless I have 4GB ... I would've suggested you to get a quad core with a little more money.xboxrulz

[FirefoxRocks 0]

That's true, I have Windows Vista x64 and glad I do since I need to have those 4GB in my system, Vista is not optimal for games unless I have 4GB ... I would've suggested you to get a quad core with a little more money.
xboxrulz

The quad-cores were cheaper, and from what I read in the Intel Processers post, I thought that people recommended that I get a dual-core processor. The speed was faster and the FSB was also faster so I thought Core 2 Duo was faster.

[xboxrulz1405241485 0]

The quad-cores were cheaper, and from what I read in the Intel Processers post, I thought that people recommended that I get a dual-core processor. The speed was faster and the FSB was also faster so I thought Core 2 Duo was faster.

It was? Alright, typically quad cores are better if you need to handle more threads. So for gaming, heavy multimedia editing or using virtual machines; a quad core is recommended. Else, I guess a dual core is good for your needs.

I'm not sure what you're using your computer for.

xboxrulz