Okay, so I'm looking at replacing my infamous and trusty 800mHz beast at home. It ran XP fine for about six or seven years (only formatted once) until I got a new resource-hungry anti-virus program.

- I am only looking for the box itself. I have all the peripherals.
- Dual core, not quad.
- Video card doesn't need to be good. I don't play games much, and all the ones I do want to play are old, like Doom 3. In fact, an onboard card will probably suffice.

So basically I am looking for your recommendations on a good processor, fan, power supply, motherboard, RAM and a nice big hard drive (1TB please). Links would be helpful, I am going to purchase all the parts myself and build it.

Thank you in advance.

___________________
Mix archive | Melbourne club guide

quote:

Originally posted by Domesticated until I got a new resource-hungry anti-virus program.

dump Norton/Mcafee

I would never buy them in the first place, they are awful.

I am using Bit Defender.

___________________
Mix archive | Melbourne club guide

quote:

Originally posted by Domesticated I am using Bit Defender.

hmm never heard of it, i use kaspersky lol

quote:

Originally posted by Domesticated In fact, an onboard card will probably suffice.

ewwwwww!

___________________

Given your needs, your selection doesn't matter in the least (today's low end is more than enough for an XP system). Just get the cheapest dual-core system you can find, with onboard sound and video, and since you're using XP, provide it with a juicy 2GB of RAM (1GB if you want to cheap out). You don't game, so nothing else matters. Spend the money on some big HDDs.

btw: ignoring their horrible driver support, Intel's GMA offerings aren't bad for a non-gamer.

Last edited by Turbonium on Nov-02-2009 at 01:18

call krypton up!

___________________

quote:

Posted by Omega_Blue that's it, fuck it i'm quitting ta forever. fuck if i'm gonna get trolled by fucking yukii. dammit!

quote:

Originally posted by Turbonium Given your needs, your selection doesn't matter in the least (today's low end is more than enough for an XP system). Just get the cheapest dual-core system you can find, with onboard sound and video, and since you're using XP, provide it with a juicy 2GB of RAM (1GB if you want to cheap out). You don't game, so nothing else matters. Spend the money on some big HDDs. btw: ignoring their horrible driver support, Intel's GMA offerings aren't bad for a non-gamer.

Is 2GB of RAM respectable these days?

The computer I am on at the moment has 2GB and it is 18 months old now. I thought the standard would be 4GB by now?

Also, it's annoying, I want to upgrade to Windows 7 but I'm reluctant to do that when I know there will be 3 service packs before they get it right.

___________________
Mix archive | Melbourne club guide

2gb isn't enough. I'm running 6 and often wish I had more.

4 is the minimum.

Don't go for an onboard graphics card. I'll ask up my tech friends for a really good low end system recommendations for parts.

What's your price cap for all of this?

___________________
Quarantine Classics Brunello di Montalcino (In Transit) Edition [Progressive Classics] (August 2020)
Quarantine Classics - Puligny-Montrachet Edition [Progressive Classics] (April 2020)
What Is Progressive Anyways? [Progressive House Classics] (November 2019)

quote:

Originally posted by Lews 2gb isn't enough. 4 is the minimum.

I lol'd.

quote:

Originally posted by Domesticated Is 2GB of RAM respectable these days? The computer I am on at the moment has 2GB and it is 18 months old now. I thought the standard would be 4GB by now? Also, it's annoying, I want to upgrade to Windows 7 but I'm reluctant to do that when I know there will be 3 service packs before they get it right.

Who cares what's respectable? Don't be a consumerist sheep. The only thing that matters is what you're doing with your system. If you're running XP and surfing the Net, then...

I didn't see that you said you play Doom 3, in which case you should get a dedicated GPU, but honestly, any midrange CPU should do for older games. I used to play Doom 3 on a 2.4GHz P4 and 9600 Pro at around 30-35FPS I believe, and that is old hardware.

If you're going Windows 7 though, that changes everything altogether. And Windows 7 is good from what I hear - it's no Vista. It works fine out of the box, and by SP1, it should be golden.

Last edited by Turbonium on Nov-02-2009 at 01:32

quote:

Originally posted by Domesticated Is 2GB of RAM respectable these days? The computer I am on at the moment has 2GB and it is 18 months old now. I thought the standard would be 4GB by now? Also, it's annoying, I want to upgrade to Windows 7 but I'm reluctant to do that when I know there will be 3 service packs before they get it right.

its rather pointless having more than 2Gb if you're only using XP, and not playing games.

quote:

Originally posted by Lews 2gb isn't enough.

bollocks.

___________________

quote:

Originally posted by Lews 2gb isn't enough. I'm running 6 and often wish I had more. 4 is the minimum. Don't go for an onboard graphics card. I'll ask up my tech friends for a really good low end system recommendations for parts. What's your price cap for all of this?

Don't judge my needs by your own standards. I won't be doing video editing, music production or anything that requires near that amount of RAM, however I just want to stay current. I've been running Ableton 6 on the 800mhZ computer for 2 years and it works fine, if a little slow.

I never asked for a 'low end' system either. I am just looking for something that's new and up to date but not top-end. On-board graphics card is fine, every computer I've ever owned has had one. Again, you are judging my requirements by your own standards.

I have no real price budget.

___________________
Mix archive | Melbourne club guide