Buying a computer

[Second Summer]

I'm in need of a new computer, and I'm probably looking for a desktop computer. It's been a while since last time ... What kind of hardware specifications are common these days? What should I be looking for?

I'm hoping to find a desktop computer that actually fits on top of my desk.

 

[AeryFairy]

We just bought a new desktop. When we do, we tend to go for something slightly more powerful than we need, so that it won't become outdated too quickly. It means spending a little more now, but it's worth it to get an extra couple of years out of it. This time around we went for 3TB of hard drive space (because we have a lot of digital media, 1TB should be more than enough for most people), 16GB RAM, and a 3.4GHz quad core processor.

And maybe measure your desk before buying one

 

[Second Summer]

Thanks Aery! Any particular graphics card?

 

[AeryFairy]

Nothing special, we're not huge desktop gamers (prefer consoles), so we spent more money on hard drive space and extra RAM than we did on the graphics. We got a mid-range GeForce GTX.

 

[das_nut]

What are you going to use the computer for? When are you planning to replace it again?

 

[Second Summer]

What are you going to use the computer for? When are you planning to replace it again?

Mostly I think I need a lot of RAM as I like to have a lot of tabs open in my browsers and also plan to do some development using a couple of rather bloated IDEs. Also curious about modern graphics cards that have good support for standards/APIs such as OpenGL or whatever is the best / more fashionable at this point in time ...

Edit: Also hoping to try out some virtual machines to run other operating systems / distros.

 

[Clueless Git]

Make sure you get a PC with a SSD (solid state hard drive) as it's primary hard drive IS.

The difference those things make to loading times is impressive at the least.

Trick is to keep your OS and proggies on that and have your data on a secondary drive of suitable size.

I play high end games (Black Ops) and run a business that includes webgraphic design on a 5yr old DellXP with 4 GB Ram and a midrange graphics card (GTX650Ti), btw.

On the basis of that I doubt the wisdom of spending a single penny more than you need to on processor power and much above 8GB RAM.

 

[Second Summer]

Make sure you get a PC with a SSD (solid state hard drive) as it's primary hard drive IS.

The difference those things make to loading times is impressive at the least.

Yes, I've read impressive things about those, but didn't realise it was very common yet.

Trick is to keep your OS and proggies on that and have your data on a secondary drive of suitable size.

Yes, definitely the OS, or as much of it as possible.

I play high end games (Black Ops) and run a business that includes webgraphic design on a 5yr old DellXP with 4 GB Ram and a midrange graphics card (GTX650Ti), btw.

On the basis of that I doubt the wisdom of spending a single penny more than you need to on processor power and much above 8GB RAM.

I remember a time when 4 MB were considered a lot of RAM... (Or indeed 64/128/512 KB...) Anyway, OSes change and get bigger over time though.

 

[AeryFairy]

Reminds me of this:

 

[shyvas]

Yes, I've read impressive things about those, but didn't realise it was very common yet.


Yes, definitely the OS, or as much of it as possible.

I remember a time when 4 MB were considered a lot of RAM... (Or indeed 64/128/512 KB...) Anyway, OSes change and get bigger over time though.

The above sounds like Double Dutch to me.

 

[Clueless Git]

Yes, I've read impressive things about those, but didn't realise it was very common yet.

Around £100 I paid for mine, IS. Wouldn't mind betting that prices have dropped since then either.

Entirely not un-affordable!

I remember a time when 4 MB were considered a lot of RAM... (Or indeed 64/128/512 KB...) Anyway, OSes change and get bigger over time though.

Don't!

I remember my teccie mate presenting me with a gift of a 12mb HDD when I first started using 'pooters.

We were literaly crying with laughter as we tried to think of ways as to how, in one single lifetime, we could ever possibly fill it.

 

[Clueless Git]

On the basis of that I doubt the wisdom of spending a single penny more than you need to on processor power and much above 8GB RAM.

BUT!

On the basis that the most 'bang for your bucks', how long you'se gonna keep it for, benefits of a one stop warranty*, and future resale value are all factors too; I just bought this 'Bad Boy' from Dell Outlet.

(*Avoids the old "It may look like the HDD we sold you has failed but we'll blame any/every unrelated component you didn't buy off us instead" malarky.)

Alienware Aurora R4

• Processor: Intel® Core™ i7-4930K (12M Cache, up to 3.90 GHz)
  
  
• Graphics: 3 GB NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780 GDDR5
  
  
• 16 GB Memory (4x4GB) 1600MHz DDR3 Non-ECC RDIMM
  
  
• Hard Drive : 256 GB Mobility Solid State
  
  
• Additional Hard Drive : 1 TB 3.5inch SATA III (7200 RPM)
  
  
• English Genuine Windows 7 SP1 Home Premium (64Bit OS)
  
  
• 24X DVD/CDRW Combo Drive
  
  
• Dell Wireless 1540 802.11a/n Dual Band. High Speed Wi-Fi
  
• Matte Black 875W Chassis
• Power Supply: 250V AC Adapter

 

[Nightshade]

BUT!

On the basis that the most 'bang for your bucks', how long you'se gonna keep it for, benefits of a one stop warranty*, and future resale value are all factors too; I just bought this 'Bad Boy' from Dell Outlet.

(*Avoids the old "It may look like the HDD we sold you has failed but we'll blame any/every unrelated component you didn't buy off us instead" malarky.)

Alienware Aurora R4

• Processor: Intel® Core™ i7-4930K (12M Cache, up to 3.90 GHz)
  
  
• Graphics: 3 GB NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780 GDDR5
  
  
• 16 GB Memory (4x4GB) 1600MHz DDR3 Non-ECC RDIMM
  
  
• Hard Drive : 256 GB Mobility Solid State
  
  
• Additional Hard Drive : 1 TB 3.5inch SATA III (7200 RPM)
  
  
• English Genuine Windows 7 SP1 Home Premium (64Bit OS)
  
  
• 24X DVD/CDRW Combo Drive
  
  
• Dell Wireless 1540 802.11a/n Dual Band. High Speed Wi-Fi
  
• Matte Black 875W Chassis
• Power Supply: 250V AC Adapter

Ugh. I forgot that Alienware was absorbed by Dell. Hope your system works better than the average Dell does.

 

[ledboots]

Good on avoiding windows 8.

 

[Danielle]

What's so bad about Windows 8? Other than being confusing at first.

 

[Envy]

It has worse compatibility with certain programs than 7, from what I've heard.

 

[Danielle]

Hmm.. Is that true?
I haven't experienced that problem myself.
Maybe I don't download enough programs

 

[ledboots]

What's so bad about Windows 8? Other than being confusing at first.

I hate it. My big pretty laptop looks like a giant phone, so I just gave it to my daughter. I like my little old netbook with kubuntu.

 

[nigel1]

What's so bad about Windows 8? Other than being confusing at first.

It's been criticized of being a tablet OS squeezed onto a PC. I definitely agree. Too many changes for no apparent reason. Too mouse unfriendly.

 

[das_nut]

I just throw classic shell on Windows 8 - problem solved!