Is this computer a good deal?

Wardad · #1 February 28th, 2003, 10:22 PM

GreyBeard,

There is a PC Club near me. They seem to stock good stuff. Their Duron and Athlon systems seem good to me. I wish the Web Site specified the Hard Drive and motherboard brand name, and gave more info on Duron integrated graphics. I can always stop by and look at them or phone them.

I have not bought a PC since 95. But I have upgraded the hard drive twice, the mother board thrice, the sound card twice, the mouse 4 times, the keyboard once, the CD thrice, the CD-RW once, the floppy once, the monitor once, the case once, the power supply once, the ram thrice, the speakers once, the modem thrice, the operating system thrice, and the video card 4 times.
I still have the original power cord and desk. Next month the desk goes.

Greybeard · #2 February 28th, 2003, 10:30 PM

I can get the Athlon processor with this deal too. I'm not sure how much more it will be, but I agree that's a better processor.

Is there anything else I should consider as a minimum to include? Or, is the rest of the system adequate in your opinion?

What I don't want to do is buy a computer at BestBuy or CompUSA. I could also upgrade components in my existing tower, but the cost is almost as much as a new system at this point.

I appreciate all of the advise you experts can offer...Greybeard

Zarix · #3 February 28th, 2003, 10:43 PM

For home use, internet and word prosessing your components are fine. Games on the other hand demand more. A good 3d card costs about 100 dollars but it won't be very good after a year. With a 166 MHz you aren't currently playing any new games so a 3d card might not be worth the money for you. If you want to be on the safe side make sure that your motherboard has a AGP slot with 4x speed. That way you can decide about 3d cards later.

One thing I suggest you change is the hard drive. 40 GB hard drive costs only a little more than a 20 GB one. In a local shop the cheapest 20 GB drive is 74 euros and the cheapest 40 GB drive 84 euros.

minipol · #4 February 28th, 2003, 11:04 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Greybeard:

quote:
Originally posted by Cirvol:
lol, if you're serious... and you can trust this guy - then its a good deal

i assume that cost is a big issue, otherwise you'd be getting a new, real rig?

its amazing what you can get for 500 bux these days - nice new system - with decent cpu and ram etc etc

I bought top of the line in 1996, for $2700!!! This time, I just want something adequate for home use, internet, word-processing, games, etc.

I trust Andy; he seems to know his stuff and has bought from this company before. However, I have only worked at this company for 10 weeks and don't know him real well.

Greybeard

For this purpose, it would be enough provided you are not interested in heavy duty graphical games because that integrated graphics unit will not like those games.

rdouglass · #5 February 28th, 2003, 11:05 PM

I have purchased a lot of very reasonably-priced hardware from TigerDirect. Mostly new - some refurbs. Very reliable, well known, and a good selection of gamer hardware.

Usually need to provide your own OS. I'm a satisfied customer at least 30 times over...

Spoo · #6 February 28th, 2003, 11:47 PM

edit: hehe, forgot to read second page of this post. nevermind.

[ February 28, 2003, 21:49: Message edited by: Spoo ]

Gryphin · #7 March 1st, 2003, 12:56 AM

I run a 600 Mhz system with 128MB RAM, a 20 gig hardrive, on board video, ...
SE IV is the most intensive thing I do. It does not give me enough time to refill my coffee during a mid game turn resolution.
So unless you are doing graphics intensive play or work I'd say those specs are more than enough.

The other programs that make me wait are:
Doga L2, (CPU / Graphic Card intensive), DavigG's Modder program when looking at Quad Mod systems, (hard drive and memory intensive), and any large program while it is loading.

I can't speak for the qualty of the components you mention.