New Computer

BryanD · 05-05-2008, 05:36 PM

Hey guys.

First post here and I was wondering if I could get your opinions on this computer I have decided to purchase.

Let me give you some background. Right now I have a 4.5 year old apple G4 laptop that has been great. It has been giving me a headache with the internet lately because of its old airport card, lack of upgrading ability, and range so it has been more or less useless to me. I don't use it for anything else anymore besides the internet, music and photos (which is more or less the same with PC and mac, at the level I do it at), I have decided to sell it to a cash4macs website for $300 and buy myself a desktop.

My primary use for the desktop is going to be surfing the web, checking mail and websites and what not, nothing fancy, storing music, storing photos/looking at photos and just a little bit of counter strike playing to kill an hour or two. I was wondering if you guys could check out the system that I just bought and let me know how it will run. I am thinking that counterstrike will be the only problem I will be having on it.

So here it goes:

Acer Aspire Athlon 64 Desktop Computer ($229.99 + $5 shipping)

Features:

* Processor: AMD Athlon 64 3800+ 2.4GHz
* Memory: 1GB DDR2
* Hard Drive: 160GB 7200rpm SATA
* Optical drive: DL DVD±RW
* Ethernet: Gigabit LAN
* Memory card Flash Reader
* Operating system: Windows Vista Home Basic

Supported Memory Cards:

* SmartMedia
* xD
* CompacFlash I/II
* SD
* MultiMedia Card
* Memory Stick/PRO

Front Panel I/O ports:

* Two (2) USB ports
* Mic in
* Headphone in

Rear I/O ports:

* Four (4) USB ports
* Two (2) PS/2 ports
* One (1) 9-pin Serial port
* One (1) 15-pin VGA port
* One (1) Parallel port
* One (1) IEEE 1394 FireWire port
* RJ-45 Ethernet port
* Six (6) Audio channels

In the box:

* Acer Aspire T180-UA380B Desktop Computer
* Speakers
* Keyboard
* Mouse
* Power Cable

Also, for immediate upgrades I bought:

* Crucial Ballistix 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model BL2KIT12864AA804
$ 60.99 - ($ 30.00 rebate)

* MSI NX8400GS-TD256E GeForce 8400GS 256MB 64-bit GDDR2 PCI Express x16 Video Card - Retail $ 35.99 ($ 10.00 rebate)

Total: $344.99 including shipping less $40.00 rebates
$304.99

Anyone want to put in their 2 cents? I probably could put a computer together, however, I am not an expert by any means so I think this pre-built one suits me nice for the price. I have already bought the stuff, I should of asked for advice first, however, it will be good to learn from mistakes. Anyone think CS will run decently on this computer?

Thanks in advance!

- Bryan

BryanD · 05-05-2008, 09:06 PM

Come on.... anyone? Looking for some feed back?

Alright setup? Waste of money? Okay for what I want to do?

Good price? Anything?

ramodkk · 05-05-2008, 09:08 PM

First of all, welcome to the forum

On topic:

Everything looks good for what you're going to use it for except the video card. A 8400GS is not going to let you play everything max on Counter Strike with good FPS. If I were you I'd return it and get a 7600GT/8600GT

CPTMuller · 05-05-2008, 09:35 PM

It will probably play CSS pretty well, that game is pretty old and the requirements to play it well are pretty low, though you definitely would be better off getting the 7600/8600GT (8600 for the obvious reasons).

cohen · 05-05-2008, 09:45 PM

i think for vista you would need dual core and need 2GB of ram.

otherwise i think it looks good.

g25racer · 05-05-2008, 10:00 PM

It looks alright but as cohen said you will want atleast a dual core and 2gb of ram for vista. Matter of the fact a single core and 1gb ram can barely handle anything now days! Save up more money and go for a HP! I got mine for $550 and it has 2gb ram, vista home prem, AMD X2 5200, 17" monitor and all brand new at CC! Crazy good price I found it for.

cohen · 05-05-2008, 10:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by g25racer

It looks alright but as cohen said you will want atleast a dual core and 2gb of ram for vista. Matter of the fact a single core and 1gb ram can barely handle anything now days! Save up more money and go for a HP! I got mine for $550 and it has 2gb ram, vista home prem, AMD X2 5200, 17" monitor and all brand new at CC! Crazy good price I found it for.

yes i say go for a HP they are much better!

g25racer · 05-05-2008, 10:14 PM

Yup! I am very happy with mine and having fun upgrading it. The only complaint I have is the case is kinda small but, isnt that always the case with prebuilts?

cohen · 05-05-2008, 10:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by g25racer

Yup! I am very happy with mine and having fun upgrading it. The only complaint I have is the case is kinda small but, isnt that always the case with prebuilts?

yes the cases are small..... but what else can you do.... buy another box and put it on in.... that is time and $$$

**oscaryu1** · 05-05-2008, 10:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CPTMuller

It will probably play CSS pretty well, that game is pretty old and the requirements to play it well are pretty low, though you definitely would be better off getting the 7600/8600GT (8600 for the obvious reasons).

"Recommend Requirements: DX9 GFX"... No matter how old those games are, they still are demanding. With my OC'd FX5200, I still cannot max out Halo 1! And the requirement is a GeForce 2

05-05-2008, 05:36 PM	#1 (permalink)
BryanD New Member Join Date: May 2008 Posts: 8	New Computer Hey guys. First post here and I was wondering if I could get your opinions on this computer I have decided to purchase. Let me give you some background. Right now I have a 4.5 year old apple G4 laptop that has been great. It has been giving me a headache with the internet lately because of its old airport card, lack of upgrading ability, and range so it has been more or less useless to me. I don't use it for anything else anymore besides the internet, music and photos (which is more or less the same with PC and mac, at the level I do it at), I have decided to sell it to a cash4macs website for $300 and buy myself a desktop. My primary use for the desktop is going to be surfing the web, checking mail and websites and what not, nothing fancy, storing music, storing photos/looking at photos and just a little bit of counter strike playing to kill an hour or two. I was wondering if you guys could check out the system that I just bought and let me know how it will run. I am thinking that counterstrike will be the only problem I will be having on it. So here it goes: Acer Aspire Athlon 64 Desktop Computer ($229.99 + $5 shipping) Features: * Processor: AMD Athlon 64 3800+ 2.4GHz * Memory: 1GB DDR2 * Hard Drive: 160GB 7200rpm SATA * Optical drive: DL DVD±RW * Ethernet: Gigabit LAN * Memory card Flash Reader * Operating system: Windows Vista Home Basic Supported Memory Cards: * SmartMedia * xD * CompacFlash I/II * SD * MultiMedia Card * Memory Stick/PRO Front Panel I/O ports: * Two (2) USB ports * Mic in * Headphone in Rear I/O ports: * Four (4) USB ports * Two (2) PS/2 ports * One (1) 9-pin Serial port * One (1) 15-pin VGA port * One (1) Parallel port * One (1) IEEE 1394 FireWire port * RJ-45 Ethernet port * Six (6) Audio channels In the box: * Acer Aspire T180-UA380B Desktop Computer * Speakers * Keyboard * Mouse * Power Cable Also, for immediate upgrades I bought: * Crucial Ballistix 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model BL2KIT12864AA804 $ 60.99 - ($ 30.00 rebate) * MSI NX8400GS-TD256E GeForce 8400GS 256MB 64-bit GDDR2 PCI Express x16 Video Card - Retail $ 35.99 ($ 10.00 rebate) Total: $344.99 including shipping less $40.00 rebates $304.99 Anyone want to put in their 2 cents? I probably could put a computer together, however, I am not an expert by any means so I think this pre-built one suits me nice for the price. I have already bought the stuff, I should of asked for advice first, however, it will be good to learn from mistakes. Anyone think CS will run decently on this computer? Thanks in advance! - Bryan Last edited by BryanD; 05-05-2008 at 05:39 PM.

05-05-2008, 09:08 PM	#3 (permalink)
ramodkk Diamond Member Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: There > Age: 16 Posts: 4,852	First of all, welcome to the forum On topic: Everything looks good for what you're going to use it for except the video card. A 8400GS is not going to let you play everything max on Counter Strike with good FPS. If I were you I'd return it and get a 7600GT/8600GT __________________ E2160 w/AC Freezer 7 Pro Gigabyte P35-DS3L 2GB BallistiX Tracers PC2-6400 Sapphire HD3870 Rosewill RD500 500W Antec Three Hundred (Modded)

05-05-2008, 09:35 PM	#4 (permalink)
CPTMuller Platinum Member Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Not there. Posts: 731	It will probably play CSS pretty well, that game is pretty old and the requirements to play it well are pretty low, though you definitely would be better off getting the 7600/8600GT (8600 for the obvious reasons). __________________ Specs of my main PC:Laptop (Thinkpad X61) C2D e6320, NVIDIA 7950GT (Factory OC) : C2D T7100, Intel GMA 965 Express 2gb ram 533mhz DDR2, 320GB 7200RPM : 1gb ra, 80gb 5400RPM Soundblaster X-FI Xtreme Audio, Linksys 10/100 Ethernet Card : on board Audio, on board Ethernet

05-05-2008, 09:45 PM	#5 (permalink)
cohen Diamond Member Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Melbourne, Australia Age: 14 Posts: 8,162	i think for vista you would need dual core and need 2GB of ram. otherwise i think it looks good. __________________ My Website Forum Site JOIN NOW! Desktop / Laptop Motherboard: Asus M2N X SE / Unknown CPU: AMD 4000+ 2.1GHZ x 2 / Intel Pentium M 1.60GHZ Ram: 2GB Transcend / 512MB Hard Drive: 320GB / 60GB Video Card: Both Intergrated Monitor: 19" Benq / 15.4" OS: Windows Vista Home Premium Service Pack 1 / Windows XP Professional Service Pack 3

05-05-2008, 10:00 PM	#6 (permalink)
g25racer Diamond Member Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Hamilton, MI Posts: 3,852	It looks alright but as cohen said you will want atleast a dual core and 2gb of ram for vista. Matter of the fact a single core and 1gb ram can barely handle anything now days! Save up more money and go for a HP! I got mine for $550 and it has 2gb ram, vista home prem, AMD X2 5200, 17" monitor and all brand new at CC! Crazy good price I found it for. __________________ CPU - AMD Athlon 64x2 5200+ @ 2.6ghz Ram - 2GB Stock clock HD - 320gb seagate & Samsung 750gb 32mb cache GPU - XFX 8600GT XXX Zalman @ 680 or 700mhz PSU - Ultra X-finity 600watt OS - Vista Home Premium(32) & Ubuntu (8.04) Ultimate Ed Audio - JVC 460watts Control - Logitech G25 Wheel & Logitech Rumblepad 2 Games - GTR2 and LFS -- Race Sim's for Life --

05-05-2008, 09:06 PM	#2 (permalink)
BryanD New Member Join Date: May 2008 Posts: 8	Come on.... anyone? Looking for some feed back? Alright setup? Waste of money? Okay for what I want to do? Good price? Anything?

05-05-2008, 10:14 PM	#8 (permalink)
g25racer Diamond Member Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Hamilton, MI Posts: 3,852	Yup! I am very happy with mine and having fun upgrading it. The only complaint I have is the case is kinda small but, isnt that always the case with prebuilts? __________________ CPU - AMD Athlon 64x2 5200+ @ 2.6ghz Ram - 2GB Stock clock HD - 320gb seagate & Samsung 750gb 32mb cache GPU - XFX 8600GT XXX Zalman @ 680 or 700mhz PSU - Ultra X-finity 600watt OS - Vista Home Premium(32) & Ubuntu (8.04) Ultimate Ed Audio - JVC 460watts Control - Logitech G25 Wheel & Logitech Rumblepad 2 Games - GTR2 and LFS -- Race Sim's for Life --

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