Is this a good system? Need help with computer purchase...

S

socalcyclist

New Member
OK, my current puter is an old Compaq with an AMD450 / W98 / 20GB HD. It's way overdo for replacement. I've been endlessly searching online and local stores for my new computer. I almost pulled the trigger on a $400 Acer Aspire from Tigerdirect, thinking even bottom of line is way better than what I have now. Then I saw a Gateway multimedia PC at Best Buy with the Athlon 64X2 for $900 and thought why not. But then realized the 300w PS sucks, the HD only had 2mb of cache, etc, etc. So I thought custom build and did the whole grocery list thing at Newegg and was soon over $1000 plus tax and an outrageous $60 for shipping. So now I'm looking at this from CPUsolutions.com:

KIT PRICE: $1010.75
Manufacturers Warranty: 1 YR CPU SOLUTIONS WARRANTY
Packaging: WHITE BOX
Availability: USUALLY SHIPS 3 TO 5 DAYS

The Items of the kit are shown below
Black Aspire X-Plorer Case W/Window
Okia 600w Aluminum Gamer Power Supply
Biostar Tforce 6100 Aio 939 Skt939
Amd Athlon 64 X2 4400+ Cpu Skt939 Retail
256mb Ddr 400 Memory 184 Pin Pc3200
256mb Ddr 400 Memory 184 Pin Pc3200
Floppy Disk 1.44 Disk Drives Sony Black
Sata Hard Drives Wd Sata 200gb 3yr 8mb Cache 7200rpm
On Board Pcie Video
Dual Drive Dual Bezel Retail
Speaker Pairs Altec Lansing 120i Black Speaker Pair
Keyboards Black Logitech Black Value Keyboard
Mice Logitech Value Optical Mouse Black
On Board Sound
Service Full System Assemble W/24hr Burn In
Os Software Windows Xp Home Oem Service Pack 2
Service One Year Parts & Labor Depot Warranty
Service No Worries Tech Support 608-831-3259
No sales tax and free shipping

I don't need a monitor, printer, or speakers (the Altec Lansing 120 speakers will probably just collect dust). I'll be using the computer mostly for web stuff with the beefiest programs being Paint Shop Pro, Adobe Acrobat and Adobe Illustrator. I'll be downloading lots of music and movies and burning them to CD and DVD.

I guess my question is, what do you think of this computer for my needs? Can I do better building myself through Newegg or someplace else for the same or less price?

What I really want is:
AMD Athlon 64X2 4400
512mb ram
large HD with 16mb cache
DVD/CD burner with all the bells n whistles
Good power supply
Good case with lots of room
$1000 or less

Can this be done????

I'm not concerned about a video card right now - will buy a good PCI-express at later time.
 
y a 4400? a 3800 or 4200 is just as good and cheaper.

i suggest looking in Computer Specs 101
it has nice setups for $1000 and all you have to do it is substitute parts to what you want.
 
Mr.Suave said:
y a 4400? a 3800 or 4200 is just as good and cheaper.
Click to expand...

The 3800 and 4200 can't be just as good or else there'd be no need for the 4400, right? :D

Mr.Suave said:
i suggest looking in Computer Specs 101
it has nice setups for $1000 and all you have to do it is substitute parts to what you want.
Click to expand...

Yea, been doing that. I'm leaning back towards a custom build with Newegg.
 
The 3800 and 4200 can't be just as good or else there'd be no need for the 4400, right?
Click to expand...
well all your getting is a little more L2 cache w/ the 4400 which isnt worth the price jump and you wouldnt even notice the difference so id say its just as good.
 
Why not go to the Gateway or HP website. You will find that you can buy the media center AMD 64X2 4200 dual core from either one for $869 shipped. The gateway is model GT5032 and the HP is Pavilion Media Center PC M7330N. They are both outfitted better than the PC you listed above, with the exception of the OKia 600 watt power supply. (You might want to do a google on that power supply and you will be suprised what you learn about it.) The power supplies in the Gateway and HP is sufficient for the computers.
 
$1.000 is to much money for the parts you've listed (some of which I would stay away from). Besides your tasks isn't CPU demanding so take a look at a cheaper solution in the 101, maybe one of the work machines.
 
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