Need a new PC to run Windows 7 - pls suggest

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wowmusic

New Member
Plan to buy a new PC shortly. Not a gamer. I do some programming work at home, and occasionally some photo/movie editing (from my SONY HD video camera). I use itunes while I work, and sometimes will watch video clips from my PC.

I checked out Dell XPS 8000 and the specs looks good to me. i7 860, 8GB DDR3 RAM (dual channel), 1TB Harddisk, nVidia GeForce GTX260 1792MB GDDR3. My only concern was Power Supply - only 350 watt!

Do you think it is an issue for such as system? Thanks!
 
Well that pc your looking at is quite a high end gaming system....you said you dont game so it seems pretty pointless having a system with gaming specs as it wont be used too its full potential.

Yes a 350W psu for that syetem does seem a weak!

Have you considred building your own? You could save a bunch of cash...and it will be your own build ;)

Its realy easy to build a pc,and if you ever ran into problems....were here to help you :)
 
Nevakonaza said:
Well that pc your looking at is quite a high end gaming system....you said you dont game so it seems pretty pointless having a system with gaming specs as it wont be used too its full potential.

Yes a 350W psu for that syetem does seem a weak!

Have you considred building your own? You could save a bunch of cash...and it will be your own build ;)

Its realy easy to build a pc,and if you ever ran into problems....were here to help you :)
Click to expand...

(run*) And yeah, building a PC's the fun part for me. I sometimes like it even more than playing my games xD
 
First of all, thank you all of you :)

Yes, I don't need a high-end gaming system. I just need something faster - right now my XP desktop (Pentium M purchased in 2005) is too too slow. Took a good 10-15 minute to start up windows (after logon), loading Firefox is slow, and take 4 hours to render my HD video clips to DVD.

I like the Dell XPS8000 because of its case, so cool that there is a space for me to put my iphone while connected. But I really doubted if the 350Watt power is sufficient since my desktop (purchased in 2005) was already running 450Watt.

Regarding building my own - I am not sure if I am really capable. I can install a DVD driver, or even a harddrive. But everytime I have to replace a fan or power supply, I have to go to a computer store. Now we are talking about installing motherboards and connecting those cables. Looks like a mission impossible to me.

I did a quote with a local computer store. It is causing slightly higher than the Dell system (around $200 CAD more ). This includes a labour charge ($50) for assembly. But I am getting the same specs and better components (e.g. 8 GB 1333 DDR3 RAM, Asus P7D5 motherboard, Antec Sonata case with 500Watt power supply, etc).

Back to a very basic question. I don't play games. The computer serves for the following purpose -
50% programming with little web design (Java, Rails, Dreamweaver)
30% web surfing, downloads
10% watch movie (mostly rmvb/avi files, seldom watch a DVD in computer)
10% video editing and rendering (i.e. from my SONY DV to DVD)

I do like turning on my itunes to play music while I work.

What configuration would you suggest? Budget is $1500 CAD - no need to use up the budget, since if money left I can buy a new monitor :)
I would like to go with Windows 7 Ultimate and maybe i5 or i7 CPU.

I am not really sure if I know the difference (at least if that is useful for me) in the following -
1. Core 2 Quad vs i5 vs i7
2. Dual Channel vs Triple Channel RAM (6GB, 8GB, 9GB)
3. DDR2 vs DDR3

Thanks again!
 
Just to give you an idea if I am building my own PC - here is the quote from a local computer store:
Quoted $1600+$50 (assembly)+tax for the following.

Please kindly advise which component can be downgrade, and which I should upgrade for optimal performance (and budget). Thank you very much in advance!

1. CPU: Intel Core i7 860 Quad-Core Socket LGA1156
2. Motherboard: Asus P7P55D Socket 1156 Intel P55 Chipset CrossfireX Dual-Channel DDR3 2133*/1600/1333/1066Mhz GigaLAN 8-Ch HD Audio 2 x PCI Express 2.0 x16 Slots 6x SATA + 1x eSATA 3Gb/s 12x USB 2.0 ATX
3. Harddisk: Western Digital Caviar Black (WD1001FALS) 1000GB (1TB) SATAII 7200RPM 32MB Cache (OEM)
4. DVD writer: Samsung SH-S223L/BEBS SATA Black 22X Lightscribe DVD-Writer OEM
5. RAM: Corsair XMS3 (CMX8GX3M4A1333C9) with Classic Heat Spreader DDR3, 1333MHz 8GB (4x2GB)240 DIMM, Unbuffered, 9-9-9-24,
6. Video Card: Asus EAH4770 FORMULA/DI/512MD5 ATI Radeon HD 4770 Chipset (750MHz ) 512MB (3.2Ghz) GDDR5 Dual Display HDMI/DVI PCI-Express 2.0 Graphics Card
7. Enclosure: Antec Sonata Elite ATX Mini Tower 3/0/(4) Bays USB eSATA Audio Black
8. Power Supply: Antec TruePower 650W
9. Windows 7 Ultimate OEM

My other requirements would be -
a). Quiet ~ it is placed in bedroom where my infant slept. That's why I chose Antec Sonata.
b). Need IEEE1394a (firewire) port or E-SATA for me to connect my Seagate external harddisk
c). Hope to run applications smoothly (and less loading time) > oh did I mention even my laptop (Dell, Core 2 Duo, 4GB RAM Vista) took 4 minutes to startup before I can load any other apps (e.g. Firefox)? This could be the stupid Norton 3.0, or those preloaded Dell softwares.

Many thanks!
 
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wowmusic said:
Regarding building my own - I am not sure if I am really capable.
Click to expand...

Obviously you're the best judge of if you're capable, but I'd be remiss not to say that I felt the same way you did before building my own. In fact, I was shopping around for a Dell and then I came here and was really turned on to the idea of building my own. I read the book "Building the Perfect PC," which was confusing at first, but this forum was a treasure trove of information and help, and it's thanks to these people that I not only learned everything I needed to know, but was able to do it with no problems! So at least consider it! :)
 
Last edited:
wowmusic said:
Just to give you an idea if I am building my own PC - here is the quote from a local computer store:
Quoted $1600+$50 (assembly)+tax for the following.

Please kindly advise which component can be downgrade, and which I should upgrade for optimal performance (and budget). Thank you very much in advance!

1. CPU: Intel Core i7 860 Quad-Core Socket LGA1156
2. Motherboard: Asus P7P55D Socket 1156 Intel P55 Chipset CrossfireX Dual-Channel DDR3 2133*/1600/1333/1066Mhz GigaLAN 8-Ch HD Audio 2 x PCI Express 2.0 x16 Slots 6x SATA + 1x eSATA 3Gb/s 12x USB 2.0 ATX
3. Harddisk: Western Digital Caviar Black (WD1001FALS) 1000GB (1TB) SATAII 7200RPM 32MB Cache (OEM)
4. DVD writer: Samsung SH-S223L/BEBS SATA Black 22X Lightscribe DVD-Writer OEM
5. RAM: Corsair XMS3 (CMX8GX3M4A1333C9) with Classic Heat Spreader DDR3, 1333MHz 8GB (4x2GB)240 DIMM, Unbuffered, 9-9-9-24,
6. Video Card: Asus EAH4770 FORMULA/DI/512MD5 ATI Radeon HD 4770 Chipset (750MHz ) 512MB (3.2Ghz) GDDR5 Dual Display HDMI/DVI PCI-Express 2.0 Graphics Card
7. Enclosure: Antec Sonata Elite ATX Mini Tower 3/0/(4) Bays USB eSATA Audio Black
8. Power Supply: Antec TruePower 650W
9. Windows 7 Ultimate OEM

My other requirements would be -
a). Quiet ~ it is placed in bedroom where my infant slept. That's why I chose Antec Sonata.
b). Need IEEE1394a (firewire) port or E-SATA for me to connect my Seagate external harddisk
c). Hope to run applications smoothly (and less loading time) > oh did I mention even my laptop (Dell, Core 2 Duo, 4GB RAM Vista) took 4 minutes to startup before I can load any other apps (e.g. Firefox)? This could be the stupid Norton 3.0, or those preloaded Dell softwares.

Many thanks!
Click to expand...

just so you can see where this estimate stands. i've added together all these parts on newegg, for a total of $1281.92. so if you're looking to save about $400, i'd say give building it yourself a shot. it really is very simple.
 
wowmusic said:
Just to give you an idea if I am building my own PC - here is the quote from a local computer store:
Quoted $1600+$50 (assembly)+tax for the following.

Please kindly advise which component can be downgrade, and which I should upgrade for optimal performance (and budget). Thank you very much in advance!

1. CPU: Intel Core i7 860 Quad-Core Socket LGA1156
2. Motherboard: Asus P7P55D Socket 1156 Intel P55 Chipset CrossfireX Dual-Channel DDR3 2133*/1600/1333/1066Mhz GigaLAN 8-Ch HD Audio 2 x PCI Express 2.0 x16 Slots 6x SATA + 1x eSATA 3Gb/s 12x USB 2.0 ATX
3. Harddisk: Western Digital Caviar Black (WD1001FALS) 1000GB (1TB) SATAII 7200RPM 32MB Cache (OEM)
4. DVD writer: Samsung SH-S223L/BEBS SATA Black 22X Lightscribe DVD-Writer OEM
5. RAM: Corsair XMS3 (CMX8GX3M4A1333C9) with Classic Heat Spreader DDR3, 1333MHz 8GB (4x2GB)240 DIMM, Unbuffered, 9-9-9-24,
6. Video Card: Asus EAH4770 FORMULA/DI/512MD5 ATI Radeon HD 4770 Chipset (750MHz ) 512MB (3.2Ghz) GDDR5 Dual Display HDMI/DVI PCI-Express 2.0 Graphics Card
7. Enclosure: Antec Sonata Elite ATX Mini Tower 3/0/(4) Bays USB eSATA Audio Black
8. Power Supply: Antec TruePower 650W
9. Windows 7 Ultimate OEM

My other requirements would be -
a). Quiet ~ it is placed in bedroom where my infant slept. That's why I chose Antec Sonata.
b). Need IEEE1394a (firewire) port or E-SATA for me to connect my Seagate external harddisk
c). Hope to run applications smoothly (and less loading time) > oh did I mention even my laptop (Dell, Core 2 Duo, 4GB RAM Vista) took 4 minutes to startup before I can load any other apps (e.g. Firefox)? This could be the stupid Norton 3.0, or those preloaded Dell softwares.

Many thanks!
Click to expand...

Overprice...
CPU - $290
Mobo - $150
RAM - $170
Burner - $35
HDD - $110
GPU - $110
Case - $100
PSU - $100
OS - $190

The hardware should be around $1250 - $1300 and you paying $1600...
 
Thanks guys. I will order from newegg and give an attempt to build my 1st PC :)

Any comments on my components? Is there any parts that I should upgrade/downgrade?
 
Thanks guys. I will go with Windows 7 Professional then. May go with ATI 5750 video card.

Given my configuration - do I really need 650W power supply? I am also considering a cheaper case (Antec Sonata III) which comes with 500W power supply.
 
You should go with the 5770.. performance is over the 4850 and just under the 4870, and with directx11.. also, i'm hoping to get one :)

You could get that case... but cases that come with powersupplies are generally cheap powersupplies... a quality 500w however would be fine, an i7 and a 4870 draws just under 500w of power... but it's also about the amps on the 12v rails.
 
linkin93 said:
You should go with the 5770.. performance is over the 4850 and just under the 4870, and with directx11.. also, i'm hoping to get one :)

You could get that case... but cases that come with powersupplies are generally cheap powersupplies... a quality 500w however would be fine, an i7 and a 4870 draws just under 500w of power... but it's also about the amps on the 12v rails.
Click to expand...

Definitely go with the 5770 if you're getting a cheap 5 series card (with good performance).
 
Yeah go with 5770 its better
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