Need To Build or Purchase A New PC

[pointjockey]

I need to add a new PC for new design station. I have a budget of 2K. Anyone care to provide input?

 

[FatCat]

Did you check out the classfieds? I think one of the Merchant members had 3 demo workstations...cheap.

 

[choucove]

You can get a lot of bang in a computer for $2000 now, there are a lot of options out there. With this budget, you can go with a very decent quad-core processor, either the i7-860 or the i7-930, or the hexa-core AMD Phenom II X6 processors are about the same price. You should also plan on at least 4 GB of memory, though with your higher budget I might try to get 6 GB to 8 GB of memory instead. You probably don't need a very powerful graphics card, anything around $100 should do you fine. Instead of a powerful expensive graphics card instead invest that money into a strong and reliable power supply as this can make or break your entire system. I have had very good luck with Thermaltake and Corsair power supplies.

From here, it's on to the storage system, and this is where things can get complicated (and pricey). From what you have left after picking out the above components you can then decide what you want to spend on your hard drives. A single standard 7,200rpm hard drive is not going to offer the performance of a faster VelociRapter 10,000rpm hard drive, much less two of them in a RAID 0 configuration. If that is still not enough speed and you really feel like spending the money, you can opt for SSD drives instead which offer the fastest speed possible but are much lower density.

To get a better idea of these finer details, let us know more about what you plan to do with this computer. What software will you run? What operating system? Do you have special equipment that will be run off this computer as well? Are there other uses this computer will have besides just designing?

 

[OldPaint]

$2000 computer.................damn.......lots of money. i got a 2.8 quad core AMD, 2 GIGS a ddr800 ram, gigabyte m/b with on board sound and video, a new case and 550 watt power supply for under $400!!!!!!!!!!!
my only addition to this will be a 1 GIG ATI VIDEO CARD........later, and a good one of those can be had for under $200!!!!!!!!

 

[Vinylman]

OR, you could get an iMac 27".

and you WON'T be sorry!!

 

[jiarby]

Last November I built a i7-920 with 12gb RAM, Raided Raptors (O/S), 2TB SATA Data drive, Blue Ray Burner, etc... It was about $2200 ish then. I posted pictures here somewhere

 

[washingtonsignguy]

I just bought a new Dell for around 1500 including a 24" monitor. I was trying to decide to have one built, but in the end just went to best buy and found a nice one there. I am happy with it. I dont do printing with it. I have an Hp laptop also and I would not recommend HP, they usually come with all sorts of crap programs on there, games, multimedia, and stuff like that, which just gets in the way you ask me. The dell wasnt like that. I have been buying dell for 10 years now and have been happy with their desktops and this 24" monitor kicks.

 

[SignBurst PCs]

I would be very happy to discuss your needs on your new design computer. We have an entire range of design computers as well as a wealth of information on software and setup that can make your life much easier in the long run.

We are Authorized Partners with Adobe, Corel, and SAI (Flexi). Not only can we sell you those companies software, we will even pre-install the software for you.

After checking in with a recent customer (bought a SignBurst™ Inferno) on Friday, I received this response:

"ALL IS WORKING GREAT. Our vinyl tech is lovin it!

Now, I'd like to get a SuperNova for [my lead designer].
Preloaded with CS5."

I love it when our customers are happy (and repeat) customers!

There is a discussion regarding "Price vs. Value Add" on the forum this morning. This is an important concept in business computers. You can get a computer anywhere, but is it the same as buying from a reputable specialized system builder? No way. With a SignBurst™ computer, you get a quality of hardware, reliability, performance, and support that is far superior to anything that you will find in a box store (retail or online). We are a small business and know how important great customer service is to our customers.

 

[choucove]

I just bought a new Dell for around 1500 including a 24" monitor. I was trying to decide to have one built, but in the end just went to best buy and found a nice one there. I am happy with it. I dont do printing with it. I have an Hp laptop also and I would not recommend HP, they usually come with all sorts of crap programs on there, games, multimedia, and stuff like that, which just gets in the way you ask me. The dell wasnt like that. I have been buying dell for 10 years now and have been happy with their desktops and this 24" monitor kicks.

Pre-installed bloatware is something that every major manufacturer does from Dell to HP to Gatway to MSI and the list goes on and on. The only way to avoid it is 1) purchase a business class computer as often the will ommit the games and add-on trial stuff (which is probably why your Dell came without as much seemingly worthless stuff, the HP I'm betting was a consumer line such as the Pavilion?) or 2) do a fresh install of your own operating system.

Even if you do get a computer with a lot of bloatware on it, it's not too difficult to remove it and clean up the system to perform better for you.

Dell had a lot of issues with their pre-installed software a couple years ago. It was discovered that their Dell Support Utilities programs would actually allow personal information on the computer to be sent to Dell without the user's knowledge of it happening, and even further allowed Dell to remotely connect into the computer to retrieve information, track usage, and even remotely control the computer WITHOUT the need for authorization from the user. Needless to say this resulted in some HUGE lawsuits and since then Dell has changed their Support Utilities program as well as cut back a bit on their bloatware, but it is definitely still there.

 

[SignBurst PCs]

Pre-installed bloatware is something that every major manufacturer does from Dell to HP to Gatway to MSI and the list goes on and on. The only way to avoid it is 1) purchase a business class computer as often the will ommit the games and add-on trial stuff (which is probably why your Dell came without as much seemingly worthless stuff, the HP I'm betting was a consumer line such as the Pavilion?) or 2) do a fresh install of your own operating system.

Even if you do get a computer with a lot of bloatware on it, it's not too difficult to remove it and clean up the system to perform better for you.

Dell had a lot of issues with their pre-installed software a couple years ago. It was discovered that their Dell Support Utilities programs would actually allow personal information on the computer to be sent to Dell without the user's knowledge of it happening, and even further allowed Dell to remotely connect into the computer to retrieve information, track usage, and even remotely control the computer WITHOUT the need for authorization from the user. Needless to say this resulted in some HUGE lawsuits and since then Dell has changed their Support Utilities program as well as cut back a bit on their bloatware, but it is definitely still there.

If I remember correctly, Sony was the first to have these issues. Their support utilities were actually "spyware" programs in the way that they retrieved user information without the user's knowledge. Of course, lawsuits were filed and Sony reluctantly changed their practices. I would have thought that Dell would have learned from Sony's problems.

 

[choucove]

If I remember correctly, Sony was the first to have these issues. Their support utilities were actually "spyware" programs in the way that they retrieved user information without the user's knowledge. Of course, lawsuits were filed and Sony reluctantly changed their practices. I would have thought that Dell would have learned from Sony's problems.

You are correct, Casey, the first company that made the big news for this practice was Sony. A couple others that are making the news currently or have recently is Yahoo! (off of user account information from Yahoo Messenger, Yahoo Mail, etc.) and Google (from their street-view vehicles collecting data packets from unprotected private networks.) Best Buy also went through the ringer last year with a bunch of lawsuits when it was discovered that the software they installed for their support package (I believe also linked with the Geek Squad extended coverage plans) actually recorded usage information on the user's computer so they could be sold to Best Buy's partners like Acer, Dell, HP, and more.

 

[BALLPARK]

If I spent 2G's I would have a 16-32 GIG Ram minimum...lol.

I just spent $230 on an HP...LOL.

[FONT=&quot]Item specifics - PC Desktops[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Condition: [/FONT]​

[FONT=&quot]Used[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Processor Type: [/FONT]​

[FONT=&quot]AMD Athlon II X2[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Brand: [/FONT]​

[FONT=&quot]HP[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Processor Speed (per Core): [/FONT]​

[FONT=&quot]2.7 GHz[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Operating System: [/FONT]​

[FONT=&quot]Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium (64-bit)[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Processor Configuration: [/FONT]​

[FONT=&quot]Dual Core[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Primary Drive: [/FONT]​

[FONT=&quot]DVD+/-RW[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Memory (RAM): [/FONT]​

[FONT=&quot]6 GB[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Bundled Items: [/FONT]​

[FONT=&quot]Keyboard, Modem, Mouse, Network Card[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Hard Drive Capacity: [/FONT]​

[FONT=&quot]750 GB[/FONT]

It was a refurb and purchased on EBAY. I got the computer in and it is working better than my new one that I bought from Best Buy. It was an 8 Gig memory 1 TB hardrive for $800. lol...

Look around on Ebay, only buy from people with good ratings, if you do buy on Ebay.

Here is the company that I purchased from on Ebay.

http://stores.ebay.com/TradePort-USA

I got the computer in 3 days with CPU unit, keyboard and mouse. Not a scratch on it and works like it was brand new. Even the initial start-up install was new..lol.

Those SignBurst™ computers look pretty good and cost around the 2G's. Just checked them out, pretty nice stuff.