System specifications?

[enguy]

I would like to know your preferred system specifications. I am planning on a new system at my place.

[Will.Spencer]

The first specification is always price.

All other decisions are normally pretty straightforward after that one is made.

[enguy]

My preference is a P4-2.4Ghz with 1GB RAM, DVD RW , 17'' LCD monitor among others.

How much it might cost me at an average? It's been pretty long since I made the shopping all by myself.

[Will.Spencer]

PriceWatch is my favorite web site to find good prices on PC parts.

PriceWatch found a system from AscendTech that meets your requirements for $631.93.

[enguy]

Thanks for the cool two links. I am checking out notebook prices too .

[imported_Steve]

Notebooks are nice and cheap these days, but it depends what you want it for.

If you want to play games I suggest a desktop as high end laptops are quite expensive still.

[deuce]

I hope to go to a college that requires a 3 Ghz, 1 gig Ram, 100 mb HD .... hope they get cheaper, because my parents are making me buy it .

[jess]

Originally Posted by deuce

I hope to go to a college that requires a 3 Ghz, 1 gig Ram, 100 mb HD .... hope they get cheaper, because my parents are making me buy it .

Why would a college require a high spec computer?
Thats ridiculous.
Unless your are learning architecture or game design, that is a complete waste of money.

[deuce]

Right on the dot (Computer Science and Engineering actually).

[kelp]

Are you going to be gaming heavily or is it mainly for average use like surfing the web? If you're not going to be gaming, an Intel Pentium 4 should be fine for your purposes. I personally like Athlons, though. You don't have to get a 64-bit, but it may save you some money later on because 32-bit may become outdated soon(not that soon, though, maybe a couple of years).

[JBN-Rob]

Ideally, we recomend Athlon64 CPU's to most customers, since we've had better experience with them in the past over the P4's. Anything over a 3500+ is good. As for Hard Drive, most people won't need more than a 120GB, but ideally a 200GB would suffice. A good quality Gigabyte motherboard and at least 1GB Ram (1GB would do most people, but of course the more the merrier). We recomend LG for monitors, and the 8ms 17" LCD is quite a snazzy looking model (L1750 if I remember correctly). Of course a DVD burner, but that goes without saying And depending on your use of the PC, a good quality video card - something similar to a 6600GT is always a good choice.

[Fry]

Is there any reason you recommend the Athlon 64 over an Intel?

I realize price is one main factor, however as far as performance goes do you think the Athlon 64 is in front?

[cmpolis]

Originally Posted by Fry

Is there any reason you recommend the Athlon 64 over an Intel?
I realize price is one main factor, however as far as performance goes do you think the Athlon 64 is in front?

The Athlon 64 is a really solid product. It seems AMD has passed Intel in terms of more bang for your buck.

As far as performance goes, they are better for gaming, while the Intel is better for music encoding.

-C

[imported_Steve]

Music encoding?

Any CPU can do music encoding; it's a very basic task.

I have a PII that can encode music, so I'm not sure where you got that information from.

[Will.Spencer]

Isn't it a question of how rapidly the CPU can encode the music?

[H Brando]

I never really thought about it, but Will is right.

Price is the big factor. Once I know a price I am willing to spend the pieces kind of fall into place. They all have a relative value, so it is fairly easy to start plugging in pieces and tweaking to meet your budget.

For example if you budget $750 for a new system to build yourself, you are not likely to start with a $400 motherboard.

[Bender]

Very true, although $400 motherboards are great, there is often no need to spend that much when a $150 will do the job just as well.
It just depends if you want all those extra features you will probably never use!