<font color="silver">I'm getting a new computer, but we havent decided on what kind to get. We are going to get the most state-of-the-art computer we can afford, (well state-of-the-art for that particular month anway. ;) ) and we were thinking on getting a Dell, but we recieved some dire warnings on how bad they are, so now we are seconed guessing ourselves and, I need to know the public consensus.

What is the best kind of computer to get?? [img]graemlins/1ponder.gif[/img]

Just put in the name, and maybe any problems you have had with other systems please. And no Macs. Sorry. [img]smile.gif[/img] </font>

Dell is a very good machine to get...

But, what you should really look for is a machine that has the components that you want...

If you have the money to spent on a top of the line, fully loaded gaming machine, I would recommend either

1. Voodoo F-Class computer see them at www.voodoopc.com
or
2. Alienware Area 51 series see them at www.alienware.com

Both are pricey systems, $2500-4000, depending on what you would like installed in the cases... They are both well built, very nice to look at, tweaked, and good support...

Either one of these manufactures are what I would like to get, if I felt like dropping that much money on a game machine...

Personally, I just bought a VPR Matrix...

P4, 1+ gig memory, Sound Blaster Live 5.1 Platinum, Geforce 3 video w/64 meg (soon will upgrade this) 120 gig hard drive, cd/rw, dvd, flat screen monitor... It is plenty fast, runs all of my graphic intensive games, and was priced very, very reasonable ($1200 before rebates)... I am happy with it, and have room for expansion/upgrade..

If you wish to get a computer that will last longer than 1 year, before becoming obsolete (damn chip upgrades), spend a bit of time researching/listing what you want in the machine, then look for something that meets those requirements...

Good luck, and happy computing...

Ya I agree all of my friends have dells. Their computers are much better than mine. But I have faster internet and that is all that matters. I love having Satellite Internet.

what did you hear about a dell that was bad?

Don't have any personal experience with Dell myself, although I must say that I have heard (hearsay only) somne people saying that Dell is no good. Don't know why.
That said, I was browsing their site the other day. One of the things I like about their PCs is that the case is swings open & you can access the innards easily. SImple ergonomics, but it makes a difference.

Depends on the $$$ you have to spend, I guess. I can't say as I've heard anything bad about Dell, although they do tend to be a little wimpy on their components sometimes.
State of the Art? P4 2.53Ghz on a 533MHZ bus, 2 WD 120gig HD w/8mb cache running under RAID 0, Geforce 4 4600, SB Audigy Platinum, Klipsch ProMedia 5.1 Speakers and Sony 21" Monitor. So far, that's state of the art for consumer PC's. Doesn't really matter where you get it from.
My advice would be build it yourself, but if your not so inclined look at price and warranty. Voodoo's got the best in the bus, 3years complete plus a pretty sweet upgrade policy. Alienware rocks too.
Do you want a DVD burner or just a plain ol' CD burner. How about Personal Cinema?
You need to ask yourself one question and be honest about it: What will I be using my computer for? Yeah, a P4 2.53GHZ on a 533Mhz FSB is nice, but there's no software available now or probably in the next 2 years that will even come close to harnessing that power. Benchmark Testing is cool, but can you really notice the difference between 140fps and 120fps in Quake3? Will your monitor even hit those refresh rates?
State of the art is nice, but 1 generation old is just as nice, but half the price. Just my two cents worth

<font color="silver">Well, I just heard that Dells wern't very reliable and kinda sucked. I don't know exactly what the problems were, but Calaethis Dragonsbane said that the sucked and some other people said that they arn't very good machines.

So I kinda got curious on what kind of computer is the best.</font>

[ 07-11-2002, 09:40 PM: Message edited by: Sir Mandorallen ]

Why not build one by your self? Then you can get what you want whitout any crap inside the computer like "build in video and sound" and things like that i have allvais built my computers by my self and it wery easy to do! :D

But if you dont want to do that i think Dell is great but be SURE that you can upgrade it with new grapich cards and sound cars later on so NO build in thingie in your new computer! :D

[ 07-11-2002, 09:46 PM: Message edited by: Megabot ]

Phone Dell and ask them if there computers suck. No seriosuly, if your going to be forking over $4000-$5000 for a new system, they'll want to make you as happy as possible. It boils down to: research, research, research. Dell has got some pretty decent reviews in the past, the only downside is that sometimes they use proprietery components, so you can only get upgrades from Dell.

<font color="lightblue">You can get some good ones fairly cheap nowdays, because they`re old... but I have found a 486 8 meg RAM 800 MB HDD 75 MHz Processor Win 3.11/DOS6 to run faster and more reliably than a 256 meg RAM 9 GB HDD 433 MHz Processor Win XP Home. :D </font>

But will it run Neverwinter Nights? LOL! I'm with you, those old 386 and 486's are lots of fun! Have you ever noticed that the majority of the old x86 chips are made by AMD?

<font color="silver">Well, I know I don't need:
1.) A dvd player or burner.
2.) A moniter. (so long as the one we have now will be compatable with the new computer)
3.) Speakers. I have some Monsoons.
4.) A mouse. We have about three. :D

All we really need is the tower. With a pentium 4, a cd burner, about 50-80 gigs of space, something above 128 ram but below the outragoues 500 mark, a GeForce 4 64meg, and a very good sound card.

I don't mind getting upgrades from Dell only (if we get a Dell) so long as they don't over-charge me.

So maybe "state-of-the-art" kinda didn't fit at all. Oops. ;)

Perhaps Dells are indeed the best choice... hmmm.....

What we have now is a custom made computer that was very low priced but lacked reliable components.
It has:
A pentium III equivalent-700MHZ
128 ram
40 gig hard drive
56k modem (I can't get broadband)
CD burner
Stealth III 3d card (sux)
I don't know our sound card but it sux

It ran smoothly until it hit Jedi Knight II. Ouch. So much for my frame-rates. [img]smile.gif[/img]
That and its getting full, is getting quirks, and isn't running quite as smoothly after it crashed to the point of oblivion. Now I can't even play UT. :( And its not all that old. </font>

I'm on a Dell 8200 desktop. I have installed a 3rd party video card, 3rd party rdram, and a 3 party cdrw drive. The system has been on for weeks without a restart. I keep hearing that it’s hard to upgrade a Dell, but I've never had a problem with one that I've used or worked on. The only things that are hard to upgrade is the motherboard and power supply everything else is a breeze. The Dell is the first prebuilt system I have owned (I'm not counting the 486 Pac Bell) and I can't say a bad thing about it. I would recommend
a Dell. The only problem with them is they don't offer AMD and I do like picking out exactly what goes in it. So if you buy a prebuilt go with a Dell, but building one has its pluses. Oh yea if you get a Dell don’t forget to search the net for coupons. I found some pretty good ones when I bought mine.

[ 07-11-2002, 10:14 PM: Message edited by: nick1979 ]

What exactly is a pentium III equivalent? A Celeron perhaps?

Your only real problem with this system is the video card. If you look at most system requirements on software boxes they don't even top 500MHZ. Recommended doesn't even get above 800MHZ.
The biggest problem with technology is it moves too damn fast, but it's at the point now, were it won't go any further without drastic changes. For example, most hard drives are limited to 137GB, as motherboard technology won't recognize single drives bigger but hard drives are still mechanical. CPU's run at 2.0+ GHZ but RAM is limited to the speed of the FSB, which tops out at 533MHZ at the moment. Video cards run at 350MHZ. The CPU may be really fast, but the rest of the system is slowing it down.
I would think that within a year or so, we'll see a drastic change in computer technology. Again, ask yourself what do I really need? 2.53GHZ is cool, but is it really necessary at the moment when next month 3.0GHZ will be the flavour of the day.

<font color="silver">Well also our motherboard cant support anything more powerful than that stealth. Its an older model that dosn't have the power to get a better card in. As for the equivalent... I have no damn idea. Thats part of the problem. I have never heard of most of the components in this damn computer.

The 700MHZ was already installed and didn't cost too much more so we got it anyway. Which came in handy, in the event when our 3d card couldn't handle the graphics (like in Tachyon: The Fringe) we ran everything off the proccesor instead of the card (for a extreame loss in gameplay & graphics) not to mention the cd burner dosen't burn too well. </font>

Well sir knight, I've given you my opinion on the subject, others may have different. Whatever you decide to do, just make sure it's got some head room for expansion. As your probably found out, the motherboard is the most important part of the system, just make sure you can upgrade it,

<font color="silver">Thanx alot Animal! :D [img]graemlins/thumbsup.gif[/img] :D You have helped a bunch. [img]smile.gif[/img]

Thanx to everyone as a matter-a-fact. I'm going to let this thread float around to get some more opinions, but right now, its looking like a Dell. ;) </font>

Dell doesn't sell as many computers as they do for no reason. As an after thought, check out their upgrade policy. Many vendors offer to upgrade your PC when the time comes for a substantial reduction in price.

And to confuse you a little bit more Sir Mandorallen Pacard Bell is also a GOOD pc not only Dell so look at diffrent systems and if your cd burner is bad trie Plextor they are wery fast and wery good i have had 3 Plex`s before and newer had any prob so think about that to and soundcard must be Creative Soundblaster it`s the best on the market today!! :D

I have to agree with Megabot. Build your own and you will get a better machine, cheaper than buying a premade one. If you check out www.hugebee.com they have a section where you can buy a case prosessor, motherboard and powersupply assembled by them , but the rest of the case is empty. All you do then is pick what you want and swap all your old drives and cards into the new frame.Doing it that way cost me only $400 to build my new machine because I didnt have to pay for a ton of things I already had.

IMO the best way to do a new computer is to build it yourself. Youll get FAR more bang for your buck. Ive found over the years that if you buy a pre-built unit you DONT get what you pay for.

Dont be mislead by the Warantee sales routine. Any parts you buy will have a minumum Warantee. Most motherboards will be covered for 3 years. Same with graphics cards. Look into the price of the parts and total them up and them look at the price of a unit that has the same or comparable parts and youll see that builing it yourself will save you hundreds, if not thousands of dollars.

I built two full computers (monitors and everything) for the price of one pre-built unit. Build yourself a new computer and all money youll have left over can be blown on hats ;)

Ever thought about buying all the stuff you need and build it yourself ?