New Desktop- $700 range?

[Iceman]

I'm thinking of getting a new desktop, and I would like one that could at least run HL2 and CS Source okay. The only important things I'm looking for here is USB 2 (should be universal now), A processor at least running at 2 ghz, and at least a 64 mb video card (preferably 128). Any clue if such a P.C. exists?

 

[Matt]

um, i would go with eMachines, for your price range, you will get a lot of stuff. you can get a 3 ghz processor, a dvd burner, separate dvd drive, nvidia gforce graphics and about a gig of ram.

http://emachines.com

EDIT: This one should suit your needs, http://emachines.com/products/products.html?prod=eMachines_T3985

 

[Tyler]

Or dell, they have some great deals! http://www1.us.dell.com/content/products/features.aspx/featured_dp_desktop1_2?c=us&cs=19&l=en&s=dhs And you can customize it any way you would like :happy:

 

[Matt]

i find dell to be expensive for what you get. and they dont test the pc's before they ship them. my dad got one for his auto repair shop. he plugged it in, and tried to turn it on, nothing. he called them up and the guy said the dont test them and that its cheaoer just to send out a new one. and the catalogs they send out, show testing for durability only. look at the catalog. it shows a pc with all kind of weights and braces on it.

 

[Tyler]

Hmm well I've never had a problem with dell, I have a laptop, 2 desktops and 3 dell LCD monitors. They all work great and im very happy with them

 

[chaganlal1]

i like dell but nothing rocks like a sony in my opnion

 

[CKG690]

Dell has some great machines for $700, in terms of bang-for-the-buck, they're probably the best of the larger companies. I personally wouldn't trust an EMachines or Sun or whatnot.

 

[Matt]

i own an emachine and its great. i havent had a problem with it the whole time i had it. they really are great systems.

 

[CKG690]

I'm just saying from experience, right now we own 9 Dells and a ReQuest, they all work flawlessly...

 

[Iceman]

Okay mates, thanks for the help. I'll be looking at the Dell website tonight looking for my kind of computer

 

[Iceman]

Found one that will work perfectly:

Dell Dimension 8400

Pentium 4 running at 3.0 ghz
80 GB Hard Drive (7200 RPM of course)
17'' CRT monitor (I don't really care if it's flat-panel or not)
128 mb ATI Radeon X300 SE (I'll upgrade this when I get the money and prices drop on current cards)
512 MB RAM (I'll upgrade it when I get the money)

For $699.

Sure, it's not the best system, but for $700 bucks, sheesh, it's great.

 

[Tyler]

Yeah thats a really good deal. about 3 years ago I bout a dell desktop almost the same as that, but only a 2.0 ghz processor and 256mb of ram and it was 1100 bucks. Shows you how much the prices of computers are going down

 

[Conor]

i find dell to be expensive for what you get. and they dont test the pc's before they ship them. my dad got one for his auto repair shop. he plugged it in, and tried to turn it on, nothing. he called them up and the guy said the dont test them and that its cheaoer just to send out a new one. and the catalogs they send out, show testing for durability only. look at the catalog. it shows a pc with all kind of weights and braces on it.

What are you talking about? Dell has got one of the best support systems in the World. They give you huge value AND of COURSE THEY TEST THEM. :blink:

 

[Tyler]

If they didnt then how would the operating system and all the dell software they install be on it??? lol

 

[chaganlal1]

Yeah i do agree my brother has a dell notebook and he shipped it out and got it fixed within 2 days. Dell has the best support which makes the company even better.

 

[NewFuture]

i own a emachine, its great, i have had problems though, i kept gettin blue screen of death they totally replaced my hardware nad it works fine now

 

[chaganlal1]

Blue screen of death means theres something wrong with startup because my sony used to do that was annoying, glad to see u got yours fixed cant say the same for my old sony.

 

[Conor]

Notice how madmatt hasn't replied since? heh.

 

[Neuromancer]

Are you not comfortable with building your own system?

I would not recommend the x300 series video card, they just came out with the x550 series (card is not ATI, but chipset is) that will out perform the x300 series and sells for about the same price.

Nothing wrong with getting a dell unless you intend on doing any modification of your system

If you like Intel the new dual cores are cheap..

If you want raw gaming power, get yourself an AMD 64bit .. the venice cores are very nice and greatly clockable

Also if you are looking at a piece meal build... what you can do is get a mobo processor now... and your current rig you can dissassemble for a little while until you complete the new rig.

What I mean is... use RAM Power supply Case... hard drives from your current rig in the new one. As you upgrade the new one, repair your old(present) rig with the components you borrowed.

For greater gaming performance you are going to want SATA hard drives as well.

Good Luck whatever you decide ^*^

 

[Neuromancer]

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