Buying a new computer

[CemeteryGates]

I've been wanting a new computer for a couple of years now...
Yesterday I went to see the computers for options to consider.

I came across a HP PC, apparently it's called Pavilion p6580la (VT696AA). I tried to find it in the US version of HP's site to post a link, but couldn't find it, so this'll have to do (http://h10010.www1.hp.com/wwpc/mx/es/ho/WF25a/12454-12454-3329740-64546-64546-4162263.html). It's the one on the very right.

But then it occurred to me that my father is friends with some top executive guy at Dell or something, and Dell owns Alienware. So I went looking around their site and custom-built a computer with similar specifications to the HP.
Came up looking very nice.

Here's a comparison. Most of it is copy-paste and some of it I translated, probably wrong as I don't know many of the details. :lol:


Intel Core i5 650 - 3,2 GHz, DMI 2,5GT/s
6GB RAM DDR3
1TB HDD SATA 3G (7200 RPM)
ATI Radeon™ HD 5570 series 1GB DDR3
LAN Wireless 802.11b/g/n
Windows® 7 Home Premium original 64 bit

Includes a 22-inch LCD HD widescreen.
It has 8 USB ports and 3 HDMI ports.
300W
Chipset Intel® series 5
Also, Blu-ray player and SuperMulti DVD burner with LightScribe technology.



Intel® Core™ i7 920 (2.66GHz, 8MB Cache)
6GB DDR3 SDRAM at 1333MHz - (3x 2048MB)
1TB - SATA-II, 3Gb/s, 7,200RPM, 32MB Cache HDD
Dual 1GB GDDR5 ATI Radeon™ HD 5670 CrossfireX™ Enabled
1505 PCIe WLAN card with 11n mini-Card & external antenna
Windows® 7 Home Premium Original, 64bits

21.5" Alienware OptX AW2210 HD Widescreen.
875W
Chipset Intel X58
Dual Drives: Blu-ray Disc (BD) Combo (BD-ROM; DVD/CD Burner) and DVD-ROM
Audio card: Creative Sound Blaster® X-Fi™ Xtreme Audio
Alienware® High-Performance Liquid Cooling



I think I know a little bit about specs, what I really have absolutely no idea at all is with the video cards.
Also, the HP includes wireless keyboard and mouse, while the Alienware includes wired ones. The HP doesn't include speakers, but I picked some decent-looking ones for the Alienware.
The Alienware doesn't say how many USB ports it has. I trust it has enough.

That said, the HP costs $25,000 MXN, which is almost $2,000 USD.
The Alienware costs $37,452, but I can get a guaranteed 15% off, possibly 20% with my father's influence, but even at 20% off it's still $29,962 MXN, which is considerably more and very likely not affordable.

So before I make such a strong investment, I wanted to check my friends at MG who have infinitely superior computer knowledge. :D

[Hyperion]

In regard to the HP you quoted the specs for, do you know the brand of the power supply unit? Those low end brands are often not safe or reliable. The following list may be worth looking at:

http://www.eggxpert.com/forums/thread/323050.aspx

[Nonsequitur]

I always recommend people build their own if they can. It'll save you a lot of money and it's fun.

Honestly both seem a bit over priced. The HP as Hyperion noted is way under powered with only 300W. The Alienware has some neat but perhaps unneeded stuff like liquid cooling, dual 5670 cards and dual bluray drives. No problem with that stuff unless you're on a budget.

I did a little surfing and found a nice PC for comparison purposes at New Egg.
CyberpowerPC Gamer Xtreme 1073LQ Intel Core i7 875K(2.93GHz) 4GB DDR3 1TB ATI Radeon HD 5770 Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
- $1029.99 US

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883229197

I'm sure you'll be happy with either the HP or Alienware I just thought I'd throw out another option (New egg has lots of options). Also if you're interested Toms Hardware has current articles on building variously priced gaming rigs.

[Archangel]

Both of those rigs, at that price, are pretty much rip offs. And that's coming from a guy in Australia, where anything technologically superior to the wheel is overpriced.

As Hyperion said, building your own is a much better move, but obviously not everyone can do that. Finding a place that does put together custom rigs could be a very viable move, though, as they're still far cheaper that buying prebuilt rigs from the store.

But, $2000 USD for those specs, is not something I would pay. I dunno what the prices are like over there, but they should be alot better. For comparison's sake:

Intel Socket 1156 motherboard - P55A-UD4P - $220
Intel Socket 1156 CPU - Corei5 750 - $250

2-Channel DDR3 RAM - 2x2GB G-Skill Ripjaws @1600MHz - $135
ATI Graphics Card - ATI HD 5850 1GB - $350

Hard Disk - Seagate 1TB Barracuda - $90

Power Supply - Seasonic S12II 650W - $140
Case - Coolermaster HAF 922 - $150

24" Monitor - LG W2442PA - $330
Speakers - Logitech Z323 2.1 Speakers - $90
Mouse/Keyboard - Logitech Wireless MK710 - $120

That totals $1875, includes everything, in AUD (1,700 USD) and is better than both the rigs you suggested. In fact, that's a pretty bitchin' rig. Get a smaller monitor, downgrade to a ATI HD 5770 Graphics Card and get a UD3 motherboard, and you can cut that down by a couple hundred.

Long story short, I'd look for someplace better to buy from.

[CemeteryGates]

That's the thing... here in Mexico, everything is expensive as hell. And we earn in pesos, so the difference is amplified further. :(

I do like the idea of buying a computer in the US/from a US store. There's small complications, but the shipping cost is easily covered by the massive amounts I'd save, and I can just buy a Spanish keyboard. The problem is most shipping is limited to the US only. I'd have to find a store that ships to Mexico.

Otherwise, my brother has a friend who sells computers he builds at the customer's request. We talked about it once, but I didn't have the money at the time. My problem there is that I have no idea what the difference between SRAM and SDRAM, or what difference does it make what's the RPM on a HDD. I'm especially clueless when it comes to video cards... I hear tech-heads debate with extreme elitism about them, and I fear I might get all the shitty parts. :p
Besides, the cost of the parts also goes up here... but it'd still be much cheaper than buying either of the two I posted.
Hmm....

I'd also have to wait for my brother to come back from his trip to Russia/Finland/Latvia/Estonia/Lithuania, but if I've waited years, what's another two weeks, right? :p

[Archangel]

Aye, true that.

Well, for future reference, SRAM is Static Random Access Memory, and SDRAM is Synchronous Dynamic Random Access Memory.

SRAM also hasn't been used it... a few years. Right now, you'd want an Intel Corei5 CPU, 4GB of SDRAM DDR3 (Double-Data Rate 3), and an ATI 5000 series graphics card. The 5850 or 5770 are both terrific GPUs.

For a Power Supply, Seasonic and Corsair are usually the way to go for efficient, clean power.

And in Hard Drives, as they used a circular magnetic tape (what we in the business call a 'disk', as it were) for data storage, to read the data from it the disk spins so that the laser can read from it as it moves around. 7200 RPM (rounds per minute) is the standard. Better HDs like Raptors will go at 10,000.

[Hyperion]

A Corsair is exactly what I went for. When it comes to wattage, do not worry that much about it. Even for my monstrous EVGA GTX 260, I still just use the 550 watt VX model power supply unit by Corsair, which is fine for a moderate (as opposed to "extreme") gamer. As long as you meet the bare minimum, or even if you're a little under, that's fine; what matters more is the quality of the construction and the safety features.

Edit: By the way, adding to my point in the last sentence, I went over a related article I put together last year, "Picking out a video card and power supply," and noticed this (emphasis added):

What matters more than the actual wattage is the quality of the power supply, and that it at least comes close to the minimum wattage requirements and has enough amps on its 12V rail (easily checked on the specifications page of wherever you are purchasing the video card from).

[Nonsequitur]

I hear tech-heads debate with extreme elitism about them, and I fear I might get all the shitty parts. :p

The 133t tech-foo isn't that useful for the average dude, but I can tell just from the comment that you aren't the average dude. Building a computer is actually pretty easy. Once the parts are bought it's no big deal. It can all be done with one or 2 screw drivers and a manual.

I recommend going to Tom's Hardware and reading System Builder Marathon, June 2010: System Value Compared.
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/overclock-cpu-gpu,2656.html
They have the blueprints for a 500$, 1000$ and 2000$ self built PC ready for you to take a peek at. If you want to avoid shitty parts google each item you are looking at and if nothing else look at the last page where the opinion is given.

All the resources you could possibly want for building a PC are available by google and for some of little stuff I'm sure that your fellow members here will help. Trust me when I say that you'll like something you bought and built yourself far more than what a slap together company will sell you. After some entertaining research you'll be able to build every PC after that at 1/2 the price because you can part out your old machine.

Get your google on and design your dream machine and know that it isn't that hard (But don't spread this because some peoples income depend on people thinking building a computer requires soldering. Nope, just some google and knowing what fits in what hole.

Oh, hard drives just effect load time. When you are playing a game it's just memory. The little progress bar between levels is likely dependent on your HD. SSD is a solid state drive that is over priced and unnecessary but this video is amazing and kinda convincing.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96dWOEa4Djs

[MyNameDidntFit]

As nice as that video is... it kind of doesn't show how good the one or two drives your usual person is going to use is... oh well, I liked the song, so that makes up for it's lack or real informationiness.

[twhiting9275]

I always recommend people build their own if they can. It'll save you a lot of money and it's fun. .
Me too! In fact, i refuse to buy a 'premade' computer any more, having built my own for years. It really can save a ton of money if you do it right

[Mikey]

I was able to build a pretty decent rig from scratch, only cost around £150 (so probably 9000000 mxn ;) :p (joking))

Why not simply buy the base unit and extend on it when you can, you can get some pretty decent kit off online websites.