Guys, help me choose between buying a new desk top or building one. Each has its advantages. Currently I am using a Dell E-310, 2.8Ghz P4, 1Gb RAM, 500Gb Seagate hdd, running XP Media Centre Edtion 2005. Truth to tell it has been a darned good machine. Yet it is finally getting to the point it cannot run things like Playon Tv without SIGNIFICANT loss of performance. It barely makes Playon's self test after install. Add any other app usage and it comes to a standstill. So while the old beast still operates okay I want to relegate it to secondary use by the kids or maybe make a media server out of it.
So where would you look? Dell, Hp? How about work station vs regular desk top? Is there really a difference anymore? Used to be work stations were made from better components and more top end performance components as well. They each offer differing series but do not do a great job explaining what each one does best.
If I build my own the cost of the OS comes into play big time. If you buy Windows 7, and I have to as you will see, the retail is ridiculous. I am able to buy Windows 7 Ultimate through my work for $69.99 which is fantastic but it is an upgrade and I suppose does a scan of your system to see if there is a qualifying OS on there already to upgrade from. I am not sure if a clean install can be done without prior install.
I/O ports. Say what? Why am I concerned about this rather than the latest processors, hard drives, etc? Well all that other can fall in line pretty easily. One thing I find a royal pain with modern pcs is this idiotic hanging on to stuff like PS/2 , serial, and parallel ports. And before anyone gives me the business about "but what if I need to diagnose abc problem and the usb won't work?" Really? For about a decade now you can launch any modern pc to the BIOS with nothing more than a keyboard(usb is fine here. if it won't work here it ain't working after you boot) and do a good bit of diagnostic work from there. Typically if you cannot get to safe mode you won't get the thing booted to normal windows anyway. So for me having a good assortment of a/v type I/O ports is the way to go. HDMI, USB 2 & 3, Firewire, e-Sata, and assorted analogue and digital audio is just great.
Other features would of course be plenty of sata ports for hard drives and optical drives. No PATA for me. RAM would be as much as I can stick in it. Most new boards will easily accommodate 8Gb so that's easy.
I saved the processor and chipset for last. I do not keep up on latest and greatest and do not want it in my new machine no matter who builds it. My experience has been that last year's processors and hardware still outperform the software currently available and you get a significant reduction in costs. Multicore seems the way to go but do I want duo or quad cores? If so, which series of Intel would you personally like? I will stick to Intel here since this machine will be doing some heavy lifting with Playon media server app and a bit of DVD ripping. So going the AMD route with their super efficient, low wattage draw chips is not necessary. At least till I build a set top box.
And the chipset. I have no clue as to where this stands today. I know since the chip makers were able to essentially bundle 1080p HD graphics right on board a couple of years ago that built in graphics have come a long way. I do no gaming whatsoever so the hotrod graphics are no issue for me. Media rendering would be the target.
So given the possibility I cannot get the OS at a great price, does it just make sense to buy a maudlin, $500-700 pc from one of the usual suspects and be done with it? BTW, I would be adding a 20-24 monitor or tv to the system so that will add some cost. I lean toward a tele since the newer ones are fully monitor capable. Or am I missing something on that count? Thanks guys.
Regards, Todd
So where would you look? Dell, Hp? How about work station vs regular desk top? Is there really a difference anymore? Used to be work stations were made from better components and more top end performance components as well. They each offer differing series but do not do a great job explaining what each one does best.
If I build my own the cost of the OS comes into play big time. If you buy Windows 7, and I have to as you will see, the retail is ridiculous. I am able to buy Windows 7 Ultimate through my work for $69.99 which is fantastic but it is an upgrade and I suppose does a scan of your system to see if there is a qualifying OS on there already to upgrade from. I am not sure if a clean install can be done without prior install.
I/O ports. Say what? Why am I concerned about this rather than the latest processors, hard drives, etc? Well all that other can fall in line pretty easily. One thing I find a royal pain with modern pcs is this idiotic hanging on to stuff like PS/2 , serial, and parallel ports. And before anyone gives me the business about "but what if I need to diagnose abc problem and the usb won't work?" Really? For about a decade now you can launch any modern pc to the BIOS with nothing more than a keyboard(usb is fine here. if it won't work here it ain't working after you boot) and do a good bit of diagnostic work from there. Typically if you cannot get to safe mode you won't get the thing booted to normal windows anyway. So for me having a good assortment of a/v type I/O ports is the way to go. HDMI, USB 2 & 3, Firewire, e-Sata, and assorted analogue and digital audio is just great.
Other features would of course be plenty of sata ports for hard drives and optical drives. No PATA for me. RAM would be as much as I can stick in it. Most new boards will easily accommodate 8Gb so that's easy.
I saved the processor and chipset for last. I do not keep up on latest and greatest and do not want it in my new machine no matter who builds it. My experience has been that last year's processors and hardware still outperform the software currently available and you get a significant reduction in costs. Multicore seems the way to go but do I want duo or quad cores? If so, which series of Intel would you personally like? I will stick to Intel here since this machine will be doing some heavy lifting with Playon media server app and a bit of DVD ripping. So going the AMD route with their super efficient, low wattage draw chips is not necessary. At least till I build a set top box.
And the chipset. I have no clue as to where this stands today. I know since the chip makers were able to essentially bundle 1080p HD graphics right on board a couple of years ago that built in graphics have come a long way. I do no gaming whatsoever so the hotrod graphics are no issue for me. Media rendering would be the target.So given the possibility I cannot get the OS at a great price, does it just make sense to buy a maudlin, $500-700 pc from one of the usual suspects and be done with it? BTW, I would be adding a 20-24 monitor or tv to the system so that will add some cost. I lean toward a tele since the newer ones are fully monitor capable. Or am I missing something on that count? Thanks guys.
Regards, Todd
