Tips for buying a computer?

[Alexu]

Hi all,

I am planning on upgrading to a faster computer within the next month or so. If anyone is bored/kind enough to throw in some advice it would be greatly appreciated.

what I am looking for is:

2.9 ghz+ processor
6+ GB memory
500+GB hard drive

I am hoping I can find something like this under $300.

Is it cheaper to just buy parts and figure out how to put it all together? I am not very savvy on doing that kind of thing, but if I have to figure it out I will eventually.

The closest thing I have found is on techforless.com and eBay. Both sites will sometimes have something I am looking for close to my price range, but I have yet to find something that seems to be a perfect match in price and specs.

Any quick thoughts/comments?

Thanks! Happy hunting!

[Slave]

Newegg.com is probably the best place in the world to buy computer hardware. That said, your specs and price range seem rather difficult to resolve.

[Nikon]

Question #1: What do you plan to do with it? A budget of 'under $300' is very limiting so it would be important to know what your plans to use it for primairly are.

[Ladytron]

I would suggest keep saving another 150 or so n build your own,

however they do have great deals on newegg if you cannot build your own that are not too much more for being prebuilds.

[Humerox]

Newegg.com is probably the best place in the world to buy computer hardware. That said, your specs and price range seem rather difficult to resolve.

^^ This

Especially considering you didn't mention a graphics card...

[Danyelle]

Hi all,

I am planning on upgrading to a faster computer within the next month or so. If anyone is bored/kind enough to throw in some advice it would be greatly appreciated.

what I am looking for is:

2.9 ghz+ processor
6+ GB memory
500+GB hard drive

I am hoping I can find something like this under $300.

Is it cheaper to just buy parts and figure out how to put it all together? I am not very savvy on doing that kind of thing, but if I have to figure it out I will eventually.

The closest thing I have found is on techforless.com and eBay. Both sites will sometimes have something I am looking for close to my price range, but I have yet to find something that seems to be a perfect match in price and specs.

Any quick thoughts/comments?

Thanks! Happy hunting!

I really really hate to be the bearer of bad news...but unless you buy cheap brand crap that comes with the "90% chance to break in a week" guarantee this is probably not going to be possible. And even then it's gonna be cutting it close =/. At the very least if you're buying EVERYTHING and starting from scratch. Now just for the CPU, RAM and HDD it's plausible...again, if you buy cheap.

As previously stated Newegg is where to go.

[lululalana]

apple.com/store

[Alexu]

Thank you for the replies.

I will check newegg right away.

I plan on using it mainly for digital photograph editing.

I am considering buying refurbished to get closer to my price range, but I have considered going another $150 or so to get something nicer.

I found a computer with these specs for $260 free shipping:

Athlon II CPU Dual Core 2.7 Ghz x 2

250 Gig Hard drive

8 gig (1x4) DDR3 PC 1066

DVDRW with Nero Installed

No keyboard or mouse included.

Software Installed:

Windows 7 Professional 64 Bit OS

It doesn't mention what kind of graphics card is in it.

How big of a difference will a good graphics card make for picture editing?

Thanks for the input.

[Humerox]

If you're not working with video what you have listed will work...the more layers you work with the more memory-intensive it's going to be...but your memory will be more important overall.

If you plan on video...well, you better be saving a couple more grand.

[Vostok]

I wanna see if someone can make a computer like this for under 300 dollars. Someone just do it.

[Diggles]

apple.com/store

he said 300, not 3,000.

[azeth]

2.9 ghz+ processor
6+ GB memory
500+GB hard drive

I am hoping I can find something like this under $300.

A couple months ago I spent $1100 on

3.2 ghz i7 processor
8 gb ram
1 tb hard drive
2 gb video memory.

If i were you I'd just save your pennies up to the $600-700 range and you're golden on newegg.com

[Klendathu]

It kind of depends on how many components you have in place already, or if this is a completely new build. If you have a case, optical drive, display, power supply etc already, then you just might be able to get away with $300 on a new mobo, CPU, RAM and HD. If you're talking a whole new rig, then saving up a bit more will indeed be necessary.

[Gwence]

lol he only listed 3 specs, but I think I could do it.

[Gwence]

MB - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813138332 $50

CPU - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116397 $88

HDD - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136108 $60 - these mechanical drives are going to throw a wrench into your budget right now, this one is the absolute cheapest piece of junk I could find that conforms to serial ata.

Case - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811154109 $20

Memory - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231308 $35 (went big cuz I think we have a surplus in the budget - this is 8GB)

PSU - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817170010 $19

That's all you need for the base of a computer - total is $272

If u want win 7 - probably looking at another $80 for home version, then allow about $20-40 on top of that for keyboard/mouse/headset/speakers (if needed)

and allow another $50-100 for monitor (if needed)


That harddrive is hit or miss on using as boot device imo, but was cheapest I could find.


core components sub $300, mission accomplished.

there's ways to get cheap windows.

[Gwence]

http://www.newegg.com/Special/ShellShocker.aspx?cm_sp=ShellShocker-_-862718-_-03222012_1

DIY - $250 pretty good deal, still would need to buy an operating system though. Also shell shocker only good for today hehe, but they have stuff like this everyday pretty much

[Diggles]

could get linux until you work up the cash for an OS

or find a place to rrent it.

[Alexu]

Thank you for going through all of the time to put that together Gwence. I really didn't mean for anyone to go through this much trouble, I was just wondering how far off am I in thinking I could get something like this around $300 or so.

I have a few old computers in a shed. What parts could I salvage from an old computer that would not be severely outdated? Like, for example, do cases or power supplies get outdated, or could I use one that is approximately 15 years old? I guess things like serial ports in the case would be pretty out dated, but I generally am wondering what can be salvaged and what should be replaced.

If I were to choose one or two items to upgrade from what you have chosen, what would be most important? The hard drive?

Lastly, do I need to install drivers for each hardware component I install into a new computer, and if so are these easily downloaded?

Thank you.

[prince 7th edition]

www.apple.com/store


do it u maggot

[prince 7th edition]

buy mac mini has the specs u want and will last u like 8 years unlike some shitbox u make urself

[Gwence]

problem with buying new items is the connectivity they require, a 15 yr old machine will be all legacy connectors or whtever was before that heh.

you might be able to salvage a case, have to make sure its' compatible with atx form factor for the new mb, if you get molex --> sata power adaptors can probably salvage the power supply as well, they're pretty cheap though, might end up being the same price or more in getting the adaptors!

just go to best buy or dell.com, newegg.com and find a computer that's already ready to go - you won't save much money building one yourself with that low a budget (maybe $50)

[Humerox]

another alternative is to enlist the help of a computer savvy friend and hit eBay. Plenty of decent deals there for desktops...