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Help me pick between these 2 computers

SystemSystem Member, NoReporting Posts: 178,019 Arc User
Hi everyone.

I haven't bought a computer in soooo long. I'm not much of a game player but I really want to play this game. Anyways, I went to Best Buy today to checkout what's new and exciting. I sure would appreciate your comments and advice. Here is the two computers I am looking at.

HP Phenom II X4 910 (model E9220Y)
$799
Windows 7 Home 64bit
AMD quad core
8 gig DDR3
1TB hard drive (5400rpm)
DVD writer w/lightscribe
Radeon 4350 w/ HDMI, 512MB

Dell core i7 860
$1119
Windows 7 Home 64bit
Intel quad core 2.8ghz
8 gig DDR3
1 TB hard drive 7200rpm
DVD writer
Nvidia GTS240 w/ HDMI, 1024MB

Thanks for any advice, feel free recommend your own.
Post edited by Unknown User on

Comments

  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited January 2010
    Hi everyone.

    I haven't bought a computer in soooo long. I'm not much of a game player but I really want to play this game. Anyways, I went to Best Buy today to checkout what's new and exciting. I sure would appreciate your comments and advice. Here is the two computers I am looking at.

    HP Phenom II X4 910 (model E9220Y)
    $799
    Windows 7 Home 64bit
    AMD quad core
    8 gig DDR3
    1TB hard drive (5400rpm)
    DVD writer w/lightscribe
    Radeon 4350 w/ HDMI, 512MB

    Dell core i7 860
    $1119
    Windows 7 Home 64bit
    Intel quad core 2.8ghz
    8 gig DDR3
    1 TB hard drive 7200rpm
    DVD writer
    Nvidia GTS240 w/ HDMI, 1024MB

    Thanks for any advice, feel free recommend your own.

    I would pick up the Phenom II X4 system, take the 300 you saved, and pick up one of these puppies with the saved cash (Radeon HD 5850).

    The Radeon HD 4350 won't run any games of note, because it's strictly an HTPC card, and the Geforce GTS240 is alright, but it's a entry level card. That cheaper system has more than enough base system performance though, so pair it up with a video card like the one I linked and your games will FLY.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited January 2010
    Wow, that's an interesting idea. After you said that I went back to their website and saw that they have a very similar HP for $100 less. The hard drive is slightly smaller but it is 7200 rpm which is a plus. Unfortunately, the video card is built on to the motherboard and I wanted to avoid that.

    I'll give your suggestion some serious thought but if I am to go through all the trouble, I might just consider building my own I guess.

    Also, I found out that the GTS240 on the Dell is basically the same as the 9800GTX which seems to have mixed reviews here on STO.

    Maybe I'll wait a few days to see what other peoples experiences have been.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited January 2010
    Wow, that's an interesting idea. After you said that I went back to their website and saw that they have a very similar HP for $100 less. The hard drive is slightly smaller but it is 7200 rpm which is a plus. Unfortunately, the video card is built on to the motherboard and I wanted to avoid that.

    I'll give your suggestion some serious thought but if I am to go through all the trouble, I might just consider building my own I guess.

    Also, I found out that the GTS240 on the Dell is basically the same as the 9800GTX which seems to have mixed reviews here on STO.

    Maybe I'll wait a few days to see what other peoples experiences have been.

    The 2nd system is a more powerful gaming system IMO. But still a GTS240 is kind of weak, you would be better off building your own system IMO.

    However, don't get me wrong, the GTS240 is still a great performing card, more than powerful enough to run STO. I've run STO on an 8800GT which is similar to the GTS240 and it ran great.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited January 2010
    I'm going to say that if you don't build your own you should go for something with the i7. They are way ahead of the stuff AMD has going on right now.

    Also I wouldn't go below 7200 rpm on your Hard Drive. Alot of people don't realize that loading from the Hard Drive is a major bottleneck.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited January 2010
    Atmas wrote: »
    I'm going to say that if you don't build your own you should go for something with the i7. They are way ahead of the stuff AMD has going on right now.

    Also I wouldn't go below 7200 rpm on your Hard Drive. Alot of people don't realize that loading from the Hard Drive is a major bottleneck.

    Yes, Hard drive is by far one of the biggest bottlenecks in a computer, even my system which is a 4.0ghz Core i7 920 suffers from hard drive lag.

    A 5400rpm hard drive will make your quad core feel like a single core at times.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited January 2010
    If I did want to build my own, what are good components?

    I see people seem to be raving about Antec cases. Also, I'm guessing a good 700 watt power supply for future upgradability, especially with higher end video cards and in some cases dual video cards. Asus motherboards still seem to be a standard.

    Thanks.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited January 2010
    Catamount wrote: »
    I would pick up the Phenom II X4 system, take the 300 you saved, and pick up one of these puppies with the saved cash (Radeon HD 5850).

    The Radeon HD 4350 won't run any games of note, because it's strictly an HTPC card, and the Geforce GTS240 is alright, but it's a entry level card. That cheaper system has more than enough base system performance though, so pair it up with a video card like the one I linked and your games will FLY.

    I have the HP that the OP posted, with that Radeon HD 4350. So am I SOL for playing Star Trek Online unless I upgrade to a new card?
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited January 2010
    If I did want to build my own, what are good components?

    I see people seem to be raving about Antec cases. Also, I'm guessing a good 700 watt power supply for future upgradability, especially with higher end video cards and in some cases dual video cards. Asus motherboards still seem to be a standard.

    Thanks.

    If you want to go with Nvidia get a GTX260 216core edition, if you want to go with ATI get a 5770, both are reasonably priced and on par with each other performance wise. I would go with Nvidia personally since they tend to have better drivers and support, but the 5770 has the benefit of being DX11 compatible. Both are about $160 on newegg.

    CPU I would recommend a core i7-860. Motherboard you can pick and choose, but gigabyte has a relatively inexpensive one. You can also go with AMD in which case I would suggest a Phenom X4 955 or 965.

    Best hard drive to get fro the money is the Western Digital 1TB Caviar Black, $99 for that. You can also go with their caviar black 640gb model if you need less space. If you really have money to spend, then get an 80gb Intel SSD for your boot drive, but those are pricey at $290.

    Get either 4gb or 8gb of ram also, 4gb will tend to be more than enough however.

    Personally I would stick with a better name brand power supply, something like a Corsair, for your computer a 650Watt power supply would be more than enough, in fact quite overkill, but it would give you the option to expand to a multigpu solution later on in the future.

    Case is really your choice, but Antec and Coolermaster both make good cases.
    altair068 wrote: »
    I have the HP that the OP posted, with that Radeon HD 4350. So am I SOL for playing Star Trek Online unless I upgrade to a new card?

    You can probably play the game at low low settings. I would recommend getting a 5770 or GTX260 again. Or you can also shoot for an HD 5570(being released soon), that would run the game too. If your low on cash, a 9800GT is a rather cheap card to get at $99... Even cheaper is a 4670 at $70, but a 9800gt will eat a 4670 for breakfast, and likewise a 5770 or GTX260 will eat a 9800gt, easily 2x the performance.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited January 2010
    Having had to just go through this myself I'd actually say go with the Core i7, or even go with the entry level Alienware. Yes, they do cost a little bit more but the i7 is really the way to go when it comes to processing power.

    For MMO's you definitely need a beefy system all around but you want one that will give you the greatest amount of flexibility to upgrade in the future. Picking up one that has a solid motherboard, will allow for SLI/Crossfire, and has a good PSU is the way to go if you aren't building it from scratch.

    ...I typically build my own but found that I just didn't have the time with my hectic schedule. I picked up an Alienware Aurora w/ Core i7 920, 6GB RAM, and an upgraded PSU to 850~ Watts. This gives me a good bit of flexibility if I want to go for an SLI setup or Crossfire setup, and the RAM is easy to upgrade should you want to toss more in. It cost a little bit more, but I felt this was the best option to go with so I don't have to buy a new computer every 2 years.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited January 2010
    If I did want to build my own, what are good components?

    I see people seem to be raving about Antec cases. Also, I'm guessing a good 700 watt power supply for future upgradability, especially with higher end video cards and in some cases dual video cards. Asus motherboards still seem to be a standard.

    Thanks.

    I would start with an i7 920 processor. I have a Gigabyte X58 UD5 board in my rig right now. I moved over from ASUS awhile back and I have not regretted it. You can stick any memory into this thing and it knows where to clock it on Auto. I would go with 6GB of Corsair Dominator DDR3-1600 and a single GTX 285. I am not a fan of ATI cards and I never recommend them. I think their drivers are absolute garbage and there are tons of conflicts with numerous games. I went to Nvidia with the 8800 series and never looked back. Anyway, round it out with a nice Antec full tower, 850W PSU, pair of 1TB HDDs and any DVD drive you want (Newegg has 100s). Would run you about $1400 and it would definately run this game + anything else for the next year or two.

    My personal machine specs are in my sig.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited January 2010
    You should go and check if anyone aroung you builds computers; family, friends, etc. Im in an A+ class at my high school, thats where I built my i7-920 computer, on a msi pro-e x58 mobo, cost me around 850-900:D. only down fall of mine is that I only have 3gb of ddr3, and a older 9600gt.:o

    Otherwise I would go for an i7 in the 1366 socket.(I spent 3 months debating between the 1366 (i7-920) and 1156 (i7-860) socket.)
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited January 2010
    wouldnt you know got up this morning and my xp os drive quit. long story short went to best buy and picked up an asus desktop for 1k. it has a rampage II mb. i7-920. 9gb of ddr3 ram and a 1tb harddrive and gtx 260 videocard. pretty good deal. everything is running fine at 1680x1050 under windows 7.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited January 2010
    wouldnt you know got up this morning and my xp os drive quit. long story short went to best buy and picked up an asus desktop for 1k. it has a rampage II mb. i7-920. 9gb of ddr3 ram and a 1tb harddrive and gtx 260 videocard. pretty good deal. everything is running fine at 1680x1050 under windows 7.

    I didn't see that one there when I was shopping. I wonder if it is a regional thing?
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited January 2010
    Well, I think I am going to build my own. There is a microcenter close by to me and I am going to stop up there tomorrow. Interestingly, after downloading the game, even knowing my computer wasn't supported, I thought I would give it a try anyways and low-and-behold it actually works, although a little choppy, its hard to manuever my character around. I currently have a dell optiplex 745 with P4 and a generic mobo intel nic, lol. I thought for sure it would TRIBBLE out but it runs!!

    Anyways, here is what I think I am going to buy, love to hear any comments.

    core i7 860 @ $229
    6 gig DDR3 @ $139 after rebate
    WD 1TB sata drive, 3.0 gb/s, 7200rpm, 32mb cache @ $99
    Antec 300 case @ $49
    Asus P7P55D mobo with all the goodies @ $149 after rebate
    ATI Radeon 5750 @ $159
    Corsair 650 watt power supply @ 114.99 after rebate

    Total price after rebate ~$939

    They also have a 12 month same as cash deal for in store customers.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited January 2010
    Hi everyone.

    I haven't bought a computer in soooo long. I'm not much of a game player but I really want to play this game. Anyways, I went to Best Buy today to checkout what's new and exciting. I sure would appreciate your comments and advice. Here is the two computers I am looking at.

    HP Phenom II X4 910 (model E9220Y)
    $799
    Windows 7 Home 64bit
    AMD quad core
    8 gig DDR3
    1TB hard drive (5400rpm)
    DVD writer w/lightscribe
    Radeon 4350 w/ HDMI, 512MB

    Dell core i7 860
    $1119
    Windows 7 Home 64bit
    Intel quad core 2.8ghz
    8 gig DDR3
    1 TB hard drive 7200rpm
    DVD writer
    Nvidia GTS240 w/ HDMI, 1024MB

    Thanks for any advice, feel free recommend your own.

    I will say.. one very good brand... BYO.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited January 2010
    I would just build your own using an atx mid sized case, asus LGA 1566 socket with a core i7 920 and an NVIDA GTX 260 factory overclocked graphics card. and make sure the power supply is at least 800 watts or you wont have the power you need and if you can find the 920 rev: d model of the processor go with it the revison c has had some issues i bieve. also if you check out my companies webpage www.biycomputers.com it has some pre built systems the you may like or to at least give you an idea of what you would like to build....
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited January 2010
    Ok, not to start a holy war, but which would you choose of these 2 video cards. I'm clueless on this stuff.

    BFG Technologies GeForce® GTX 260 OC MAXCORE 55 896MB GDDR3 PCIe 2.0 Graphics Card @ $169.99

    or

    Visiontek Radeon HD 5850 1024MB GDDR5 PCIe Graphics Card @ $289.99

    Obviously a large price diff but the next nvidia based card up is almost $100 more.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited January 2010
    You have ZERO reason to have 8GB of ram , even with x64 windows 7!
    =
    get a Nvidia GTS250/260/275
    or ATI 4770/5770/5850
    basic Core series cpu, like Core I5 750/860
    or AM3 945/955/965

    checkout a system like this:

    http://www.gigaparts.com/store.php?action=profile&sku=SY0329-7HP-64
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited January 2010
    Well, I put together a new system yesterday. Bought all the parts and spent a few hours putting it together. Here is what I bought. Total price came to just under $1000 before about $150 in rebates.

    Antec 300 case
    Intel i7 860 cpu
    Asus P7P55D mobo
    (2) WD 1TB 7200 sata drives w/ 32mb cache each in raid1
    OCZtech 700watt PSU
    XFX HD 5770 video card w/HDMI
    4 gig DDR3 CL8 ram

    I am going to buy a new TV today for my desk, probably somewhere between 26-30 inches. I'll be using the HDMI port on the video card. This will be nice because I can get the speakers off of my desk.

    Thanks for everyones help.
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