PC question - calling all gurus

D_Accord

D_Accord

Legacy Member
Been in the IT for a decade but also out of it for a almost a decade now..
It's time to get a new machine (desktop). I used to build my computers (frostys anyone?) but the last 2 computers were bought at futureshop.
I was looking a the configs and got all dizzy with the technology etc etc.

So here's my thing

budget - around $600 more or less
usage - mostly internet, video, music. No games or heavy editing of anything
want - fast performance/suitable for multitasking

Any set up recommendations? and where do you get your stuff? newegg?ncix?

Thank you MR community in advance.
 
With the new technology that is out; just go get a PC in a box at Futureshop or Bestbuy.

I wanted to build my computer; but couldn't do it while keeping it on a budget and you know what... not too shabby!!
 
If you're on a budget go AMD. You can get the excellent Phenom II 965 CPU for about 100$.

Memory is extremely cheap these days. You can get 8GB of DDR3 memory for about 45$.

you can definately built a decent desktop for 600$.
 
For 600$ don't build it yourself. Buy a laptop. You can probably pick up an i5 class laptop for about 600$ right now with the back to school specials.

Just stay away from Lenovo products and get an Intel multicore processor with windows 7 64 bit and at least 6Gb RAM and you'll be fine.
 
600.00$ with or without tax ?
What do you keep from old computer ? (keyboard, mouse, monitor, nothing ?)

Anseer those 2 question and i'll suggest u part once i'll be at the office.
 
lord_galathon said:
For 600$ don't build it yourself. Buy a laptop. You can probably pick up an i5 class laptop for about 600$ right now with the back to school specials.

Just stay away from Lenovo products and get an Intel multicore processor with windows 7 64 bit and at least 6Gb RAM and you'll be fine.
Click to expand...

Er...why not Lenovo products? Sold previously as IBM thinkpads, they're fairly robust.

IMO, for $600, you can buy a pretty decent desktop. Meh at laptops, that's just a matter of taste, but in general, desktops are still more powerful.

I'd go to futureshop or best buy and take a look at what's offered in the $600 budget you have, and make sure you check the full component list. For that money, you will be able to get something put together on your own that is probably more powerful.

I usually buy from canadacomputers.com, ncix, and newegg.ca
 
The warranty service rate on Lenovo products is the highest among the industry. Sure, they'll give you warranty service, but that's because you'll NEED warranty service.

We haven't used Lenovo products since the first year IBM sold the division to them which is the year I left IBM.

On the other hand they're inexpensive...
 
If and if you can go just a little high on the budget and don't need new keyboard/mouse/monitor that would be your best bet for the $$$


Computer Case - 49.99$
Thermaltake V3 Black Edition VL80001W2Z Black SECC / Plastic ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811133094

Power Supply - 54.99$ (20.00$US Mail-in Rebate)
CORSAIR Builder Series CX430 V2 (CMPSU-430CXV2) 430W ATX12V v2.3 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Power Supply
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139026

Optical Drive - 15.99$
SAMSUNG 22X DVD Burner SATA Model SH-222BB/BEBE - OEM
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827151244

SSD (OS/Application) - 99.99$ (10.00$US Mail-in Rebate)
OCZ Vertex 3 VTX3-25SAT3-120G 2.5" 120GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227706

Storage Drive - 99.99$
Western Digital Caviar Blue WD10EALX 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136767

Memory - 89.49$
Kingston HyperX 16GB (4 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model KHX1600C9D3K4/16GX
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820104169

Motherboard - 109.99$
BIOSTAR TZ75B LGA 1155 Intel Z75 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard with UEFI BIOS
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813138356

CPU - 194.99$
Intel Core i5-3450 Ivy Bridge 3.1GHz (3.5GHz Turbo) LGA 1155 77W Quad-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 2500 BX80637I53450
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116506

Total (including shipping and taxes): 787.07$


Only good parts, no no-name like or cheapest part like in HP/Lenevo/Sony/etc....
SSD + Regular HD you won't have that at FutureShop or BestBuy
All the latest technology, nothing that is 6 month old.

If you add a other 65$ you can have a Blu-Ray reader/burner with that.

I can go easily down to 600.00$ at your door without one or more of those but personally... i wouldn't:
- No SSD (-99$)
- Older CPU, Sandy Bridge (-30$)
- Older Motherboard chipset, H68 (-20$)
- Less RAM (-45$)
- Cheaper Case+ Cheap PowerSupply (-50$)




edit: Made a mistake, price included taxes and shipping, it was mention "before" by mistake.
 
Last edited:
The closest thing at FutureShop:

http://www.futureshop.ca/en-CA/prod...spx?path=c7c72a2fc977a9d6def19bf343215f74en02

Total (before shipping and taxes): 747.00$

And you have:
- Less RAM (-10Gb)
- Slower Memory (PC1333)
- Maximum RAM (16Gb instead of 32Gb)
- No SSD
+ More HD (+1Tb)
- Slower HD (5400rpm instead of 7200rpm)
+ Windows Home Edition 64bit (worth 105.00$ if you want to know)
+ Keyboard & Mouse (cheap and both wired, worth what... 20$ ?)
- Older chipset (H67)
- No DVI Output (only HDMI and VGA)
- No USB 3.0
- Power Supply 300w (instead of 430w)

FutureShop is indeed a deal breaker! As many said run there right f*cking now!





edit: Made a mistake, price included taxes and shipping, it was mention "before" by mistake.
 
Last edited:
altivec said:
600.00$ with or without tax ?
What do you keep from old computer ? (keyboard, mouse, monitor, nothing ?)
Anseer those 2 question and i'll suggest u part once i'll be at the office.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the offer alvitec! (and the rest of you guys thanks as well)
I'll keep everything including my 22inch monitor I got a few years ago, still works like a charm, I just need a desktop.
As for the budget it's flexible.. I used to built machines that would cost me $1500 and that was when I was a student. Funny how as I make more money, I wanna spend less lol.
 
altivec said:
If and if you can go just a little high on the budget and don't need new keyboard/mouse/monitor that would be your best bet for the $$$

Computer Case - 49.99$
Thermaltake V3 Black Edition VL80001W2Z Black SECC / Plastic ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811133094

Power Supply - 54.99$ (20.00$US Mail-in Rebate)
CORSAIR Builder Series CX430 V2 (CMPSU-430CXV2) 430W ATX12V v2.3 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Power Supply
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139026

Optical Drive - 15.99$
SAMSUNG 22X DVD Burner SATA Model SH-222BB/BEBE - OEM
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827151244

SSD (OS/Application) - 99.99$ (10.00$US Mail-in Rebate)
OCZ Vertex 3 VTX3-25SAT3-120G 2.5" 120GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227706

Storage Drive - 99.99$
Western Digital Caviar Blue WD10EALX 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136767

Memory - 89.49$
Kingston HyperX 16GB (4 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model KHX1600C9D3K4/16GX
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820104169

Motherboard - 109.99$
BIOSTAR TZ75B LGA 1155 Intel Z75 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard with UEFI BIOS
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813138356

CPU - 194.99$
Intel Core i5-3450 Ivy Bridge 3.1GHz (3.5GHz Turbo) LGA 1155 77W Quad-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 2500 BX80637I53450
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116506

Total (before shipping and taxes): 787.07$


Only good parts, no no-name like or cheapest part like in HP/Lenevo/Sony/etc....
SSD + Regular HD you won't have that at FutureShop or BestBuy
All the latest technology, nothing that is 6 month old.

If you add a other 65$ you can have a Blu-Ray reader/burner with that.

I can go easily down to 600.00$ at your door without one or more of those but personally... i wouldn't:
- No SSD (-99$)
- Older CPU, Sandy Bridge (-30$)
- Older Motherboard chipset, H68 (-20$)
- Less RAM (-45$)
- Cheaper Case+ Cheap PowerSupply (-50$)
Click to expand...


SSD?.. damn I didn't know that they were already so available.. I mean they were just coming out in 2009 ish I think..
16 gigs?!..holy ...
 
D_Accord said:
SSD?.. damn I didn't know that they were already so available.. I mean they were just coming out in 2009 ish I think..
16 gigs?!..holy ...
Click to expand...

16Gb got use real quick (depending what you exactly do, for the price i would say to it right away).

Something sure SSD are worth it! Shorter life yes but for speed... damm....
If you want bigger HD you can either add 20$ for a 2Tb (Green so slower) or 60/80$ for a 2Tb (Black edition so faster).
Store your data on regular HD or backup your SSD to regular HD often in case, personally me, my wife and partner all have SSD since 2 years and no problem at all so far.

Biostar a lot of people will say it's a cheap brand, well most of the stuff is made by Foxconn anyway and personally i have 4 PC home with Biostar motherboard and they are working better that the Intel boards i just bought at the office.

Also for the Case i just took a good one for cheap price, you could go with something smaller if you wanted since the motherboard is Micro-ATX.

Again we can cut to lower the price but for quality/speed/life time/money i think it's pretty close to be the best bet out there . Also you can price match on NCIX+Shopbot.ca you could maybe save a extra 20$ to 50$ if you are lucky
 
^ I'll pay a bit more for stability and quality, that's why all my PCs that were built always lasted me a while with zero problems.. and I'd say I keep a computer for about 3-5 years
What's the life expectancy of a SSD? I always keep my PC running by the way.
 
altivec is full of win... that would make for quite a good gaming machine with a video card thrown in for not that expensive at all...
 
altivec said:
16Gb got use real quick (depending what you exactly do, for the price i would say to it right away).

Something sure SSD are worth it! Shorter life yes but for speed... damm....
If you want bigger HD you can either add 20$ for a 2Tb (Green so slower) or 60/80$ for a 2Tb (Black edition so faster).
Store your data on regular HD or backup your SSD to regular HD often in case, personally me, my wife and partner all have SSD since 2 years and no problem at all so far.

Biostar a lot of people will say it's a cheap brand, well most of the stuff is made by Foxconn anyway and personally i have 4 PC home with Biostar motherboard and they are working better that the Intel boards i just bought at the office.

Also for the Case i just took a good one for cheap price, you could go with something smaller if you wanted since the motherboard is Micro-ATX.

Again we can cut to lower the price but for quality/speed/life time/money i think it's pretty close to be the best bet out there . Also you can price match on NCIX+Shopbot.ca you could maybe save a extra 20$ to 50$ if you are lucky
Click to expand...

I never had an SSD... Do you recommend using it as a main partition to run the OS or the opposite of that?
 
I do the same, i only shutdown my computer while am on the plane to save battery a little.

Life time of SSD all depend of you usage, could last 1 year like it could last 25 years.
With what you said i would be surprised if it's not lasting at least 5 years, anyway there a 3 years warranty on it.

Personally i use my computer from 7:00AM to 11:00PM MINIMUM (-2h for lunch/dinner) all day.
I write to the SSD at least 10 to 30Gb of data everyday of the week (minimum 1 to 5Gb on week-end if i am not downloading).

Even if my SSD died tomorrow (and back in the days i paid over 600/700$ for it) i would get a other one right away! SSD as been a better upgrade that RAM in my case, with the time i save in a day it got paid within the first month.
 
android25ua said:
altivec is full of win... that would make for quite a good gaming machine with a video card thrown in for not that expensive at all...
Click to expand...

For gaming i would go with a more powerfull power supply to be safe.

android25ua said:
I never had an SSD... Do you recommend using it as a main partition to run the OS or the opposite of that?
Click to expand...

Right now i have:
SSD 250Gb: OS (MacOS 10.8 + Windows7) / Application / VirtualMachine / Documents
Storage HD 750Gb 7200rpm: Photo (over 250Gb) / Music (over 180Gb) / Download / Movies

I have incremental backup running every day at night for both drive.

Honestly if there was a 1Tb SSD 2.5" for less that 500.00$, i wouldn't even care if it blows every 12 months. The difference in speed is so drastic in my case that it's worth every penny, on top of that for laptop no moving part is great and it consume less energy so better battery life.
 
sérieux a 600$ tu peut avoir dequoi de vraiment bon. SI tu cherche dans mes post je m'avais monté un PC incluant une Carte video pour 450$ tx in , rajoute 150$ a sa et tu as dequoi de vraiment bien. J'avais tout prix chez NCIX en pricematchant sur SHOPBOT sa vaut vraiment la peine de prendre le temps . J'ai economisé facilement 100$
 
I totally forgot about the OS..lol. I know if I get it from FS or BB they come with it.. if I assemble it.. then i'll need to buy that too. hmm
 
Like i said earlier: Windows Home (if it's enough for your needs) is 105.00$

We can easily cut on some stuff if it's only a budget question.
 
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