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"I need a new PC!" 2010 Edition

OK, I had another look at laptops and decided that good graphics is probably the most important factor for what I want. With that in mind, can anyone suggest what laptops have the best possible GPU for £1200 or less?

So far I've found the HP Envy 15 with an ATI 4830 and the Sony Vaio F11V5E which you can configure with an nVidia 330M.
 
Danj said:
Any particular reason? Both my previous laptops were HP and I've not had any real problems with them.
Click to expand...
Every single one of my friends with an HP laptop has had to have it repaired. Not sure if it's recent but I'm pretty sure their build quality has been shit at least since they merged with Compaq.

Edit: Also, is it just me or does this look really good for school + light gaming?
http://www.amazon.ca/dp/B002XZLURC/
 
Alright guys, this may sound like something someone that knows NOTHING about PC stuff says, but hey, I know practically nothing about monitors.

I want something really big (at least 23"). I want something fairly nice (something that says "wow")

I don't want the GF to kill me by spending all my tax return on it. :D

Any ideas?!
 
OK so I am getting a CPU cooler as I am about to start my endeavor in Overclocking my Phenom II. I have it narrowed down to the Coolermaster V8, and the Thermalright Ultra 120 Extreme. From the reviews I read it seems the v8 performs a slight bit better, but I can get the Thermalright for $75 AUD, compared to ~$90AUD for the V8. Which is the better option?

Also, the Thermalright doesn't come with a fan, which would be most suitable?
This one is on sale at $9 AUD,
http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=9_510&products_id=11558
it has a good RPM and pushes 57 CFM, but is a little loud. Is that fan even compatible? Any help is appreciated.

I'm leaning towards the Thermalright, as for some reason that site has it for $49AUD, whereas the average price is on or around $100...
 
Anyone know more about that Acer aspire model I asked aboutl?

The exact model number was m7720 ASM7720-A29

I have been trying to find out exactly what the innards are like, but am not having much luck figuring out what kind of motherboard it runs. I primarily want to make sure if it's a LG1336 or not.

I am still weary but if I hope to find out when it was bought and if there is still a warranty left or not.

Edit: Also person asking about laptops, I would stay away from Vaio's. I would even take HP over them no problem.
 
pseudocaesar said:
OK so I am getting a CPU cooler as I am about to start my endeavor in Overclocking my Phenom II. I have it narrowed down to the Coolermaster V8, and the Thermalright Ultra 120 Extreme. From the reviews I read it seems the v8 performs a slight bit better, but I can get the Thermalright for $75 AUD, compared to ~$90AUD for the V8. Which is the better option?

Also, the Thermalright doesn't come with a fan, which would be most suitable?
This one is on sale at $9 AUD,
http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=9_510&products_id=11558
it has a good RPM and pushes 57 CFM, but is a little loud. Is that fan even compatible? Any help is appreciated.

I'm leaning towards the Thermalright, as for some reason that site has it for $49AUD, whereas the average price is on or around $100...
Click to expand...
May I suggest the Noctua NH-U12P...I too have a Phenom II (x4) and it keeps all my cores very cool...Right now they are running at 26 degrees celcius. It's also whisper quiet!
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835608014&cm_re=Noctua_NH-U12P-_-35-608-014-_-Product
 
BudokaiMR2 said:
Edit: Also person asking about laptops, I would stay away from Vaio's. I would even take HP over them no problem.
Click to expand...

So that's one recommendation to stay away from HP and one recommendation to stay away from Sony, but does anyone have any alternative suggestions? What about Acer, they seem to have some laptops with decent graphics in the price range I am looking at?
 
Any thoughts here on the Lenovo IdeaPad Y550? http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834146612

I've been using my dad's laptop for the last year, and I'm tired of deleting my porn history.

Seriously, though - Not a big PC gamer (have all the consoles), but would like a computer that's going to last me at least a couple years and generally be my friend instead of a hairpulling nightmare. Not sure if this is the right thread for this, but don't have threadstarting privileges, so here I am.

Any opinions would be appreciated. Thanks!
 
As you can see on the last page I am also considering my first Acer purchase. I have not owned one but comments from friends have always seemed good.

I have just personally had horrible luck with my Vaio's so I don't trust them. A lot of this just ends up coming to personal experience. I know just as many people who were happy with their HP laptops as people who swear them off now.
 
Going by repair statistics, everyone else seems to have about the same 3year repair rate, (plus or minus one or two percent) except for HP, which has an almost 7-10% increase over the others.
 
zoku88 said:
Going by repair statistics, everyone else seems to have about the same 3year repair rate, (plus or minus one or two percent) except for HP, which has an almost 7-10% increase over the others.
Click to expand...

What statistics are those? Consumer Report's stats indicate laptops needing on average a 17% repair rate no matter the brand (apple, dell, hp), though my last HP had to be sent back 3 times for repairs over 3 years, and I would not wish that hell of dealing with their support upon my worst enemy.
 
Yeah the thing is that a lot of the time it can't just be blamed on the brand. It's always the parts inside the machine which are as varied as a roman orgy. Can't blame Dell for Sony laptop batteries blowing up(or was it HP and toshiba I forget).
 
BudokaiMR2 said:
As you can see on the last page I am also considering my first Acer purchase. I have not owned one but comments from friends have always seemed good.
Click to expand...

Looking around I can only find two Acer models that look as if they would suit me: Aspire 7738G with C2Q9000 CPU and GT240M, and Aspire 5940G with i7-720QM and HD4650. According to Notebookcheck's GPU list both those GPUs are lower down the range than the HD4830 in the HP Envy 15 though.
 
Danj said:
So that's one recommendation to stay away from HP and one recommendation to stay away from Sony, but does anyone have any alternative suggestions? What about Acer, they seem to have some laptops with decent graphics in the price range I am looking at?
Click to expand...

Everyone is going to have anecdotal evidence for or against a brand. I've seen people saying PS3's are more likely to die than Xbox 360's....the fuck?

I am going to buy an HP laptop tonight based of the experiences of people I know. Beyond that, I don't have much to go on. Sure, corporate restructurings, factories of origin, and parts suppliers could be used to make a more informed decision. In the end, what person have you seen with a laptop that hasn't said "This stupid piece shit, it always does this". You could probably extrapolate this to all computers in general.

In the end, you are buying a laptop and, by doing so, are setting yourself up for some grief no matter what. I am buying one because the desktop I built has decided to hibernate for the foreseeable future. I'll likely get around to fixing it some day, but when I do I will then have two computers to compute with.
 
Class_A_Ninja said:
In the end, you are buying a laptop and, by doing so, are setting yourself up for some grief no matter what. I am buying one because the desktop I built has decided to hibernate for the foreseeable future. I'll likely get around to fixing it some day, but when I do I will then have two computers to compute with.
Click to expand...

Well, this is not going to be my main PC, my main PC will probably continue to be a Core 2 Duo E6600 with 4GB RAM and an 8800GT 512Mb for some time, but I need a better laptop than the one I have at the moment because I'm going on vacation to my parents' house for 3 weeks in February (I currently have an HP dv6317eu - dual core mobile AMD chip but with an nVidia 6100 chipset).
 
I was wondering if I should upgrade my CPU sometime in the near future? I have an AMD based build with a 4890 graphics card and I think my CPU is bottlenecking my graphics card. I have an AMD Athlon X2 6000 I think. I know it's the one at 3.2ghz so it might be the 6400. I was wondering if upgrading to a quad core would yield better performance on games such as Mass Effect?
 
Aurarian said:
I was wondering if I should upgrade my CPU sometime in the near future? I have an AMD based build with a 4890 graphics card and I think my CPU is bottlenecking my graphics card. I have an AMD Athlon X2 6000 I think. I know it's the one at 3.2ghz so it might be the 6400. I was wondering if upgrading to a quad core would yield better performance on games such as Mass Effect?
Click to expand...
Very much so :D

Although if you have a motherboard that can unlock the 4th core o a tri-core I'd go for that route.
 
Aurarian said:
I was wondering if I should upgrade my CPU sometime in the near future? I have an AMD based build with a 4890 graphics card and I think my CPU is bottlenecking my graphics card. I have an AMD Athlon X2 6000 I think. I know it's the one at 3.2ghz so it might be the 6400. I was wondering if upgrading to a quad core would yield better performance on games such as Mass Effect?
Click to expand...

I'd upgrade into a nice C2D for relatively cheap. The i7's and i5's are still a bit early in my opinion. They're nice - but you'll pay the premium for it.
 
PoweredBySoy said:
I'd upgrade into a nice C2D for relatively cheap. The i7's and i5's are still a bit early in my opinion. They're nice - but you'll pay the premium for it.
Click to expand...
No need to change platforms, a nice upgrade to an AMD CPU is fine. Also a lot cheaper.
 
Danj said:
So that's one recommendation to stay away from HP and one recommendation to stay away from Sony, but does anyone have any alternative suggestions? What about Acer, they seem to have some laptops with decent graphics in the price range I am looking at?
Click to expand...

ASUS.
 
Minsc said:
What statistics are those? Consumer Report's stats indicate laptops needing on average a 17% repair rate no matter the brand (apple, dell, hp), though my last HP had to be sent back 3 times for repairs over 3 years, and I would not wish that hell of dealing with their support upon my worst enemy.
Click to expand...
Pretty sure the HP brand got up to 24%.

I think it ranged from 14-24

FAKE EDIT: Ah, here it is http://www.engadget.com/2009/11/17/laptop-reliability-survey-asus-and-toshiba-win-hp-fails/

And yea, even tho the parts are usually recycled, there is one thing brands do decide: heat dissipation and air flow. Laptops are, more or less, deathtraps. Better manufacturers know how to route heat effectively.

EDIT: Oops, not consumer reports, but wtv.
 
Hazaro said:
No need to change platforms, a nice upgrade to an AMD CPU is fine. Also a lot cheaper.
Click to expand...

You're probably right. I haven't used an AMD in awhile now, but I suppose they're a lot less dickish about making you upgrade sockets. Intel is the worst in that regard.
 
3rdman said:
May I suggest the Noctua NH-U12P...I too have a Phenom II (x4) and it keeps all my cores very cool...Right now they are running at 26 degrees celcius. It's also whisper quiet!
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835608014&cm_re=Noctua_NH-U12P-_-35-608-014-_-Product
Click to expand...
I have the same Noctua Cooler as well on my core i7 860 and I highly recommend it as well. Don't underestimate the noise factor. Its nice having a computer that doesn't sound like a jet engine taking off when its running.
 
Just out of curiosity.
Has anyone here had experience with Ibuypower custom pcs?
I notice they aren't on the OP's list.
thanks
 
Smash88 said:
:lol

Please tell me you are telling him to stay away from ASUS.
Click to expand...

Of course not, they make some of the best and most interesting premium machines around, and are at the bottom of that returns chart. Much better than HP/Dell/ACER etc.
 
SuperEnemyCrab said:
This should work:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812270280

As for male and female, you want a male displayport, and probably a female DVI, but you could also get a male DVI and plug the cable directly into the monitor. Just depends on your setup.
Click to expand...


Awesooome! thanks for looking that up. I have 3 different monitors, so i cant really play games like that, but i just want to have 3 desktops, will be cool.
 
brain_stew said:
Of course not, they make some of the best and most interesting premium machines around, and are at the bottom of that returns chart. Much better than HP/Dell/ACER etc.
Click to expand...

:lol

You're a funny guy.
 
Violater said:
Just out of curiosity.
Has anyone here had experience with Ibuypower custom pcs?
I notice they aren't on the OP's list.
thanks
Click to expand...


i've used cyberpower and while their build is good and prices are unbeatable, their customer service is awful and i dont trust their warranties. you are beter off building your own trust me.
 
Well, I ended 2009 thinking I had my PC where I wanted it with overclocking. I noticed many were highly successful overclocking their 5850s so I thought I'd give it a try over the default 775/1125 max overdrive settings. Without increasing the vcore I was able to achieve stability at 900/1225 (Sapphire reference model). Using 40% fan speed my temps are 45idle/72load. This got me an average 6fps increase in Crysis.
 
BudokaiMR2 said:
Anyone know more about that Acer aspire model I asked aboutl?

The exact model number was m7720 ASM7720-A29

I have been trying to find out exactly what the innards are like, but am not having much luck figuring out what kind of motherboard it runs. I primarily want to make sure if it's a LG1336 or not.

I am still weary but if I hope to find out when it was bought and if there is still a warranty left or not.

Edit: Also person asking about laptops, I would stay away from Vaio's. I would even take HP over them no problem.
Click to expand...
If it's an i7 920 it has to be using LGA 1366. Just find out what video card is in it as the other specs are great.

Danj said:
Well, this is not going to be my main PC, my main PC will probably continue to be a Core 2 Duo E6600 with 4GB RAM and an 8800GT 512Mb for some time, but I need a better laptop than the one I have at the moment because I'm going on vacation to my parents' house for 3 weeks in February (I currently have an HP dv6317eu - dual core mobile AMD chip but with an nVidia 6100 chipset).
Click to expand...
If it's not your main PC, and you have a laptop, do you really need to do high end PC gaming for 3 weeks? Why not pick up many of the much less demanding games on Steam to play or get a Nintendo DS? I mean, if you haven't played Phoenix Wright yet you should be getting on that shit right now.
 
- The HP Envy 15 is now for order with Core i5 processors and the Mobility 5830, so beware buying the outdated model. The new refresh is also cheaper.
 
Firestorm said:
Which one? The Asus?
Click to expand...
Yea, the UL series. Or wtv it was (I can't remember the names.) I'm pretty sure some members of their series were seen at CES.

I think the one I saw was a 14" model, so maybe they're not changing the 13" models yet.

The 14" was interesting, though, it had automatic switching gfx (as opposed to the user switching them).

But that whole line seems really highly regarded, as of late. Decent gaming, good battery life. So, I don't think it would be wrong to buy one (just risky, in terms of closeness to when ASUS upgrades them.)

ASUS seems to have a rapid upgrade cycle. (Seems liek, 3-4 times a year.) Usually, around... Fall, CES and Taipei. Maybe some others.
 
Firestorm said:
If it's an i7 920 it has to be using LGA 1366. Just find out what video card is in it as the other specs are great.
Click to expand...

Yeah I was pretty surprised by the price. I am going to check to see if they have documents on how long ago it was originally bought etc. I got my PS3 like this 3 years ago for $200 cheaper and it had been bought a month prior and none of the connecting cords or anything had been opened.

BTW the graphics card is a Radeon 5870 1 GB model. I dunno exactly which one, but that line is one of the best.

Here's hoping that it is still there this afternoon. I want to see if they will open it up and let me look. I dunno what to look for as far as wear and tear though. Gonna try to bring along my more tech-savvy friend to help me decide.

It just seems like such a great deal, even though I will miss the fun/hassle of putting stuff together myself which I was looking forward to. Oh well I might put in a cooling unit(if there isn't already one inside) for overclocking.
 
Looking for a budget upgrade for a cheap CPU + Mobo and have a question

Looking for something like this

How big of a bump would it be with going from an Athlon X2 4800+ Socket 939 based system?

This is pushing my budget a bit, so nothing more than this (~$125)

PS I already have some DDR2-800, so RAM wont be an issue

I also have a small tower, so micro-ATX mobo suggestions only please.

Thanks GAF!
 
Okay well I think I am going to pull the trigger on that used acer desktop today.

Here is hoping that I don't get screwed by buying used, but I am gonna check it as best as i can before deciding.
 
KittyKittyBangBang said:
Looking for a budget upgrade for a cheap CPU + Mobo and have a question

Looking for something like this

How big of a bump would it be with going from an Athlon X2 4800+ Socket 939 based system?

This is pushing my budget a bit, so nothing more than this (~$125)

PS I already have some DDR2-800, so RAM wont be an issue

I also have a small tower, so micro-ATX mobo suggestions only please.

Thanks GAF!
Click to expand...

Get this instead, you'll be pleased you have the extra core:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.320283

You wouldn't be able to justify the upgrade without adding an extra core imo. You could always just OC your old chip and save up until you can afford a bigger upgrade instead (to a Phenom ii X4 or core i5/i7).
 
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