New desktop computer....any advice?

[IntegrityShirts]

Wow, this turned into a big ol mess lol.  I built my most recent machine on advice from friends/car club members who are engineers, programmers, etc.  Basically, smarter than me and directed me to specific brands and parts to buy, so I did.

Put it together myself lol.  "Building" computers is nothing more than turning a few screws and plugging in a few cables these days.

The biggest benefit in building your own system is price for performance, quality of parts, and NO BLOATWARE on a fresh OS install.

My advice, and this is the path I took, is to build it with current components that are no more than 6 months old.  Doesn't have to be the newest processor on the street or the fastest hard drives necessarily.  Shop prices, obviously one gen older processor will be much cheaper than the new gen i7 that came out this week.

Had to replace a case fan on my Dell desktop at the house, and it's less than 3 years old.  I can't do Dell anymore, too many problems, qc issues etc.

[blue moon]

...love the debate and all, but can anyone help me out with maybe a place to order from, a definitive parts list, stuff like that? Many of you have said buy quality parts, but the problem is that I have NO idea what is and isnt. My background is press and screens, all the comps I have used up to this point have been off-the-shelf from big-box stores.

...to give you an idea, this is what I have been using for the last two years:

http://www.amazon.com/HP-Pavilion-DM3-1130US-13-3-Inch-Laptop/dp/B00318CG8C

...now, what I am looking for is something that will just...well, WORK FASTER. Illy and PS open painfully slow, even Corel gets hung up each move if there is a complicated contour, or if I import an Illy file that has high-node elements. You know what I mean? I guess $500-1k would be fine, and a TRUSTED refurb like Pierre mentioned would be okay too.

Oh Pierre, BTW, I did look on ebay, but there was still a lot of variation in price and specs. Again, I just dont know what exactly to look for, much less who to trust and how not to get ripped off

...sorry, I know im kind of asking you to give a man a fish instead of teaching a man to fish, but any help is GREATLY appreciated. I dont wanna hafta do this again for at least 3 years.

...Thanks again guys!!

this one is an option:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Lenovo-IBM-Thinkstation-S10-6483-Core-2-E6850-3ghz-4GB-146GB-SAS-FX4600-VistaB-/400293972693?pt=Desktop_PCs&hash=item5d33614ad5#ht_2057wt_763

$250 before shipping. You will need a copy of Windows 7 to install on it. Also, a little more RAM would be nice, but necessary to get going. This is exactly what I have and it is still running fine. 'should be good for few more years . . .

pierre

[GraphicDisorder]

Wow, this turned into a big ol mess lol.  I built my most recent machine on advice from friends/car club members who are engineers, programmers, etc.  Basically, smarter than me and directed me to specific brands and parts to buy, so I did.

Put it together myself lol.  "Building" computers is nothing more than turning a few screws and plugging in a few cables these days.

The biggest benefit in building your own system is price for performance, quality of parts, and NO BLOATWARE on a fresh OS install.

My advice, and this is the path I took, is to build it with current components that are no more than 6 months old.  Doesn't have to be the newest processor on the street or the fastest hard drives necessarily.  Shop prices, obviously one gen older processor will be much cheaper than the new gen i7 that came out this week.

Had to replace a case fan on my Dell desktop at the house, and it's less than 3 years old.  I can't do Dell anymore, too many problems, qc issues etc.

Exactly what I did basically.  Except I did buy nearly the fastest Intel Processor you could buy at the time because I wanted something that would be future proof a good bit.  ANYONE hear can build a computer with a little advice on components to go with.  It is in NO way hard.  If you can screen print, putting together parts in a PC is cake!

[GraphicDisorder]

...love the debate and all, but can anyone help me out with maybe a place to order from, a definitive parts list, stuff like that? Many of you have said buy quality parts, but the problem is that I have NO idea what is and isnt. My background is press and screens, all the comps I have used up to this point have been off-the-shelf from big-box stores.

...to give you an idea, this is what I have been using for the last two years:

http://www.amazon.com/HP-Pavilion-DM3-1130US-13-3-Inch-Laptop/dp/B00318CG8C

...now, what I am looking for is something that will just...well, WORK FASTER. Illy and PS open painfully slow, even Corel gets hung up each move if there is a complicated contour, or if I import an Illy file that has high-node elements. You know what I mean? I guess $500-1k would be fine, and a TRUSTED refurb like Pierre mentioned would be okay too.

Oh Pierre, BTW, I did look on ebay, but there was still a lot of variation in price and specs. Again, I just dont know what exactly to look for, much less who to trust and how not to get ripped off

...sorry, I know im kind of asking you to give a man a fish instead of teaching a man to fish, but any help is GREATLY appreciated. I dont wanna hafta do this again for at least 3 years.

...Thanks again guys!!

this one is an option:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Lenovo-IBM-Thinkstation-S10-6483-Core-2-E6850-3ghz-4GB-146GB-SAS-FX4600-VistaB-/400293972693?pt=Desktop_PCs&hash=item5d33614ad5#ht_2057wt_763

$250 before shipping. You will need a copy of Windows 7 to install on it. Also, a little more RAM would be nice, but necessary to get going. This is exactly what I have and it is still running fine. 'should be good for few more years . . .

pierre

Lenovo Thinkstation S10 PC
Type 648323U
CORE 2 DUO 3GHZ E6850 (I thought you said these came with Xeon procs?)
4GB RAM (go with a lot more, at least 8gb, IMO 12gb if it will hold it, what's the max on this box?).
146GB 15,000RPM SAS HARD DRIVE (Super small drive, going to be really tight on space if you dont add a second drive.)
DVDRW DRIVE
Nvidia Quadro FX4600 DUAL DVI Video Card (best spec in the box)
Card Reader
Vista Business LOADED WITH DRIVERS AND COA
UNITS MAY CONTAIN WEAR AND TEAR

$250 is a fine price for this machine, but IMO it needs upgrades just to use.  Bigger or second hard drive, a lot more ram, the processor is pretty dated, not even sold on New Egg anymore that's how old it is.  Thats just the basics.  The Video is probably fine for now, but also a lot better out there. 

Think of this computer like buying a brand new 2008 car that's been sitting on a lot and been marked down each year.  That's basically the way id look at it.  Some people will love that value.  Others would probably want back up sensors, dual climate control, remote start, etc.  LOL

[Dottonedan]

I bought that same one you just posted on and yes, I upgraded to 8gigs of ram and we put in my previous larger HD.

Still invested $about $400.00 total, with a 2 year ebay full warranty.  I'm sure it will do what I need (as my older one did just that) but the Mother boards was fried due to a storm. So, my next purchase is a good PSU thingamabob.

My other choice was a $1100.00 unit that seemed to be pretty close. So, $400 or $1100?  I took the $400 for obvious reasons.

[GraphicDisorder]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Lenovo-IBM-Thinkstation-S10-6483-Core-2-E6850-3ghz-4GB-146GB-SAS-FX4600-VistaB-/400293972693?pt=Desktop_PCs&hash=item5d33614ad5#ht_2057wt_763

Looks like the linked rig maxes out at 8gb.  BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO (I remember having 8gb of ram back in like 2006ish).  LOL

PC3-8500 Ram also, slower than a lot of machines today.

Rockin' 24gb here of PC3-10666.  32gb PC3-12800 on my other rig.   

These are differences that add up to a better experience.  Some want to pay for it, some don't, but it is important to note the differences.

[blue moon]

yes, it is dated, that was never in dispute. That's why it is cheap. 250 for the system, 150 for the Windows and 80 for RAM will bring it up to much more than usable specs. It will be a reliable and plenty fast machine. Is your's faster? Yes it is. Is it $500? no it is not. Can you buy something comparable for that kind of money? I doubt it. In my eyes, this is a good value that will reliably perform everything one needs in a shop for next three to four years.

As far as the cars, I bought a used Audi as I thought I was getting more for the money. It is not for everyone though. To some ppl new Ford is a better choice than a used Audi. These are personal preferences.

the system on ebay is usable. For $500 it is a lot of bang for the buck. If there is more money available, an S20 would be newer and faster. I did not see any good deals on them right now. You could also look into an E30. It is an entry level workstation, and a new one with an on site warranty can be had for $750. While slightly slower, they are a fine choice too. 

pierre

[mk162]

and if you happen to be killing another Win 7 system, you can just use the license from that machine on the new one.  Save some money.

I bought a used Camry because it was cheaper than a new Corolla...and it only had 5,000 miles on it.

[blue moon]

and if you happen to be killing another Win 7 system, you can just use the license from that machine on the new one.  Save some money.

I bought a used Camry because it was cheaper than a new Corolla...and it only had 5,000 miles on it.

on a similar note, if you know anybody who works at Microsoft, Win 7 pro is $20 or so. If not, make sure you are buying an OEM (system builder) version, those are $139 at the local computer store (rather than double that for full retail copy). 'sure you could find them even cheaper. . .

pierre

[mk162]

Pierre is right, a computer that is $500 that will do everything almost as fast as a $2000 is a better bet.  There is no sense in having a super computer in this industry, we are not doing video or special effects.  We are dealing in raster and vector images.  It may take a few seconds less on a $2,000 rig, but guess what, it takes a long time for that to pay for itself.  A long time.  I would rather dump $1500 into something else that will make money faster.  Like a used 7500 watt exposure unit that will cut our time from 7 minutes to under 1...and 2 screens at a time.  Now we are talking serious coin.

[Dottonedan]

I will be having a used Mac Mini for sale. 

1.25 Ghz Power PC G4 
1GB DDR SDRAM.

Slooooooow by has out lasted 2 new PC's. 

By very very slooooow.

ASKING PRICE IS $2000.  It's a collectors item.

[Mr Tees!!]

...now were gettin somewhere, thanks guys! So based on the specs of my current rig, will I see a difference? I guess more importantly, why? Which parts make the difference? I need some education in this area I suppose.

...Brandt, what would YOU do in this situation? What would you have built for the budget (500-1k)? And where is a good source? Bear in mind, the more hassle-free and out-of-the-box, the better, because clearly I have no idea what im doing in this arena.

...thanks guys, this places rules!

[Gabe]

YO@MK that`s a good point
i spend 1200 bucks in a tower for gaming nice machine, also still have P4 3GHZ old pentium machine
with 256MB. video card almost 10 years old technology
I only see a small difference in performance between the two
when working in corel. although the new version is supposed to be able to take advantge of more resources
a 500 machine would do the job, just get a 64 bit machine

[mk162]

the biggest thing that speeds us up around here is internet speed.  A faster system would help with quoting and order writing.  But it handles PS and corel with ease.

[GraphicDisorder]

...now were gettin somewhere, thanks guys! So based on the specs of my current rig, will I see a difference? I guess more importantly, why? Which parts make the difference? I need some education in this area I suppose.

...Brandt, what would YOU do in this situation? What would you have built for the budget (500-1k)? And where is a good source? Bear in mind, the more hassle-free and out-of-the-box, the better, because clearly I have no idea what im doing in this arena.

...thanks guys, this places rules!

If you had 1k budget I would spend it, the more you spend now the more relevant the computer will be for a longer time.  I would buy the parts from Newegg.com

Out of the box?  It wouldn't be, you'd have to assemble it.  But it is in no way hard.  If you can screen print you can easily build a computer.  If you have zero idea, or zero open mind to figuring it out, I would not buy parts then and buy something already put together.  What exactly are you going to use it for?  Be specific and I will make some recommendations.   What I mean by that is if you are mostly just doing email and checking customer files, then you dont need much, if you are creating art daily then you need more.  Then it really matters how long you want it to be relevant.