I have been searching the web sites of Dell and Gateway for a new computer. Since we are not wealthy, I have to get all I can for the money.
I am sorry to take up your time with this inquiry but I need some expert advice. Just ignore me if you don't have time.
I wanted to wait for the Conroe to come out but am not sure what price, when, etc.
So, if I go Pentium D 930 with 1024 MB Ram DDR2@ 667Mhz,
975 chipset supporing DDR@, 500G Sata w/Raid, ATI THeater 550 Pro tv Tuner w/remote, can you please help me with 3 questions?
1. If it has USB ports, do I need the IEEE fireware port for my camera and camcorder downloads?
2. Is it better to get the 16X dl multi format DVD writer (DVD+/R+RW/CD-R/RW and 48X32X48 CD-RW) or should I get 2 of the 16X dl multi format DVD writer (DVD+/R+RW/CD-R/RW) which costs more?
I need 2 right for copying?
3. vidoe cards? It comes with nVidia GeForce 7300LE w/256 turbo cache DVI,VGA,Tv-out or I can choose for a bit more nVidia GeForce 6600
128 MB w/ DVI, VGA, TV-Out? Which is better?
Thanks for any help. Sorry to be a bother. I won't do this again.
At least Gateway is offering the 930 Pentiium D upgrade for free. Dell is
offering PD 820.
Help me decide please
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Skippman
- Legit Extremist
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- Location: St. Louis, MO USA
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Let me answer these in the order you've asked them.
1.)
Q: Do you need Firewire.
A: Depends on your camera. Almost every camera released in the last 5 years supports USB if not USB 2.0. I know of very few practicle uses for Firewire where USB can't do the same job outside of the Mac world. So I would cautiously say no, you don't need Firewire.
2.)
Q: Do I need two DVD ROMs for copying files/movies/etc.
A: While no on here will give you specific advice on how to break copyright protection, you do not need two drives to copy data. You can get away with one drive by caching the data to be copied to the hard drive. This will take longer, but the end result is a cheaper machine. For assistance with backing up video files/discs I highly recommend the guys at VCD Help.COM
3.)
Q: Which GPU is better?
A: I personally don't know. I don't have that much experience with nVidia cards so I'll leave that to the pro's here. However just based on the wording "Turbo Cache" sounds like shared memory to me and that's something I'd avoid if possible as you're essentially borrowing RAM from your processor to feed your graphics processor reducing your overall system performance.
And don't be so hard on yourself. We all ask questions here. That's the only way to learn. Look around, I think you'll find were all pretty positive around here.
1.)
Q: Do you need Firewire.
A: Depends on your camera. Almost every camera released in the last 5 years supports USB if not USB 2.0. I know of very few practicle uses for Firewire where USB can't do the same job outside of the Mac world. So I would cautiously say no, you don't need Firewire.
2.)
Q: Do I need two DVD ROMs for copying files/movies/etc.
A: While no on here will give you specific advice on how to break copyright protection, you do not need two drives to copy data. You can get away with one drive by caching the data to be copied to the hard drive. This will take longer, but the end result is a cheaper machine. For assistance with backing up video files/discs I highly recommend the guys at VCD Help.COM
3.)
Q: Which GPU is better?
A: I personally don't know. I don't have that much experience with nVidia cards so I'll leave that to the pro's here. However just based on the wording "Turbo Cache" sounds like shared memory to me and that's something I'd avoid if possible as you're essentially borrowing RAM from your processor to feed your graphics processor reducing your overall system performance.
And don't be so hard on yourself. We all ask questions here. That's the only way to learn. Look around, I think you'll find were all pretty positive around here.
Firewire - PROBABLY not - most cameras use USB. I know my old SOny TRV camcorder ( Digital 8 ) used firewire - but it was a carppy thing that you just dont want to get me started on ;)
2 drives - nah - you can always add one later if you need it, but you can do everythign with 1. I found it nice having more than 1 drive if you use programs like - Microsoft Home Publishing 2000 ( old and WAAAYYYY better than the new crap ) since it has 3 cds and for clipart you have to insert seperate ones - I can just keep 2 in at all times, and only have to swap occasionaly - worth the extra money - NO
GPU - well you will hear 80,000 stories on this one ;) I am partial to Nvidia since i had bad experience with ATI. I would go with the most expensive one you can afford, if the machine is for games (store bought games not the internet things). If not - go with the cheapest. I have some of my computers with the old Nvidia GeForce Ti4200 cards in them, and they do everything that my GeForce 5900FX does, except the games.
Mike
500GB RAID? WOW - let me say again - WOW you doing video editing? massize amounts of pictures that you wont backup? That is a lot of space for a simple everyday computer! - I take it, it is setup as 2 250gb drives, and 1 is just a complete backup of the other?
the more questions you ask, the better off you will be!
Price range would be a good starting point also - anything under $600 - get anything - they break - throw it away and buy another. $600-1500 - be thrifty and wait for the amd price drops and the new intel chips at the end of the month. $1500 and over - have a blast - buy everything - I built a $6500 video editing BEAST for a woman locally, and that computer has lasted her over 10 years with NO failures! You get what you pay for ;)
I will now shut up
2 drives - nah - you can always add one later if you need it, but you can do everythign with 1. I found it nice having more than 1 drive if you use programs like - Microsoft Home Publishing 2000 ( old and WAAAYYYY better than the new crap ) since it has 3 cds and for clipart you have to insert seperate ones - I can just keep 2 in at all times, and only have to swap occasionaly - worth the extra money - NO
GPU - well you will hear 80,000 stories on this one ;) I am partial to Nvidia since i had bad experience with ATI. I would go with the most expensive one you can afford, if the machine is for games (store bought games not the internet things). If not - go with the cheapest. I have some of my computers with the old Nvidia GeForce Ti4200 cards in them, and they do everything that my GeForce 5900FX does, except the games.
Mike
500GB RAID? WOW - let me say again - WOW you doing video editing? massize amounts of pictures that you wont backup? That is a lot of space for a simple everyday computer! - I take it, it is setup as 2 250gb drives, and 1 is just a complete backup of the other?
the more questions you ask, the better off you will be!
Price range would be a good starting point also - anything under $600 - get anything - they break - throw it away and buy another. $600-1500 - be thrifty and wait for the amd price drops and the new intel chips at the end of the month. $1500 and over - have a blast - buy everything - I built a $6500 video editing BEAST for a woman locally, and that computer has lasted her over 10 years with NO failures! You get what you pay for ;)
I will now shut up
Remember, I am opinionated and nothing I say or do reflects on anyone or anything else but me 
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Imakeholesinu
- Legit Aficionado
- Posts: 94
- Joined: Tue Mar 07, 2006 6:07 pm
- Location: St. Louis/Jackson, Missouri
1. Already answered.Pengwin wrote:yup. I have Nv experience, with a bit of ATi experience too.
7300 has newer tech, shader 3.0 etc. the 6600GT is a better gaming card.
2. Already answered.
3. I would not touch the low end nVidia cards with a 10 foot poll in a radioactive suite. Just remember, if you sped $50 on a card, it will work like a $50 card. Just because it says it can run Shader 3.0 doesn't mean it will run it "well". Sure it will "run" it but it won't be nearly at the preformance level of a 7600 or 7800 (probably would be comparible to the 6600 but only slightly better). Quite Frankly, if you are looking to do any type of gaming on this rig the 7300 will be your bottleneck. Spend a little money and get a plain 7800. The rest of your system should do the rest. I made the mistake of buying a 5200 FX and I promised myself I would never buy a low-end card again. It saves you the time and the trouble of having to upgrade or find driver releases or wait for patches to fix things. In conclusion, buy a 7800. Hell, it doesn't really make sense really to buy a video card at all at this point because the DX10 cards by nVidia will likely be out by September. If you can I'd wait 2-3 months.
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linkinparkks
- Legit User
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