Legit Reviews

Hi there, I'm new to the forum but thought you guys (or girls) might be able to help me. I am looking to buy a new computer that can handle graphics and gamimg. The computer i was looking at buying, someone refered to in another thread here http://forums.legitreviews.com/about5063.html

I saw an OEM manufacturer advertising that they are selling 5.6 GHZ processors.

http://www.mdg.ca/en/products/desktops/apton/

"INTEL® PENTIUM® 4 PROCESSOR 3.6GHZ WITH HT TECHNOLOGY - FREE UPGRADE TO TWO CORE INTEL® PROCESSOR (2x2.8=5.6GHz EQL.)"

You gotta love this too.

"ATI Radeon 512MB HM PCI Express Graphics Card FREE UPGRADE TO Intel Extreme Graphics Media Accelerator"

Upgrade from an ATI Radeon to onboard graphics?



MDG is the worst OEM manufacturer I ever saw. I truly feel sorry for the people who buy their stuff.

Don't worry, I'm not a complete idiot....I know the graphics card "upgrade" to intel onboard graphics is crap.....what I am looking for is a computer that has a good processor/cpu speed. The rest I plan to customize to what I want. Funny enough, I was thinking about buying the VERY same computer listed above for the processor and customizing it from there. Is that not a good processor? If not, can anyone recommend a good processor from MDG? I prefer MDG because I have a credit card from there, but can go Dell if there's an exceptional difference.

I would really appreciate some advice. Thanks a bunch

DON'T buy p4 cpu, buy the latest core 2 duo, it's cooler and offers better performance (even at slower clockspeed).

Core 2 duo..Pentiums are no good compared to them:)then again..for a company who advertises 5 ghz cpus and an upgrade ffrom an ati card to an intel integrated shindig..id be more worried if u would get a Core2 duo even if u bought one there..

So would one of these computers be a better start then ya think?
http://www1.ca.dell.com/content/product ... 23~0~21032

DELL USUALLY have okay deal but they usually come with crappy parts, such as psu, and others.

OR build your own...NewEgg, and similar websites, can save you money when you do it yourself...

But I would definitely look at an E4300 or an e6400 processor.

I think u should wait a bit for the Intel's price cut in April.Then u can decide what u'll go for.I prefer E6600 or the E4300 for their great OC ability.

i think better you build your own computer.buy separate part and then combined it.you can get item which you are satisfy too...

Don't worry, I'm not a complete idiot....I know the graphics card "upgrade" to intel onboard graphics is crap.....what I am looking for is a computer that has a good processor/cpu speed. The rest I plan to customize to what I want

As you can see the trend is toward recommending that you build this yourself. The only real advantage to buying pre-built is the warranty but once you start putting third party components in that's less valuable as the warranty won't cover them and may actually be voided.

So, in that vein and considering the above quote, here's what I would do (keep in mind you haven't hinted at budget). I priced from NCIX since I've heard that name but I'm US so I would Newegg or Tigerdirect it so please verify good online Canadian vendors...

1) CPU
http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php? ... ture=Intel

2) Motherboard
http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php? ... e=Gigabyte

3) Memory
http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php? ... re=CORSAIR

4) HDD
http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php? ... re=Seagate

5) Graphics
http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php? ... cture=eVGA

6) Case
http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php? ... ture=ANTEC

7) PSU
http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php? ... re=CORSAIR

Optical Drive
http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php? ... lectronics

9) Monitor
http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php? ... re=Samsung

Some side notes:

- I saw several "bundle" deals in there as I was looking so you could shave off quite a bit of money with smart shopping.

- Monitors are subjective so seek other recommendations as well. I was a CRT loyalist till I bought my 1st Samsung LCD. I have 4 Samsungs and not one dead or stuck pixel in the bunch YMMV.

- Cases also are subjective, I love my antec P180B (black) but there are many cases out there that work well (Sonata, 900, several Lian Li's).

- The key is the GPU for gaming and graphics. Currently the 8800 (G80) cards are on top. the 8800GTS 320mb is a bit of a quandry, if you can afford a 640mb GTS I would go that way and if you can get a GTX even better (but ensure it will fit in your case!). AMD/ATI has the yet to be released R600 but even when it is released will initially only be released in the "top of the food chain (read expensive) models. The 8600s perform alongside todays top end card but add DX10 support.

Anyways my two pence....

Avoid MDG like the plague. They are the biggest scam artists around. There are many reports of them using used/refurbished parts in their computers.
They regularly advertise deals like Buy any notebook or desktop + model and get a free xbox 360. The + models are of course not the ones shown in their pics, but are much more expensive models.