New Hi spec Desktop

NewApproach

Looking for a new desktop, dont really know what the story is with the latest hardware.

Its for my grandad, He will be using it for music/office/internet/photo (editing possibly)/videos etc/spreadsheets and multitasking, and he says he has a budget of €1k, which I reckon will be more than enough. He has a big 22" monitor so wont need a new one.

Any ideas on what to look for? I had a look on dell briefly and saw this for €879:

Components
Intel® Core™ i7 Processor 920 (2.66GHz, 8MB cache, 4.8GT/sec)
Genuine Windows Vista® Home Premium SP1 (64 BIT) - English
Microsoft® Works 9 - English
1 year of coverage included with your PC
McAfee® Security Centre 15 Month Protection
Display Not Included
3072MB (3x1024) 1067MHz DDR3 Tri Channel
640GB Serial ATA (7200RPM) Hard Drive
1GB NVIDIA® GeForce™ GT220 graphics card
16X DVD+/- RW Optical Drive (DVD & CD read and write)
Dell Laser Mouse USB (6 buttons scroll) Black
Dell™ USB Entry Keyboard - UK/Irish (QWERTY)
Accessories
Integrated HDA 7.1 Dolby Digital Audio
No Speakers (Speakers are required to hear audio from your system)
19-in-1 Media Card Reader
Services & Software
DataSafe Online Backup 2GB 1 year
Also Includes
No Accidental Damage Support
English Documentation with UK/IRL Power Cord
D11SX02
Studio XPS Desktop Order - Ireland
1 year of coverage included with your PC
Datasafe Local 2.0 Basic
Resource DVD - (Diagnostics & Drivers)

How would this compare to others out there?

You might think that he doesnt need a computer this dear, but he would be on it quite a bit, multitasking etc. Before when buying a new computer (say every 3 years) he would always get a good one, not believing in false economys etc.


Few questions:

Windows: Vista or 7, and then 32 or 64bit? Would choosing the latter affect drivers etc?

Processor: i7?? Is it worth it? Any alternatives?

RAM: is 3gig a minimum these days?


Thanks for looking over this, really appreciate any advice!

Alanstrainor

What kind of video editing is he going to be doing? If the answer is not much/very basic, the above is way way overkill. By the sounds of it, the kind of multitasking we're talking about here would be handled, without any issue, by any dual core, 2Gb RAM desktop with any graphics card and windows 7. 3Gb of RAM is becoming the norm, but most will never utilise the full 3Gb of RAM unless they're doing more intense computing, so i wouldn't get too hung up about it. The core i7 is great, but seems overkill tbh. I would probably go for the 64bit version of Win7, but it's not essential.
Now, no matter what you do, buy a machine with windows 7, not much point in buying a vista machine at this stage, well not unless it was going cheap.

NewApproach

Alanstrainor wrote: »

What kind of video editing is he going to be doing? If the answer is not much/very basic, the above is way way overkill. By the sounds of it, the kind of multitasking we're talking about here would be handled, without any issue, by any dual core, 2Gb RAM desktop with any graphics card and windows 7. 3Gb of RAM is becoming the norm, but most will never utilise the full 3Gb of RAM unless they're doing more intense computing, so i wouldn't get too hung up about it. The core i7 is great, but seems overkill tbh. I would probably go for the 64bit version of Win7, but it's not essential.
Now, no matter what you do, buy a machine with windows 7, not much point in buying a vista machine at this stage, well not unless it was going cheap.

Yes it would be basic video editing.

Looking to the future, how would this compare to new machines in say 18 months if thats possible to say? Because he would much rather have a machine that may be 'overkill' now but still a v good machine in 2 or 3 years then get the norm now that would be obsolete in 18 months.

Not sure why the spec above is for vista, I will order it over the phone anyway so will get them to put 7 on it.

johnc24

my 2 cents.

Build your own PC!

(makes you feel great and will be a cool surprise for grandad when you tell him or make it a project you can both work on maybe)

Head over to the building and upgrading section, tell them what the PC is to be used for and they generally bounce around about a very different types of rigs that would be suitable and compatible.

I myself did not have a clue to build a PC but I wanted to for peace of mind knowing exactly what my PC had and the fact I built it.

It is not that hard, it just takes a bit of research, along with admittedly some help from the boys and girls on boards.

bottom line, research, unsure ask questions!

NewApproach

johnc24 wrote: »

my 2 cents.

Build your own PC!

(makes you feel great and will be a cool surprise for grandad when you tell him or make it a project you can both work on maybe)

Head over to the building and upgrading section, tell them what the PC is to be used for and they generally bounce around about a very different types of rigs that would be suitable and compatible.

I myself did not have a clue to build a PC but I wanted to for peace of mind knowing exactly what my PC had and the fact I built it.

It is not that hard, it just takes a bit of research, along with admittedly some help from the boys and girls on boards.

bottom line, research, unsure ask questions!

Oh I dont know, dont think I'd be able to be honest. Is there much of a price saving over just buying one from Dell?

swirlser

NewApproach wrote: »

Its for my grandad, He will be using it for music/office/internet/photo (editing possibly)/videos etc/spreadsheets and multitasking, and he says he has a budget of €1k ... ~ no monitor needed

You might think that he doesnt need a computer this dear, but he would be on it quite a bit, multitasking etc. Before when buying a new computer (say every 3 years) he would always get a good one, not believing in false economys etc.


Few questions:

Windows: Vista or 7, and then 32 or 64bit? Would choosing the latter affect drivers etc?

Processor: i7?? Is it worth it? Any alternatives?

RAM: is 3gig a minimum these days?

Im with your father in terms of buying something good that'll last, however I must say for his needs you really do not need anything like that Dell i7 machine.

Win7 for sure.

Practically any other cpu is a valid alternative.

2-3GB of ram is the minimum these days.


I did try looking on dells site for something to point you towards, but wasnt having much luck - they have a pretty big gap from very low conroes with integrated graphics to overpriced i5-i7 machines

I would in this case suggest you go to the B&U forum and get them to spec you up a machine for your needs. Even if you have zero experience with building a PC, given the basic level of components you need - it is essentially lego. All you need is to be helped out with making sure all items are compatible and it is as simple as slotting everything into place - you will see a lot of change from your 1K too ;-p