Buying a PC - need help!

[sam79london]

hey,

I am required to buy a PC for my new job - No mac's allowed....

I have been given $500 to spend -

Please can somebody who knows a lot about PC's give me some advice... I have been reading up on them, but am more confused than ever now!

It will be used for Internet/Music/ general stuff - no gaming planned, but Digital Dj is likely with serato.

I was thinkiing 3gb RAM, 250 SATA, 2.4++ processor - Does that sound like a good setup / investment ? not sure of the best processor to go for tho....

Any good buys or lesser know companies that you know of? Maybe I could look at a self build? at the minute I was liking the look of some of the ACER machines...

Any help would be really helpful - thanks in advance

S

[enojy]

hey,

I was thinkiing 3gb RAM, 250 SATA, 2.4++ processor - Does that sound like a good setup / investment ? not sure of the best processor to go for tho....

sounds good for a work/application setup, and $500 will easily cover it. I'd highly recommend building it yourself via newegg.com. For a workstation/audio/video rig, go with an Intel processor. If you really don't intend on playing games, your new motherboard's onboard video gpu will be sufficient. Definitely stick with 3GB of memory if you plan on running Vista (3GB will still be more than enough to keep things running smoothly.) memory is ultra cheap these days.

ideally, here's some ballpark figures of individual costs.

processor - $125

motherboard - $60-75

memory - $35-50

case - $40

hard drive - $70-80

sound and video - on motherboard

monitor - ???

oh and if you've never built your own PC, don't be afraid, it's literally just plugging shit into holes/slots. just make sure you buy the retail package of whatever processor you end up getting, as it will include a heatsink and fan. consider picking up some thermal compound at radio shack for like 5 bucks; it's a white goop that you spread thinly over the processor before snapping on the heatsink. not entirely necessary, but it will help keep operating temperatures a few degrees cooler at all times and ultimately extend the life of the processor.

oh yeah one more thing -- don't buy the case online lest you want to be raped for shipping, get one from your local computer shop.

[sam79london]

thanks so much for the in depth response - really appreciated!

i am going to investigate building my own now - thanks for the words of encouragement!

s

[PG2G]

If you buy at mwave (and they tend to be pretty competitive with newegg as far as pricing is concerned) there is an option to have them build the box for you.

$80, so it might not be a good idea on your budget.

http://www.mwave.com/mwave/DeepSearch_v2.asp?scriteria=SERVICES+-+ASSEMBLY+and+TESTING+SYSTEM+ASSEMBLY+assembly&All=y&DID=PRECONFIG&PID=PRODCUST

That's what I did though, cuz I hate building my own machines but I like to have complete control over the parts. I'm always too lazy to put the finishing touches on my build so the ports on the front of my case never work, haha.