Buying computers for the office

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James_Clarke

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Feb 15, 2010
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I put so much effort and got logged out when clicked "submit new thread" /epic fail

Staring all over... I need several computers for my apartment office, I was thinking PCs or laptops, came to the conclusion that PCs are most cost-effective.

Did some research, and this looks good:

AMD Athlon 2 Quad Core 620 2.6GHz
Western digital 320GB SATA2 7200RPM
Kingston/Ceon 2048MB (2GB) DDR2 800MHz
ATI Radeon HD 4200 On Board

Costs $450


I need this for internet, photoshop, flash, programming (everything affiliate marketing related), NO games.

Should I upgrade or downgrade anything? Is this graphics card ok fo photoshop, not sure if it supports dual monitor setup?


Looking to spend as less as possible without damaging performance.
Any input?
 


I would prob boost up the memory by at least 1GB if youre going to use the on board gfx for flash, PS, and whatever else.
 
James_Clarke said:
Should I upgrade or downgrade anything? Is this graphics card ok fo photoshop, not sure if it supports dual monitor setup?
Click to expand...

Photoshop is CPU heavy, not GPU heavy. There is really no need to upgrade your GPU just for photo editing.

rid the video card and pump up the ram and CPU

oops the video card is on board..........
 
What Angrymac said...

you need more memory. Another gig would be fine, but 2 more shouldnt run you too much.
 
What about monitors?

I use this setup and it's really nice...they have setups up to 8 or more monitors if you're hardcore.

zvpowertrioultraelite-wid1900.jpg
 
James_Clarke said:
I put so much effort and got logged out when clicked "submit new thread" /epic fail

Staring all over... I need several computers for my apartment office, I was thinking PCs or laptops, came to the conclusion that PCs are most cost-effective.

Did some research, and this looks good:

AMD Athlon 2 Quad Core 620 2.6GHz
Western digital 320GB SATA2 7200RPM
Kingston/Ceon 2048MB (2GB) DDR2 800MHz
ATI Radeon HD 4200 On Board

Costs $450


I need this for internet, photoshop, flash, programming (everything affiliate marketing related), NO games.

Should I upgrade or downgrade anything? Is this graphics card ok fo photoshop, not sure if it supports dual monitor setup?


Looking to spend as less as possible without damaging performance.
Any input?
Click to expand...

Spend $200 to $300 more. Get at least 1TB hard drives and set them up as RAID with an external backup. And go for more memory (4GB). Radeon HD4200 sounds old, Evergreen is the newest and costs significantly more but you can get a GFX card that will last you for the next few years for about $100 bucks more. Maybe a R600 or R700 if you don't want to spend that much.
 
In conclusion

Bump the ram by another GB (3GB total).
CPU should be ok (Quad Core 2.6GHz)
The on board gfx is good enough (ATI Radeon HD 4200) as I dont need a baller card for photoshop and flash.

Did i miss anything?
 
be careful on RAM, some motherboards perform better when you dual-channel RAM, meaning identical sticks in each slot. 3GB = 2GB DIMM + 1GB DIMM, it's not dual channel. if it's a dual channel mobo, 2GB of 1GB DIMMs would actually perform better
 
^ How do I know whats better for this motherboard? Mr salesman will try to sell me as much RAM as possible to make his buck.
 
well it really boils down to the specific motherboard, if you can find a data sheet or manual on it, it will tell you
 
James_Clarke said:
^ How do I know whats better for this motherboard? Mr salesman will try to sell me as much RAM as possible to make his buck.
Click to expand...

where are you getting your parts from? If you're building the PC's yourself i wouldnt get anything without a name brand.

there are a lot of chinese manufacturers that may look ok but then they crap out after 6 months. IE: Ceon Memory, ive never heard of them and they dont seem to have an indexed website.

Get a name brand motherboard, power supply and memory and they will last you. If they do fail make sure you register everything required so you get the warranty.

Anything with moving parts like hard drives, dvd drives, and even fans eventually have some kind of problems (whether they just slow down, make noise or completely fail), just make sure you have some kind of back up.


Post up some specific parts and we'll set you straight.

Edit: OH and make sure you get a good Surge Protector, no matter what you get :P
 
There's a budget build on maximumpc.com. Is the core i7 920 any cheaper now? because I built one for $750, and it's AMAZING. My main computer is a Beast, paid over 5k.
 
It looks like the graphics card has dual DVI. If you've got some monitors with VGA outputs that you are looking to hook up to this, be sure to buy the cables / adapters online. Office Depot / Staples / Best Buy sell these for >$25. You can find them online for <$10.
 
If you can find them they stopped selling but they are the asus cg5270

There are complaints such as the CD not plugged in, but for the price that machine is a semi-beats and works great, and if you can open a case you can spend 2secs and plug in the CD.

My local best buy has them for $475 open box. ( I got 2 )

And because it has a video card in it, it still retains the on board vid card, so you can run 2 monitors from the video card and then re-enable the on board and get another 2 monitors running out of it.

But in order to get over 3gb of ram (or 4gb this is off the top of my head) you need to run 64bit, but I have ran into no issues as you can run things in compatibility mode with ease.

Form Factor Desktop Processor
Intel Core 2 Quad 2.5 GHz
Installed Memory 8 GB (DDR2 SDRAM)
Operating System Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium
HDD Size 1000 GB
Processor Type Intel Core 2 Quad Processor Speed 2.5 GHz Processor Manufacturer Intel
Memory RAM Technology DDR2 SDRAM Installed RAM 8 GB Installed
Cache Memory 4 MB
Technical Features Expansion Slots PCI x 2
Hard Drive Capacity 1000 GB Hard Drive Interface
Serial ATA Audio / Video Graphic Processor Intel Graphics Media Accelerator X4500
Ntworking Type Integrated 10/100/1000 Network Card

Good luck and may you make 10000 times your money back on the computer purchases !
 
I'm too late, but if you are doing programming, photoshop and flash, I'd highly suggest an iMac, the 24" refurbs were a steal but the Apple store seems to be sold out at the moment.
 
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