Help choosing a computer?

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Hi,
We are looking to buy a new desktop for a budget of around $900 CDN. None of us are particularly computer savvy and even though I have been researching various hardware options, I am still unsure. I would appreciate any opinions and feedback very much.

The computer will be a family computer (myself and 2 ten year old boys) and used for some gaming (Sims 3 + expansions, Spore, Starcraft etc.), internet surfing, light word processing and programs like Photoshop, Game Maker and Stop Motion Pro. I'm not looking for anything fancy, just something that can handle games well, is reasonably quiet and has good upgrade-ability for the future, obviously on a limited budget.

This is one possibility in our budget:

Case: ThermalTake V3 Black Edition
Processor: AMD Phenom II x2 555 Black edition 3.2GHz w/7MB cache
Motherboard: Asus M4A88TD-M w/Radeon HD 4250, Dual DDR3 1333, 7.1 Audio, Gigabit Lan, Hybrid CrossFireX, HDMI
RAM: Patriot Extreme Performance Viper II Sector 5 Series DDR3 4 GB (2x 2GB)
Hard Drive: Seagate 1TB Barracuda 7200.12 SATA II w/32 MB cache
Graphics: HIS Radeon HD 5770 1 GB GDDR5 PCI-E w/DVI, HDMI
Power: Cooler Master Silent Pro M 600W

This particular configuration was recommended by the guy at a local computer shop where we will probably purchase (prices are competitive with NCIX and other online vendors). How does this look as far as our stated needs?

And if you were going to spend a bit more ($100-200) what would you upgrade?

I have always preferred Intel processors, at least lately, because any systems I have made for customers with AMD processors end up being slow in some areas. If you have to get AMD for some reason, try going with their quad-core processors instead.

The video card looks okay, though it's a slightly older model. Should be good for Sims, though I don't know what those other programs require.

Everything else looks good to me, though.

Id just say if possible go for the Phenom II x4, regardless though you are looking at a black box edition, which are good.

Thank you so much for your helpful replies. I was wondering about the processor. I am not attached to AMD over Intel, it is just that the price is better and we are on a budget. I can get a Phenom II x4 955 for about $70 more, so I think I will do that. Thank you.

I have been limping along on a 6 year old HP Pavilion laptop, so this is going to be a huge improvement either way! My sons are just getting into gaming, game creation and stop motion animation, so I want them to have something decent to work on.

I'd recommend a 64bit operating system.
I would also recommend a tri-core processor instead.

At the end of the day, it's down to what you're using it for.

If you're wanting a work machine, then go for Intel as they have the instruction sets to cope with it.
If you want to game with it, then it's fairly well matched to go for AMD for similar performance, if not equal

If you aren't in any urgent need to upgrade, you may wanna wait a bit. Both Intel and AMD will release something new near Christmas. AMD will also refresh its GPU line up about that time.

That is a good tip about waiting (thanks), but we couldn't wait. Too impatient to have a decent computer again! It should actually be ready by tonight or tomorrow. I am SO excited.

We are only a little bit over budget, but I feel good about the quad core processor. I figure if we actually broke the cost down $ for hour spent on the computer over the next several years that a decent computer system would be the best value for entertainment/utility around.

Well, I you should get the Dell XPS 730x. I have that computer (well, technically my dad owns it) and it is really VERY fast!

The Dell XPS is a line of high-end gaming computers sold by Dell. XPS is an acronym for Xtreme Performance System. The first XPS computer dates back to 1993. By around 2003-2004, the first XPS laptop was released, featuring desktop Pentium 4 processors. As of 2009, almost all Dell computers under the XPS line are now branded as Studio XPS, with the XPS One being the only remaining computer sold under the XPS brand.



-Core processor: 64 bit Intel Core 17 Extreme i7-965

---Clock rate: From 3.73 GHz to about 6 GHz (overclocked).

---Cache: 8MB, L2 Cache

-Graphics processor: Duel Geforce GTS 240 cards.

---Core clock: 675 MHz

---Shader clock: 1.62 GHz

---Memory clock: 1.1 GHz (2.2 GHz data rate)

---Memory interface: 256 bit

---Total graphics memory: 3865 MB

---Video memory: 1 GB (1024 MB)

---Shared system memory: 2811 MB

---Bus: PCI Express x16 Gen2

-Motherboard: Intel X58

-Hard drive: Duel Western Digital Velociraptor

---RPM: 10,000

---Memory: 300 GB each

-Optical drive: Blu-ray Disc Combo drive, Double Layer Write

-Cooling: H2C 2-stage Hybrid Cooled CPU and Chipset

-Ethernet: Dual Gigabit Ethernet cards

-Audio: Integrated Realtek 7.1 Channel Hi-Definition Audio Controller

-Physical dimensions:

---Width: 21.9 cm (8.6 inches) without stand; 35.6 cm
(14.0 inches) with stand

---Height: 55.5 cm (21.9 inches) without stand; 57.2 cm
(22.5 inches) with stand

---Depth: 59.4 cm (23.4 inches)

---Weight: 21.7 kg (47.8 lb) typical configuration, 25.6 kg (56.4 lb) maximum configuration

-RAM: Tri-channel DDR3

---Size: 6 GB (3 x 2 GB DIMM)

---Clock rate: 1.066 GHz

-Power Supply: 1 kW

-External ports:

---8 x USB 2.0 ports (2 front, 4 rear)

---2 x 1394a Firewire port (1 front, 1 rear)

---2 x RJ45 Ethernet (10/100/1000) port

---1 x eSATA

---1 x PS/2 Mouse Port

---1 x PS/2 Keyboard Port

---1 x 19-in-1 card reader (front media-bay)

---1 x 1/8″ headphone port (front)

---1 x 1/8″ stereo line-in (microphone) port

---1 x S/PDIF Optical

---1 x S/PDIF Coaxial

---6 x 1/8″ surround sound outputs

Dell has discontinued the XPS 730x in its US online store and is currently in the process of selling remaining stock.

This is from my blog, so it has very few external links. If you want to see this post with all the links, click here.

Basically, the Dell XPS 730x is a 64 bit computer with an octo-core processor and 6 GB of RAM. It's clocked at about 6 GHz.