specs on this computer...?

[matt62485]

looking for a new desktop for editing and my wifes school work. only plan to run editing programs and microsoft office as far as software is concerned.

how does this look? i was going to build my own but its not feasible right now

i dont know much about computers. i do plan to pick up 2 500gb external hard drives to store my stuff on so the computer wont be clogged with tons of photos.

i also did a little research and learned the phenom II has cache and it better for multitasking or stuff like i would be doing as oppossed to the Athlons. I'd like to stick with an AMD processor as they are more in my price range oppossed to the I's.

input welcome. would like to stay close to this price without monitor. also monitor suggestions welcome in the $250 range :blushing:
Newegg.com - Acer Aspire AM3400-U2052 Phenom II X4 820(2.8GHz) 6GB DDR3 640GB ATI Radeon HD 5450 Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit

 

[matt62485]

also, if i desired.. in the future could i swap say the motherboard, and the x4 for an x6 etc?

 

[MohaimenK]

Ur x4 mobo would probably be able to upgrade to x6 but to be honest I thought hard between x6 1090R vs i7 930 and went with the latter after reading some comparison. But from what I read the x6 is an amazing CPU. I'd just skip x4 and go straight to x6. Check out the Dell XPS 8100 they have the AMD lines for that model.

 

[DerekSalem]

Your choice on AMD aside...

Go with a 1Tb external instead of 2 500Gbs. Or even go with 2 1Tbs. Smaller platters (up to around 750Gb) are much more expensive to manufacture and therefore are more expensive to buy. That's why a 1Tb HDD is usually only around 10% more in cost than a 500Gb.

Now, that computer definitely won't wow you in terms of speed...but it would get the job done in most cases. I know the newer AMD cpus are much better than they used to be...but unless it's a Black Edition I wouldn't really look at them. There's a reason AMD doesn't control a large market share.

 

[matt62485]

Your choice on AMD aside...

Go with a 1Tb external instead of 2 500Gbs. Or even go with 2 1Tbs. Smaller platters (up to around 750Gb) are much more expensive to manufacture and therefore are more expensive to buy. That's why a 1Tb HDD is usually only around 10% more in cost than a 500Gb.

Now, that computer definitely won't wow you in terms of speed...but it would get the job done in most cases. I know the newer AMD cpus are much better than they used to be...but unless it's a Black Edition I wouldn't really look at them. There's a reason AMD doesn't control a large market share.

thanks. i cant imagine anything wowing me in terms of speed for ~$600 though? :blushing:

 

[BuS_RiDeR]

also, if i desired.. in the future could i swap say the motherboard, and the x4 for an x6 etc?

Yes the motherboard can be swapped out at any time. But keep in mind that as technology changes... so does the hardware. You will be able to transfer "most" of the hardware to a new board. The things you need to watch for is that the Motherboard is compatible with both the CPU Chip and the RAM.

At any time (except the really old stuff) there is compatible ones available... So its not really an issue.

As for the AMD bashing comment... I've been running an AMD dual core CPU for 2-3 years now and have had NO PROBLEMS with it... knock on wood...

For editing and Office... Pretty much any CPU/Motherboard combo out there today will do the job (except maybe a Celeron). Its more important that you have enough RAM (2GB or more recommended) and a decent graphics card.

 

[MohaimenK]

Or think about if spending $100 - $200 more can justify for long run....
I meant to say XPS 7100 which you can get for $750 for a black edition x6 processor w/ free shipping

 

[Sonoma]

I'm running the AMD Phenom II x2 550 with 4gig of ram and a cheap Nvidia Geforce 8400 GS on an Asus motherboard and I have no trouble running CS3. I am also running Windows 7 Home Premium.

I have never had any trouble with AMD processors and have been running them since the old Cyrix days!

 

[bazooka]

You can build a nice rig for $600 assuming you don't need it for gaming and have a windows license already.

 

[thruthelens]

For $600 dollars you should be fine for a desktop machine with the power to run what you want. You will need a graphics card, a cheap one will do but not under $50 though, 2GB RAM but go for 4GB if you can, AMD phenoms are great processors and will suffice easily. The Intel i3, i5 and i7 processors are pretty awesome and can be over clocked massively therefore offering absurd value for money if you know what you are doing. Motherboards I prefer are Gigabyte, Asus, Asrock, MSI, Lanparty but really you can't go wrong with any make nowadays, just check that there's room to expand if you should plan to later on. You may seriously need to consider some back up solution. If you have 2x500GB external hard drives filled with data how are you going to back it up? This is where so many come unstuck and things do go wrong unfortunately. If you are going to have that much data and it is valuable to you then consider an NAS (network attached storage) get one with 4 drives in it and have 1 pair of disks for data with the other 2 mirroring the first pair (RAID 1) This is done quite easily in the NAS menu screen.

 

[rpm]

btw no point in getting the AMD Black Edition CPU unless you intend to overclock it. otherwise there's no real point...

 

[Vinny]

I would get a computer with a large HD, I just got one with 750 Gb but 1Tb might be better, get a usb backup drive to backup all important data including photos. I would get a Video card but you don't need a gaming one - be aware that if you intend to use Photoshop they have a list of video cards that were tested with CS4 and 5.

MOST IMPORTANT ADVICE I can give: It's a waste of money to buy a computer today and constantly upgrade it. Buy it with the intention that you'll use it as is (assuming that nothing breaks) for the next 6 years or so; as mentioned, technology changes all the time.

 

[John Mc]

I might have missed it,but do you have a Price range?as some Intels Cpu's are rather cheap,even being a new processor. i'd swear by them

 

[matt62485]

~$600ish for the cpu

i have no idea what overclocked means. building my own isnt the best idea yet lol. im an electronics guy, not a computer guy lol