fatmanskinny
Premium
join:2004-01-04
Wandering
 ·Comcast Digital Vo..
 ·Comcast
|  [Windows 7] Build my own or buy pre-built?
I am definitely tossing this 6 year old Dell with XP Home and going to get a new system for Windows 7 at the beginning of 2010.
What are you going to do? Buy a new, pre-built system or build your own? If you are buying a pre-built, who are you going with?
If you are building your own, what brands are you looking to use (for motherboards, CPU, etc)?
Thank you.
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signmeupBOO
Tune in to XM 120. BOO
Premium
join:2001-11-22
BOOganville
clubs: 
·Future Nine Corpor..
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| Is the purpose of your thread for advise and ideas, or is it meant to be a type of poll for fun? It will help knowing the reason for it so that I (we) can respond accordingly.
As for me, I will always assemble my own. If you want a bargain basement computer, yeah, factory can't be beat, but for an enthusiast or gamer, factory just won't come close in quality, features, and price to self built.
It's more fun shopping for the parts and putting it all together in my mind than having something with a weaker power supply served on a platter to me, I am just not that guy.
As far as brands, too many to list, too general a question to reply to without my response becoming way oversize.
I recently built a system based upon a Gigabyte board for my roomate that is darned nice for the price.
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pandora
Premium
join:2001-06-01
Outland
·ooma
·Future Nine Corpor..
·Comcast
|  reply to fatmanskinny
I'm undecided about what to do. My 3 year old Dells (mostly Dell Dimension E521's) seem to be doing fine and should run Windows 7 without any problem. At the same time, they are happily running Windows XP Home without any problem. I'm testing Windows 7 RC on our single Dell Dimension 9200.
I was able to install Windows 7 on an 8 year old Dell Dimension 2400.
It appears Windows 7 is very tolerant of older hardware.
What model of Dell PC do you currently have?
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Kilroy
Premium,MVM
join:2002-11-21
Sterling Heights, MI
1 edit | reply to fatmanskinny
For me I'll just be purchasing a hard drive and installing it in my current machine (The machine has been upgraded to 4GB RAM and is currently running Vista 64 Ultimate). |
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HarryH3
join:2005-02-21
Georgetown, TX
·Verizon Online DSL
| reply to pandora
said by pandora  :I was able to install Windows 7 on an 8 year old Dell Dimension 2400. It appears Windows 7 is very tolerant of older hardware. Ack! Thanks for reminding me how old my PC is.  I'm using a 2.4Ghz P4 version of the 2400, with 1GB of RAM and XP Home. It still works great, though I'd like to have another gig of memory. The price for 1 gig sticks of PC2700 is steep compared to newer stuff. I put 2 gig of PC5300 in a newer laptop recently for a whopping $15. It costs around $75 for this old 2400.
Back on topic, since I'm not a gamer, I usually just look for screaming bargains on turnkey systems. Around 18 months ago I picked up a Compaq 3.6 GHz Celeron system for my kids for $199 at an Office Depot clearance sale. I hate that it came with Vista, but other than that it's rock solid and does all that they need it to do.  |
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TheOct
@verizon.net
| reply to fatmanskinny
How about all of the above (just kidding) 
I have actually already built an Intel Core i7 based system with the intention of running retail “Windows 7" on it eventually. Since the Microsoft Windows 7 Pre-Order Upgrade program is in full swing I have already ordered 3 licenses of the Home Premium version at the special price of ~$49.99 each. In fact at these prices I would still like to buy more licenses since 6 total would be ideal.
I hear tell that an X58, LGA1366 compatible Intel Core i9 CPU with 6 physical cores and 12 threads will be available in Q1, 2010. If its not too cost prohibitive and has admirable performance I could see buying one. At that point I could buy a lower cost X58 board for my current Core i7 920 and split my existing DDR3 RAM between the two. With other spare parts that spawns another “Windows 7" system.
I wouldn’t rule out other methods entirely but this is the way I would likely do it. |
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fatmanskinny
Premium
join:2004-01-04
Wandering | reply to signmeupBOO
More for advice and to see what people are doing regarding Win 7 and their hardware. |
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fatmanskinny
Premium
join:2004-01-04
Wandering | reply to pandora
I have a Dell Dimension 2400. |
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Ryan
Premium
join:2001-03-03
Attleboro, MA | Using the computer I built a little over a year ago. q6600 & 4GB of memory. Was originally running vista however switched it to windows 7 RC1. |
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pandora
Premium
join:2001-06-01
Outland
·ooma
·Future Nine Corpor..
·Comcast
| reply to fatmanskinny
said by fatmanskinny :I have a Dell Dimension 2400. You'll be pleased to know I was able to install Windows 7 on one (the beta not the RC). The biggest problem with getting Windows 7 on the PC was the integrated video driver. The solution was to download the driver from the Intel website, then to set it to run in Windows compatibility mode as administration. Then the darned thing installed and worked. The Dimension 2400 in question had 1.5GB of RAM but was running a Celeron.
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"People demand freedom of speech as a compensation for the freedom of thought which they seldom use." |
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idlewillkill
Go Blue
Premium
join:2005-09-28
North York, ON | reply to fatmanskinny
Assuming putting it together isn't an issue for someone, the more powerful the system, the better off one is building it. At the low end, it's tough to match the prices of the Dells of the world, once you factor in OS. |
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sapo
The Internet is Down
Premium
join:2002-09-16
Sacramento, CA
| reply to HarryH3
said by HarryH3 :]Ack! Thanks for reminding me how old my PC is. I'm using a 2.4Ghz P4 version of the 2400, with 1GB of RAM and XP Home. It still works great, though I'd like to have another gig of memory. The price for 1 gig sticks of PC2700 is steep compared to newer stuff. I put 2 gig of PC5300 in a newer laptop recently for a whopping $15. It costs around $75 for this old 2400. Take a look at the for sale forum here, I bought 2GB of PC3200 for around $30. PC3200 is more common and will work fine in your system even if it is at reduced speeds plus there is the chance it supports PC3200 speeds as well for some performance gain.
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drrick
Oskee Wow-Wow.
Premium
join:2002-07-09
Chicago, IL
clubs:
| reply to fatmanskinny
It's easier to order a pre-built system, and you can arguably get a better deal up front, especially when considering software bundles.
It is my opinion, however, that it's way more fun to build your own. I'm in the same boat as you with the system I built in 2002. That said, I've demonstrated by experience that a high-end system you build yourself from the get go can last much longer than any Dell, where upgradability is usually iffy at best. I've updated my video card twice and added some RAM since 2002, and I can still play all the games I want to. There are some good deals out about now on the hardware market, and I'm taking advantage now myself to build another box. I hope this one will last as long as my last one!
Good luck!
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Soy el dentista! |
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