Since you want your computer for video and storage, I suggest getting a fast quad core i7 and about 4gb of memory.  Video i/o will take a processing power and memory.  In the end, it's how much you want to spend. The more money the fast and better.


If want a computer just for word processing and web browsing a slower computer is fine.

[ Last edited by  Weelock at 2-5-2010 04:14 ]

For reliability, maybe you should use a RAID10 setup???

I've not seen RAID in a desktop ... yet ... maybe someone more up-to-date can correct me

but it makes good sense to have a separate fileserver that has full RAID, for valuable pictures videos and music ... I just had to pay a guy to recover a load of old family pics from a dead hard drive, and although the most important ones survived, alas many were lost.

I would recommend a mid range system from Dell since you don't play games and you can configure each component through their website which means you can opt for a larger hard disk. Generally their service is pretty good and their computers are durable and reliable too. My last desktop from them lasted 7 years.

Have to agree with Wheelock. Went to see the new core i7 and they are the speediest notebooks in the market at the moment.A super machine.

Now that hard disks are cheap. $999 2TB is for sale in Golden now. And as you know recovering a 2TB drive will costs you $50,000+. I think it makes sense to set up RAID now even for desktop.

Actually you don't have to worry so much about hard disk space, external hard disks are real cheap nowadays.

never buy DELL .. they use non-standard PSU and motherboard combo

Skip the whole computer thing and just get an iPhone.  You want something lightweight that you can slip in your pocket for the next time you get abducted.

Bros,

For 1000 $ USD what sort of tower (just the computer itself) would you guys spec out for Starcraft 2 ?

20000 HKD is quite a bit of money for a non-gaming system. For your purpose and best bang for buck I would get:

Corei7 930 $2400
x58 MB with esata $2000
6gig dd3 $1600
ATI5850 eyefiniti $2300
2x 24" Monitor (believe me once you go multimonitor you can't go back) $4500
Bluray $750
Asus O!Play HDP-R3 $850
2.0gig HD. $1000
network NAS 4disk hotswap with 2x2.0gig HD in Raid10 via esata. $3500 +2X$1000 (you can store porn offline instead of hiding folders )

$20900

[ Last edited by  Elektronauts at 2-5-2010 11:43 ]

This is also true of many HP products. It is only after you are out of warranty and develop a hardware problem that you will be aware of the shortcomings of purchasing a product that has proprietary components.

Jake,

You must be fucking loaded after the South America escapade. They do pay you well for being a Sex Slave.
How much did you get for offering a bareback session?


Serious note, for a desktop, like the rest of the bros suggested. Go get it at the Wan Chai Computer centre, addy 298 or 188 .
Since you frequent MK a lot, you can also drop by MK computer Centre.

Get the mix and amtach parts. much cheaper.
Durability and life span, at least 5 years.

20K is a lot of money, whose knows how many equivalent of bareback sessions you need to offer to earn that much. Make your blood and sweat money worth....

That's a nice spec. but will it work? Do you have it? From my experience, go with MAC. Less headache  I'm trying to fix mywindows machine now.

I think that sums it up: "less headache" with the Mac.  Not "no headache," just less.  Plus very good support if you get the $100 help desk option.  I've still had crashes with my Mac (running Windows Office of course) but the machine restarts and puts itself right back where I was at the crash.  Plus I've seen viruses/trojans try to weasle their way in on a flash drive, only to be unable because of the Mac OS.  

It ain't perfect, just better than a Windows PC and worth the occasional compatibility issue.

I agree with most on here but for that extra kick why not speed up the slowest part of your PC, the hard drive.

Quick heads up, SSD's or Solid State Drives are fast becoming commonplace in PC's these days.

A 40GB drive will set you back around $1000 and you can use it as your Operating System drive, while another $1000 will get you a 2TB (2000GB) drive which you can use as a storage drive for all your *ahem* media.

I'd advise you choose the Intel SSD's, as these are the most proven amongst it's competitors for reliability and performance.

SSD's are simply smaller looking mechanical hard drives, but don't get hot or make a sound. Basically a flash drive. They have near instant latency times, so pictures and and video files stored on it open up, near, instantly.

You use it in the same way too, just plug it in via SATA. Job done.

[ Last edited by  chimaira at 3-5-2010 09:49 ]

Thanks for all the advice, even the ones I couldn't understand.

I've decided to stick with Dell. That's what I have now and service has been pretty good.

While I've been away, the wife has become computer literate - shit. She uses my machine, only for email and FB
for now but it's not good for obvious reasons. So I'll donate this one to her and upgrade to a Dell Alienware Aurora
for me.

I'll set this computer up in another room so I'll need another internet connection. Is WiFi the best way to do that
or another wire from my modem? Or a completely separate account with PCCW?

Is WiFi reliable? I once had wireless keyboard and mouse, but neither lasted long.

Would my new Dell have to be WiFi to make hers WiFi?

Sorry if these questions sound dumb. I'd ask my daughter but she's moved out and isn't speaking to me at the moment.

WiFi is certainly reliable if your computer is near enough to the WiFi source to have a near 100% connection. The lower the percentage of connection, the slower the computer will be displaying web sites. If running a cable from the router or modem to the computer is not a problem that is a guaranteed 100% connection.

If you decide to go the WiFi route, have the WiFi card installed by the manufacturer and save yourself the trouble of having to do it yourself. Another consideration for WiFi is enabling some level of security (i.e. encryption) on the signal from the WiFi source to prevent others from tapping your connection. Typically the default settings on most modems and routers is no encryption.

Her computer can be made WiFi by installing a WiFi card in it. If it is presently cable connected, there is no reason or advantage to changing that, particularly if it is a desktop and there is no need for mobility.

i use to be really into pc gaming and was constantly updating my computer, but now i'm so outdated with whats going on. one of my favorite games starcraft is coming out with part 2, so i might be looking into updating my computer.

Now u can put three GTX480 1.5GB RAM graphics cards on one motherboard in the so called SLI arrangement. So crazy.