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adaddict

Junior Member

22. October 2005 @ 09:27

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Hi. My old computer decided to give up and die. So now I get to buy a new computer. I will be using it to do simple tasks such as word processing, surfing the internet, I will need it to download things, edit images and movies, and play games. Here is what I am looking at:
Dell Dimension 5150
Intel® Pentium® 4 Processor 630 w/HT Technology (3.0GHz,800FSB)

512MB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 400MHz (2x256M) or
1GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 400MHz (4x256M) [add $60] (I have 256MB from I old computer which I will put into this new computer. I would rather not spend $60 extra for the 1GB SDRAM unless I really need it)

9 in 1 Media Card Reader [add $20] (what is this used for?)

80GB Serial ATA Hard Drive (7200RPM) w/DataBurst Cache or
160GB Serial ATA Hard Drive (7200RPM) w/DataBurst Cache (80GB is enough for me, but is there an advantage to having more besides just to have more room)

128MB PCI Express? x16 (DVI/VGA/TV-out) ATI Radeon X300 SE HyperMemory or
256MB PCI Express? x16 (DVI/VGA/TV-out) ATI Radeon X600 SE HyperMemory [add $40] (Is the 128MB good enough for playing games, or do I need to get the 256MB, it costs more so I don't know)

Integrated Audio with Dolby Digital 7.1 capability or
Sound Blaster® Live! 24-bit ADVANCED HD? Audio [add $25](do I need this or is it okay to use the integrated audio... and just buy good speakers(I can get some for $10)).

Do I need to get a modem on this computer in order to send faxes? I have a printer/fax/scan/copy machine. I have cable internet. Thus, do I need a modem? If I do need a modem, should I get either:
56K PCI Data Fax Modem [add $20]
56K PCI Telephony Modem [add $40]

All this comes out to $599, so I think this is a fairly good deal.
I really appreciate any help I can get since I need to get this computer really soon.
Thanks

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skidme

Suspended due to non-functional email address

22. October 2005 @ 09:47

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I'm afraid you might want to spend the extra money for that complete gig of ram. These days a gig is almost nothing, and it will be the minimum requirement for Windows Vista(from what I hear).
A media card reader can pretty much replace a floppy drive. Instead of floppies it reads high capacity digital cards.

The 160 Gig HDD might be useful if you're planing to download stuff.

If you're gonna be playing games, look into the Vid card with 256 MB of mem. I hear there is a big gap between 128 and 256. You dont really need and audio card, unless you are truly hard core. The audio card takes some load off the CPU, but not too much.

Cant comment on the modem needs, sorry

Good luck.

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AMD Athlon 64 FX-55, MSI K8N Neo4-F Motherboard, Creative Labs T5400 5.1 Surround Sound Speaks, Pioneer DVR-109 16X DVD Burner, MSI GeForce 8800 GTS PCIe GFX Card, 1 GB Value Ram.

adaddict

Junior Member

22. October 2005 @ 10:10

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I guess I will get the 256MB video card. For only $40 more, I guess it is an okay deal.
I am still confused about the 9 in 1 media card reader. Is this something new where the usb ports go in, or is this for something else. Also, if anyone else knows about the modem and if I need it to send a fax, I appreciate your input. By the way, I already have a modem in my old computer, can't I just put it into my new computer?
Thanks.

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ddp

Moderator

22. October 2005 @ 12:19

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all modems can do fax so why pay extra $20 to get the telephony version. is your old modem an isa, pci, amr or cnr slot card?? the 9 in 1 card reader might have a usb port in it but is used mostly for memory cards for digital cameras.

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adaddict

Junior Member

22. October 2005 @ 15:17

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Thanks all for your input.

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