New computer - what to get?

[Joe Copalman]

My wife and I are in the market for a new PC (not a Mac) and have set a budget of around $1500.  

I'm basically looking for something FAST and reliable, with enough storage to not have to worry about hard drive space for a long time.  I might even start shooting RAW (OMG!).    

Any input on experience with the various processors, graphics/video cards, and operating systems and such would be greatly appreciated.  Oh, and a monitor.  I'm really freakin' serious about a good monitor.    

Thanks for any input!

[F-16_fixer]

Custom built is the only way I go. I can build you a fast one for far less than your budget.

[Jay Beckman]

My last three computer systems (2x Desktop and 1x Laptop) all came from Data Doctors and are their house build.  Very, very happy with all three.

I have a 24" Dell widescreen monitor that I calibrate with a Spyder Pro.  Exact model escapes me but seeing as it's 2+ years old now, it's probably been superceded by something else anyway.

[Joe Copalman]

Custom built is the only way I go. I can build you a fast one for far less than your budget.

Chris, I was thinking custom-build.  Question is what the guts should be. 

[Rob Silliman]

Didn't we go through this same exercise 6 months ago?

I will 2nd the recommendation on the Dell 24" (widescreen) monitor.  I have one - and have both my personal and work computers connected to it.  

Windows 7 (good luck getting something w/o it)
Dual core/CPU (min), pref quad core/CPU
4 GB (min), pref 8 GB RAM
Hard Drive - 1 TB (internal), and start thinking about something as big externally for your historical pictures (Network attached, RAID is best).
Graphics card - if you are going the desktop route - just make sure you have two expansion slots (the high end graphics cards these days take two slots)

[Joe Copalman]

Didn't we go through this same exercise 6 months ago?

D'oh!  My wife and were thinking about it back in October and there's a thread and everything on it.

Well done, sir.

[Stephen Marshall]

I'll add another vote for Custom built.

My desktop was built about 3 years ago and still has more power then some of the computers you can buy today.

As far as internals I'd recommend:

Intel i7 processor
Any Nvidia video card above 8600 would be fine
I've also had good experience with Gigabyte motherboards and OCZ Ram.
And of course Windows 7

[redsox223]

I am pretty happy with my HP media center pc that I bought 1.5 yrs ago. Its got great stats, comes with graphics card that has three video inputs (dvi, vga, and hdmi) and can be had for 1000, thats what I paid, leaving you 500 for  monitors.

[BillOz]

Git one with the fancy box, with the clear sides, and the neon lites inside.  Maybe even the freon or water cooled processor.  Those is cool.   Makes your pictures way better toooo.


I agree that the custom builts can be had with more power and features for the money, but usually they are going to be more trouble, especially if you aren't familiar with seting up all the drivers, and such.  It is easier these days with everything plug-n-play, but there can still be issues.

I'd recommend looking at the prebuilts, I prefer HP over Dell, especially when it comes to upgrading, but others will prefer Dell or some other brand.  Couldn't hurt to look at the custom built machines from a place like Data Doctors, where you have at least some hope of support, and yo know it has been built by experienced techs.  Bascally I expect you'll find you can get a prebuilt for about the same money as a custom with similar features, mainly because HP and Dell are buying 100,000's of each component, and so mass production brings the overall prices competitive.   Once you start adding all the components for a custom together, it about all comes out in the wash.

I have a HP Quad Core, 4 Gigs RAM, (recommend 8, not that 4 is slow, but it's a cheap upgrade), 640 GB drive, with a 1 TB external, and a 24" HP Vivid Color Widescreen.  That big monitor is a definite plus.  I so far only use this machine for video, because video is such a resource pig.   Everything else I do on my other machine or my laptop.  One of these days I'll consolidate, about the time I get a new machine, after a new job.

Heck, git what you like, it's your money.

Or you could wait 6 more months, and everything will be even faster, more powerful and cheaper, then wait 6 more months for even faster, cheaper.  Hell if you wait 5 years, you can have a Cray XMP in back pocket for only a few hundred bucks.

Good Luck