So I hate to open another thread on this, but I’m no hardware guru.
Could I get an opinion on this?
http://barrie.kijiji.ca/c-buy-and-sell-computers-HP-Quad-Core-Desktop-W0QQAdIdZ221241067
I’d be somewhat suspicious because it has windows 7 (but no install disk) plus the vista sticker on the front cover is kind of a dead giveaway that you probably will end up with a unlicensed copy of W7.
dude
dont feel bad - PC hardware is not realy that easy to judge when you are not familiar with it.
The offer is too expensive. AMD or INtel came out with new quad and six core CPUs which
are more powerful than that old core 2 quad architecture.
For example the new i5 or i7 chips have direct ram access and thus do not need a memory
bridge which is an advantage over the old chips.
for example here you can get system at that price range for new:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100006736%20600014724&IsNodeId=1&name=Phenom%20II%20X4
However the 3d cards are a bit weak here, but you can get a different one and include it.
This side is good to get 3d card comparisons:
http://www.videocardbenchmark.net/gpu_list.php
Is 500 your limit?
for 200 more you could get this:
http://configure.us.dell.com/dellstore/config.aspx?oc=dxdods1&c=us&l=en&s=dhs&cs=19
the 3d card has a good rating, 5 times more than the card in the used PC.
I am sure there are also other websites - I just quickly googled some offers.
The Intel i5 which can be as fast as the AMD x6 or the AMD x4 / x6 should be what you are looking for.
Would you have interest in building your own PC because that would be much cheaper as well.
Thank you for the replies, I was hoping to get something off that site cause I assumed it’d be a bargain.
I thought Vista users got a free copy of windows 7 tho?
Anyways, I managed to get into contact with my uncle, who told me that that system would only be worth a couple hundred.
And I think I want to go with building my own PC, I’m suspicious about ordering things online, but I’ll have to trust it I guess.
How do I start? and should we talk in this thread or email/IM?
uncle not really. they gave away free win 7 to buyers of vista pcs for 6 months before win 7 was released. hp pcs dont come with dvd or cd disks. the recovery is a 10 gig partition called the d: drive. when you boot a hp pc it will have hit f1 for boot, f10 for options and f11 for recovery. all you do is hit f11 and it resets your pc back to how it was when it was sold. it also comes with a backup program that will let you make your own backup dvds any time you want.
I’ve built quite a few custom computers, though usually with a large “gaming rig” budget if you would like any help just let me know.
If you give me a budget and some expectation I could whip something up for ya.
Feel free to email me at afalldorf at gmail.com with any questions.
Well I’m not interested in gaming at all, but I assumed that that and 3d went hand in hand for hardware, since games are an output?
As for budget, I’d like to stay under 500,
and, my reason for wanting to upgrade is my computer doesn’t handle sculpting very well.
Now I’ve read that’s related to RAM, but if your gonna upgrade best to upgrade the whole tower right?
I also want to do more renders, and Ive attemtped digital painting, but I can’t get a good resolution without lag,
and I’ve been using mypaint and gimp for that.
afalldorf
what about you maybe post a small how to here and list parts and stores and maybe some tips and tricks.
that could be a great sticky thread since many have that questions I assume.
Maybe making a low-end a mid range and a high end render cube.
What do you think? When you send it via email it stays private and nobody can look it up here.
Even when parts will change the examples could offer some great insight and direction for those
new to how to build a custom PC.
well
to be honest it might be interesting to see how older RAM chips compare to ram chips of the newer generation and how much there is a speed difference and how much that actually really effects
sculpting performance.
Also here’s the computer I have right now,
http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bizsupport/TechSupport/Document.jsp?lang=en&cc=us&objectID=c00575712
I’m fine with that too, my plan called for email just for the simple reason that it would pop up while I’m working instead of me having to come back to the thread. Anyways I was planning on posting the results here either way.
As far as your comment about the RAM, if you are building a new computer it is almost always best to go with the newest type of RAM because the larger capacities are almost always cheaper.
For example 1GB or DDR1 RAM is much more expensive than 1GB of DDR3. Mainly because when DDR1 was being manufactured 1GB was considered alot for one stick while now its considered pretty much the minimum.
Of course you can also consider the extra cost of a motherboard that supports the newer style but that usually doesn’t out weigh the cost of the ram per capacity or the added benefit of future proofing.
Anyways thats just some of my two cents, I certainly don’t claim to be an expert.
BTW: if you’re curious about my rig, check my sig 
So back to building my own PC, is there a site that does this.
And packs everything in a case, or will that be up to me?
Althought I guess that would cost more, so me setting it up as an option I suppose.
There are sites out there that do this but usually they are geared towards the power-user and gamers so they aren’t usually cheap. http://www.cyberpowerpc.com/ is one for instance.
Personally I would go with newegg.com and Tigerdirect which sell individual parts you would have to put together.
Putting them together is pretty simple really and if you have any problems figuring it out we or videos on the internet can help you out.
most pc sellers will let you pick your own components and ship you the pc you design built for you. ibuypower is one site of amny that does that. if you want to just get the parts as cheep as you can and put them together yourself try new egg.
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/build-your-own-pc,2601.html is a tutorial on how to build a pc and there are variouse hardware recomendations by the budget on http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/How-To,4/Build-Your-Own,16/
So If i’m buildling my own PC, that means I could rip out things like the CD Drive, internet, and sound card from the PC I have at the moment. And then install them on the new one, will i have to worry about compatibility, or is that a software issue.
Yes, though most modern motherboards have integrated network and sound cards so you wouldn’t need them. But the disk drive, yes.
Compatibility shouldn’t be an issue with a disk drive but could be with other parts, it depends on what you build. That is the beauty of custom computers you can always choose compatible parts.
EDIT: in fact looking at your current computer, it has an integrated network and sound card, so they can’t be used, unless you plan on reusing the whole motherboard, which I don’t recommend.
So I’m doing a bit of reading right now, and i’ll probably call it a night soon.
Seems the things I need are the
Mainboard/motherboard
CPU +Fan
RAM
VideoCard
Modem - what is this for?
and network, if thats not installed with the motherboard.
A modem is only needed if you have dial-up, which I assume you don’t have due to the speed of your replies
If you get the right one, a cpu can include the fan and heatsink
BTW: don’t forget the case 
and possibly the hard-drive. Unless you plan on reusing your current one.
EDIT: also don’t forget the OS, most likely windows 7?
My hardrive right now is 40gigs, so a new one wouldn’t hurt.
And I could use mine as a backup partition.
looking into cases right now, I guess i’ll open up my PC Case tomorrow to find out if it’s compatitable with other motherboards.
Unless someone else has an experience with that?
HP Cases.
I’ve got a few Hp cases, but none of that style. The main thing to look for is on the back, if it has a removable plate where all of the motherboard connectors come out then it should work.
EDIT: after a second look I do have one similar maybe a year older, it does not have a removable plate and its too small for a full sized motherboard… that doesn’t mean yours is though.
EDIT2… Really a case isn’t a big investment, you can get a decent one that works for $20 to $30 on newegg.