# Buying A New Computer



## stvnx7 (Aug 15, 2011)

Hi Everyone,

I'm buying a new computer and I want to make sure that I get my money's worth.

I don't do any intensive gaming, video or picture editing, etc. About the most intensive process I do is unrar a movie every now and then.

As long as the computer is powerful enough to play HD (let's say 720p) .avi files smoothly, that's about as much power as I need. So I guess my questions are:

(1) Would this computer cover it all as I described above? It's a 2.4GHz Intel® 2nd Generation Core™ i5 with 4GM of RAM.

(2) My current computer has 3GB of RAM and an Intel Core 2 Duo CPU (1.66GHz both). Would the computer above "feel" like a downgrade, since it's only 1 core (albeit faster GHz and newer technology).

Thanks everyone for helping buy a new cheap laptop that I can use for the next 6 years!

- Steven


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## jellybellys (Apr 3, 2012)

(1) - Yes
(2) - Not exactly a downgrade... but not an upgrade. You could just stick with the computer you currently have. It fits the needs that you posted above.


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## stvnx7 (Aug 15, 2011)

jellybellys said:


> (1) - Yes
> (2) - Not exactly a downgrade... but not an upgrade. You could just stick with the computer you currently have. It fits the needs that you posted above.


Thanks for the reply jellybellys! I would stick with this computer but it is kind of beaten down and not as portable as the new one that I'm looking for. At $500 bucks, with no interest for 18 months, I think it is affordable and a great value. As long as I'm not getting a worse performing machine, I'm happy.

Thanks for your help!


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## jellybellys (Apr 3, 2012)

stvnx7 said:


> Thanks for the reply jellybellys! I would stick with this computer but it is kind of beaten down and not as portable as the new one that I'm looking for. At $500 bucks, with no interest for 18 months, I think it is affordable and a great value. As long as I'm not getting a worse performing machine, I'm happy.
> 
> Thanks for your help!


If you were looking for something even cheaper, you could look at some of those netbooks out there. They are really lightweight, dirt cheap, and have enough power to play 1080p videos.


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## Maxx (Dec 12, 2011)

An 2ng gen i5 is not single core at all is it? 4 core afaik.
But it'd do (Should anyway







) all you listed


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## cammiso94 (Jan 22, 2012)

you have a 775 socket CPU, if your savvy with computers, you could do is get a better CPU, (i.e. Q6600) and overclock it a bit. get more RAM, like 4 gigs and a nice PCI-E video card and you're all set really. 
My system: Q6600 @ 3.6 Ghz, 4 GB DDR2 kingston Hyper-x, nvidia geforce 280 GTX
i can play BF3 on high, and at 1080p too.


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## Drocka (Jul 24, 2011)

i know for sure 2.4 is good enough to play games like battlefield 3 and MW3 so thats a plus.

also 4gb of ram is good, just make sure you have a good graphics card for the games itself( AMD or GeForce or IntelGraphics. etc..)


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## b16 (Jun 6, 2011)

Go build a Rootzbox for $1k and call it a day, no upgrading for maybe ehhhhh 2yrs.


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## Goose306 (Sep 12, 2011)

The compy you were linking to is a dead link...

but i5's should all be at least two cores I believe? I got a Toshiba lappy for around ~$650 a year and a half ago with an i5 with dual hyperthreading and 6 GB of RAM and nVidia go-graphics... not the best for game playing but more than enough power for tooling around and super reliable... I'd think you could probably find a similar computer nowadays for less than $500...


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## cammiso94 (Jan 22, 2012)

Drocka said:


> i know for sure 2.4 is good enough to play games like battlefield 3 and MW3 so thats a plus.
> 
> also 4gb of ram is good, just make sure you have a good graphics card for the games itself( AMD or GeForce or IntelGraphics. etc..)


Im almost positive that intelgraphics isn't enough to rub BF3.


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## Serenity_FF (Jun 7, 2011)

all i5's will be at least dual cores with hyperthreading


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## stvnx7 (Aug 15, 2011)

I ended up going with a Samsung QX411. I'm 100% sure that there are better laptops out there for the $700 (all-in) that I paid for mine, but I gotta say that I'm very happy with it. It's an i5 running 2.4ghz (2 cores; everyone here is right - no such thing as single core i5). It's an ultraportable, but hits the right spot between portability and screen size.

This is the link if anyone wants to check it out.


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## Swiftmazda (Oct 29, 2011)

stvnx7 said:


> I ended up going with a Samsung QX411. I'm 100% sure that there are better laptops out there for the $700 (all-in) that I paid for mine, but I gotta say that I'm very happy with it. It's an i5 running 2.4ghz (2 cores; everyone here is right - no such thing as single core i5). It's an ultraportable, but hits the right spot between portability and screen size.
> 
> This is the link if anyone wants to check it out.


Not a bad system at all.  Sometimes I wish I went with something a little more portable like that laptop (mine has a 15.6" screen).


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