Family / Music PC 2

[Remou]

I am reluctantly trying to put together a few notes for a non-technical family with several teenage kids (11-18) that seem to run every music service available, along with Skype, iTunes, Norton 360, etc etc, and likely to get worse.

I thought that:
Vista 64
Intel Core 2 Duo E6300
256MB Graphics Card
X-Fi Sound card

Would last then a few years? I doubt if they would be prepared for anything not fairly main-stream.

I would be grateful for any advice.

 

[Sympology]

I can't see the point of vista 64 bit. Very few thing make any use of the power and if anything will cause you more headache.

I'd go for at least a 500gb drive if not more.

Also think about back ups. You may want an external drive or a raid to mirror the drives if (when) they trash the system.

Most people spend their time on the "urgent" rather than on the "important."

 

[Grenage]

It has it's place; I use Vista x64 and don't have any issues. If the family has existing software that might not run on x64 then x32 might be a better bet, I agree.

The machine specs look fine, but as Sympology said, you'll probably want at least 500GB.

"We can categorically state that we have not released man-eating badgers into the area" - Major Mike Shearer

 

[Remou]

Thanks for the replies, I am fairly secure on hard drives - I use them myself - it is what is required for a music PC that leaves me lost. They already have a good external drive for back-ups etc.

 

[paparazi]

Budget but to last....kids will also want to play games.

Intel P45 budget bought something like the MSI Neo3 F or FLR or One of Gigabytes entry P45 boards GA-P45-DS3

4 gig of ram PC6400 (DDR800) is as cheap as chips ATM go branded Kingston/Corsair/OCZ etc

I agree, a big hard drive, Samsung F1's are cheap, reliable and fast.

Graphics card wise an Nvidia 9600GT or if you can stretch to an ATI 4850 that would handle most things.

Even a budget machine needs a quality power supply so perhaps one of the cheaper Antec cases with one of their 450-500watt PSU's.

Cheap OEM LG DVDRW

Definately 32bit Vista ATM (for a Home Machine)

Martin








On wings like angels whispers sweet
my heart it feels a broken beat
Touched soul and hurt lay wounded deep
Brown eyes are lost afar and sleep

 

[Remou]

Thanks, paparazi

 

[wahnula]

lso think about back ups. You may want an external drive or a raid to mirror the drives if (when) they trash the system.

RAID is never a substitute for backup. It offers protection against a single disk hardware failure, but nothing else. Get a second F1 and mount it internally, run an app on the main drive that backs up critical files on a daily basis (NT Backup works for me, but there's many more) as well as system state so recovery is easy.

Tony

Users helping Users...

 

[ArizonaGeek]

I always follow the rule, you can't have too much when it comes to computers. A 512mb video card might only cost you an extra few bucks over a 256mb card, a 750gb or 1tb drive, and I am going with Martin's suggestions with the 32bit Vista. Only get Home Premium or Ultimate though. Just don't buy the cheapest motherboards or video cards. There are just some things worth spending a few extra bucks on.

Good luck!

Cheers
Rob

The answer is always "PEBKAC!

 

[Remou]

Thanks again, everyone. The comments are very useful.

 

[paparazi]

Would also add that the addon sound card is really not necessary for all but the most ardent of audiphiles. Intel chipset P45 boards all come with minimum High Definition 7.1 audio onboard.
A USB external hard drive might also be prudent long term because by their very nature, family PC's catch virus's more often because of the many and VARIED sites visited.
An external HDD can save the heatache of loosing homework etc.
Martin

On wings like angels whispers sweet
my heart it feels a broken beat
Touched soul and hurt lay wounded deep
Brown eyes are lost afar and sleep

 

[ArizonaGeek]

Just to reiterate what I had said, this article on Gizmodo was posted today agrees with what I said.

There are just some things worth spending a little more.

Cheers
Rob

The answer is always "PEBKAC!