Advice needed for specs

[LionofJudahDK]

Yeah...so, I know next to NOTHING about computers, hardware, setup, etc. I know how to install stuff, and use the stuff I install.

My old laptop is on its last legs, and I'm starting to think of getting a new one, but I have no idea what to look for. I bought my old one off a good friend, and was actually quite disappointed.

I was wondering if someone here could give me a list of specs I should ask for, and a brief explanation of why? I have a max price range of app. $700, give and take

Aaanyway: I need it for the following

• STUDY (meaning it should be able to run a few ressources-consuming programs (such as BibleWorks and MS Word) at the same time )
• Recreation. That means computer games (upper limit is stuff like Skyrim and ME3...), as well as being able to watch DVDs on it.

Can anyone help me out with some specs I can take to a store, and a reasonable price-range?

Thanks And sorry to sound 700 years old!

 

[m.a.r.X]

Guess I'm really late

BTW, I think an AMD A10 based laptop would be the best bet for you !

It have a revised piledriver core along with an AMD HD 7660 graphics.

A10 CPU can't still match the Intel i5 or even the high frequency i3 in some benchmarks but, it doesn't need to, certainly in your case where you don't need a really powerful cpu. Instead, you need a good GPU that the A10 has in its die.

So, go for an AMD A10 based laptop IMO !

 

[LionofJudahDK]

Guess I'm really late

BTW, I think an AMD A10 based laptop would be the best bet for you !

It have a revised piledriver core along with an AMD HD 7660 graphics.

A10 CPU can't still match the Intel i5 or even the high frequency i3 in some benchmarks but, it doesn't need to, certainly in your case where you don't need a really powerful cpu. Instead, you need a good GPU that the A10 has in its die.

So, go for an AMD A10 based laptop IMO !

Better late than never And thanks!

 

[m.a.r.X]

Better late than never And thanks!

BTW, I suggest you go for a crossfire set up. There is a Samsung laptop with an additional 76xx descrete gpu so that it can be crossfired along with the one onboard the A10 cpu die.
IIRC, the system can turn off the discrete GPU off to save power except when playing games.
Its a win-win !

But you have to wait till 26 to get it coz it have the Windows 8.

 

[WalksWithChrist]

BTW, I suggest you go for a crossfire set up. There is a Samsung laptop with an additional 76xx descrete gpu so that it can be crossfired along with the one onboard the A10 cpu die.
IIRC, the system can turn off the discrete GPU off to save power except when playing games.
Its a win-win !

But you have to wait till 26 to get it coz it have the Windows 8.

Samsung is good. I got a Series 3 recently with an i3 and it plays Skyrim ok, but not great. With your budget, you could get a Samsung with an i5 that would probably play better.

Also, I've very impressed with its performance overall. Good laptop. And great display!

 

[m.a.r.X]

Samsung is good. I got a Series 3 recently with an i3 and it plays Skyrim ok, but not great. With your budget, you could get a Samsung with an i5 that would probably play better.

Also, I've very impressed with its performance overall. Good laptop. And great display!

You mean an Intel Ivy Bridge CPU with a discrete graphics card ?

I think AMD's onboard graphics is better than Intel's. Also, AMD updates their display drivers faster than Intel to solve any incompatibility issues for example.

 

[WalksWithChrist]

You mean an Intel Ivy Bridge CPU with a discrete graphics card ?

I think AMD's onboard graphics is better than Intel's. Also, AMD updates their display drivers faster than Intel to solve any incompatibility issues for example.

I was strictly AMD until I got the Samsung. So no argument here!

 

[m.a.r.X]

I was strictly AMD until I got the Samsung. So no argument here!

I hope you are hearing the news about AMD.
Its so sad to see AMD still making loss. Their top level management are jumping the ship. Also, they are gonna cut their workforce by 15% soon to save money.
Its not looking good for them.

 

[WalksWithChrist]

I hope you are hearing the news about AMD.
Its so sad to see AMD still making loss. Their top level management are jumping the ship. Also, they are gonna cut their workforce by 15% soon to save money.
Its not looking good for them.

Nothing surprises me in the tech industry anymore. On top today, going under tomorrow. Remember 3dfx?

 

[C-Man]

Let's not forget the history of AMD and Intel. Each company has been on the back foot several times in the last couple of decades. AMD's 386DX-40 took a huge bite out of Intel's 486 sales in the early 90's. It was both faster and cheaper than Intel's 33MHz 486.

Then AMD's K5 design was delayed by over a year. It was clock-for-clock faster than the Pentium, but Intel already had much higher-clocked chips out. That took a big wet bite out of AMD's profits. Of course there was also the Cyrix 6x86, which was, clock-for-clock, easily the fastest chip around for a long time.

Then AMD hit with the K6, which soundly beat the Pentium. Intel pushed the Pentium II, which didn't sell as well as it could have because of the proprietary slot design. Though its price netted them a handsome profit. AMD hit with the K6-2, and then the mighty K6-3, which was easily faster than anything Intel had under 600 MHz. Then AMD released the various versions of the Athlon, which was pretty much faster than any of Intel's offerings. Intel's Pentium 4, while it sold reasonably well, was at first demonstrably slower than the Pentium 3, and not even in the same league as the Athlons.

Then Intel came up with the Core series, and AMD kept up for a while, but the Phenom I and II weren't quite up there as they were more or less the same design as the Athlon 64 chips from several years ago (I have a Phenom II and it's great). Well, now we know what's happening with the Bulldozer architecture. That's supposed to be fixed in the next release, but we'll see. It looks like this may be AMD's "Pentium 4" era.

The lesson here is that each company flip-flops as to who has the better product, and both have had bad times in the past.

 

[WalksWithChrist]

Let's not forget the history of AMD and Intel. Each company has been on the back foot several times in the last couple of decades. AMD's 386DX-40 took a huge bite out of Intel's 486 sales in the early 90's. It was both faster and cheaper than Intel's 33MHz 486.

Then AMD's K5 design was delayed by over a year. It was clock-for-clock faster than the Pentium, but Intel already had much higher-clocked chips out. That took a big wet bite out of AMD's profits. Of course there was also the Cyrix 6x86, which was, clock-for-clock, easily the fastest chip around for a long time.

Then AMD hit with the K6, which soundly beat the Pentium. Intel pushed the Pentium II, which didn't sell as well as it could have because of the proprietary slot design. Though its price netted them a handsome profit. AMD hit with the K6-2, and then the mighty K6-3, which was easily faster than anything Intel had under 600 MHz. Then AMD released the various versions of the Athlon, which was pretty much faster than any of Intel's offerings. Intel's Pentium 4, while it sold reasonably well, was at first demonstrably slower than the Pentium 3, and not even in the same league as the Athlons.

Then Intel came up with the Core series, and AMD kept up for a while, but the Phenom I and II weren't quite up there as they were more or less the same design as the Athlon 64 chips from several years ago (I have a Phenom II and it's great). Well, now we know what's happening with the Bulldozer architecture. That's supposed to be fixed in the next release, but we'll see. It looks like this may be AMD's "Pentium 4" era.

The lesson here is that each company flip-flops as to who has the better product, and both have had bad times in the past.

Ah, memories...

 

[Genersis]

Personally, i'd get a Samsung NP355V5C.
My laptop is also dying, and it seems like my best option for gaming with a limited budget.

 

[EphesiaNZ]

AMD is, at this moment in time, my choice with it's new APU's. For most of us, today's CPU power is just a complete overkill for what we need for the usual tasks we do on a PC such as web surfing, email etc...

For a general machine, an AMD APU will give you performance and save you a nice wad of cash too

I just purchased an Asus E450M1 mini-ITX motherboard and combined it with this mini Antec case, a 120GB SSD hard drive and 4GB RAM. My mini PC box build cost approx NZ $540 and performs very well indeed with both Linux Mint and Windows 7 installed. The benefit of this build is a very small footprint, low power usage and absolutely no noise . Might not be a gamers PC, unless you get a bigger case and add a discrete video card. As it is, it is pretty quick and plays 1080 HD fine plus, has wireless too.

My big Intel i7 gaming beastie is now in danger of being sold as this mini PC has truly won me over.

 

[m.a.r.X]

Personally, i'd get a Samsung NP355V5C.
My laptop is also dying, and it seems like my best option for gaming with a limited budget.

That was the laptop I was talking about
Its an excellent choice !

@EphesiaNZ

I agree.
My 7 year old Athlon 64 (clawhammer) PC is still going strong !
I can play old games like CS:Source, CS 1.6, Battlefield 1942 on it with ease !

 

[LionofJudahDK]

Thank you, everyone

I did a little bit of googling and searching the dark corners of the Internet (oh, the horrors I have seen....) and found this. Now, to find out if I can get them to deliver out of the UK....

 

[WalksWithChrist]

Thank you, everyone

I did a little bit of googling and searching the dark corners of the Internet (oh, the horrors I have seen....) and found this. Now, to find out if I can get them to deliver out of the UK....

Good luck with the shipping!

 

[LionofJudahDK]

Good luck with the shipping!

Sarcasm isn't easily detected in print Was that a way of saying "Not likely to happen", or "I hope it arrives in one piece?"

 

[WalksWithChrist]

Sarcasm isn't easily detected in print Was that a way of saying "Not likely to happen", or "I hope it arrives in one piece?"

It wasn't sarcastic. You said you hoped it can get delivered and I wished you good luck.