Is this a good spec for a PC??

[AndyT]

I have the chance of buying a computer at work and they are billing it as a "very high spec" machine. I''ve lost track of speeds and RAM so would like your opinions. I would only be using it for Excel and a few PC Games plus normal email. internet etc...

any thoughts?

AndyT

 

[Timolgra]

Hmmm depends what colour it is

 

[Deleted account 190920001]

Never mind the colour he is pulling your leg.

In all honesty though NASA would be proud to have that infact CRAY supercomputers might come and nick it off you.

Now how about posting the spec and getting a proper answer!

 

[DrFarkoff]

Never mind the colour he is pulling your leg.

In all honesty though NASA would be proud to have that infact CRAY supercomputers might come and nick it off you.

Now how about posting the spec and getting a proper answer!

 

[Grey Beard]

How long is a piece of string?

Seriously, you do need to give the computer specs (HDD capacity, RAM, Processor type and speed, graphics card is a dedicated one, if fitted. May also help if you told us what the PC at work was used for - AutoCad, Computer Modelling, Graphic Design and whether it is a Laptop or a Desk Top machine, etc.) for anyone to advise you sensibly.

Excel won't need a lot of power for simple home spreadsheets but it will depend on what sort of games you are talking about.

3D shooter games are very resource hungry (particularly on the graphics card) but things like simple card games, solitaire, etc. will be undemanding.

Grey Beard

 

[AndyT]

Oh dear - silly me I forgot to pasate the spec

IBM A-Pro, Dual 2.8GHz Opteron, 2x80GB SATA drives, Nvidia FX3450 Video, 16GB RAM


I see the drives are only 80MB each which isn't alot but fairly cheap to replace but I was more thinking of the processor, video card and RAM etc... IBM PC's are reliable and fairly easy to upgrade I think.

ANy thoughts now I have given you a bit more info

Oh and they are black

 

[bowser]

Oh dear - silly me I forgot to pasate the spec

IBM A-Pro, Dual 2.8GHz Opteron, 2x80GB SATA drives, Nvidia FX3450 Video, 16GB RAM


I see the drives are only 80MB each which isn't alot but fairly cheap to replace but I was more thinking of the processor, video card and RAM etc... IBM PC's are reliable and fairly easy to upgrade I think.

ANy thoughts now I have given you a bit more info

Oh and they are black

IBM PC always used to be the worst to upgrade on the basis that they used so many in house unique bits, however the newer ones are a bit better, opteron is the AMD processor and its only a dual core processor, 80 gb drives are tiny, the graphics card is ok but not particularly special I think its a 256 mb card and most modern games would like a bit more than that, a 1gb card is not expensive, the amount of ram is pretty impressive, but its not that expensive

all in all its a low to mid range spec, none of the components are top of the line or latest all are a couple of years or so old, ok if you are going to get it cheap

 

[AndyT]

IBM PC always used to be the worst to upgrade on the basis that they used so many in house unique bits, however the newer ones are a bit better, opteron is the AMD processor and its only a dual core processor, 80 gb drives are tiny, the graphics card is ok but not particularly special I think its a 256 mb card and most modern games would like a bit more than that, a 1gb card is not expensive, the amount of ram is pretty impressive, but its not that expensive

all in all its a low to mid range spec, none of the components are top of the line or latest all are a couple of years or so old, ok if you are going to get it cheap

That'll do for me (I mean enough info to lower my bid).
I recon I'll stick with my Dell for a bit longer.

Many thanks for the info.

AndyT

 

[Grey Beard]

IBM PC always used to be the worst to upgrade on the basis that they used so many in house unique bits, however the newer ones are a bit better, opteron is the AMD processor and its only a dual core processor, 80 gb drives are tiny, the graphics card is ok but not particularly special I think its a 256 mb card and most modern games would like a bit more than that, a 1gb card is not expensive, the amount of ram is pretty impressive, but its not that expensive

all in all its a low to mid range spec, none of the components are top of the line or latest all are a couple of years or so old, ok if you are going to get it cheap

As bowser said, 160GB is not very much these days, but you can change the HDD - perhaps to 500 or 640GB. Check on the cost of parts first!

16GB RAM is enormous. 4GB is quite high for a laptop.

The PC would be OK for basic home use, Excel, Word, Internet, eMail, basic games. You should try it to see that the operating software is included with the PC and also that you like the IBM pointer device and the screen. If you want to use Skype for cheap video calls, check if it has a web cam built in. Also make sure it includes a built in DVD writer/reader.

IBM, when built by IBM, were considered solid and reliable. Quality may have suffered a bit under the Chinese manufacturer Lenova.

I guess you should be able to get it for a good price if you are buying it from your work place - they will already have written the value down substantially. Check eBay prices to get an idea and then make sure you don't pay more (price will depend on whether you get any guarantee with the laptop).

I have always been reluctant to buy a laptop personally as they are limited in the upgrade possibilitiers and are generally more expensive than desk tops. But I have just bought a second hand one so I can take it on trips and dump digital photographs and videos onto it while on the road.

Grey Beard

 

[AndyT]

As bowser said, 160GB is not very much these days, but you can change the HDD - perhaps to 500 or 640GB. Check on the cost of parts first!

16GB RAM is enormous. 4GB is quite high for a laptop.

The PC would be OK for basic home use, Excel, Word, Internet, eMail, basic games. You should try it to see that the operating software is included with the PC and also that you like the IBM pointer device and the screen. If you want to use Skype for cheap video calls, check if it has a web cam built in. Also make sure it includes a built in DVD writer/reader.

IBM, when built by IBM, were considered solid and reliable. Quality may have suffered a bit under the Chinese manufacturer Lenova.

I guess you should be able to get it for a good price if you are buying it from your work place - they will already have written the value down substantially. Check eBay prices to get an idea and then make sure you don't pay more (price will depend on whether you get any guarantee with the laptop).

I have always been reluctant to buy a laptop personally as they are limited in the upgrade possibilitiers and are generally more expensive than desk tops. But I have just bought a second hand one so I can take it on trips and dump digital photographs and videos onto it while on the road.

Grey Beard

Its not a laptop by the way its a tower system and I recon it will be around £75 max. Its the PC only, no operating sytem, keyboard or screen although I have all those anyway as we get MS Windows & MS Office Pro for around £16 from work too. They are ex Geoligists PC's hence the high Ram and Graphics cards. I guess its worth a punt with a cheeky bid

 

[DrFarkoff]

Its not a laptop by the way its a tower system and I recon it will be around £75 max. Its the PC only, no operating sytem, keyboard or screen although I have all those anyway as we get MS Windows & MS Office Pro for around £16 from work too. They are ex Geoligists PC's hence the high Ram and Graphics cards. I guess its worth a punt with a cheeky bid

Hmm I wouldn;t mind one of those :-D

 

[Grey Beard]

Its not a laptop by the way its a tower system and I recon it will be around £75 max. Its the PC only, no operating sytem, keyboard or screen although I have all those anyway as we get MS Windows & MS Office Pro for around £16 from work too. They are ex Geoligists PC's hence the high Ram and Graphics cards. I guess its worth a punt with a cheeky bid

If it is a tower PC, then upgrading is child's play and there is no necessity to stick with expensive IBM parts. A 1000GB HDD is quite cheap now. I wish I could get software that cheap!!!

Of course there is always open office for free and Ubuntu Linux.

Grey Beard

 

[LiquidLAN]

Offer £50 and buy 2 you'll have one for spares then incase you loose a motherboard, etc.. curious that they are charging for the software I wouldn't have thought they could have done that within the licence agreement... but I've never read one that closely.

 

[AndyT]

Offer £50 and buy 2 you'll have one for spares then incase you loose a motherboard, etc.. curious that they are charging for the software I wouldn't have thought they could have done that within the licence agreement... but I've never read one that closely.

We have an agreement for Microsoft home user software and I buy it direct from microsoft. The company pays alot more than that for the licence I use at work.