Well, I didn't get either the two really good deals on laptops I tried to buy before Black Friday. I keep scouring slickdeals.net to no avail. In the meantime, my home pc is about to lose the HD, I believe.

This mega-powerful pc packs an Intel Celeron D processor- LOOK OUT!!! I can't even watch crappy-quality YouTube HD videos on it. I don't mind re-using the case, keyboard, and mouse. The monitor situation is fine. I ned some guts: RAM, processor speed, memory. I can probably pull the dvd RW(or whatever it is) from the other computer that doesn't work.

Things I'd like: fast cpu, 4GB RAM, 1GB video, 500GB min. HD, HDMI input/output.

TIA,
Skip

 

You should add a card reader (SD, various others) to the front of the case. I have one and it's extremely nice to upload pictures to the computer from your memory cards. Plus they're cheap.

 

Didn't think about that as I have a thumb drive-looking SDHC reader and another xx-in-1. They are not built into the case.

 

Skip, If you are going to be upgrading most of the computer don't half ass it. Just replace the DVD drive with something with at least SATA capabilities. It's $30 on Newegg for anything halfway decent. Don't skip out on the cost.

I'm actually building 2 new PC's for my office now with core i7's. They have some new mid-range processors coming soon in the 600 series which look pretty stellar in the ways of pricing.

If you really want a nice build put together what kind of ballpark figure are you looking for when it comes to cashflow?

btw, what are you needing HDMI in/out for?

Are you doing video editing or do you want to capture/output to a decent sized screen?

 

Yes, I would like to do some decent editing and I just purchased a 28" monitor for home/trailer use. Even my $150 video camera has an HDMI output.

As for dinero, I believe a nice setup, not top shelf, can be had or built for under $750.





PS. I have zero desire/want/need to do any gaming on this thing.

 

Well if you are going to be doing editing, especially in HD and you don't want to wait forever to pull the feed in and process it I would just say dig deep and go with an i7. But that setup alone for a core i7 and motherboard will push you over $500 alone.

It would be blazing fast for your needs. I know pulling in HD feeds can take forever due to the bandwidth requirements.

 

Here is something basic, keep in mind I don't know what your current case config is, what power supply you currently have (24-pin required for this motherboard) and also what other accessories you might be needing to support.

Couple of recommendations on top of this. If you are doing some serious editing id get two HD's 500gb in 7200rpm config and do a RAID-0 setup unless you wanna go SSD (Solid State) but that could set you back a kidney or two. If you are editing in HD and have no external source to store your raw video then go dual 1tb drives as you can eat up space fast if you keep a lot of it.

Also i'd make sure if your case doesn't have ample ventilation to get it, the i7's can produce quite a bit of heat and also stress your power supply if its borderline with the needs. Check your DVD drive to see if its SATA or not. If not i'd recommend you upgrade to keep with the times.

Also I'd recommend you make the dive and go with 6gb of RAM over 4. You'll thank both yourself and me later.

I know this is a bit above the $750 mark but the i7 is deff worth it. Quantum leap when it comes to power.

 

The files are IN the computer...

 

Not spending $1k on guts.

 

Did you use the Dell link I sent you? The OS costs as much or more than the HW.