new computer

shearkhan

New member
Hi all
Like a lot of you out there,Iam also buying a new computer,I will be
probably be buying mine from Pc world Ihave already had a chat with the people from DELL,and the only problem I can see with buying from them
is that I will be left with my old one and will have to transfer the data myself,and be left with my old one,whereas,if I buy from PC world they will do this form me,much less risk,and of course they wiil dispose of my old one.
Now I have read quite a lot of stuff on the forum,and like a lot of you I am confused as to what I need,one question does spring to mind,and that concerns the graphics card. The one Iam using at the mopment is INVIDIA
Ge force 6200 pci express (I am running TRS 2004) will this be good enough for my new pc? if not what should I replace it with,also I have read a lot about problems with VISTA on 2006 but no comments about 2004, amI behind the times or what,does anybody run TRS 2004 anymore?
One last question will I have to purchase a graphics card separetly or
does it come with the new machine.

looking forward to reading your coments:confused:
 
I would be very cautious of buying a machine from PC (spit) World, they tell you it's a great machine, all singing , all dancing, play any game on the market.
In reality what you get is at best mediocre. :(
 
Hi all
Like a lot of you out there,Iam also buying a new computer,I will be
probably be buying mine from Pc world Ihave already had a chat with the people from DELL,and the only problem I can see with buying from them
is that I will be left with my old one and will have to transfer the data myself,and be left with my old one,whereas,if I buy from PC world they will do this form me,much less risk,and of course they wiil dispose of my old one.
Now I have read quite a lot of stuff on the forum,and like a lot of you I am confused as to what I need,one question does spring to mind,and that concerns the graphics card. The one Iam using at the mopment is INVIDIA
Ge force 6200 pci express (I am running TRS 2004) will this be good enough for my new pc? if not what should I replace it with,also I have read a lot about problems with VISTA on 2006 but no comments about 2004, amI behind the times or what,does anybody run TRS 2004 anymore?
One last question will I have to purchase a graphics card separetly or
does it come with the new machine.

looking forward to reading your coments:confused:

From the comments I've seen and looking at their products I strongly recommend buying from any one other than PC World.

To copy your old data across from one machine to another you need a crossover cat 5 ethernet cable or a USB memory stick. These aren't considered high tech complicated items, many teenagers are capable of doing this.

You may like to think about just upgrading your present machine by dropping in a new video card such as 9600 GT 512 Mb about 110 quid
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/141669

ebuyer is a reasonable company to deal with. You may need to upgrade your power supply but there may well be a local PC repair that can do the upgrade for you. It's fairly simple to do provided you take precautions against static damage.

What's your existing system at the moment?

Cheerio John
 
Another way to transfer your old data files is to write them to a CD or DVD. When transferring, don't forget about:
  • Old email messages (these can be a right pain to transfer, especially with Outlook Express)
  • Email addresses of friends, etc
  • Web browser favourites/bookmarks
PC World is great place to look round and see what's currently on the market. It's a terrible place to purchase unless you know precisely what you want in advance. If you visit, leave your credit card at home :)

Don't trust PC World with your old computer unless you've got your own backup copy of the data files you care about and also deleted any personal information. Assume they will read everything and then lose eveything.

In the UK you can dispose of the old computer by taking it to the nearest recycling centre. Under the WEE regulations they have to accept it without making a charge (unless you turn up with twenty machines all at once of course). Again, you need to make sure any personal information has been deleted first. Some people advise running a special program to more fully erase sensitive data; some people advise physically destroying the hard disk to make sure.

Regarding the choice of the new computer there's no alternative, to make a sensible purchase decision you must become your own expert. That will take a considerable amount of time and effort but it will pay off enormously. It's also interesting, if very frustrating at times.

Use Wikipedia, Google, Tom's Hardware Guide and the Internet retailer sites (Dabs, EBuyer, Maplin, Play.com) and the manufacturers' web sites (Dell, etc) to do your homework and gather as much information as possible. With Dell, be sure to explore the customisation options and read their helpful explanation popups.

Trainz needs a very powerful computer. That includes requiring at least 1GB of memory with Windows XP or at least 2GB with Vista, and a very powerful video board. Standard video chips on the system board aren't adequate except in a few very special cases.

Hope this helps,

John
 
I'm uncertain why you want a new computer. Is it just to improve Trainz performance? If so give us you current specs and we can probably improve the performance with out having to purchase a new one.

This thread gives some comparisons of machine performance and basically with a cpu later than p4 3.0 with 2 gigs of memory and a decent video card that can take you a long way in Trainz. I'd rate your current video card as very low end by the way. See
http://www.tomshardware.com/2008/04/07/the_best_gaming_graphics_cards_for_the_money/page6.html

It's well down the list.

http://forums.auran.com/trainz/showthread.php?t=14993&highlight=hardware

Cheerio John
 
Hello shearkhan, I wouldn't go anywhere near PC World if I were you, they were Bill Gates and are Microsoft's subsidiary company IMHO.....i.e. they only sell you want they want you to buy, they overcharge on all accessories, they hassle you into obtaining warranties and insurance policies that are not worth the paper they are written on and the prices they charge for their computers and laptops are absolutely bloody laughable....Just watch the adverts on British TV, their prices are sky high...
If you have a credit card, then SURF the internet...Misco, Dabs and Microwarehouse are just a few companies to look at. I bought a brand new Acer PC with Windows XP Pro for approx. £285 off the net, PC World would only offer me exactly the same model computer with Vista installed, because they refused to sell XP to me, for approx. £750 plus all the extra overhyped insurance costs and other bits and pieces and they wanted to flog me a 3 year warranty for an extra £150 and delivery charges were £25 for Saturday mornings. So you don't need to have a degree in Maths to see how over the top they charge, and their customer service was quite pathetic as well as I often felt as though I was a nuisance to them standing in their store rather than a prospective customer, so overall this company left a very nasty taste in my mouth and I was delighted to find what I wanted at a fraction of the price off the net, plus Saturday delivery to my front door for £14.99, so I got what I wanted without even leaving the house....
So read the excellent advice below from the 2 Johns and Blackwatch and I suggest if you are underage get your parents to research the internet and spend wisely......You're in the UK, so there's lots of good, well known companies who have loads of choices of equipt.

Good hunting..

Cheerz. ex-railwayman.
 
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Yup. (above) NEVER EVER EVER (250 million more EVERS here) buy a computer from a high street retailer unless that's all you've got left!
 
Hi Guys
Many many thanks for your comments,you have certainly given me plenty to think about,one thing for certain though I will definitely not be buying from PC world.
 
If you've done your homework, you know precisely what you want, and a high street retailer offers it at a good price then I wouldn't automatically exclude them. Just be sure to totally ignore anything a sales-person tells you as in almost all cases they are ignorant or lying or both.

When considering Internet retailers bear in mind that most charge extra for delivery.

For standard computers intended for text-based programs (word processing, spreadsheets, Internet) and games that are not particularly processor or graphics intensive, the supermarket chains such as Tesco (in Britain) are well worth considering IMHO.

For Trainz and other 3D intensive programs, where your requirements are unlikely to be met by standard retail packages, the Internet retailers are far better. Not the least of the advantages is being able to properly consider each offer, go away and check the details, and return if you wish without a sales-person pestering you.

Dell allow you to specify numerous options within each basic model; AFAIK not many others do. I've had very good experiences with Dell equipment, as have several friends. On the other hand, plently of people don't like them and I wouldn't wish to dissuade anyone from that opinion.

If you have sufficient skills, or know somebody near you who has, then purchasing separate components and constructing the computer yourself can be the best solution. However, both in terms of choosing the hardware and putting all together, this is not something that beginners should consider doing all by themselves IMHO.

John
 
This is "Gaming" machine, it's still £500 & I dare say you could probably buy it cheaper if you
shop around, but look at the spec's, they are what you need to be aiming at as a minimum
to run Trainz, without having to update too soon.
Gaming Machine
 
This is "Gaming" machine, it's still £500 & I dare say you could probably buy it cheaper if you
shop around, but look at the spec's, they are what you need to be aiming at as a minimum
to run Trainz, without having to update too soon.
Gaming Machine

But on the other hand dropping in a more powerful graphics card such as the 8800GT with 512 mb of memory into the existing machine will probably run rings round the Game machine one shown performance wise and be cheaper.

My thoughts on Dell are similar to John259 by the way. If they have exactly what you'd like they are very good but when finding a Trainz machine getting the right combination can be a little difficult. Also some of their options are a little more than I prefer to pay.

Cheerio John
 
It's probably also worth investigating Arbico's more expensive models and their wide range of customisation options. I'd never heard of them before and with such a low price was a bit suspicious, but a bit of Googling suggests they generally get good reviews. I wonder if one of their "Extreme Gaming" models might be more appropriate for Trainz?

John
 
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But on the other hand dropping in a more powerful graphics card such as the 8800GT with 512 mb of memory into the existing machine will probably run rings round the Game machine one shown performance wise and be cheaper.

My thoughts on Dell are similar to John259 by the way. If they have exactly what you'd like they are very good but when finding a Trainz machine getting the right combination can be a little difficult. Also some of their options are a little more than I prefer to pay.

Cheerio John

I have been looking at this card, the 8800GT, my self to replace my X850XT, which according to the Tom's Hardware charts is twice as fast as mine. I found places where I can get it for around $200.00. I have however seen in some of the reviews that this card is quite noisy. I was wondering if you or anyone else here had any comments on the noise part of it.
 
I have been looking at this card, the 8800GT, my self to replace my X850XT, which according to the Tom's Hardware charts is twice as fast as mine. I found places where I can get it for around $200.00. I have however seen in some of the reviews that this card is quite noisy. I was wondering if you or anyone else here had any comments on the noise part of it.

Use an Antec case such as the Sonnata?

High end video cards do tend to be a bit noisy but Tomshardware.com usually has the measurements so you can compare. Doesn't look especially noisy to me compared to its performance.

http://www.tomshardware.com/2007/10/29/geforce_8800_gt/page14.html#noise_level

Cheerio John
 
Thanks John for that info, as long as it doesn't sound like a Hoover I'll be happy. As to the case I have an Alien tower with 6 case fans, plus the 750W psu, cpu and vc fans, so you can definitely tell when my computers on.
 
Bear in mind that there are quite a number of different manufacturers for video boards. My understanding is that nVidia and ATI only make the GPU chips, not the boards. Different manufacturers may use different cooling systems (quiet fans, noisy fans, liquid filled heatsinks) for boards that use the same GPU and that may well account for the differing comments regarding noise levels.

John
 
Bear in mind that there are quite a number of different manufacturers for video boards. My understanding is that nVidia and ATI only make the GPU chips, not the boards. Different manufacturers may use different cooling systems (quiet fans, noisy fans, liquid filled heatsinks) for boards that use the same GPU and that may well account for the differing comments regarding noise levels.

John

In that case, I have the Inno3D version.
 
Don't forget those of us who also customise their boards.
My 6800 has a large copper vaned heatsink & fan that I mounted on it myself. :D
 
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