Originally Posted by pappa_smurf

I just don't look at store PC's. Most of them come with bare minimum necessities. For Vista you need a minimum of 2GB of DDR2 PC6400 RAM for average to good performance. I use 4GB in my Vista PC's. For Video RAM, most store bought share system RAM and use on average 256MB. I use 1 Gb of video RAM using 2-512MB vid cards using SLI mode (Nvidia cards). Next, for sound, your store bought use the m/b for that and again share system RAM. Do you copy DVD's? It is a lot faster to have a copier and a player to copy on-the-fly. That means two dvd combo drives. Then there is hdd capacity, flash card reader/writers. How big of a widescreen lcd monitor do you want? If you want to look at price, you will be sacrificing performance. But, if you just want to do homework and e-mail and such, go cheap. Again, this is just my 2-cents. I am not knocking any manufacturer, but you get what you pay for. Look around and then decide.

Originally Posted by GDZHHR

So, still no opinion on THIS pc.

Originally Posted by mongo

HP's are OK, HP and Compaq are essentially the same. I would try to max out the memory, and use external drives for storage.

But why not roll your own? It may cost a little more in some cases, but you can build it exactly the way you want without compromise. I'd at least consider it.

Originally Posted by pappa_smurf

Okay, I took the time to read your link. First, No Monitor and no speakers. AMD quad core cpu is good. PC 5300 3072GB of RAM is fair at best, it is not PC6400. Two 320GB HDD's, why not a 750GB or a 1TB? This will effect performance. One DVD combo drive, will take much longer to copy DVD's. A 256MB vid card, at least it isn't using m/b system RAM. The card is SLI ready,but, the m/b isn't. Do you need a PC with a 56K modem? No separate sound card, so will be using m/b system RAM. You want my opinion, keep looking.

Originally Posted by mongo

Well, I see pappa smurf already addressed the sound card.... that is rather weak on this box.

It all depends on performance vs price, what are you willing to sacrifice?

Originally Posted by GDZHHR

...old pc shot craps about a month ago...Already have a 300GB HP external hard drive...I have a nice, new wide screen flat panel monitor and speakers...I do update and expand as they age...Can not spend more than $1000.

Originally Posted by pappa_smurf

. PC 5300 3072GB of RAM is fair at best, it is not PC6400. .................The card is SLI ready,but, the m/b isn't. Do you need a PC with a 56K modem? .......................No separate sound card, so will be using m/b system RAM. You want my opinion, keep looking.

Originally Posted by GDZHHR

It was 4-5 years old and was due to be replaced anyway.

Originally Posted by mixman

That old HP can be inexpensively reconditioned to do those chores. If its just burning a hole in your pocket, donate the money to your favorite cause.