I need some help deciding on a spec for a new PC. This isnt for me but someone that has asked for my help. They dont game, nor use the internet for downloading large files/songs/movies etc. It needs to be a Windows XP (or better). It also needs to have a decent sized hard drive (lots of pictures from digital cameras) and, this is the important part, the person I'm helping uses Skype a LOT, both for audio and video, so anything that will help improve video/audio quality (especially improve speed so lag is lowered) would be great. Finally this a computer for the long term; this guy isnt about to start upgrading it in a year or two, so needs to be of decent quality. Of course things like how well the video card overclocks dont come into it because they wont have a clue what overclocking is let alone a reason to do it. It just needs to be a good, solid PC at a low price (around £500-600, though lower is appreciated lol) that can, if possible, give good results for Skype.
any help would be great? I wish thinking about 512mb DDR-RAM, Intel Core 2 Duo (or twin athlons...), a basic video card and sound card, and an 80GB hard drive...
just go with what you think then.. i mean it depends if your going to build it or not. where your going to buy... Personally id go with a core 2 duo. e6300-6400. with a 7300 or 7600gt GPU. add a sound card if thats what you need. a 250+ harddrive should do. for the windows, just take --- or home/family. i would go for 1 gig of ram. and a 17-19 " screen.
Search around for these parts on a euro site. Core 2 Duo E'6300 Biostar TForcePT 965 (Model# TForce965PT) *The cheapest kit of 2x 1GB DDR2-800 memory kit you can find* 7600GT, maybe a little bit cheaper card. NEC CD/DVD R+RW Seagate Barracuda 250GB Any case Try and find an Enhance ENP 500W power supply. If you can't, reply back, I'll try and find another possible PSU. Should be around 600 of your britist thingies. PS- Lot of space for pictures? Uh, a picture with like a resolution of 2600x1800 (something like that, my moms camera) is like 1.2~1.5 megabytes. Trust me, you really don't need to emphasize large hard drive if you're simply talking about pictures...
I suggest the cheapest system you can find w/ the following c2d e6300 or AMD athlon x2 3800+ 1GB RAM any video card 250+GB harddrive and tell him not to be so afraid of upgrading, as in two years, he can upgrade to 3GB RAM for much less than he could now, though 1Gb would probably be plenty. as for vendor, I'd probably opt towards Fujitsu, Toshiba, Acer, Dell, Gateway HP. (in approximateorder of quality) just get the cheapest system you can with the above specs and go for a better vender if there isn't a huge price diference. Also, go for the "cheepo" base model, they're more or less the same as the higher versions, but don't have all the merketting crap and the price hike.
ok thanks guys I think i got a good idea now just one last thing, is there any particular products that might enhance video lag on Skype or is this just down to RAM available?
well u have lots, Like LimeWire or Bittorent, so I suggest to get 1gb ram and I don't u should get core 2 duo if she's not going to play or use intense stuff, u can get a Celeron D processor which works perfectly.
A 7600GT would be absolutly fine for that. Skype (I would say) is more internet speed reliant, the lag you see is do to your internet not being able to download everything fast enough.
last time i checked, any video card made in the last 3 years played webcam video just fine. I know my old ATI rage from 99 did atleast. Int GFX would probably be fine assuming no gaming is to be done.
