Recommendations for my next computer

Since my current computer has burned due to lightning I have decided to build a new one. I am interested in building a new one rather than buy a branded one and I need thy help. So guys give me your recommendations and let me know which one I should buy or stay away from. I will also appreciate if you could share me your experience with your PC.

Before we proceed, let me state my needs. I need a PC which I can use as my main development box. I will be running resource hungry programs like Zend, Eclipse, Visual Studio.NET, Photoshop etc. So I want it to be pretty powerful. It will be dual boot and I may also run VMware and set up parallel visual machines. I am not going to watch movies or play games and cost is not going to be much constraint.

Sorry MAC fans. It is very difficult to get a MAC here in India and is much more difficult to find service centers if I am into some trouble.

These are some of the options which I am considering now.

Processor

I am considering Intel core 2 quad or Intel core 2 quad extreme, which is by the way the most powerful processor available here. I don’t have much idea about AMD and if you have using or know about it then let me know. In particular, I have to choose from any of the following 3 processors.

  • Intel core 2 quad Q6600 2.4 Ghz, 8 MB L2 Cache, 1066 Mhz FSB
  • Intel core 2 quad Q6700 2.66 Ghz, 8 MB L2 Cache, 1066 Mhz FSB
  • Intel core 2 quad Qx6700 2.66 Ghz, 8 MB L2 Cache, 1066 Mhz FSB

Motherboard

Since the processor is Intel core 2 quad I have to choose the motherboard beloing to the P35 chipset family. In particular I am planning to choose any one from the following. I may go in for overclocking too. So suggest me which one I have to choose.

  • P5K3 Premium/WiFi-AP
  • P5K3 Deluxe/WiFi-AP
  • P5K64 Ws

RAM

For RAM I have to choose between DDR3 1333, DDR2 1033 or DDR2 800. I am going to buy the maximum amount of RAM that is supported by the motherboard. Let me know if there is any brand or make which I should buy or avoid.

Harddisk

Tentatively it is either Segate or Western Digital 350 GB or 750 GB HDD STA. But I am also considering STD or RAID

Monitor

It is going to be 19 inch LCD Monitor, either from Samsung or LG. Let me know if any other brand is recommened.

DVD ROM(S)

Blue Ray seems to be costly. So I am planning to get a DVD Writer combo. But let me know if there are other options.

Mouse and Keyboard

Suggest me some good ergonomics keyboards and mouse. I have already started developing numbs in my wrist 🙂

Others

This includes Cabinet, speakers, network cards etc. Let me know if you have any good suggestion for these.

My current PC

I bought the current one which I am using in the late part of 2001 and it has served me very well. I have had quite a few thrilling movements and surprises with it. But overall it has served me well and I am still waiting for the service guys to tell me what are the parts that were burned due to the lightning. 🙁

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10 Comments so far

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  • Gary says:

    For backup and storage, I’ve been reading a lot recently about Amazon S3. May be a good idea. I’m going to explore it myself. See http://www.amazon.com/gp/browse.html?node=16427261

  • Yuvi says:

    S3 is for the most important of our backups, because if you were to try to get all your images up there with our connection speeds….

    (I too am planning to buy a new PC)

    So, I say: You backup to my PC, I backup to yours. And then, a 750 Gig hard drive that is offsite as well. Might sound extreme, but hey, I dreamt this up while trying to study for English….

  • Sudar says:

    @Gary,

    Thanks for the recommendation. I am already using it for backing up my photos and S3 simply rocks.

    @Yuvi,

    Good idea.. let’s try it when I get some time.


    Sudar

  • Yuvi says:

    Yeah, but after hearing about your “spacious” configuration…

    whoa!

  • Sudar says:

    @Yuvi,

    lol 🙂


    Sudar

  • Yuvi says:

    Seriously, I’m pwned: And to think all this while I was braggin off about half a terabyte of hard disk space…

  • Yuvi says:

    And about Macs, you think there’s more than a thousand MacBook pros in all in India? I’m yet to see one other than the ancient one they have at school. All the MacBooks I’ve seen so far have been on Univercell ads featurin Maddy…

    And really, would you have gone for it if you had the option? Of buying it?

  • Sudar says:

    Yuvi,

    I am yet to see a MacBook Pro in person 🙂 and it is very rare in India.

    But I am planning to buy it. I may need a laptop soon and then I can WIFI my whole house 🙂


    Sudar

  • Yuvi says:

    Buying a MacBook when you can get a more Powerpacked Powerhouse for the same price?

  • Sudar says:

    Yuvi,

    I need to buy a laptop soon. I already have two PC’s. So I have decided to go for a MAC and that’s the reason for choosing MACBookPro. I might go for the 15 inch one. Let’s see 😉


    Sudar

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