Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Thunndarr]

I'm going computer shopping with a friend of mine and I'm looking for some second opinions on specs for a non-gaming, internet surfing and movie downloading system.

I mean, how much can you skimp and still have a reasonably useful machine?

[Demophobe]

Non gaming? You can save a pile...

If you rule out gaming, that takes a lot of the cost out of a system. Heck, I have an old P3 system that does all of what you said really well.

You may want to look for a used system. You may be able to pick up a pretty good system for about the same as a mediocre new one.

[Cigar_Guy]

With all due respect to Demo, might I suggest spending just a tad more than the P3-range? I may be more impatient than most, but I'd go nuts trying to do even simple web surfing on such a thing.

I'd recommend going with a Chaintech motherboard--they have really great stuff for the bargain-builder/shoppers around here. In my own machine (admittedly built for some gaming), I use their VNF4 Ultra mobo (which you can pick up for around 90k), which includes a PCI Express slot for the video card and a 939 slot for the AMD chip. These options are nice because they'll let whomever buys the thing from you upgrade well into the future.

Now, if you're less concerned with reselling the thing (or think you can resell it just "as is"), there's the S1689 that uses a 939 AMD chip slot but an AGP slot for the video card (meaning you can more easily pick up a cheap video card), all for just 50k. Cheaper still is the SK8T800, with only two RAM slots and a 754 slot but for a mere 40k. All include six-channel audio and integral network cards. Good stuff for the money.

[Demophobe]

I wasn't recommending a P3, just said that to illustrate that the type of machine that can do what Thunndaar wants doesn't need to be 'current' by any means.

Hehe....recommend a P3... You must know me a bit better than that. I have a hard time with putting together budget systems. The lower you want to go, the less clear the whole issue becomes. I just go pretty much to the top when I do upgrade/build. Makes the decision-making process really simple.

When I said look for a used, I meant a P4-based system. They are everywhere...Prescott and Northwood, and very cheap indeed.

[keninseoul]

P4 or AMD based (800 MHZ) and up is fine for surfing/dloading...
Would suggest at least 512MB RAM regardless - mine** gets on by 384 but it can drag.
For movie dloading get a large capacity drive - suggest NTFS formatted.
I used a 60GB drive for dloading movies, and it gets cramped.

On what will you watch the movies? Are you particular about the sound?
Low-end systems can pause when watching flicks. Low-end video cards often use shared-memory (bypass those), and low end audio cards can steal more CPU cycles.



** I have 2 PCs in case you wonder. One older for dloading, and another for gaming/my interactive activites.

[ChopChaeJoe]

you should be able to get a good deal on a p4 system. any one you find you'll like. Get an extra hard drive, at least 300 GB, you don't want to have to burn dvds all the time to make room.

[hanguker]

Agreed. Bottom-of-the-line Pentium 4 would work great. Just don't skimp on the memory if you're using XP. Get 512K to 1G, everything will be much more responsive and memory is cheap.

[Thunndarr]

Interesting that this got bumped, because the guy I was going to help out is borrowing a friend's computer right now, so we aren't going shopping til he's got to give it back, in about 6 weeks time.

What I was basically thinking was...

512 MB of ram.

120 GB hard disk (or whatever size gives the most bang for the buck)

Video card? (Once again, whatever the flavor of the day in Yongsan is, most likely. Perhaps one with S-Video outs for his TV. Not sure.)

DVD-Burner of some sort. No reason not to have one these days since they're so cheap.

Sound: Probably go with onboard as long as it's 5.1 and doesn't crackle.

Monitor: He wants a 17-19 inch LCD. He also expects to only pay 400,000-500,000 won for the whole system. He didn't believe me when I told him the prices usually advertised at the electronics markets were usually sans monitor.)

Speakers? Really depends how much money he's got left. I love 5.1, but a decent 2.1 set will probably get him by as long as it's got a semi-decent sub.

[muggie2dammit]

[SuperHero]

actually I was at yongsan last week to buy a monitor and I noticed several systems were listed with a 19" LCD monitor but the cheapest with monitor included was around 800 - 850