Considering getting a new PC

[Syt]

My current PC has reached the biblical age of 3 years. It's an HP Pavillion system, and I haven't been as happy with any system I had before. I didn't have to re-install the OS even once (I did my best to keep the system clean and uncluttered), and the only thing I upgraded was graphics. I could run games like Fallout 3 at full or E:TW at near full features on my GF8800GT w/756 MB (Age of Conan would not move beyond "medium", though). I'm pretty much limited to a resolution of 1280x1024, though, and the system has noticeably long loading times with some newer games.

However, the system's case is pretty full now (the 8800GT is siginficantly larger than the previous card in there), so heat and subsequently noise is quite an issue by now, and it's worse when playing something that's either CPU or gfx heavy (or, worse, both).

Hence I consider retiring this system to offline and low end duty (word processing, old wargames, DOS stuff etc.) and getting me a new HP Pavilion. I want to be on the safe side for when it'll be time to switch to Windows 7 (i.e. a year after its release), so I'm looking at the following Pavilion system:

m9463de
Intel Core 2 Quad w/ 2.67GHz Q9400
4GB RAM
2x 500 GB HD
Windows Vista Home Premium ( )
NVidia GeForce 9800GT 512MB

I'm mostly worried about the gfx card; I think I'd rather have a GTX260 or 280 card.

Or I hold out a bit longer till the hardware reqs for W7 are known.

[Grey Fox]

For the Premium Windows 7
    * 1 GHz 32-bit (x86) or 64-bit (x64) processor
    * 1 GB of system memory
    * 40 GB hard drive with at least 15 GB of available space
    * Support for DirectX 9 graphics with:
          o WDDM Driver
          o 128 MB of graphics memory (minimum)
          o Pixel Shader 2.0 in hardware
          o 32 bits per pixel
    * DVD-ROM drive
    * Audio Output
    * Internet access (fees may apply)

[Syt]

For the Premium Windows 7
    * 1 GHz 32-bit (x86) or 64-bit (x64) processor
    * 1 GB of system memory
    * 40 GB hard drive with at least 15 GB of available space
    * Support for DirectX 9 graphics with:
          o WDDM Driver
          o 128 MB of graphics memory (minimum)
          o Pixel Shader 2.0 in hardware
          o 32 bits per pixel
    * DVD-ROM drive
    * Audio Output
    * Internet access (fees may apply)

Weren't the originally published Vista reqs also pretty low?

(Though I tend to turn off all the graphical bells and whistles of the windows user interface.)

[Grey Fox]

Don't know about Vista but Win7s beta scaled pretty good (ie : ran on Eee-PCs)

[Cecil]

I´m hearing some good things about the new GTX 295 card.

[Barrister]

Why not wait until Win7 is out later this year?

Or, you know, get a Mac.   

[Queequeg]

I'm getting a new one with Win 7.  I am excited. 

[viper37]

For the Premium Windows 7
    * 1 GHz 32-bit (x86) or 64-bit (x64) processor
    * 1 GB of system memory
    * 40 GB hard drive with at least 15 GB of available space
    * Support for DirectX 9 graphics with:
          o WDDM Driver
          o 128 MB of graphics memory (minimum)
          o Pixel Shader 2.0 in hardware
          o 32 bits per pixel
    * DVD-ROM drive
    * Audio Output
    * Internet access (fees may apply)

Weren't the originally published Vista reqs also pretty low?

(Though I tend to turn off all the graphical bells and whistles of the windows user interface.)

make that X4 and it should be working fine by the time Win7 reach the market

Both Vista and XP has ridiculously low minimum specs that were supposedly great in beta (for Vista anyway) and it didn't really transformed into real life performance.

Call me paranoid, but I'm worried about Win7.

My rule of thumb is to get something that works great in Vista, and it should run great with Win7.

[Alatriste]

1 GB of memory and 40 GB hard drive with 15 GB available? And they say Harry Potter is fantasy...

Besides, call me paranoid, but I don't like the bit about Internet access being required to run Windows 7.  And Audio Output? Just why would any OS need audio output to run?

I would wait until Windows 7 has launched to take a final decision. Now isn't a good moment to buy a new PC if you plan to install the new Microsoft OS.

[Syt]

Why not wait until Win7 is out later this year?

I'm not a first day adopter of O/S. Usually too many issues to be worth it. I waited till SP2 before moving to XP.

[syk]

You want a newer vidcard in that. If you're already building a new system you can as well skip one generation.

[Richard Hakluyt]

Syt.......about the graphics card. My eldest boy bought a computer recently (I paid half and also loaned him some money  ) and he opted for the Nvidia 9800 card, otherwise he would have been broke for ages. Meanwhile, I recently upgraded and have twin 260s (or maybe 280s, I forget) in my new machine. anyway, we both run our various games at the highest graphics level with no problems. He likes call of duty 4 and assassin's creed, which are both fairly demanding.

His new machine seems to run very cool and quiet, which no doubt helps, but at the moment his graphics card seems fine for any of his needs.

Oh, he uses 1280x1024 res btw.

[szmik]

I'm mostly worried about the gfx card; I think I'd rather have a GTX260 or 280 card.

The choice should depend on resolution you like to play mainly.

[Caliga]

Dude... no.  Don't buy a prebuilt system from Dell or HP or somebody.  Build your own.  You'll save money and get a better end-product.  We'll help you with the build.

[Syt]

Dude... no.  Don't buy a prebuilt system from Dell or HP or somebody.

My experiences are mixed - e.g. Fujitsu-Siemens sucked (both I had), and the HP system was great.

I did check the smaller shops, though (some offer complete systems that they assemble themselves), and came across this one:
Intel Core2Quad Q9450
1 TB Samsung HD
4 GB DDRII 800
GeForce GTX 280, 1024MB GDDR3
Asus P5Q-Pro Mainboard
3R Zion Design Tower
Enermax Power Supply

It comes without OS installed, but I have my old WinXP (free student license) that I could put onto it. I don't think XP could make use of the full hardware, though, so I might be forced to shell out another 100 EUR or so for a Vista license which I'd run for a year or two before making the switch to W7.