New Computer Time-HELP

[Suzi Q]

Well Marva fans, it's time to buy a new computer and Marva needs some technical help.

I want something that will run Mr. Marva's games without :17: . I figure on getting a 128 graphics card. Is one better than the other? What is the whole deal with networking? Like if Mr. Marva wants to put old computer out in the shop, how does that work? Can he be online and then I get online and the same time? How big of a hard drive do I REALLY need? I thought 80 gig would do. What is the deal with the front side bus, for the matter, what is it and do I need it? Is Windows XP professional necessary for me? I'll be using it for writing stuff for school, spreadsheets, pic storage and surfing, that's it. Is a name brand better than a clone? Is there one manufacturer that's better or that I should stay away from? I've checked the Dell site, got a prelim price of around 1500.00, but I like the way the Sonys look. Will my old MSWord and Excel stuff work on my new machine? I'm planning on getting 512 worth of RAM, can someone tell me the difference between this HT stuff, the DDR and the shared RAM? Which is the most efficient? And finally, is there an easy way to move stuff from the old one to the new one? Main thing I want is something that is fast because I hate sitting here waiting for something to load. Sorry, I realize that's alot of questions but Marva don't know JACK about techno stuff and will bow to the experts on here. Thanks in advance for help, info, etc. All those who reply get a free advice session with Marva.

Signed,
Marva the Muddled

[stormchazer]

Well Marva fans, it's time to buy a new computer and Marva needs some technical help.

I want something that will run Mr. Marva's games without :17: . I figure on getting a 128 graphics card. Is one better than the other? What is the whole deal with networking? Like if Mr. Marva wants to put old computer out in the shop, how does that work? Can he be online and then I get online and the same time? How big of a hard drive do I REALLY need? I thought 80 gig would do. What is the deal with the front side bus, for the matter, what is it and do I need it? Is Windows XP professional necessary for me? I'll be using it for writing stuff for school, spreadsheets, pic storage and surfing, that's it. Is a name brand better than a clone? Is there one manufacturer that's better or that I should stay away from? I've checked the Dell site, got a prelim price of around 1500.00, but I like the way the Sonys look. Will my old MSWord and Excel stuff work on my new machine? I'm planning on getting 512 worth of RAM, can someone tell me the difference between this HT stuff, the DDR and the shared RAM? Which is the most efficient? And finally, is there an easy way to move stuff from the old one to the new one? Main thing I want is something that is fast because I hate sitting here waiting for something to load. Sorry, I realize that's alot of questions but Marva don't know JACK about techno stuff and will bow to the experts on here. Thanks in advance for help, info, etc. All those who reply get a free advice session with Marva.

Signed,
Marva the Muddled

I'll try to help.

I figure on getting a 128 graphics card. Is one better than the other?

128meg is more the adequate. There are a large amount of cards out there and I could type for hours. It depends on how graphic intensive his games are. If he plays basic sports and action games, a 128meg card is more then enough. If he is more of a high-end gamer with lots of graphics, you may want more. Here is a good site to get ideas:

http://www.tomshardware.com/graphic/index.html

What is the whole deal with networking? Like if Mr. Marva wants to put old computer out in the shop, how does that work? Can he be online and then I get online and the same time?

If you are using a cable modem or DSL then you want either a switch or router w/ switch in order for both computers to access the internet at the same time. You would connect both computers to the switch and then one cable would run from the switch to your cable or DSL modem. You will need to pay about $5 extra for an extra IP address from your internet provider. If you are dialing up then you will need 2 phone lines and a provider that allows dual log-ons. Here is more info:

http://www.tomsnetworking.com/FAQ-5-Internet+Sharing-0.php

How big of a hard drive do I REALLY need? I thought 80 gig would do.

Thats good. Buy as big as you can afford as applications always get
bigger, never smaller.

What is the deal with the front side bus, for the matter, what is it and do I need it? Is Windows XP professional necessary for me? I'll be using it for writing stuff for school, spreadsheets, pic storage and surfing, that's it.

A front side bus refers to the bus speed between the CPU and memory. Every motherboard (the central board on every computer) has it. The faster it is the faster the computer in general. Windows XP is great and I would think the Home Version would be fine for you.

Is a name brand better than a clone? Is there one manufacturer that's better or that I should stay away from? I've checked the Dell site, got a prelim price of around 1500.00, but I like the way the Sonys look.

I base this on your comfort level. You will get much better support with a name brand. I build my own computers so I go with clones. If you are not technically comfortable, I would get a name brand.

I'm planning on getting 512 worth of RAM, can someone tell me the difference between this HT stuff, the DDR and the shared RAM? Which is the most efficient?

512 is good, but get 1 gig if you can as WinXP will run best on that. Hyper-threading (HT) is a feature on Intel chips that allows the processor to handle more then 1 instruction at a time. A processor only really runs one process at a time. If your screen saver comes on, that is a process. If you have the internet open and Word, then the processor switches back and forth between those two processes. Its so fast you don't notice. HT can run both instructions at the same time, therefore it is faster. I'm not good with RAM, but if you buy a name brand, they will have the most up-to-date.

And finally, is there an easy way to move stuff from the old one to the new one?

You can pay Best Buy $40 bucks and they will do it or you can buy software to do it. I'd pay the $40.

Hope this helps.