Best mid-range desktop deal?
 

Am considering getting a desktop w/o monitor. It's been forever since I've gotten a desktop...5+ years pretty much. My current computer is a year and a half old laptop, Core 2 Duo 2.0 Ghz w/ 4 GB RAM and 300 GB HD (about half full, albeit 50% of that probably junk I could delete). It works fine, but I didn't much like the setup w/ it hooked up to my 32" HDTV in my office as a monitor (just was awkward) so I've been using living room as office and know that impedes my productivity. Obviously with how fast tech moves, statis quo computers today would be a nice boost over it anyways.

So...it would seem the AMD chips are the best value deals and from looking, it seemed like these couple at Costco were the best deals: (these are not aff links...I'm not a douche)

AMD Phenom II X4 955 (Quadcore 3.2 Ghz) w/ 12 GB mem, 2 TB HD, Radeon HD 3000 for $699
AMD Phenom II X4 945 (Quadcore 3.0 Ghz) w/ 8 GB mem, 1 TB HD, Radeon HD 3100 for $599

The difference between them are in the link text...they're no different otherwise, probably even in motherboard or anything. I'm not really much of a gamer so it not being completely state of the art video card isn't a big deal to me. My thing is that 90% of the time, I have 20-30 browser tabs, 10-20 Excel files, 5-10 Notepads, and Outlook all open at the same time, sometimes with Photoshop, Dreamweaver and/or CuteFTP open as well. Usually the major thing that'll be open is the Excel as I sometimes work with files with hundreds of thousands of rows of data and move fast enough that I can commonly be limited by computer speed. There are times too when I would do more or work with larger files if it wouldn't bog down the computer but I don't because I know it will.

So question #1, are there any better deals than those 2 for a desktop w/o monitor for about that price range? Question #2: If not, is it really worth it to get the extra 4 GB Ram and TB and slightly faster processor for the extra $100 given what I do, or would that be better spent on hookers and blow? Sadly I just thought about doing this around mid-day so there may have been some sweet deals this morning that I missed. :/

personally i would spend the extra few $$$ and get the 6core amd processor.

I'd agree except I haven't really seen anywhere where I'd end up getting similar RAM/HD w/ a decent 6core for even $900...any more than that and we're talking more than $200 more for a computer that'll more than likely have less RAM and smaller HD than the $699 one, or more than $300 more for the same RAM/HD for the $599 one. I realize the actual difference in cost of the processors isn't anywhere close to that but I just haven't seen the deals reflect only that difference in cost, otherwise I'd be all over doing that. I think a lot of places are including video cards much better than I really need.

you just have to look

i saw a 6core amd 4 gigs ram 500 gig hd for $420 shipped a week ago forgot where tho :(

all the system needed was a decent video card $100 and ssd $100 and a legit copy of windows $150 and 4 gigs more ram $100

so your looking at around $900 for a smoking fast system less if you dont need a ssd or you could save $$$ getting a $50 video card which would probably be enough for webmaster work.

i just build a amd 6 core with 8 gigs ram a lower end video card 500 gig hd dvd burner and windows 7 pro for $831.91 at 3btech.net using their custom computer configuration wizard.

only thing they dont sell is ssd drives personally i would spend the $100 and get a 64 gig ssd.

how does that amd chip compare to the i7?

the 6 core beats the I7 in some benchmarks and looses in some overall its about equal and costs about $30 less.

Why buy midrange anything? Where's your style man?

If I was still really into gaming, I'd probably go all out, but tbh I just work these days and money is harder to make. :/ The amount of money I'd have to spend over midrange for arguably not much gain would buy a bunch of domains.

Fair enough. I work on an Alienware M15X and rarely ever pc game anymore, a bit wanky really but in all other areas it's one hell of a machine anyway.

$300 is not alot extra to invest all things considered. You will be working on this thing day in day out for a while...I would spend the extra money to get the best possible computer you can that will last you longer. In the grand scheme of things $300 or even $500 is a small price if it will help you work better. I dropped probably nearly $2k on my computer, and got 2x 27inch screens too. It sucks down power like a motherfucker but it helps me work.