What shall I get for myself as a birthday present?

Lava King · Aug 30, 2011

Hi all,

I'm not fishing for birthday wishes, but today (Aug 30) is my birthday (49...WHAT? How did that happen?).

So, I've been considering what to get. I have two things in mind and can't decide which one I'd be better off with or like better.

1. A new graphics card. I've narrowed it down to the EVGA GTX 560 ti Superclock. The Sparkle Calibre 560 looked good in a Tom's Hardware review, but they're not available yet.

2. A new monitor. Really like the IPS panel on the MacBook Pro, so I've been thinking on the Dell U2711. Pricey, yes. However, I wish that I could see one in person. None of the stores in my area carry anything that close to the high-end. Supposedly, the Apple 27" iMac has the same panel (except glossy) and I have seen one in Best Buy. Looks great.

3. Both items. Extravagent I know, but I'm worth it.

4. Something I haven't thought of yet. Any suggestions?

Kent

smarteyeball · Aug 30, 2011

Lava King said:
4. Something I haven't thought of yet. Any suggestions?

Kent

We can be as extravagant as your wallet allows us

How are you for SSDs, External USB 3.0 drives etc?

Or you could just hire a hooker.

JaidynM · Aug 30, 2011

First of all, happy birthday! :party:

Now, down to business.

Do you game? If you don't, the 9800GT should be alright. An SSD would be great; if you don't have one of course. Oh, and what's your budget?

Laxer · Aug 30, 2011

SSD is hardly worth the cost....

IF I were you I would upgrade your 9800 to something a little better but not the 560... It will be unneeded unless you are into high demand computer games.

I would settle for a GTX 460.

With the extra cash I would but a new monitor to throw in duel monitor (extended).

You will notice a nice upgrade from the 9800 to the 460.

JaidynM · Aug 30, 2011

Laxer said:
SSD is hardly worth the cost....

IF I were you I would upgrade your 9800 to something a little better but not the 560... It will be unneeded unless you are into high demand computer games.

I would settle for a GTX 460.

With the extra cash I would but a new monitor to throw in duel monitor (extended).

You will notice a nice upgrade from the 9800 to the 460.

You can easily get cheap SSD's and most people would agree that they are worth the cost. Sure, they're more expensive then you're average HDD, but then again, the performance boost is immense.

GTX 460 is overkill for a non-gamer. If you were to buy one, I'd go with the SE version.

A new monitor sounds good. A couple of 27" in dual monitor would be amazing but if your wallet won't allow it, perhaps another 25" to match your Hannspree .

smarteyeball · Aug 30, 2011

Laxer said:
SSD is hardly worth the cost....

Personal opinon, which is entirely up to the OP to decide.

seavixen32 · Aug 30, 2011

Happy Birthday.

You need something that is sleek, good-looking, has expensive tastes and is always there for you..............................................................sounds like an iMac would fit the bill exactly!

You can always use Bootcamp to put Windows 7 on it.

MvdB · Aug 30, 2011

I'd also add RAM. 4GB is ok but for a 64B system... 8 or more is much better.
And Jaidynm is very right. The correct SSD is certainly worth your money...

boohbah · Aug 30, 2011

personally if i were you i would treat myself to a couple of packets of walkers crisps and a bottle or two of bombardier. Oh and definitely a take away Indian curry.
then i would put my feet up and watch a new movie on a couple of new samsung p2370 23" lcd monitors

actually the price of them i would get 3

Lava King · Aug 30, 2011

Thanks everyone for the birthday wishes and the suggestions. Hmm...let me run down the list:

SSD - Considering one of these for the MacBook Pro.

External HDD - I have 5 so far, none are USB 3.0 as none of my machines support it.

Dual Monitors - Interesting, will ruminate on this further.

iMac - Stunning to look at. I think I'd wait for the processor refresh.

Additional RAM - Price of RAM makes this almost a no-brainer.

Walkers Crisps - May have a bit of trouble finding these around here.

Bombardier - Probably will be able to find this.

Indian Curry - No Indian takeaway joints nearby, but the Indian population is increasing so there's hope.

Budget - Let's say $1000 US. Let's all say it together now!

Gaming - Casual. Currently, Borderlands is the most recent game I play, spent 5 hours last night playing online with a friend. The 9800 seems just adequate for this, I'd like to play in higher resolution.

I'm still leaning towards the 560ti, Yeah, I know, it's like having a Ferrari as a grocery-getter, but what the hey...

pparks1 · Aug 30, 2011

SSD's can be a really noticeable improvement. I've had many upgrades that are hardly noticeable or just noticeable in certain areas...but the SSD is noticeable everywhere.

As far as monitors go, an IPS flat panel is a great choice. Although at 27", you are hitting $1,000+. I would see about going with a 24", and you are going to be closer to $500. Seems like people always build out fabulous computers, with super high-end video cards and then put whatever monitor they find for the cheapest on it. You look at the monitor with nearly every second that you interact with the computer. GET A GOOD MONITOR PEOPLE.

fseal · Aug 30, 2011

If you DO get that monitor you /may/ need a new video card for it anyway

Running that 27in at it's native resolution will require using two DVI ports at once.

MvdB · Aug 30, 2011

fseal said:
If you DO get that monitor you /may/ need a new video card for it anyway

Running that 27in at it's native resolution will require using two DVI ports at once.

??? two ports? Why? He just needs a Dual link card.... and he's got that already if he goes for the 9800: NVIDIA GeForce 9800 GT: supercharge your graphics horsepower with this GPU at the perfect price and performance combination.

fseal · Aug 30, 2011

That's the same thing?

I just meant that he'll need a good card with dual DVI ports in case he didn't already. I see the 9800 has them already, but I wouldn't want to play any games at that resolution with a 9800

.

Lava King · Aug 30, 2011

boohbah said:
personally if i were you i would treat myself to a couple of packets of walkers crisps and a bottle or two of bombardier. Oh and definitely a take away Indian curry.
then i would put my feet up and watch a new movie on a couple of new samsung p2370 23" lcd monitors

actually the price of them i would get 3

Couldn't find Walkers Crisps nor Bombardier, so I got these...

Lava King · Aug 30, 2011

pparks1 said:
SSD's can be a really noticeable improvement. I've had many upgrades that are hardly noticeable or just noticeable in certain areas...but the SSD is noticeable everywhere.

As far as monitors go, an IPS flat panel is a great choice. Although at 27", you are hitting $1,000+. I would see about going with a 24", and you are going to be closer to $500. Seems like people always build out fabulous computers, with super high-end video cards and then put whatever monitor they find for the cheapest on it. You look at the monitor with nearly every second that you interact with the computer. GET A GOOD MONITOR PEOPLE.

Agree %100 about getting a good monitor. With that said, the Hannspree is an inexpensive low to mid quality monitor and I'd like a better one. The 27" monitor is as large as I'd go and I'd probably be happier with the setup if I got a better graphics card to go with it.

Lava King · Aug 30, 2011

@fseal and MvdB

The 9800GT does have dual-dvi, but it would probably be stretching the capabilities of the card to ask it to drive such a high resolution monitor and have it be a pleasant experience.

Getting the monitor would almost necessitate the purchase of a new graphics card.

richnrockville · Aug 30, 2011

Happy Birthday there Lava King.

I don't think that the price of SSD drives are that high, of course I am the one that paid over $800USD for a 30MEGABYTE hard disk. and over $400 for 128K of ram.

Price is all relative and all those on the bleeding edge of technology have to pay the price.

Rich

Lava King · Aug 30, 2011

richnrockville said:
Happy Birthday there Lava King.

I don't think that the price of SSD drives are that high, of course I am the one that paid over $800USD for a 30MEGABYTE hard disk. and over $400 for 128K of ram.

Price is all relative and all those on the bleeding edge of technology have to pay the price.

Rich

Thanks, Rich.

I don't live on the bleeding edge, but I have been rather close at times. I remember paying $320 US (more or less) for a 32MB hard drive for my Tandy 1000 TX some years ago and thinking that I got a great deal.

Kent

Lava King · Aug 30, 2011

Thanks to all for the wishes and suggestions.

I just pulled the trigger (well, clicked the button) on buying the following two items:

Asus PA246Q 24" P-IPS monitor
EVGA GeForce GTX 560 Ti Superclocked 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express 2.0 Graphics Card

Now it's birthday party time! :party:

Kent

What shall I get for myself as a birthday present?

New member

My Computer

knows his stuff

My Computer

BSOD Dump Analyst

My Computer

Banned

My Computer

BSOD Dump Analyst

My Computer

knows his stuff

My Computer

Account closed by request

My Computer

BSOD team member

My Computer

New member

My Computer

New member

My Computer

Ubuntu/CentOS and Windows

My Computer

Will code for sushi

My Computer

BSOD team member

My Computer

Will code for sushi

My Computer

New member

Attachments

My Computer

New member

My Computer

New member

My Computer

R.I.P. March 10th 2014

My Computer

New member

My Computer

New member

My Computer