sourcing a system for a friend....

seretide · 13 Jul 2011 at 01:23

a friend of mine has asked about getting a pc, he's basically give me little info on requirements, just as follows..

wants to run both his 21" dell monitors at same time as he plays multiple tables of poker, wants nice picture quality with no lag and be able to do a few other things like browse net or go on itunes, play tunes etc etc at same time, no gaming as such, burn cd's dvds also, usual stuff just specified no lag and decnt picture and able to straight off run both monitors properly, oh and wants to be able to upgrade parts etc in future as time needs etc

i had a quik look on the sales apges etc, first one i saw was on below link, mentions multiple monitors and seems to be more than enough for what he needs and upgradeable! and decent price, is it worth me looking anymore into this or just get him to buy that one!? ( i selected the upgrade of £45 for graphics card too with it)

please take a look, and by all means recommend any other suitable systems, or ask any questions you can think of!?

thanks
Seretide

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=FS-270-OK&groupid=43&catid=2038&subcat=1078

hybrid572 · 13 Jul 2011 at 07:03

That system looks great, although you really don't need the graphics card upgrade- onboard graphics has no discernible difference from a discrete card if you're not gaming, or doing CUDA/OpenGL or the like.

I'd spend that money instead on an SSD. A 60-80GB one is preferable to get everything you need on there (OS and commonly used apps like itunes, firefox/chrome, DVD burning software). That's the biggest performance increase you can get for his uses.

Surveyor · 13 Jul 2011 at 07:19

hybrid572 said:
That system looks great, although you really don't need the graphics card upgrade- onboard graphics has no discernible difference from a discrete card if you're not gaming, or doing CUDA/OpenGL or the like.

The OP would need to check that the onboard graphics can run two monitors as that is what they asked for.

hybrid572 · 13 Jul 2011 at 07:24

The onboard claims multiple video outputs, that should be sufficient.

hybrid572 · 13 Jul 2011 at 07:26

Oh, and the graphics are actually on the i3 550, which does support dual display configs.

Surveyor · 13 Jul 2011 at 07:56

I was thinking more along the lines of the Dell monitors having the right connections so that they can be used together.

The only H55 OcUk have in stock is the Gigabyte GA-H55M-UD2H so I assume that's the one they use.

Possible monitor connection combinations:

seretide · 13 Jul 2011 at 12:29

being as computer illiterate as i am.....!

whats an SSD?

and the monitors are both vga connections, from whats been said above i'm assuming the system i looked at is fine, and i wont need the extra graphics card, and just need vga to dvi connectors?

thanks

anuraj · 13 Jul 2011 at 15:45

SSD = Solid state drive

Expensive high speed drives.

seretide · 13 Jul 2011 at 16:05

thanks anuraj, would the speed be that much better for os, and apps and the like to be worth spending the money?

i think i'm going to recommend my friend just orders the pc i linked above, still confused as to order it with the graphics card or not?
if onboard graphics are fine for playing poker games and support multiple monitors then i wont bother wasting the cash.....

Surveyor · 13 Jul 2011 at 16:41

The only way that you're going to run 2 VGA monitors is with a DisplayPort to VGA adapter.

1 monitor conected to D-Sub (VGA) and 1 monitor connected with a DisplayPort to VGA adapter.

You can't run VGA off the HDMI connector.

The DVI-D connector doesn't support a D-Sub (VGA) connection.

seretide · 13 Jul 2011 at 17:05

so can order the system, WITH OR WITHOUT the graphics card to do that?
then...
connect 1 monitor to d-sub
connect another monitor to the displayport via an adaptor (which i priced at around £15-£20

and then my mate can adjust the dual screen layout/properties etc as required

sorry for basic talk, i'm not very tech orientated!

thanks again

Surveyor · 13 Jul 2011 at 19:13

seretide said:
so can order the system, WITH OR WITHOUT the graphics card to do that?
then...
connect 1 monitor to d-sub
connect another monitor to the displayport via an adaptor (which i priced at around £15-£20

and then my mate can adjust the dual screen layout/properties etc as required

sorry for basic talk, i'm not very tech orientated!

thanks again

I think a DisplayPort to VGA adapter would work.

I don't know because I've never done it.

A also don't know if you'd need an active adapter or if a cheaper passive adapter would work.

This is why it's dangerous for people to make assumptions and say it will work without looking into it.

If one of the monitors had DVI or HDMI you'd be fine. But 2 VGA monitors makes it more complicated.