Well, my summer internship has been good to me and I am going for a new computer. My problem is that I am not all too familiar with computer hardware and what to look for. This will be my first time going for a high end system, so I don't want to screw it up with some unreliable, overpriced junk, which is why I am asking you guys for some advice. I am basically looking for a powerful gaming comp and am willing to sacrifice some money for a bigger bang. I saw the threads on the 4870 and I have heard that I should be getting a pci-express graphics slot, but I really am not sure about this. I know I will epic fail if I am left on my own, so I come to this here forum and beg you to help me out. I have given myself a budget of 1,800$, but am willing to spend more if necessary. I would like to stay away from things that cost a lot more for just a small upgrade, but if they are worth the money than so be it. Oh yeah, I thought about building the computer myself, but decided against it as I have never done it and don't want to screw anything up. I am open to building it if you think it isn't all that hard to do though. Once again, thanks for all the help!
Go with Intel. Cutting back and getting an AMD processor is just not worth it. But do consider getting an AMD (ATI) video card, at least 2 GB of ram, and a sound card.
i wouldn't recommend building yourself unless you have someone to walk you through it the first time or don't mind taking on a bit of a learning curve. it can be done, and would save you 30% in cost, but you would have some serious homework. i take it you want a desktop and not a laptop (I assume desktop)? do you have a monitor already or will you be buying that as well? unfortunately, i also recommend ATI, but if you find a computer that meets your needs and has a equal NVidia card don't stress it. depending on what games you run, and how you like to play them, in most cases, you may not notice a large difference between the two manufactures. the same is basically true of processors: right now Intel is leading, but if you find a box that has an AMD that meets basically the same speeds as the Intel I wouldn't stress it considering your cost limitations. you, most likely wouldn't notice the difference between similar chips. i, personally, am a big fan of Dell Precision line; their longterm bang for the buck and rock-solid builds are unmatched IMO...which can be bought "cheaply" via http://outlet.dell.com. all of them are safe buys as long as you avoid "dented". i am not a fan of HP although recently they have pulled their business model back out of the mud (no thanks to Compaq; what a disaster that company was.). there are also the out of the box "gaming manufactures" out there like Alienware, Falcon Northwest and the like, which make some brutal gaming boxes, but you also pay considerably for the "prestige" of the manufactures name.
Yeah, I am going for a desktop as it would be way too expensive to get a good gaming laptop. The games I plan on playing are WAR/D3/Disciples III/probably some other games. I don't plan on playing any FPS's (I have friend's consoles to do that), so it doesn't need to have supreme performance, but I don't want to get something that I will have to replace in 2 years in order to be able to play games. I have gotten Dell PCs in the past for normal PC's, but I have always received flack because of it. People I know always say that Dell computers aren't all that great and aren't worth the cost, but I am not really knowledgeable enough to know for myself. I am going to try to find some computers that I think work and post them here, so that it is easier for you to give advice.
Fun fact.. if you are looking at alienware.. you could also look into dell, since well.. Dell bought Alienware a while back, so you can get a lot of the similar parts in the Dell gaming section.
I did not know that. now the cost for alienware is even sillier considering the resources available to build. I personally never liked Alienware and was more of a Northwest man (although I have never bought from either as I build my own...but I liked their builds better)
$1561.00 (before all applicable rebates) CASE: NEW!!! CoolerMaster Cosmos Silent Gaming Tower Case w/ 420 Watts Power Supply (Original Color) CPU: (Sckt775)Intel® Core™ 2 Duo E8400 CPU @ 3.0GHz 1333FSB 6MB L2 Cache 64-bit MOTHERBOARD: (QX9650/9770 Support) Asus P5Q Pro Intel P45 CrossFire Chipset LGA775 FSB1600 DDR2/800 Mainboard w/GbLAN, USB2.0, IEEE1394, & 7.1Audio MEMORY: (Req.DDR2 MainBoard)4GB (2x2GB) PC6400 DDR2/800 Dual Channel Memory (Corsair or Major Brand) VIDEO CARD: ATI Radeon HD 4870 PCI-E 16X 512MB DDR5 Video Card (Major Brand Powered by ATI) VIDEO CARD 2: NONE VIDEO CARD 3: NONE LCD Monitor: NONE HARD DRIVE: Single Hard Drive (500GB SATA-II 3.0Gb/s 16MB Cache 7200RPM HDD) Data Hard Drive: NONE Optical Drive: Sony 20X Double Layer Dual Format DVD+-R/+-RW + CD-R/RW Drive (BLACK COLOR) Optical Drive 2: 16X DVD ROM (BLACK COLOR) SOUND: HIGH DEFINITION ON-BOARD 7.1 AUDIO Space to expand since the MB supports Crossfire. CPU can overclock with ease plus the fun of liquid cooling. 64 bit OS so you can expand to 8 GB of RAM if the mood strikes you. I left the monitor, keyboard, and mouse off.
There are so many options. I think my head is going to explode... Where should I be looking to buy a machine? I looked at some of the NewEgg machines and they look to be much cheaper than Alienware, but I am not sure if there is something they lack. Here are some comps I have been looking at: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883227067 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883229037 http://www.dell.com/content/products/productdetails.aspx/xpsdt_630?c=us&cs=19&l=en&s=dhs I customized an alienware for 1819$. The components are: Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Standard Cooling 512 MB NVIDIA GeForce 9800 GT 2 GB Dual Channel DDR3 SDRAM @ 1066 MHz NVIDIA nForce 790i Ultra SLI Motherboard (inlcudes PCI Express 2/DDR3 Memory/support for intel 1600 FSB) Vista 500 GB SATA 3 Gb/s 7200 RPM 16 MB Cache Dual High Performance Gigabit ethernet ports High def 7.1 Performance Audio with a mouse/keyboard Anyways, these are the machines I have been looking at thus far. Any suggestions on where I should go from here would be very helpful. EDIT: I didn't see the comment before mine as I had this post thing open while I searched. After reading it, I realize there is something I know very little about; what to look for in a motherboard. I have absolutely no idea how the motherboard in the comment above mine compares to the motherboards in the comps I have found. Some knowledge on what to look for would be greatly appreciated! In the mean time, I will try to find out as much about motherboards as I can.
I am running an Ibuypower computer myself as at the time i didnt have the time to build one myself and have had no problems with it.
The DDR3 RAM is a waste in my opinion right now. The motherboard is top tier. However if you are not going to use the SLI definately it is a waste. A P35 or X38 motherboard would probably be much better if that were the case. ATI new 48x0 series cards are destroying the nvidia cards currently. That is the reason I chose those. The rig I build above has higher overclockability due to the liquid cooling, more RAM, an OS already installed and is $300 cheaper. Again this did not factor in a monitor but you can always find a great 22" with a 1000:1 contrast ratio for under $300. Check out Cyberpower (who I had my PC made through).
Do you have friend or anybody you know who could help you with putting a system together? If so, definitely go with a custom built one. As for components, these days mainstream components are nearing the performance at the top end, so really the main criteria is price. Set a price (and post it), then figure out the components that fight into that price. The only component that's non-debateable is the processor - go with intel, especially for gaming. Popular choices are e8400, e8500, and q6600 for multi-task.
I would say I am willing to spend up to 2,100 $ max (ok maybe a little more if it can't be helped). Preferably 2,000 or below. I will be needing a monitor though. I didn't expect that, but apparently my sister took the monitor from my old PC. Most of the people I know that can do this sort of stuff are beyond reach atm and the earliest I will be able to meet up with them is another month and a half or so. What do you guys think of the 2nd NewEgg computer I have linked? It seems to be too good of a deal to me, maybe there is something I am missing. EDIT: Computer Ordered. It will basically be what dr_jay posted on the front page, except with a monitor.
Sounds good. Let us know how it runs once you get it up and running. And what size monitor did you decide on?
The monitor was a 20" TFT Active Matrix LCD Display (Generic 20" WSXGA TFT LCD Display). I opted for the free shipping, so it will be awhile, but I will let you know how it works once I get it.
I have always liked this website for custom building a PC. iBuyPower Here is a system i just spec'd up for under $2000 Case ( Nzxt Alpha Gaming Tower Case w/420W Power Supply Black ) Case Lighting ( None ) Power Supply ( 800 Watt -- Power Supply Quad SLI Ready ) Processor ( [== Quad Core ==] AMD Phenom X4 9550 Quad-Core CPU w/ HyperTransport Technology ) Processor Cooling ( [=== Silent ===] Asus Silent Knight AL CPU Cooling Fan System Kit ) Motherboard ( [CrossFire] MSI K9A2 CF-F AMD 790X CrossFire Chipset w/7.1 Sound, Dual Gb LAN, S-ATA Raid, USB 2.0, Dual PCI-E MB ) Memory ( 4 GB [2 GB X2] DDR2-800 PC6400 Memory Module Corsair-Value or Major Brand ) Video Card ( 2x ATI Radeon HD 4850 512MB PCI-Express x16 - running CrossFire mode ) Hard Drive ( 500 GB HARD DRIVE [Serial-ATA-II, 3Gb, 7200 RPM, 16M Cache] ) 2nd Hard Drive ( 500 GB HARD DRIVE [Serial-ATA-II, 3Gb, 7200 RPM, 16M Cache] ) External Hard Drives [USB 2.0/eSATA] ( None ) CD/DVD Drive ( None ) CD-RW/DVD-RW Drive ( [** Special !!! ***] 20X Dual Format/Double Layer DVD±R/±RW + CD-R/RW Drive Black ) Sound Card ( Creative Lab Sound Blaster X-Fi ExtremeGamer ) Speaker System ( 600W PMPO 3 PCS Super Bass Subwoofer Speaker System ) Network Card ( Onboard LAN Network (Gb or 10/100) ) Floppy Drive ( None ) Monitor ( None ) 2nd Monitor ( None ) Keyboard ( Logitech G15 Gaming Keyboard ) Mouse ( Logitech G9 Laser Gaming Mouse Black ) USB 2.0 Accessories ( Built-in USB 2.0 Ports ) Meter Display ( None ) Flash Media Reader/Writer ( None ) Operation System ( Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium + [Free 60-Day !!!] Microsoft Office 2007(Word, Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint, Access ....) 32-Bit ) Media Center Remote Control & TV Tuner ( None ) USB Flash Drive ( None ) MP3 Player ( None ) TV Tuner ( None ) Video Camera ( None ) Headset ( None ) Power Protection ( None ) Warranty ( Warranty Service Standard 3-Year Limited Warranty + Lifetime Technical Support ) Rush Service ( Rush Service Fee (not shipping fee) No Rush, Ship Out in 5~10 Business Days ) Price w/o Shipping is $1696 key notes are the Quad-core processor, and dual 4850 video cards running in crossfire mode, 4gb of ram, dual 500gig Harddrives, 3 year warranty with lifetime techsupport, and many others.
Thanks for trying to help, but I am sorry I already ordered my computer >.<. It was from cyberpower, which seems to be pretty close to IBuyPower as they both are on NewEgg. Once again, I appreciate you trying to help, but unfortunately I already ordered the computer.
It came today. Only problem is that not all of it is assembled. I have to look in the instructions, but the crossfire chip, usb connectors, maybe a digital audio connector (can't tell), an assus q-connector, and a ribbon cable (I don't know what to do with this) came in a seperate box. I haven't really looked in the computer yet (going to eat first), so hopefully these are extras(doubt it), in case they aren't I am going to have to get these installed. I know what to do with all of them except the crossfire chip and the ribbon cable. Will get back to you soon I guess.
If he got it from Cyberpower, the only cable he needs is the power cable to plug it in and get it up and running. The extra cables are there for you if you got the rounded cables. They will package the old cables in a box for you.