Computer Advise.
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So some of you might know i built a computer in highschool that was "state of the art." Well it isn't anymore considering 5 years have elapsed. I've been working more lately and find myself with a bit of expendable cash plus a tax return incoming, and am looking at upgrading. I've been trolling newegg for a few days trying to gather information on the newest technologies. Well, it has been going O.K. but i'm still a bit stuck as to what is currently considered "best value." Back when i built mine 1gig of ram was solid, but it looks like 2-3+ is pretty standard now.
Here is what matters to me:
-Plays games at high quality.
-Little up keep (ex. dont' have to replace HD every 6 months)
-Cheap. Under $700 would be good, under $600 would be great.
-A new monitor would be nice, mine is like 18inch flatscreen with like 8sec seek time or something. I'll be ok though if this doesn't come true.
-Don't need Headset/speakers/mouse/keyboard.
-Having experienced a no name company with my previous laptop, there is no way on gods green earth that i'm buying anything other than name brand. (Don't much want to get an answering machine for technical help)
-I also need it to come with an operating system.
If someone that knows computers well could take a look at: http://www.newegg.com/Store/SubCategory.as...y=10&page=1 and tell which would be the best value between $500-$700, that would be great. -
Maybe http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16883229090
but then again, I don't know that much about computers =D
edit: i'm being serious about not knowing much about computers. I picked that one because it was in the price range and had better reviews than a lot of the other computers in that price range, and has an actual graphics card instead of onboard.
edit2: and at 550, that leaves you 150 to buy: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16824009145 (22 inch for 160) so you would be breaking your budget by a bit, but if you're getting a new computer, i would definitely be looking at some 22-24 inch monitors to enjoy your new machine. -
i wouldn't recommend to go for a quad core, no games need a quad core to run on full details and games doesn't take advantage of it, you should not sacrifice speed for a quad core unless you wanna spend the extra money for it which i doubt you want so i suggest you go for a dual core of 2,4ghz or above
the reason behind this is quad core will be really worth it if you multi tasks a lot but if you don't like you said, you want to play games on high details so a dual core is better for you, plus the money you save could be for a better monitor or a better graphic card etc -
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I did a quick search on newegg and come out with something in your budget, i did not include a monitor in the package because i don't need its necessary to upgrade for you currently but if you really want a new one all you have to do is to choose less quality product or less performance and so the prices would be lower but you'll decide that. I know you want a computer with an operation system but you don't have any friends which could give you a windows cd or something like that you will actually pay more just for the operation system and its easy to install
Here is what i came up with, i am al most sure everything should fit and work perfectly but jsut i ncase do some research and be 100% sure before you buy anything specially if you by parts by parts
CPU : Intel Core 2 Duo E7400 Wolfdale 2.8GHz 3MB L2 Cache LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor - Retail $119.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16819115206
Motherboard : GIGABYTE GA-EP45-UD3R LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail $119.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16813128359
Ram : Kingston HyperX T1 Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail $54.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16820104098
Graphic Card : HIS Hightech H483QS512P Radeon HD 4830 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card - Retail $124.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16814161267
OR
EVGA 512-P3-N871-AR GeForce 9800 GTX+ 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Retail $129.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16814130339
Power Supply : Rosewill RP600V2-S-SL 600W ATX12V v2.01 SLI Ready Power Supply - Retail $59.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16817182032
Hard Drive : Western Digital Caviar Black WD5001AALS 500GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Hard Drive - OEM $69.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16822136320
Computer Case : COOLER MASTER Centurion 534 RC-534-SKN2-GP Black / Silver Aluminum & Mesh bezel / SECC Chassis ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail $49.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16811119104
Total : 7 items $599.93 + approx 100$ with shipping (you'll have to calculate it yourself) -
Anandtech.com read it. Learn it. love it.
You're going to want to go with the Intel i7 probably because it's their latest chipset and I think they've locked it in for at least the next full year.
And make your card an NVidia. Most games specifically support NVidia nowadays, and ATI has always had shitty drivers.
Those are my 2cents. -
you might want to look at this set up, you'll need to upgrade the power supply and get a graphic card though but i would do more research on this set up though just to be sure that all parts are compatible and that your pc case will let you install a graphic card, some graphic cards are too long for some pc case
computer : Gateway DX4800-05e Pentium dual-core E5200(2.50GHz) 6GB DDR2 640GB NVIDIA GeForce 9200 Windows Vista Home Premium 64-bit - Retail $499.99 (currently 449,99)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16883113094
Graphic Card : HIS Hightech H483QS512P Radeon HD 4830 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card - Retail $124.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16814161267
OR
EVGA 512-P3-N871-AR GeForce 9800 GTX+ 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Retail $129.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16814130339
Power Supply : Rosewill RP600V2-S-SL 600W ATX12V v2.01 SLI Ready Power Supply - Retail $59.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16817182032
Total : $684 + shipping -
I really can't stress how bad I think ATI's line of gpu's is.
Anandtech comparison article between ATI and
NVidia's latest lines of cards. (TLDR Warning)
The performance graphs start here, click through the article for more. -
QUOTE-Plays games at high quality.
I did. If he's talking about anything from '08 or later, then these are his best value options. Way to actually read the article./tongue.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":P" border="0" alt="tongue.gif" />
Regardless, I think he'd be happier with an NVidia card ANYWAY, no matter which he chose, because ATI's game support is absolutely atrocious.
4 GB RAM - $50
NVidia GeForce X275 - $270
MoBo ~ $225
HD - $150 for 1.5 TB drive. You can get faster and smaller for the same price depending on your needs.
Core i7 Processor - $290
It's like a thousand dollar box, but you shouldn't need to upgrade a damned thing in it for a while. If you've got a PCI-e MoBo already then you don't need to upgrade it to get an i7 Chipset, just stick with what you got. That'll save you $500 outright. So it's then like a 500 dollar box.
These days I have a bit more of a monetary buffer laying around in the bank, so I tend to approach these puzzles with a "lower the total long term cost" strategy, rather than a "lower the immediate cost" strategy. Keep that in mind.
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Lethal's first post wins. Never buy a pre-built computer. You bleed money doing so, and most often lose out on quality parts. In some cases the computer will come with parts that aren't even compatible, but they charge you for it anyways. (ie. 4 gigs of ram on a vista 32 machine, ram with different FSBs, etc)
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Lethal's posts were pretty helpful. Truth be told though, after spending $1000 plus building my last machine and the stress of making it work, I don't think i'd do it agian. Like I said, i want to throw $500-$700 on the table and have a computer sent to me in working order that doesn't break for like 2+ years.
Redbone, I looked at that computer a few days and it accually appealed to me. First of all i dont' have to live with a Halo2 case that ibuypower offers. Second the money would allow me to extend my wallet a bit for extras. Most of the reviews i've read said that the graphics cards of these machines needs to be upgraded. Did anyone see any problems with: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16883229090 ?? Because i'm getting closer to making a purchase. -
Aside from the fact that a dual core with a higher clock speed will be better for gaming, that is a solid piece at a solid price. Fairly good room for expansion, as long as you're not looking to go SLI.
Parts you may feel are lacking in the future are vid card, mobo, psu(depending on what you upgrade). 500 gig may also fill up quick, depending on usage.
Overall though... I'm contemplating buying that, the price seems ridiculously good for a mid-end gamer. -
QUOTE (Jonobono @ May 4 2009, 11:25 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>Word, thanks preach, thats about all i wanted to hear
A bigger monitor! That graphics card will do you fine for now. This is just my opinion, but at least (if you haven't seen a big monitor irl) go into a store and look at them. -
3 Good Advice of Note (Instead of some of the junk advice being thrown around here)
Video Cards as with ALL other products should be compared individually, broad generalizations like ATI DROOLS is for fanboys. This affects you especially because lower-end products tend to be priced competitively rather than by trends.
4GB of Ram is all you need. Faster RAM is wayyyy better than having more RAM. Right now, because of legacy code (no parallelism) and limit of concurrency, no OS can put more than 4 GB to good use. Not to mention SSD prices are dropping like the dollar.
Buying pre-built vs homemade USED to be an issue because of price. This is no longer the case. Price differences are quite low compared to what it use to be. So much so that to me, it's worth the time you save.
Bonus
You can find a nice 20" for $140. EG http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16824009126, and open box for cheaper (altho I do not have experience with open box products).
My advice: Buy a prebuilt computer for $550 and buy a $150 monitor from newegg. -
QUOTE (LethaL @ May 5 2009, 06:18 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>getting 8gb of ram would be useless, 8gb of ram would be if you plan on multi tasking a lot which you don't want to do, Games ask for like 2gb of ram so 8gb of ram is not necessary to play games on high details 4gv would do the job
i wasn't serious, but if you think that going with 2gb of ram over 4gb of ram is a good idea then you're a moron -
QUOTE (Scabdates @ May 6 2009, 12:14 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>i wasn't serious, but if you think that going with 2gb of ram over 4gb of ram is a good idea then you're a moron
damn did you take the time to read my post at all, i said 2gb of ram is what games ask and at the end i said to go for 4gb
i said what games ask if you don't go for over 2gb then its not my problem like i mentionned in my post you need at least 4gb of ram
you know i don't think you were not serious, you were probably but when you found how it was no worth it to get 8gb you found an escape saying i was not serious but if you were really not serious then nice way to help him -
QUOTE (Tom @ May 5 2009, 11:59 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>3 Good Advice of Note (Instead of some of the junk advice being thrown around here)
Video Cards as with ALL other products should be compared individually, broad generalizations like ATI DROOLS is for fanboys. This affects you especially because lower-end products tend to be priced competitively rather than by trends.
Except when talking about gaming, because game developers have essentially stopped designing games with anything but NVidia in mind. So this is in fact a useful generalization and is not me being a fanboy. I loved ATI for years, but they haven't been the top of the value game for about 7 years now. Driver problems have abounded and been left unaddressed for months, sometimes years, sometimes just to be left unaddressed while the next round of cards gets pumped out. ATI is NOT a good value right now. With VERY few exceptions.
4GB of Ram is all you need. Faster RAM is wayyyy better than having more RAM. Right now, because of legacy code (no parallelism) and limit of concurrency, no OS can put more than 4 GB to good use. Not to mention SSD prices are dropping like the dollar.
Which is why the i7 is a better value. DDR3 > DDR2 and AMD JUST came out with a DDR3 supporting card, which will shortly be replaced by another with a different chipset. Intel has promised to keep the i7 chipset for at least another year, if not 2. Meanwhile Core2Duo doesn't support DDR3 IIRC.
Buying pre-built vs homemade USED to be an issue because of price. This is no longer the case. Price differences are quite low compared to what it use to be. So much so that to me, it's worth the time you save.
It used to be an issue because you'd get a shit computer with incompatible parts that was plagued by hardware problems. Less of a problem nowadays, but I personally still like to put what I want to put in my computer. It's not *price* per-se. It's value.
My advice: Buy a prebuilt computer for $550 and buy a $150 monitor from newegg.
This probably isn't bad advice, but you'll be in the same boat as you are in now earlier than if you DIY. Your call. I thought I'd give some options and general advice. Guess that wasn't welcome. Ass.
<3 -
Yep Random.
you used to be cool man.
But hey if you want to guarantee that ATI cards are reliable choices when you're *first* stated requirement is playing games at high quality, then far be it from me to try and clarify. Sorry to step on your toes, I'll leave you alone now, master and commander of the high tech.
/seriously, you can do what your doing in this thread without being a dick. Try it. -
wheres the popcorn at
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QUOTE (Andrew @ May 6 2009, 12:51 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>when you're *first* stated requirement
...
-dan -
Look mang, I'm sorry my cited and supported advice about current long term computer investment upset your sensibilities so much. I'm a proponent of presenting accurate, research-able information. I try to make it useful to the topic at hand.
It's the internet... I don't know it all, but the internet sure does. And if I know of a resource that can help a dude get information that I found helpful when I encountered the same situation, I'm going to direct them there.
I got a little upset at being called a fanboy for NVidia, because that's kind of retarded. Snark happens. After all, it's the internet. -
QUOTE (Tom @ May 6 2009, 09:53 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>Seriously. Quit posting like a know it all.
No offense dude, I've met you in person, got along with you fine. Every, single, time, I've seen anything you've posted, or even seen you on the server lately, you've been a straight dick. To everyone, and anyone, who doesn't simply agree with you and pretend you're the shit. Get over yourself.
Repeat... Stop being a dick.
Bill -
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QUOTE (Alfy @ May 6 2009, 02:39 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>Buy a Mac.
Allow me to be more specific.
Check out craigslist and ebay for people selling the last generation of Macs. I have seen many decent machines available in your price range. They, IMHO, have the hardware that you want, with the awesomeness that is Mac OS X, along with Windows. Just something to look can into, might not be the route you want to take.
*Edit: After reading Jono's last post, I see that he has already made a decision here, never mind then. -
QUOTE (CJ. @ May 6 2009, 10:40 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>i'm bringing boxing gloves to the lanbq.
ok tough guy -
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QUOTE (CJ. @ May 7 2009, 09:55 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>for tom and nunes to use.
i know, i just wanted to make that joke -
QUOTE (Scabdates @ May 7 2009, 10:01 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>i know, i just wanted to make that joke
keep making jokes.
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