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Looking to buy a new pc ... need adivce.
Caloran
Member UncommonPosts: 35
Hey, im pretty stupid when it comes to hardware and such. Having said that building my own pc is not really an option. Ive been browsing around on Ebay and such and im wondering how this PC is?
or
http://www.cyberpowerpc.com/system/Athlon_AM2_SLI_Custom_Build_Configurator/#configurator_top
(would likely upgrade to the 8800 GT video card on this one)
or
http://www.cyberpowerpc.com/system/Gamer_Ultra_7200/#configurator_top
Im on a somewhat limited budget and Iam trying to stick in the $600-$800 price range. Any insight and or suggestions would be appreciated.
Thanks, Cal.
Comments
Anyone on the know have any imput!!!???
The ebay system was decent, but you want a bigger psu and a sli mobo for future upgrades imo.
Try to buy from a reputable seller, those links look like something to stay clear of.
As for spec, heres a few guidelines:
Processor - Intel Duo or Quad with 2.6 Ghz cores or higher, there's a cheap 3.0 Duo
Graphics - NVIDIA 8 or 9 series GTX, i'd say 8800GTX
RAM - 4GB DDR II
wont a system like that run me more like $1200+ ?
Well i could build one for about £1000, as far as I know computers are a lot cheaper in the US.
Thing is, there's no point spending $700 on something that isn't good enough.
Kristian Yonuel
Kind of like I feared, only problem being ... I dont see myself getting laid by my wife in the near future if I spend too much more then $1000.
1. sli mobo
2. psu 600 or better with sli support, you should be ok if you get a case with power.
3. 8800gt will do fine, and they're inexpensive. Plus with sli mobo you can upgrade to two, or two whatever.
4. CPU, as stated above, dual core 2.66 is cool.
5. RAM, 2 gigs will run games fine. If you have the cash, buy 4 and get it out of the way now.
Wtf does Sli mobo meen lol?
If your buying in the US ibuypower is king. Never go any thing by Dell and I'd avoid that Ebay one. Really generic in a cheap plastic case. Also the AMD/ATI sytems are nice for the price but you'll probably get a better system from Ibuypower, I'd stick with Intel/ATI just because of value/performance atm.
Dell includes Alieneware. Over 100% mark up on their junk systems.
that's a fair compromise, but if you plan on using the sli in future, 600W wont be enough
Simply put, you can run two video cards at once.
Yeah, maybe on 2 8800 ultras. 550W will cover most SLI systems. If you plan to overclock along with SLI go 650W.
If you had to choose between either of those 3, the best bang for your buck is probably the second, if not the last one. The first is a bad deal, I could find a much better offer myself.
TBH your best bet is to build one yourself. It's much easier than people think, what takes some knowledge is just knowing what components you need and if they will all function well together.
I'm building a computer myself with Newegg and I can make a very high-grade system for $750 (including the shipping, w/o more like $700). If I wanted a mid system, something similar to what you're showing, it would be more like $400.
If you can spend the cash and don't have too much of a knowledge on computers than just go with the pre-mades... if you want the best bang for your buck, you'll need to build your own and do some research first, like everything in this world needs to make the best decisions. Heck, you'll still need to do some research if you do go with a pre-made to make sure you're getting a fair deal.
The best bet is to buy a bare bones system from www.Tiger.com to get the technical part of putting a pc together (ie one with a mobo, processor, DVD-RoM, HD, etc already installed) then buy the specific graphics cards, RAM and what not seperately and plug them in. At that point the skill you need to put a PC together is that same you need as a kid where you put the square in the square hole and the circle in the hole that is shaped like a circle. You could spend $1200 and get a system you would pay $3000+ elsewhere.
A mother board with 2 16X PCI-E slots that can run 2 of the same cards at once.
There are 2 kinds, 8X and 16X. The 8X is a scam and a rip off. You get half performance out of your second card to save a few bucks. Even with 2 $150 cards thats a horible investment. Just make sure, when getting an SLI MoBo get one that has 16X SLI. Save $20 on your MoBo by getting 8X and you waste half the value of your second card.
Ok.. First off.. SLI isn't worth it.. My last rig was SLI, and I regreted it. SLI only gives you .5X the Graphics power of the second card.. Its not like DOUBLEING your Graphics power.
You want something like this
E8400 (Best Bang for the Gaming Buck)
2gigs DDR2 (4 if you've got an extra 50 bucks in your budget)
650w PSU. (Crosair, or PcP&C are the Best)
8800GT (best bang for the buck, G92 GTS if you've got 80 extra bucks)
You can build this for about $1000 using High quality parts. You can skimp on quality and build it for about 700 if you wanted to.
That machine can run it on Medium-High settings. Its SIMILAR to mine that ran it at Medium settings NP in Open Beta, but I hear the client is much much more efficent how, so It should be cool with running it on high/max settings.
Yeah, and alot of those you only need a sound card (optional) and a video card. Given your use the speakers, monitor etc.. from your old comp.
Your machine is similar to alot of people that have been posting about how good it is now with the release build. Very good setup, and definately ready for any future upgrades.
Yeah, maybe on 2 8800 ultras. 550W will cover most SLI systems. If you plan to overclock along with SLI go 650W.
I would go with the advice so far except I would aim for 750 watt power supply if you hooked up 2 cards. 650 will do it but its getting close to max and it can heat up your system plus the power unit fan can make more noise as its working over time.
I have the following:
4800 amd dual (the new intel's are faster I think)
8800gt 512 Nvidia video card
2 gig of ram corsair
I ran this on a benchmark and it shows that its more than enough for AoC.
All the systems you showed and what people recommended would do it. However if you don't want to fork out the cash for 2x video cards and 4 gig of ram. Then its worthwhile making sure your motherboard does have SLi (dual video card support) so that its an easy upgrade later on as well as the extra 2 gig of ram. Funny enough I am doing exactly that now.
Hoped this help
600 dollars does sound cheap but I think it stated that LCD screen not included so that kinda makes sense.
Thanks for all the imput everyone. Looking like I may have to pester one of my more computer savy friends into helping me assemble something. Though not sure if most of the webistes you refered me too will send stuff to Canada. Also kind of thinking extra shipping charges and stuff may bring the cost up a fair bit even if they do. Regardless I obviously need to keep reading/researching.
Again thanks, Cal.
Caloran it still may be worth grabbing something already built as long as you get it from a place that you know you can hassle if it goes wrong. Easiest thing to do is grab all their specs and do a quick price comparison. TBH there may not be that much difference.