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Need Advice on new pc buy :)

Hey guys,

 

I am looking to get a new pc to play ffxiv, and I would just like some advice or suggestions on what I should get. My price range id say is around $1100-1300. I am really looking for a laptop but, a desktop would be okay. I know to run it on max settings would cost a little more but just playing fine on medium is okay with me. thanks in advance :)

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Comments

  • ThomasN7ThomasN7 87.18.7.148Member CommonPosts: 6,690

    Intel I-5 650,750 or 920. Everything else above is overkill and not needed.

    30
  • birdycephonbirdycephon Member UncommonPosts: 1,314

    Don't get an expensive laptop. They usually break down a lot faster, and they're a lot harder to repair.

    Usually, if a laptop stops working, you pretty much have to hire someone to fix it, and for the price, you more often than not, might as well get a new one. Whereas a desktop, you can just swap out the broken part yourself, and it doesnt have to cost you an arm and a leg.

    Not to mention you get more bang for your buck.

  • RedTortugaRedTortuga Member Posts: 60

    Invest in a desktop, not a laptop. Build it yourself for a better deal. :)

  • vectrexevovectrexevo Member UncommonPosts: 167

    x58 mob =$200

    6gb ddr3= $120

    800 watt psu= $150-200

    win 7 64 bit builders edition prem = $109

    tower = $60-120

    cd=$60

    mouse & key board= $50

    moniter = $100-200 (20 - 24 in)

    i7 930 =$220

    gpu = $250 - 500

     

    This is a rough total  1369-1569  this is for all new parts and could prob be obtained for cheaper  

     Oh and the gpu should be the 200 series (250-295)  or you can get the 400 series for the later price

  • Tee_RobTee_Rob Member Posts: 8

    Thanks for the fast response guys, really appreciate it. I think I will get a desktop then. I was on cyberpowerpc.com looking and the prices seem pretty reasonable. Could anyone build me one around my price range and send me the link please? Just of what would run it. Thanks!

  • DisdenaDisdena Member UncommonPosts: 1,093

    Is this something that you're going to put together yourself or do you want to buy a complete, already-assembled system?

    If putting it together is too much trouble, a quick look on Newegg brought up this system which will run fine on medium and is actually a little bit less than your price range.

    image
  • TrollerTroller Member UncommonPosts: 13

    http://www.ibuypower.com/Store/2010_Paladin_F ok this would do the job jus fine the video card is amazing and will run it at max i would suppose 1386 glad to be of service :) sry customazation is not with it u would put a nvidia 460 in it with an 800 wat power supply and windows 7 professional dont get the exspensive psu they are all the same with 6gbs 1600mhz ram

    Originally posted by Warsong

    Well, since WoW is the worlds largest baby sitter I would imagine that college and sex is the next big adventure for WoW players.

  • vectrexevovectrexevo Member UncommonPosts: 167

    Well,

     

    1) you need a mother bored ( there are 2 types, Intel only cpu or AMD only cpu) ALSO your mother bored should have a socket # like 1366 and what type of memory fits in it ( ddr2 or ddr3)

    2) you need a cpu that will fit in your mother board (Intel or AMD) remember socket # has to be the same as the mother board # like 1366

    3) Power supply unit that is about 600w

    4) your GPU ( you can look online for one really easy  just has long as you get a 200 series or 400 series) to run ffXIV

    5) get your memory  ( ddr2 or ddr3 depending on mother bored)

    then cd player, tower to fit your stuff in, moniter ..ex

     

  • TrollerTroller Member UncommonPosts: 13

    i would not reccomend that computer because its a dual core wich is not good u want one to last and adding 300 bucks on thatll last him 5-6 more years plus ATI video cards blow and nVidia 460 would destroy that and u also get a quadcore

    Originally posted by Warsong

    Well, since WoW is the worlds largest baby sitter I would imagine that college and sex is the next big adventure for WoW players.

  • Honeymoon69Honeymoon69 Member Posts: 647
    have u play beta yet? if not, dont waster ur money for ff14 its not worth getting a new computer for. Most of my friends who were going to play it have cancelled after they tested it.




  • TrollerTroller Member UncommonPosts: 13

    GW2 has got my money but idk if ill be able to run it on max which is sad

    e6600 2.4ghz(2.9)

    2gb ddr2

    8800 gt 320mb

    Originally posted by Warsong

    Well, since WoW is the worlds largest baby sitter I would imagine that college and sex is the next big adventure for WoW players.

  • DisdenaDisdena Member UncommonPosts: 1,093

    Originally posted by Tee_Rob

    Thanks for the fast response guys, really appreciate it. I think I will get a desktop then. I was on cyberpowerpc.com looking and the prices seem pretty reasonable. Could anyone build me one around my price range and send me the link please? Just of what would run it. Thanks!

    From the CyberPower site, it looks like their Mega Special IV will do a fine job with no customization needed.

    image
  • vectrexevovectrexevo Member UncommonPosts: 167

    Originally posted by Honeymoon69

    have u play beta yet? if not, dont waster ur money for ff14 its not worth getting a new computer for. Most of my friends who were going to play it have cancelled after they tested it.

     Really, why?  Was it too hard for them? The computer couldent handle it?  What made em quit?

  • sungodrasungodra Member Posts: 1,376

    Word of advice. If you are not willing to build it yourself. Go to ibuypower.com   I would not go to that cyberpower I have heard horror stories. Some of them on these very forums.

    image


    "When it comes to GW2 any game is fair game"

  • sungodrasungodra Member Posts: 1,376

    Originally posted by Honeymoon69

    have u play beta yet? if not, dont waster ur money for ff14 its not worth getting a new computer for. Most of my friends who were going to play it have cancelled after they tested it.

     It does look rather boring, but I'm getting it anyhow, along with a gamepad. Too many friends of mine want to play it.

     

     

    If only gw2 or tor was coming out right about now.

    image


    "When it comes to GW2 any game is fair game"

  • QuizzicalQuizzical Member LegendaryPosts: 25,524

    If you're able to assemble it yourself, I'd try something like this:

    Motherboard/OS combo:  $185

    http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.437524.13-131-651

    CPU/Video card combo:  $506

    http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.460578

    That includes a free game, too.

    Memory:  $81

    http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231253

    4 GB is enough for 99% of gamers.

    Case/power supply combo deal:  $137, including shipping, before rebate

    http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.458428

    Optical drive:  $20

    http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827106333

    SSD:  $129, before rebate

    http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227394

    Because there's no sense in paying $1100-$1300 on a new desktop only to get something painfully slow that constantly makes you sit there and wait for it.  And that's precisely what you'll end up with if you don't get a good SSD.  The set of people who don't see the point in an SSD is a subset of those who have never used a good one.

    Hard drive:  $75

    http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136319

    Or adjust the capacity to your needs.

    Extra case fan:  $10, including shipping

    http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811999099

    Attach that to the side air duct on the case, pointed right at the video card.

    That comes to just about $1143 including shipping and before $35 in rebates.  If you need a new keyboard, mouse, speakers, or surge protector, there's plenty of room left in your budget.  If you need a new monitor, too, then that pretty much fills up your budget.

    If you don't need any of that but would like to spend more money for something nicer, then I suppose you've got some options.  If you want a better video card, you'd basically have to go SLI/CrossFire and deal with vastly more heat and noise, and sometimes multiple cards not scaling properly.  A Radeon HD 5870 is quite a nice card, so I'd stay with that.

    You could get a slightly better processor, but it would cost nearly an extra $200 by the time you make all of the changes.  A Core i5-760 isn't meaningfully faster.  A Core i7-870 is the natural next step up, and is a little faster, but it's about an extra $125 for the processor, an extra $20 or so to get a comparable motherboard, and you'd break the combo discount with the video card that also saves $30.  Intel's superior performance per clock cycle may be worthwhile if you're an avid overclocker, but otherwise, I wouldn't bother.  To get something faster than a Core i7-870, you're looking at over $500 for the processor alone, which is way out of your budget.

    The power supply is already overkill for your needs.  There's not much sense in paying a lot more to get something of slightly better than already pretty good quality unless on a basically unlimited budget (which is what the Seasonic X-650 is targeted at).  There's no real need to spend more on a case, either, unless you're really enamored with the aesthetics of some other case.

    If you want to watch blu-ray movies, you could get a blu-ray drive.  If you don't want to watch blu-ray movies, that would be a complete waste of money.

    You could get 8 GB of system memory rather than the 4 GB linked above if you run programs that use a ton of memory.  Most people don't do that, though, so for most it would be a waste of money.  If you're never going to use more than 3 GB of memory at once, it doesn't matter if you have 4 GB or 8 GB of physical memory sitting there.

    Storage is the tricky one, as how much space you need varies radically from one person to the next.  If you need a lot of space, I'd go with an SSD/hard drive combo.  If 100 GB is enough space, then you could skip the hard drive and just get a bigger SSD, like this one:

    http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148348

    That's also considerably faster than the SSD I linked above.

  • QuizzicalQuizzical Member LegendaryPosts: 25,524

    If you want to compare the parts I linked to the assembled system that Disdena linked above, my parts list gives you a much better processor, a much better video card, a vastly superior power supply, probably a better case, and the amazing speed boost of an SSD, and slightly less hard drive capacity for less than an extra $100.

    If you want to compare it to the "Mega Special IV" that Disdena linked, my parts list gives you a slightly inferior processor (there's only a big difference in programs that scale well beyond four cores, i.e., not games), a vastly better video card (in terms of how it fares as compared to its contemporaries, the GeForce GTX 465 is the worst card to launch in years, at least since the Radeon HD 2900 XT, and possibly going back all the way to the GeForce FX 5800 "dustbuster"), 2 GB less memory, a vastly better power supply, likely a better case, the amazing speed of an SSD, and slightly less hard drive capacity, this time with actually a smaller price tag.

  • Tee_RobTee_Rob Member Posts: 8

    Thanks again guys for all the advice. I'll let you all kow what I finally decide to do. I'd rather not build my own though because I would have no idea what to really do lol. Haha nah I havent played the beta yet and a lot of people have told me its not worth playing but I'm a long time fan so I atleast want to try it before I knock it!

  • NephaeriusNephaerius Member UncommonPosts: 1,671

    Originally posted by Troller

    GW2 has got my money but idk if ill be able to run it on max which is sad

    e6600 2.4ghz(2.9)

    2gb ddr2

    8800 gt 320mb

    Anet stated they've done most of the design of GW2 using a 9600GT.  It's been in development since pre-2006 so that's the technology they started design with.  Anet has also always been strong supporters of being able to run their games on a middle of the road machine while still looking beautiful graphically.  Therefore, with a video card upgrade you will probably be g2g.  We really have to wait till closer to launch to know for sure.

    Steam: Neph

  • QuizzicalQuizzical Member LegendaryPosts: 25,524

    Originally posted by Tee_Rob

    Thanks again guys for all the advice. I'll let you all kow what I finally decide to do. I'd rather not build my own though because I would have no idea what to really do lol. Haha nah I havent played the beta yet and a lot of people have told me its not worth playing but I'm a long time fan so I atleast want to try it before I knock it!

    If you're afraid that you won't be able to put it together, then it's probably easier than you think.  If you're the sort of computer illiterate who won't be able to fix the problem if the computer comes unplugged, then you shouldn't try building your own.  But if you've plugged in USB, ethernet, and monitor cables without incident, then you'd be able to build your own if so inclined.  The different ports are different shapes so that you can't plug anything into the wrong spot.  The case and motherboard will also come with extremely detailed instructions that you can refer to.

  • Tee_RobTee_Rob Member Posts: 8

    I was looking on ibuypower.com and I found this laptop.....the standard customization is fine or what should i upgrade on it? heres the link...... http://www.ibuypower.com/Store/Ship_Out_Next_Business_Day_Battalion_101_CZ-11_Ultra

  • EtraEtra Member UncommonPosts: 164

    Originally posted by Tee_Rob

    I was looking on ibuypower.com and I found this laptop.....the standard customization is fine or what should i upgrade on it? heres the link...... http://www.ibuypower.com/Store/Ship_Out_Next_Business_Day_Battalion_101_CZ-11_Ultra

    The memory is a little low for a new gaming laptop (in my opinion) and the card is rather "...eh"-ish. If you want to play the game comfortably, just use a desktop. Laptops just don't cut it for gaming and their GPUs are much weaker than a desktop. I use a laptop for the beta, but I run it off of an external GPU.

    (Not to mention, could build yourself a top of the line desktop for that price.)

  • Tee_RobTee_Rob Member Posts: 8

    I'm a little computer smart and you guys keep saying desktop is the way to go so, ill give it a shot!

  • sOnEsOnE Member Posts: 10

    Built this computer 3 weeks ago. First computer I ever built, took about 5 hrs.  Total cost was 1300$

     

    OS:    Windows 7 professional 64 bit from

    Had to use a crack because I bought an upgrade version, but crack was sucessful because I had a legit cd key. Just tricked the system to think that I had xp on it and was upgrading to windows 7.  Used a usb to installed windows 7.

    http://www.microsoft.com/student/en/us/software/windows.aspx

    29.99



       

    Motherboard:    GA-X58A-UD3R LGA 1366 X58 ATX Motherboard   (microcenter.com)

    LGA 1366 are the ones you want to get, They are top of the line

    http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0327331

    $220



    You can also get this

    X58 SLI LE LGA 1366 X58 ATX Motherboard

    http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0312963

    Just as good, but read the reviews on www.newegg.com

       

     

    Processor:    Core i7-930 Processor     (microcenter.com)

    Best price I found. Also this one can be overclocked to be better than the high end ones

    http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0331303

    $200

       

        

    RAM:    Corsair XMS3 6GB DDR3-1600 (PC-12800) CL8 Memory Kit (Three 2GB Memory Modules) (microcenter.com)

    http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0311100

    $210



    Power Supply:    Corsair HX750 750W Professional Power Supply (microcenter.com)

    http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0314083

    $170 after pricematching with bestbuy

        



    Tower:    Nine Hundred Two Mid Tower Gaming Case (microcenter.com)

    Got mine for $120 after pricematch, its lower now due to rebate

    http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0305999

    $100



    Harddrive:    Caviar Black WD1002FAEX 1TB 7,200 RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive - OEM

    http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0331606

    $100





    Videocard:    GeForce GTX460 SuperClocked PCIe 2.0 x16 Graphics Card

    From EVGA, 768 MB.  EVGA is the best, it was also benchmarked as the best, better than other brands that has 1GB. Overclocks higher than other brands too.

    Also EVGA offers LIFETIME WARRANTY on this card, except for physical damge like dropping it. You can Overclock this and still get warranty.

    http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0342003

    $220



    DVD drive:    Sony 24x DVDRW SATA

    I don't have a link, but get a sata drive instead of IDE, don't know if they still sell IDE, but SATA is the new technology

    $35



    Extra - CPU fan

    Hyper 212 Plus Universal CPU Cooler

    http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0315397

    Easy to install

    $30



    Extra - Thermal Paste cause the one that comes with the i7 sucks

    IC Diamond 7 Carat Thermal Compound 1.5g

    http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0282371

    7$

  • QuizzicalQuizzical Member LegendaryPosts: 25,524

    You massively overpaid for the memory and power supply.  That's got to be some sort of clearance price on the processor, though.

    And no, a 768 GB GeForce GTX 460 does not beat a 1 GB version just because it has an EVGA sticker on it.  Losing a memory channel really hurts, as Nvidia can't make a decent GDDR5 controller and has to clock it really low to begin with.  Losing 1/4 of the ROPS really hurts, too.

    Regardless, with a $1300 budget, I'd hope to get faster storage and a faster video card.

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