I didn't buy my computer with gaming in mind. But maybe the next time I should. I think I paid around $1200 a few years ago. I was wondering what people shell out nowadays...with monitor included. If my poll number choices are too low its because I'm still living in the past!
Comments
I always build my own, so I hand pick all my parts going into it, and I can't imagine spending more then $1,500 on a new machine anymore.
My new laptop I just ordered however cost me $1,700, I made sure it was fully capable or running EQ II.
- Scaris
"What happened to you, Star Wars Galaxies? You used to look like Leia. Not quite gold bikini Leia (more like bad-British-accent-and-cinnamon-bun-hair Leia), but still Leia nonetheless. Now you look like Chewbacca." - Computer Gaming World
lolol, hey, that armor carried me for quite some time! Ya, I finished my armor quests this weekend and got my monkey suit. I am loving it. I still got that boiled leather hat though!
- Scaris
"What happened to you, Star Wars Galaxies? You used to look like Leia. Not quite gold bikini Leia (more like bad-British-accent-and-cinnamon-bun-hair Leia), but still Leia nonetheless. Now you look like Chewbacca." - Computer Gaming World
----------------------------------
Don't jump off the roof Dad
You'll make a hole in the yard
----------------------------------
OUCH. But I beleive hardware is alot more expensive there.
- Scaris
"What happened to you, Star Wars Galaxies? You used to look like Leia. Not quite gold bikini Leia (more like bad-British-accent-and-cinnamon-bun-hair Leia), but still Leia nonetheless. Now you look like Chewbacca." - Computer Gaming World
Nope, the OP asked the question, clearly stating it was an off subject question. Deal with it.
- Scaris
"What happened to you, Star Wars Galaxies? You used to look like Leia. Not quite gold bikini Leia (more like bad-British-accent-and-cinnamon-bun-hair Leia), but still Leia nonetheless. Now you look like Chewbacca." - Computer Gaming World
A little over a $1000, not counting the monitor. But in the past month I bought a Radeon X800 XT, so now it's up to the mid $1500 range
Looking for something new.
Always build my PCs. Got a CMstaker coolmaster case and it freaken rocks with pretty HD coolers.
I actually spend far less the people that buy there PCs and get less. I just upgrade the MB and CPU and huge improvement. My ram holds out since DDR is still in. I spent 420 afew months ago for a AMD64cpu and M/B. I bought a Geforce 6800 GT 256mb for 399 afew days ago(my god I can run EQ2 in extreme mode) thats sweet!
Building your own saves ya money!
"spend on your (gaming) computer" well, at the core beginning
or with all the upgrades?
because ever gamer has to upgrade his machine atleast once every 6 months
http://www.facebook.com/murtb
Cost of computing has come down a lot recently. You don't need to spend too much any more and quality has gone up too, anyone seen those new mini macs they look cool!
I build. No reason to pay twice the cost for the same if not worse system. Hmm lets see here if I were to build one right now (it is usually in a constant stage of additions so the cost is spread out over years
Monitor CRT 100, LCD 400 17-19in viewable
Case 60, CD 40, keyboard&mouse 40, harddrive 120, floppy 15, motherboard & cpu 200, ram 120, vid card 200.
So between $900-$1200 for AMD 64 3000+ 1 gig of Ram, and 6600 Gt for the vid card.
Under a $1000 here..well under. But then I have not changed my monitor in 8 years, So I dont really count it anymore..17" Sony Trinitron..still running. Though I am considering buying an LCD this year.
I just upgraded this past week cost me approx $600 mostly because I had stuff.
Athlon 64 3200 upgrade
MSI K8T800deluxe upgrade
1 gig corsair XMS 4000 ram already had
250gb WD hdd upgrade..lucky sale at Sams club..cost me $99 + tax damn I love those one day sales.
DVDRW already had.
256mb 6800GT upgrade $250 ( friend upgraded to a PCIE card so sold me his dirt cheap, was 2 months old )
and of course psu and case eneermax and lian-li already had.
It's not that you can't easily spend $3000+ on a gaming rig, it's that the people on this site are very good at getting the best bang for the buck.
An Athlon 64 FX-55 will cost you about $1000, whereas an Athlon 64 3800+ will cost about $425, and an a 3500 will cost around $250 (estimates - I haven't looked today). Performance difference between a 3800 and an FX-55 is about 15% (give or take, depending on the test, etc). IS it worth double the price for 15% of a performance boost?
Same goes for graphics cards and some other hardware pieces. Why pay 2 or 3 times the price for an incremental performance improvement? Buy the second best, and save a ton of money. I don't see a lot of people mentioning they have GeForce 6800 Ultras, or Athlon FX-55 or Intel Extreme Editions. Save yer money and buy parts that are upgradable, so you can spread the cost out over years instead of all at once.
As for Dells, HPs, etc. the main issues that come up is that they don't make affordable machines that excel at gaming. Money saving techniques such as integrated video, shared video memory, etc. don't help games look their best. Some have proprietary parts, meaning you can't just freely upgrade teh machine - you have to buy parts from them, usually at higher cost.
They're not bad machines when you recognize their limitations. I've got a Dell, and I ahve no problems with it. Big thing I like about my Dell is it's quiet - you don't even notice it's running much of the time. However, it's got a non-standard size of motherboard in it, so my upgrade options are limited, so I'll have to buy new to get something better. Instead, I'm building my own.
So, if you want the Extreme Edition with a GeForce 6800, 21" LCD, 4 SATA hard drives in RAID 0, water cooled with a hand painted case, LEDs throughout, etc. be prepared to shell out several thousand dollars. If you learn what you do and don't need, you can save a ton, and upgrade later when prices come down.
www.ibuypower.com
Is where I got my computer for 850 bucks at the end of the summer:
AMD Athlon 3000+ 64 bit
512 MB DDR
GeForce 5700Le 256 mb
80 gig HD
Good prices, well built, not the best, but good if you're on a budget.
damn....
nice site. Thanks for the link.
People who have to create conspiracy and hate threads to further a cause lacks in intellectual comprehension of diversity.
I just upgraded two days ago, i dont remember all my parts price but i will try to put them up:
AMD 64 3000+ was about $120
ABIT board was $250 i think
1GB dual channel ddr was i think $200
120gb sata hdd i am gonna say $250 but it was probably cheaper
70gb satahdd $100
nvidia geforce6800 $400
soundblaster audigy zs gamer edition $120
Lite-On dvdr+rw cdr+rw $100
case+pwsupply $89 (raidmax)
misc/wires probably around $25/30
oh yeah and $14.99 for floppy (yes it is usefull since you have to load drivers for SATA hdds)
Viewsonic VA520 15" flatpanel or flatscreen i forget what they call it when the whole thing is flat lol. $500
Total estimated $2000
Dont forget this was bought over a LONG period of time. did i mension LONG
Not including my monitor I spent $750 on my computer. Just upped my ram to 1 gig about a month ago for a additional $80. I always build my own machines, and having a hook up at a local computer store really reduces my costs.
Anyone who spends over $3000 for a gaming PC now is most likely:
1. Has little knowledge about computers
2. Too much money to spend (rich bastards )
3. Wants the best of the best computers (Similar to #2)
Anyways, I need to upgrade my comp, it's just around $1000 when I bought it (i dunno, few years ago)
Bout 1700 or so...Almost 4 years old.
Just over 500gb storage
Can still play all the games... doom3 , Hl2, Eq2, Wow...
Gotta build a new workhorse though.
just ordered all the parts for a new one
Raidmax case with PSU..............$50
nForce 4 mobo.........................$190
amd athlon64 3500...................$280
1 GB dual channel RAM..............$145
19" LCD monitor.......................$309
CD/RW drive............................$35
2.1 speakers............................$30
wireless LAN card.....................$30
thermaltake wireless
keyboard and mouse.................$60
XP home..................................$95
200 GB SATA HDD....................$150
ATi radeon x700 pro
256 MB GDDR3..........................$200
buncha extra fans......................$10
sound card................................$0 (not really an issue for me)
s&h...........................................a crapload
total..........................................$1584 + a crapload
might need a better power supply (another $60) but i'll see how things go with this one
Make of it what you will.