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New PC
Zsavooz
Member Posts: 532
I've decided to purchase a new PC and was looking for some help. I have a decent budget so price isn't that critical although I do not want to exceed $5k. That being said, where do i go? I tried buying from Velocity Micro, but it arrived dead on arrival. I was given a full refund. I'm considering going with Dell's XPS 710 although I know it isn't hardcore, I can "trust" Dell to be around in three years whereas some of the boutique companies may not. Also, I'm going Intel Duo Core 6700, is it worth upgrading to the Extreme Duo Core? Any help would be appreciated. Hope I'm in the right forum.
Comments
They came from the sea and they came from the sky, Captain America is going to die!
I reccomend you set aside $2k for a great Apple 30" Display. It'll rue the day.
- CaesarsGhost
Lead Gameplay and Gameworld Designer for a yet unnamed MMO Title.
"When people tell me designing a game is easy, I try to get them to design a board game. Most people don't last 5 minutes, the rest rarely last more then a day. The final few realize it's neither fun nor easy."
and a 30" Apple Display
- CaesarsGhost
Lead Gameplay and Gameworld Designer for a yet unnamed MMO Title.
"When people tell me designing a game is easy, I try to get them to design a board game. Most people don't last 5 minutes, the rest rarely last more then a day. The final few realize it's neither fun nor easy."
DO NOT BUY A DELL. I hear Dells are bad to upgrade in the future, you have to go through the company, or something like that. And in my personal opinion, I think they use cheap materials. For the Dell XPS, some one can make a computer better than that for a cheaper price.
For the Core 2 Duos.... At the moment, Intel Core 2 Duos are the best processors out there. (not an opinion, fact. I have done my research for my own build) Intel has redesigned their dual processors, AMD has yet to do something like that(only a matter of time) I'm not sure if the plain Duos or the Duo Extreme is better.
Buying a pre-built/custom, there are a lot of companies out there. Just looking in a PC Gamer mag i see, Vigor, Abs, CyberPower, Digital Storm, iBuyPower. I don't see 1 in this mag but there is alos Falcon North West i think, or is it NorthEast?? Just read reviews, if you see a lot of people that hate it, then don't get it.
What ever you get, just do not jump into it, take your time to pic out the best computer for you.
It took my 2 months to pic out my parts and get the $$ and I now have a computer that can play Supreme Commander with all the settings on high with anti- aliasing on with little lag, only get lag when my armies are pwning...or getting pwned...
And for Vista.... Its a new Microsoft product. I've learned from Windows ME that one should never get a new Microsoft product that just came out, wait till the major bugs are fixed. I'm not going to think about getting it till 2008.
Hardware discussion
Someone posts a "what computer should I build" topic every other day, and most get replies with lists of what to buy from Newegg.
Newegg
Here's a typical "new computer" thread:
New computer
It's not hard to build a computer but if you are still afraid that you break it you can pay a local store to build it. Even then it's much cheaper (I'm talking about over 1000$)
If you don't wish to take the time and effort to build your own, here is a decent online computer store. You can configure it any way you like, they'll build it and ship it to you.
www.cyberpowerpc.com/Default.asp
www.linktechcomputers.net
bought from them. they are great customer service and cheaper prices than i've found anywhere else on the web. They are still new so i think the site is being updated still. But just go to the intel/amd config page and get the computer you want. 200-350$ cheaper than cyberpc
Yeah, if you are not comfortable building your own PC it is definately better to let someone build it for you. To be honest it is not that hard, but its better to get something that works than something that doesn't. It is frustrating to pay a lot of money for something that doesnt work.
I would research what major parts you want and tell someone to build a system using those parts. It will be better and cheaper than going with Alienware.
anandtech.com/
Anandtech I believe is the most trusted and respected IT hardware site out there. They have tons of info that could help you. They have reviews, they have buyers guides, they have recocmended price/peformace parts, they have price search engines, they have articles, and they have forums that talk about everything. Use this site to help you decide what parts you wish to purchase.
storagereview.com/
Storagereview mainly focuses on hard drives. They have a performance database, reliability database, leaderboard, and forums to help ya.
In my oppinion, 5K is way to much to spend on a gaming rig. You would be better off spending around 2-3K and making sure your parts stay current in the future. A new video card every year does wonders to keep your rig current. Plus, year old video cards still sell well on ebay. That will help pay for your yearly video card purchase. There are certain areas where you should not skimp. It is important to buy a quality video card, processor, motherboard, and powersupply. These are the heart and soul of your computer. I did not mention memory because even generic memory these days is rock solid as long as it is compatable. Often, generic memory uses the same chips as brand name memory. So, don't skimp on certain things and be carefull not to waste money on things that do not give performance increases compared to thier cost.
SLI is a waste of money. You pay more for a SLI motherboard. You pay for 2 video cards and you do not get double the performance. Just get one really good quality video card.
RAID is a waste of money. Do not let anyone talk you into buying more than one hard drive. Paying for multiple hard drives does not double your perfomance. Get one good fast Raptor WD1500 if you do not need storage... or a Deskstar 7K500 if you need storage.
Do not buy a "gaming network card". Most motherboards these days have the NIC (network interface card) onboard. You will notice no difference in games with a "gaming network card".
Do not buy a "physics card". In the future a physics card might be worth buying, but not many games support the technology yet. Don't spend your money on this technology untill it is well supported.
Monitor choice is critical to a good gaming experieince. Pay close attention to what resolutions the games you play offer. If you get a LCD you will want your monitor to have a native resolution that your games offer. Many widescreen monitor users are horrified to find out that thier favorate games do not support thier uber expensive new monitor.
It is preferance, but I do not bother with add-on sound cards. I prefer using quality headphones to any 8.1 digital dolby sound system. Headphones with built in microphone plugged into the onboard sound on a quality motherboard is cheaper, easier, and better for gaming. Your oppinion may vary.
Unless you know what you are doing... don't buy cooling upgrades for overclocking. You do not need additional cooling fans or heatsinks at stock speeds.
Goodluck!
"The new age is upon us, yet the past refuses to rest in its shallow grave."