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Best place to buy pre-made computers?
I've bought 2 Dells, my most recent one being 1.5 yrs old now. My first Dell was great, but Dell customer service has went downhill and my latest computer seems buggy. So I am hesitant about buying another rig from Dell. My first computer lasted from 2002-2006 and I used it to play MMORPGs that entire 4 years. I had to upgrade once. I've had to upgrade once already and have only had this rig for 1.5 yrs. Pretty sad, but I blame myself for not knowing more about hardware last time. Dell sold me a gaming rig with a 475 watt Power supply, which made it to where I couldn't upgrade to a better graphics card than a ATI x1650.
I DO NOT WANT TO BUILD MY OWN RIG. I thought I shoudl get that out of the way now. I don't want the hassle of doing it, nor do I want to learn how to do it or take the risk of making a mistake.
So what is the best company to buy a gaming computer from?
MMORPG's w/ Max level characters: DAoC, SWG, & WoW
Currently Playing: WAR
Preferred Playstyle: Roleplay/adventurous, in a sandbox game.
Comments
Gateway made my current computer you can talk to them on the phone and tell them exactly what you want the computer to do so far so good i only have good things to say about it so far ( after a year and a half)
It depends on you what you are willing to pay. If you are willing to spend the money, alienware (or one of the other elite game cpu makers) is the way to go. If you need to watch the budget tigerdirect has some decent deals on gaming rigs.
Okay, well I can understand your hesitancy to build your own. For some of us it's as easy as a Snap-Tite model kit, but not for everyone. Now, you said last time you bought a comp you didn't know much about hardware. How about now? Although you don't want to build one, do you know how the parts work? For example, do you know how to match a cpu with a motherboard? If you have at least the fundamental knowledge, then you can still "build you own" so to speak by picking and choosing what you want and then having it built. Nvidia has some great gaming rigs and a "pick your part" system to get the rig you want.
www.slizone.com/object/slizone_buyprebuilt_us2.html
If you are able to do small upgrades yourself such as adding memory and changing graphic cards, then try a pre-built from TigerDirect www.tigerdirect.com/
And don't buy from Alienware. They are now owned and operated by Dell, and the lack of quality for the price shows.
www.cyberpowerpc.com/
http://www.soesucks.net/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=10
^thats or ibuypower.com
Building your own is definately the cheapest option. However, I only suggest this to ppl who have multiple pc's to work with. Why? ecause you dont get a warranty on it.. you do on the parts, but that can take months to send in and get an exchange.
My experience with Dell and Gateway are both very good. Gateway should run a tad less. Alienware as stated above is still every bit as expensive as it always was, and run by Dell now. Skip it. Dell themselves and their Dell brand PC's offer a crap ton of bang for the buck. The reason I say not to go with Alienware is that your dumping a lot of unnecessary cash into the name, and not gettng nearly as much for your dollar as you could with a regular Dell system.
Gateway , right now, looks like the way to go however. 1499.99 for a vista home premium system, with 4 gigs of ram, and 512mb 8800 graphics card, and top of the line technology including 1 T worth of HD (2 500gig drives in Raid 0 format). Go with this if your looking to buy right now. Good luck, and happy gaming!
Take a look at www.Newegg.com this is where i go for basically all my upgrades (although i build my own comps). The nice thing about this site is there is alot of customer feedback so you can see how others like the products. They have completely pre-made comps to every part needed to build your own. From my experience they give out some of the best deals for parts, and im sure their pre-made comps are reasonable too. I've yet to have a bad experience ordering from them. hope that helps.
Protip: If someone does NOT list at least one positive and one negative about the game they are critiquing, its best to ignore the post.
I've seen a few decent PCs at www.overclockers.co.uk
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MMOs that I'm waiting for:
WAR
Aion
SGW
TCoS
Darkfall
STO
I have gotten comps from both cyberpower and ibuypower and havent evr had a problem with either one, both great places. Cyberpower is aliyttle cheaper tho (atleast with mine). but they all have sales going around all the time for gaming PCs so just keep an eye out
get one of these and your set for awhile.
http://www.falcon-nw.com/
I know about power supplies, graphic cards, and memory. I also know how processing speed affects gaming. Other than that, I don't know much. I plan to spend around $1,500 probably. Maybe more if it is really worth it.
I know I want a powersupply that can run a DX10 compatable graphics card. I also want a graphics card that I won't need to replace for another year or two. I would like to have good memory for my computer too. I have DDR 2 RAM right now. How much of a difference is there between DDR92 and DDR3? I haven't found any pre-builts with DDR3 RAM. I want a computer that has 4 slots available for 1 Gig of RAM (each slot holds a 1 gig stick). I don't know what size hard-drive is best for what I do, but I know I want to play the most graphic intensive games on the market and I save a lot of documents I create for College and presentations. I don't want to buy a hard-drive that I would never get full use out of or a processor core that I wouldn't get full use from. I buy a computer every 3-4 years it seems, unless I have a computer that can be upgraded to last longer. That is what's wrong with my current computer. I have the best memory and graphics card that I can get for it. (475 w PS).
I don't know any games that uses Quad Cores and few that even gets full use out of Dual Cores. So unsure where to go with that one. I do know I want Vista, so I can run DX10 graphics. I do know I want RAM that can handle any game that is coming out this year. I do know I want a processor that can handle all of this. I do know that I want a hard-drive that has enough space to download 2-3 MMORPGs, and is good for normal use of computers. I do know that I want the best DX10 graphics compatible card I can get. I do know that I want a powersupply that can handle all of this and has the power to handle future upgrades.
What I don't know is the answer to any of the above. I also don't know what motherboards are good for what I want. I've never bought a computer with a sound card and never felt I needed one. Onboard sound has always been sufficient for any MMORPGs I've played.
Any suggestions would be appreciated and I do realize you all are doing me a great service by helping and that it benefits you none at all. So I thank you for any help and advice you can give. I've bought all my upgrades in the past 3-4 years from Tigerdirect and like their customer support.
MMORPG's w/ Max level characters: DAoC, SWG, & WoW
Currently Playing: WAR
Preferred Playstyle: Roleplay/adventurous, in a sandbox game.
You do some more reading. Download the Vista tweaking companion and the computer is explained pages 18-21 (.pdf) found here: http://www.tweakguides.com/TGTC.html
CURRENTLY PLAYING SHAIYA