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Is this Fry's Black Friday PC a Good Deal?
I want to buy a PC for my son to play WoW on. He raids and therefore requires a PC that wont lag with high video settings.
Frys has the following PC on sale this Friday. Will this machine play WoW with high video settings and no lag?
http://us.gateway.com/gw/en/US/content/model/PT.GCRP2.001
Thanks.
EDIT: Fogot to mention it will be $348
Comments
That will definately run WoW and probably on high, if not max, video settings.
It appears to be a decent deal.
No, that's not a good computer for gaming, for a large number of reasons.
Thanks for the responses.
What my son really wants is a latop I guess.
Do you think the one will work? http://www.tomsguide.com/us/black-friday-shopping-tech-deals,review-1712-5.html
Unless I missed it, there doesn't seem to be any info about the graphics and graphics is where you'll need the power for games.
My personaly opionion: If you are going to buy cheap, buy a tower because you can atleast update it. If you buy a laptop, you are all but stuck with what you bought until you purchase another. A tower, you can piece-meal the hardware with small upgrades to keep it working over time.
Laptops are good but only if you buy top of the line, other than that, prepare to use them for word processing.
It will run what he is specifiying, and quite well too.
Don't underestimate WoW.
Even my 4870 had trouble running it with dynamic shadows in some Northrend zones (I stopped playing before Cataclysm). Sholazar based was absolute death to framerates with that option turned on.
That said, an A6-3600 should do a decent job there, and allow the game to be run on pretty good settings (not the highest settings, but definitely fairly decent), and at a decent resolution, while still keeping a decent framerate, and if $350 is your budget, I doubt you'll do any better.
I also agree with the above poster; skip the laptop
I am a little concerned about the power supply though. 220W maximum? That APU can pull 110-150W when stressed, and while the latter is an artificial stress test, I wouldn't want even a constant 50% draw on what's probably a low quality PSU. It might work, but there's a chance it won't, especially down the road.
WoW ran like crud on this computer... 9500gts, i don't know if the comps he linked have a better gfx card then that.. but for some reason WoW ran the worse out of all the MMO's i've played on this rig (AION, EvE, Rift, ect.) I know it shouldn't be a demanding game based off the gfx but man.. It was unplayable with the fps i was getting.
Honestly.. It seems like pre-built computers are usually rip offs.. I'd suggest peiceing out the parts on new egg or something and building the computer you're self.. Right now im in the process of updateing a computer i bought from Best Buy for $1,200 three years ago when at the time I could've built myself a better computer for 50% of what I paid; and i probably wouldn't be stuck having to update it now..
New egg also has some good DIY builds for around $500 that would play many games; even those that require more juice then WoW would.e
edit: and as someone mentioned that gate way has a 220w psu.. It can't be running an all that graphics intensive card with a psu like that.
Currently Playing:
Rift + Starcraft II + Gears Of War 3 Beta
You can probably get some good deals on cyber monday too, if you dont find anything tonight or tomorrow. I was checking out tigerdirect and they have a sale going on right now as well that you might want to check out.
You're going about this all wrong. Let's back up and talk about first principles.
What sort of hardware do you want in a computer that you buy? Do you want hardware that people who know quite a bit about computers might buy for their own personal use? There is a good bit of hardware geared toward enthusiasts who want a computer that performs well, is reliable, is easy to fix if it breaks, is easy to upgrade later, and doesn't really cost all that much.
Or do you want hardware that is what OEMs have figured out is what they can convince people who are pretty clueless about computers to buy? Performance doesn't matter much unless it's so slow that the buyers is convinced that it is broken. The same is true of reliability, as they really just don't want it to break badly enough that you'll demand warranty service. Ease of repair or upgrades are completely irrelevant. Indeed, when the old computer isn't performing well enough, they'd rather have you buy a new one outright than spend $50 or $100 to upgrade this or that part and get another year of life out of the old computer.
This isn't a trick question. When it's put that way, it should be obvious that you'd rather have the former. The problem for people who don't know that much about hardware is how to get the former rather than the latter.
You're looking in the wrong place. People who know much about computer hardware don't buy prebuilt computers like that. They just don't. The prebuilt computer market is 100% targeted at people who are clueless. OEMs will cut corners everywhere that they think they can get away with it. If they don't tell you exactly what part they're using, it probably means it's the cheapest one they could find that technically meets their claimed specs without being quite so horrible that even someone clueless about computers will realize that it is broken.
So how can you avoid the latter? For starters, don't buy a computer that doesn't tell you exactly what parts it uses. You might thin, but this lists all sorts of specs. The problem is that it doesn't. OEMs have figured out that people want to see a bunch of specs listed even if they don't understand them. So they've gotten very good at listing a bunch of stuff that gives you the illusion that they're telling you what you're getting, without actually telling you what you're getting.
For example, what hard drive does the computer in the original post contain? It takes four lines to talk about the hard drive. But it never actually tells you what hard drive is in there. It spends 11 lines talking about the motherboard (and you probably won't figure out which 11 lines those are), but never actually tells you what motherboard it is. The only hardware component in the whole machine that it actually tells you what it is is the APU. It takes eight lines to do so, of which the one that says "A6-3600" makes the other seven completely superfluous.
So, how do you get something better? A lot of enthusiasts will buy individual parts from a site like New Egg and then assemble the parts themselves. That's actually easier to do than you might think, but if you're not up for it, that's all right.
Another alternative is to get a computer built to order. Some web sites will let you pick out parts, and then build a computer using whatever parts you pick. The better sites will typically mark up the parts about 10%-20% for their service; some will mark up parts considerably more. Still, this lets you pick good quality parts, without having to assemble the computer yourself. If you don't know what parts to get, then you can get help here. If you want a nice gaming computer on a big budget, then there are quite a few boutique vendors that will sell you one. For a gaming computer on a tight budget, AVA Direct is the only one I'm aware of with a suitable selection of parts.
Now, there's still the question of the price tag. Budget gaming computers start at around $600 excluding peripherals. If you can't afford that, but need to fit something into a $400 budget, then what you picked in the original post is actually pretty good. Running games at high settings will be out of the question for many games, but most games will run pretty well at low to moderate settings. The computer won't be very reliable, and won't perform very well. The first time you run into something that doesn't perform well, you'll probably have to either deal with it or replace the machine outright, rather than being able to fix it with a $100 upgrade. Those are the sacrifices you make to fit a computer into a $400 budget.
For the desktop versus laptop bit, unless there is some reason why it needs to be a laptop, you should get a desktop. Desktops offer better performance, greater reliablility, better upgrade opportunities, better ergonomics, and a lower price tag, among other advantages. Laptops offer portability. Sometimes the advantage of portability outweighs all else, but that usually isn't the case for gaming purposes. The notable exceptions are people who travel a lot and want to play games from their hotel, and people who don't care much about performance, price, or other such factors, but mainly want a slick form factor.
There are basically two classes of gaming laptops. One is laptops with the performance you want in order to run games at high settings, and those start around $1000-$1200. The other is Llano-based systems that are much lower power and will run most games at moderate settings, but often not at high settings, and those start around $500.
If you'd like help with picking out parts on something nice, I'd be happy to help.
Hmmm. I can say that there are definitely better computers to get there. I worked(past tense) at the Fry's in Austin and i can say that for about $100-150 more you can get a much better machine. That and A6 isnt that great of a processor. Though it is Quad core the i3 beats it out in certain areas...that and any i5 system will clearly destroy it. I remember there was an i5 that started at 599...but i think it was on sale. I dont keep up with their prices anymore since i dont work there...but I'd definitely do some more looking. Make sure it has a pci-e slot too xD so you can expand later. and if youre in austin....dont talk to a little asian girl named amy lai....like her last name says she will "lai"(lie) to you....in a heartbeat.
MMO's are the ark of the gaming world. Let it take us in new directions.
What I find with these pre-built computer deals is, you have to watch out for what they don't tell you rather than what they tell you. example that graphics card could be intergrated and if it is thats a big no no for a gaming rig even if its a low budget one. And anyhow a psu like what they have on offer with this should be setting alarm bells off with you. You can do so much better for your buck. And stay away from laptops unless your willing to pay the money for a good gaming one.
it would most likely run wow on high settings, but FPS might be a tad bit low
AMD Phenom(tm) II X4 955 Processor (4 CPUs), ~3.2GHz
6142MB RAM
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 260
Antec Gaming Phenom
Windows Vista Home Premium
That computer would run WoW but so could my Dell Dimension 4600.
Yeah but the OP is asking if that computer would run WOW on highest settings without lag, i think it could handle the game on high settings but lag and low low fps will factor in, when i played wow i only got 35-45 fps on ultra settings with my rig
AMD Phenom(tm) II X4 955 Processor (4 CPUs), ~3.2GHz
6142MB RAM
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 260
Antec Gaming Phenom
Windows Vista Home Premium
ok, so I don't play WoW, but that PC is not a gaming rig. I know that WoW doesn't take much, but lets take a look at a few things. 5400rpm HDD = slow. 220W PSU = not enough power to run a decent gaming card and he stated he wants the graphics to run on high setting. His son is a raider, so he's not running WoW without addons. This is not a PC for his needs, and throwing money away on parts he's going to change out to turn it into the PC he needs is silly.
Listen to Quizzical.
All of my posts are either intelligent, thought provoking, funny, satirical, sarcastic or intentionally disrespectful. Take your pick.
I get banned in the forums for games I love, so lets see if I do better in the forums for games I hate.
I enjoy the serenity of not caring what your opinion is.
I don't hate much, but I hate Apple© with a passion. If Steve Jobs was alive, I would punch him in the face.
i know but, i was just answering the question he gave, i would'nt personally *buy* a pre built computer, i have and always will build mine, for one it's cheaper, and i love to put them together, but yeah that computer is by far no where near a gaming computer, i think it would run the game on high Maybe, but Ultra settings would burn that computer to the ground lol
AMD Phenom(tm) II X4 955 Processor (4 CPUs), ~3.2GHz
6142MB RAM
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 260
Antec Gaming Phenom
Windows Vista Home Premium
I wasn't responding to your post directly, more just the OP and a few of the complimentary posts throughout the thread. I usually don't even bother with hardware threads because Quizzical seems willing to put out a lot of effort in helping people, a lot more then I would bother with. I just see all the problems that will arise from buying that particular system, and I don't recommend it at all.
All of my posts are either intelligent, thought provoking, funny, satirical, sarcastic or intentionally disrespectful. Take your pick.
I get banned in the forums for games I love, so lets see if I do better in the forums for games I hate.
I enjoy the serenity of not caring what your opinion is.
I don't hate much, but I hate Apple© with a passion. If Steve Jobs was alive, I would punch him in the face.
Understood.
AMD Phenom(tm) II X4 955 Processor (4 CPUs), ~3.2GHz
6142MB RAM
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 260
Antec Gaming Phenom
Windows Vista Home Premium
This is one of the better deals out there right now.......
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883229284
it is essentially a custom built PC not a mass produced model, it just so happens that this company has already custom built it for you. The good news is like some others posting have said you can upgrade this system much easier later down the road since everything is modular. They don't hide the specs, you know exactly what you are getting. This has a i5 CPU and 6000 series Radeon GPU which will last you much longer and provide much better performance than that AMD based Gateway. I guess it all depends on how much you want to spend. Can't really beat this system for the price. I haven't done the math yet but I think it would be hard to build a system like this for much cheaper.
Another one very similar, $20.00 less but 3.00 Ghz Quad Core instead of 3.3 Ghz Quad Core. Think 300Mhz X 4 = 1.2Ghz difference on CPU. This case may be more to your liking though since it is more basic and not all riced out with the window and lights.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883227370
Yeah that is actually a pretty decent pre built rig
AMD Phenom(tm) II X4 955 Processor (4 CPUs), ~3.2GHz
6142MB RAM
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 260
Antec Gaming Phenom
Windows Vista Home Premium
Is that so? Well then, perhaps you can divine the specs, since I don't see them. What power supply is that? What motherboard? What hard drive? The reason they don't tell you is that they don't want you to know that it's junk.
-----
The original poster can, should, and probably will assemble his own computer from parts. There's no real need to try to find the least bad prebuilt computer that is out of his budget anyway.
Yes it is so, just not on Newegg.com and yes I will happily "divine," I mean define them. So while Newegg.com may not show the specs, CyberPower does. If you go to their site and put together the same config you will see they clearly tell you the specs for all the possible choices. A little research goes a long way. I don't think bridging that gap is too hard personally but could see how someone would not know where to look if they couldn't think for themselves. Also the OP wouldn't be asking this question if he knew how to build his own PC's. That should be an obvious inference from the context of the post. I wouldn't say this is even a "least bad system" as much as it's a damn good system for the price that you couldn't build for any cheaper on your own. If you think spending more money and time to build the same system is worth it, then your logic clearly defies any common sense. Also please define what junk is? ASUS and CoolerMaster both are known to make good products, even if these aren't necessarily the highest end options they offer these should still be good components. The specs on those are as follows:
Motherboard: Asus P8H61-M Intel H61 Chipset DDR3 mATX Mainboard w/ UEFI, 7.1 HD Audio, GbLAN, USB 2.0, SATA-II, 1 Gen2 PCIe, 2 PCIe X1 & 1 PCI [B3 Stepping]
Power Supply: One of two possible choices; 600 Watts - XtremeGear SLI/Crossfire Ready or the 600 Watts - Coolermaster Silent Pro 80 Plus Power Supply
Hard Drive: Well you got me on this one, they don't list who makes the drive but I would guess Western Digital based on most of their options.
Let's assume that you're right.
So you're going to pay for the aggressive turbo boost of the Core i5 2500, and then cripple that with an H61 motherboard? Right.
The power supply isn't the Cooler Master. That one is decent. It's the XtremeGear. And that's completely awful.
As for the hard drive, even if it is a WD, it surely isn't a Caviar Black, which is what you'd want.
The way I had it spec'd I didn't do any overclocking just standard config. From the user review's it appears the system doesn't ship with any overclocking or turbo boosting. With that said it should run fine and won't cripple anything. If they are wanting to overclock I wouldn't recommend a $599 system anyway. I have an i7 920 2.66Ghz running at 3.8Ghz but then again I paid for that and knew what I wanted exactly. This person is in a different situation and from what their needs and budget are a standard config is more than plenty.
As far as the PSU goes it's hard to say which one is in the system since I couldn't get the pricing to match the deal on Newegg. Let's assume it's the Xtreme brand then pay another $60 bucks and put a really good power supply in its place. I found these at Newegg and that would put you at $650-675 for the system with a good power supply. Still hard to build the same system for less than this.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139005
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341048
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817171052
As for the hard drive I do hear what you are saying and agree something like a WD Black is better. I've had WD Greens, Seagate NL35's, Seagate Barracudas, Maxtors back in the day etc. work fine for extended use and I've also had my fair share of drives that have died over the years whether abruptly or later in life. Unless you are trying to do a RAID config or need extreme read/writes for video encoding/decoding or some other use pretty much any SATA 7200rpm hard drive out these days will work fine for the average home user. I've had Raptors fail, so faster & better isn't always guaranteed reliability. I think it's a crapshoot with any of them which is why I have Blacks in a mirrored setup for my storage drives and an external that backs up the RAID array as an extra precaution but then again I'm paranoid.
But once again for someone looking to spend as little as possible on a good system there are trade offs on what you can get and if the worst thing about the system is it has a WD Green hard drive then either that needs to be accepted or the budget needs to increase. I also wonder what type of hard drive a Gateway, Dell, HP system would have in it? Probably nothing any better.
This machine could easily have an SSD added as the OS drive and use the 1TB as a storage drive later down the road and that would make it even that much more of a sweet gaming rig. You have to admit for the price it's a good deal and has madd potential. Feel like the 1TB might crap out? Back it up with a cheap external drive, which should be done anyway as I'm sure you would agree. Also, I can tell you know what you are talking about when it comes to hardware, been good debating with you. Well played sir, hope you see some of my points as well.