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Need help in making cheap computer
So I poured a ton of money into my laptop, finding out that it is now damaged through overheating problems (attempted cleaning as well as always used a cooling fan). So now I am looking for something that is very cheap (preferably around $600). A laptop would be awesome again yet I don't really want to run into permanent overheating damages again. A desktop would also work. The only requirment is to be able to play ArcheAge on mid graphic powers.
Any help would be great, as I have no idea what I'm doing!
Comments
Gaming laptops are fundamentally a proposition of too much heat in too little space. Gaming laptops have much shorter life expectancies than gaming desktops in part because of this. Desktops also start out at a much higher level of performance and give you the option to upgrade or replace individual components rather than having to replace the entire machine all at once if something goes awry or it isn't fast enough anymore, and that also can add years to a desktop's useful life.
Desktops have more heat than laptops, but vastly more space, too, making it easy to keep all but the highest end gaming desktops properly cooled. If you really want a laptop, you could get this and upgrade to an A10-5750M or perhaps a 1080p monitor:
http://www.shopping.hp.com/en_US/home-office/-/products/Laptops/HP-ENVY/E1U67AV?HP-ENVY-15z-j100-CTO-Notebook-PC-ENERGY-STAR-
And that won't cause the heat problems that higher end gaming laptops are prone to, but neither will it perform as well. In a desktop, you can clock the same chip much higher for much greater performance, and still readily fit your budget.
If you've only used a laptop in the past and are going to move to a desktop, you'll have to buy new desktop peripherals: keyboard, mouse, speakers, surge protector, and monitor. That can easily eat up $200+ of a budget, but you can keep the peripherals if you upgrade or replace the computer in the future. If you already have decent peripherals available, then $600 goes much further and can get you a decent enough gaming desktop if you build it yourself.
Well, I would put the main focus on the graphics card, you can always increase ram memory and get more harddrives later. A cheap I5 CPU will do the job fine since most games today mainly uses the GPU. Same thing with the screen, you can get a cheap one at first and get an expensive one later if you feel you need one.
A second thing worth not saving a few bucks on is the PSU, a cheap PSU can fry everything and it usually uses more electricity than a good one.
I would get a rather small harddrive first, but one with at least acceptable speed since the system will run on it, like a Seagate barracuda 500Gig or something similar.
And since you already have a windows license from your laptop, use it and just download the install disc for free from Microsoft, that is a hundred bucks more to put on the GFX card.
Assembling a computer from parts isn't hard. The hard part is knowing what parts to buy. If you can plug in a monitor, keyboard, and mouse outside of the case, then you can plug in memory modules, SATA cables, and so forth inside the case. The most daunting part is attaching the CPU heatsink, but there, if it's a little crooked or some such, it doesn't matter at all. You do need a Phillips screwdriver (the end looks like a +), and it's nice to have an anti-static wrist strap, though the latter isn't really necessary.
As for what parts to get, here you go:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128689
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819113331
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231655
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148694
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811147023
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139027
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827136270
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832416776
That comes to $570 including shipping, and before $30 in mail-in rebates. Do use the promo codes on the CPU, memory, case, and optical drive.
On your budget, you're going to use integrated graphics at first. But it will be fast integrated graphics, and would probably roughly keep pace with a $60 discrete card--and without having to buy the discrete card, which is the point of using integrated graphics.
You do have a clear upgrade path, however. If you later decide that you need a faster video card, you buy a video card and plug it in, and then you have a faster video card. I would recommend trying the integrated graphics first, though, as if you're happy with medium graphics, it should offer that or better in nearly every game ever made.
I also picked a 240 GB SSD for you to start. If you later decide that you need more capacity, it's easy to buy a 1 TB or 2 TB or whatever hard drive later and add it. I do recommend getting an SSD first, though, as it's much harder to add an SSD later if you started with a hard drive, as you want the OS and your main programs to run on the SSD.
The motherboard probably won't recognize the memory as being 2133 MHz; it will probably default to 1333 MHz or some such. It will be easy to change it in the BIOS, but do note that you'll have to increase the voltage and latency timings, as well.
If you add a discrete video card later, I'd change the memory to 1866 MHz, 1.5 V, and latency timings of 9-11-11-27 or so at that time, as the extra memory speed only matters if you're using integrated graphics.
Now I am not exactly computer savvy when it comes to technical details. So pretty much the parts that are not in bold, completely flew over my head. But one other quick question, which is something i could probably figure out myself. But i already own a digital copy of Windows 8 (I got the student discount) if I transfer that over to a dvd disc or usb that should run perfectly fine then right? Anyways thank you so much for the help. it'll be great to have a desktop that'll work as well as actually fun to build my first computer!
Legally, no the student edition won't transfer.
There is a very good chance it will work though. It may po up asking you to call Microsoft, where you just say your last computer died, and this was what you got back on replacement.
I also recommend starting with the SSD.
For an OS, the key is the license, not the DVD. Outside of multi-use licenses, which it's very unlikely that you have, a license can only be used once. If you have 100 valid license keys, you can use the same DVD to install Windows 8.1 on 100 different computers, provided that you use a different license key for each. But if you don't have a valid license key, a DVD doesn't do you any good unless you're looking to pirate software.
If you have a valid Windows 8.1 license that has never been used on another computer, then yes, you can use it on your new desktop and save money that way. But it's not legal to say, hey, I've got a license that I used for my old computer, so I'll reuse it for my new computer.
Don't worry about those too much. It is better to not mess with it than to mess it up and have a headache trying to figure out how to revert your changes.
The performance difference from memory timings shouldn't be too significant for gaming purposes.
Do keep in mind the PC build Quizzical made is a low-end, budget system. The performance will be adequate for more MMOs and you should be able to play most other games at low or medium settings.
Well, you are allowed to upgrade your computer though and keep the same license so the rules are a bit fuzzy there. What is really a new computer and what is a something upgraded?
If you're switching from a laptop to a desktop, it's a new computer.
Microsoft normally regards changing the motherboard as being a new computer. If you have to change the motherboard because the old one died, they'll generally let you do that, but replacing everything else at the same time is really a new computer. People say that you can often call Microsoft, lie to them, and get them to activate the old license on your new computer; I think Microsoft is trying to avoid bad publicity from refusing to activate a license in a situation where they really should, and thus erring on the side of allowing more than they say they will.
Regarding the use of Windows 8 say versus previous versions of Windows see the following link:
http://www.tomshardware.com/answers/id-2133456/reused-windows-license-custom-build.html
The Windows 8.1 OEM version is often referred to as the Builders version. You are allowed to transfer that version between new computers but it can only ever been installed/active on a single computer at a time. This is a significant change from previous versions of windows in which the license was essentially tied to the first MB it was installed on.
With that said it's been a LONG time since I was a student in any official capacity so you'd have to look into what is allowed with that version of Windows.
As with Windows 7, Windows 8.1 has both an OEM version and a full version. The OEM version cannot be transferred, but the full version can. The OEM version is $100, whether for Windows 7 or for 8.1. The difference is that while the full version cost $200 for Windows 7, the full version of Windows 8.1 costs $120.
If you bought the full version the first time, then yes, you can transfer it. Would Microsoft give out the full version rather than OEM at a student discount price? I doubt it, but you could check.
Miguksaram is correct, Windows 8 is different.
OEM versions can transfer for Windows 8 only. I remember at one point in time the "Builder" edition and OEM versions were distinct (with very slight differences), but it looks like they have merged them together now.
Straight from the license agreement:
The student edition is still available, they have both a Windows 8 Full Pro and Windows 8 Pro Upgrade:
The good news is it's still available and you can buy it up to five times a year. If you got the Full edition, your good to go.
The bad news is if it's the Upgrade edition, that means it follows the rules of whatever host OS you upgraded, and editions prior to Windows 8 only allowed you to transfer licenses with the "Full" license, not an OEM license.
Here is a link to the full edition
http://www.microsoftstore.com/store/msusa/en_US/pdp/Windows-8.1-Pro-for-Students/productID.288769600
Yeah, Microsoft is pretty explicit about it if you dig down into the license agreement. Replacement of the motherboard for any reason except Warranty replacement/repair is considered a "new computer".
You can swap pretty much everything else out though, although too much at once will trigger the "reactivation" popup. Replacement of the motherboard will always retrigger reactivation.
A laptop for gaming is a bad choice unless you just must have the mobility.