Buying A New Computer

[Mer_de_Noms]

Well, I posted a computer earlier that I was going to buy, but now I'm second guessing the price. I think I could get the same or close to performance for less.

So, does anyone have a computer in mind (good/great for gaming/movies)? Price isn't really an object, but nothing outrageous please.

 

[Prometheus]

3 Factors
Budget?
Windows or Mac?
Can you put together a computer?

 

[MeRcChRiS]

Might want to check out my threads in this forum if you need some help lol.

 

[sqrage]

I think you should look at: http://ibuypower.com/

 

[MeRcChRiS]

newegg.com or tigerdirect.com

 

[Rad]

$4,000? If you're planning to spend that much then don't worry about custom builds. You'll be spending so much its not even worth the few hundred you might be able to save compared to the warranties and support you'd get. Plus, with alienware you get a sick looking case.


But if you don't plan to blow all that money on a "godly" computer (that won't be in three years), you can build your own for a substantially less amount. Just note, some of the hardware Alienware uses is hard to get your hands on with a custom build.

Take for instance the Q9550 that comes with the alienware build you had. This is not currently available on Newegg, although the Q9650 is. Slightly improved performance, but its very price at around $1,050.

For a top of the line gaming PC, I would suggest:
2x2gb DDR2 800 memory $80
Q6600 2.4ghz cpu $250
EVGA 8800GTX 768mb gfx card $340

Then you can find a matching motherboard, pick out your size hard drive (Pay attention to Solid State drives for gaming, they operate much more quickly than standard HDD's). You'll also need a case, obviously, and perhaps a high quality sound card. Optical drives too, but you can get a decent one for $20 and it won't slow your game down since they load off your hard disk.

Also get a reliable power supply, especially with the 8800GTX. These things take massive amounts of power I suggest at least a 500watt PSU. You also should look at a gaming mouse/keyboard, and a 3ms or 5ms LCD monitor for smoothest gameplay. Don't forget about cooling if you plan to overclock, or just to keep your room cool. The 8800 series will warm up your room, overclocked or not.


If you are interested in building your own, its not very difficult. It's scary of course, but as long as you dont send a screwdriver through the mainboard you'll probably do fine... You'll end up saving at least around $2,000 compared to that alienware PC, but the alienware still has much better performance.

Are you really that serious about your gaming? I mean, the only games currently available with that high of demand are... well, Crysis. Which you can run crysis fine on an $800 PC. Just turn off some of the unnecessary effects like Anti-Aliasing and motion blur (which is really stupid to have in an FPS).


I really suggest you build it yourself, but if you want to show off your PC nothing accomplishes that better than alienware.


Of course, you can still build your own and have one very cool case


Edit:

Your might also be interested in the 9800 GX2 $580

 

[The Helper]

For that much money I would go to 3 or 4 of the computer shops around here and tell them I was thinking about the Alienware and what could they do for me that was comparable? That way I would have the warrantly of that shop plus each of the manufacturers warranty of the parts they use. I always do custom built from shops like that. The Shops also have some wicked licenses so you can get full XP and Office Installations from an OEM alot cheaper.

 

[enouwee]

With such a budget, you're looking too low. Thou difficult to find and the exact price tag being unknown, you could afford a Skulltrail box. Save some money for your power bill thou.

But rather than now wasting your money on a system whose computing power you don't need and that'll cost you a fraction in a year or two, why not spend half of it on high end components matching your needs as well as two qualitor LCD screens? Or a nice SSD (solid state disk), be it from SanDisk or another vendor.

Fast GPUs and CPUs, especially with lots of cores, are a waste of money, as their price sharply drops every few months when better models arrive.

 

[Mer_de_Noms]

A big reason for the Alienware was the case (heh -.-).

We've never had a "nice" computer. We're using a laptop here at the house, and it sucks. It's good for Photoshop and stuff, but its pretty much useless for anything else. Hell, running Warhammer 40K almost froze the whole thing with all the graphics running on the lowest possible setting. I played some stuff on an Alienware a couple years back, and loved it. I've been stuck on them ever since.

And the with games that have been coming out lately (Oblivion, F.E.A.R., Crisis, and soon Starcraft II), it looks like a high-end computer is the way to go. The graphics requirements are only gonna get higher from here.

I've never built a computer, or even ever seen one built, but if that could save some cash, I could give it a try. I'm sure there is help all over the internet, and we have a used computer/repair shop near here that I could probably get some help from too.

I'll hit up Best Buy and stuff like that to ask if they have anything comparable also.

Thanks a lot guys. I appreciate your time :shades:

___

Spoiler

Edit: Wow. I should've looked around a LOT more lol >.>

Anyway, is this a little better?

CD/DVD Drives: No Second Optical Drive Selected
Networking: Integrated Gigabit Network Adapter
Monitors: No Monitor Selected
Speakers: No Speakers Selected
Accessories: 1 Year Parts & Labor Warranty w/ 1 Year Onsite
Keyboards / Mice / Input: Logitech Black Optical Mouse PS/2
Accessories: No Gaming Headset Selected
Keyboards / Mice / Input: No Joystick Selected
Keyboards / Mice / Input: No Gamepad Selected
CD/DVD Drives: 52X32X52/16x CDRW/DVD Combo Drive
Wireless Networking: No Wireless Router
Hard Disk Drives: 500GB (2 X 250GB SATA 7.2K) RAID 0 Stripe
Hard Disk Drives: No Additional Storage Drive
Memory: Corsair TwinX 2GB PC6400 DDR2 Memory
Components: Integrated 7.1 Channel High Definition Audio
Video / Graphics Cards: No Physics Accelerator Card Selected
Software: Microsoft Windows XP Professional 32-Bit
Systemax PC: Systemax AMD Athlon 64 X2 Gaming PC
Removable Data Storage: 3.5" 1.44 MB Black Floppy Drive
Processors: AMD Athlon 64 X2 6000+ 3.0GHz Dual Core Processor
Computer Cases: Systemax Aluminum Black ATX Gaming Case
Keyboards / Mice / Input: Logitech Deluxe 250 Keyboard USB
Power Supplies: Ultra X3 800W Power Supply
Video / Graphics Cards: GeForce 8800 GTS 512MB PCI-Express Video
Motherboards: K9A2 AM2 790FX Platinum Motherboard

Total: $1,823.00

Keep in mind, I don't know a whole lot about all this stuff, so if anything could stand to be upgraded/downgraded, lemme know.

 

[Prometheus]

With 4k, I would personally goto IBuyPower and hit up me, Rad or Merc on messenger and we can help you configure a computer to your needs.
Computer building is not for someone whos never had some hard hardware (forgive my pun) experience. Also, I don't care what anyone says but unless your going to be playing games like Crysis or the really, really new games, you don't need Vista!

 

[Rad]

Well you need vista to enable DX10, which is pretty much the point of a new computer.

You can dual boot with XP too, but Vista really isn't that bad.

The only reason I switched back to XP is because Gmod and Empires would crash after a few hours, but that was running it from the XP partition, not a fresh install.

 

[Prometheus]

I find games running on Vista require double the RAM (CNC3 uses 512 on XP, 1GB on Vista) and while a single 2.0 Core for a game gets boosted to a 2.4 with vista.
I suggest dual boot actually, just run vista when you want to play DX 10 games.

 

[enouwee]

Hard Disk Drives: 500GB (2 X 250GB SATA 7.2K) RAID 0 Stripe
Memory: Corsair TwinX 2GB PC6400 DDR2 Memory
Processors: AMD Athlon 64 X2 6000+ 3.0GHz Dual Core Processor
Video / Graphics Cards: GeForce 8800 GTS 512MB PCI-Express Video
Motherboards: K9A2 AM2 790FX Platinum Motherboard

Total: $1,823.00

More than $1,800 for such a system? Looks like a bad ripoff to me, as these components are worth about $800.

And don't stripe your harddisks, that's not smart at all, unless you do regular backups.

 

[Prometheus]

Its the motherboard and video card that really boosted that price up, but its really over-expensive.
By the way, it was me who added you.

 

[Darthfett]

I built a full computer for just over $450, all off of Newegg.

AMD Athlong 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 4600+
ATI Radeon HD 2600 PRO (512 MB)
2.41 Ghz, 2.00GB of RAM
160 GB Hard drive

I already had the monitors though. (Dual screening with it, and I have yet to find something for my computer to be unable to do).

 

[Prometheus]

I suggest if you go AMD Dual Core, get a 5000+ Black Edition, other then the 6400+ Black Edition, its the best bang-for-your-buck.
Also, ATI Radon 3870s and 3850s are cheap so I would go for one of those, or an 8800GT.