New Computer Suggestions

[Coamenel]

Well I have finally started to give up home on my PC... Fixed the rebooting problem... but of coarse something else popped up. I worked on my computer for 14 hours in a row on saturday and I got it to work... well for the most part. After being on the computer for about 15 minutes programs wont open and I cant do really much of anything on the computer, i can't even reboot it. That part stinks, also I installed WoW and then tried to open it up and of coarse an error message. Some error message that I have never seen before. So I can't play WoW on my PC and I can only run programs for 15 minutes before I have to manually restart it. Computers can be our best friends at times and can be our worst enemies. So here is where I come for advice. I need to get a new computer but I don't have much money at all to spend on a new computer... College Student = Broke. So what are some good gaming computer out there that I can get for cheap? Would I be better off building my own computer from scratch? Well any suggestions would be much useful and I would appreciate very much.

 

[Coamenel]

I will spend what is necessary. If $500 is what I need then that is what I will spend... I don't really have much money at all so the cheaper the better, but I dont wan't to sacrifice all the quality. I dont want to get a $400 computer that is horrible but I don't want to spend $2000 either

 

[amusedtoe]

Oh please, I'll have to hurt you in you buy a pre-built one. Unless it's going to be me that you're paying all that markup too. I can even treat you as bad as those companies do if you want.

Couple of other key considerations. What do you play other then WoW, or is WoW it? Do you expect this to be able anything other then WoW now or in the future? Do you have realistic expectations out of what a very low level priced computer will do for you, even in an undemanding game such as WoW? Do you need a monitor, speakers, headphones, keyboard, or mouse? Do you need a copy of an OS? What else do you need your computer for? Do you know if your current case is standard ATX form factor and if the PSU is still good? Is aesthetics matter at all? Do you demand the use of one brand over the other? Do you have anything out of you current computer you are sure works, such as a CD drive, hard drive, sound card, etc., that can be canabalized and made do with for now?

Answer me that and your absolute bottome line and I'll point you to the very best computer you can get for what you want to spend. Plus with a reasonable budget it'll be one that you will be able to slowly upgrade as you can afford to and as future proof as possible to minimize future investment when you desire more power.

 

[LivingbyFaith]

Here is something for you to think about between builing a new computer or buying one from one from Dell, Gateway or who ever. If you go with Dell, Gateway they buy their parts in bulk and then you get a price brake off of the computer but not even the Techs on the phone will know who made the parts inside of it and if you were to want to upgrade a part then you would then more than likely have to buy it from them for alot more money. Also their computers come with programs that you just will never want so you are spending part of the day uninstalling those programs so they aren't taking up your hard drive space.
Now for if you were to build your own computer, in the long run it will cost more money, but you know who make every part in there, so if something starts going bad then you know who to go talk with and they will get it fixed better for you, also it will be easer to upgrade if you ever wanted to because you will know what part you are wanting to upgrade and who made it.
One thing you can do is look up some of the Mom and Pop shops for computers in your area and see what packages they offer, see what one looks good for you, the computers they can build are custom and you will know what parts are going in to those. They will know that the system is solid and if something is going strange then you can go back to them and talk with them and they can tell you what might be going wrong with it, and there systems should come with a 1 year warranty.
I hope this didn't confuse you

 

[[toj.cc]phantom]

Alienware....*drool*

 

[Coamenel]

I was strongly considering building my own. I already have a good video and sound card with nice speakers. A new monitor will be nice. Yes this computer will be a gaming computer and I will be running Windows. As for what games I will play, pretty much anything. Currently WoW is at the top of my list, but I am a college student in a small town school which means... There is never anything to do.... so gaming is the way to go.I would love something like alienware but I don't have 20k to spend lol. I would rather have a high-end performance machine with a bargain then an ultimate performance and shell out a few thousand. I was searching on tiger direct last night and saw some nice pre built computers on the site http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1539656
I like that one and its not too expensive, but it does not come with a monitor. I also looked at Dell's XPS http://configure.us.dell.com/dellstore/config.aspx?c=us&cs=19&fb=1&l=en&oc=DXPS400G1&s=dhs
that is a nice one and it comes with a monitor. Also this gateway was really nice
http://www.gateway.com/products/GConfig/proddetails.asp?system_id=fx510x&seg=hm
but it costs a little bit higher then I can spend. This is the computer I want to get tho
http://www.alienware.com/Configurat...?SysCode=PC-AURORA-ALX-R4&SubCode=SKU-DEFAULT
so any one who has 18k I can borrow please with all means let me know.
I would say my limit is $1200. I am a broke college student in Ohio. My mom is a broke teacher in California and my dad is a broke fork lift operator in Ohio. So needless to say I am broke. So the cheaper the better.

 

[Coamenel]

Just to let yall know, those links take u to the computer before I customize it personally

 

[PapaToad]

OK if I spend more than 4 hours on a compouter and its doesn't work, it gets baseball bated! and I buy a new one.

Then again its what I went to school for,a dn I am surround by techno needs and geeks.
But 4 hours thats it

Get a dell dude!, its less stress full

 

[PapaToad]

Oh please, I'll have to hurt you in you buy a pre-built one. Unless it's going to be me that you're paying all that markup too. I can even treat you as bad as those companies do if you want.

Couple of other key considerations. What do you play other then WoW, or is WoW it? Do you expect this to be able anything other then WoW now or in the future? Do you have realistic expectations out of what a very low level priced computer will do for you, even in an undemanding game such as WoW? Do you need a monitor, speakers, headphones, keyboard, or mouse? Do you need a copy of an OS? What else do you need your computer for? Do you know if your current case is standard ATX form factor and if the PSU is still good? Is aesthetics matter at all? Do you demand the use of one brand over the other? Do you have anything out of you current computer you are sure works, such as a CD drive, hard drive, sound card, etc., that can be canabalized and made do with for now?

Answer me that and your absolute bottome line and I'll point you to the very best computer you can get for what you want to spend. Plus with a reasonable budget it'll be one that you will be able to slowly upgrade as you can afford to and as future proof as possible to minimize future investment when you desire more power.

Yes if you ahve the skill and knowledge you can do this, me I have completely sworn off Desktops, but if your in college or younger, and HAVE THE KNOWLEDGE AND SKILL you can ""Cheaply" build your own

for me my time is valauble, and I will not buildt a laptop or desktop from scratch. Much to my daugthers dismay as I keep throing manuals and websites at her for fixing her's

so Choose wisely, do you have more time than money? also 4 hours is a enough time to fix any computer and have it OS operational, without errors, extra software may time some more time. wow is defiently a "while I watch a movie load"

good luck, if you have questions you may POM me or lot of floks on the boards here.

Amused toe, you give me a 48 hours turnaround from time of my order and I 'll pay you that 15% mark up

 

[techwhosaysnee]

Alienware....*drool*

Alienware was recently purchased by Dell.

So says the missus, anyway.

 

[[toj.cc]phantom]

Alienware was recently purchased by Dell.

So says the missus, anyway.

Yes, it was...but Alienware has said that they will still be a 'seperate entity' from Dell...for now.

 

[amusedtoe]

Alienware....*drool*

Yea, seperate entity my foot. Same way EB is a seperate entity from Gamestop still. If you were to go boutique you're better off with Falcon Northwest who's always been superior but pushed themselves into the mainstream less.

Also Windows X64 is an irrelevant consideration as almost all 32-bit apps run normally under it, and some of them even faster. The big problem had been driver support for some older products but even that's becoming a non-factor.

Now to the comment saying I'm senile for thinking that a computer built now could last 5-7 years easily. Socket 939 has a good solid upgrade path from a mid-entry level box through the current high end. It supports PCI-E and all of AMD's latest chips including dual-cores, as well as SATA, while still supporting old standbys of IDE and PCI. The hardware market has also cooled substantially to where we no longer see completely new interfaces, chips, and gigahertz speed jumps on a yearly basis. These things have slowed to years between their arrivals let alone actual implementations in consumer products.

Even if let's say Intel and AMD pick up that torrid pace of innovation again that only puts you in the better spot. Even if the FX-60 were to be the last chip to support the 939 socket, which it wouldn't be, it would be more then adequate to provide an acceptable level of play on all but the most bleeding edge games of tommarow when coupled with the appropriate graphics card. CD drives will eventually end up on SATA and good IDE hard drives have become the exception not the rule. PCI-E is also no fluke and firmly entrenched, as AGP is on its dying breath, and will likely be at minimum another 5 years before another unified standard will be agreed upon. Even if dedicated physics cards become the norm, which will still be another two generations of hardware down the line, they'll be as early video cards using only a PCI-E slot and not a dedicated "graphics" slot.

You look at the way things are going and there's only going to be one thing that will completely invalidate a well planned computer at this point in time. A total step redesign in what a computer is and how it functions, which isn't on the forseeable horizon, which is going to be the only real jump from this point forward in what a computer is able to do for us. A well planned investment at this point will be able to satisfy you within good reason for at least 5 years from this point on with a minimum of post purchase investment.

Now couple of things to His suggestion. First I'd go with the 3700+ over the 3500+ for a minimal cost increase of $20:
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=80719-5

On the mobo I would be willing to scrimp elsewhere for something like this MSI board:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813130491
People so frequently skimp and cheap out on the mobo figuring it's the least important speed consideration when in fact it is the thing that can most easily cripple an otherwise speedy system.

I don't like the Rosewill brand and would probably go for Corsair value RAM, but that's a matter of preference and mostly for company and product quality. The Audigy 2 is a good card but very hard to recommend at $70 when the X-Fi can be had for $40, which trust me is a big step over the Audigys, and that money would be better invested somewhere else or saved towards the X-Fi while onboard makes due for the time being.

Now I have to really question the case and PSU choice, an $80 PSU with a $20 case? Take that money and go with something like the Antec Sonata II instead:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811129155
High quality build on the case, PSU supply as good as the Thermaltake one, and it'll make your system a lot more comfortable with guaraunteed better airflow that Antec prides themselves on in their cases and most cheap cases pass on in the interest of cost. I'd also say go with this harddrive from Seagate instead:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16822148065
$16 more for an extra 100 gigs. Only difference in the drives is that the 7200.8 is the product line Seagate just left to launch the 7200.9.

The 7900GT also isn't your best bet for the money mainly because of the surrounding system. The card's going to be so much faster then anything else in it that it's going to be constantly met with bottlenecks . Not saying it's not a viable strategy as long as you're aware because there's two options. You can get a drastically cheaper card that performs not too far below and then upgrade to a similiarly positioned card in two to three years, or you can spend more now on the higher end card whose price increase isn't in line with the performance increase and have a better performer over those two to three years, but require a greater overarching investment if upgraded as it falls off after that time period.

 

[Khaldris]

lol the computer does work, i had it for over three years, upgrading it when needed, coa told me about the problem and i believe its the harddrive that is messed up, the mobo is perfect as is the processor, i just think, new harddrive+some more cooling would get the job done.

 

[Plankeye]

I know toe never got far enough in to WoW to get to the high end content but I want to dispell the myth that WoW is not hardware intensive. The high end content and several dungeons can be absolutely brutal. My machine is now several years old. Pent 2.8 ghz, 1 gb PC2700, Radeon 9600XT. I turn down all detail levels and at times my machine is lucky to get 4 fps in places like Molten Core and Scholomance. When I am by myself questing in the open world, I easily get over 30fps with all the detail levels on high.

 

[Coamenel]

Thanks for the useful tips guys. I really appreciate the help in my new computer search. I hopefully will have new parts, pieces, or computer soon and be able to be back on WoW and other games. I will let yall know exactly what I get, when I do get it.

 

[Goblit]

Just make sure it has cool lights and a purdy clear case ...oh and surround sound. You could add some of the other stuff they have in the other posts too.