Suggestions on a reasonable gaming desktop

[Rokabur]

I need a desktop as my laptop is 6 years old and was never really meant for even moderate gaming plus I'm sure the inside could use some serious cleaning. Can anybody recommend a reasonable desktop under $1800 with monitor, keyboard, mouse and such? I was looking at Level 2 of http://www.digitalstormonline.com/vanquish-ii.asp configured it would cost $1367. No I can't just buy the parts and built my own PC. I wouldn't trust myself NOT to break some parts in the attempt.

[gregathit]

You can look at getting a barebones PC which is a case, memory, cpu, fans, power supply and then you just slap in a hard drive (or two), a sound card and video card.

Or buy a system complete.

 

The site you list is pushing i5 CPU's and that is buying old tech.  I'd stick with i7 as you should be able to systems for about the same money.  Back when I bought full systems I purchased several from here:  http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/category/category_tlc.asp?CatId=114&cm_re=Desktops-_-Spot%2003-_-Gaming%20PCs

There are lots of other options as well to Tiger Direct.

 

 

You can do far better buying parts separately or getting bare bones kits, which is what I do anymore.

[Rokabur]

Don't need anything too powerful. The newest game I have is Skyrim and the most graphical online game I play is Path of Exile right now. Well like I said, I wouldn't trust myself to put a desktop together.

[Rokabur]

You can look at getting a barebones PC which is a case, memory, cpu, fans, power supply and then you just slap in a hard drive (or two), a sound card and video card.

Or buy a system complete.

 

The site you list is pushing i5 CPU's and that is buying old tech.  I'd stick with i7 as you should be able to systems for about the same money.  Back when I bought full systems I purchased several from here:  http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/category/category_tlc.asp?CatId=114&cm_re=Desktops-_-Spot%2003-_-Gaming%20PCs

There are lots of other options as well to Tiger Direct.

 

 

You can do far better buying parts separately or getting bare bones kits, which is what I do anymore.

 

Might keep an eye on that site but hard to actually know how much performance I need. Cheapest 'gaming' barebone kit on that site is almost $1300 without a monitor, keyboard, mouse, graphics card, sound card and whatever else I'd need.

[gregathit]

Not sure you looked at the full systems.

Here is one that just lacks a monitor:  http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=8210354&Sku=C447-G1307

Or here:  http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=8573806&csid=_61&rrpl=item_page.content1&rrstr=ClickCP&rrindex=4

 

I'd recommend buying a monitor at Best Buy or Walmart as you are less likely to have it damaged in shipping and will likely get it just as cheap.  24" monitors are $200 bucks or less.

 

Speaking of Walmart:  http://www.walmart.com/ip/CYBERPOWERPC-Zeus-Mini-ZMi1800W-Desktop-PC-with-Intel-Haswell-Core-i7-4770K-Quad-Core-Processor-8GB-Memory-1TB-Hard-Drive-and-Windows-8.1-Monitor-N/34643912?action=product_interest&action_type=title&placement_id=irs_top&strategy=PWVUB&visitor_id=71715250121&category=0%3A3944%3A3951%3A132982&client_guid=25e2caca-b1ef-40bf-9c31-16dea3d6fc23&config_id=2&parent_item_id=29732629&guid=8c394f1d-8fad-492b-a0af-89705b631a85&bucket_id=irsbucket017&findingMethod=p13n

 

 

[Rokabur]

Not sure you looked at the full systems.

Here is one that just lacks a monitor:  http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=8210354&Sku=C447-G1307

Or here:  http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=8573806&csid=_61&rrpl=item_page.content1&rrstr=ClickCP&rrindex=4

 

I'd recommend buying a monitor at Best Buy or Walmart as you are less likely to have it damaged in shipping and will likely get it just as cheap.  24" monitors are $200 bucks or less.

 

Speaking of Walmart:  http://www.walmart.com/ip/CYBERPOWERPC-Zeus-Mini-ZMi1800W-Desktop-PC-with-Intel-Haswell-Core-i7-4770K-Quad-Core-Processor-8GB-Memory-1TB-Hard-Drive-and-Windows-8.1-Monitor-N/34643912?action=product_interest&action_type=title&placement_id=irs_top&strategy=PWVUB&visitor_id=71715250121&category=0%3A3944%3A3951%3A132982&client_guid=25e2caca-b1ef-40bf-9c31-16dea3d6fc23&config_id=2&parent_item_id=29732629&guid=8c394f1d-8fad-492b-a0af-89705b631a85&bucket_id=irsbucket017&findingMethod=p13n

 

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=8573806&csid=_61&rrpl=item_page.content1&rrstr=ClickCP&rrindex=4 does looks good but with shipping, tax and buying a seperate monitor, it'll probably run close to $1700. No offense but try not to do business with Walmart if I can help it.

[Pkatt]

I have always had good experiences with Directron.com     I buy from these guys almost as much as I do from New Egg.

 

Here are two assembled i7 systems, that look really good, and are within your price range.

 

http://www.directron.com/haswell-gaming-computer-1.html

 

http://www.directron.com/bf4-gamer-haswell-ssd-computer-1.html

 

They have plenty more systems to choose from, from budget all the way up to high end, and will assemble it for you.   You get the benefit of a computer that was "built", without having to build it yourself.

 

 

[gregathit]

I just randomly picked walmart as they are a common store in the US.  There are many others to pick from.  You'll get your best deals via a companies online sales typically.

 

My point was more to not buy an i5 system which is shortly going to be 2 generations old.  For the same money or a couple of dollars more get an i7 processor as well as a goodly amount of RAM, large enough Hard drive(s) and a decent video card so you don't have to spend any more money for a couple of years.

 

Cheers,

Greg

[Rokabur]

I just randomly picked walmart as they are a common store in the US.  There are many others to pick from.  You'll get your best deals via a companies online sales typically.

 

My point was more to not buy an i5 system which is shortly going to be 2 generations old.  For the same money or a couple of dollars more get an i7 processor as well as a goodly amount of RAM, large enough Hard drive(s) and a decent video card so you don't have to spend any more money for a couple of years.

 

Cheers,

Greg

 

No way I could ever do high-end. For the Digital Storm, maxing out their highest desktop will run you over 23 grand for a 4.8Ghz overclocked CPU, 128GB of RAM, a 3 grand graphics card with 12 GB of video memory, a 31" flatscreen, 12TB of HDD space and much more.

[Rokabur]

I just randomly picked walmart as they are a common store in the US.  There are many others to pick from.  You'll get your best deals via a companies online sales typically.

 

My point was more to not buy an i5 system which is shortly going to be 2 generations old.  For the same money or a couple of dollars more get an i7 processor as well as a goodly amount of RAM, large enough Hard drive(s) and a decent video card so you don't have to spend any more money for a couple of years.

 

Cheers,

Greg

 

Once I get a desktop, it's gonna need to be atleast 3-4 years before I could afford to do any upgrading.

[Rokabur]

I have always had good experiences with Directron.com     I buy from these guys almost as much as I do from New Egg.

 

Here are two assembled i7 systems, that look really good, and are within your price range.

 

http://www.directron.com/haswell-gaming-computer-1.html

 

http://www.directron.com/bf4-gamer-haswell-ssd-computer-1.html

 

They have plenty more systems to choose from, from budget all the way up to high end, and will assemble it for you.   You get the benefit of a computer that was "built", without having to build it yourself.

 

 What is with the integrated AMD graphics card on the core? From everything I've read, current gen AMD is always on par with last gen Intel and NVIDIA.

[nutluck]

You can check out IBuyPower as well.

 

This one is for just under 1k with out a monitor, you can customize it and get what you want. The base build isn't bad other than I would upgrade the video card and psu on it and save enough for the OS and monitor.

 

http://www.ibuypower.com/Store/Intel-X79-Core-i7-Configurator

[Rokabur]

You can check out IBuyPower as well.

 

This one is for just under 1k with out a monitor, you can customize it and get what you want. The base build isn't bad other than I would upgrade the video card and psu on it and save enough for the OS and monitor.

 

http://www.ibuypower.com/Store/Intel-X79-Core-i7-Configurator

 

Thats kinda what I was looking for. Some place that would let me build exactly how I wanted. Multiple places I've checked always lock you into certain options. Not bad for $1105. Upgraded the power supply to 600W, 120GB SSD for the OS and programs and 1TB HDD for storage. May end up having to change the graphics card since it lists a promo price and it may be months before I can actually buy the desktop. Do I need the media card reader, USB expansion card or internal expansion at all?

[nutluck]

 

You can check out IBuyPower as well.

 

This one is for just under 1k with out a monitor, you can customize it and get what you want. The base build isn't bad other than I would upgrade the video card and psu on it and save enough for the OS and monitor.

 

http://www.ibuypower.com/Store/Intel-X79-Core-i7-Configurator

 

Thats kinda what I was looking for. Some place that would let me build exactly how I wanted. Multiple places I've checked always lock you into certain options. Not bad for $1105. Upgraded the power supply to 600W, 120GB SSD for the OS and programs and 1TB HDD for storage. May end up having to change the graphics card since it lists a promo price and it may be months before I can actually buy the desktop. Do I need the media card reader, USB expansion card or internal expansion at all?

 

 

Need them no. As for the special on the video card they are always running specials. next time it might be on power supplies etc. But it is a decent place that will make a computer to your exact specifications for a reasonable price and a decent 3 year warranty.

 

So just check back there when you got the money, find the base system you want and then customize it from there.

[Rokabur]

 

 

You can check out IBuyPower as well.

 

This one is for just under 1k with out a monitor, you can customize it and get what you want. The base build isn't bad other than I would upgrade the video card and psu on it and save enough for the OS and monitor.

 

http://www.ibuypower.com/Store/Intel-X79-Core-i7-Configurator

 

Thats kinda what I was looking for. Some place that would let me build exactly how I wanted. Multiple places I've checked always lock you into certain options. Not bad for $1105. Upgraded the power supply to 600W, 120GB SSD for the OS and programs and 1TB HDD for storage. May end up having to change the graphics card since it lists a promo price and it may be months before I can actually buy the desktop. Do I need the media card reader, USB expansion card or internal expansion at all?

 

 

Need them no. As for the special on the video card they are always running specials. next time it might be on power supplies etc. But it is a decent place that will make a computer to your exact specifications for a reasonable price and a decent 3 year warranty.

 

So just check back there when you got the money, find the base system you want and then customize it from there.

 

 

I don't plan on any ultra hardcore gaming with the absolute latest games lol. Even then graphics take a backseat to gameplay and will jack down settings as needed. Not many PC games worth playing with the 'always connected to an online server to play' needed. Beh. Completely missed the tab for software and accessories. probably still will just buy a monitor at a local store though. Windows 7 or 8 better? Also wouldn't really use 8 unless they've added back much of what they gutted when they released Win 8. Bit more then what I was expecting but $1288 before OS and monitor isn't too bad.

Edited June 28, 2014 by Rokabur

[nutluck]

I prefer windows 7 personally but that is more personal preference. Yeah you can get a pretty good computer for a decent price. I would put any extra money you have into getting the top motherboard you can, case, and a very good power supply. That will let you keep upgrading it for years to come.

 

That is what I did, I recently upgraded my video card to a 660ti and soon will be upgrading from my 6 gigs of ram to 12.

[Rokabur]

I prefer windows 7 personally but that is more personal preference. Yeah you can get a pretty good computer for a decent price. I would put any extra money you have into getting the top motherboard you can, case, and a very good power supply. That will let you keep upgrading it for years to come.

 

That is what I did, I recently upgraded my video card to a 660ti and soon will be upgrading from my 6 gigs of ram to 12.

 

Was just wondering since I don't really care much for Win 8 after all I've read, but the ability to do a complete reinstall of the OS without having to reinstall all your programs and games sounds pretty good. If I had the cash I'd probably get a 4GB graphics card but weill have to stick with 2GB unless theres a major sale whe I do buy the desktop. Stuck with a measly 256MB GT graphics card in my laptop lol. Just wondering, who the hell could possibly afford or even need the $3000 NVIDIA GeForce Titan Z 12GB graphics card? Either the site you linked or another even gave you the option to add a second Titan Z for SLi lol.

[nutluck]

Yeah the one I linked if you check the top PC you can link I believe three of those cards. As for why anyone would do that I have no idea, but I mean if I was a millionaire and money wasn't a object why not you know?

[Ashkandii]

You might want to consider building ur own PC it's cheaper and more reliable

I didn't feel comfortable building my own, infact I remember breaking my CPU and also nearly ordered a different PSU because if had too much Watts

It cost me around $750 Dollars and I play Ultra Bioshock infinite at 50fps avg 1080p

Then I upgraded everything, and it was worth about $650 [extra] using a R9 290 and it runs same settings but around 75-80fps Avg.

Yeah it's easier to buy fully built ones just make sure your getting your worths really

[Rokabur]

You might want to consider building ur own PC it's cheaper and more reliable

I didn't feel comfortable building my own, infact I remember breaking my CPU and also nearly ordered a different PSU because if had too much Watts

It cost me around $750 Dollars and I play Ultra Bioshock infinite at 50fps avg 1080p

Then I upgraded everything, and it was worth about $650 [extra] using a R9 290 and it runs same settings but around 75-80fps Avg.

Yeah it's easier to buy fully built ones just make sure your getting your worths really

 

Thats above my abilities. Could not afford to break anything. Plus having to make sure that everything is compatible and will fit in the case?

[nutluck]

 

You might want to consider building ur own PC it's cheaper and more reliable

I didn't feel comfortable building my own, infact I remember breaking my CPU and also nearly ordered a different PSU because if had too much Watts

It cost me around $750 Dollars and I play Ultra Bioshock infinite at 50fps avg 1080p

Then I upgraded everything, and it was worth about $650 [extra] using a R9 290 and it runs same settings but around 75-80fps Avg.

Yeah it's easier to buy fully built ones just make sure your getting your worths really

 

Thats above my abilities. Could not afford to break anything. Plus having to make sure that everything is compatible and will fit in the case?

 

 

It's not that bad, i built the one I have now. The last one I got from the place I linked above. For the most part building a PC is pretty easy, just takes a bit of research. Even then not to bad. But I priced it and it is not much cheaper than buying from a place like Ibuypower. Save about 10-15% of the price doing it yourself but no warranty, other than the manufacture ones for the parts.

[Rokabur]

Think I have about the best desktop I can for under 2 grand including shipping. taxes and whatnot.

 

 

 

Case 1 x Thermaltake Chaser A21 Gaming Case-Black

Processor 1 x Intel® Core™ i7 4820K Processor (4x 3.70GHz/10MB L3 Cache)-Intel Core i7 4820K

Motherboard 1 x Gigabyte GA-X79-UP4 -- 4x PCI-E 2.0 x16

Memory 1 x 8 GB [4 GB X2] DDR3-1600 Memory Module-Corsair or Major Brand

Video Card 1 x NVIDIA GeForce GTX 750 - 2GB

Power Supply 1 x 700 Watt - Standard Processor

Cooling 1 x Asetek 510LC Liquid CPU Cooling System [sOCKET-2011]-Standard 120mm Fan

Primary Hard Drive 1 x 256 GB Apotop S3C Series SSD -- Read: 490MB/s, Write: 275MB/s-Single Drive Data

Hard Drive 1 x 1 TB HARD DRIVE -- 32M Cache, 7200 RPM, 6.0Gb/s-Single Drive

Optical Drive 1 x LG 24x Dual Layer DVD±R/±RW + CD-R/RW Drive-Black

Sound Card 1 x ASUS Xonar DGX -- 5.1 Channels, 96KHz/24-bit

Speaker System 1 x Arion ET-AR302-BK Soundstage Speakers w/ 3-in high output drivers

Network Card 1 x Onboard LAN Network (Gb or 10/100)

Monitor 1 x 24" 1920x1080 Sceptre E245BV-FHD -- LED TV

Keyboard 1 x iBUYPOWER Standard Gaming Keyboard

Mouse 1 x iBUYPOWER Standard Gaming Mouse

Operating System 1 x Windows 8.1 + Office 365 Trial [Free 30-Day !!!] 64-bit

 

 

[prideslayer]

Think I have about the best desktop I can for under 2 grand including shipping. taxes and whatnot.

 

 

 

Case 1 x Thermaltake Chaser A21 Gaming Case-Black

Processor 1 x Intel® Core™ i7 4820K Processor (4x 3.70GHz/10MB L3 Cache)-Intel Core i7 4820K

Motherboard 1 x Gigabyte GA-X79-UP4 -- 4x PCI-E 2.0 x16

Memory 1 x 8 GB [4 GB X2] DDR3-1600 Memory Module-Corsair or Major Brand

Video Card 1 x NVIDIA GeForce GTX 750 - 2GB

Power Supply 1 x 700 Watt - Standard Processor

Cooling 1 x Asetek 510LC Liquid CPU Cooling System [sOCKET-2011]-Standard 120mm Fan

Primary Hard Drive 1 x 256 GB Apotop S3C Series SSD -- Read: 490MB/s, Write: 275MB/s-Single Drive Data

Hard Drive 1 x 1 TB HARD DRIVE -- 32M Cache, 7200 RPM, 6.0Gb/s-Single Drive

Optical Drive 1 x LG 24x Dual Layer DVD±R/±RW + CD-R/RW Drive-Black

Sound Card 1 x ASUS Xonar DGX -- 5.1 Channels, 96KHz/24-bit

Speaker System 1 x Arion ET-AR302-BK Soundstage Speakers w/ 3-in high output drivers

Network Card 1 x Onboard LAN Network (Gb or 10/100)

Monitor 1 x 24" 1920x1080 Sceptre E245BV-FHD -- LED TV

Keyboard 1 x iBUYPOWER Standard Gaming Keyboard

Mouse 1 x iBUYPOWER Standard Gaming Mouse

Operating System 1 x Windows 8.1 + Office 365 Trial [Free 30-Day !!!] 64-bit

 

 

I'd pass on the liquid cooling and go with more memory unless you actually need the cooling. 8G just isn't that much any more.

 

Also be careful about the powersupply, don't just get something generic that has a big number -- many of the cheap ones report a peak wattage that they can't sustain once they start up.

 

Last bit, unless you're married to that one in particular, check out the Zalman Z12 case. I was considering that TT when I built my current machine but went with the zalman instead -- the side-mounting of the HDD bays really helps make for clean wiring, without stuff getting in the way of the board or cooling.

 

The only difference between the Z12 and Z12 Plus is the Plus has a window. Cheaper without.

[Rokabur]

 

Think I have about the best desktop I can for under 2 grand including shipping. taxes and whatnot.

 

 

 

Case 1 x Thermaltake Chaser A21 Gaming Case-Black

Processor 1 x Intel® Core™ i7 4820K Processor (4x 3.70GHz/10MB L3 Cache)-Intel Core i7 4820K

Motherboard 1 x Gigabyte GA-X79-UP4 -- 4x PCI-E 2.0 x16

Memory 1 x 8 GB [4 GB X2] DDR3-1600 Memory Module-Corsair or Major Brand

Video Card 1 x NVIDIA GeForce GTX 750 - 2GB

Power Supply 1 x 700 Watt - Standard Processor

Cooling 1 x Asetek 510LC Liquid CPU Cooling System [sOCKET-2011]-Standard 120mm Fan

Primary Hard Drive 1 x 256 GB Apotop S3C Series SSD -- Read: 490MB/s, Write: 275MB/s-Single Drive Data

Hard Drive 1 x 1 TB HARD DRIVE -- 32M Cache, 7200 RPM, 6.0Gb/s-Single Drive

Optical Drive 1 x LG 24x Dual Layer DVD±R/±RW + CD-R/RW Drive-Black

Sound Card 1 x ASUS Xonar DGX -- 5.1 Channels, 96KHz/24-bit

Speaker System 1 x Arion ET-AR302-BK Soundstage Speakers w/ 3-in high output drivers

Network Card 1 x Onboard LAN Network (Gb or 10/100)

Monitor 1 x 24" 1920x1080 Sceptre E245BV-FHD -- LED TV

Keyboard 1 x iBUYPOWER Standard Gaming Keyboard

Mouse 1 x iBUYPOWER Standard Gaming Mouse

Operating System 1 x Windows 8.1 + Office 365 Trial [Free 30-Day !!!] 64-bit

 

 

I'd pass on the liquid cooling and go with more memory unless you actually need the cooling. 8G just isn't that much any more.

 

Also be careful about the powersupply, don't just get something generic that has a big number -- many of the cheap ones report a peak wattage that they can't sustain once they start up.

 

Last bit, unless you're married to that one in particular, check out the Zalman Z12 case. I was considering that TT when I built my current machine but went with the zalman instead -- the side-mounting of the HDD bays really helps make for clean wiring, without stuff getting in the way of the board or cooling.

 

The only difference between the Z12 and Z12 Plus is the Plus has a window. Cheaper without.

 

 

I'll keep that in consideration. As for the liquid cooling, don't have a choice in that. Every cooling option is liquid. Not sure if I can afford 16GB since it costs an extra $99. I'm not building a desktop since I don't have the steadiest hands when it comes to stuff like that. I'm buying http://www.ibuypower.com/Store/Intel-X79-Core-i7-Configurator. How noticeable is the performance between 8GB and 16GB of RAM? Another company you could actually pack 128GB of RAM into their top desktop lol.

[prideslayer]

What do you mean everything is liquid? Everything from ibuypower? You don't really need 'steady' hands to do this, but if you don't want to try, that's fine. Check for barebones systems at newegg, amazon, and tigerdirect.

 

Memory makes more difference than anything else in day to day stuff, except things where no matter how much you have, it's not enough -- like transcoding huge video files. SSDs or a good RAID make a bigger difference there. If whatever you're doing is small enough to fit inside the memory you have, then it's not going to the disk (SSD or not).