Getting A New Computer, What Should I Get?

[Queen Bee]

So I'm looking to buy a completely new system, and I want something that is primarily for gaming. I'm looking to spend under $700 US, but I'm willing to go a bit above that if necessary. I don't need to buy new peripherals like monitor, keyboard, mouse and speakers, I just need the PC. And that's PC, I don't do Macs.

 

I'm barely computer literate (I know what a quad core is, but not which ones are better), so I'm not going to try to get individual parts to build one at home. Right now I'm looking at these computers on Newegg, but I'm not sure which one is the better deal, if any.

 

If someone more knowledgeable could please take a look at those systems and give me their professional opinion, or else point me in a better direction, please let me know. Oh, and before someone recommends it, I've been told to stay away from Alienware since they were bought out by Dell and their new computers suck balls. Thanks!

[Vioxsis]

there's not many to choose from but this looks like a solid bet

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883227410

 

 

3.4GHz i5 Ivy Bridge

 

8 gig ddr 3 (only realy need 4)

 

and a Radeon HD 7750

 

 

you should realy give building one some more thought

 

 

out of curiosity what are your current specs?

[shane4244]

I'm having the same problem as Vioxsis I can't really find a decent prebuilt in that price range. I've been looking for about an hour and the only one I found that was decent as far as proc and graphics goes was this iBuypower amd hexicore a 6850 is the bare min card I would game with and the fx6100 series is decent now (they had an issue with steam games but its been patched)8gb of ram is more than enough and iBuypower has good tech support from what I hear.I'm intel fanboy for the most part and I'd rather go with an i5 proc but theres something sexy about a 6 core lol.What kinds of games do you play and at what resolution? I'm also curious what your upgrading from.Vioxsis choice is better by the way this is just the bare min choice i would go with and it's still slightly higher than $700 with shipping.

[Queen Bee]

What I've got now is an AMD Athlon 64 X2 dual core 4200 running at 2.21ghz, 3 GB RAM and a Nvidia GeForce 9500 GT. Please keep in mind, I have only the vaguest idea of what this all means. I know 2.21ghz is low, I want at least 3.5 for what I want to do. I know 3 GB RAM is pretty low for modern computers, I'd want at least 4, with slots for the option to upgrade if I feel like it. I'm told the video card isn't too bad, just obsolete. I looked at what's available, and all the new ones are amazing but way too expensive. I might just pull that one from this system and put it into the new one.

 

As for what I want to do, playing Skyrim at ultra would be nice. I'm not looking to play it at some insane resolution, but 1080p HD would be a preferable feature (I have an HD monitor). Like I said in my first post, this would be primarily a gaming computer, so I want a system that runs modern games smoothly with little to no problem.

 

I'm apprehensive about building my own system. I'm afraid I'd screw it up and break it. I also don't know what parts go with others. I know compatibility is vital.

[shane4244]

As far as either PC suggested both have a form of turbo on the proc's the i5 jumps up to 3.8 ghz when not using all 4 cores and the amd jumps up to 3.7 when using 3 cores.I think if gaming is your focus you'll be fine either way. I dont know which 9500gt your using but the reference specs are very low even compared to low end cards now. Either card would be several steps up from yours so I wouldnt switch it over if you choose one of the PC's suggested.You cant directly compare nvidia and ati cards but the reference 9500gt has 16 cuda cores and a 550mhz clock speed and ancient gddr3 memory. the low end nvidia cards for gaming now start out at about 192 cuda cores(those do most the work)the 6850 for example uses 960 steam processors(comparable to about 300-392 cuda cores,core clocks at around 775mhz and uses 1gb of GDDR5 memory(faster than GDDR3)clocked at 1000mhz.I did a couple of searches to see if a 6850 could run skyrim at 1080p ultra. Most say around 25-35fps which should be playable I'm pretty sure the 9500gt won't.Hope this was helpful probably more information than you wanted to hear.

 

If you would like to try to build one yourself, I and I'm sure others would help you every step of the way:D

 

I found this link when looking to see if the 7750 would play at ultra( comparison of both cards are on there)

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/radeon-hd-7770-7750-benchmark,3135-8.html

[Queen Bee]

I understood about ten percent of that, but I get the general gist. It sounds like I have a lot of options, but it sounds like no matter what I get it'll be an upgrade from what I have. I just might try putting one together myself if people here will help me, but oh god is that intimidating.

 

By the way, I'm still running WinXP. Do you guys recommend upgrading to Win7? I tried Vista back in the day and it was a horrible resource hog, eating up about a gig of ram just to run, so I've been avoiding Win7, but I confess I know nothing about it.

[gregathit]

Make the change to Win7 64bit. With a new computer you will really enjoy the new features and power. If you can get 8GB of memory then do it. Memory is fairly cheap and you really can't have too much. I have 12GB myself.

 

Vista was a flat out dog so don't think Win7 is anything like it.

 

I really recommend you buy a bare bones system. Many will come with the Case, Power Supply, memory, motherboard, CPU and CPU fan all installed and "burned in" (means tested and certified). Installing these items is more or less the "complicated" part and that just leaves you installing Hard Drive(s), vid card, sound card and DVD/CD player/recorder. Your best prices usually will be either a build from scratch or a combo bare bones kit with the left over components purchase separately.

 

If money is not so much of an issue then usually you can customize those bare bones kits to include some of the other parts to ease the stuff you will have to install.

[shane4244]

I'm still running Vista 64 ultimate It's much better now I don't have windows 7 so I can't really comment but It's what everyone uses and I think microsoft had the "resource hog" thing in mind when they made it the sytem requirements were actually lower than vista if I remember right. You pretty much have to upgrade to windows 7. you'll like it anyway theres a lot of subtle changes from XP that you'll notice and it support the new DX10+ features(I guess there not new now)god rays and stuff like that which makes the games look better.It's not too difficult to build one I was nervous my first time too.I didn't have any help but google though there are a lot of helpful ppl here.I will see if I can come up with a good component list tomorrow.And if you want to build I'll help you if I can come under 700$ and better than the ones posted.there have been lots of changes with ram tech and cpu and so on since your PC was built so even a budget system is going to be way better than what you have now. I'm glad you got the gist of what I was saying that was all I was going for.

 

gregthhit strikes again as I'm posting good point with the bare bones didn't even think about it

I don't know I just browsed the bare bones section at newegg they kinda suck now I remember them having a better selection than that a few years ago most of its geared towards HTPC

[Queen Bee]

I really appreciate the help, guys. I'm doing my own research, but it only goes so far since I'm not really sure what I'm looking for. It sounds like Win7 is a big improvement over Vista. I hadn't thought about the DX10 features. Somewhere along the line I completely forgot WinXP only runs at 32bit. I guess 64bit is where it's at.

 

If I can find a really good bare bones system, I'll go with that and get the other parts separately. I'd be a lot more comfortable with doing that than with building from scratch. Still, I'm someone who broke an ethernet card trying to install it in the wrong port, so...yeah.

[gregathit]

Well, if you want help there are quite a few tech savvy folks here so you might post a budget you are looking to work within and give us some idea of what games and/or other programs you are looking to use with it.

[Queen Bee]

Greg, I mentioned I'm looking to spend around $700 US, but I know these things can be expensive. I'm willing to go as high as $900, but only if I absolutely have to.

[Vioxsis]

so have you rejected my first suggestion?

 

should i look again?

 

are you willing to buy from somewere else?

if so point me there.

[Queen Bee]

I'm not sure about that one, Vioxsis. Is it unlikely that I can find one with an i7 for the same amount of money? Also, according to some of the customer reviews, the video card and hard drive are crap.

 

As far as me being willing to buy elsewhere, I'm open to suggestions, but I don't really know what websites are reputable and which ones are crap.

[Vioxsis]

ok so you want an i7

 

what brand of graphics cards?

 

brand / amount of RAM?

 

brand / gigs of HDD?

 

any else you think you need?

 

 

 

as for the customer reviews on that website, thay are idiot.

 

the comparison shane4244 posted shows the graphics card performance.

and as for the HDD with out knowing more info i can't judge.

 

 

i'm from britain so all my website suggestions would be useless to you

[Queen Bee]

I don't know brands or amounts. I'm fairly computer illiterate. A lot of people have been suggesting different video cards, but I don't know which ones are better/best for what I want to do. I don't know ram manufacturers, just that I should probably get a lot of it. HDD size is fairly important, I'm thinking somewhere between 500-1000 gigs.

[Nonsense667]

One thing I can say, is get something that would allow for potential upgrades in the future. And that can be your stepping stone into building your own comp. Like I got an HP Pavilion Elite HPE-400f a while back, and now I am upgrading the graphics card. Unfortunately, I have to upgrade the power supply as well, so that is one bit of advice I can give you, is make sure the power supply has decent wattage.

[Queen Bee]

so that is one bit of advice I can give you' date=' is make sure the power supply has decent wattage.

[/quote']

 

That's something I unfortunately know from experience. A while back I got an eMachine at Best Buy because the sales clerk swore it was perfect for gaming. I got it home and discovered through trial and error that the video card that came with it wasn't half what he said it was. I looked into upgrading it, only to discover that in order to install the video card I wanted, I'd have to get a bigger power supply. But the thing with eMachines, they don't leave any room for larger components. I would have had to start drilling holes in the case, and at that point I figured I might as well get a new computer.

 

So the moral of that story is NEVER get an eMachine, and Best Buy clerks are dirty liars.

[Vioxsis]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883227411

 

i7 3.4Ghz Ivy Bridge

 

8 gig DDR3

 

1 TB sata 2 HDD

 

gtx 550 ti 1gig

 

 

$859

 

 

the customer reviews on this are even worse

 

the motherboard is not very overclock/uprade frendly

and i would never sugest to any one to get a 550 ti

but its not that bad of card

 

 

 

why do all the Refurbished PC's on there have 300w psu?

[Queen Bee]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883227411

 

i7 3.4Ghz Ivy Bridge

 

8 gig DDR3

 

1 TB sata 2 HDD

 

gtx 550 ti 1gig

 

 

$859

 

 

the customer reviews on this are even worse

 

the motherboard is not very overclock/uprade frendly

and i would never sugest to any one to get a 550 ti

but its not that bad of card

 

 

 

why do all the Refurbished PC's on there have 300w psu?

 

What's an Ivy Bridge, what's wrong with the card, and what's 300w psu? And please explain it to me like I'm three.

[shane4244]

Ivy bridge is just what intel calls that processor's product line.It's there newest version so don't worry about that too much.It is very good processor. I know you were wanting 3.5ghz but trust me 3.4 on that one will be fine.I will try to keep this simple the current intel processers out perform old ones at lower clock speeds(GHZ) so a modern one running at 3.4 would out perform an older one say at 3.7 or so.The graphics card probably wont do well at higher resolutions like you running should be playable but a step or two up would be better, The 300 watt psu is talking about the power supply most modern gaming cards require 500 watts or higher plus some other features I'm not going to get into.

 

Your not going to be able to get the best processor,best graphics, and best PSU, and most hardrive space for $700-$900 dollers your going to have to give up something or upgrade later. the video card would be the easiest thing to skimp on now and pop a better one in later.All the recommended PC's have at least 600 watt power supplies not sure if there high quility but since they have warranties i'm sure there not junk.

 

If your not comfortable building a complete PC I'm not going to push it a lot can go wrong, But a video card or another hard drive is very easy and I'm 100% confidant we can walk you through it with no problem's even if you have no experience

 

If your going with an intel processor either one vioxsis recommended would be fine for what you need to do.If you go on the cheap the AMD one I suggested will also work.

[Vioxsis]

Ivy Bridge is the name for intel's "i" series thay have 3570 in there name,

sandy bridge have 2xxx in thers

 

the diffrence between the two,

 

sandy: 32nm

 

ivy: 22nm 3D Tri-gate transistors

 

psu = power supply unit

 

300w = how many watt's it is

 

 

as for the 550 ti there are better cards out there for the same price that out perform it

[Queen Bee]

I've done some research, looking at the pro-gamer PCs like these models here. Obviously I'm not going to get one of those, I don't need that much machine, but it helps to see what's considered best of the best so I can use it as a basis for comparison.

 

Shane, I see what you mean about the differences in processor speeds. I had thought for sure a 3.5ghz would be what I'd want, but now I see you can have a six core running at 3.3 and it'll be amazing.

 

So now that I know what's the top of the line, it's time to take that line down a bit for me. You're right that I shouldn't worry too much about the video card and other upgradeable components for now. I can go with something cheap and decent, and then save up.

 

The question is, which computer would offer me the best upgrade options? If I went with the one Vioxsis recommended (still unclear what's wrong with the video card on that one, Vio), is it designed to handle higher end components if I switch them out?

 

Edit:

 

Ivy Bridge is the name for intel's "i" series thay have 3570 in there name' date='

sandy bridge have 2xxx in thers

 

the diffrence between the two,

 

sandy: 32nm

 

ivy: 22nm 3D Tri-gate transistors

 

psu = power supply unit

 

300w = how many watt's it is

 

 

as for the 550 ti there are better cards out there for the same price that out perform it

[/quote']

 

What's the nm mean in 32nm? And sorry, what are tri-gate transistors?

[Vioxsis]

nm = nano metre

 

3d tri-gate transistor is a errr a transistor

[shane4244]

nm is the size of the die the chip is made the smaller the die the more transistors it has so it runs faster and cooler.The video card is just on the low end I think maybe a bad personal experience with the card vioxsis will have to clear that up. I don't like any card on a 128 bit memory face myself but thats more of an opinion I think.Don't worry too much about the techno jargon just know that more transistors per die is better I'll take a look at the motherboard and power supply specs on the website and see how weel that PC will upgrade get back with you later on it

 

Nonsense667 is buying a 550ti if he will hurry up and order it lol.IF he gets it in time maybe he can tell you what he thinks.

[Queen Bee]

Ah okay. So techno jargon aside, is the one Vioxsis recommended a good deal? Will I be able to upgrade it later? Or should I try to find something a bit more bare bones and build up from that?

 

Also, I'm not totally excluding building a system from scratch. I'll just need a LOT more help if I do it that way.