Getting A New Computer, What Should I Get?

[shane4244]

Ah okay. So techno jargon aside' date=' 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.

[/quote']

 

I'm going to look at some detailed specs in alittle while on that that one I'll post in a while and tell you what I think.

[shane4244]

I don't really like the motherboard but all of them in that price range are like that it only has two memory slots so to upgrade the memory you have to get 2 8gb sticks and toss the ones you have but I think 8gb's will last till your next PC anyway also there are only two slots for expansion one for your graphics and one pci express x1 for a sound card or something and thats it.I couldnt find details on the power supply which is what I really wanted to know.I assume it can run a good midrange card.That being said I dont think we could build one better for that price I have an i7 build on my wishlist without a graphics card and it around $1200 dollers. so I would go for it.I can't find a bare bones I'm happy with either ,the selection used to me more gamer friendly now there mostly servers and home theater PC's.

 

there is a direct link to IbuyPower site where you can build one maybe see if you can get a decent motherboard,proc,and powersupply downgrad on the graphics and put your own and maybe come out cheaper?

/edit nope ended up at 942 and still needed a 180+ graphics card

[Vioxsis]

if you want to try and build one then

 

 

Graphics Card:

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121480

 

ASUS GTX 560 Ti

 

good card have 1 my self

 

 

CPU:

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116504

 

Intel Core i5-3570K Ivy Bridge 3.4GHz

 

the K at the end of 3670 means the multiplier is unlocked this makes for childishly easy to overclock

 

 

Motherboard:

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131832

 

 

ASUS P8Z77-M uses the Intel Z77 chipset so has full access to overclocking features

 

 

RAM:

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145346

 

 

CORSAIR Vengeance 4GB i like corsair and these look cool

 

 

PSU:

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139020

 

 

CORSAIR Enthusiast Series 650W

 

 

Case:

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129066

 

 

Antec Three Hundred mid tower

 

 

total about ~$850~

[Queen Bee]

This one looks pretty good. It comes with an AMD 4 core that runs at 3.6ghz/4mb L2 cache, with other options at no additional cost. But is 8 core at 3.10ghz/8mb L2 cache better, worse or about the same?

 

Also, in looking at the memory options, I'm not making head nor tails of it. The only part I understand is that I can start at 4gigs with the option of later upgrading to a wopping 16gigs, so that's nice.

 

There are a LOT of video card options. Recommendations on that would be appreciated. Same for which motherboard, power supply and hard drive I should get.

 

Edit: In looking at Vioxsis' recommendations, all those parts are equally tempting. How do they stack up against the iBuyPower model?

[shane4244]

The 6970 is what I have and it's the shit the 6870 is the bare min I would go with for there graphics options,I would go for the single 1 teryabyte hard drive and 6 core vs 8 core vs 4 core depends on if the game or application is using all the cores most game made now use at least 4 and don't forget that both intel and AMD crank up the processor speed when there not using all the cores.I was making a list too from newegg but vioxsis beat me too it.more or less the same list but you need to add $100 for windows 7 and unless your going to use your current hard drive add $60-80 on top of that.

 

do you prefer amd or Nvidia graphics cards? I made a list in the link you have, upgraded the power supply,harddrive and with the 6870 it came to $752 with the 6970 it came to $1030.00. Maybe vioxsis can recommend a good nvidia card off that link as i'm more familiar with ati cards.

 

/edit just seen your update he has all quality parts its better than the ibuypower but its more expensive with windows 7 and a hardrive,the z77 chipset is the top of the line for intel boards,he has a very good PSU and the graphics card looks comparable to a 6970 maybe a little better in short its will run everything you throw at it

[Queen Bee]

I have no preferences for AMD vs Nvidia, I honestly don't know the difference. I'd be willing to spend $752, depending on what you threw in there. Looking at the video cards, I'd be fine with the 6870 so long as I can choose to upgrade later on. It has the option to choose something called Crossfire Mode, what is that?

 

/edit just seen your update he has all quality parts its better than the ibuypower but its more expensive with windows 7 and a hardrive' date='the z77 chipset is the top of the line for intel boards,he has a very good PSU and the graphics card looks comparable to a 6970 maybe a little better in short its will run everything you throw at it

[/quote']

 

The iBuyPower model comes with Win7 and is cheaper. Like I said before, I'm fine with buying something less powerful as long as I can save up and improve it over time. The question becomes, should I spend more now for the better system?

 

Edit: The reviews on this card are really bad.

[afa]

I have a 6970 also, but I don't think you should go with 6970 anymore if you are going to buy a new video card now. You are probably better of with a 7870 at that price range. Also when nvidia 660 comes out it will be interesting to see how it stacks up at what price range.

[shane4244]

I have no preferences for AMD vs Nvidia' date=' I honestly don't know the difference. I'd be willing to spend $752, depending on what you threw in there. Looking at the video cards, I'd be fine with the 6870 so long as I can choose to upgrade later on. It has the option to choose something called Crossfire Mode, what is that?

 

/edit just seen your update he has all quality parts its better than the ibuypower but its more expensive with windows 7 and a hardrive,the z77 chipset is the top of the line for intel boards,he has a very good PSU and the graphics card looks comparable to a 6970 maybe a little better in short its will run everything you throw at it

 

The iBuyPower model comes with Win7 and is cheaper. Like I said before, I'm fine with buying something less powerful as long as I can save up and improve it over time. The question becomes, should I spend more now for the better system?

 

crossfire lets you run 2 amd cards together it doesn't quite dbbl the performance but it does make a big difference.I would just get one of the prebuilt PC's I can't find a way to make one cheaper, and the custom built one you have has a decent motherboard for upgrades and with the upgraded power supply you'll be good with single video cards for a long time.

 

/edit I wouldnt buy a seperate 6970 right now either but as an upgrade for a custom built PC it's cheaper than the new 7970 which is now the top of the line ati gpu where the 6970 was last years top of the line

[shane4244]

Edit: The reviews on this card are really bad.

 

I would take the opinion of someone speaking on this website who owns the card and sounds like he knows what hes talking about than those halfbaked reviews on newegg sometimes when a card is first released the drivers are all screwed up and that's when ppl tend to write reviews But like I said I use ati cards so I can't tell you more than what I read in reviews also I tend to trust PC gamer/Maximum PC reviews and also let the benchmark numbers decide for me. Ok I should have read the reviews first there not really bad most problems were with overclocking the card which you probably won't do and one of them was talking about a bechmark program that I've experienced myself it has nothing to do with the card like I said idoit's over there

 

here is a link to what I picked not sure if it will link like that

http://www.ibuypower.com/Store/4Independence_FX4_Special

 

vioxsis I dont have any experience with watercooling if she decides to go the custom built route should she get rid of the water cooling? its a standard option but if its done poorly I don't like the idea of water leaking in my PC.

[Queen Bee]

Shane, the link doesn't take me to your selected options. I'm sorry, but could you maybe transcribe them for me?

 

Edit: Most of the reviews on Newegg say it's a very big card, so I'd need both a motherboard and a case that can take it. Some of the reviews also say that it seems to have trouble even at standard clocks (not sure what that means), and one person said it can only run two out of four outputs at a time. I'm not going to do any big fancy rigs here, but I'd like to know I'm not getting half of what I pay for.

[shane4244]

Shane' date=' the link doesn't take me to your selected options. I'm sorry, but could you maybe transcribe them for me?

[/quote']

 

lol i figured that after I posted probably cookies hold the info.

 

Anyway I went with the single 1tb hard drive

6870 graphics card

650 watt corsair power supply(the one right after the gears something power supply

and that was it the motherboard seems decent the processor is up to you but I think you'll be fine for a long time with the quadcore, and I'll have to get vioxsis opinion on the water cooling its not a money issue(it only saves you $10)but if its poorly made it could leak and that wouldn't be good.

 

/edit well I guess I still didn't read all the reviews well if I read that many bad ones I guess I wouldn't get the card I don't have any personal experience with that one but always trust your gut if you got a bad feeling about the card don't get it.

[Vioxsis]

I have had zero problems with my 560 ti its been ovrclocked, and furmarked countless times its fans bearly go above 40%.

 

I did have to rearange my 5 HDD to fit it in, but it does fit in my antec 300.

 

 

 

 

vioxsis I dont have any experience with watercooling if she decides to go the custom built route should she get rid of the water cooling? its a standard option but if its done poorly I don't like the idea of water leaking in my PC.

 

probably should stay away from water cooling, it would only be needed if you want to do some extreme overclocking. plus it would take extra maintenance to keep it going smooth.

[Queen Bee]

Okay, no water cooling.

 

Vioxsis, how long have you had your 560? Also, I don't think I'll need 5 HDDs, so I should be fine as long as the case is roomy enough.

 

I know this is kind of a trifling matter, Vioxsis, but that case is ugly. I was hoping for one that looked a bit more like some of the cases on the iBuyPower website.

[Vioxsis]

had it about 8 months

 

 

yep it is very ugly

[shane4244]

Okay' date=' no water cooling.

 

Vioxsis, how long have you had your 560? Also, I don't think I'll need 5 HDDs, so I should be fine as long as the case is roomy enough.

 

I know this is kind of a trifling matter, Vioxsis, but that case is ugly. I was hoping for one that looked a bit more like some of the cases on the iBuyPower website.

[/quote']

 

cases are a personal choice you'll probaly want to pick it out yourself there not too bad price wise just don't worry about one's that come with a power supply either throw it away or get one without there usally $15.00 paper wieghts

[Queen Bee]

Anyway I went with the single 1tb hard drive

6870 graphics card

650 watt corsair power supply(the one right after the gears something power supply

and that was it the motherboard seems decent the processor is up to you but I think you'll be fine for a long time with the quadcore' date=' and I'll have to get vioxsis opinion on the water cooling its not a money issue(it only saves you $10)but if its poorly made it could leak and that wouldn't be good.

[/quote']

 

The website says the 6870 needs a 700w psu, which is surprising. I also see they offer the Nvidia GeForce GTX 560 Ti, and it only needs 650w.

 

I'm starting to get this a bit, I've definitely learned quite a bit about computers these past couple of days, but I'm still very unsure of myself and what I should get. Bare with me, guys. You're help is highly appreciated.

 

Edit:

 

cases are a personal choice you'll probaly want to pick it out yourself there not too bad price wise just don't worry about one's that come with a power supply either throw it away or get one without there usally $15.00 paper wieghts

 

Well, I still need a case that's roomy enough to hold all this stuff, and I'm not sure which ones would be big enough.

[shane4244]

 

The website says the 6870 needs a 700w psu, which is surprising. I also see they offer the Nvidia GeForce GTX 560 Ti, and it only needs 650w.

 

I'm starting to get this a bit, I've definitely learned quite a bit about computers these past couple of days, but I'm still very unsure of myself and what I should get. Bare with me, guys. You're help is highly appreciated.

 

Hmm sure its not the 6970 that requires it 6870 was never a high end card unless you run two? well I'm a dumbass I'll go look myself RQ

 

that's not right I know for a fact they don't require that I'll dbbl check the card makers website also I didn't notice before but you get a free upgrade to a 750 watt with that power supply anyway

 

http://www.amd.com/us/products/desktop/graphics/amd-radeon-hd-6000/hd-6870/pages/amd-radeon-hd-6870-overview.aspx#3

 

even if there running somekind of superclocked version it won't bump it up that much and there isn't any other components that require that either I think there just trying to suck uninformed ppl dry

[Queen Bee]

also I didn't notice before but you get a free upgrade to a 750 watt with that power supply anyway

 

Really? I'm looking at the psu list and other than the standard 450w, the rest cost money to upgrade.

[shane4244]

also I didn't notice before but you get a free upgrade to a 750 watt with that power supply anyway

 

Really? I'm looking at the psu list and other than the standard 450w' date=' the rest cost money to upgrade.

[/quote']

 

click on the 650 watt corsair and it pops up free 750 watt upgrade

[Queen Bee]

Ah, I see it now. That's a nice upgrade.

 

And oh crap I just noticed these are all sale prices that go away in two days. I won't have the money in time =(

 

This might all prove to be for nothing then. I guess I'll have to wait until after the sale ends and see what the prices jump back up to before I make any decisions. The Newegg option might have to be what I do after all.

[shane4244]

Ah' date=' I see it now. That's a nice upgrade.

 

And oh crap I just noticed these are all sale prices that go away in two days. I won't have the money in time =(

 

This might all prove to be for nothing then. I guess I'll have to wait until after the sale ends and see what the prices jump back up to before I make any decisions. The Newegg option might have to be what I do after all.

[/quote']

 

I noticed didn't know you weren't ready but the iBuypowers at newegg are also on sale so they will more than likely jump up too. If your learning thats never a waste of time it will still help when you decide on somthing

[Queen Bee]

Yeah, payday isn't until this Friday. I get a yearly bonus at work and I'm spending it on this.

 

So for now let's put this on hold and come back to it after the sales go away. Once I know how much I'd actually be spending, I'll be in a better position to know what to do.

 

It's getting late and I need to head to bed. Thanks again for all the help guys. We'll pick this up again in a couple of days.

[shane4244]

Yeah' date=' payday isn't until this Friday. I get a yearly bonus at work and I'm spending it on this.

 

So for now let's put this on hold and come back to it after the sales go away. Once I know how much I'd actually be spending, I'll be in a better position to know what to do.

 

It's getting late and I need to head to bed. Thanks again for all the help guys. We'll pick this up again in a couple of days.

[/quote']

np late here too

[Vioxsis]

4am here who needs sleep

[shane4244]

4am here who needs sleep

 

yea your right who needs sleep lol I put a list together of pretty much the same PC as you were looking at on the IBuyPower website

 

motherboard

 

processor

 

Ram

 

power supply

 

Harddrive

 

Video card

 

operating system

 

I didn't put a case on here browse some mid towers at newegg expect between $70-100

 

the total without case was $694.93 so about $800 with everything you will need it also has little better motherboard than the one at iBuyPower other than that it's the same.

 

The i5 rig that vioxsis has listed out for you is still better I'm just giving you the cheapest option I would build this is actually straight off my wishlist for my LAN PC build to replace my other PC.We could skim another $25.00 off for a lower GB hard drive and maybe another $30.00 of for the motherboard other than that this is as cheap as it gets for a good performing system.Just look it over if you've got time you don't have to respond none of this is on sale so you've got plenty of time