Getting A New Computer, What Should I Get?

[Queen Bee]

Not a laptop fan myself. Sure they're portable, but that just makes them much more likely to break. Besides, it's not like I'm going to be playing Skyrim anywhere other than home.

[shane4244]

You're right of course. I'm seeing a lot of complaints about the BIOS in most of these reviews.

 

Since the mobo's the spine of the computer, maybe I shouldn't skimp on it? I mean, upgrading a CPU or RAM or video card is relatively easy compared to upgrading a motherboard. What do you say?

 

the bios gets updated by now I'm sure its stable,Yes the motherboard is the foundation so make sure it's expandable 4xddr3 check,latest processor support check,you think you will ever run more than one video card if so you will have to get a crossfire/sli mobo so thats gonna put you at 150.00 or more,enough expansion slots check,reliabilty would be the next factor I can only give an opinion on that the brands I picked so far are good for that price range,asus has a very good rep, I use intel myself and always have never had an issue but these are opinions and I'm trying not to do that.So read reviews like you have,sort through the nonsense reviews and even if you buy a $300.00 mobo it could be bad out of the box that doesn't mean it will go bad just that that one slipped through.

 

and if it isn't much of a price diff and we go with the bare bones it has already been tested.If you do build one nonsense667 is right peak around in there and get yourself familiar with how things go together.

[gregathit]

Laptops are really not good for gaming. To get one that "can" play games you are going to end up paying almost twice the cost of a desktop. Then you are "stuck" as it non-upgradable unless you want to take it to a professional (so you don't violate the warranty).

 

http://www.tomshardware.com/

Tom's Hardware is a decent place to get comparisons on what the "best" of a particular generation is. Just type in their search engine what mobo you are looking at and go from there. Many times you can just scroll to the very last page of the article to see the summary and then work your way backwards towards the front if there are any issues that "alarm" or "interest" you.

 

There are other sites like this but I don't have a handy list of them, since I have not needed to build a computer this year.

[Vioxsis]

you will most likely upgrade you motherboard when you upgrade your cpu so don't skimp on them, and stop reading the reviews on that site.

[Queen Bee]

Some of these websites are talking about Extreme and Pro in relation to their motherboards. What's the difference?

[shane4244]

Some of these websites are talking about Extreme and Pro in relation to their motherboards. What's the difference?

 

I was browsing that site too if your talking about Asrock extreme or asus pro its just what they call there high featured overclockable versions not really any difference if that is what your talking about

[Queen Bee]

Some of these websites are talking about Extreme and Pro in relation to their motherboards. What's the difference?

 

I was browsing that site too if your talking about Asrock extreme or asus pro its just what they call there high featured overclockable versions not really any difference if that is what your talking about

 

But there's two Asrock boards with the exact same specs' date=' just one is Extreme and the other Pro. If it doesn't matter that much I won't sweat it.

 

What do you think of this one?

[shane4244]

I was browsing that site too if your talking about Asrock extreme or asus pro its just what they call there high featured overclockable versions not really any difference if that is what your talking about

 

But there's two Asrock boards with the exact same specs, just one is Extreme and the other Pro. If it doesn't matter that much I won't sweat it.

 

What do you think of this one?

 

It meets all the latest specs, good brand, and crossfire\sli will be possible if you want to go that route at somepoint. If I had to guess extreme would be better than pro.

 

I'm good with it guess we wait and see if someone else has a problem with it.and don't forget we want to run two monitors at HD resolutions so the video card isnt going to be cheap so we need to be between $700-900 total with everything including OS. currently at $360.00 motherboard and processor only

[Queen Bee]

It meets all the latest specs' date=' good brand, and crossfire\sli will be possible if you want to go that route at somepoint. If I had to guess extreme would be better than pro.

[/quote']

 

Here's the Pro

 

The reviews on this one are really good, actually. Same price, same specs. I'd go with this one if you guys approve.

[shane4244]

It meets all the latest specs' date=' good brand, and crossfire\sli will be possible if you want to go that route at somepoint. If I had to guess extreme would be better than pro.

[/quote']

 

Here's the Pro

 

The reviews on this one are really good, actually. Same price, same specs. I'd go with this one if you guys approve.

 

i see the difference the pro only has one pci express slot the extreme has two so no dual graphics cards in the pro

 

/edit I can't find any other difference being that there the same price I would go with the extreme just in case you want crossfire/sli later on.keep in mind the extreme has 120 reviews and the pro only has 17 if your basing your decison on reviews

[Queen Bee]

Would I want dual graphics cards? Is there much advantage in it?

[shane4244]

Would I want dual graphics cards? Is there much advantage in it?

 

I would say no but it's nice to have the option especially with two displays it is normally best to get the best single card you can afford than to get two weaker cards for the same price also read my edit above.It's a nice to have the option if your able to buy 2 great cards next year or sometime down the road. there are more benifits to it when running two displays than a single display but its not twice as good.

[Queen Bee]

No difference in price, might as well go Extreme.

 

Okay, so that's decided. What next?

[shane4244]

No difference in price' date=' might as well go Extreme.

 

Okay, so that's decided. What next?

[/quote']

 

I'm going to hate this one its the Video card actually let's do ram and add the OS to the price too then get back too the video card

[Queen Bee]

I thought we were doing video cards last. Or was that CPU?

[shane4244]

I thought we were doing video cards last. Or was that CPU?

 

cant do power supply until the video card but I edited my post so ram it is right now I have to look up some specs on your mobo to match voltage and what not you can always change that stuff but I'd feel better if it was supported without tweaking the bios

 

ok I don't think anyone will disagree on this one it comes in different colors I picked the color with the most reviews so you could read them. I was going to go with 4Gb but it's not much of price difference and it's best to fill up more per slot ,now you still have two open slots you can fill with another set to give you 16GB

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820233184

 

its 1.5volts and matched to the z77 chipset you don't have to do that but I think it's best so there is no question it will work

 

here is the common choice for the OS the utimate version would run you an additional $90.00 and is not worth it in most ppl's opinion

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116986

 

so if your ok with the ram and the OS we are now at $520.00

[Queen Bee]

That looks like a fair price for 8 gigs of RAM. Unless someone disputes this, I'll say this is done as well.

[shane4244]

That looks like a fair price for 8 gigs of RAM. Unless someone disputes this' date=' I'll say this is done as well.

[/quote']

I have no choice the case you have to pick out the power supply is dependant on the video card choice and I think the hard drive is going to depend on where we are at in our budget.So video card it is

[Queen Bee]

Okay, lemme look at cases. I have an idea the one I want, I'll edit if I find it.

 

Hurr Durr how about this case?

[shane4244]

I got this email today from tiger direct after i had asked the about the barebones system

 

Dear Valued Customer: Thank you for your e-mail.Unfortunately,

barebone kits are shipped in their individual boxes. You have to be the one

assembling the barebone kit. Thank you for visiting our

website. We appreciate your business. If you have further inquiries and reply to

this email, please make sure to include your entire message, so we can address

it appropriately. Sincerely, Neilito TigerDirect.com Web

Response How are we doing? We would like to hear from you. Please

give us your feedback at

Call 1-877-507-8379 for your FREE $10.00 Rebate off any Tiger Direct

purchase.Toll Free 7 A.M. - Midnight EST / Limit One Per Household.

Original Message-----
From: Mcharger1973@aol.com

(Mcharger1973@aol.com)
Sent: Jul 3, 2012 11:36:05 PM
Subject: Pre-Sales

Inquiries / Product InformationMessage Sent from:

Item Number : B69-1412

Subject : Pre-Sales Inquiries / Product Information

Message :

I was just curious if the B69-1412 barebones kit came pre-assembled I'm

trying to help someone order one and I'm getting mixed answers on this from

google

Thank you for your time

shawn

##sequenceid=4782515201205240230377517914198##

 

 

so unless it's a lot cheaper I'm not really looking at it as being a better route to go. although right now it does look like its going to be a little cheaper guess we will worry about that when were done.

They probably were all pre-built a while back but now there are only 9 pre-built ones and there more or less the same as neweggs

[shane4244]

Okay' date=' lemme look at cases. I have an idea the one I want, I'll edit if I find it.

 

Hurr Durr how about this case?

 

 

lmao:D

[Vioxsis]

Okay' date=' lemme look at cases. I have an idea the one I want, I'll edit if I find it.

 

Hurr Durr how about this case?

 

that is the most sexyist "case" ever

[Queen Bee]

Okay, all joking aside, I've looked at a lot of these cases and the one I keep coming back to is this one.

 

I mean, look at it. It's so cute! it's like someone took GLaDOS and compressed her into a cube.

[shane4244]

Okay' date=' all joking aside, I've looked at a lot of these cases and the one I keep coming back to is this one.

 

I mean, look at it. It's so cute! it's like someone took GLaDOS and compressed her into a cube.

 

It's retarded they won't list how much room you have for the video card in details or i'm an idiot and don't see it.If it can hold an 11" video card I'm sold need to check on that might be a min.Yep were good those reviews are not completly useless.

 

Power supply now since I have a few good cards rounded up I'll use the highest specs for the choice of the PSU

 

were at $600 now with hard drive,power supply ans video card to go this is gonna be tough

[Queen Bee]

Oh yay! I was worried for a second there that this case wouldn't be big enough.

 

Edit: Don't worry about cost just yet. We're figuring out what I want at the moment. Once we iron out the details, we'll have a basis for comparison when sorting out where to cut costs.

 

Double Edit: OMG I WANT IT SO MUCH!