Ok, I'm in need of some advice. I'm looking to upgrade from my older laptop to a new desktop. I'm looking for something that will last a me a while and be able to handle some moderate gaming. (Spore mostly for the kids.) and I don't want to break the bank obviously. I've been looking for Intel i7, 6 or 8gb ram, and 1TB Hard Drive. I'm looking for any and all advice there are so many brands and place to shop around. Any thoughts would help.
PC Advice
- Thread starter Rhippo
- Start date
elessar123
CAGiversary!
- Feedback
- 197 (100%)
There's a recent and related thread, at http://www.cheapassgamer.com/forums/showthread.php?t=251693
May want to check it out.
May want to check it out.
Quite honestly if you're only going to be doing moderate gaming you can easily spend less than $600 for a respectable computer that will last you a while. The i7 and that much ram is definitely unnecessary if you're only going to be playing games like spore, or if you don't do any media related tasks such as photoshop or after effects.
We're currently in an age where even something as weak as a netbook can perform everyday tasks with little to no hiccups. So it really depends on what you'll be using this desktop for. If it's just for web browsing, text editing, and occasionally playing casual games, I don't recommend buying a powerful desktop.
We're currently in an age where even something as weak as a netbook can perform everyday tasks with little to no hiccups. So it really depends on what you'll be using this desktop for. If it's just for web browsing, text editing, and occasionally playing casual games, I don't recommend buying a powerful desktop.
m6oo
CAGiversary!
I've bought my last couple of systems from the Dell outlet (outlet.dell.com). Here's how I do it:
1 - Use the regular Dell site to figure out what system(s) have the options you want (processor, video, etc)
2 - Decide What you can be flexible about upgrading later.
3 - Check the Dell outlet site DAILY (or more) and monitor the prices of the systems you are interested in. (sort by price, low to high)
4 - Eventually, you will get an idea of what the normal prices are and then, one day, you will see a system that really sticks out as having a good set up and a really low price.
5 - Pull trigger on that system immediately before it gets snapped up.
6 - If someone beats you to it, don't give up. Sometimes people put it in their cart and then don't buy it. I think it flushes out of the cart in like 15-40 minutes if they don't check out. I've had this happen to me once. The system I wanted disappeared before I could snag it and then I waited and it reappeared after a bit.
1 - Use the regular Dell site to figure out what system(s) have the options you want (processor, video, etc)
2 - Decide What you can be flexible about upgrading later.
3 - Check the Dell outlet site DAILY (or more) and monitor the prices of the systems you are interested in. (sort by price, low to high)
4 - Eventually, you will get an idea of what the normal prices are and then, one day, you will see a system that really sticks out as having a good set up and a really low price.
5 - Pull trigger on that system immediately before it gets snapped up.
6 - If someone beats you to it, don't give up. Sometimes people put it in their cart and then don't buy it. I think it flushes out of the cart in like 15-40 minutes if they don't check out. I've had this happen to me once. The system I wanted disappeared before I could snag it and then I waited and it reappeared after a bit.
whymustiregister
CAGiversary!
- Feedback
- 2 (100%)
I just picked up a HP Pavilion Elite HPE-150t. Ordered on the 2nd, arrived on the 6th. It feels so fast compared to my old Dell. Baseline price without the video card upgrade is $800. Free shipping but you most likely need to pay tax. Costco price is the same if you do the config from their site. The day I bought it there was a HP coupon for an extra 5% off. That coupon has expired but if you go through some referral sites you can get 3% back.
I went ahead with the video card upgrade since I do game a little - Dragon Age: Origins and Star Trek Online. The STO textures and framerate improved a ton, haven't reinstalled DA:O yet. Also I read that by buying a better card at the same time, HP would also upgrade the power supply. Otherwise if you do it on your own down the line you'll have to pick up a PSU as well. Price would have been close to eBaying a card and PSU considing the discount and everything. It shipped with a 460W PSU.
Dell had a sale on a similar spec'd model that same day. I had been waiting for a sale specifically on an i5-750 system with 2 5.25" bays so that was quite interesting. Price was a bit higher since there wasn't a coupon, they only had 32-bit Windows so max 4GB memory, and I had to pay shipping. HP was the better deal though getting a clean Dell Windows 7 DVD instead of the HP recovery crap would have been very nice.
I did consider building my own a few months ago but decided that I'm too lazy. I have no need for super high end stuff any more. Besides, I have to deal with computers for work already, having something that works and has a warranty is nice.
• Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
• Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-750 quad-core processor [2.66GHz, 1MB L2 + 8MB shared L3 cache]
• FREE UPGRADE! 6GB DDR3-1333MHz SDRAM [3 DIMMs] from 4GB
• FREE UPGRADE! 640GB 7200 rpm SATA 3Gb/s hard drive from 500GB
• 1GB ATI Radeon HD 4850 [2 DVI, HDMI and VGA adapters] (+$140, now +$150)
• LightScribe 16X max. DVD+/-R/RW SuperMulti drive
• Integrated 10/100/1000 (Gigabit) Ethernet, No wireless LAN
• 15-in-1 memory card reader, 1 USB, 1394, audio
• No TV Tuner
• Integrated 7.1 channel sound with front audio ports
• No speakers
• HP multimedia keyboard and HP optical mouse
• Microsoft(R) Works 9.0
• Norton Internet Security(TM) 2010 - 15 month
I went ahead with the video card upgrade since I do game a little - Dragon Age: Origins and Star Trek Online. The STO textures and framerate improved a ton, haven't reinstalled DA:O yet. Also I read that by buying a better card at the same time, HP would also upgrade the power supply. Otherwise if you do it on your own down the line you'll have to pick up a PSU as well. Price would have been close to eBaying a card and PSU considing the discount and everything. It shipped with a 460W PSU.
Dell had a sale on a similar spec'd model that same day. I had been waiting for a sale specifically on an i5-750 system with 2 5.25" bays so that was quite interesting. Price was a bit higher since there wasn't a coupon, they only had 32-bit Windows so max 4GB memory, and I had to pay shipping. HP was the better deal though getting a clean Dell Windows 7 DVD instead of the HP recovery crap would have been very nice.
I did consider building my own a few months ago but decided that I'm too lazy. I have no need for super high end stuff any more. Besides, I have to deal with computers for work already, having something that works and has a warranty is nice.
• Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
• Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-750 quad-core processor [2.66GHz, 1MB L2 + 8MB shared L3 cache]
• FREE UPGRADE! 6GB DDR3-1333MHz SDRAM [3 DIMMs] from 4GB
• FREE UPGRADE! 640GB 7200 rpm SATA 3Gb/s hard drive from 500GB
• 1GB ATI Radeon HD 4850 [2 DVI, HDMI and VGA adapters] (+$140, now +$150)
• LightScribe 16X max. DVD+/-R/RW SuperMulti drive
• Integrated 10/100/1000 (Gigabit) Ethernet, No wireless LAN
• 15-in-1 memory card reader, 1 USB, 1394, audio
• No TV Tuner
• Integrated 7.1 channel sound with front audio ports
• No speakers
• HP multimedia keyboard and HP optical mouse
• Microsoft(R) Works 9.0
• Norton Internet Security(TM) 2010 - 15 month
Legolas813
CAGiversary!
- Feedback
- 3 (100%)
I switched from a laptop to a desktop last month. I was also looking to do a little gaming and not break the bank. I decided to take the leap and follow Maximum PC's how to build an awesome PC for $647. It was my first time building a computer and it really wasn't that difficult. They give you all of the instructions and parts. It runs really well and so far it can run Oblivion at maxed out settings. Of course, the article linked to does not include monitor, mouse, keyboard, etc. You will have to buy those separately. In total I spent less than $1,000.
http://www.maximumpc.com/article/features/how_build_awesome_pc_647
http://www.maximumpc.com/article/features/how_build_awesome_pc_647
bread's done