June 18, 200719 yr Hey guys, I'm looking to possibly purchase a new desktop. I have a very new laptop but it isn't handling games too well. I play WoW mostly but am going to purchase WAR/WHO and maybe get back into EAW sometime. Right now, I have it hooked up to 23" LCD display running at 1920x1200 resolution. I run WoW at 1600x1000 on it since otherwise, the performance takes a major hit. Still, all the settings are turned way down and in Outland, I can definitely notice it being quite a bit slower than I'd like. At any rate, I've been taking a look at Dell and HP for possible options. I don't know how to build my own computer - doing so interests me but I haven't ever looked into it. I think I have a feel for what I "need" but as far as video cards go, I'm completely lost. Doing a side-by-side comparison of the possibilities for the low-end Dell XPS/high end Dimension, it seems the 768 is miles ahead of the 256 (numbers wise). But it's also 400 more. And then there's that one XPS that allows you to have two 256 cards (for around 200 less than the 768). I want this computer to last a long time and I want it to be able to handle the normal FOTM games on my 23" display without slowing down. Price.. I don't want to go above 2000 if possible. Any thoughts, specifically on the video card?
June 18, 200719 yr For $2000 you could build a very good gaming computer. Or get an average gaming computer pre-built for $2000. I would highly suggest building one to get the the best parts for the least money especially then you can get a good graphics card that can handle your high resolution monitor. The graphics card isn't all about the memory it has either :wink: , but it does help, especially at the resolution your looking at. I suggest the 8800GTS 640mb, or even the 320mb version if the first option is not affordable.
June 18, 200719 yr I would recommend, if you're afraid of putting together your own PC, to buy the parts and hire someone to put it together. More than likely there is some company around you that would be glad to put together a PC for an installation fee, and I'd be much cheaper. I'll check newegg and see what I can't find. For a budget of $2000, like blade said, you can get a pretty much top of the line machine. Hell mine I'm building is going to cost 600 and is very capable.
June 18, 200719 yr I would recommend, if you're afraid of putting together your own PC, to buy the parts and hire someone to put it together. More than likely there is some company around you that would be glad to put together a PC for an installation fee, and I'd be much cheaper. I'll check newegg and see what I can't find. For a budget of $2000, like blade said, you can get a pretty much top of the line machine. Hell mine I'm building is going to cost 600 and is very capable. Wait, the computer your building in your thread is only costing you $600? Wow
June 18, 200719 yr I would recommend, if you're afraid of putting together your own PC, to buy the parts and hire someone to put it together. More than likely there is some company around you that would be glad to put together a PC for an installation fee, and I'd be much cheaper. I'll check newegg and see what I can't find. For a budget of $2000, like blade said, you can get a pretty much top of the line machine. Hell mine I'm building is going to cost 600 and is very capable. Wait, the computer your building in your thread is only costing you $600? Wow Yup. It was like 720 but pretty much everything I'm getting has a $20 rebate. :D I love newegg.
June 18, 200719 yr If you want us to, we would be happy to put together a parts list of everything you would need to build a new computer. Its not really that difficult, and if you read a few key wikipedia articles you will get everything you need to know. As far as graphics cards, the 768mb card is an 8800gtx, which is currently the fastest thing out there, and if you can afford it is a great card. however, the 640mb card, a 640 8800gts, is the next best thing and is roughly 85% as fast as the first one, and more then 100$ cheaper. Even the 8800 gts 320mb card is good, but if possible for you with the large screen I would get one of the bigger memory cards, as you would need the frame buffer for such a large screen. No matter what you choose, try to get one of those as those cards are Much faster then anything out there, with the possible exception of the Ati 2900 xtx.
June 18, 200719 yr the Dell XPS are decent gaming PCs, but I would recommend building your own its really really easy.
June 19, 200719 yr Author It sounds like a good project actually. I do want the video card to be the top of the line - the way it sounds, I'd still be saving money by building my own. 2000 was the upper limit - if we can stick with the video card and go lower, that would be awesome. I'd appreciate any input at all!
June 19, 200719 yr Get a local person to custom build it for you. The tech support on Dell and stuff isn't all that great, and you won't have many customization options in the future if you go with them. I really wouldn't call it an era. It was more of a definitive time period during which dinstinctive characteristics were expressed in similar ways.
June 19, 200719 yr It sounds like a good project actually. I do want the video card to be the top of the line - the way it sounds, I'd still be saving money by building my own. 2000 was the upper limit - if we can stick with the video card and go lower, that would be awesome. I'd appreciate any input at all! If you're still anxious about building your own, check out http://www.mysuperpc.com for a step by step guide :) I just posted something! ^_^ to the terrorist...er... kirbybeam.
June 19, 200719 yr Hey I have some extra time right now sith (saw you checking these forums) so I'm going to put together some basic ideas for a PC. :)
June 19, 200719 yr Tower: $65 PSU: $140 Motherboard: $250 CPU: $317 Ram: $250 Video Card: $350 Sound Card: $90 750GB Hard Drive $270 or 500GB Hard Drive: $110 CD/DVD Drive: $22 Total: $1594 or $1754 (dependent on hard drive choice) This is just some skiming over, someone can perhaps pin point these a bit more. :)
June 19, 200719 yr To add to Nadril's suggestions, which is a great build, you could possibly step up to a quad core for about $550 for the cpu. Pair that with 4GB of ram and you have one of the best systems you could put together. The quad cores are not being taken advantage in gaming atm buy when Crysis and Unreal tournament come out, they will. Which are coming out early 4th quarter of this year.
June 19, 200719 yr To add to Nadril's suggestions, which is a great build, you could possibly step up to a quad core for about $550 for the cpu. Pair that with 4GB of ram and you have one of the best systems you could put together. The quad cores are not being taken advantage in gaming atm buy when Crysis and Unreal tournament come out, they will. Which are coming out early 4th quarter of this year. Yeah I was unsure about the Quad cores. Right now they aren't terribly... out there, I'm not sure if it'd be best to adopt to them earlier. I left a bit of leeway room as well incase you wanted to upgrade the video card or something a bit higher. You can add in cooling as well if you're interested in overclocking. :)
June 19, 200719 yr Author Cheers Nad. I talked to Albosky a bit and actually arrived at the same video card choice - very reasonable it seems and fast! Regarding RAM, is 2GB reasonable? Or 4 for sure? I really appreciate your time.. thanks!
June 19, 200719 yr Cheers Nad. I talked to Albosky a bit and actually arrived at the same video card choice - very reasonable it seems and fast! Regarding RAM, is 2GB reasonable? Or 4 for sure? I really appreciate your time.. thanks! 2 gigs would work, but man if you got the money 4gigs would be amazing. :P I mean, hell, the motherboard I linked can support 8gb LOL.
June 19, 200719 yr I would go with an Nvidia chipset If I were you, as opposed to an intel one. They are not as stable, but they are faster. Here is a good board with one: Either a 650i or 680i chipset are good, but if you ever consider adding another card to make an SLI setup, you will need a 680i chipset. EVGA board
June 19, 200719 yr I would go with an Nvidia chipset If I were you, as opposed to an intel one. They are not as stable, but they are faster. Here is a good board with one: Either a 650i or 680i chipset are good, but if you ever consider adding another card to make an SLI setup, you will need a 680i chipset. EVGA board Have any proof that the Intel chipset isn't as good? Or is that just one of your preferences? I see nothing wrong with the Intel chipset. Especially getting the Gigabyte DQ6 which is one of the best motherboards out there.
June 20, 200719 yr Author Just ordered! Case Mobo HD (Stuck with 7200RPM - 10000 was a bit more than I wanted to spend) Vid. Card CPU DVD-RW Drive RAM Power supply
June 20, 200719 yr Just ordered! Case Mobo HD (Stuck with 7200RPM - 10000 was a bit more than I wanted to spend) Vid. Card CPU DVD-RW Drive RAM Power supply Awesome :). With the ram too you can easily upgrade it if you want ,that PC is going to run like a beast though.
June 20, 200719 yr Author Yeah, that's what I figured. See how it runs and then purchase more if necessary. =] Thanks again for your help Nad - and everyone else who posted.
June 23, 200719 yr Author Ordered it Tuesday I think. The parts come Monday - the case is here already. Pretty sweet. I'll post on Monday when it is all setup. :D Can't wait to try WoW at 1920x1200.
June 28, 200719 yr Author Built it on Monday with a tremendous amount of help from Albosky. Tried to install Vista and kept getting BSODs - memory related. Memory returned to NewEgg. Bought new memory from Frys on Tuesday - BSOD. Sent it in for repair at a local tech shop. They tried lower speed memory and it worked. They tried the same speed memory but a different brand and it worked also... They came to the conclusion that Corsair RAM doesn't play well with the mobo I chose. :P Anyways, I bought the RAM from them as I didn't want to mess about with anything else. So now it's working beautifully and am enjoying playing WoW at full speed/full settings. :P Was kind of happy that all of the problems were RAM related and not due to anything specific during the building process. =]
June 29, 200719 yr Grats on a new kick-[wagon] pc =D> I'm thinking of building a new one as well, but I'm gonna wait to see how the quad-core stuff works out
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