runescapeloser22 Posted March 1, 2009 Share Posted March 1, 2009 So my laptop is getting old, and I'm looking to upgrade. The first thing I want to say is, do not tell me to build my own machine. Starting off, I can't decide whether I want a laptop, or desktop computer. I'm not a heavy PC gamer, but will be playing a fair amount of games. I like how I can bring my current laptop around with me (well, not really. the battery only lasts 20 minutes on its own.) but desktops are just so much cheaper and more powerful. I'm looking for a machine with around 3-4GB RAM, and around 300-400GB internal hard drive. I don't know anything about processors. What brand should I get? I've been looking at Dells, and currently have an HP, so which is better? What other specs should I look for? I'm looking to spend less then $1000, and would be willing to go up to $1100, but not higher. Any recommendations? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nadril Posted March 1, 2009 Share Posted March 1, 2009 What kind of games are you going to be playing? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sbrideau Posted March 1, 2009 Share Posted March 1, 2009 I'm seconding Nadril here, Exept I want to say: Never go for a Dell, it's one of the bad brands nowadays. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
runescapeloser22 Posted March 1, 2009 Author Share Posted March 1, 2009 Team Fortress 2, MVP Baseball 05, Call of Duty 4, Left 4 Dead Those are the games I recently bought / plan to purchase soon. Nothing like Crysis or anything :lol: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eggzs Posted March 1, 2009 Share Posted March 1, 2009 [hide=Stuff I ordered]Video Card: 4850 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814131125 Processor: Intel Core2duo @ 3.16ghz http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115036 Power Supply: CORSAIR CMPSU-650TX 650W ATX12V http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139005&Tpk=650w%20corsair%20psu Hard Drive: Western Digital 500gb http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136073 Ram: 4gb ocz 1066 ones http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227289 Motherboard: gigabyte p45 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128358 Disk Drive: samsung optical drive http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827151171 Case: XION Onyx XON-301 Black Steel ATX http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811208020 Vista 64 bit http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116488[/hide] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
runescapeloser22 Posted March 1, 2009 Author Share Posted March 1, 2009 [hide=Stuff I ordered]Video Card: 4850 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814131125 Processor: Intel Core2duo @ 3.16ghz http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115036 Power Supply: CORSAIR CMPSU-650TX 650W ATX12V http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139005&Tpk=650w%20corsair%20psu Hard Drive: Western Digital 500gb http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136073 Ram: 4gb ocz 1066 ones http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227289 Motherboard: gigabyte p45 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128358 Disk Drive: samsung optical drive http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827151171 Case: XION Onyx XON-301 Black Steel ATX http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811208020 Vista 64 bit http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116488[/hide] The first thing I want to say is, do not tell me to build my own machine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OldJoe Posted March 1, 2009 Share Posted March 1, 2009 [hide=HP custom][/hide] 770$. Good price. 50$ more for 9850, 50$ more for 500gb drive, 120$ more for HD4850. If i were to choose one of the things to upgrade, it would be be the graphics card. It depends on how much you will game. I will say that if you're gonna keep it for a couple of years, get the 4850... And possible the 9850 aswell (but the 4850 would be more important in this case). With Intel setup instead, d5200t (same specs otherwise), Q9400+500gb hd - 900$. 220$ for the 4850. J'adore aussi le sexe et les snuff moviesJe trouve que ce sont des purs moments de vieJe ne me reconnais plus dans les gensJe suis juste un cas désespérantEt comme personne ne viendra me réclamerJe terminerai comme un objet retrouvé Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
runescapeloser22 Posted March 1, 2009 Author Share Posted March 1, 2009 Wow, that computer looks nice! Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laura Posted March 1, 2009 Share Posted March 1, 2009 I offer no other advice other than to stop looking at Dells. The way they're declining, they won't last another three years. Nadril's computer on HP seems perfect for you, and I'll doubt you'll need to upgrade the GPU. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
runescapeloser22 Posted March 1, 2009 Author Share Posted March 1, 2009 I offer no other advice other than to stop looking at Dells. The way they're declining, they won't last another three years. Nadril's computer on HP seems perfect for you, and I'll doubt you'll need to upgrade the GPU. You mean OldJoe? And thanks for warning me about Dell everybody, I was actually leaning towards them before this thread ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nadril Posted March 1, 2009 Share Posted March 1, 2009 Yeah laura I didn't recommend anything. :lol: OldJoe's build is good. The 9600GS will be able to handle the games you mentioned on all highs. If you want to future proof a bit an HD4850 would be awesome though and still under budget. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
das1330 Posted March 1, 2009 Share Posted March 1, 2009 Why is everyone still complaining about Dell? Of all the mainstream computer manufacturers, they are making the best computers right now - while several years ago they WERE bad, after michael dell took the company over again they are substantially better computers then HP. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dracion1 Posted March 1, 2009 Share Posted March 1, 2009 +1. My late 05 Dell is still going fine, the build quality is absolutely great. Same goes for my dad's 7 year old Dimension 4500. The only real fault I can find with Dell is the price really, they are more expensive than self/custom builds and quite a few other prebuild companies. "In the beginning, the universe was created. This has made a lot of people very angry and been widely regarded as a bad move." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason321 Posted March 1, 2009 Share Posted March 1, 2009 Please don't turn it into This -.- [hide=HP custom][/hide] 770$. Good price. 50$ more for 9850, 50$ more for 500gb drive, 120$ more for HD4850. If i were to choose one of the things to upgrade, it would be be the graphics card. It depends on how much you will game. I will say that if you're gonna keep it for a couple of years, get the 4850... And possible the 9850 aswell (but the 4850 would be more important in this case). With Intel setup instead, d5200t (same specs otherwise), Q9400+500gb hd - 900$. 220$ for the 4850. That seems like a good build. I'd upgrade to the HD4850 and the 9850 and then you've got a pretty solid build :thumbup: Avatar by Unoalexi :: Signature by Skull_Emblem Illumination Graphics :: Click here to download the BeyondGFX resource pack! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Georgelemmons Posted March 1, 2009 Share Posted March 1, 2009 Why is everyone still complaining about Dell? Of all the mainstream computer manufacturers, they are making the best computers right now - while several years ago they WERE bad, after michael dell took the company over again they are substantially better computers then HP. I completely agree. I recently bought a new Dell, and it's reliable, well built, and was cheap. Thanks to Uno for the awsome sig <3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ElkNight Posted March 1, 2009 Share Posted March 1, 2009 Please don't turn it into This -.- Did he ever actually buy the thing? 8,180WONGTONG IS THE BEST AND IS MORE SUPERIOR THAN ME#1 Wongtong stalker.Im looking for some No Limit soldiers! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
InkofDeath Posted March 2, 2009 Share Posted March 2, 2009 The 9600GS will be able to handle the games you mentioned on all highs. If you want to future proof a bit an HD4850 would be awesome though and still under budget. Not quite building, just putting a part in, but a 4830 is easily overclockable to the 4850s and can even outperform it on stock cooling while overclocked. Some may hate me for saying this but you can use the catalyst built in OC'ing thing to do it so easily it's ridiculous. It's cheap but pwns. I own one and it owns. :) CoD:WaW runs at 70FPS everything @ max, except some obvious things not turned up all the way. Not even OC'd either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OldJoe Posted March 2, 2009 Share Posted March 2, 2009 The 9600GS will be able to handle the games you mentioned on all highs. If you want to future proof a bit an HD4850 would be awesome though and still under budget. Not quite building, just putting a part in, but a 4830 is easily overclockable to the 4850s and can even outperform it on stock cooling while overclocked. Some may hate me for saying this but you can use the catalyst built in OC'ing thing to do it so easily it's ridiculous. It's cheap but pwns. I own one and it owns. :) CoD:WaW runs at 70FPS everything @ max, except some obvious things not turned up all the way. Not even OC'd either. The thing is, you can't choose a 4830. And i don't know how it would affect the warranty of the computer. And i can't recommend him overclocking, it takes quite some time to learn it. J'adore aussi le sexe et les snuff moviesJe trouve que ce sont des purs moments de vieJe ne me reconnais plus dans les gensJe suis juste un cas désespérantEt comme personne ne viendra me réclamerJe terminerai comme un objet retrouvé Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laura Posted March 2, 2009 Share Posted March 2, 2009 I offer no other advice other than to stop looking at Dells. The way they're declining, they won't last another three years. Nadril's computer on HP seems perfect for you, and I'll doubt you'll need to upgrade the GPU. You mean OldJoe? And thanks for warning me about Dell everybody, I was actually leaning towards them before this thread ;)Yeah, OldJoe, sorry. :oops: Sorry for bringing Dell up again, but if you have ever called their customer support this or last year I'm sure you would understand. After they sent me a replacement and I went to a stockholder to get a refund they sent me another one. A week later, they charged me for it even after saying that it didn't need to be returned. After which, I had to go to the Federal Trade Commission AGAIN, a journalist for CNet, a private attorney, the Attorney General, and threatening to attend their stockholding meet. I was told for the longest time that I was speaking to the escalation team, and that they were the last point of contact. Yeah, wrong. After making such a mockery of their support, I finally got a call from the "Head of Boards and Computer Divisions" or something of the sort. At which point he offered me a full refund and a $1,000 compensation, to which I politely declined; I was content with the refund (which is all I wanted for three months). The point is, I shouldn't have had a defective unit. I shouldn't have had a second defective unit. I shouldn't have been delivered five wrong GPUs, because their communication within their own company sucked (they were all the same GPU by the way). And I shouldn't have had my order messed up on the second unit. No, I should have had a computer that worked, and if it didn't, it should have been dealt with swiftly. If that was not possible, I should have, at the least, been offered a full refund with or without a restocking fee. I will admit, at times I was angry and furious but usually I was polite yet firm. I did hint at filing a small courts claim as well. Once they got the message that it would cost them more money than the actual computer they were glad to be of service. But that doesn't mean it should have happened that way. If you're content with your Dell, that's great. For every person complaining, there's a hundred that are happy. But those of us who have something that doesn't work to specification, nothing gets done. That said, I specifically told them that if I could convince just one person not to buy from Dell that I would pay for that refund that they weren't giving me. To this day, three months since the system was ordered, I have yet to have the $900 appear on my account. I am still largely considering court as a viable alternative. Don't buy Dell, if others tell you that they work great that's fine. There's just no way I will ever recommend a Dell. Quality isn't expensive, it's priceless. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sbrideau Posted March 2, 2009 Share Posted March 2, 2009 I've seen a lot of trouble with Dells lately as well, compared to the years they were good computers. Nowadays, I would recommend an Hp or if a laptop, an Asus. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nadril Posted March 2, 2009 Share Posted March 2, 2009 The 9600GS will be able to handle the games you mentioned on all highs. If you want to future proof a bit an HD4850 would be awesome though and still under budget. Not quite building, just putting a part in, but a 4830 is easily overclockable to the 4850s and can even outperform it on stock cooling while overclocked. Some may hate me for saying this but you can use the catalyst built in OC'ing thing to do it so easily it's ridiculous. It's cheap but pwns. I own one and it owns. :) CoD:WaW runs at 70FPS everything @ max, except some obvious things not turned up all the way. Not even OC'd either. The thing is, you can't choose a 4830. And i don't know how it would affect the warranty of the computer. And i can't recommend him overclocking, it takes quite some time to learn it. Well I'm fairly positive overclocking would void the warrenty. IMO if you want an upgrade from the 9600 I would personally just get the HD4850. Damn powerful card. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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