Cheap sites to get a new rig?

V3

I been looking around for 2 days now for a place to buy a new rig. I was wanting to spend around $3000 tops. Spent 3000 last time and it lasted me 4 years. I've been looking for barebones to all sorts of custom built machines. I'm trying to find a place I can get the most out of my dollar. I was looking at DigitalStormonline.com and BuyXG.com but I can't find any reviews on their service.

So basicly can anyone recommend a place or a good review site? Anything from barebones to completely built.

Malkor

If you're not against building it yourself I'd recommend pricewatch.com for parts. Or Newegg/TigerDirect.

ArcSyn

I'd say go Newegg and Tigerdirect. You can get all the parts you need and see several different price ranges for different parts and figure out what will suit you the best.
Aside from the processor, graphics card, and monitor, I cannot see how a computer would run you up to $3,000 though. I mean, maybe if you decide to go bleeding edge of tech right now, but I wouldn't suggest it.

Just get something fast but not too expensive (you can usually tell when the price jumps up that you're now paying too much for cutting edge) and you'll get a nice computer that will take you a few years into the future.

The things you'll probably want to spend the most on is a graphics card because I'd get a DX10 card so it's VISTA ready and can play the newer games once they start using it, and a nice LCD monitor that will have good contrast and resolution.

You can find a lot of good reviews on Anandtech and CNet.

Mighty

3000 is way too much to spend. you can get a very very nice rig with 1500 to 1900 with no problems.

the cheapest way to go is build your own, but can be a hassle as you might get the wrong parts or accdentally fry something with static ect.

now, you can try something like NCIX.com and have them build a computer YOU specify. last year i was going to buy a computer, and i made up a real nice one for less then 800. only problem? no operating system.

Heir

Seriously, I'd spend 1500 every 2 years instead of 3000 every 4. I think you would find that your computer will "age" better that way.

ze swift class

Aside from ibuypower.com and alienware, is there any other online 'customize your own pc' site?

ben0207

I don't know much about where to buy a computer or whatever, but whenever I hear somebody refer to their computer as their "rig" it makes me cringe so hard my face hurts.

Hardtarget

holy shit, 3000?!?! There is no way in hell you need to spend more than 2000, and even that is a lot. Prices have gone waaay down.

Just shop at www.newegg.com if you are american and www.ncix.com if you are canadian.

Viscountalpha

V3 wrote:

I been looking around for 2 days now for a place to buy a new rig. I was wanting to spend around $3000 tops. Spent 3000 last time and it lasted me 4 years. I've been looking for barebones to all sorts of custom built machines. I'm trying to find a place I can get the most out of my dollar. I was looking at DigitalStormonline.com and BuyXG.com but I can't find any reviews on their service.

So basicly can anyone recommend a place or a good review site? Anything from barebones to completely built.

Most prebuilts suck. Its rare to find one that doesn't suck. You can build a really, really nice computer for 1500-2000$ (depending on how nice you go)
Acer is the only brand I would consider. DO NOT buy a dell or alienware or HP/compaq/emachine. They all fail hard as of recently.

thorgot

ze swift class wrote:

Aside from ibuypower.com and alienware, is there any other online 'customize your own pc' site?

The latest PCGamer had a bunch of custom built PC companies, including those two, Vigor Gaming, and a bunch I don't remember.

Drool

My brother always looks at Arstechnica.com when he goes to build a new machine. They have three different guides to machines in three price ranges, and they usually give you different choices of parts you can substitute for more performance or less money. Their mid range machine is usually about $1500 and is generally very good at handling any games currently on the market.

Its sometimes a little hard to find the guides, and I haven't looked at them in awhile, but its a good place to start figuring out what you need and how much it will cost. As for ordering the parts I've used Newegg a ton in the past, they always have good prices and specials. I'll be looking at their site when I go to build my own computer in the near future.

Lucky Cynic

I'd suggest you just use Newegg. Sure, not the cheapest but when you get your stuff in a big ass box FULL of packing peanuts and it arrives in perfect condition and has a good RMA policy, well than you just cannot go wrong.

Veevee

$3000? My computer from 2003 cost me about $700 and its still playing Medieval 2 very well.

If you have the option of going top of the line and spending $600 now on a video card, or going middle range and getting a $200 card, get the midrange. Then in a year or two, upgrade that card for another $200 to a card that was better than the $600 one for a total that is less.

Deusfaux

don't let these other guys convince you away from spending that much if you have it and want to use it

spending that much WILL get you better results.

$3000 is not even top of the line components in every catergory


here's a build I did for you. (PRICES CANADIAN) I also went back and took out the Raptor drive, the better ram, dropped down the PSU, and thats not the better ASUS 680i based board, and there's still no monitor (I was hoping to add on a 24 or 30" widescreen LCD)



Processor : Intel Coreâ„¢2 Duo Processor E6600 2.4GHz w/ 4MB Cache 1
$379.95

$379.95
CPU Heatsink / Fan : Intel Retail Heatsink and Fan 1
$0.00

$0.00
Thermal Compound : Arctic Silver Ceramique Premium High-Density Thermal Compund, 2.5g 1
$8.49

$8.49
Motherboards : eVGA nForce 680i SLI w/ DualDDR2 1200, 7.1 Audio, Dual GB Lan, 1394, Dual PCI-E x16 SLI 1
$299.95

$299.95
Memory : OCZ 2GB PC2-6400 EL Platinum XTC Edition Rev. 2 Dual Channel DDR2 Kit (2 x 1GB) 1
$289.95

$289.95
Case : Antec P180 Advanced Super Mid Tower 1
$159.95

$159.95
Power Supplies : OCZ 600W GameXStream Power Supply w/ Quad +12V 1
$129.95

$129.95
Hard Drives 1 : Seagate 320GB Barracuda 7200.10 SATA II w/ NCQ, 16MB Cache 1
$114.95

$114.95
Hard Drives 2 : None 0
$0.00

$0.00
Optical Drive 1 : LG Super Multi DVD Writer 18x18x8 DVD +/-RW Dual-Layer w/ Lightscribe, Black (OEM) 1
$44.95

$44.95
Optical Drive 2 : None 0
$0.00

$0.00
Video Cards : BFG GeForce 8800 GTX 768MB PCI-E w/ Dual DVI, HDTV-Out 1
$719.95

$719.95
Monitors : None 0
$0.00

$0.00
Sound Cards : Creative Labs Sound Blaster X-Fi Platinum, Retail 1
$199.95

$199.95
Speakers and Headsets : Logitech Z-5500 Digital THX® Certified 5.1 Speaker System 1
$349.95

$349.95
Ethernet Cards : Onboard Dual 100/1000 Gigabit Lan 1
$0.00

$0.00
Keyboards : Logitech G15 Gaming Keyboard 1
$89.95

$89.95
Mouse : Logitech G5 Laser Gaming Mouse 1
$64.95

$64.95
Operating System : Microsoft Windows XP Professional w/ SP2B, Vista Upgrade Coupon, OEM 1
$159.95

$159.95

Sub-Total:
$3012.84
GST:
$180.77
Total Cost:
$3193.61
Alberta Recyling Fee
(For residents of Alberta only):
$0.00
Total(With Recyling Fee)
(For residents of Alberta only):
$3193.61

V3

Thanks for all the advice so far.

Anyone have an opinion on Water cooling systems? Are the really Silent? Are the worth it? easy to install?

Deusfaux

id hold off on water cooling until you get the hang of putting together the computer on your own first period

only if you get into overclocking heavily or demand the most silent system ever look past your air cooling and get a water cooling rig

V3

Another question to SLI or not to SLI? Is dual cards the way to go? I hear the 8800 GTX can out do 2 7950s but would going ahead and getting a mother board that could eventually do SLI be the way to go? Or do you think 1 high powered card will always be better then 2?

Deusfaux

well 1 high powered card is always better than 2 of course. thats less power consumption, less heat, more space in your case

SLI though is about getting around the limitations of the then-best technology

what's better than an 8800GTX? nothing


except TWO of them

but again, not really money efficient.

although an SLI mobo... well most of the high end/best boards tend to be SLI anyways, so sure get a great board that happens to be SLI anyways

Malkor

Eventually that top of the line card's gonna be cheap and be a good upgrade option later on if you SLI it right?

V3

Ok one last Question for now. I have seen some Motherboards have the ability to where you can now just plug CPUs in. I remember hearing about them doing this in the past. Is this a new standard? Can all boards do this or just some? Do you suffer any loss from these boards in terms of speed?

Deusfaux

??? not sure i understand what you're suggesting there

V3

Basicly I am asking can all motherboards now have their CPUs upgraded? By just a simple exchange of CPUs.

Deusfaux

yes all motherboards

though often to take full advantage of new processors you need a new mobo anyways, because it doesnt support the new front side bus speed or whatever