Buying a gaming computer

real_pochacco

I'm looking toward saving up money in order to get a gaming computer, primarily so that I can play Starcraft 2. I've never bought a computer of my own and I know very little about hardware in general. I don't want a top-of-the-line set-up because a) I don't have that much money and b) stuff doesn't tend to last very long around me. But I want something that can reliably let me play in big multiplayer games on Starcraft 2.

see317

If you're looking to buy a prebuilt one off the shelf, you'll probably be looking at 6-800 bucks, plus another 150 or so for a workable graphics card (most prebuilts that I've seen don't include them). You may want to up the RAM some as well, probably another 75-125 bucks depending on how high you want to go. Unless of course you buy some retailers idea of a "Gaming Computer" in which case you'll be looking at substantially more cash on the PC, but probably won't have to upgrade the RAM or graphics card for a while.

A more cost efficient method would be to build a computer from bits. You'll be able to get a SC2 capable machine for around 5-600 buck starting from scratch. If you have existing bits that you can use (Power supply, case etc) that can be lowered quite a bit. If you go this route, read this thread like it's your own personal bible. They'll provide a bunch of information.

kime

If Starcraft 2 is the highest you'll be going for anytime soon, you won't need a very high-end computer. It isn't a very graphics- or processor-intensive game.

Do you want a laptop or desktop?

real_pochacco

kime wrote: »

If Starcraft 2 is the highest you'll be going for anytime soon, you won't need a very high-end computer. It isn't a very graphics- or processor-intensive game.

Do you want a laptop or desktop?

Definitely a desktop

Blake T

Can you see any games in the future that you would want to play?

(personally I am looking at you diablo III)

You might want to put in an extra 100 or 200 dollars to try and stop you from having to upgrade in another year or two if you can see something on the horizon.

real_pochacco

Blake T wrote: »

Can you see any games in the future that you would want to play?

(personally I am looking at you diablo III)

You might want to put in an extra 100 or 200 dollars to try and stop you from having to upgrade in another year or two if you can see something on the horizon.

Hell yeah I want to play Diablo III.

Rye

I'll probably get laughed at by the elite computer builders on this forum, but dell's XPS line of computers are simple enough and stable enough to run all of blizzard's games without sweating.

I decided long ago that home-building wasn't for me (the stress of replacing individual parts all the time was annoying), so I've been using more pre-built stuff for a while.

In general, try to find a conformable spot between cheap and expandable. If you really don't care about playing newer games, you can save a lot of money by ignoring "expandability" and capitalizing on stable, pre-built systems. However, this can bite you in the ass if you see some shiny game you want, but your system is just under the specs for it - most cheap systems are incapable of being upgraded without a complete gutting of the motherboard / powersupply etc.

Also, if you're never built/worked with barebones systems, I'd definitely suggest a pre-built system.

I'd say unless you have a secret deep-buried desire to play super high tech games, you'd be safe buying some nice ~$500 machine from Dell, HP, gateway or whatever.

Kate of Lokys

Rye gives good advice. When my fiance needed a new computer in a hurry a couple of years ago, we ordered him a $400 Dell, slapped a proper video card and a new power supply into it, and he was off to the races. The total cost ended up being just under $600 Canadian, and it got him a machine that a) worked out of the box, with no fucking around needed, b) was quiet, energy-efficient, and didn't have flaming red LEDs spattered all over it like the glowing jizz of a 13 year old robot, and c) comfortably handled games like Team Fortress 2, World of Warcraft, and Starcraft 2 on moderate to high settings with no issues or slowdowns for two years. In fact, the only thing that failed on that Dell was the video card, which burned itself out last week. Even then, though, we just pulled the card out, went back to using the integrated graphics, and it works just fine for me as a workstation.

Important tip, though: if you go the pre-built route, order from the Dell Business line, not Dell Home. The business models are more utilitarian, but they're easier to work on, more upgradeable, and better built. You also tend to get much better customer service on the Business side.

Apogee

I highly reccomend building your own PC. It's cheaper, more customizable, and you will learn a hell of a lot while doing it. And dagnabbit, it's fun if you're a nerd (and you're on the PA forums, sooo...)

Newegg.com is a good place to start. There are a billion guides on how to build a PC, here's a good idea of waht you'll need: Toms Hardware.

The tech section on the PA forums is also great. Go there for advice on this.

schuss

Yeah, building a PC is super-easy these days. Just set a budget and make sure to get a solid video card, motherboard and power supply. If you can use a screwdriver, you can build a computer.

DragonPup

Might want to hold off an anything with Intel's Sandy Bridge chipset

Muriden

I'll echo some previous statements about buying a prefab box and maybe tweaking it. A few years ago I purchased a refurb Dell system for around $350 and put a decent video card in it which held me over for about a year and a half until I could build a real system.

http://www.dell.com/us/en/dfh/desktops/ct.aspx?refid=desktops&s=dfh&cs=22

Anything with an i5 or higher will be sufficient.

Oricalm

Having done both sides of this argument (bought the pre-fab and built from scratch) you really are better of building from scratch. Most pre-fabs are going to need something replaced, or else you're going to be paying extra for a lot of crap you don't need. If you're already discussing replacing parts inside the machine, you're halfway to building your own.

Case in point: To buy a pre-fab with the video card requirements I had, I would have had to pony up extra bucks for a HDD way bigger than I wanted/needed and gotten a case that I really did not like. Not to mention you have the added "Known Label" cost tacked on. Instead, I built my own and was able to get a smaller HDD, but a better video card than was even available in the pre-fab and still come out cheaper.

Also, speaking from experience, the people in the Moe's forum Computer Build thread are great people, and will find you crazy deals. They helped me build my last computer (reviewed some of my part choices, gave me a couple tips I didn't know about) and it's been very stable and kicking ass for quite some time.

Lastly, if you do go with a pre-built and swap parts, you need to make sure you get a pre-built that CAN be swapped. A lot of the major manufacturers use proprietary parts or you can run into difficulty override the standard settings. (I had an HP that refused to stop using onboard video; Roommate had a dell that we had to jurry rig a new power supply into). In this respect it can be handy to get a non-(hp/gateway/dell/etc) pre-built because they're using "real" parts. The last pre-built I bought was a cyberlink gaming machine or something off of tiger-direct like 8 years ago. My mom uses it nowadays and it's still chugging along just fine.

Muriden

I guess what would help most would be to know your budget and if you are willing to put the time / cost into learning how to build a machine. Yes it is not that difficult once you do it, but it may seem like a daunting task for those who are not that savvy with hardware.

MechMantis

However, once you ARE savvy with hardware, it's quite a bit cheaper to build your own.

Seriously, it takes about 30 minutes to do some reading on the subject, open up your computer, identify the parts, take it apart, then piece it back together.

schuss

Yeah, it's way easier than it used to be to build one. Now you won't have to worry about slot placement etc. because pretty much everything should fit into only one slot, and it probably won't matter which one.

SatanIsMyMotor

How much are you looking to spend? I was just in your exact same shoes and decided to build my own. Once I know what you want to spend I may be able to at least show you some of the options I looked at.