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New computer thread - Damn you Diablo!!!
superhappypanda
Zug Island Sport FishingSeattleRegistered User regular
Zug Island Sport FishingSeattleRegistered User regular
Ok, so my 3 year old MacBook Pro is dogging it when trying to play Diablo III. I've got all the graphics and sound levels turned as far down as I can but it's still lagging so I'm thinking it might be new computer time.
Since I haven't built a new computer or bought a desktop in about 10 years I'm going to need some advice as to where to buy one. I don't have the time to build one myself so I just want to order one from a website. Last time I even looked at a gaming desktop online it was back when Alienware was their own company and not owned by anyone else. Are they even a good desktop to get?
Any advice is appreciated. Oh, and if I can I'd like to keep it around $800.
Since I haven't built a new computer or bought a desktop in about 10 years I'm going to need some advice as to where to buy one. I don't have the time to build one myself so I just want to order one from a website. Last time I even looked at a gaming desktop online it was back when Alienware was their own company and not owned by anyone else. Are they even a good desktop to get?
Any advice is appreciated. Oh, and if I can I'd like to keep it around $800.
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For a pre-build gaming rig I'd go for Falcon Northwest as I think Alienware and the like are too much about bling.
Head over to the computer build thread and they will set you up with a system for all your needs, matching your budget.
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You can easily build a system for $500 before rebates, 800$ can build you a very nice system. It take literally 30 minutes to assemble, I just did a HTPC earlier this week and it took me about an hour including the Bios update, Win7 install, and all the updates being downloaded and installed. My actual time putting things together was around 20 minutes.
Hop over to the build thread and tell them your budget and what your looking to do and watch the magic happen:
http://forums.penny-arcade.com/discussion/156472/computer-build-thread-forget-sandy-bridge-e-i-want-some-raspberry-pi/p1
You can buy a pre-built and your going to pay for the convenience and then take a hit on what parts you can and can't select.
Eh, what modern games is it that run on ultra when we talk a $800 system? It helps if we say the $800 only covers the computer itself and not Monitor, Mouse, Keyboard plus the Microsoft tax ie. Windows but even then I would say the right word is more "walk" than "run" :-)
I can run Metro 2033 on High settings at 30 FPS. On ultra it dips down to 15 FPS, but I'm blaming that on my vanilla 560. Should have gotten an 560ti, but oh well.
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Details, examples - please. Name some games, frame rates, screen resolution and AA settings.
(To the OP: D3 is a new game but it is not one that pushes current hardware to the edge, so what is needed for D3 is not extreme).
You're telling OP that $800 isn't enough for a gaming rig, but at the same time D3 doesn't require super duper hardware. I feel like you're contradicting yourself a bit.
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I think he's just derailing the thread into an e-peen waving contest about who knows more about build costs.
And yes, $800 is plenty for a gaming PC. You won't have top of the line (once you factor in $200ish for a nice monitor), but you don't necessarily want "top of the line" anyway, since the markup is so outrageous. Don't spend $2000 on a PC today when you won't need what's under the hood for today's games anyway. Spend $800-$1000 today and drop a couple hundred every year or two to keep it "current." It's a much more cost effective strategy, and you'll still be running modern games are max settings (or every near).
That said you should be able to put together a decent computer for that price. Windows is probably going to take close to $200 off the top. I would recommend either finding an incredibly cheap used CRT monitor or looking for a friend who's upgrading their flatscreen. Paying full price for a good monitor will set you back probably $150 or so. Keyboard and mouse should similarly be looked for on the cheap. Flea markets will sometimes have a person selling old computers, this and ebay are probably good places to look.
If you are successful in those endeavors that will leave between 600 and 650 for the actual tower. $50 for case and power supply if you go for the cheap stuff. Maybe $75 if you opt for a higher end power supply which may save you some headaches. Motherboard and processor can come in at about $100. Any extra money you have at the end you'll probably want to put into the cpu. Ram will be pretty cheap. You can get 8 gigs for about $40 relatively easily. More ram is the other place you may want to sink extra money at the end. You can get a 500 GB sata drive for about $80 which is probably more space than you'll use unless you're a torrent fiend. CD/DVD burners are crazy cheap. We'll splurge and figure $30 for a good one. So, running tally now is $525 for the OS, case, powersupply, cpu, motherboard, ram, harddrive and optical media. Now time to spend some real money. We can get you a GeForce GTX 560 with 2GB onboard ram for $190. Not quite top-of-the-line, but unless you really want to jump off the deep end and spend $1,000 on a video card it'll do. That brings us to $715. Let's figure 7% sales tax and hope you can order from a place that will give you free or at least minimal shipping: $765. That leaves you about thirty-five dollars to hit the flea market and find a cheap monitor, keyboard and mouse. Depending on your location government surplus auctions are also a great place to pick up cheap electronics.
Or you could pick up a pre-made gaming computer for probably $550-$600 at Newegg and have enough left over to buy a monitor. It won't be quite as good as what you can build but it'll be a lot more convenient and you'll end up paying a bit less for the OS.
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Also, the $800 is for hardware only. I've already got copies of Office, Windows, etc. etc. and already have a monitor/keyboard/mouse.
I did some more tinkering with Diablo on the Mac last night and was able to get it somewhat playable, but am still noticing some lag but everything is on ridiculously low settings and it's approaching the graphics for Advanced Dungeons and Dragons on the Intellivision.
I don't think so. The OP asks for a good gaming rig and mentions Alienware. In my book that is asking for premium piece of hardware which is why I mention the budget being on the low side but that it should be fine for D3.
Later on there are some posts where people talk about being able to run modern games in Ultra settings with hardware costing less than $800 which I question. Maybe you want to count D3 as a modern game but then I'm sorry because just like the previous D and D2 it is not a modern game in the sense it that it requires less than premium hardware(just as most other games these days since much of what we get a console games converted to PC).
Then I strongly suggest taking the chance and do a DIY project. Motherboards these days come with okay network and sound hardware and even the CPU cooler+fans from Intel and AMD and acceptable (as in cooling okay without being massively loud). In other words building yourself is easier than ever, all you need is a case with PSU, mother board, CPU with stock cooling, Ram (use a wizard at Crucial or the like), graphics adapter and storage (If you can find the money get an SSD for system drive).
LOL - Intellivison. Now there are some memories.
He mentioned Alienware in the context that he'd like a prebuilt system and Alienware was known to be good at building them. I'm not sure how you translate that to building a "premium piece of hardware." Not all systems built by Alienware are $1500+ systems.
No one said less. We said $800. And both of us said that our $800 systems were able to run Metro 2033 at high/ultra settings with no problems. In my opinion Metro 2033 is still a pretty good benchmarking game.
Out of curiosity, what would be your budget and what sort of hardware would you put into your gaming rig?
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If you have a CompUSA (preferred), Best Buy, or other place nearby that sells good numbers of computer parts, check them out every week. They'll often have deals that are 10-30% off Newegg prices. This is very helpful for monitors, as they're often sold as floor models, 50-60% off, and you can see specifically if they have dead pixels (I've returned monitors to CompUSA at no cost to me due to dead pixels).
And as a rule, do not future proof. I've been upgrading and building comps for a decade, and it has never paid off for me.
Warframe: TheBaconDwarf
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Yes, that configuration works fine as long as your motherboard supports that particular CPU.