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Buying a New Computer
Octopus Melody
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
My current computer is nearly 6 years old, and recently got a nasty virus that doesn't want to be deleted. It has also gotten loud, been slowing down, crashing, etc lately and I've decided to go ahead and buy a new computer instead of attempting to fix this one. This has the added bonus of getting a chance to play Bioshock which I've heard many good things about.
I asked a friend of mine, who knows more about computers than I do, and he suggested ordering one off ibuypower.com. He got his last computer there and is happy with it. I messed around on the site and came up with a computer that seems pretty good to me. I want to keep my spending budget at around 1000$ or less. Here are some of the specs of the computer I came up with:
Eagletech Sidewinder Tower Case w/420W Power Supply
Intel Core 2 Duo Processor E6550 (2x 2.33GHz)
2048MB [1024MB X2] DDR2-800 PC6400 Memory
NVIDIA GeForce 8800GTS 320MB
3D Premium Surround Sound Onboard
250 GB HARD DRIVE
Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium
It ended up being 1015$, including shipping and all that jazz. Basically I want advice on if this is a good computer for the money? Any suggestions on parts or anything? Is this good enough to run Bioshock well? I'm not so knowledgable about computers so I wanna make sure I'm not doing anything dumb before spending the money. Thanks!
I asked a friend of mine, who knows more about computers than I do, and he suggested ordering one off ibuypower.com. He got his last computer there and is happy with it. I messed around on the site and came up with a computer that seems pretty good to me. I want to keep my spending budget at around 1000$ or less. Here are some of the specs of the computer I came up with:
Eagletech Sidewinder Tower Case w/420W Power Supply
Intel Core 2 Duo Processor E6550 (2x 2.33GHz)
2048MB [1024MB X2] DDR2-800 PC6400 Memory
NVIDIA GeForce 8800GTS 320MB
3D Premium Surround Sound Onboard
250 GB HARD DRIVE
Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium
It ended up being 1015$, including shipping and all that jazz. Basically I want advice on if this is a good computer for the money? Any suggestions on parts or anything? Is this good enough to run Bioshock well? I'm not so knowledgable about computers so I wanna make sure I'm not doing anything dumb before spending the money. Thanks!
Octopus Melody on
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1k$ is a very accurate price tag for a really good high end pc these days i recommend waiting out till pcie2 comes in properly or at least get a board that'll support it and don't spend so much $$ on video cards i got a x800xl pcie card that is shader2 and that plays bioshock easy i don't recommend getting a shader 2 card but just letting you know that it'll be a long time before pc games utilize the hardware power we have these days my system is quite old now just hanging out for a good reason to upgrade i was hoping shadershock was going to be it but unfortunately the cunning fan base prevailed and created a fix
Total: USD $10,238.00
BWAHAHAHA thats so funny dude i would SERIOUSLY consider just building ur own that way you can get better parts for less just do a little research its easy as hell to ensure everything in your build runs smooth start with the motherboard now it'll be amd or intel but either one of those could all so be ati or nvidia so then once u know what chip set it is buy same brand card and thats basically it oh and ensure you have a really good PSU read some reviews and make sure its a good brand otherwise all your new hardware wont work
Kozzie could probably use some of this. Painful to read.
What kind of power supply should I get? Any suggestions for places to get parts from? Or suggestions on the kinds of parts I should look for, for a decent 1000$ or less computer? Any general advice for first time computer building would be awesome too. Thanks again.
I've always used Rosewill or Antec for power and have never had a problem with either brands
Newegg is great for parts and have the best customer support I've ever seen anywhere. Some people use Tiger direct I think, but I never have.
parts .... well I'll not bore you with specifics, but some brands I use that have never failed me (built I'd say upwards of 30 comps) are:
Motherboard: Asus
Processor: Intel
RAM: Corsair (Value or XMS)
HD: Western Digital and Samsung work for me
Video: Sapphire Tech
DVD/CD Burner: Plextor or Samsung or Lite-ON
Case: Sunbeam Tech or Antec or whatever (I really really really love my Sunbeam Tech case though)
thats a start anyways
Hell, my first day on the job at the local computer shop they had me build a computer from parts they pulled off the shelf and set in front of me. Just make sure that you look at the motherboard manual when you're plugging in the power supply. In fact, in general, it's a good idea to read up on your components before doing anything with them, especially plugging them into the psu and turning the thing on; I've watched a number of my coworkers just fry the motherboard by being cocky about their configurations.
So, take your time, and if you can have someone who has done it before watch you.
Oh, and when you're placing the motherboard inside the case you should really make sure you utilize as many screws as you can.
Oh, also, a lot of your parts will come with a pretty lengthy warranty (we sell PSUs with lifetime warranties and many other components with around a three year warranty) so keep the paperwork that comes with your components incase you have to RMA something a few years down the road.
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