I figured it couldn't hurt to ask for some advice. I'm thinking about getting a new computer. I've been using laptops for about four years now, and as awesome as that's been, I'm considering getting a desktop... I haven't ever been computer shopping with my own money and I'm kind of freaking out. For the purpose of this thread, I'm going to say the highest I'm willing to spend is around $780, because as soon as I spend this money I'm back to nothing so I'd like to save a bit of it aidhaiod lololol. ...Also, I'm pretty sure almost anything will be a step up from my Compaq Presario that's already died once. Anyway, I'd like some suggestions, I guess. I use my laptop for a lot of digital stuff. Music production, video editing, gaming. It could run Portal and Portal 2, but not Amnesia. It has an intel integrated graphics card. I'll post more specs when I get home. I'd like a desktop capable of playing games...MMOs (my laptop was pretty decent at those, though it'd lag easily), video editing, multi-tasking, and internet smoothly without major lag. A webcam would be sexy, but isn't necessary. It'd be cool if the monitor was included, or it was all-in-one. I don't have any specific desired specs, so long as it can do these things. I hope that makes sense. If you can do any of this stuff nicely what kind of computer do you use? How much was it, if you know? Any links I can check out? If you have general knowledge of this kind of stuff, do you know of any cheap (or cheap enough) but capable manufactures or ...whatever that I should be looking for? I don't really know how to phrase this so I'm sorry if it's just a mess. Any help would be appreciated.
Alright first thing first. Are you confident that you can build a desktop on your own? Let me know, and we'll get going.
The computer I'm using is Windows XP, and it's not so bad. But I think Windows 7 is better, so maybe that could be a better choice? I'm not sure. I'm just throwing suggestions around. As for the part for the desktop(Where you put your computer), I'm not sure.
Noroz is right in that building your computer is an option, but that requires knowing what you're doing and it can end up costing you more up front. If you're simply looking to buy from a store, I have good experiences with HP and Gateway. Stay away from Compaqs, they're low cost but have god awful specs. I have an HP that I got for $420 a year and a half ago that serves me just fine, and is very upgrade friendly (part of the reason I picked it out). If you're not comfortable building, what stores would you like to purchase from? Is ordering online an option for you? I would recommend buying from a place like Best Buy if you don't want to build, simply because they often have good bundles. Monitors can be pricey when purchased separately--I just upgraded to a 20" and it set me back $110. I can look for some suggestions for you, though. =]
I would reccommend an Intel i5 2500 processor and a Nvidia Gefore GTX 560 TI graphics card. It will run pretty much anything at a high resolution without spending a fortune. Another option is to get a GTX 550 TI instead of the 560 to save money.
Graphics: What The Fuk? said, I have a Geforce GTX 550 Ti. It's pretty good. Guarantee it'll play any games currently out perfectly (maybe not on ultra graphics with really new games, but MMOs, yea probably). GTX 550 Ti is around $100 - $150. Dunno about GTX 560, but GTX 560 Ti is around $180 - $250. Get at least a 64-bit Windows (unless you don't want Windows), so you can get 6gb or 8gb of RAM. Unless you just wanna go for 4gb, then 32-bit would work. The more RAM, the more things you can have running simultaneously though. Processor: Intel core i5-2500 or i7-2600 (I have that) will pretty much do the job. i5-2500 ~$200 and i7-2600 ~$300. (Go for the i5 if you can) Power supply: Try and go for at least a 600 watt-er. The prices probably vary on them. HDD: I would say at least 1TB (around $100- $120 maybe) but a 500GB might work too, but that all depends on you. Motherboard: Make sure it supports everything you're getting (like the processor and has the correct slots for the video card, etc) Noroz could probably help better with the motherboards and stuff. Also, monitor: If you don't already have one, I'd go for at least a 1366 x 768 (what I have) one, they're anywhere from like $70 - $100. Or go for a 1600 x 900, 1920 x 1080. Whatever. Good luck. c: EDIT: also, I used tigerdirect.com.
I have the i7 2600 as well, and I would also recommend that. The hyperthreading is a good feature and will be of much help in music production and video editing.
I agree with staying away from both Compaq and Dell, they are cheap for a reason. If you're sticking with the intel i5 (which it sounds like all you'll probably need for what you want to do with it anyways), I think for the price you're looking for you can get something with a NVIDIA GT520 1GB (or the ones people mentioned above are fine too) along with 8GB DDR3 ram and a 1tb hard drive. You could probably get an Asus motherboard too, but it's not necessary. A setup like that would cost roughly $700 - $750. If you want brand name computers I'd go with either Gateway, HP, or Lenovo. If you're looking for more customized desktops I highly recommend CyberPower. As for the webcam, you're better off just getting a usb one.
Doing some incredibly fast and general specing out, the machines people are suggesting will run you around $900, using much of the lower end components you all suggested. I didn't spend much time doing this so there are probably some better deals out there, as well as combo deals etc (can't see it falling below $800 though), but I don't think building will really be a practical option--especially considering we don't even know how comfortable she is doing that, lol. Building computers is fun and all but it sometimes just isn't cost effective for the average consumer. Granted Jayn's needs are likely a bit above the average consumer, but yeah. You get my point. Mark is right about the webcam though, you can get them online for like $20. You're really not going to find them built into the monitor unless you get one of the all in one PCs. Something like this would serve you pretty well, save for the integrated graphics, which you're going to find on most pre-built computers these days. Since it's below your budget, you could always purchase a new graphics card and shove it in there. That's not factoring in a monitor though, but again, bundle sales. =] You could try CyberPower as Mark suggested, if you want, though I always hate on them because all their cases are the "i am a gamer" cases and are just tacky. >: But I'm also a bit obsessed with appearance when it comes to technology, and hey, the thing is probably going to sit under your desk.
Thank you all for the suggestions, they really help. I'm going to look them over more carefully in a few minutes. When it comes to building my own desktop, I'm pretty good at figuring things like that out, so yes. I would be comfortable giving it a shot.
Do you have any friends or anybody who knows how? It helps to have someone with some experience about the first time around, if you choose to. If not there are plenty of great online tutorials.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lPIXAtNGGCw There you go. If you want to build it yourself, you should definitely go to Newegg. Of course, you could price check with amazon/eBay, but Newegg has super cheap shipping. (I believe Misty will agree, if not, you have broken my heart.) http://www.newegg.com/ http://www.newegg.com/Store/Promotion.aspx?storeid=33&name=DIY-PC-Combos <- Do it yourself PC combo packs. A couple of good ones there. You may want to go with an AMD CPU instead of Intel if you want to save money. Not as good, but still solid.
Noroz is right, Newegg is a good site to use for DIY PC bundles. Sometimes Tigerdirect, Directron, Amazon, etc will have better deals, but Newegg often gives you free shipping and I just have generally have had great experiences with them. This one seems to meet what everyone suggested, aside from the lack of a GPU, OS, and a monitor. All of those will run you another $350 (roughly). You can cut costs by going AMD, as Noroz already mentioned, but even then, I'm not sure how you'll do on a $780 budget. Not to say that's a low amount or anything, but for building a system... it can be. I went through CyberpowerPC and put together a system based off of one of their pre-builts, tried to shave off costs wherever I could without sacrificing too much in terms of quality. Altogether it came out to $757, and they build it for you, so that's nice. It includes: CPU: AMD FX-4100 Quad-Core @ 3.6GHz RAM: 8GB Video Card/Graphics Card/GPU: AMD Radeon HD 6570 1GB DDR3 PSU: 600W HDD: 1TB Monitor: 19" Widescreen 1366x768 Keyboard & Mouse: Didn't know if you needed these, they can be taken off if not. OS: Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit If you want to check it out, I saved the configuration.
Oh my goodness you guys are amazing. Thank you so much. Aaaaah. This is coming off so spammy, but just thank you. All of this information is going to help a lot, I don't have much more than that to say. I may wait for another month or two and sell a few things to get a bit more money so I have a bit more room. But yeah, thank you.
That's a decent set-up, but the graphics card isn't very powerful, and isn't meant for gaming. I would recommend another card, but other than that, it seems good.
Yeah, I figured MMOs aren't graphics heavy so she wouldn't need something totally groovy. Not really a PC gamer though, so someone else's input would be good there haha.
MMO's vary a lot from MMO to MMO. Some may be graphically heavy, some may not. I would, however, focus on RAM first, considering you do a lot of rendering and multitasking, which I do as well. My laptop has 8GB DDR3 Ram, which is pretty solid. However, I really like being generous when it comes to RAM, so I would possibly go for 16GB DDR3. You can get some cheap, good ones. Two x G.Skill RipJaw would result in $80 for 16GB. Solid, solid price and good brand with good feedback on the site.
