Buying a Gaming PC

So after about 2-3 years of playing wow on a macbook i think i'm finally fed up with 5 fps in raids and -5 fps in dalaran...

 

Its time to upgrade to a desktop!!!... but i have no idea what im doing.

 

I'm making this post to ask for advice on a few questions i have about the system as a whole and my goal is to order everything on March 1.

 

Questions:

 

About the Tower:

1) This is where i need the most help, the main thing being im not sure whether or not to look for a premade machine online(Newegg has a gaming computer category) or to look to have one custom built by a tech guy.

2) I dont need the computer to be able to to shoot lazer beams and make my coffee... i'm just looking for something that can run WoW, or any other online game i play, at maximum capacity(All graphics and distance mods at 100%) and do so for the next 3-5 years.

3)Looking to spend 600-1000$ on the tower

 

Keyboard/Mouse:

1) Maybe just post a link to a keyboard or mouse you use and a little explanation of why you like it.

2) I like my mouse with a lot of buttons on it

3) Looking to spend 50-100% on keyboard/mouse

 

Monitor:

1) Any advice as to which companies you guys think are quality and which to stay away from.

2) Any minimum requirements i should look for on any monitor im looking for.

3) Looking to spend 300-400$ on something 24+

 

Because i know this takes up your time to look around or type any responses i'm giving 500 Gold to whoever leads me to my purchase.

 

I'll be sure to throw up a picture of the new machine on this thread when i get it and set it up.

5fps? you're doing something wrong. my old macs still get at least 15-20 in raids, and my notebook gets 75.

I'm taking notes since I'm considering dropping my tax return on a desktop for similar reasons.

 

My 5 yr old Dell Laptop just can't take this video game shit anymore! Poor thing. /pats.

I have had my compûter made at a local shop. To give you an idea I have 60 fps in Dalaran and 75 elsewhere with all settings maxed.

I have Intel quadcore 9550 processor

ATI 4870 video card

4 gig DDR2 ram

Mid sized well ventilated tower

LG 19'' flat screen 1600:1 contrast and 2ms refresh

Mouse and keyboard are standard nothing special,

I can run internet, wow , and download stuff with no lag.

I can alt tab in between game and internet as much as I want with zero delay.

 

So basically this is a decent built for a reasonnable price of around 1500 CDN$. It is difficult for me to compare prices since I am certain cost varys a lot with US. But it gives you an idea of all affordable stuff that will suit your needs.

 

I wanted to go with Dell but was unable to find a built with all the components I wanted. But the XPS series is nice and will do the job.

sounds like you need to come visit lawrenceville.

This is the monitor that im thinking of:

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16824236046

 

Does anyone have a problem with the brand "Asus" or think this is a bad deal in any way?

 

And here is my short tower decision so far, not too much research but it's a start:

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductRevie...N82E16883227078

 

Thanks

Edited February 9, 2009 by Wintress

Asus makes a lot of hardware they're pretty decent. Samsung is the brand to get of monitors if you want good value and great quality.

 

Have Kimball make a shopping list for you, he can work with any budget.

I honestly suggest doing some research, and building your own PC. That way you know your way around it better, and you'll never have to rely on anyone else for that type of thing anymore.

As much as I hate to say it Bob has a point. Having Kimball make you a list and you putting it together is better long run too.

Processor: AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 5000+ (2 CPUs), ~2.6GHz

Memory: 3070MB RAM

Hard Drive: 80 GB

Video Card: NVIDIA GeForce 8500 GT

Monitor: Generic PnP Monitor (Gateway® FHD2400 24" Widescreen HD LCD)

Sound Card: Speakers (Logitech USB Headset)

Speakers/Headphones: Logitech ClearChat Pro USB Headset

Keyboard: USB Root Hub (Gonna try and get a G15 Keyboard)

Mouse: USB Root Hub (Logitech Black USB Optical Mouse OEM)

Mouse Surface: None

Operating System: Windows Vista™ Home Premium (6.0, Build 6001) Service Pack 1

Motherboard: XFX GeForce 8200

Computer Case: NZXT ALPHA Classic Series

 

My stats

If you feel like you would be interested in what goes on under the hood of your PC, and be empowered to upgrade it bit by bit over time (new graphics cards, processors, etc), then building your own from parts is a really good idea! And you should be able to save some $$...

 

PC Gamer magazine has lists of parts (from the case to the sticks of RAM) that they recommend for mid and high-end gaming rigs, that give you a good idea of the cost. You would probably want to use mid-range components as your starting point, if you want to spend < $1k.

 

The build is really quite easy - Everything more or less snaps into place as long as you made sure you didn't get a motherboard too big for the case, or w/e. If you can read some fairly detailed instructions that come with the motherboard, and figure out how dip switches work, you're pretty much home free!

 

Don't skimp on the power supply! Get one that allows room for growth, should you upgrade to some power hogging video card in the future.

wintress i got your back...

 

i basically put a tower together in new egg just to see what you could get for that price range

 

i came up with this

antec 300 case (not as big as flashy as say antec 900 didnt know if you want a flashy case or not)

Q6600 intel processor 2.4 (best processor most will agree)

GTX 260 nvidia graphics card (amazing will be able to handle any game for a while)

seagate 500GB hard drive

4GB of ram

650W power supply

20x dvd/ dvd burner

 

mo bo: EVGA 132-YW-E178-A1 LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 780i SLI

 

overall very solid comp

 

price after mail in rebates

891.83 (well plus shipping some of the items have free shipping)

 

newegg.com

 

hit me up if you want me to email you the list

Edited February 9, 2009 by Bangudray

wintress i got your back...

 

i basically put a tower together in new egg just to see what you could get for that price range

 

i came up with this

antec 300 case (not as big as flashy as say antec 900 didnt know if you want a flashy case or not)

Q6600 intel processor 2.4 (best processor most will agree)

GTX 260 nvidia graphics card (amazing will be able to handle any game for a while)

seagate 500GB hard drive

4GB of ram

650W power supply

20x dvd/ dvd burner

 

mo bo: EVGA 132-YW-E178-A1 LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 780i SLI

 

overall very solid comp

 

price after mail in rebates

891.83 (well plus shipping some of the items have free shipping)

 

newegg.com

 

hit me up if you want me to email you the list

 

Well i hate to admit to bob being right but he probably is...

 

I don't have much computer experience other than a high school class and what i have done myself, but i guess if it is as simple as father says it is than maybe i'll just have to give it a try.

 

Bang- Awesome list and a very nice start for me, just a few questions...

 

1) Am i going to need to order connection parts or anything of the sort or should i be able to build the computer from parts to finish with only what is on Bangs list.

2) Does the operating system(windows,vista,ect...) Come already installed or am i going to have to look into installing all of that afterwords?

3)

 

Yeah that would be awesome if you could email me the list Bang, and as for the case, it depends on how extra the super flashy case is

 

email:qluce@email.arizona.edu

You would have to buy the OS. I'm sure you can "find" a copy online, but just be careful.

If you go to college (or know someone who does), check the college computer store. I got my copy of Windows XP through the school for like $8 when I built my computer. I think most colleges have deals with Windows so students can get free XP/Vista/Office software, since it's more or less required for any college program.

i just got a new ASUS mobo the P5QC, it's kimball recommended. and the antec 900 case aka "the mcgee" i originally wanted to get a different case to be different, but it's a really good case, excellent air circulation, and just the right amount of space for future parts i.e. extra HDD's or disc drives. also an antec 550W modular power supply.

 

i don't ever plan on having more than one disc drive, one HDD, nor running SLI, so a 550w PSU is fine for me. also the mobo isnt SLI ready, it only has one PCI-E slot, which is perfect for me.

 

++++edit+++

 

the mobo will come with all your cabling, so will the PSU, and the proc. will come with a HSF (heatsink fan)

Edited February 9, 2009 by Erlin

ya ill email the list wintress

 

connection parts come with all the stuff so everything you need will be there i already matched all the parts like chip to chip kinda thing so everything would go off without a hitch towerwise

 

Erlin is right about the 900 being an awesome case i know me and kimbal have them i think ghost has it as well... but the 300 is basically the 900 just with out the blue LED's and clear side window. (gets more compicated not good for a first time build cuz then you have to think about the insides looking pretty via CPU fan/ powersupply etc.)

 

antec 300

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v639/Bandaid4urheart6/Antec-300-beauty.jpg

antec 900

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v639/Bandaid4urheart6/antec900.jpg

 

but you are def gonna need to buy or "find" an OS i know theres a trial for server 08.... which i think is like an 8 month trial and then you can DL another program that makes it run like vista. so you can go that route or just buy it...

 

i did the "Find" way with mine and it worked untill i recently got spyware and had to whipe my entire disk and now my key doesnt work and microsoft is being senior douche bags about giving out keys... so i ended up having to buy it...

 

if you do buy an OS go with XP pro... but if you want savage graphics vista ultimate 64-bit but in my opinion why bother with vista because windows 7 is coming out and i beta tested it... finally a good product from microsoft

Edited February 9, 2009 by Bangudray

Ok, I'll just buy my new operating system. I'll look into getting it through the school and it should be pretty cheap for me.

 

As for the box. I think i'm going to go with the 900 and just try really really hard to make it pretty. If it doesnt work i'll just replace the see through piece with frosted glass and the case will still look really good.

 

That comes to 950$ :/... i guess i'll have to wait out another paycheck to get everything because my monitor is going to bump me another 350.

 

Also, can anyone recommend a keyboard/mouse for this setup? I'm really big on having a lot of available hotkeys on the mouse and maybe a keyboard with extra buttons i don't know for sure.

i dunno if you want a cool keyboard go with the G15 logitech keyboard with a G5 mouse i have the mouse its nice like super nice i dont have the keyboard though i just got a standard keyboard...

Something i was thinking about... what would i do if say i put everything together and for some reason it doesn't work. I'd be missing out on the luxury of being able to send it back and be like fix it... cuz i wouldn't know if it was my error or theirs. Would it be expensive to drop it off at the local CPU shop or is their another option?

 

But besides that it looks pretty good. Im hoping it will take wow and slap it with its 11 inch Epeen.

 

Something i was thinking about... what would i do if say i put everything together and for some reason it doesn't work. I'd be missing out on the luxury of being able to send it back and be like fix it... cuz i wouldn't know if it was my error or theirs. Would it be expensive to drop it off at the local CPU shop or is their another option?

 

But besides that it looks pretty good. Im hoping it will take wow and slap it with its 11 inch Epeen.

 

Keep your old PC going while you build the new one, and report your symptoms here to see if The Geeks of FP can help you diagnose and fix it?

 

If you have no experience with PC innards though, and no friend who might be able to drop over and bail you out of a jam for the price of a couple beers and a pizza - Building your own might not be worth the hassle.

just remember to put the lil brass backers on the mobo to raise it of the case... ive seen some ppl forget to do it... and its been nasty

 

 

ppl id talk to... me hinanin father fo sho we can def hook it up

Edited February 11, 2009 by Bangudray

Keep your old PC going while you build the new one, and report your symptoms here to see if The Geeks of FP can help you diagnose and fix it?

 

If you have no experience with PC innards though, and no friend who might be able to drop over and bail you out of a jam for the price of a couple beers and a pizza - Building your own might not be worth the hassle.

 

Yeah this is what i've been thinking. I'm starting to wonder if its going to be worth all of the pains of trying to put things together. And i mean i'm not sure how far the benefits can go of building your own PC when you don't know exactly what your building or what its doing haha. I may be switching to a computer oriented major so i'll probably learn this stuff eventually but right now most likely isnt that time.

 

I'm thinking of just having kimball order the list and assemble it for me(for a few extra bills that it). It would make it so i'd still get the cheapness of buying it in parts yet i could have a pro put it together.

 

I sent Kimball a PM like 4 day ago on this subject but i guess i shouldn't be suprised that he hasnt read it yet....

If it's any kind of encouragement, my father and I built my current desktop, and neither of us have a clue beyond reading the instructions that came with all the stuff. My only complaint about it is that we failed to hook up a couple of the extras that would be nice to have (temperature monitor and front-of-case USB/headphone/speaker inputs), but it works pretty well. We only had one real problem, and that was fixed with my laptop and Google.