Joined: 25 Sep 2006 Location: Teamblackistan Posts: Over 9000
Posted: Sun Sep 14, 2008 9:48 pm Post subject:
Buying a desktop, suggestions please
I figure that the best way to get a desktop is to build it from the ground up, I'm looking for suggestions on were the best place is to do that.
I'm looking to spend between $800 - $1000 USD, must have awesome graphics enough to play Call of duty 4 and C&C3 and stuff, also must have about 2-3 gigs of processing power, for music and graphics programs.
I'd like if it could play Bluerays, though I'm not sure how expensive that technology is for computers right now.
Hard drive, between 150-250 gigs is well enough for me - I'm not planning to store mass amounts of illegally downloaded material on it.
Monitor, I want a HUGE honkin monster with uber resolution, 'nuff said.
I'm gong to try and get XP instead of Vista if I can, unless anyone can convince me that Vista is the way to go.
That brings you to like $660. You have 140-340 for a video card, of course, this is just from a store, if you build one you could get a better deal. _________________ Please, read the signature rules of the forum. QUICK_EDIT
Joined: 28 Sep 2005 Location: Mixing psilocybin in your drinks.
Posted: Sun Sep 14, 2008 11:00 pm Post subject:
Re: Buying a desktop, suggestions please
Best place to do this is Newegg. Period.
Team Black wrote:
Monitor, I want a HUGE honkin monster with uber resolution, 'nuff said.
Just one question; how huge are we talking? 24"? 30"? That's pretty important. The cheapest Blu-ray reading drive I can find is about 100 dollars. _________________
[quote="DCoder"]There is no sanity left in this thread.[/quote] QUICK_EDIT
Joined: 25 Sep 2006 Location: Teamblackistan Posts: Over 9000
Posted: Mon Sep 15, 2008 2:51 am Post subject:
I'll sell my laptop for $500 USD - I bought it 2 years ago for about $800
The monitor I'm more concerned about resolution than size, though obviously the bigger the better. I think I could make do around 19" _________________ The Fall of Hammerfest - Epic Tiberian chain story
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Joined: 28 Sep 2005 Location: Mixing psilocybin in your drinks.
Posted: Mon Sep 15, 2008 6:29 pm Post subject:
Team Black wrote:
The monitor I'm more concerned about resolution than size, though obviously the bigger the better. I think I could make do around 19"
Advise on the resolution. The smallest 1920x1200 screen on the 'Egg is a 24", which is about 300 dollars (400 if you go with a good brand). Combined with a Windows XP disc, that puts you at about half the 1,000 dollar limit. Meaning you've got roughly 500-550 dollars to work with before taking shipping into account. Granted, you can still get a decent system that will even take RA3 up to the highest levels doing that, but it would be extremely difficult and after shipping would probably cross 1,000 dollars. If you're satisfied with 1680x1050, then that gives you enough headroom to make the limit since there's a broad range of monitors from great brands covering that resolution at a substantially lower price than the 1920x1200 ones. _________________
[quote="DCoder"]There is no sanity left in this thread.[/quote] QUICK_EDIT
1440x900 is what you usually get for a 19" monitor I think. And remember, higher resolutons require more graphical power to make it run. So depending on you video card, that extra resoultion could be the difference between high and medium.
If you really want to burn some money, instead of getting 1 giant monitor, get 2 medium sized monitors. I think almost all graphics cards let you use both of them. Perfect for playing SupCom. _________________ Please, read the signature rules of the forum. QUICK_EDIT
Joined: 25 Sep 2006 Location: Teamblackistan Posts: Over 9000
Posted: Mon Sep 15, 2008 8:30 pm Post subject:
Yeah I think in that case, a 1440x900 would be good enough for me, at 19". I'll change my mind on getting a crazy huge monitor.
About how much would I save building it one vs. getting one already made?
The reason I say that is, I'm considering ordering a Dell online, as I have a %10 discount for them, and I've been pretty satisfied with the Dell laptop I'm currently using.
Joined: 28 Sep 2005 Location: Mixing psilocybin in your drinks.
Posted: Mon Sep 15, 2008 8:56 pm Post subject:
If you feel more comfortable buying rather than building, be warned that it's extremely rare to find a pre-built system that comes with a good monitor, reliable/efficient power supply, AND a good graphics card for the price range you've set.
Also note that building over buying allows you to get a good, efficient, reliable power supply that will provide any additional juice for upgrades, and you can get whatever case you want. These to me make it more than worth building over buying.
Aside from all that, here's what I've put together for you;
Taking the Blu-ray reader out (if you don't mind not having one) would allow a better CPU, case, and probably power supply. Though that configuration like that should suit you just fine; after shipping it falls 2 dollars short of the 1000 limit. _________________
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Joined: 25 Sep 2006 Location: Teamblackistan Posts: Over 9000
Posted: Tue Sep 16, 2008 3:53 pm Post subject:
well, that looks great. I think what I'll do though is ditch the blu ray for a 200 or 250 gig HD, 3 gigs of processing power, and a better power supply.
Would you mind putting that in for me?
I'm going to guess that blu ray will cost about half as much in the next couple years, in which case I'll buy it then and add it to the rig.. I can wait a while. _________________ The Fall of Hammerfest - Epic Tiberian chain story
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Joined: 26 Nov 2002 Location: Algae Colony On Mars
Posted: Tue Sep 16, 2008 4:43 pm Post subject:
To be honest, blu-ray isn't really worth getting, by the time DVDs are being phased out streaming/downloading content from the internet will probably be the way forward. Unless you've got loads of blu-ray discs that you want to watch of course, but in this case I pity you. _________________
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Joined: 28 Sep 2005 Location: Mixing psilocybin in your drinks.
Posted: Tue Sep 16, 2008 7:29 pm Post subject:
Team Black wrote:
3 gigs of processing power
Here's a tidbit; Gigahertz doesn't matter anymore when it comes to multi-core CPUs. The core architecture of the CPU is what gives it power. Intel proved that when they introduced the Core 2 Duo/Quad processors, and they're going to do it again with Core i7 this fall. But I have completed a similar set of changes; Blu-Ray reader has been dropped, the PSU is now an Antec 650-watt (which I would hop on before the price goes back up, it's an incredible unit for how much you'd pay) and the CPU is now a Core 2 Duo E8400. I also swapped the case for something that may be easier to work with. Just go back to the wish list link (I've updated the page) and add all to cart. Final price with shipping is $992.15 (well, shipping to me anyway; you're very lucky Newegg decided again not to charge tax for New York). So you should be set now. _________________
[quote="DCoder"]There is no sanity left in this thread.[/quote] Last edited by Sir Modsalot on Tue Sep 16, 2008 7:36 pm; edited 1 time in total QUICK_EDIT
lol, after an hour of proccessing, they get the first pixel.
Average monitor; 30 frames per second
1 pixel per hour: 480,000 hours to get an 800x600 screen, or roughly 1/17,280,000,000 frames per second. _________________ Please, read the signature rules of the forum. QUICK_EDIT
I am tempted to make a picture with that huge mainframe under a desk...but I wont. _________________ Please, read the signature rules of the forum. QUICK_EDIT
Joined: 25 Sep 2006 Location: Teamblackistan Posts: Over 9000
Posted: Thu Oct 23, 2008 8:36 am Post subject:
I know this is taking a while, I want to wait till I have a credit card to buy this PC, as a large purchase like this will be good for credit history..
Joined: 18 Jun 2005 Location: Dordrecht, the Netherlands
Posted: Thu Oct 23, 2008 9:40 am Post subject:
I dunno about Acer. I've heard that their laptops are bad, but then, a laptop ain't a screen... I'd advice Iiyama if it's not all to expensive. QUICK_EDIT
Joined: 18 Feb 2005 Location: Star Kingdom of Manticore
Posted: Thu Oct 23, 2008 1:49 pm Post subject:
ibuypower.com
I'm using it to build mine. my total cost, with a GeForce 9600GTX, AMD 6000+ Dual Core, 4 gigs of RAM, plus a nice case, all comes out, with shipping, to about $1012.35 US. Now, if I cut that down to 2 gigs of RAM, and an AMD 5600+ Dual Core, I can get a 21" Widescreen with it for just under 1100.
PLUS, you can custom build it the way YOU want it. I'd go with AMD, as I find the Intel ones tend to be more expensive, ESPECIALLY when you get into quad cores. _________________ "Reality is a lovely place, but I wouldn't want to live there." -Adam Young QUICK_EDIT
Joined: 28 Sep 2005 Location: Mixing psilocybin in your drinks.
Posted: Thu Oct 23, 2008 6:24 pm Post subject:
AntiHero wrote:
ibuypower.com
I'm using it to build mine. my total cost, with a GeForce 9600GTX, AMD 6000+ Dual Core, 4 gigs of RAM, plus a nice case, all comes out, with shipping, to about $1012.35 US. Now, if I cut that down to 2 gigs of RAM, and an AMD 5600+ Dual Core, I can get a 21" Widescreen with it for just under 1100.
PLUS, you can custom build it the way YOU want it. I'd go with AMD, as I find the Intel ones tend to be more expensive, ESPECIALLY when you get into quad cores.
List of addressing points:
1. There's no such thing as a 9600GTX. As someone who's hawk-eyed the video card market for the past 7 and a half years, I would know.
2. I've put together another "wish list" showing that through the 'egg, you can get a slightly more powerful system (55nm 9800GT) manually done, with keyboard, mouse, speakers, and an excellent 21.6" monitor, for what I imagine is a little cheaper. Cart page: http://img386.imageshack.us/img386/2065/1224787861537he3.png You might have tax charged from them, or shipping might be different, I dunno. But it shouldn't be more than a 100 dollar difference.
3. AMD dominates the sub-$150 market, sure, but Intel's quads, especially the Q6600, beat the living hell out of AMD for stock performance, run cooler, and have much higher overclocking limits. The Q6600 is going for about $190, and even now still beats all of AMD's quads, barring an overclocked 9850 or 9950 Black Edition. The Core 2 Duo E8500 is the best dual-core. There's literally nothing better in that market segment for the price, and the only better stock dual-core CPU is the E8600, which costs substantially more. _________________
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Joined: 25 Sep 2006 Location: Teamblackistan Posts: Over 9000
Posted: Mon Dec 01, 2008 8:03 pm Post subject:
well I appreciate getting everything together, though on Black Friday I got too good of a deal..
HP desktop 600 gigs ROM, 6 gigs RAM, 19" color display 1680x1050 monitor with an HDMI input, printer, mouse, and keyboard.. All for $600 - half of the original price!
(I only had to overcome my vista phobia)
Joined: 25 Sep 2006 Location: Teamblackistan Posts: Over 9000
Posted: Mon Dec 01, 2008 8:35 pm Post subject:
Trampling only happens in Wal Mart. Seriously, that's the WORST place to be on black Friday.. and, there really isn't anything good in there anyways
I went to Best Buy to get this, with my roommate and his bro. They were there since thursday evening, and camped in a tent the whole night. The store gave out vouchers for the best offers to whoever got them first - my roommate got the voucher for me so I could get this desktop.. It was well worth the trouble, and quite an experience! _________________ The Fall of Hammerfest - Epic Tiberian chain story
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Joined: 25 Sep 2006 Location: Teamblackistan Posts: Over 9000
Posted: Mon Dec 01, 2008 9:14 pm Post subject:
Sirmod's newegg list was about $800, and as good as it was, about 1/4 of the capabilities of the one I just bought.
Plus I didn't have to wait for it to ship, or assemble it- BLAM plug it in, there it is _________________ The Fall of Hammerfest - Epic Tiberian chain story
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Joined: 28 Sep 2005 Location: Mixing psilocybin in your drinks.
Posted: Mon Dec 01, 2008 9:20 pm Post subject:
Black Friday deals turn out interesting systems for the money, to be quite honest, however I really should have advised against in-store pre-built systems for the reason that they always come with a lot of needless crap you'll never use, or cheaply-built accessories. Or both.
That aside, full spec list, if you would please.
Phobonaut wrote:
(Seriously, you americans never cease to amaze/shock me... wtf man. Truly a strange country... )
Strange? Try South Korea if you want strange. Them and Japan have always stated the obvious through their technology and culture that it'll take decades for us to catch up... if we want to. _________________
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Joined: 07 Mar 2006 Location: In ur BIOS, Steeln ur Megahurtz!
Posted: Tue Dec 02, 2008 12:48 pm Post subject:
Sir Modsalot wrote:
Strange? Try South Korea if you want strange. Them and Japan have always stated the obvious through their technology and culture that it'll take decades for us to catch up... if we want to.
we f*cking want to but our goddamn gov'ts dont. f*ck i wanna live in JP ;_; _________________ Please, read the signature rules of the forum. QUICK_EDIT
It's amazing how stuff goers down over time. Almost exactly 1 year ago, for 700 bucks I got a system with 19inch 1440x900 monitor, 3 gigs of ram, a 500gig hard drive, peripheals, and I forget the exact type, but a dual core proccessor. (Not to mention intergratded graphics that could run TW). Now you get more for less...go figure.
Anyways, Team, you look like you have a very messy room _________________ Please, read the signature rules of the forum. QUICK_EDIT
Joined: 25 Sep 2006 Location: Teamblackistan Posts: Over 9000
Posted: Tue Dec 02, 2008 5:20 pm Post subject:
there were only 6 of these in the whole store. My roommate waited 12 hours in line, so he could get the best deals. He told me he elbowed a guy in the gut to get the voucher for me, though I don't really believe him..
You're a _pretty_ lucky guy there, TB. Well, I guess fists don't solve problems, but elbows do... _________________ Please, read the signature rules of the forum. QUICK_EDIT
Joined: 28 Sep 2005 Location: Mixing psilocybin in your drinks.
Posted: Tue Dec 02, 2008 8:06 pm Post subject:
Team Black wrote:
there were only 6 of these in the whole store. My roommate waited 12 hours in line, so he could get the best deals. He told me he elbowed a guy in the gut to get the voucher for me, though I don't really believe him..
Trust me though, stuff like this don't come often.. or easy!
So what's the full detailed spec list? Exact CPU model? Graphics card? Most importantly, identify how much power the power supply can provide, and through CPU-z, identify the motherboard. These 2 allow me to determine how much further the system can scale. 6 gigs of RAM tells me one of 2 things; it's a Core i7 system, or it's an oddly-configured 64-bit Windows system. _________________
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Joined: 25 Sep 2006 Location: Teamblackistan Posts: Over 9000
Posted: Wed Dec 03, 2008 12:53 am Post subject:
the CPU is an NVIDIA geforce 6150 SE. To my understanding, it favors video processing and photo editing and such. Yes, it's a 64 bit system.
I can't find the specs for my graphics card, partially because I don't know where to look and partially I don't feel assed to find out right now.
If it plays Half Life 2, Call of Duty 4 and the newest C&C games, I'm satisfied.
Since it's a desktop, as opposed to a laptop, it should be easy enough to upgrade if needed. _________________ The Fall of Hammerfest - Epic Tiberian chain story
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Joined: 28 Sep 2005 Location: Mixing psilocybin in your drinks.
Posted: Wed Dec 03, 2008 3:12 am Post subject:
Team Black wrote:
the CPU is an NVIDIA geforce 6150 SE.
That's your graphics card. Which is integrated. You'll need a dedicated card if you want to play any new(er) games at anything higher than the bare minimum graphics settings. If you have enough money left over, order this and you'll be set for games. So next, hop up a couple posts and get CPU-z, and let me know what CPU and motherboard you have. It's a stand-alone EXE, requiring no setup; though you do have to extract all of the files first so it can work properly. You simply run the EXE and it shows what you have. _________________
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Buying a desktop, suggestions please
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