New computer? Maybe...

[Tbone]

So my current computer is a Dell M1710 that I bought in early 2006ish.

Intel T2500 2.0ghz
2 gb RAM
512mb Nvidia 7850 Geforce Go GTX
100gig HD

It no longer has a warranty. The audio is jacked up..I have to stick a little piece of the bottom of a toothpaste tube into the audio jack in order for the speakers to work. Recently a screw broke in half at the left base of the monitor, so now it is near impossible to close all the way and the monitor casing is slowly coming undone. I had to replace the video card after the first one was fried a few months ago. Still running Windows XP as well.

I have a feeling my computer will have a malfunction soon. It's just been th rough a lot (Traveling all over the US as well as overseas...haha). So I'm thinking maybe I should get a new computer. I've got a little money saved up, plus my birthday is coming up and I might be able to convince my parents to go in on it with me.

So the question is, what should I get? What should I spend the money on? I have an apartment now, so a desktop PC might finally be an option again, but I also love the portability of a laptop. If I can keep this computer in working condition, I was thinking of keeping it as my portable and getting a gaming/media powerhouse PC. So what should I spend my money on? What vid card should I be looking for? How much RAM (I've seen up to 8 gigs??)? Processors? What'll be the most bang for my buck?

As you guys know, for some reason I'm pretty laggy in game, even in windowed mode with the graphics all the way down. So what I'm trying to say, is that this affects ALL of us. Haha. Thanks in advance.

[Lithium]

Yeah, I really don't keep up with computer parts as much as I use to. But now a days you can build a powerful desktop on a budget.

http://www.guru3d.com/ is always a good place to start when it comes to reviews on the latest and greatest CPUs and GPUs.

The only way you can use more than 4GB of memory is if you are running 64-bit. (This is because 32-bit = 2^32 bytes = 4GB memory space)

AMD processors are typically better price wise. Intel is probably top of the line but you will pay for it. I know the new Intels are triple memory meaning, you get the best performance buying a triple memory kit.

ATI and Nvidia both offer good value cards. I think the ATI 4890 is a good value for the money at around ~$250 range. Nvidia has a card at that range too. These new cards use a lot of power. Make sure you get at least 600Watts Power Supply. I think I have a 550 or 600 pc power and cooling one that I found on newegg for like $100, good stuff.

Motherboards, um, probably Asus these days are the overclocker boards. I've always liked Gigabyte boards too because they usually come with lots on board.

Hard drives, always WD raptors, unless you want to get into SSD which is becoming affordable with wicked speeds. But expect to pay over $2/gb on the good SSDs. But it is a pretty great choice if you get a good size SSD for game files and then buy a cheap TB drive or something for all your other crap that you don't need speed on.

[Tbone]

If I try to build one, I'm going to need a step-by-step of exactly what to get. I'm retarded with building PCs up to the point where I'd almost rather just buy an Alienware or similar pre-built machine.

[NoCry]

what is your budget?

[Tbone]

I'm not used to desktop shopping, so I'm not sure what's realistic. I'd say maybe up to around 2-2.5k, depending on if I can convince my dad to help out with the cost.

[likwidtek]

Dude if you want to spend 2 - 2.5k I can spec you out something amazing.  I got a core i7 6b ram, velociraptor drives raid 0, dual 4870 1gb vid cards in crossfire mode... like uber.

Honestly though I would go prebuilt for less hassle.  Let me find you a couple good deals.

[NoCry]

I got mine from the british distributor of these: www.sagernotebook.com

It is unbelievably powerful and very good value.

[likwidtek]

$700.00 Low - Mid End
Ultra "Crysis Warhead" Optimized Gaming PC - Intel Core 2 Duo E7300 2.66GHz, 2GB DDR2, 250GB SATA II HDD, DVDRW Dual Layer, NVIDIA GeForce 9800GT, Gigabit LAN, G31M3-F, Windows XP Professional
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=4138011&CatId=114

$1,299.99 Mid - High End
iBUYPOWER Gamer Supreme 928i Intel Core i7 920(2.66GHz) 6GB DDR3 1TB NVIDIA GeForce GTX 285 Windows Vista Home Premium 64-bit - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883227146

$1,699.99 Mid - High End
Systemax X58 Gaming PC Core i7-920 2.66 GHz Quad-Core / 3GB DDR3-1333 Corsair Triple Channel / 1TB hard Drive / DVDRW / 2 x HD4850 Crossfire / Vista Ultimate
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=4302053&CatId=114

$3,000 Retarded High End
Acer Predator AG7710-U7792A Core i7 Extreme 965(3.20GHz) 12GB DDR3 1TB ATI Radeon HD 4870 X2 Windows Vista Home Premium 64-bit - Retail
Ati CrossFire 2GB graphics
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883103200

There are tons of options out there.  I'm not brand biased so I picked and chose a little of each.  Core i7 is the way to go right now so you aren't pissed later.  Give me some feedback on these options and I will get a better feel for what you want.

[Tecknik]

I got mine from the british distributor of these: www.sagernotebook.com

It is unbelievably powerful and very good value.

www.Hypersonic-PC.com

/endthread

[Tbone]

Ok, likwidtek found me a pretty sweet site to get a computer from. Found via newegg. It's

www.ibuypower.com

Seriously, I'm trying to figure out why this is thousands of dollars cheaper than everything else I've been looking at. I tricked it out with everything. Here's what I'm looking at:

Killer Paladin

Case ( [New !!!] Thermaltake V9 Gaming Tower Case w/420W Power Supply Green )
Case Lighting ( None )
Power Supply ( 800 Watt -- Power Supply Quad SLI Ready )
Processor ( [New !!] Intel Core i7 Processor 920 (4x 2.66GHz/8MB L3 Cache) )
Processor Cooling ( Certified CPU Fan and Heatsink )
Motherboard ( Asus P6T Intel X58 Chipset CrossFire and SLI Supported w/7.1 Sound, Triple-Channel DDR3, Gb LAN, S-ATA Raid, USB 2.0, 3-Way SLI PCI-E MB 3-Way SLI )
Memory ( 12 GB [2 GB X6] DDR3-1333 Triple Memory Module Corsair XMS3 Dominator w/DHX technology )
Video Card ( 2x ATI Radeon HD 4890 1GB PCI-Express x16 - running CrossFire mode )
Video Card Brand ( Major Brand Powered by NVIDIA )
Hard Drive ( 500 GB HARD DRIVE [Serial-ATA-II, 3Gb, 7200 RPM, 16M Cache] )
2nd Hard Drive ( None )
External Hard Drives [USB 2.0/eSATA] ( None )
CD/DVD Drive ( None )
CD-RW/DVD-RW Drive ( [** Special !!! ***] LG 22X Dual Format/Double Layer DVD±R/±RW + CD-R/RW Drive Black )
Sound Card ( 3D Premium Surround Sound Onboard )
Speaker System ( iBUYPOWER 2.1 Channel Stereo Super Bass Subwoofer Speaker System )
Network Card ( Killer K1 - Online Gaming Accelerator - w/ 333Mhz Network Processing Unit + Lag Reduction Technology )
Floppy Drive ( None )
Monitor ( LCD Monitor Sceptre 24" LCD 16:9 Wide Screen HDTV Video & PC Monitor Support Resolution 1920x1200 )
2nd Monitor ( None )
Keyboard ( iBUYPOWER USB Keyboard w/ 18 Internet Hot /Multimedia Keys Black )
Mouse ( iBUYPOWER 1600 dpi High Sensitivity Internet Mouse Black )
USB 2.0 Accessories ( Built-in USB 2.0 Ports )
Meter Display ( None )
Flash Media Reader/Writer ( None )
Operating System ( Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium + [Free 60-Day !!!] Microsoft Office 2007(Word, Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint, Access ....) 64-Bit )
Software/Game ( [Free Game] - Halo 2 Free with purchase of Microsoft Windows Vista operating system )
USB Flash Drive ( None )
MP3 Player ( None )
Video Camera ( None )
Headset ( None )
Power Protection ( None )
External Wireless Network Adapter ( Zonet ZEW2545 802.11n 130Mbps Wireless USB Adapter )
Warranty ( Warranty Service Standard 3-Year Limited Warranty + Lifetime Technical Support )
Rush Service ( Rush Service Fee (not shipping fee) No Rush Service, Estimate Ship Out in 5~10 Business Days )


Total: $2293

What do you guys think? Anything I'm missing? I know 500gigs isn't a lot of HD, but I already have a 750gig external. This price INCLUDES a 24" monitor.

Edit: This is where you can customize - http://www.ibuypower.com/ibp/store/configurator.aspx?mid=384

[Anamodiel]

Looks sweet, dude! I'm insanely jealous!

My only suggestion, though, and this is up to a personal preference rather than something you should do, might you want to get two smaller monitors instead of one bigger monitor? I've always loved my two monitors and I don't know how I'd live without them. You can play your game on one monitor and have Teamspeak, Vista Sidebar, iTunes, Messengers, and Firefox (among other things) on the other monitor. It also depends on your desk space. If you don't have a lot, then one monitor would probably be better.

Again, just a suggestion and up to your personal preference.

[Tbone]

I currently don't have a desk...haha. I used to have two monitors when I last had a desktop. My brother has it now, but I forget if one of them fritzed out. I'll have to ask him if he has both, and if he does, I'll just take one! I bought the freakin thing anyway!

[Pirus]

how about a 50 inch LCD monitor and a 20 inch! lol  I did that the other day.  Its awesome playing a game on the 50 incher but the problem is the desk is right next tot he tv so if i wanna look to the left of the screen I have to turn my head 45 degrees to actually see whats going on over there.   A bit too close to it.  Nice computer too Tbone... pfftt other than the ATI stuff... lol

[Tbone]

My roommate recommended getting 2 500gig HDs at 7200RPM and RAIDing them. He said that'll be much faster than one 300gig at 10,000RPM. How do I RAID them?

[KnightOfZero]

lol why didnt you ask your roommate when he/she told you about it? =P