Looking to get a new computer.

[koshi† 0]

But I don't really know much about where to start.

Pretty much all I have figured out is that a laptop is probably a bad idea.

 

I'm mostly going to be using it for gaming. At the same time though, most gaming PCs are way out of my price range, although there's plenty of them on eBay that are relatively low priced, but I don't know how to tell which ones are worth the money (I don't want to spend $400 dollars just to get a computer that's only a tiny bit better than the one I've got now).

It doesn't need to be able to run Skyrim on ultra-high settings and get 60 fps, but I'd like to have something that could run games like Skyrim around medium settings without a significant hit to the framerate.

 

I have two laptops and I don't ever take either of them anywhere, so portability is really not a concern.

 

Would it be less expensive to just buy parts and build one myself? Assuming that's not a difficult task, of course, though I know some people that could probably help me with that.

[JeffCore† 0]

$400, is that your pricerange?

[koshi† 0]

$400' date=' is that your pricerange?

[/quote']

 

Eh, somewhere around there. I'm quite the cheapskate

I really don't have a definite price range, I just don't really want something that will take me a really long time to save up for (when it comes to computers anyway).

[Flechmen 0]

Poke me or Jeff on steam, either of us could help you out.

[JeffCore† 0]

What kind of games would you be looking to play?

 

I'll be honest, a PC in that price range is hard to build.

[koshi† 0]

What kind of games would you be looking to play?

 

I'll be honest' date=' a PC in that price range is hard to build.

[/quote']

 

I'd mostly be playing Guild Wars 2 and Skyrim, probably, a few other MMORPGS and some source engine games (like Team Fortress 2)

 

I've been looking on eBay and there seems to be a lot of "gaming" computers between 300-500 dollars, but I'm kinda skeptical of them.

[Flechmen 0]

Yeah, "gaming computer" could mean "high performance for 1998" without knowing what to look for, its easy to get ripped off

I peiced together a system that could take on what you want to throw at it then some. The price came to $483 though.

[JeffCore† 0]

Yeah, I built a computer that should handle both of those for $340 last month; but, it wouldn't leave a lot of breathing room. I'm usually not comfortable building what I consider a "future-proof" PC for under $700, namely because I like to do things like boot the system from an SSD and max out RAM out of the gate.

[koshi† 0]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/New-Custom-Desktop-ANTEC-100-AMD-ASUS-1-TB-HDD-8-GB-RAM-Wireless-Windows-7-Pro-/261078361126?_trksid=p5197.m1998&_trkparms=aid%3D555001%26algo%3DPW.CURRENT%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D18%26meid%3D1884640618119404648%26pid%3D100017%26prg%3D1006%26rk%3D1%26

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-Custom-Desktop-AMD-ASUS-CM-431-1-TB-HDD-8-GB-RAM-Wireless-Win-7-Pro-/261077374180?_trksid=p5197.m1998&_trkparms=aid%3D555001%26algo%3DPW.CURRENT%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D18%26meid%3D1884640618119404648%26pid%3D100017%26prg%3D1006%26rk%3D3%26

 

Those are kinda like what I was looking at on eBay (I didn't really have any specific one in mind though). Are they even legit, or are they just a bunch of pretty lights surrounding mediocre quality?

 

500~700 is doable, I guess, it'll just take me quite a while to save up that much. I'm starting to consider just getting an Xbox 360 or a PS3, since I'm only really wanting a new computer for games anyway

[JeffCore† 0]

You're going to be better off home-building than buying something from off of eBay. Plus you get the sanctification of putting it together yourself and using the parts you want. I would never use less than a quad-core processor for a gaming PC, either.

[Flechmen 0]

This is what I was thinking for $483. http://secure.newegg.com/WishList/PublicWishDetail.aspx?WishListNumber=15416669

 

I can piece another build in the $500-$700 range if you'd like.

[JeffCore† 0]

This is what I was thinking for $483. http://secure.newegg.com/WishList/PublicWishDetail.aspx?WishListNumber=15416669

 

I can piece another build in the $500-$700 range if you'd like.

 

Hey, an FM1! Here's what I ended up building last month for my HTPC running beside me (some non-required extras are on here I added) if you'd care to compare,

http://cdn.podhurl.com/image/2j0J1S1u1L01 , I've loved the build; but, I haven't been gaming on it, yet

 

I would question using a FM1 motherboard/processor when you're using a discrete graphics card tho -- I'd rather use a 6/8-core processor with an AM3 socket in that scenario. Any pluses to using the FM1 socket?

[Flechmen 0]

It was a lot cheaper for similar performance. The only AM3 CPUs in that price range were dual and tri core Athalon IIs. While the Athalon II is quite the workhorse, it's still a pretty old chip.

 

AMD is working in the APU department (the FM1 sockets), they're looking to push the performance of future chips really far, and they're supposed to be able to balance tasks better... send things to the GPU that the GPU can handle better, send things to the CPU that the CPU can handle better...

 

A lot of really interesting things, if not now then in the near future. I've built little systems with older APUs and used discrete graphics with them. It works just fine.

 

Question on your build there Jeff.. only 64GBs for everything?

[JeffCore† 0]

8TB of HDD storage attached to that

[koshi† 0]

Well then, I really don't know a lot about computer hardware, so I'll probably just use the list Flech posted

 

Is it a good idea to get the parts one at a time? That way I could sort of do the whole thing in small payments.

[Direlda† 0]

Well, when I'm back in the states next summer and looking to possibly replace my old (by at least 5 years) desktop, I'll have to ask both of you for recommendations.

 

And Koshka, you can get parts one at a time. You just won't be able to use them until they all are present.

[Flechmen 0]

You need everything but the video card to have a working computer. The thing with newegg (and every other store) is their stock on this stuff changes all the time, so the parts that are there now might not be in the future

You can find simular parts though if those exact ones sell out.

Also, this does not include an operating system. If you can handle Linux, thats fine, thats free. You can find Windows 7 for about $75 on ebay. You would just need 64bit home premium, the stuff in professional/enterprise/ultimate doesnt really offer any benefit to normal people :

[JeffCore† 0]

Next month Windows 8 comes out; so, if that's something that interests you, you should likely hold off on buying it until then. In the mean time, you can run a Windows 7/8 trial or the Windows 8 consumer preview for free until you purchase it.

 

I've used Windows 8 and although some things take getting used to, it is manageable, and it also doesn't have the 7-editions-hell that Windows 7 does.

[koshi† 0]

I'll probably just get Windows 7...stick to what I'm familiar with. If Windows 8 is the same price (which I don't expect it to be for any reason) or only a little bit more expensive then I'll look into it.

 

Also, I just checked again and that computer case is out of stock on newegg and appears to have been discontinued, but there's still 2 left on Amazon, so I'll probably order that today

 

And I also just noticed that you named the list "Koshka1". I was like "Aww, he made this just for me :3" xP

[Flechmen 0]

Yeah, I did. If you want, I can try to find you another case.

[koshi† 0]

No worries, I just ordered it (new) on Amazon.

 

I just noticed that I don't see a disc drive on the list though, is it built into one of these other items?

[Flechmen 0]

No. A lot of times you don't need it. If you do need one, they're very cheap.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827106289

 

As for Windows... you do still kinda need that.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Microsoft-Windows-7-Home-Premium-64-bit-SP1-Full-Version-ave-Money-/160874072962?pt=US_Operating_Systems_Software&hash=item2574d78b82

 

Unless of course you want to use Linux But, this is about the cheapest I can get Windows in single license formats. If you had 3 computers you wanted to put Windows 7 on, you can get a 3 pack for something like $120.

[koshi† 0]

Thanks for putting that different case on the wishlist...Amazon just e-mailed me to tell me that they were out of stock (on the first one) after I'd already ordered it. They better give me a refund. :/

[Flechmen 0]

Amazon is pretty good about that

The case I threw on there was for the sake of someone else. Its not as nice as the case I origonally picked out... if you want, you can find another case that you like on newegg or I can try to find a nice one.

[koshi† 0]

I kinda like this one, but like I said earlier, I know next to nothing about computer hardware. Is this a decent pick?

 

Sorry for being such a noob.