Looking for a new PC and I need advice!

[rogueleader]

Hey guys, my computer is going on 3 years old now and it is definitely showing signs of its age. I am looking into buying a new PC. I really don't have the knowledge neither the time to build my own. I've been looking over at various sites to buy from. I had some questions:

1) What sites do you guys recommend for a SOLID and AFFORDABLE PC that can play the latest games? I've ordered from Dell in the past because they have had good deals, but I don't know about this time. I might try a new site.

2) What time is typically good to upgrade? I was thinking I should wait for the newest graphics cards. I am not sure when the newest generation is coming out. I've heard stories of the next-gen Nvidia Keppler cards. However, I don't think that will be out till late Fall, correct?

3) Where is the best place to go for good coupon deals for PC web sites? When typically are the best deals available?

Any advice would be appreciated guys!

[People Is Tasty]

In order of the questions:

1) You can't have both with a prebuilt. Solid and affordable in a prebuilt from companies (Dell/Alienware, Origin etc) do not go hand in hand. You'd get far more bang for your buck ordering individual parts and putting it together, or getting someone else to put it together. You might think it'd take forever or that it'd be hard, but it's basically like lego, manuals and all.

2) Usually when the next series of CPU/GPUs ship out, even if they suck, the previous generations usually go down in price. AMD (supposedly) will be shipping out bulldozer and the 7000 series in late Q3/Q4 this year, not sure about Nvidias next series, Intel's ivy bridge is supposedly released in Q1 2012.

3) I'm not sure of if there is any decent deals for prebuilts, but I know Newegg.com (If you're in the US), NCIX/Newegg.ca (If you're in Canada) and Misco.co.uk (UK) all frequently have pretty good deals on individual parts, especially if you use combos. They also have prebuilts, but again, affordable and solid don't really go hand in hand buying prebuilt.

And in terms of actually needing an upgrade, you should post your current computers specs, resolution and all. You might only need minor upgrades.



For comparison, the cheapest Alienware (Dell) gaming computer is $1099, which uses a 450 GTS, 4GB 1333MHZ DDR3, i3 2300. You can get a computer with a much better processor (i5 2400, i5 2500k) and GPU (GTX 560 TI, AMD 6950 1GB), with equal amount of faster clocked RAM, equal HDD etc for 200-400 dollars less if you buy the parts individually and get more power, maybe even more off depending on the resolution you run at.

[cusideabelincoln]

If you buy from one of the big companies, like Dell or HP, you will want to upgrade the video card yourself because they overcharge like crazy for gaming computers.

There are websites with custom configurators which offer reasonably priced options. ibuypower and cyperpower have the best prices for complete builds.

[MichaelVash7886]

Yeah, building it yourself or something like ibuypower/cyberpower are your best bets. I really like building my own as now I know exactly what I have in it.

[Setharion]

Rogue, they all here gave you some good pointers.

Like Vash said, build it man. Honestly i think you get the best builds possible that way hands down, ive built all of mine since early 90s and brother let me tell ya, the machines simply last...they just have a better quality overall i feel.

Ill be working up a new machine as well eventually here!

[dunker]

I have to agree with the pointers to build it. My current one was built and it was:
1. Cheap
2. Easy
3. Lasted 5.5 years and still runs most games pretty well

Edit - I say lasted, it still runs just fine. It'll run fine for awhile. I just need a new one to keep up with some of the new graphics updates and new games.

Also, as you build it and get to see the guts, it makes it easier (at least for me) to determine when to get in there and clean it.

Overall suggestion: Buy and build. If you can't build, there are lots of small outfits (anywhere from running out of the house to a small business) who will take your parts and build it for you for a flat fee.

[MichaelVash7886]

Yeah, I forgot to mention that. You can build an AMD 6 core CPU machine with a solid graphics card and what not for around $500.

I spent a bit more and am running a 460 GT that I got on sale for $120 and I can run Crysis 2 at max at 1080p and record video of it at the same time (the capture being in 1080p.

Plus you can find some sick cases that also make people wow who see them.

[People Is Tasty]

Jun 28, 2011 12:00:19 GMT -5 MichaelVash7886 said:

Yeah, I forgot to mention that. You can build an AMD 6 core CPU machine with a solid graphics card and what not for around $500.

The majority of games don't take advantage of more than 2 cores, let alone 6 the cores of a hexacore processor, so unless you're doing a lot of rendering and such as well as gaming, it's not worth it when you can get a quad core that's more powerful per core and performs better in games.

[MichaelVash7886]

Well the reason I went with the AMD CPU is I got similar performance than one of (at the time) the better i7s for a cheaper price. Yeah I could of went with an i7, but the price difference between the two was just too great.

If I had a bigger cashflow it would of been i7 all the way. My point however was that you can build a really good PC for fairly cheap now.

[People Is Tasty]

Jun 28, 2011 12:53:04 GMT -5 MichaelVash7886 said:

Well the reason I went with the AMD CPU is I got similar performance than one of (at the time) the better i7s for a cheaper price. Yeah I could of went with an i7, but the price difference between the two was just too great.

If I had a bigger cashflow it would of been i7 all the way. My point however was that you can build a really good PC for fairly cheap now.

Oh no doubt you can get a decent computer for fairly cheap. AMD CPUs are still great bang/buck for lower budget builds, just a 955 BE would perform better than an X6 for a gaming build for ~50 dollars cheaper due to games not using more than 2-3 cores most of the time. Once games (like BF3) start taking advantage of more cores, hexacores should start to shine for gaming builds, but I'd think it's a long ways off, most developers build around console hardware and don't try to push the limits of a decent PC.