Need help with new computer.

[blankman393]

Hello there! Um I originally had the idea of building my own computer, but further researching has led me to the fact that I don't know what the hell I'm doing. I've tried my best to come familiar with the tech jargon but it's just not working out. I was wondering if any one on here knew of any good websites that have pre-built gaming computers. I'm only interested in gaming nothing else really. I have about 1000$ to work with and I live in SoCal for shipping purposes if that helps any. Any suggestions/help would be much appreciated. Thank you.

[Red_Fist]

Well the part that will get you is buying windows and be 64 bit (my cost for win7 pro is $135.00
For it all to be worth it years from now you would want a 64bit version of windows.

So base things on the raw items "needed" if you get a good vid card it will need a good power supply.

You need
1 copy of windows
1 power supply
1 vid card
1 hard drive
1 motherboard
1 CD\DVD burner combo drive
NEED memory sticks

then add the mouse,monitor,keyboard,speakers

I got everything minus win7 for $1016.00 (i7 920 ,6gigs DR3 ram, gigabyte brand motherboard. (and a low end $50 vid card)
The videocard will be a big plus, but things add up real quik.

All I can tell you is subtract roughly $135.00 (100 for home version) for windows so that puts you at $865.00 to $900 for hardware.

[blankman393]

Yeah I know that but this time around I just want a completely pre-built computer and next time around I'll hopefully know enough to put one together or at the very least customize it on a website. I've been researching some websites and I came across iBUYPOWER Memorial Day Sale and I like iBUYPOWER Computer :: LAN Warrior II - AMD. It comes with windows 7 64 bit! Yay! Like I said though I don't know anything about computer tech so I don't even know if that's a good build or if it's got a good air flow. I'm basically just going for great performance and I want it to stay cool. So what I'm asking is do you know of any good pre-built computers I can buy for around 800$ seeing as I still have to buy my 23" monitor still.

[>Omen<]

Originally Posted by blankman393

...further researching has led me to the fact that I don't know what the hell I'm doing.

Now that's a classic quote if I ever heard one!

You know, many here will pry until they have you believing otherwise, in which case you can wind up with marathon help threads on what parts to buy, how to build, and later how to deal with the many frustrations of running a gaming rig. If you've never actually owned and operated a decent gaming rig before, and are daunted by even that, it very well could behoove you to buy a prebuilt, as long as it's not a name brand one and you have could configuring options and the prices are reasonable.

God knows some here didn't do all that well by the marathon threads and building their own. Sometimes baby steps are the best way to the eventual big step of a build your own project. That's how it was with my first PC. It wasn't just that I'd not built one before though, it's that I liked the idea of 1 yr over the counter replacement and free labor on any part that may have gone bad, including a fairly heavy CRT monitor that would have cost a lot to ship to the manufacturer.

Now that most monitors are light LCDs, over the counter warranties are less of a concern. You WILL probably have to pay to ship to an online vendor in the case of using their warranty, but the added price of buying over the counter typically more than offsets such costs. It depends what the part is and what the vendors warranty states. Some will let you ship just the part, esp if it's easy to remove, like a GPU, RAM, PSU (power supply), etc. Others will expect you to ship the whole PC case and all it's parts back to them, which can result in more cost and complexity, esp if they've mounted a big heavy CPU cooler, which requires special packing to ship safely.

Typically when a vendor's warranty states you must use the packaging the product was shipped in to return, they usually mean you have to in the case of a desktop PC, send the whole case and it's contents back. Sometimes a vendor will state same packaging or equivalent. This often means they go on a case by case basis of determining after talking to the customer, whether they are capable of removing a particular part, and sending it in by itself. This likely depends on the part too, some are harder to remove and reinstall properly.

I know this is a bit off the topic you wanted response on, but believe me, it all ties into what you are asking. Many don't consider these things and wind up with problems because of it. It is ALWAYS best case scenario if a person buying a fairly modern gaming rig knows at least something about removing and replacing parts, or knows someone nearby that can help them with such things. It's useful for warranty AND upgrades down the road.

That aside, one of the fairly good online vendors selling custom prebuilts is CyberPower. They offer a 1 yr parts, 3 yr labor warranty, and are flexible on how the parts can be shipped back on a case by case basis as mentioned above. They also have pretty good prices and service. You could probably go a bit cheaper with iBuyPower, who's brand Newegg sells, but from what I've read their build quality and service isn't quite as good as CyberPower's.

CyberPower also gives you the option of paying a bit more for special packaging. This is typically an inflatable air pillow that's used to surround a custom CPU cooler should you want to order one. Such parts are typically for those looking to overclock their processors, but they can also be handy for avoiding high temps on a stock CPU in less than desirable conditions, like apts/homes with no air conditioning in hotter parts of the country.

For a first time gaming PC for someone struggling with the lingo let alone any experience/knowledge of building, I would highly recommend the 1156 platform. Intel's CPUs that fit the 1156 MBs can be had at a good price and have higher Turbo Boost speeds than the CPUs that fit the 1366 platform. So it's a no fuss way of getting pretty good performance at a good price without overclocking or getting features you don't need in a gaming specific build.

I came up with this list on CyberPower's configurator, which comes to $1149. That however is with a GTX 470, pretty good case, 700 watt/38A PSU, RAM bumped to 4GB vs the default 2GB, and W7 HP included (the base builds have no OS, a good option if you already have it). It does have a MB that isn't SLI ready though, so if multi GPU is something you're considering as an easy uipgrade path, you may want to consider an SLI ready MB or choose an ATI GPU. The MB in this list does support ATI's Crossfire, however their GPUs don't offer quite as good multi GPU performance and their latest cards don't make use of DX11 as well either.

CyberPower i5/GTX470 Build for $1149:


The iBuyPower rig that most closely matches what I suggested before configuration is the Paladin E720, @ $769 starting price before configuring. It has the i5 750, GT220, and 4GB RAM.

The CyberPower equivalent to that build is their P55 Configurator, which starts at $615. The main differing parts are it's ATI 5570, 2GB RAM and no OS included. With the config set to 4GB RAM, GT 220 and W7 Home Premium though, it comes out at $753. So it would appear CyberPower is offering prices very competitive to iBuyPower anymore, despite the catchy Mem Day ads iBuy is running.

I would recommend in that price range something like the GTS 250 1MB with the above parts (stock config with RAM/GPU changed & OS added), which comes to $805 at CyberPower, or the same with the ATI 5670 1GB. The GTS 250 is a better performing card, so you'd get higher frame rates in games, but it lacks DX11. It's not a bad idea to wait on DX11 until the GPUs that support it improve though. There's not many games with DX11 yet anyway.

[blankman393]

Thanks Omen. I'm grateful for you going out of your way and putting together a rig that met everything I asked for at the price I gave. A couple of questions however. At first you mentioned the GT 220 and later on advised me to put in the GTS 250 1GB. Why is that? And for future purposes when I actually have a fair understanding of computer tech does this build leave me with room to build/upgrade on? And am I right to assume that this computer will stay cold with no worry about overheating? I don't really know anything about OCing so I don't think I would mess around with that. Once again thanks for the help already. Also, would it be alright if I got your IM/email so there's no need to take up more forum space?

[Bubbleteatroopa]

Originally Posted by blankman393

Thanks Omen. I'm grateful for you going out of your way and putting together a rig that met everything I asked for at the price I gave. A couple of questions however. At first you mentioned the GT 220 and later on advised me to put in the GTS 250 1GB. Why is that?

Cause the GT 220 has as much power as the glass sitting beside me on the computer. The 250 on the other hand, is kick ass. Comparable to a 9800 gt (more so). The 220 is like...I dun even know...a 9500? Or something like that? LOL!

[Adrian Ţepeş]

Originally Posted by blankman393

And for future purposes when I actually have a fair understanding of computer tech does this build leave me with room to build/upgrade on? And am I right to assume that this computer will stay cold with no worry about overheating? I don't really know anything about OCing so I don't think I would mess around with that. Once again thanks for the help already. Also, would it be alright if I got your IM/email so there's no need to take up more forum space?

Based on those specs, you'll have plenty of room for improvement in the future when it calls for it. Also, you shouldn't worry about overheating, except the 470 gets a bit hot but a raise in fan speed should fix that (from what I've read/heard). All-in-all: a pretty solid rig for a good price

[>Omen<]

DAMN, I had a big response typed out and my Iron browser crashed on me! It does that sometimes and it's so damned annoying.

Anyways, wasn't recommending the GT 220, just saying the build at iBuy at the $800 point had it as the GPU, so I put it and the other matching parts in CybPow's build tool to see how prices compare.

More research tonight says some claim CP has better build quality, but more stubbornness on getting an RMA going and sending the right parts sometimes. The RMA part may or may not mean anything, as many whom buy rigs from low priced vendors are eager to send something back that may not necessarily need be. The mess up on parts seems to be their having gone into very large scale biz in recent yrs (2000 builds a month, with only 10 phone lines), so they sometimes get caught waiting for parts while supplying incorrect ones, though the end result on such comments were the part came a few weeks late, plus a refund for the difference in parts.

So with CybPow sometimes an incorrectly speced part fix can be a long wait, but potentially a win win situation eventually. They may be much better now though. I called them just out of curiosity and though they're running big sales right now, I got someone on the phone right away and he was helpful and understanding in answering my concerns about shipping methods. To some degree the efficiency of such vendors could deteriorate at extremely high volume times of yr though, like the Xmas holidays.

If you manage to get some more money to spend, DigitalStorm is one of THE best online custom PC vendors in the So. Cal area. Their i5 750, 4GB RAM GTS 250 rigs start at around $1087 though, and that's their Mem Day sale price. That is with a 3 yr parts and labor warranty, lifetime tech support, 72 hr test and burn-in process and free CPU OC though. They have about the best rating from the BBB of any online custom PC biz on the net. The customer service reviews on DS are by far way better examples of professional service than those you hear of these low priced vendors too.

On high end systems though, CybPow beats them even more on price. The best I could do on an i5 750, 4GB RAM, 470 rig at DS was around $1500, vs $1149 at CybPow. That's because on high end rigs, you get more perks with DS, mostly to do with free performance tuning options should you make use of them. I understand what it's like to be on a budget though, and $800 for an i5 750, 4GB RAM, GTS 250 setup is a decent price on a pretty solid budget gaming rig.

BTW, I don't give out my email over the net, but you can PM me if you want.

[Red_Fist]

If you goto a regular store like Best Buy retail, they give out a lot of stuff to go with systems.
Warranties, software, cameras,printers, modems etc etc,like a HP or Dell or Gateway, will get you going pretty good and you can drive it home and use it right away.

[DarkKrucifix7]

Originally Posted by Red_Fist

If you goto a regular store like Best Buy retail, they give out a lot of stuff to go with systems.
Warranties, software, cameras,printers, modems etc etc,like a HP or Dell or Gateway, will get you going pretty good and you can drive it home and use it right away.

You also get a lot of BS from most of their employees. I speak from experience. They are hired to sell, not for experience. Since you don't know much about PC's...they'll sell you things you may never use, need,PCs/parts that are more than or less than what you need, or get somewhere else for less.

I did run into an intelligent Best Buy employee once, so all of them aren't bad.