Buying a New Computer

[Geno]

I plan on buying a new computer soon, because my current one is starting to smoke, and its been around 4 years since I got it.

I plan on buying the computer premade from a company, right now I'm planning on buying through Ibuypower, but I'm looking for suggestions from people if they have a better company in mind, and build suggestions.

 

[shadows5631]

Budget?

 

[dbee]

Build your own, its fun and nice to learn in the event something breaks down you have the knowledge to fix it. And yes of course, budget.

 

[featherfoot07]

agreed. Custom builds are much cheaper and easier to work on in the long run.

 

[Geno]

Budge, I'm probably looking to spend 1.3k down, and please don't just say build your own, not everyone here has the knowledge to make your own computers .

 

[BlackBird.]

Once has to be the first time Just google a lot and learn how to build your own.

But if you really dont wanna make your own you can still buy a nice one for 1300.
But remember... making your own with 1300..... is a damn good gaming computer

Im from europe so i can't give you any shopping links, sorry

 

[DragonD]

instead of building one from top down...and you thought of perhaps buying a bare bones system? Perhaps say one with the case, power supply, motherboard and cpu/heatsink already installed?

it's a snap to add memory and drives...

 

[shadows5631]

Well, here are some pre-built systems.

This one is very nice for the price, and still a great GPU,

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883227243

Again, this one is also nice, and would probably be my pick, (I own the case, it looks awesome and performs well)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883227179

Bit pricey on this one, but the specs are great,

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883227234

This one is also pricey, but a nice Crossfire setup, (With a Solid State Drive)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883227253

 

[Geno]

Well, here are some pre-built systems.

This one is very nice for the price, and still a great GPU,

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883227243

Again, this one is also nice, and would probably be my pick, (I own the case, it looks awesome and performs well)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883227179

Bit pricey on this one, but the specs are great,

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883227234

This one is also pricey, but a nice Crossfire setup, (With a Solid State Drive)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883227253

Is their any specific benefit to buying threw Newegg, because I like the idea of buying directly from Ibuypower because of the warranty.

 

[shadows5631]

Buying at New Egg still puts you under Ibuypower's 3 year standard warranty.

On their website you get more customization options, but is generally the same price as New Egg.

 

[Geno]

I have 3 Questions so far as I go along the options

1) Is Noise Reduction worth the money?

2) Intel vs AMD

3) Nvidia vs ATI

?

 

[shadows5631]

No, Intel, Either.

Considering your budget is pretty high, Intel would be the thing to get. Nvidia or ATI could go either way.

 

[Geno]

Also was wondering about Sound/Network Cards, Is their any point in updating from the basic ones?

 

[mattM_-]

Sound tech hasn't greatly improve so sound cards can come bundled with a mobo or just get a cheap one I suppose.

Hopefully your mobo has a Gigabyte Ethernet Lan port. Try to get a a/b/g/n card, but n is a new tech in wireless. But it still is determined by your router how high you go.

Then again your not building so yeah...its really worth the try. And your saving yourself some money and gaining some more knowledge on which you are using. It's helpful in this day of age. Get a book from Barnes n noble or Boarders, or just GOOGLE

 

[BlackBird.]

If i where you, i would go for the intel i-7. With 1300$ you can easely afford that.

 

[Geno]

If i where you, i would go for the intel i-7. With 1300$ you can easely afford that.

Just cause I can spend 1.3k doesn't mean I neccesarily want to, I'd like to keep it cheap if I can

 

[shadows5631]

Sound cards aren't really needed, unless you have to have absolutely the best sound possible. But, onboard Realtek is great and does the job for just about anyone.

Gigabyte LAN is a standard on motherboards now, so with $800-1,300 you will have it. Even my mother's cheap $300 computer has Gigabyte LAN.

Oh and for the Noise Reduction padding, I said no because it's been known to raise temperatures, and not perform as advertised (That's Alienware though, could be different)

 

[Mutsakman1]

$1.3k or Less...well, you can always pick up a what...an ATI 5770 on that sort-of budget? Don't worry about a Sound-Card unless you are connecting to a Home-Theatre grade Sound-System. Also, if you don't want to spend so-much, the Intel i5 is a good spend, or even if you want to perhaps overreach into the $300's for your CPU, go AMD, as their new 6-Core, (Damn what is it...ummm...the PhenomII X6 1090T) performs really well for just about anything you wish to do.

Other then that, fairly-standard stuff follows on. A fair HDD (Depending on how much you want to download), a Mobo (Don't get anything $300+, unless you the rest of your components are high-end) and all the other bits that equals a computer.

 

[Geno]

One of my biggest problems so far is motherboards, I have no idea which one to get. I don't even know how to tell why some cost more then others and why their better.

Also whats the difference between a 1 TB HARD DRIVE -- 64M Cache, 7200 RPM, 6.0Gb/s (SATA3=???) and 1 TB HARD DRIVE -- 16M Cache, 7200 RPM, 3.0Gb/s. Is it worth an extra 33 dollars?

Windows 7 Pro or Premium?

Also>.<, on the memory I notice that theirs a ton of options with different DDR3 Numbers, but same amount of memory, whats the difference, and how much memory do you suggest?

 

[Mutsakman1]

One of my biggest problems so far is motherboards, I have no idea which one to get. I don't even know how to tell why some cost more then others and why their better.

That's a fair claim. Yes, they are obscurely priced and their features also vary between the brands themselves. Based on your budget, I would go with anything between 100$ and 250$ from Gigabyte, eVGA, MSi or ASUS. The features you should look for are DDR3 Memory, (And depending on the CPU you select) either an AMD Slot or for an Intel, you want 1156 for the i5.

The rest of the features are neglectable, as this price-range yeilds no real difference. They all (Should Have) SATAII ports, and all the other nessacary bits. If you want to though, you could look for a motherboard with Crossfire support, so if later you wish to improve your computer's graphics, you can just add in another. Here are 2 options I picked out:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130274
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813188055
Both are good and under $200.