[EAO Nathalie]

So I'm looking at getting (hopefully) a capable computer. Can anyone point me in the direction of a good one at a good price?

Right now, I'm looking at this one but I honestly don't know much about hardware these days so can anyone advise me if this one's a good deal? Do you have another suggestion?

Half decent?

[EAO Robbie]

I'm not an expert but I personally don't like off brand names. Maybe it's a name brand but I've not heard of it. So my non expert opinion is:
It's more than half decent. I'm having a computer built and the one you showed us is way better than what I'm getting and I thought I had a pretty good one lol. I'm not familiar with AMD graphics boards, I'm an nvidia guy. It doesn't give the brand name for the mama board ??
Everything else to me seems like more that enough, but we don't know what is enough for you.

fwiw Mine is
MB=Asrock z87 Extreme4 (MSI sub brand - less expensive but as good as MSI)
I5 4670k 3.4 Ghz (It's the top level I5. my guy says that for gaming I7 does little more for gaming)
8gb ram crucial (enough for me)
EVGA GTX660sc (slightly above entry level gaming graphics board)
1 TB hard drive

Not to take away from Nathalie, but if anyone sees a bottleneck or issue with my setup, let me know. I'm having it built next week.
Mine is costing $980.00 before tax, but includes $100 assembly charge.

[EAO Nascan]

i have to agree with Robby, the specs are good but you need to know whats inside
I would suggest going to your local PC shop and talk about your needs with them.
you can end up with a better machine for roughly the same price
Personally i built mine myself with some advice from them...

casing: cooler master enforcer
motherboard: ASUS M5 A99X EVO
processor: AMD FX 6100 3.30GHz
HDD: 2X500mb + 1x300nb
graphic card: ASUS EAH5770 (Radeon)
sound card: Sound Blaster X-FI

add to that a better cpu cooler,750 amp power supply, 2x dc/dvd drives and some gadgets

[IceDragon]

Hello!
If I may suggest... You need to decide what type of a PC you want, from it depends hardware. For example if you want stationary PC for gaming as a main rig then AMD is good, since AMD is a processor for gaming, but Intel series (I3, I5, I7) are also good with SSD HDD(new fast working drive, it is expensive but it will be payed off from the 1st second of its work. Nvidia is best vide card for this PC. But if you want a laptop AMD is bad idea, Nvidia is expected to not live long in laptops. Best laptops with good price and challenging hardware is intel "I" series with ATI video card. Today only few laptops are in the shop with SSD drive and they are coming with normal HDD. What you could do to save money is to buy without SSD, after that go to your local PC workshop, buy a SSD and tell them to change you current HDD with SSD you bought, with adding mor RAM(SSD needs at least 8 GB of ram to work on its full level) sell your old HDD or make it as external HDD. Also you can sell the RAM what will be left. But for example I buy a PC in the shop without any software, only hardware. As in shops there are many useless software which you don't need and they come with overprice to boost current shop income. I know all this I work in such places and have few shops with hardware only.

[EAO PKing]

Okay search for one where the motherboard is from a known brand, and get a ssd hd for your system and your maingames:-)

The ATI graphic card is good, but hee i am an ATI fan

Wat i learned over the years, when you use Intel get an nvdia card.

When you use AMD get an ATI card.

At the end everything must be from a known brand, i should go for more power also 600 watt is a little low.

My comp is a little older:

Asus M4A88 motherboard
8gb memory
Ati 5770 1gb card
AMD II phenom X6 1055T processor
Coolermaster case

This post has been edited by EAO PKing: 16 January 2014 - 04:35 PM

[EAOImpreza]

Hello!

I am not a PC expert but I do know this....

If you want new PC for gaming then don't hesitate to spend a bit more money and buy a PC what can run StarCraft 2 on Ultra Graphics without any lag in multiplayer games. What this means that StarCraft 2 is having very strong game engine with very big system spec needs. So far StarCraft 2 has been a test game for many new PC`s. I know some of you may find it funny, but games are actually the biggest programs in PC world, therefore they eat biggest amount of resources in any PC, and that is how you can see the full potential of your PC. I will not share some links here for StarCraft 2 system specs unless Dear Nat will wants it, so I will not look like a StarCraft dork lol.

If you have any other game you think what can be even more hard-core for a PC test feel free to share it, but notice that StarCraft 2 is consistently upgrading and updating game, so in this game there is no stable graphic options as it changes with every new update. Otherwords System specs re changing with any update, but changing only in the favor of new PC, so for example if you have running StarCraft 2 with medium system specs and a game sometimes slightly lag in multiplayer mode(lag in starcraft 2 is caused mainly because of some player`s weak system specs, the least lag in this game is caused by bad internet, which happens very rare, since the main issue of lag is still system spec out of date PC, thanks to BLizzard there are no lags at all due to internet connection, only few.) that means after 1 or 2 updates you will have to reduce graphics to a minimum and after few more updates your pc will not be able to handle StarCraft 2 anymore, that is why StarCraft 2 is considered very huge and strong engine game.

I am sure there is plenty of other than game programs to test your PC, but it will be more like a visual or numbers data, which will never show your eyes and your brain what your PC is capable to run. Only real things like very huge games can test your PC, they consume most of the PC power. SO they are the best test in my opinion. Let the game run for few hours and play it hardcore with changing graphics while finding that sweet not lag spot.
If make things easier for you I can make example.

0-700 EUR is a PC what is good but will not run games on max graphics from 2011 - .....
700 - 1500(and more) EUR is a PC what will be running your games after install already in full graphic set by default.

Choice is yours, I buy pc for gaming, remember this, pc for gaming is a pc Titan or God if you want for everything else.

Best Regards!

[Java]

Nothing works a pc as hard as Microsoft Flight Simulator X. It is extremely hungry!!

[EAO PKing]

So resuming for NAT:

Buy things from a known brand
Get enough memory (8gb is minimum these days)
At least one SSD HD
No graphic card under 2 gb
Make sure the configuration MB-CPU-GPU has no bottlenecks.(read forums try to understand wat some things mean L1 L2 cache etc etc)
Do not forget that you need a good case, so try to find out wat are good cases, stay away from sites where the have comps with lots of lights, because the lights do not make the comp better
If you play heavyer games think about a better CPU cooler (Zalman for instance)

It took me 2 months to find my computer:-)

So it is not easy to find something good, everyone has his own opinion about wat is good or bad, but use your common sence and at the end you will have a nice computer.
I made me a list wat i want in my comp and wich case, and have searching two months for it, or at least as close as i could get with the money availeble

[EAO Nathalie]

Ok, other than the power supply, this one seems to meet the criteria for what most of you are suggesting, right?

How's this?

I have an 800W power supply in my current comp so I can switch them out.

Is it overpriced?

[EAO Robbie]

EAO Nathalie, on 18 January 2014 - 11:02 AM, said:

Ok, other than the power supply, this one seems to meet the criteria for what most of you are suggesting, right?

How's this?

I have an 800W power supply in my current comp so I can switch them out.

Is it overpriced?

What games do you want to play? What else do you want to use the computer for?

My 2 cents worth (which is only worth one cent). I don't do electronics that start with an i.
1. Again, a no-name (to me) brand.
2. It seems way more than you need.
3. Win 7 is more compatible with older games than Win 8. I've talked with 4 computer experts who say that.
4. I know you have a bigger power supply, but it seems odd they would only put a 600w in there if it's that hot of a computer.
5. We don't know what's inside regarding manufactures.
6. There are no Newegg reviews. That's important.

[Oldfart]

The first thing I noticed was no reviews. I'll look again and see what main board they are using. I haven't built a new system for myself since December of 2004 and it's still working great.

[EAO Nathalie]

I'll be the first to admit that I'm looking for a computer that will do way more than I will probably use it for (at least right now). Kinda' like thinking for the future, you know? I can't say with complete certainty that I won't find a game next year that I will want to play and then be heartbroken because my computer can't handle it. Having said that, right now, I need it for producing graphic illustrations (work), movies, music, general web browsing and light gaming (again, that may change)

As for name brands, not a clue. Point me in the right direction. I don't know what a name brand is. LOL

I have found that almost all of the systems I look at are lacking in the power supply department so I can't really answer why that is.

The Operating System isn't something I had looked into. Sucks to hear about Windows 8. Something for me to think about.

[EAO Nascan]

specs look good but windos8 isn't good for the games we play
quite overpriced i think, write down the specs and see what can be done
at your local shop, im sure you can have better for cheaper

[EAO Robbie]

Keep shopping and posting. You are doing good research. My suggestion would be to keep asking questions here or wherever. While doing that, browse a couple computer stores, preferably those that build computers. Find the knowledgeable technicians there and pick their brains. The more people you talk to the better. Don't buy until you have lots of opinions. From the people posting here, it sounds like your best bet is to have one built rather than buy a prebuilt one for several reasons. Once you narrow down the components, check reviews on the internet.

As I said before, the computer pros that I talk to say that for gaming, the I7 doesn't do a heck of lot more for gaming than the I5. However, if you would be working with large detailed graphics, then the I7 would be better.

Power Supplies - Pre-built manufacturers try to build a quality computer, but also try to keep the cost down. Therefore, they put in power supplies that are just barely adequate. IMHO, adequate isn't good enough. You want a minimum of 20% more power than your graphic card wants. You want a quality power supply.

Ram- 8mb is adequate for most applications. Another 8mb is only $75 so that's an inexpensive upgrade.

Name Brands - Smee over at PCG can help with that. MSI mb are good. Ram - I like Crucial and Kingston. HD - Western Digital only for me - for gaming you want Black version for sure. Case - LOTS of cooling fans. (Heat is the #1 killer of electronics. Besides dirt lol).

When building a computer, for me, it seems I keep getting something a little better, then find something a little better. It goes on and on. And each component in the computer gets treated that way. Graphics cards are hard to choose. Their price rises exponentially when you get into the higher quality boards. Cards above the $200 range, increase in price rapidly.

[EAO PKing]

About names and brands:

There are a lot motherboard manufacturs, and they have a name (Asus,ASRock, Gigabyte, MSI) that are main brands.
And ofcourse there are more brands, some good some are not.
So if you do not have a clue how to build a computer stick, to main brands for the things that matter (Motherboard, Memory, Case).
The CPU and the GPU you have only two brands to choose, and that has mostly to do with wat you like.
Altough i have a AMD/Ati computer, i think the next one is gonna be a Intel/nvdia.
Over the whole measurement the Intel/Nvdia scores higher then the most AMD/Ati comps.

If you are looking in webstores, you will see that there is always a catch, because everything looks high, but then they put in a poor motherboard for instance.
So again take your time, make a list from wat you need/want, and go searching online and maybe just in the local shop.

But be prepared, as in you must know in advance wat you want, because otherwise some guy in a shop sells wat brings the most money to his store:-)

And there are online shops where you can use some kind of configurator to sort out your new computer....

This post has been edited by EAO PKing: 19 January 2014 - 05:47 PM