16 replies to this topic

[narboza22]

I am looking to spend $1200 or less on a computer for college that will play games and last me 4 years. Is that even possible? The parts I'm looking at on Newegg are running me over $1200 for just the core components. Maybe I am just being picky and greedy(actually I know I am), but I don' t know enough about hardware to figure out what I really need and what I don't. Here's what I'm thinking:

CPU: Intell Core 2 Duo

HD: not sure how big I should go. I have a 160GB internal and a 120GB external right now that are both full, and I know I will be downloading and installing even more stuff in college.

Motherboard: No idea what the deal with MOBO's is. All I could figure out is that the CPU's gotta fit the MOBO.

Video Card: I want to go with the Nvidia 8000, but they aren't cheap. Do I need a 8800 in order to keep up with the newer games coming out?

RAM: AFAIK, the more RAM the merrier. I've got 1GB on my computer now and its ridiculously slow, so I know I need more, but how much is too much?

Sound Card: I have no idea about anything sound card related. I could not even find the sound card in my computer right now.

Case: Are there different sizes or what? How do I know what size to get?

Cooling System: Liquid or fan?

DVD Drive: Obviously I need a burner, but what brands are good?

Moniter: No more CRT's for me, but the same as with the DVD drive, what brands are good? Do I go wide screen?

PSU: The PSU that came with my case for the computer that I have now burned out in about a month. That leads me to believe that the stock PSU are crap. How many volts do I need?

I can handle the mouse, keyboard, and speakers Roll Eyes But did I forget anything else? Can this be done for $1200 or less? Thanks in advance for pointing me in the right direction.

[Carnivean]

I don't think you have a chance in hell of it lasting 4 years... well maybe at the lowest of the lowest settings humanly possible.

I'd help you but I'm lazy.

[narboza22]

Ok, ya, I realize that. I should have clarified and said it should be upgradeable to last 4 years. The MOBO I have now has no PCI-E slots on it so it limits the kind of video cards I can have. That's what I meant, I don't want to have to rebuild the entire thing in the future if I want to upgrade a single part.

[Bart]

CPU: Core Duo is good. It's better for less money, I think

RAM: Go for at least 1GB, maybe 2, and be sure to keep slots open

GPU: If you really want it to last 4 years, there are 2 choices:
- buy a DirectX 10 card now = $$$
- buy a cheapass card now, and upgrade to DirectX 10 when prices have lowered

Case: smaller = takes less space, more heat and sound problems. Larger = takes more space, easily upgradable, less heat and sound problem, but presumably more expensive

Monitor: if you game a lot and watch lots of movies, widescreen is good. Also, if you have your PC and TV in 1 room/place, and you never use the 2 at the same time, you can save money by combining the two

PSU: It's not about volts (or at least, not much, just depends on your country) but watts. The heavier your PC is, the more watts you need

Cooling: liquid is strong and silent but dangerous, fan is weak(er, but not necessarily crap) and noisy(er), but safe

Motherboard: Motherboards have speeds too, which determine for a part the speed at which you can access e.g. your RAM. Also, your motherboard type decides what kind of hardware you can attach

Sound Card: IMO, the cheap ones of these are good enough. more expensive ones give you surround, and all kinds of digital/optical inputs and outputs, a generic user doesn't need.

HD: Go for a fast, not very sizable internal drive for software and documents, and a large external drive for movies and downloaded stuff

[Blodo]

I'll fix it a bit:

RAM: Go for at least 1GB, maybe 2, and be sure to keep slots open

2gb at least. 2gb are slapped on almost every modern game's optimal requirements. That may or may not be true in reality, but taking into account Vista as a real resource hog 2gb are a good choice. Also be sure they are 800mhz sticks. They're fast and cheap.

PSU: It's not about volts (or at least, not much, just depends on your country) but watts. The heavier your PC is, the more watts you need

The brand matters alot. The wattage may not be followed to the letter if you have a shit power supply. Unfortunately can't guide a lot on that, I'd do research but can't be arsed right now.

Cooling: liquid is strong and silent but dangerous, fan is weak(er, but not necessarily crap) and noisy(er), but safe

If you know which fan coolers are good, you can get better results than liquid. Much better. I recommend Arctic Cooling fans or Pentagrams.

Sound Card: IMO, the cheap ones of these are good enough. more expensive ones give you surround, and all kinds of digital/optical inputs and outputs, a generic user doesn't need.

The built-ins are good enough. Unless you want to have a really good sound output, in which case you buy a creative audigy or x-fi. An external sound card also offloads your processor from mixing the sound, which means better performance in games. It's an additional incentive to buy it. The problem is you generally pay a good buck for a good model.


Also if you're looking for the ultimate motherboard, try DFI LanParty. It's the best, and not that expensive either. It's bios is great, it's SLI enabled, has all the slots you need. About the only thing you could complain about is the somewhat bad chipset placement, but you don't need to worry about that unless you plan to overclock.

[Solinx]

PSU: It's not about volts (or at least, not much, just depends on your country) but watts. The heavier your PC is, the more watts you need

The brand matters alot. The wattage may not be followed to the letter if you have a shit power supply. Unfortunately can't guide a lot on that, I'd do research but can't be arsed right now.

An Antec power supply would be good. Probably not the best you can get, but it does the job just fine here, and is quiet too.

If you know which fan coolers are good, you can get better results than liquid. Much better. I recommend Arctic Cooling fans or Pentagrams.

Seconded. I heard Papst fans are good too.

Solinx

[narboza22]

Ok, my budget is $1200 and this is the set up I am looking at. What do you guys think?
http://secure.newegg...tNumber=4493071

[Solinx]

Well, I think 650 Watt power supply is a bit overkill for this system, the more so because it's a good brand... and where is/are the graphical card(s)?

Solinx

[narboza22]

How powerful a PSU do I need and what graphics card would you recommend? I don't think I can afford a 8800, and that's about all I know about graphics cards.

Edited by narboza22, 16 March 2007 - 03:49 PM.

[Solinx]

I'm not used to budgets over 500 dollars, but I'll have a look at putting some things together. I take it the costs of the complete system, including the graphics card, shouldn't go above 1200 dollar?

Solinx

[narboza22]

Ya, total cost needs to be less than $1200. Thanks for helping

[Solinx]

Alright, this is what I'd have on my list:

Case + power supply:
Antec LifeStyle SONATA II Piano Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case 450Watt SmartPower 2.0 Power Supply - Retail at $99.99

Motherboard:
ASUS P5B Deluxe LGA 775 Intel P965 Express ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail at $179.99

Processor:
Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 Conroe 2.4GHz LGA 775 Processor Model BX80557E6600 - Retail at $313.00

RAM:
G.SKILL 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F2-6400CL4D-2GBPK - Retail at $179.99

Hard disk:
Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 (Perpendicular Recording) ST3250620AS 250GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM at $74.99

DVD burner:
SAMSUNG 18X DVD±R DVD Burner With 12X DVD-RAM Write, LightScribe Technology Black IDE Model SH-S182M/BEBE - OEM at $31.99

CPU Cooler:
ARCTIC COOLING Freezer 7 Pro 92mm CPU Cooler - Retail at $34.99

This combines to a subtotal of $914.94

Leaving just under 300 for a graphics card, which would make it possible to buy a GeForce 8800 GTS. This model is not the absolute top of the line, but doesn't cost you $525+ either.


What I left the same are the Motherboard and Harddisk. The motherboard is a fine choice. For the harddisk I simply don't know what would be better.

My build has a lot cheaper case. The one you selected looks awesome, but is very expensive and without power supply. Instead of spending 1/6 of the budget on these two things, this will only cost you 1/12 of the budget, while still providing you with both a good quality case and power supply.

I also saved some money on the RAM, seeing as a cheaper set had the same properties. Another few bucks were saved on picking another DVD Burner, which did good in a test, and going with another CPU cooler. Fanless designs are nice, but there is a limit. This fan is one of the favourite choices these days.


Because of these changes, I could spend more on the CPU, which is now a full Core 2 Duo 6600, and still have another 300 dollar for the graphics card, which is close to 200 dollars more than with your selection


Note: It would have been nice to just send you the wishlist link, but I can't register at NewEgg (only Americans can), so there is little choice. :S
2nd Note: Wait for someone like Blodo to speak his mind about this list. As I said, Im not used to having 1200 to spend.

Solinx

[Bart]

For the harddisk I simply don't know what would be better.

two of them, and stick 'em in a RAID 1

[Solinx]

hehe, yeah, totally forgot about that. On the other hand, doing so will decrease the amount of money available for other stuff.

The cheapest 8800 is just below 300 dollars, so it would pretty much mean downgrading the CPU or perhaps the motherboard. Seeing as the CPU is usually the bottleneck at today's systems, that would be a shame. And the motherboard is the central piece of the system...

He already pretty much doubles his storage space with this disk, so he should have enough for some time to come.

Solinx

[Ash]

I hate Americans. They get everything so cheap. :(

But yeah. Solinx gave you a very respectable rig there. It's equal or superior to my rig in every respect, and it plays every game to date on at least high settings, and for dirt cheap price too. MTW2, Oblivion and FEAR on full or near-full. SupCom on mid-high. Mine will easily survive until prolly mid-2008ish for being able to play the latest and greatest reasonably well, so that will definitely cope.

But, as with anything, nothing lasts forever.

Edited by Paradox, 19 March 2007 - 03:59 PM.

[Solinx]

I hate Americans. They get everything so cheap. :(

QFT

But yeah. Solinx gave you a very respectable rig there.

Thanks. Time for Narboza to order something

But, as with anything, nothing lasts forever.

QFT... again
Solinx

[narboza22]

Thanks for the help guys