Buying a PC vs building one...

[J.D. Wykid, Esq.]

i just got my tax rebate and im trying to get a new pc.  ive had this one for like 4 years..time for an upgrade.

i want something that...

-will be able to play games at a good rate (doesnt need to be supersized maxed out ultra high graphics) without stuttering, if it has an HDMI input even better, then i could connect it to my TV.

-has good memory (6GB or more if possible)...

-HD doesnt really matter, cause i could get a UBS HD..but 300GB or so would be nice...(im thinking about getting this 1TB HD for 100 bux at frys )

-good processor..needs to be able to handle a couple of process at a time...nothing major...but i wanna be able to do multiple things without worrying or noticing a difference (if possible). 

also, i aint trying to spend a lot of cash...400-800 would probably be my limit...

so, would i be better off buying one, or hitting up newegg or some shit and building it myself? 

or is this not even possible with that type of budget?

[Al Bundy]

if you feel like doing it yourself, you could build a dope computer cheap with newegg

[J.D. Wykid, Esq.]

if you feel like doing it yourself, you could build a dope computer cheap with newegg

i definitely wouldnt be against building it myself...would all that be possible with a 400-800 budget tho? 

[Matty]

easy. build yourself! for minimum hassle get a barebones system where you get a case with a motherboard already installed (sometimes power supply too). then you just gotta worry about the parts to go onto the motherboard - cpu and graphics card being the most important for gaming. 6gb of ram is silly, 4gb is far more than enough unless you are spending way way more on an obscenely powered machine. then you'd want an intel i7 quad core cpu and triple channel ram, which would also mean a very expensive motherboard and high costs all around.

connecting it to a hdtv you might be better off using vga over hdmi anyway. i use vga on my panasonic 32 inch and quality is amazing. way better than my friends philips 1080p set through a hdmi cable. depends on the tv make and model and more importantly if the native resolution is 1080p (1920 x 1080) or 'HD ready' (1368x768).

hit me up if you want any detailed advice on parts etc, just built a pc for some people in the past few weeks. processor wise you'd be best going for a fast dual core and getting the best possible graphics card the budget will allow. ati hd4850 would probably be the trick (got one myself) but you'd need to have an ample power supply for any half decent graphics card. i imagine an on-board motherboard sound device would suffice (they are real good these days) unless you have specific requirements for that.

peace.

[The Watcher]

get a video card that does DVI and it'll connect fine to your HD tv, most come with a DVI connector already, if not a DVI->HDMI converter will be about $10

quad core CPU's are probably what you want, as for a motherboard I have a gigabyte ga-ep45-ds3r board running with 8Gb of ram no problems. what i recently built was;

intel q6600 quad core cpu
gigabyte ga-ep45-ds3r
8gb ram
nvidia geforce 8600gt

best of all, i have it running OSX instead of windows

[Matty]

thats a beefy cpu, crazy amount of ram, but very mid-low end graphics card. i suppose a mac isn't really for intense gaming though...

[RingMan]

it's bullshit to buy quadcore imo, you better buy cheaper dualcore and spend more money on better GPU, that's what games need, get that new nvidia 200 series, I don't know how they are in US, but they are pretty cheap here

[LooN3y]

spend 2 g's and get a professional or some1 that knows what hes doing to put it together, thats the best period. itll also be cheaper too thats if ur gonna buy one from a store wit similiar specifications.

[Michael]

i work in PC World and priced a build vs retail and a build was more expensive than this set up i bought:

Intel Quad-Core Q6600 processor
3gb RAM
500GB HDD
nVidia 7100 integrated GPU

got all this for £340

and put a 4850 1GB card in.

just need 2 up the ram and it'll clock at 5.9 on that vista rating utility.

[LooN3y]

i work in PC World and priced a build vs retail and a build was more expensive than this set up i bought:

Intel Quad-Core Q6600 processor
3gb RAM
500GB HDD
nVidia 7100 integrated GPU

got all this for £340

and put a 4850 1GB card in.

just need 2 up the ram and it'll clock at 5.9 on that vista rating utility.

wow, how many american dollars is that?

[Michael]

i work in PC World and priced a build vs retail and a build was more expensive than this set up i bought:

Intel Quad-Core Q6600 processor
3gb RAM
500GB HDD
nVidia 7100 integrated GPU

got all this for £340

and put a 4850 1GB card in.

just need 2 up the ram and it'll clock at 5.9 on that vista rating utility.

wow, how many american dollars is that?

according to XE, $486

[Al Bundy]

spend 2 g's and get a professional or some1 that knows what hes doing to put it together, thats the best period. itll also be cheaper too thats if ur gonna buy one from a store wit similiar specifications.

two thou for a computer? the fuck? that thing better make a cup of coffee and do the dishes for that much

[Matty]

he said 400-800 was the limit, which is still plenty for a really nice spec machine, especially closer to 800 and if no monitor is needed. saying to spend 2g's isn't very helpful or relevant. that's way too much unless your a really hardcore gamer or have very specific use for such an overpowered machine.

[Muhfukka]

spend 2 g's and get a professional or some1 that knows what hes doing to put it together, thats the best period. itll also be cheaper too thats if ur gonna buy one from a store wit similiar specifications.

FUCKING ASIANS

[Don Jacob]

i'm in the same rutt as you i don't know whether i should just buy an all new PC.

it's probably more economical to just build your own, but i'm not that computer savvy.

i don't play games so i don't need a bad ass graphics card but i definitely want to hook it up to my 52' Panasonic Viera plasma permanently.