Best computer for new gamer?

Page 2 - Seeking answers? Join the Tom's Hardware community: where nearly two million members share solutions and discuss the latest tech.
Toggle sidebar Toggle sidebar
Burnaby BC if you're wondering where I live. I think stuff are cheaper here than in Toronto because it's close to California, and has ports that's directly linked to China, Malaysia and other asian contries. Here, Intel processors are sometimes cheaper than US. 250$USD vs 260$CND for a E6600 right now.
 
If I may, the hard-drive looks very small, and I agree that you may want to put a few more dollars at the graphics card. I guess a few more questions may be in order here to dial in on what you need.

First, how long would you expect the computer to last? This may dictate the actual processor. For example, if you figured on using the system for more than 2 years I would highly recommend looking for something in the quad core arena, and I would certainly go with a D10 video card. Also, while your hard-drive demand may not be overwhelming today I would say over the next two+ years it should increase drastically and the 160gig drive would be a bit small.

Another question, assuming you are going to use the computer for more than a year or two, are you up for performing some upgrades? If that is the case, try to plan future proof on hard to change out items, like the MoBo perhaps, and the case (I say the case because of the size of some of these graphics cards and the size of the newer (High end) PSUs)

Hope this helps,
 
I've upgraded it to the 320GB Hard Drive. I'm considering the quad core processor but it's a bit pricy :? All this stuff is becoming confusing to me, I'm new at this.

If someone can go to a site and prebuild one for me with a budget of around $700, you can email it to me.

Naturalbassist@yahoo.com
 
I would be more then happy to try and put together some recommendations for you but I am not familiar with some of the pre-built sites out there, other than Dell. Paste a few links to some of the places you were looking and I will see what I can do. I know there are a few other folks up here that are more familiar with the pre-built sites so perhaps they can assist as well.
 
I was looking at Dell today also, their E521 looks good to me. With AMD X2 4400+, 2GB of RAM, 250GB HD, Geforce 7300LE (which I'll more than likely change after about three months)...Vista Home totaling to about $650.
 
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883102026
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883102027

These would be perfect, they are from a reputable comapany, they are under your budget and should be powerful enough to play pretty much any game right now at decent settings. The only thing I would do is add another gig of ram for a total of two, you should be able to do this and still stay on budget.

My only other idea would be to buy something like this:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883107394

and then buy a nice video card for it like this one
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814131055
or
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130074


Well good luck, there should be some nice sales for the 4th of July so shop around and do some research , dont rush into buying somethingt hat wont fit your needs.
 
One last thought, as you are going pre-built when do you need the PC by, reason being, it may be worth while to wait until the price drop filters through the PC sites, say end of July maybe? This way you can get a bit more for your money. Usually I would not suggest waiting but in this case, where we all know a price drop is coming; I would have to say it is worth it.
 
😀 Thanks for all the help, I'll keep my eye on this PC I'm looking at. I will also keep my eye out for the sales which may be coming up. I already get a discount since I already own two person Dell computers...
 
Dell is probably your best bet.

But avoid using the Dell customization options - because thats where Dell makes their money, they charge you through the roof through components.

for a gamer on a tight budget, I'd recommend building it yourself (its easier than you think).

the only reason I might recommend prebuilt is because they are also tested. That means, if they build your machine and it has a faulty motherboard, they just swop it out. if you do the same, swapping parts out is a much more painful experience. but, once the pc you have built survives the first week, it will be on the same footing as any other dell or whatever.
 
Ok, ok. If I were to build a system myself, where would I start? What type of case would I need? What if the parts I want aren't compatable with each other?
 
If you're going to get an AMD, get one of the new 65nm ones. They are about the same price but use a lot less power and make less heat. Its probably better to dish out a tad bit more and a get a low powered core2duo, like the e6320 with 4bm cahce at 1.8ghz.


Dont get 512mb sticks, DDR2 gives such a big perofrmance boost and is so cheap, get 2x 1gb sticks and run them in dual channel. PC2-5400 DDR2 will suit you fine.


Also you wont need a really good card such as 8800gts. 8600gts will do you fine.


If you know someone in real life that can put computers together like a friend, or a local computer shop, im sure they would do it for you, it would cost money at a shop of coarse still much cheaper that buying a pre-built one.
 
here is a very good place to start.

because you want to save money, I'd recommend buying a case that already has a PSU in it, because that generally saves money. that being said, such psu's arent good for high end gaming, but then again that isnt what you want anyway.

dont worry about hardware compatibility, that doesnt occur much anymore. I mean, obvious things like Intel motherboards only support Intel CPU's, but you already knew that.

The only compatibility issues you might face is that if you buy an old motherboard, it might not support some of the newer cpus. you can get around this by simply buying newer motherboards (newer doesnt mean expensive). also check the manufacturers website beforehand for cpu and ram compatibility.

with building a pc, the hardest part is always the research and deciding what to get. once you know what you want, building it is easier.

for about $600, if I were you, I would look at 1 GB ram, low spec dual core cpu, either an athlon x2 or core 2 duo, and an 8500 GT. maybe a 160 GB or 250 GB hard drive.
 
My uncle does all this stuff for a living. All I have to do is buy a computer to put the stuff in and buy all the parts. It's kinda hard to do since I have to try to buy all the parts offline at WORK and half of the sites are BLOCKED...
 
speak to your uncle then. not only could he build it for you, but people who sell hardware can generally get better prices.

damn I need an uncle in the pc business.

yeah, you need to buy a case, and then all the parts you need, and the operating system.
 
Yeah I have an aunt who works with IBM also...

Aren't OS's expensive?

Can you give me an example of a case with a PSU that I can purchase? or atleast a site? (The ones I keep clicking are blocked)
 
okay here is a little list I compiled. I live in the UK, so this list is from a local retailer. the price was about £406, so it should come to about $650 over there (US and canada seem to be cheaper for computers).

as for a case with a PSU, every single site will have some cheapo case. maybe go for an antec though - as far as I remember, they make decent cases and psus, so that solves the problem of bad quality psus.

Yes windows is kinda expensive. but dont buy the retail version, buy the oem version, its 1/3 of the price, and its the same thing.

256MB Asus 8500GT, Silent, PCI-E (x16), Mem 800 MHz, GPU 459 MHz, 16 Pipes, D-Sub/DVI-I/HDTV

Gigabyte GA M57SLI-S4 NF570 SLI, S AM2, PCI-E (x16), DDR2 400/533/667/800, SATA II, SATA RAID, ATX

AMD AM2 Athlon 64 3800+ Windsor Core, Dual Core 2GHz, 2x 512KB Cache, Energy Efficient Retail

2GB (2x1GB) CorsairTwinX XMS2, DDR2 PC2-6400 (800), 240 Pins, Non-ECC Unbuffered, CAS 5-5-5-12

160GB Samsung HD160HJ SpinPoint T166, SATA300, 7200 rpm, 8MB Cache, 8.9 ms, NCQ

Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium 32Bit 1Pk OEM (DVD)

Antec NSK6500 uATX/ATX Super Mid Tower, has Hi-Efficiency 430W ATX12v v2.0 PSU

Optiarc (Sony/NEC) AD-7170S-0B 18x DVD±R, 8x DVD±DL, DVD+RW x8/-RW x6, DVD-RAM x12, SATA, Black, OEM
 
its an ATX case, so yes it will support any motherboard you need.

a case cant support or not support dual core cpus, in this case they refer to the psu, but even that is a bit of a misleading statement.

still, for $60 its not bad (although personally I cant stand the design!)
 
Here is what it comes down to. My uncle can get windows vista for me for free so that knocks off $150

Sony NEC Optiarc 18X DVD±R DVD Burner with 12X DVD-RAM Write Black SATA Model AD-7170S-0B - OEM

APEVIA X-Plorer ATXB8KLW-BK Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail

SAMSUNG SpinPoint T Series HD403LJ 400GB - 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM

GIGABYTE GA-M61P-S3 Socket AM2 NVIDIA GeForce 6100 ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail

TRENDnet TEG-PCITXR 10/ 100/ 1000/ 2000Mbps PCI Copper Gigabit Network Adapter - Retail

ASUS EN7300GT SILENT/HTD/256M GeForce 7300GT 256MB GDDR2 PCI Express x16 Video Card - Retail

SUPER TALENT 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 667 (PC2 5400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model T6UX2GC5 - Retail

AMD Athlon 64 X2 5200+ Windsor 2.6GHz Socket AM2 Processor Model ADA5200CSBOX - Retail
 
if you want a prebuilt pc dell offers inspiron 530 with selected specs
below ( you will select them ) for 899$
this will give excellent performance with games having a very good dx10 card and 2 gigs of ram ( an advice when you buy a pc go for one with max price you can afford it will save you more and will make you more happy with the performance)
Intel® Core™2 Duo Processor E6320 (4MB L2 Cache,1.86GHz,1066 FSB)
Genuine Windows Vista™ Home Premium
No Monitor
2GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 667MHz- 2DIMMs
320GB Serial ATA Hard Drive (7200RPM) w/DataBurst Cache™
Dual Drives: 48X CDRW/DVD COMBO Drive + 16X DVD+/-RW Drive
256MB NVIDIA GeForce 8600GT-DDR3
 
I'm not buying a PREBUILT system, I am building it.

I already have a computer but I'm NOT adding onto it. I am only using that one for homework and to put my photos on.

I'm building an AMD system, I don't want to deal with intel because it's more expensive and I would like to try another processor company.

I'm not going to put Vista on my system just yet since I already have the XP discs ready for installation. I will be applying Vista in the few months to come after some of the bugs are fixed.

I know this is off topic but, is the graphic card I've posted above good enough to support medium-demanding games? My uncle told me that the other components are fine, he wasn't so sure about my graphic card. Help me out with this please?
 


any company that charges +270 just to upgrade from 512MB to 2gig is a damn ripoff and I would never buy anything from them. Every compenent is highly overpriced, you may as well buy a dell.
 
Yeah I gave up that site, it was fulla crap. I'm building this computer instead. I just need help with this video card, I don't know which one to get that actually works well with the other parts.
 
i was gonna help you until you said you were gonna play wow, seriously if that isnt the biggest triangle scheme since becoming a Crack addict i dont know what is,

however with a quick change of heart here what i recommend, C2D, 2Gb DDR2, 8800 (or 8600 on budget), Gigabyte DS3 and vista HP x64 (for more RAM)

anywho i really recommend building it your self its so damn easy, the instruction you need come with your motherboard. nevermind -what ever you dod dont go dell no gamer will respect you
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Latest posts

Moderators online

Share this page

COMPANY
RESOURCES
FOLLOW
Top Bottom