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What computer should I buy? (expert help please)!!

Thread title: What computer should I buy? (expert help please)!!
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12-15-2012, 01:02 AM
#1
KewL is offline KewL
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  Old  What computer should I buy? (expert help please)!!

Hey guys, I want to get a new desktop, laptop, or AIO for Christmas. I could really use the advice/recommendations from someone familiar with hardware and building PC's. Let's get right into it.

My budget is around $400-500 (USD), and I'd like something capable of handling new games (not on the highest video settings anything, just smoothly).

I don't really care about the case or how it looks. The best hardware possible, on my budget, is what's important to me.

I'm pretty sure I can follow a youtube tutorial and build it myself. I remember back in the day I bought a new case and graphics card for my old eMachines. I was able to place everything in the right places, I did need help connecting a few of the wires though. I'm a lot older, wiser, and smarter now though. Worst case scenario, I could probably find someone to help. Shouldn't be a problem, right?

I'm also not sure if I want a laptop/desktop/AIO. I'm leaning towards a desktop, since they're generally cheaper, and they're easy to upgrade. If the technical specs are only slightly better on a desktop, on my budget, then I'd probably prefer a laptop, because of their size and mobility. What do you think?

Recap
  • Desktop, Laptop, or AIO?
  • Budget: 400-500
  • Use: General, Games, Design/Coding Software
  • Looks/style dont matter
  • Best hardware possible for budget

If someone could answer my questions ,and put together the pieces on newegg/tiger-direct/etc, they would be my hero!

Thanks a billion!

- Robby

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12-21-2012, 06:42 PM
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12-21-2012, 10:47 PM
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I doubt you'll be able to assemble a decent gaming system for a max of $500. You're looking at minimum
  • $200 for the processor,
  • $100 for the motherboard,
  • $100-$150 for a video card,
  • $50-$80 for ram (I'd recommend at least six to eight gigs).
  • Hard drive, $80
  • Power supply $60-$80
  • Case $50+
  • Screens, $100+ each.
  • Speakers (using default sound card on mobo), $20+
  • Mouse and keyboard, $30

Do you have parts from your current computer you can use? If your hard drive is over 5200rpm it may be a good idea to swap that. If you have a decent screen that can save you some money.

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12-23-2012, 05:38 AM
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  Old

Thank's for the replies guys! So there has been a change of plans. Turns out family's cell phone contract ends this month, and it's time for a phone upgrade. My sister want's a new phone for christmas, which means I also have to at the same time. I only get a new phone every two years, so I decided to use my christmas present to get the iPhone 5, instead of getting a cheap free phone.

I'm still going to build a gaming pc though. I'm saving up money on the side for one. I've been researching a lot on computer hardware and building custom PC's lately. You're right, I can't get the pc I want for $500. I think my goal will be more attainable on a thousand dollar budget. I found this cool youtube guy who put's together builds for different prices. I'm going to build something similar to his $1000 build which can be seen here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pKq7SuRzVzk

It's probably going to take me a long time to save a thousands dollars unfortunately. I rarely have any money to save after rent each month.

Thank's for the help again

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12-23-2012, 02:10 PM
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Sendoushi is offline Sendoushi
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I don't really think that you need more than $500.

A month or two back I was trying to do the same not for gaming but for design mostly. I found that you can get a computer with socket 775 motherboard (which is easier to upgrade the processors since it's an old socket), buy an i3 processor (which is already interesting) and good memory and ssd drive and such. Later you can upgrade things.

The beauty of a desktop computer!

Today I wouldn't buy a Macbook with i7. I would go with i5 and make a hackintosh.

A thousand is a lot of money and it really depends on what you're trying to achieve but... You can make a good computer under that.

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12-25-2012, 06:46 AM
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Originally Posted by Sendoushi View Post
I don't really think that you need more than $500.

A month or two back I was trying to do the same not for gaming but for design mostly. I found that you can get a computer with socket 775 motherboard (which is easier to upgrade the processors since it's an old socket), buy an i3 processor (which is already interesting) and good memory and ssd drive and such. Later you can upgrade things.

The beauty of a desktop computer!

Today I wouldn't buy a Macbook with i7. I would go with i5 and make a hackintosh.

A thousand is a lot of money and it really depends on what you're trying to achieve but... You can make a good computer under that.
I'd rather just save money and buy a high quality pc. It would be a wast of money to buy cheap parts that will just be replaced in a couple months or whatever. I'm not in any rush, I have my macbook in the mean time.

Yeah I agree, i would never buy a macbook again. I have the cheap macbook pro from late 09 (i think), it was like $1200. It's so slow and outdated already. I had to buy a new charger for $90, and my touch pad has been broken for about a year (I have to tap for everything). They're not worth the money, or trouble, what so ever. Sure, it has some cool features that make things a lot simpler, but still...

I don't really care for OSX anymore either. I tried making a hackintosh out of my old desktop, my hardware wasn't compatible though. I remember i wanting osx so bad before i had my macbook. Now that i have it, it's nothing special. My PC (if i get it) will probably be duel boot with windows 8 and Ubuntu.

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12-25-2012, 12:52 PM
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Well It really depends... I really think that is worth the money. More the macbooks than the mac pros and so on.

I love OSX, even if I build a computer is to make a Hackintosh but now is becoming... strange. not so good. still better than windows in my opinion.

All this depends on what you really want to do. For gaming... maybe you should go with windows. For working? I prefer OSX but that's me

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