I have built my own computer before. Then I used a laptop. That died recently and I haven't followed pc specs for over a year but my demands haven't really increased any either. Im standing in a Wal-Mart and see all of these $300-700 pc's. My most advanced games are Arma 2 and CnC3. I would like to do CAD or SketchUp and such but beyond that and watching Netflix/media streaming that's it. I moved to console gaming except for mmo's. New tech just comes out too fast. My droid x obsoleted my laptop anyway. So what's my best bet? Big box retailer, e-tailer (Tiger/NewEgg) or self build still? Thanks.
Self build will always be the best. You are looking at quite a powerfull rig to play Arma 2. Whats your budget?
Indeed, regretted it loads. Still, great to have found this place and the computer is/ was (gfx upgraded) fine, just paid over the odds for it
Well I assumed on putting a gpu in a boxed rig. I've been playing A2 on full low at 1024x768 so Im not too picky. Budget $500-700. I look at the reccomended hardware for budget pcs every month. If that's the best way to go ill just do that. I thought boxed might save me a few hundred was all. I don't know what socket is the best even anymore. 775? Is PCI-e still the best for gpu's? Too many RSS feeds, I just haven't kept up.
Why don't you just look up the specs for the machine and see how much those parts would cost you? If it's cheaper yourself you could see what better components you could buy for the same cash.
Just get the Gaming workhorse in the buyers guide 775 is nearly dead now. And how can a boxed one be cheaper if they have to pay someone to build it?
775 was the bees knees 3 years ago, then 1156 replaced it and since monday 1155 replaced that. If you can give some more info it would be great. What size hdd, Nice quite case? I'll tot one up for you.
It's one of those rare occasions where a great CPU (i5 2500k) and GPU (GTX 560) have pretty much come out at the same time. Okay, the 560 hasn't been released yet but it's slated for an end of January release. I would advise holding off until then - the resulting system could be such sweet value for money.
Never ever buy a pre-built. There's so many reasons why. They use cheap components, you can't fix them if you want to keep your warranty, it's bundled with so much annoying software, etc. Companies cut so many corners by putting in cheap components, and your components will slowly die over time because of the domino effect of crappy components. It's far more advantageous for you to learn how to build your own, learn how the components work and go together, so when problems arise, you can fix them on your own.
The people giving advices for building a rig shouldn't forget about the fact, that you need to pay $150 for a copy of Windows 7 and another $150 for a LCD-screen ontop of the system you're going to build. But let's see what we can get for $700, if a retail-copy of Windows7 and a LCD-screen is allready there. And we won't talk about CPU and motherboard now, but only about the basics that are the same for all of them, shall we. RAM: 4GB DDR3 = $50 HDD: 1x 500GB SATA = $40 GPU: midrange = $150 Case: cheap Antec 300 or the like = $50 PSU: 500-600 Watts = $70 That's around $350 allready, leaving us with another $350 to play with. A somewhat decent motherboard for either 1156, 1155 or AM3 is around $100, which would leave $150 for a CPU. Now, for the remaining $150 you can decide between a LGA1155 i3-2100, a LGA1156 i3-560 or a AM3 Phenom II X4 965 all with a stockcooler as your budget is running out allready. A second HDD would be nice aswell to seperate OS/software and storage, but that's aswell beyond the budget. So. That pretty much sums it up actually. If the OP happens to find a deal on a boxed PC that matches the aforementioned hardware, but with either a lower price or a copy of Windows 7 ontop, well, then it's one of those situations, especially when the OP doesn't plan to do anything fancy with his PC within the next 2 or three years to come. AND! It's still not clear, if the OP has a retail-copy of Windows 7 and a screen allready at hand.
Um, $350 - $100 does not equal $150 Self-built is ALWAYS better, and is even worth a slight premium, because it lasts longer and chances are the warranty on your part most likely to fail is often still longer than the warranty on an entire OEM machine.
+1 for self built, but its what you should expect as a general answer if you come here , best of luck if you do decide to build one yourself
