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[Dragmire]

I have a lot of questions. Google has given me some ideas, but I was wondering if any experts here had some specific advice. I'm looking for a pre-built desktop PC to play a couple of the newer games (mostly Half-Life 2) and just to run faster/better than my current one. I also hate Win98. I'm on a Compaq 600 MHz Pentium Celeron D with 64MB of RAM and a 15GB HD. When I got it (~2000), it was just to play my then-current games and use the internet. But now I feel held back by it. I'm looking at pre-built PC's because I have no experience building them, but if it saves a lot of money I could reconsider.

I'm looking into, maybe a Dell, 2.4GHz - 3.0GHz, at least an 80GB HD, don't know about processor or RAM yet (AMD might suffice, would 256MB of RAM?). I'm also interested in a gaming specific PC (XPC?) that'll play HL2, but I'm not sure what I would need. I'm trying to be as cheap as possible considering that I don't need a new PC, but I don't want HL2 to stutter along. Most of what I do now works okay on my current PC (watch anime, surf the internet). But I'd like to try better music writing software, which chugs on my computer if it's not a basic MIDI sequencer. I already have a DVD+RW and an extra monitor, though not enough space to copy DVD's or create them out of large video files (because of conversion).

Also, I've been browsing eBay, which seems to have some good prices (compared to my window shopping at stores like Best Buy and rent-to-own places). I understand the risk involved, but I really want to save money. I'm hoping I could ideally get something in the ~$500 range. So does it sound like I'm going in a good direction so far? Would any PC (minus monitor, accessories) in that price range be able to play HL2? Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks in advance and sorry about the long-winded explanation.

 

[Gantz]

Learn to build one yourself.

 

[BojTrek]

You have to go with a minimum of 512MB of RAM, I would recommend 1GIG RAM...

80GIG hard drive is low these days, isn't it?

PCI Express is the newest thing for boards and video cards... It uses your PC memory in conjunction with the additional video card.

How much are you looking to spend?

You can get a custom built PC from one of those side-mall stores alot cheaper than Best Buy or Circuit City... take it from me...

Back in January, I built this for DVD burning and VHS transfers... not really a PC gamer.

MY NOTES FROM ANOTHER POST

Here is what I am building...

ASUS K8N-E Deluxe Motherboard

128 ATI All-In-Wonder 8X AGP or the PCI 128 ATI Xtasy I already purchased and get a RCA composite input connector

AMD ATHLON 64 3000+
512MB PC3200 DDR- One DIMM Stick and I will add the 2 -256MB I purchased
Beige MidTower Case with 350 Watt Power Supply
Sony DW-D22A DUAL LAYER 16X DVD±RW or Lite-On DVD burner
Maxtor 200 Gig ATA133 with 8 Meg Cache 7200RPM
2 Case Fans
Windows XP Home and CD

No floppy and I will add my current Sony CD burner

 

[Kung Fu Jedi]

Building a PC is a great way to save money, but if you don't have the experience and know how to do it right, it can also bring a lot of head aches.

When buying something new, I'd agree that you should get at least 512 MB of RAM. You can also save some cash by buying a video card that is one generation old. They are usually cheaper, and lag behind the new models in performance, but generally are still great for running the current games with plenty of bells and whistles. Most of the time you won't notice any difference for awhile until newer games come out to take advantage of the new features.

If you go with an AMD processor you can also save some cash over an Intel. I've been using the AMD's in my last few PC's and really haven't noticed any difference, and in fact, a number of bench marks show the AMD's out performing the Pentium's in simliar speed ranges, although Intel has some nice tricks up their sleeve like hyper-threading, but again, you'll pay more for them.

Just some thoughts overall. Enjoy the new PC.

 

[AntoneM]

AMD is the current price/performance leader when it comes to CPU's and games. I would higly recommend finding a PC with an AMD cpu (ie: not Dell). S[ecifically the AMD 64 3200+ is a very nice chip, though not tope of the line. Also you can save some money on the video card if you go with a PC that has PCI express x16, it crucial that it has the x16 otherwise it won't support a PCI express videocard. Anyway onto why it will save you money... the PCIe versions of the ATI x700 Pro are about $160 and they don't perform much lower then Nvidias 6600GT which costs $180 for PCIe The AGP version of the 6600GT goes for $210 or so and there is no AGP version of the x700 Pro that I know of. as said above 512MB RAM is a must and 1 GB is even better, right now I would recommend getting something with 512 and then buy another 512 stick seperately as the prcie of RAM is very cheap these days.

 

[Dragmire]

Thanks for the advice, everyone.

80GIG hard drive is low these days, isn't it?

PCI Express is the newest thing for boards and video cards... It uses your PC memory in conjunction with the additional video card.

How much are you looking to spend?

You can get a custom built PC from one of those side-mall stores alot cheaper than Best Buy or Circuit City... take it from me...

Yeah, 80GB is low. I was just thinking of settling for the sake of saving money. I could always add an external HD later, or is that a bad idea? Also, what is PCI Express and is it affordable? It sounds like a way of designing the motherboard for faster processing? I'm looking to spend around $500-$600 minus accessories, if possible. As for the custom PC stores in malls, I like the sound of that. Do you know the names of any stores? I've never seen a store like that, but I don't go to the mall much. And what do they do, just let you buy parts for a PC or offer some of their own custom models?

Kung Fu Jedi and max_cool, thanks for the advice. After all I've heard, I'm leaning towards an AMD. I'll probably go with 512MB of RAM, too. Again, I don't know much about PCIe. So does, say the ATI x700 Pro come in a PCIe version and a regular version?

 

[mj1108]

Build it yourself and save a bundle. Just yesterday I upgraded my previously home-built one. I got a 2500 Barton, Epox Motherboard, 1 gig of ram, heatsink and new 400w power supply for about $300 from NewEgg.

 

[Dragmire]

Build it yourself and save a bundle. Just yesterday I upgraded my previously home-built one. I got a 2500 Barton, Epox Motherboard, 1 gig of ram, heatsink and new 400w power supply for about $300 from NewEgg.

Wow, that sounds like my kind of deal. I may have to go with this route. Thanks for the website suggestion. I'm now looking up how to build PC's on Google. Any how-to website suggestions?

 

[lexy]

Don't mean to derail the thread but I have a question somewhat related to this.

If you don't plan on using your computer for games or high-end graphics is there any reason to get a desktop over a laptop (price concerns aside)?

 

[teh_pwn]

$500 dollar range? You're going to have to build yourself then.

Do that 2500+ barton system and get a 6600GT video card (AGP X8 interface, NOT PCI-Express) and 1 GB of RAM. Pic up an audio card too because it'll save a lot of computing power and that's something you'll need to do with a 2500 barton.

If you don't plan on using your computer for games or high-end graphics is there any reason to get a desktop over a laptop (price concerns aside)?

Yes. Desktops have higher end video cards and have cooling solutions to keep them running 100% whereas labtops have slower video and even underclock them when running on batteries.

Also you can get better displays than what comes with a labtop.

If money was no object you could buy two 6800 Ultras with 512 MB of onboard RAM with Dual GPUs and put them in SLI in a desktop. It would be easily 3X faster than any labtop possible.

 

[Diablos]

Learn to build one yourself.

I was about to post something similar to that.

But yeah... waht Gantz said.

 

[human5892]

Is learning how to build a PC a difficult undertaking? I've been considering doing it instead of just buying pre-built as I have in the past, but my knowledge of PC hardware is pretty low.

 

[alejob]

Don't mean to derail the thread but I have a question somewhat related to this.

If you don't plan on using your computer for games or high-end graphics is there any reason to get a desktop over a laptop (price concerns aside)?

Its a lot easier and cheaper to upgrade or add stuff to a desktop, which also means they are easier to fix. Also for me atleast, working/typing on a laptop is kind off unconfortable after a while.



Its easy to say to this guys to build their own. But in fact building a PC can be very tricky if you don't anything to begin with(PCI express is basically the slot on the motherboard where you plug in the video card). You have to make sure your hardware is compatible. I would recommend going to a local shop and let them build one for you. Ask if you can watch while they build it(Maybe they have them pre built though).

If you want to learn how to build a PC start by taking apart your old one and putting back together.

 

[MechaSnake]

Wow, that sounds like my kind of deal. I may have to go with this route. Thanks for the website suggestion. I'm now looking up how to build PC's on Google. Any how-to website suggestions?

http://www.omnicast.net/~tmcfadden/guides/build/index.html

 

[teh_pwn]

Is learning how to build a PC a difficult undertaking? I've been considering doing it instead of just buying pre-built as I have in the past, but my knowledge of PC hardware is pretty low.

Not at all. All you need is patience, a phillips, and keep yourself grounded. The hardest part is CPU and Heatsink/Fan installation. There are also a few pesky things with installing a real copy of Windows XP (not the Dell version or whatever). For instance, you won't get internet access until you install your network drivers from your motherboard utilities. And Windows won't be able to recognize SATA harddrives until you manually load drivers from some motherboard utilities. Other than that it's cake.

What's time consuming for first timers is finding the right hardware. If you give me a price range and purpose of new hardware I can make recommendations, and I'm sure others can as well.

Check out anandtech.com's forums. They'd give you lots of advice.

 

[human5892]

Not at all. All you need is patience, a phillips, and keep yourself grounded. The hardest part is CPU and Heatsink/Fan installation. There are also a few pesky things with installing a real copy of Windows XP (not the Dell version or whatever). For instance, you won't get internet access until you install your network drivers from your motherboard utilities. And Windows won't be able to recognize SATA harddrives until you manually load drivers from some motherboard utilities. Other than that it's cake.

What's time consuming for first timers is finding the right hardware. If you give me a price range and purpose of new hardware I can make recommendations, and I'm sure others can as well.

Check out anandtech.com's forums. They'd give you lots of advice.

Thanks for the info, man. I'll be sure to check out anandtech.