New computer (need help please)

[Finalgun]

Hello everyone, im looking to buy a new computer because UPS completely trashed mine when sending it to me with UPS ground, so im getting my insurance money of 1500 bucks now, and i need to buy a new computer with it. Im trying to get the best gaming computer i can for 1500 bucks, without having to upgrade anything, or spend anymore than 1500 dollars. I know nothing about building computers, or parts for that matter, so i cannot build my own, but im looking for a stellar gaming computer, to run MMORPGS like planetside, dark age of camelot, FFXI, and all the new games to come, first person shooters too like counterstrike, and halflife 2. If anyone has any suggestions, links, anything, i really need a good gaming computer that will last me, Thanks a lot everyone.

[Finalgun]

bump

[YeOldeStonecat]

If you don't want to build your own,
VoodooPC
http://www.voodoopc.com

Falcon Northwest
http://www.falcon-nw.com/

GamePC
http://www.gamepc.com/index.asp

Alienware
http://www.alienware.com/

A little bit more mainstream, Dell's Dimension XPS model....a rather new higher end gaming PC from Dell.
http://www1.us.dell.com/content/products/productdetails.aspx/dimen_xps?c=us&cs=19&l=en&s=dhs

[Finalgun]

bump, any other links please

[Finalgun]

seems like every computer at those links were all over 1500 lol, i need the whole shabang keep in mind, monitor and whatnot as well, all of it to come out to 1500, please help! : P

[Finalgun]

bump

[YeOldeStonecat]

I have a tough time recommending any systems that include the entire shebang for under that price. You'll end up getting a Presario or Pavilion grade computer, or some fly by night special from an online store that goes out of business a month after you purchase one from them. Thought you might have the monitor and speakers 'n stuff already.

Look at some lesser models from Dell...they're about the most bang for the buck out there.

[YARDofSTUF]

You can go to dell and customize the 8300 series from the basic $1000 model, change teh hdd to 80 gigs, goto 512 megs ram, change teh 16x dvd rom to a 48x cdrw, get aati radeon 9800 and basic speakers for $1450


Turns out to be a good system!

[wareagle]

http://nutrend.com/

[Cypher]

Originally posted by wareagle
http://nutrend.com/
Nutrend is very good. Why exactly can't you build your own? It's pretty simple to do. Besides we'll help you out if you get stumped.:D

[Finalgun]

well i would build my own, but i don't know how, i mean i know the basics, of like where stuff is inside of a computer, i just don't know the nitty gritty, i guess i could try building one, but then ive heard tons of nightmare stories of people who buy their parts online and get screwed or the parts don't work, or they basically end up losing their money, and i just didn't want to attemp building my own and end up getting screwed in the end. That and i don't know how to use DOS, and stuff like that, and it sounds like a hassle, i mean, i would be willing to build a computer, if you guys could help me here, so can anyone give me some prices on a great gaming rig with a budget of 1500 bucks, that i build myself, like on all the parts. See i don't even know all the parts i would need for everything to work fine and what i would have to do, but im very interested in building my own, any help please would be great, please dont tell me links like newegg.com, or pricewatch.com, because ive been to them and i know nothing about motherboards and asus819204kjdak 8 billion numbers, mean nothing to me, so if you could find the part on those sites and then explain it, i would understand better, thanks.

[Finalgun]

hey cypher, i just checked out your pics of your comp, nice rig man, this is gonna sound weird, but i also need a desk, and i liked yours in your pic, it looks cool, know where you bought it? and where i could buy one now?

[Finalgun]

bump please help! : P

[Finalgun]

bumpz0rz : P

[Finalgun]

bump

[Cypher]

Thanks, I bought the desk at Bestbuy.
First off there's no real need to work with DOS when you config a system. Even if you did need to use it it is easier to do than it looks. OK here's the basics:
Mother board: This is the main board in your system as the name suggest. All components tie into it (ie. drives, CPU, video card et.al).
CPU: Central Processing Unit. This chip does all the calculations in your system. Look at it like a brain where as the Busses, (the paths where the data travells) are like the nervous system.
Memory: This is where data is processed/stored for the system and passed off to the CPU.
Drives-
Hard drive: This is where all the information is stored on your computer, (ie. OS, Programs ect.)
CDROM: It reads information on CD media.
Floppy: It reads/writes info to floppy disk.
The drives are connected to the mother board (MB) by a flat ribon cable. One end goes into the IDE socket and the other into the device.
Power supply: This takes AC power from your house and converts it to DC for your computer.
Case/tower: This is the enclosure where all your components are stored.
This is just a basic discription of of some of the key components in a PC and what they do. You can learn more about it by doing some esearch on the web of library.
I'll link some parts for a system for you.

[aagiants]

search on google and look for tutorials for buiilding a comp, they are everywhere. thats how i learned. Once u do it once, screw it up a couple times, u'll know ur computer inside and out...

The hard part is choosing the best parts... My advice to you is dont skimp out on memory or motherboard. Get cheapo brand memory WILL bite you in ur ass, i've experienced it many a time

[Joel]

If he doesn't feel confortable building his own PC, they have a computer over at Nutrend (http://nutrend.com/) for like $869 or something that you could customize. You can get like an AMD Athlon XP 3000+, 2x80gb HD, 512mb ram, 17" LCD monitor, dolby 5.1 sound card and 5.1 speakers, fairly decent case, nice cpu fan, DVD-drive and a CD/RW drive, a pretty sweet video card, and all the little extras for under $1500. After shipping you could probably get right to $1500, or even have a few bucks left over to buy games.

Now, if it were me, I would deffinatly build. Its freaking fun! But, yes, a lot of things could go wrong. I don't mean only with the parts, but in assembly. Say you buy yourself a $300 CPU, and handle in just the slightest wrong way, you'll fry it. Places wont give refonds on things of that nature, either. So, I could understand why he would be hessitant to build.

If you do decide to build, Tiger Direct (http://tigerdirect.com) is a pretty good place to buy from. Thats where I got all my stuff for the last 3 computers I built.

:D

[Cypher]

Here's some parts. You can search them by name to find a good price. I use Newegg and Essential computers mostly:
MB: ASUS Motherboard for Intel Pentium 4 / Celeron Processors, 800Mhz FSB Model# P4C800-E DELUXE $183

ASUS Motherboard for Intel Pentium 4 / Celeron Processors, 800Mhz FSB Model# P4P800 Deluxe Retail $126

CPU: Intel Pentium 4 / 2.8CGHz 512k socket 478 Hyper Threading Technology 800 MHz FSB - RETAIL $215

Memory: RAM can get pricey. You want DDR PC3700 or better in this system. I run 1 Gig of Ram wich is great for gaming. If it's too much cost wise you could run 512. Do some research here and dig around for prices. Here's some company's to look into:
Geil: Ultra or Gloden Dragon series.
Mushkin: Black.
Kingston: Hyper X.
Corsair: XMS.
OCZ: Gold, EL.

Hard drive: WD WESTERN DIGITAL "SPECIAL EDITION" 120GB 7200RPM EIDE HARD DRIVE MODEL # WD1200JB - OEM, DRIVE ONLY $104

Western Digital Raptor 36GB SATA WD360GD 10,000 RPM 8MB Hard Drive OEM $109
The Raptor has less capacity but is much faster. The one above it is also fast but has more capacity.

Case/Power supply:
ANTEC LIFE STYLE SERIES SONATA PIANO BLACK Model# Sonata w/ ANTEC TRUE380 380W Power Supply
These are great cases that come with a nice power supply.

CDROM: Try to find these local. You want one that's rated 52x (that's it's read time).

Monitor: Again try to find one local. They have CRT (the big ones), and LCD's (the thin ones). If this will mostly be used for gaming I'd suggest a CRT above 17" because the have a better refresh rate. There are nice LCD's but be prepared to pay allot for a good one.

Keyboard and mouse: Pick this up local as well. Get one that you like as it will be your main interface between you and your system, other than the monitor. I myself avoid wireless ones because I find them to be laggy.
With all of this you're good to go. I got the prices I quoted here (http://www.newegg.com/)
You can cut and paste the names into the search bar. If you have an old computer you can swap out certain parts while building your new one, ie CDROM, floppy, maybe the hard drive. If you need more help give us a shout.




:D

[Joel]

With building, I'm deffinatly an AMD kinda guy.

Better for graphics, although I think the P4s do better under heavy loads - Which is why I would suggest about an AMD Athlon XP 3000+ or above...That'll do the job.

Ahh, heres a good mobo: Shuttle AN35N Ultra (http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=634806&Sku=S451-2034&CatId=179). That mobo has upto a 400mhz FSB, an 8X AGP slot, nVidia chipset, and can handle whatever CPU you put in it(an AMD, obviously). Price: $69.99(wow, thats freaking cheap).

If for some reason that mobo isn't sufficent, go with this one (http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=617447&Sku=G451-2018&CatId=179). Has everything the other mobo has and more. Price: $95.99.

Now, for the CPU...I looked for one that was going to just kick [that thing]. AMD Athlon XP 3000+ with QuantiSpeed (http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=563175&Sku=CP1-XP30003B&CatId=256). Like I've said, AMDs do better for graphics, but will do worse for extreme multitasking. I'm on a XP 1600+ right now, multitasking the heck outta it, and not having a problem, and as far as multi-tasking is concerned, if you have atleast 512mb RAM, you shouldn't notice any type of slowdown. Price: $274.99.


For the RAM...Since the CPU is only 333mhz FSB, you're not going to need PC3700, but PC2700. Like cyPHer_138 said, RAM can get pricey, very pricey, but it is one of the most importaint things in a system...almost as importaint as yout CPU. So, I was looking at the RAM and OCZ sounds good, so...OCZ Rev 3.2 512MB RAM (http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/searchtools/item-Details.asp?EdpNo=485524&sku=O261-1914)...You'll want two of those. So, Price: $200(thats for 2 of them).

Hard Drive(HD)...I would recommend dual hard drives rather than one, large HD. Reason: When you start to load stuff onto the HD its going to have to seak through all of that to load stuff such as, the start menu in windows. So, you get two, load all your games etc. onto one and use the other for documents and the OS. Maxtor 80GB 7200RPM 2MB cache HD (http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=440429&Sku=THD-80M2%20P&CatId=818). You're going to want two of those. Price: $160(thats for both). That HD would be plenty fast for you, but since we have $1500 to blow, and since we want a great gaming system, I would go with These (http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=586888&Sku=S130-1202&CatId=818). They are quite nice, and you are going to want two of those. Price: $220(thats for both).


I'm not going to really suggest anything for the case, because its more of a personal thing...Personal touch, you may put it...I'm just going to give a few basic outlines: Make sure its ATX(most of them are, but just incase)...Not an Baby ATX or AT. Make sure it has a 400 watt power supply(If it doesn't have any power suply, you can buy it separatly)...Thats pretty much it - One case I really like, though, is the totally clear ones.

Monitor: Yes, it is true that Flat CRTs have the best picture avialable, andif you decide to get one, get it locally - S&H from an internet store would be enourmous. If you have the extra money to blow, though, i would go with an LCD - Space saving and take up a lot less room. If you decide to go with an LCD, make sure the response time is fast(fyi, typical is 25ms), and the contrast ratio is high(atleast 450:1).

Removable Data Drives(cd-rom/cd-rw/dvd/dvd-rw etc.)...If its really just a gaming rig, you're not going to need a dvd-rw, and its kind of a waste of money...I would suggest you get a 56x cdrom drive, and a separate cd/rw/dvd combo drive.
As with the rest of the little stuff, thats upto you. example: keyboard, mouse, speakers etc.

If you decide to go with a system such as this just ask one of the people over here about the rest of the littlier stuff, such as sound cards etc.

The total from just the stuff i gave prices for isn't that high - something like $900, maybe less. That gives us plenty of money for the other stuff, such as case, monitor, and accesories...just all the stuff i didn't give prices for.



:D

[Cypher]

As for an AMD MB I would have to suggest the Abit NF7-S fpr $112
Than Grab a 2500 Barton for like $90 with an SLK-800U heat sink
and clock it. This would be a cheaper route to take because you could grab some PC3200 Ram with super tight timings like the OCZ Sludge linked. The other perk to Intels is you can clock them past 3GHz on stock cooling. Either way you'll have a nice system. I run both Intel and AMD myself. My main rig is the Intel because it's water cooled so it's fast as hell.;)

[Joel]

Originally posted by cyPHer_138
As for an AMD MB I would have to suggest the Abit NF7-S fpr $112
Than Grab a 2500 Barton for like $90 with an SLK-800U heat sink
and clock it. This would be a cheaper route to take because you could grab some PC3200 Ram with super tight timings like the OCZ Sludge linked. The other perk to Intels is you can clock them past 3GHz on stock cooling. Either way you'll have a nice system. I run both Intel and AMD myself. My main rig is the Intel because it's water cooled so it's fast as hell.;)

I suggested that one because it had QuantiSpeed architecture...Kinda like Hyperthreading for a P4. If you got some water cooling action with that 3000+, you could clock the heck outta it - atleast 3.2ghz - on an AMD

[Joel]

Oh yeah - About your main rig...

Niceee:eek:

[Cypher]

Thanks Sludge. :D
The 2500 has QuantiSpeed too. HT uses unused clock cycles to create a virtual processor whereas Quantispeed accelerates the execution of applications. The 2500 and 3000 both OC to around the same point unless your going to use phase change cooling. Considering the price I would grab the P4 and run it at 3.2/3.5 on air. I hate to admit it but the extra bus speed alone on the Intel's makes them allot faster. I noticed it right away when I compared both. As soon as there are applications that call on 64-bit AMD will really start to shine again. Intel's already fumbling with their Prescott's. The future could get real interesting.:D
PS:
See all the support you already have here Finalgun? We all started out building our first rig at one point. Once you get that under your belt it's all smooth sailing from there.
:D

[Joel]

Originally posted by cyPHer_138
Thanks Sludge. :D
The 2500 has QuantiSpeed too. HT uses unused clock cycles to create a virtual processor whereas Quantispeed accelerates the execution of applications. The 2500 and 3000 both OC to around the same point unless your going to use phase change cooling. Considering the price I would grab the P4 and run it at 3.2/3.5 on air. I hate to admit it but the extra bus speed alone on the Intel's makes them allot faster. I noticed it right away when I compared both. As soon as there are applications that call on 64-bit AMD will really start to shine again. Intel's already fumbling with their Prescott's. The future could get real interesting.:D
PS:
See all the support you already have here Finalgun? We all started out building our first rig at one point. Once you get that under your belt it's all smooth sailing from there.
:D

I guess you're right - Building a PC would be easy Finalgun!

The AMDs(excluding the 64) do better for running single apps, such as games. The graphics will come out better. Like i've said many times in my post, the P4 does much better in multi-tasking enviorments. I mean, goodness - 800mhz FSB - It better do better in multi-tasking. If all he is going to do is gaming, he should go with a Athlon, wher as if he is planning on running his CPU to the ground, he should get a P4.

Ahh - He'd be fine with a P4 for games and everyday stuff...Although he'd probably be fine with an AMD too.
Its all a matter of preference.

One other thing - Never, never, never go anywhere near an Celeron...its probably one of the main reasons i'm an AMD man.
:D

[Cypher]

Their both great chips. I do have a affinity for AMD myself as well. They've held their own on an unleval playing field, which in itself warrants respect.:D

[Finalgun]

hey cypher and sludge. do either of you have AIM or some form of communication service, possibly ventrilo, i have both of those. The only thing i don't like about forums, is you reply to people, and then you instantly get questions as they reply to what you say, and you can't ask them, unless you make another reply, i like smooth talking and getting my answers up front lol. Can you guys msg me on AIM as FinalGF so i can talk to you, or we can all get in a ventrilo chat channel or something, please, i really have more questions and don't feel like typing them all out for you, haha, easier to just talk on ventrilo, or type 1 on 1 in AIM.

[Burke]

Originally posted by Finalgun
hey cypher and sludge. do either of you have AIM or some form of communication service, possibly ventrilo, i have both of those. The only thing i don't like about forums, is you reply to people, and then you instantly get questions as they reply to what you say, and you can't ask them, unless you make another reply, i like smooth talking and getting my answers up front lol. Can you guys msg me on AIM as FinalGF so i can talk to you, or we can all get in a ventrilo chat channel or something, please, i really have more questions and don't feel like typing them all out for you, haha, easier to just talk on ventrilo, or type 1 on 1 in AIM.

What, we too slow for ya?

[Finalgun]

too slow, no, lol, very responsive and very fast, a friend referred me to this site a long time ago, for help with anything, and i love it, i always get great responses here, i just have a lot of questions that i think about when im reading your replies, and i cant ask them right away, and then i end up forgetting and its a process lol.

[YeOldeStonecat]

Originally posted by sludge

The AMDs(excluding the 64) do better for running single apps, such as games. The graphics will come out better.

???

Graphics depend on the vid card considering you're comparing at least relatively similar speed CPU's..meaning you're not comparing a PII 233 against a 2.something GHz rig. Take the top 4 chips from both camps....run comparisons, it's all about the graphics cards.

I enjoy gaming with my P4C more than my AMD XP rig actually. The HT just makes it run smoother, you can leave folding running in the background, other things, etc.

[Cypher]

I could get AIM but the forums is the best place to learn. There are allot of knowledgeable people here.:D
I'll post my screename when I make one up tomorrow.;)

[Finalgun]

ok np, thanks a lot man, ive got a task ahead of myself now lol, now i have to build 2 computers, one for my g/f and one for myself. Hers needs to be able to run the games and **** i play but last for college and whatnot, and mine is just for gaming. just drop your name here, or msg me on aim when you get it, my name is FinalGF on it.