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so im thinking about getting a new pc so I can run some of the new mmos coming out here soon and my question is two things;
1. should I wait till after the xbone and ps4 come out as some have suggested to me that the currently good pcs will have a price drop.
2. what should I look for? id rather not just build a pc(don't have the time) but rather modify an excisting one.
any info helps thanks:)
well I've modified my current PC which was stock. I added a new power supply, memory, and graphic card. my computer is almost 4 years old now and still able to keep up with all current games out.
First things you need to ask
what is my budget.?
do I really need to do this or do i WANT to do this?
what games do I want to run and what do they require and does my PC meet them?
once you answer that and decide to build one or upgrade read up on tom's hardware. also there's a channel on you-tube I watch called Linus Tech Tips. if you want to modify your current PC one question you should ask. how old is it. and CAN it be modified. the one I bought was partially designed to be upgraded but not all PC's are. and I don't have the time to build a PC ether which is why i'm buying one piece at a time and then going to assemble it with the help of a friend who builds computers as a hobby over a weekend.
if you want to run some upcoming MMO's I would look at installing a good graphics card, memory and a higher capacity power supply. all three are easy to install, and will be able to run any new and old MMO with little or no troubles EVEN on a stock PC. and you can buy each piece separately as to not drain your bank account.
Graphics Card Hierarchy Chart - Use this to choose your Graphics card. you'll be able to find the best one for your budget
1) PC parts have price drops all the time as newer parts come out. It's the way of PCs. (Moore's Law and all) The reason there may be a price drop around the time of the PS4 and Xbox 1 is due to them (probably) being released right before Black Friday/X-mas, so PC parts usually drop around then too. "The Law of Retail"
2) Depending on how much you're going to modify the PC you may as well just build from scratch. Also building from scratch is the best bang for your buck, no costs inflated by PC manufacturers and no labor costs. Valtyrian suggested replacing the RAM, GPU, and power supply... that's already half a build essentially. All that would be left to build from scratch is mounting the CPU, CPU heat sink, and motherboard to the case, then mount the HDD (SSD) to the case and the optical drive to the case, then plug the wiring in. Installing the OS is a little time consuming but can be done while sleeping or working, then updates while doing the other. It takes me about 45 minutes to assemble a PC from scratch (minus the OS install). I have built a few PCs but it really has never been time consuming, my first build took me about 90 minutes and that was because I kept having to stop to ask questions to the guy I was learning from. Also use a bigger power supply than you will need for the PC when it is first built, that way you shouldn't have to replace the power supply for the life of the PC (eg: when I built my current PC in May of 2012, I stuck in an 1100 watt power supply, even though I only needed a 600 watt power supply, I can upgrade just about any part (or parts), or add drives/cards without needing a new power supply).
yeah finding even 40 mins of uninterrupted time is almost impossible for me at the moment so yeah building a pc from scratch isn't really an option( I have my sisters kids at my house constantly and they tend to want to touch things they are not supposed to.)
also I was asking for a more basic what kind of processer, graphics card and how much ram I should look for.
Check out www.tigerdirect.com for some of their pre-built (even refurb) systems. You likely cannot find a better deal than those. Building computers with mid-rangeparts is not as economical anymore - usually HP, Dell, etc. can beat the custom-build price. When you want high-end, of course, building it yourself is usually cheaper. Another option is www.ibuypower.com: "custom computers" pre-built for you for not much more than you'd pay at retail for a much lesser system.
Check out the Best Buy Sunday ad for sales. OfficeMax also has a lot of good deals. I go to these places to buy sale, clearance, returns, etc. as stock to sell to my customers because they are cheap enough to still make a profit on resale - meaning building the computer from scratch myself would cost more than buying it in the box. A lot of "home brew" guys (including myself before I started a buisness) swear that building is cheaper when in fact simple, mid-grade systems are cheaper to buy in a box than to build. And that is even considering I get wholesale and no tax prices!
Whatever you do, don't overpay for something billed as a gaming computer. Alienware rigs looks pretty but you are paying a huge premium for those beady eyes cases. Dell XPS isn't quite as bad, but try to get a last gen model or refurb to cut cost.
One thing to keep in mind with the Dells and HP computers are that if you DO ever want to rebuild it yourself, the motherboard options are sometimes limited due to the proprietary case designs. Not always, but sometimes. Most often with the lower-end systems.
A good mid-range computer should have:
CPU: Intel Core i5-4000 series (prefer 4570 or 4670). The i5-3000s are fine also, but steer clear of Core i3. Alternatively you can go with AMD FX series (prefer 8000s, avoid 4000s unless you are on a tight budget).
Video: Geforce GTX 600 or 700 series OR Radeon HD 7000 series (don't concern yourself too much with how much RAM is on your video card - 1GB is more than 99% of the games out there will ever use).
RAM: 8GB
OS: 64bit Windows 7 or 8
Bonus points for having a solid state drive (SSD).
Examples:
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=8147992&Sku=I455-G1306
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=8036998&CatId=2627
Oh and the consoles have zero effect on the price of PCs.
yep I`m in the same boat my pc is 5 years old , i added a 650 watt pwr supply, and a gtx 560 vid card , and have 6 gig ram on it plus 1 gig on the card . can add another 2 gig ram if needed .
The issue is the cpu is a Q9300 quad core 2.5 mhz per core . not sure if i should buy a new mb and cpu or just build a new system complete since vid card , ram etc may not be good for upcoming games .
And have always bought mine pre made , I`ve never built one .
Dirk...what OS are you running...and is it a 32 or 64 bit?
If you dont need it now, I suggest waiting for the Black Friday sales, there are always some good deals on gaming desktops and laptops during that super sale.
I am sure a lot of the tech savvy here could point out the best deals during that multiple day sale event!
Actually the best sales on PCs that weekend are on Cyber Monday. Black Friday is no fun to shop! Watch for the Tigerdirect, Amazon, and Newegg Cyber Monday sales. Probably can snag a mid-range PC with a free monitor or something for under $400.
Be aware that most Big Box retail stores (BestBuy, etc) will have a power supply in the computer that bearly meets the power requirements for whatever is loaded in it. If you search for Dell Outlet's with their 20-40% off coupons that come out randomly, you can find a really awesome deal on scratch n' dent computers that have nice graphic cards. Also - Unless you're doing massive amounts of video and audio editing, you wont need anything more than an i5 processor.
I'd start by looking for an i5-3XXX with a 640 Graphics card and 8-12GB of ram. Check out Tom's Hardware for some good guides on benchmarks, and Slickdeals.net for any sort of dell outlet deals that pop up.
I have run into a problem with some Dell's, the way they setup the inside they dont always support the space needed to add a decent graphics card or other components beyond what was meant to stay in there stock. I stay away from Dell simply because I have found them hard to upgrade over time with better parts as needed. Thats the great thing about desktops, you can upgrade them over time as needed and they can last a good bit longer.
I agree, I meant that whole time around Black Friday including Cyber Monday, you can do strictly online shopping and get something great. For a good price.
I got my last pc from http://www.cyberpowerpc.com/ They have good sales from time to time and you can customize pretty much every aspect ... so as to what you should get that's a matter for much debate. I got a core i7 cuz i wanted to be set for awhile but on the same note i went a bit nuts and tricked out my pc lol.
I`m running PC windows vista 64 . pops
