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The Shopping
The Web is full of places to do your online computer shopping, so always shop at a site that makes you comfortable. For our purposes, we decided to go Dell, being a reputable manufacturer, and considering it acquired Gaming PC maker Alienware, they clearly cater to gamers. Now, the trick in buying a PC without spending your entire bankroll is to buy one below high-end, but above middle-of-the-road. This can be tricky, especially if you are not up on the latest PC trends. You also have to avoid the temptation to wait for further price drops, because as soon as your dream PC sheds a few dollars, there will be one in its place for the old price that's even more enticing. So if you're ready, we've spec'd a PC for you that should suit all your gaming needs for some time to come.
Reader Comments (32)
Seriously, I think the computers at the library are better for gaming than this. The box itself sucks, and all the other peripherals are either unnecessary or poorly chosen. A Logitech wireless keyboard and mouse? Please, I want my shots to fire when I click, not two seconds later. The only wireless I use is a Microsoft wireless laser mouse, because it's the only one I've tried that I haven't noticed input lag on.
"ATI Radeon HD 2400 Pro" Wow they call that computer a gaming machine with THAT card in it?... Why not just comprimise on sound and get a card that can actually a game... For example a Radeon 4670 would be an excellent choice if you want to have the best bang for the buck (low to mid range cards of course).
Lenovo has awesome business machines, that can be converted into hardcore gaming rigs for less than the 1,500 and processing beasts under 1000.
gamers are losers all you guys do is play video games fatties =)
I plan to put 3 GTS/GTX cards into replace the GT once prices drop a bt that's why I am running only the gt for now. I built it for upgradablility and it'll last a while.
I can't believe this ****stack of a rig. Not only does wireless have slower reaction time as someone stated but batteries die at the worst possible moment. I've never used it and never plan to after watching my friend struggle with it while we were LAN'd. As for the rig itself the last comment bugs me. He mentions playing WoW like a pro (Not a fan of the game in the first place..at all.) If I am correct on this isn't one of the reasons WoW is so popular -because- it's specs are low enough for even PoS rigs to run? I just finished my rig for $1500. It's an intel build with a 3-way SLI compatable motherboard 4 gigs ddr2 ram with 2 more slots, an intel 2.4ghz quad core an NVIDIA 8800GT 512 ddr3 graphics card the Antec 900 case (7 friggin fans) a thermaltake 750wat power supply with modular cabling and a 150 gig 10k rpm HD for extra speed. As for mouse and keyboard I am a logitech ***** so I got the G15 keyboard and G5 Mouse, both are awesome.
Looks like someone is on Dell's payroll, I built a gaming PC yesterday for $550 after rebates from Newegg, when you overclock it, it totally would destroy this hunk o' junk. Don't go with Dell... And with the $1000 you saved, you could go out and buy games :D. I personally would rather go with any system that has an AMD processor and plenty of cooling, then you could really push it to it's limits. Hell, with that extra $1000 you could get a Mach II cooler and overclock a dual core AMD to be far better than a quad core Intel... You would just need a nice PSU... And a mobo that lets you do stuff that is supposed to be impossible...
ATX Case w/GoodEnoughPSU (NewEgg): $60 ATX AM2 Motherboard Built in Sound (NewEgg): $75 Athlon 5400 (NewEgg): $80 8800GT 512MB Video Card (NewEgg): $150 2GB DDR2 RAM (NewEgg): $60 320GB HDD (NewEgg): $80 DVD Burner (NewEgg): $30 CRT Monitor (Random Computer Fair): $30 Keyboard (ANYWHERE): $10 Mouse (ANYWHERE): $15 2.1 Speakers (NewEgg): $22 Chair (Lawn): "Neighbor's got a new dining room set special:" Free Vista Home Premium Retail (NewEgg): $222 $804. And, for everything but Crysis, that is overkill. It would be for Crysis as well, but its coded horribly, but it'll run it well at max with no AA, and half of this crap you can salvage from an older PC, or find a friend who has some extras. Or buy OEM, and not Retail.
Like you need a good PC for WoW... I used to play it on my Alienware laptop. (I know I wasted a bunch of money and i knew i was but the laptop is easily upgradeable and im keeping the case) Honestly, you don't need the 160 FPS i was getting... totally pointless. Now if you want to run Crysis then you might want a good PC. This one probably couldn't run it though, at least not well.
I think Newegg is still one of the best way to build a good rig. At least Newegg's prices are very competitive. You can build a pretty good mid range PC with around 1300, a pretty good one with dual SLI or crossfire VCs with 1600 and if you print money in your back yard, a super duper one around 2500-3000. Granted, it's too much to drop 3 grand on a computer but your dad spent the same amount on a set of golf clubs. If a few pieces of metals shaped into a potentially lethal weapon in the hands of a frustrated middle aged cost that much, why shouldnt an aluminum box of pure mathematical calculating power that bring imagination to live be worth any less. And that box can even help the world by participating by folding proteins!