Looking to buy a new gaming desktop. I usually just put something together on Newegg with parts that I've read about on various websites, but I'm trying to be a bit more deliberative this time, and I'd also like to buy a complete package as opposed to putting it together piece by piece.

I know Alienware is overpriced (Or at least this is what I hear). I've been looking at Doghouse (http://www.doghousesystems.com/), but I don't know anything about them (I got this link off Curt Schillings blog haha).

Anyone have any good suggestions or advice? I'm lookin to spend 1500-2000$.

I'm in the same boat. Currently I've got a Intel Dual Core 2.13 GHz processor, 2 GB of ram, NVidia GeForce 7600 GT. My girlfriend on the other hand has a laptop that can't handle the type of gaming she's begun to do with me. So my thought was that this PC will last a bit longer, I'll buy one and pass this off to her and she can get an upgrade next.

The version of Vista I have was given to me super cheap but its only the 32 bit. Can I use this to reformat the new computer, and will I be able to install 64 bit with that software or will I need to buy a different product?

Sadly, I suck at picking out parts that work ideally with each other - just don't understand it that well. If someone gave me a shopping list in the same $1500 - $2000 price range I could probably put it together however.

Toms Hardware has articles on build outs of computers for different budgets. Check them out, see what parts they spec, and then use those specs to shop with within your budget as far as what factory built offerings offerings present in that same price category. 1500-2000 dollars will offer something considered "Mid" or "Mainstream", with middle of the road everything which hopefully won't be too difficult to find. Most likely you will find that you have to take a strong consumer grade offering and then drop a better video card in.

AMD just released the Phenom II 45 nm quad cores, while not as fast is the Intel i7 out now, its vastly cheaper, uses alot less power and still offers 2.8 gH performance while requiring cheaper parts. Its being touted now by critics as being a really good chip for the money. You could probably score the chip, MoBo, 4gig of ram and a 4860 vid card for well under a grand. Probably well under 700 dollars. Keep everything else. No sense in buying a new case, hard drives and opticals if they all still work fine. You will not get what you want from a factory built machine as far as a good deal and tayloring to your needs, Wein. What you will get is a warranty and if it breaks someone else fixes it. Fine for people with more money than time. /shrug.

I am still DIY all the way, but it has nto saved me any money. I got into small form factor builds since I ship my computer everywhere. Latest is a Intel Quad extreme 9650, DFI LAN Party Jr MoBo, ATI 4870 x2, 8 gig ram, SB pci-express sound card, intel 1000 gt pro NIC, 80 gig SSD for OS 1 (XP 64), 300 gig Velcirator for OS 2 (vista Ulitmate 64 but currently off the drive) 1 TB drive for data, slimline Blue ray reader and slimline dvd burner. The machine is water cooled and stuffed into a PC Labs Qmicra case. Its gotten to the point of being a hobby and the latest iteration was put together here in Baghdad.

I have been happy with having HP build to my specs. I may end up spending a bit more than those who have the ability to buy parts and assemble at home, but I have not been disappointed yet.

I also picked up a complete HP package (tower with 4 gig ram and dual core, keyboard/mouse, 22" wide-screen monitor) at Walmart for a family member for $850, but I did need to upgrade the vid card for gaming, as the onboard was merely adequate, and not fast enough for the new stuff.

Needless to say, I am an HP advocate. I do not do all the stuff most of you are capable of with the 'pute, but for my uses and music storage and gaming, HP has not let me down.

I built my desktop this last summer - none of the products I looked at came close to the price I got building it myself. I didn't stumble across any companies I could recommend. Spend lots of time checking out any small outfit.

Unfortunately, you can't upgrade a 32bit OS to 64, I tried that too.

These days, I'd just get a Dell if you want a new one from scratch. If you work the coupon codes, the price will be comparable (I just got that $2500 laptop for $1600, for example).

In as much as I hate to say, the age of building your own is really coming to an end unless you just enjoy doing it for its own sake. Those Dells are quite comparable in price and components and have a better warranty.

I know I am biased: Mac Pro.

I bought a PC from a company called Cyber Power PCs in California. Building a custom system on their site netted me a computer that was cheaper than buying the components individually. I also got free shipping, paid no sales tax (since they don't have a presence in Ohio), and I got a free 3 year warranty. When I got it, I also got 9 months no interest with no payments and no accrued interest (though I paid it all off before the end of the 9 months, wasn't willing to risk bad info).

The only complaint I've had (and I've had the system going on two years) is that it took them 3-4 weeks to get me the PC initially. It's been great since. I could have bought a 'comparable' PC from dell with similar components(but lower end components from dell) without the warranty plus paying shipping and tax for about $400-$500 more. Add in the warranty and tax and I saved probably $800-$1000 bucks. I shopped PC companies and designed several custom boxes on numerous websites over a six month period before settling on Cyber Power PCs.

Unfortunately, you can't upgrade a 32bit OS to 64, I tried that too.


We went round and round with Dell and Microsoft about this for Leah. It turns out you can, sort of but it is a PITA. First, she had 2 PCs one PC was 32bit but had Vista Ultimate installed. The second PC was 64bit but had XP installed on it. After talking to 3 different people at MShaft she was able to switch her license from her 32bit ultimate to her 64bit pc with 32bit XP. She had to format and reload the OS b/c upgrading from 32bit XP to 64bit Vista didn't work.


Anwien, I know how you feel. I have tried both ways a)complete package b) build own. I can tell you that my recent PC was a complete package from Dell and I even got the stupid support b/c I was tired of fixing my own shit. I haven't needed it.

However, my next PC I will build myself b/c I find that at least every 1 to 1.5yrs I like to upgrade video, memory, etc. I had issues finding a video card that I wanted that would fit in my Dell. /grumble.

So, I would ask you why do you feel you need a complete package? Do you just not want to build it yourself? Do you feel like you need support for hardware? If you answer no, then save yourself some money and build your own. Buying a Dell was the biggest waste of $$$ I've ever done b/c I could have built my own for less and probably been able to keep upgrading it.

So, I would ask you why do you feel you need a complete package? Do you just not want to build it yourself? Do you feel like you need support for hardware? If you answer no, then save yourself some money and build your own. Buying a Dell was the biggest waste of $$$ I've ever done b/c I could have built my own for less and probably been able to keep upgrading it.

Like I said in my post, I actually got my PC built from the vendor I listed for cheaper than I could have bought the parts individually from newegg. And I got the warranty, and it's easily upgradable. And I saved the time, which is no big deal, the saving the money was the bigger deal.

If you make sure you get one with a discrete video card, you can upgrade video/memory in a Dell (or whatever) as well as anything you build yourself. I think they still use slightly modified Intel Boxed motherboards, which are pretty decent.

My issue with Dell was when I wanted to put in a 9800 card. Really it's more about the PSU than anything. Their PSUs say 300w and the 9800 cards want something higher (can't remember now). I went round and round with their support (Dell) until finally someone said well we don't say it will work b/c what we shipped to you is what we recommend but yes our PSUs are rated higher than we list.

So I should be more clear, it's less about the layout of the board and more about the PSU and trying to find replacements that are reasonably priced. I did upgrade to the 9800 and add more RAM and I am not having any oddities or things that would point to a PSU issue. Ugh their support was painful though. I could post the conversation if anyone is really bored :D

I gave up building my own systems a few years ago, I just don't have the time to keep up with the new hardware coming online and if product A conflicts with product B has an affect on product C, etc, etc, etc.

I have been using the same in-town computer shop for 10 years now. They have been in business now for 15 years and I have built a good business relationship with them. Ottawa has a lot of these computer shops around town since its an IT hub.

Instead of asking for specific products to put into my last new workstation I took a different approach. I gave Steve (@ the computer shop) a list of general wants and needs:

- Fast CPU - 2.8 GHz
- Intel chip
- 4 gigs of fast ram
- A video card that can deal with graphics applications and playing EQ (now an older, not so intensive video game)
- A huge heat sink that is nearly silent
- A mother board with on board sound and nic
- A mirrored hard-drive with around 250GB storage
- etc, etc, etc

My main point to Steve however was this:

"Steve, you know which products go out of your store and hardly ever come back. Those are the types of components I want you to put into my new workstation. I don't want the stuff that goes out of your store and then is promptly returned in 2 weeks."

Since Steve has built a gazillion systems over the years and he knows his product lines like the back of his hand I entrusted him to come up with a quote that fit all my wants and needs.

I have been extremely pleased with the result and I will no doubt use the same strategy for my next workstation.

This strat isn't for everyone. You need to find a computer store that has been in business for at least 10 years and you need to build a business relationship with them.

I have no problem with paying a titch more for my systems through Steve if it means he does all of the leg work selecting up products that mesh together without out any conflicts.

Cheers,

In as much as I hate to say, the age of building your own is really coming to an end unless you just enjoy doing it for its own sake. Those Dells are quite comparable in price and components and have a better warranty.

Really? Well ... I guess I'll have to take a look at that.

I know I am biased: Mac Pro.

I've got a 4 GHz Quad Core G4 with 16 gigs of ram and 2 of their best video cards, but you can't game for shit on it. Macs + Video Games = Lose :(

One of these is probably pretty good: http://www.dell.com/content/products/productdetails.aspx/desktop-studioxps-435mt?c=us&cs=19&l=en&ref=dthp&s=dhs

You definitely want to aim for an i7 processor. They're great.

I haven't compared it lately, but you're usually very hard pressed to find a significantly cheaper set of components for manual assembly. Especially if you bide your time and use a good coupon code at Dell.

So, I'm really impatient.

Is it completely retarded to consider going to Circuit City (I know they prob have at least some deals as they're going out of business) or even Best Buy and checking out machines there? Will I be paying a lot more for a lot less?

If you're that impatient why did you ask? :p
Leah got a quad core w/6GB of RAM and nVidia 8800GT rig from CCity not too long ago and it seems pretty decent. She's even upgraded her video in it with less trouble than I had on my Dell. Her total price was less than $750 (it was on sale) and I like the media bay thingy she can take her drive between her gaming PC and her work PC with no issue. But if you can wait a few days I'd go with a Dell if you're not wanting to build your own. I disagree about price but then I've also been pricing things myself recently so I may have a different perspective. ;)

So, I'm really impatient.

Is it completely retarded to consider going to Circuit City (I know they prob have at least some deals as they're going out of business) or even Best Buy and checking out machines there? Will I be paying a lot more for a lot less?

I wouldn't.

You can check their prices/availability online and compare. Do make sure you check the Dell coupons though, when comparing. If you hunt for a good one, they can be significant (I saved 30% off my total and got some other fixed discounts, last time I ordered from them).

So, I'm really impatient.

Is it completely retarded to consider going to Circuit City (I know they prob have at least some deals as they're going out of business) or even Best Buy and checking out machines there? Will I be paying a lot more for a lot less?

Go ahead and check out what they are offering and then look at what Walmart is charging for their similar or same product. I think I saved a bit buying that last HP from Walmart over Best Buy, but Best Buy does have a wider selection along with some nice higher end gaming machines. Only problem I have with Best Buy is when I went in there to spend $2k on a really nice gaming machine, all they had in stock was the floor model and they kept giving me a run around trying to tell me what I needed rather than letting me buy what I wanted. Needless to say, I had one built elsewhere (HP) and have goiven them no further business.


(BTW, I am one of the Walmart haters, so don't think I am pushing Walmart for any other reason than to save some money, potentially)

I would disagree slightly with going with Dell being cheaper. There are other things to consider. If you already have software and peripherals, you'll save money. If you have to buy an OS and Office, maybe less so.

Dell and other big companies keep prices down by using minimal components. Some companies opt for cheap, others just keep the perks low. I know with my last build I wanted a mobo that would support a specific number of memory slots, PCI, and USB ports - you won't find those extra expendables with Dell. If you build your own, you can likely reuse some older components as well. There's a lot of give and take, but it is something of a hobby.

That said, I've owned a Dell desktop before I started building and currently have a laptop, and I'm happy with my purchases.

Can anyone recommend a decent 22 inch monitor? I was looking at a HP, or Samsung, or possibly another dell so my Dell speakers still mount to it.

I'm a huge advocate of Samsung for all-around great quality in both monitors and TVs. I currently use a 22" Samsung Syncmaster 226BW (2ms response time), but I'm looking at their new 24-26" hybrid TV/monitors.

I own a Samsung HD tv and bought my parents a Samsung home theater and have been very pleased. So I think ill check out that synchmaster.

I am sure there are at least a few ones newer than the model I listed. Newegg will have the latest though.

Anyone have one of these?

http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/products/Displays/productdetail.aspx?c=us&l=en&s=dhs&cs=19&sku=320-7438

Has the added bonus of my speakers will mount to it.

I'd avoid that one. It's a TN (Twisted Nematic) type panel, which is why it's so cheap.

I'm a huge advocate of Samsung for all-around great quality in both monitors and TVs. I currently use a 22" Samsung Syncmaster 226BW (2ms response time), but I'm looking at their new 24-26" hybrid TV/monitors.


I love Samsung monitors and I have two of these (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824001273) on my gaming system bought mine last year and before this rebate which makes me ill to see the price they are now /sigh.

Can anyone recommend a decent 22 inch monitor? I was looking at a HP, or Samsung, or possibly another dell so my Dell speakers still mount to it.

When I built my edit suite system I bought 4 Samsung SyncMaster 225BWs and put them all together. These have served me well for over 2 years and all of my clients are impressed with the quality thus far.

Thanks guys I will stick with the Samsung. Decided to get a new car stereo instead since my factory one is taking a crap. I will be getting a new one, and a new computer soon though.

I have never had any complaints about Viewsonic. Right now I have a HP and a Viewsonic side by side, both 22" WS. The HP is nicer appearing due to the rounded corners, but I can't say one is really better than the other.

www.Ibuypower.com

Seems like a good site. Nice options for making a desktop

Granted it was a couple of years ago, but when I was shopping around they were not well rated. The company was viewed as a garage project, with hit or miss service if you had problems.

www.Ibuypower.com (http://www.Ibuypower.com)

Seems like a good site. Nice options for making a desktop

everything I've heard about IBuypower has been horrid. I've never seen a good review when I was comparing them with other sites when I bought my last PC. I even heard horror stories about them putting all the components in the case, but they never actually hooked them up. I've heard stories of warranty replacement of parts taking 9 months or more.

I would avoid this company like the plague from everything I've ever heard about them.

I used them for my last computer.

I have problems with the cooling system. It also arrived with both fans not connected properly, and a loose piece of RAM. I'd say to avoid them as well.

224-2684 1 Intel Core2 processor Q9400 (2.66GHz,1333FSB) w/Quad Core Technology and 6MB cache
313-6078 1 Black Bezel Chassis
311-8296 1 4GB DDR2 SDRAM at 800MHz
310-8028 1 Dell Enhanced Multimedia USB Keyboard
320-6315 1 No Monitor
320-7526 1 NVIDIA GEFORCE 9800GT
341-6273 1 SATA 2 RAID 0 With Dual 500GB Hard Drives
341-6296 1 No Floppy Drive
420-9132 1 Microsoft Windows Vista SP1 Home Premium 64-Bit Edition English
330-0283 1 Dell Resource DVD with Application Backup
420-8873 1 Dell Dock Consumer
420-8874 1 Dell Video Chat
420-5769 1 Internet Search and Portal
310-8650 1 Dell USB 4 Button Premium Optical Mouse with Scroll
313-4822 1 56K PCI Data Fax Modem
410-1867 1 ADOBE READER 9.0 MULTI- LANGUAGE
313-6080 1 16X DVD+R/RW
420-8152 1 Roxio Creator 10.2 Dell Edition
313-2758 1 Integrated Audio
313-6138 1 No Speaker Requested
410-1800 1 McAfee Security 9.0, 2-Year Subscription
412-0148 1 No ISP requested
420-8103 1 Microsoft Works 9.0, English
412-0359 1 Soft Contracts - Qualxserve
902-2473 1 Warranty Support,3 Year Extended
950-7447 1 4 Year Limited Warranty
960-8700 1 Warranty Support,Initial Year
989-2488 1 Dell Hardware Warranty PlusOnsite Service, Extended Year(s)
982-6223 1 Type 15 - Third Party At Home Service with Nights and Weekends, 24x7 Technical Support, 3 Year Extended
989-2487 1 Dell Hardware Warranty PlusOnsite Service, Initial Year
985-7890 1 Type 15 - Third Party At Home Service with Nights and Weekends, 24x7 Technical Support, Initial Year
988-1189 1 INFO, No Datasafe
330-0172 1 S and P Drop-in-Box Marcom forDHS Desktops
310-8626 1 You have chosen a Windows Vista Premium System
420-9800 1 Dell Remote Access free basic to access your PCs from outside your home
993-1919 1 Dell Remote Access, free basic service - access your PCs and files from outside your home
464-7521 1 Special Offer - $150 off
* -DISCOUNT/COUPON APPLIED
Subtotal: $1,449.00
Shipping and Handling: $0.00
Sales Tax: $72.46
Total: $1,521.46

Thinking about buying this one. They say I'll get it in a week.

What are you going to do with it? For gaming (and most things, really), a faster dual core is better than a quad core. It's just awfully hard to keep four cores busy.

Also, if it's in the same price ballpark, you're better off getting a small 10k RPM drive for boot/programs and a single large 7200RPM data drive. That SATA RAID won't out perform a 10K RPM drive, but does double your chances of losing everything.

With the discounts and stuff they're giving me I didn't have as many options as I would have liked, we'd be buying it through my girlfriend's work (that's the -$150 special offer, it was 10% off, on top of their usual discounts)

The processor thing makes sense, though do you think in the next 4 years there'll be more software out there making use of quad core technology? Everquest just patched for multiple core support which supposedly helped a ton (though I couldn't see much of a difference on my computer).

As for the hard drives, it'd be an extra $400 to put a 300 GB 10k RPM boot hard drive in with 750 GB secondary. I figure a few years down the road it'll be cheaper to just put 2 solid state HDs in.

Talk to Ainwein. He found a 20% off coupon yesterday.

Even when these games improve their multi-threading, it usually just amounts to running the game loop in one thread and the UI in another thread, or similarly minor optimizations. That's often a noticeable improvement on a slow dual core, but probably won't even touch cores 3 or 4 on a quad.

You're almost always going to still be left with one thread that's a bottleneck (the game loop), which constrains overall performance to the speed of a single core. Unfortunately, we probably won't see significant parallelization improvements in consumer software within the <5 year lifespan of a computer bought today.

Also, if you do end up with a RAID-0 array, be sure to aggressively backup any data you don't want to lose.

If you end up with a quad core, you might consider using Windows' RAID implementation instead of the hardware. Seems like a lot of the RAID horror stories you hear are due to the shitty, poorly maintained firmware on cheap hardware RAID, and that would be a way to better utilize the chip.

The 20% coupon had been used up already. I was pissed. I got a 10% discount through my university though and I can throw it your way if you need. I got this:

XPS 730X --
-- Intel® Core™ i7-920 (2.66GHz, 8MB cache)

-- Memory --
-- 6GB Tri-Channel DDR3 at 1066MHZ (3x2GB DIMM)
-- [311-9788]

-- Video Card --
-- ATI Radeon HD4870X2 2048MB

-- Hard Drives --
-- 300GB Western Digital Velociraptor - SATA-II, 3GB/S, 10000RPM, 16MB Cache

-- Floppy Drive and Media Reader --
-- Dell 19-in-1 Media Card Reader with Bluetooth 2.0

-- Operating System --
-- Genuine Windows Vista® 64-bit Home Premium (English) Service Pack 1

-- Optical Drives --
-- Single Drive: 16X CD/DVD burner (DVD+/-RW) w/double layer write capability

-- Sound Cards --
-- Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium
-- [313-7246]

Looks good.

What did that cost you Wein?

2800 with 2 day shipping and 7% off.

Where did you purchase that computer from, Ainwein? I am interested in getting a new computer in about 3 months and want to start looking for the parts/dealz now. TYSVM

Also:

The 20% coupon had been used up already. I was pissed. I got a 10% discount through my university
2800 with 2 day shipping and 7% off.

lolwat? Never seen so many percents in my life!

-- Video Card --
-- ATI Radeon HD4870X2 2048MB


/drool

Looks like a good build but not sure on the price. You being happy is the important thing!

I thought it was 10% but I realized it was 7. Oh well, it's better than nothing but not better than 20!

I got it from dell.com.

Yeah, that's a bit out of my price range. $1500 for mine seemed good enough :)

1 223-2365 XPS 420, Intel Core2 processorQ6600(2.4Ghz 1066FSB)w/QuadCore Tech and 8MB cache 375W Power Supply
1 311-9761 6GB DDR2 SDRAM at 800MHz - 2X2GB+2X1GB
1 310-7964 Dell USB Enhanced Multimedia Keyboard with USB Hub
1 320-7036 Dell S2409W 24 inch WidescreenFlat Panel Monitor
1 320-7787 AMD Radeon HD3450 256MB PCI-Express x16 RV620
1 341-7289 640GB SATA Hard Drive (7200RPM) w/ DataBurst Cache
1 341-5418 No Floppy Drive
1 313-5656 Dell Resource DVD with Application Backup
1 420-5769 Internet Search and Portal
1 420-8873 Dell Dock Consumer
1 420-8874 Dell Video Chat
1 420-9132 Microsoft Windows Vista SP1 Home Premium 64-Bit Edition English
1 420-6436 Vista, PC-Restore, Dim/Insp
1 330-3358 Dell 2 Button Optical USB Mouse
1 313-3607 No modem requested for Dell Dimension
1 410-1867 ADOBE READER 9.0 MULTI- LANGUAGE
1 313-5829 16X DVD+R/RW
1 420-8153 Roxio Creator 10 Premiere Standard Definition, Preload
1 313-2758 Integrated Audio
1 313-4514 No Speaker Requested
1 410-1184 McAfee SecurityCenter 15-month
1 412-0148 No ISP requested
1 420-8103 Microsoft Works 9.0, English
1 950-3338 2 Year Limited Warranty
1 988-2218 Dell Hardware Warranty PlusOnsite Service, Extended Year(s)
1 970-1001 Type 3- Third Party At Home Service, 24x7 Technical Support, 1 Year Extended
1 988-2217 Dell Hardware Warranty PlusOnsite Service, Initial Year
1 983-9470 Type 3- Third Party At Home Service, 24x7 Technical Support, Initial Year
1 412-0360 Soft Contracts - Banctec
1 902-0931 Warranty Support,1 Year Extended
1 960-8700 Warranty Support,Initial Year
1 960-2697 XPS Specialized Support, DHS
1 988-0099 To activate your online backupaccount, go to Start, Programs, DataSafe Online
1 988-7707 2GB DATASAFE ONLINE 1.1 FOR SDO/DIM/INS/XPS
1 420-9518 DATASAFE ONLINE 1.1 2GB FOR DIM/INS/XPS
1 330-0172 S and P Drop-in-Box Marcom forDHS Desktops
1 467-3249 375 W Power Supply
1 464-9572 No Entertainment software pre-installed
1 310-8626 You have chosen a Windows Vista Premium System
1 467-7316 Dell Remote Access Basic Email

Picked this one up back in early December. I really like this PC alot, it flys playing EQ (not surprising, was running it on a very old PC before this). ABout $1,000.

Your new machine will scream man.