need some comp buying help, as I am a simpleton

[Dall dies to much]

here is a stupid trick...

buy a ghetto dell box.. just be sure it has a PCI-E 16x slot on the mother board...

get it home, rip out the piece of crap PSU, slap in a good one... install good video card.. bang.. gaming box. (ok, it sounds easier then it is )

barring that....Alienware = dell --- Dell = alienware. Good Ol' Alienware Sold out a couple years ago :P the owner took the cash and stock options and ran for it

so did canadian Voodoo PC... they sold out to HP

here is my USA recomended List of boutique System builders:

http://www.maingear.com/
http://www.pugetsystems.com/
http://www.velocitymicro.com/

also... if you are looking to burn cash..

www.falcon-nw.com (the granddaddy of all the boutique builders.. they were doing hardocre gaming systems back when 3dfx was teh shit)

for the gamer on the semi cheap!
www.dell.com
www.alienware.com
www.HP.com (voodoo gaming) ---> www.voodoopc.com OR http://h20435.www2.hp.com/#/MACHINE/

for the gamer looking to save between 400 and 1000 bucks

www.newegg.com
www.tigerdirect.com
www.performance-pc.com
www.zipzoomfly.com
www.amazon.com

there are these two also: (some horror stories, some good stories) YMMV
www.ibuypower.com
http://www.cyberpowerpc.com/

[Gisli]

Here are my reqs for what you should buy

1)CD/DvD $24 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16827106263

2)Case $80 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811147104

3)CPU $170 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819115037

4)HDD $70 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822152098

5)RAM 4gigs $45 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820227269

6)MB $140 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131299

7)GPU $100 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814130334

8)PS $80 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817171023

This is excluding monitor and sound card since you have monitor and the MB has onboard sound. The total is $710 and this is before you submit all your rebates. I didn't add up the rebates but i'm sure you can knock off about $100 or more in rebates. Anyhow these are my choices for your budget. I hope I helped out .

Which version of the OS would you order? Obviously 64 bit, but I'm a bit unsure about whether there is any point to Home Premium over Home Basic? And New Egg lists OEM versions and "home" versions... does it really matter?

[Wazdakka]

Which version of the OS would you order? Obviously 64 bit, but I'm a bit unsure about whether there is any point to Home Premium over Home Basic? And New Egg lists OEM versions and "home" versions... does it really matter?

I'd go with home premium. Ultimate has too much, basic maybe too little.


OEM means you are allowed to have it on one computer ever. It could mean difficult reinstalls in the future, because you have to get a permission code from microsoft. That's why it's so cheap. I used an OEM edition of XP for many years, and had to call for a code whenever i had to install. This was not much of a hardship but that is something to think about.


Oh, and if you can I'd make sure that I get my ram in 2gb sticks as suggested, because there may come a day when you want 8. I have 8 and right now in game, with vent and some other stuff open, vista uses half. that would skyrocket if Mythic allowed WAR to use more than two. Otherwise the system recommended is darn close to mine now, which is eating WAR up nicely.

Also, I would avoid the 9600 gts though it's a perfectly good card for it's price range. Prices have really dropped on the 9800s. Finally, that motherboard is a crossfire motherboard. I'd get a radeon card with that just in case someday you want to add a second, cheap card or get an nvidia board like this http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131232 or this http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813188026.

If you are never going to use two video cards OR raid two hard drives, I'd get this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813128337 $89

I'm gonna just post my whole system here for anyone interested. It's the first time in my life that I've had a system optimal for the things I am playing.

Video Card http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814130374 $310 after rebate

Memory http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820227269 2 of these $100 after rebate

CPU http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819115037 $169

Cooler http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16835186134 $25

Motherboard http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813188024 $239, and I paid too much for this. Don't need 3-way SLI.

DvD burners Two at $30 each, don't care which ones. Mine are a phillips and a Mad Dog. You don't need two unless you burn dvds. Even then it's optional.

Hard Drives Two of these: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822136033 at $150 each (I got em for half that on ebay at different times) and a generic $350 gb drive for storage. the Raptors are faster in WAR. Once during testing a guy and I repeatedly zoned into Altdorf first. I asked him and yep, he has raptors. I would not spend the money on them again though.

PSU http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817371001 $109 rock-steady and quiet

Case http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811129154 $135 looks and feels luxurious, silences fans inside, cleanable filters, hard to work in.

Keyboard http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...logitech%20g15 $80.00 I have the old one with more programmable keys and blue lights. Either way the best thing is that you can see who is talking in vent without using any screen space.

Mouse http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16826104076 $45 Great feeling mouse, wouldn't play without the adjustable resolution any more, and it's programmable. I strafe and tab target from the mouse.

Game pad http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...9019&Tpk=n52te $70 and totally worth it. Put all your best keys under your left hand, second most-used keys and macros on the g15.

Pet: Cockatiel. Companionable but undemanding. Change shirts a lot. Sleeps on my shoulder while I play.

[Vadokri]

Gisli I'd personally go w/this

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16832116488

This is Home Premium Vista 64

If you go w/64 I'd recommend you get 8gigs of memory here is the set I bought two of for just a little over a hundred for 8gigs

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820145184

you spend 170 roughly turn in rebates and end up spending 124 for 8 gigs. once again great product and performance for your money.

If you end up putting together a new system and decide on vista 64 and need help stripping down vista to give it that extra gusto for gamin just let me know and I'll walk you through on vent

vadokri

[Gisli]

Vadokri -- Thanks! I might take you up on that Vista-stripping offer.

Right now, I'm looking into getting a machine put together for me at http://www.avadirect.com since I'm not feeling inclined to put it together myself. But I might just buy the pieces and do it. It depends in part if I can get them to adjust a few things for me. My brother has bought from them, and been quite happy. They seem pretty flexible.