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Hey, I am getting a new budget gaming computer between $500 and $1000 soon. I've been looking all over the place, from eBay to classifieds to my local stores and have come up with a few choices:


http://cgi.ebay.ca/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?...1837&rd=1&rd=1

http://cgi.ebay.ca/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?...1902&rd=1&rd=1

http://cgi.ebay.ca/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?...1912&rd=1&rd=1

http://cgi.ebay.ca/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?...1872&rd=1&rd=1


Keep in mind that it will only serve me until I go to university (I am finishing up grade 11; going on grade 12 and then university! I'll be getting a laptop then) with very little chances of being upgraded to function beyond then. I am a rather light gamer who plays games such as:

• Day of Defeat : Source
• Need for Speed : Most Wanted
• Command and Conquer : Generals
• Counter-Strike : Source

But the games I will most likely be playing are the Guild Wars series, namely Prophecies and its expansions (including the upcoming Eye of the North), as well as Guild Wars 2.
Frankly, I was rather leaning towards the first two, as they have good video cards for presently released games and that, though it was tempting to have DirectX10 capability, the 8600GT from the third computer is not known for its performance (Unreal Tournament 3 will have to come on my Playstation 3!).

Any suggestions of your own are very welcome! I was also looking at the refurbished computers that Dell has to offer. Please note that I live in Canada, therefore 100-dollar customs fees are to be considered, and that I will absolutely never buy another custom built computer not coming from a shop (past experience talked me out of it).

Thanks again,

|-|ybrid

Build your own. These prices and shipping costs are unreasonable. Better to buy in Canada

Firstly, building it myself is not an option since the warranty is just not there (16; still living at home; parents paying for it)
Secondly, I have tried configuring a computer on different online shops and none of the prices measure up to the ones on eBay, strangely...

Besides, this eBay store is in Canada and they offer a $35 shipping cost to their computers. The only thing is that they don't come with an OS. Is it possible to transfer an OEM Windows XP Pro activation key onto another computer?

You should consider then just getting a beefier laptop. Many laptops come with pretty good 3d solutions these days and the new Intel CPU's (Core 2/Core Duo's) + DDR2 memories on laptops actually *can* game pretty well.

If you get something with an on-board Geforce or Radeon, it should offer the best of both worlds, and likely be cheaper than a desktop + laptop in price as you're planning.

Clever people can do it. Microsoft says it is not legal.

Firstly, I cannot get a laptop, since the last gaming laptop I had was very inefficient, which is the reason why I'm getting a new computer. Also, I already bought the screen and the keyboard, so I'm set for a desktop. The price for a beefy laptop is insane anyway...

Secondly, I've just been given the green light on building the PC myself, and the budget should be no more than $1100. Any ideas? I'm thinking of a budget overclocker's gaming system, yet keep in mind that I'm not that experienced in overclocking.

There are some excellent section on TechSpot with recommendations. They are a couple of months old, but the only differences are the prices are lower. Look at the top of the screens for Reviews and Guides... You should find this information quite helpful.
You can save a lot of money buying components that are two or three months older... Also, they have more of the bugs worked out of them when there has been some time since the original release.
Then you can do searchs of the forum to get all kinds of opinions. Sometimes too many opinions just make the decision more difficult.
Make your decisions so that motherboard, cpu, video graphics, cooling fans, and power supply are first class. You can get buy with less memory, or less adequate sound card, modem, case fan, then upgrade those as time goes on. Don't forget you have to buy Windows... A full version is much better, but more costly, than an OEM verision of Windows XP. You probably don't need VISTA... so you can save some right there... Windows XP Professional is worth the extra money over the Home version... but home can save you a lot.
If you are a student, you can get Windows academic cheaper... as well as other software.

What does Windows Academic do? What is the difference?

It is exactly the same Windows, except the license is different and it cannot be upgraded later. You have to be a student, teacher, or other defined school person... You have to look on some of the academic software sites to find it... I have helped high school and college students and teachers buy Windows XP Professional Academic for $64 when the list price was anywhere from $135 to $231. You have to jump through some hoops to get it... send a fax of your student ID and such... and they may check you out afterward, but the savings are worth it.

Cool, I'll check that out. I couldn't really find any Canadian sites that sold it, but oh well...
Have you any suggestions on a budget gaming computer? I would really appreciate a list of hardware that could be part of my new system. Is an 8600gt any good for Weekend Warrior-type gaming?