I need help finding a good PC setup for a good price...

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Stefchu (PoLsKa

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I honestly dont know much about all this PC hardware, I am a complete noob.

But I need to find a good setup that costs around 800-1200. The type of PC I'm looking for is one that is fast, has a decent hardrive that will last me a long time, and also a decent gaming setup to play games such as Battlefield: 2142. Good processor, good motherboard, well you know where I'm going with this.

Help would be appreciated, Thank you.

P.S. I'm more of an Nvidia person, so...I prefer Nvidia's graphics cards.
 
Check that link out -

http://www.barebonekit.net/

specifically look at the amd or intel kits. You can basically build your own computer to any price range you want. If that site isn't good enough just try searching for "barebones computer kits" on google.
 
The problem is, I don't know anything about customizing my own Desktop, and what parts are good for their prices and which ones are better than others, and so on. So it's basically these 2 choices I listed in my second post.
 
We can be more helpful if we know the intended purpose?
Are you a gamer, photo editer, graphics designer, database manager, on a network? What are the top five programs you would like to use. What are your security needs? Do you use 768 mg DSL, 12 GB cable, or a telephone modem?
There are 87 different brands and models of computers out there. They change significantly every four months.
Sometimes it is better to be a bit more conservative on the front end, but get a box and board that are more receptive to upgrades.
The relationships between cost and components are so very finely tuned, that there are no real deals. A low priced machine can have a higher failure rate.
Look for a very rugged motherboard, and CPU, then compromise where needed. Something 6 months old has more of the defects worked out than do the latest promotions.
It costs a reseller $2.95 for the free t-shirt, but the makers of the good stuff never have to give anything away.
AMD CPU's still offer the best dollar value. There are 10 brands of motherboards that are best at getting the best performance out of them. Still, the video graphics card is probably the area to focus your attention (along with the power supply that will make it run). Hard drives, optical drives, sound cards, cases, fans are all pretty much the same until you get into a much higher price range.
There are good reasons why the boards of Asus, Abit, Gigabyte, eVGA, Intel, FoxConn, and just a few others are the top sellers. They offer more flexibility and reliability.
Decide whether you want a hot gaming machine that will be dead in 18 months, or a reliable unit that will still be in the family seven years from now.
 
Well I'm looking for a fast running machine, with a good CPU, motherboard, and memory and a computer that will handle games like battlefield 2142 and counterstrike: source. I also prefer Intel than AMD. and i want something from about 800-1000 and a computer. that will last me a long time.
 
i know im fairly new here but it sounds like you want something to run your games well and something that will last fairly long. your going to end up spending alot more then intended.

go cheap were you have so sway room like a very cheap case ((power spec)) a generic power supply but still goood quality.... oh wow hmmm i would do something like this
nice asus board ddr3 compi, a quad core"wait till prices drop this moth" a westi-d raptor for your OS and like a 500gig westi caviar and a 8800 very generic brand.
 
I'd suggest this barebones PC. Pair that with the below parts and you'll have a PC that is within your budget, provides superb performance in any game or app and will also last you a long time down the road.

Processor
Intel Core 2 Duo E6320 Conroe 1.86GHz LGA 775 Processor Model BX80557E6320 - Retail

RAM
OCZ S.O.E 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 667 (PC2 5400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model OCZ2SOE6672GK - Retail

Video Card
EVGA 640-P2-N821-AR GeForce 8800GTS 640MB 320-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Video Card - Retail

Hard Disk Drive

Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD3200AAKS 320GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM

DVD Burner

SAMSUNG Black 18X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 8X DVD+R DL 18X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 12X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2M Cache E-IDE/ATAPI DVD Burner - OEM

Sound Card
Creative Sound Blaster Audigy SE 7.1 Channels PCI Interface Sound Card - Retail

Power Supply Unit

FSP Group (Fortron Source) AX500-A, 2.0 version, 2 SATA, PCI Express, 500W - Retail

Grand Total is $863.44 without counting the rebates. That leaves you missing only a monitor, keyboard and mouse. Get any keyboard + mouse combo you want and for the monitor, I think this one is pretty good. That comes to about $1053.43, and this may reduce to around $1000 with the rebates. Good luck and let us know how it goes.
 
Don't we all want a lot for a little. As for your choice: Average motherboard, and video graphics card, at best, but is really not a gaming board... though good as an office computer. 1 GB is not enough memory, and only two slots... so both are probably filled with 512 mb each... may max out at about 3.6 GB.
No-name optical drive, likely to fail in about 9 months of gaming.
Only 1 year warranty.
Very good price for a computer with a 250 Gb hard drive and 1 GB memory, decent power supply though a bit weak in output, it is enough for this configuration...
Not easily upgradeable.
 
Which OS should I get? I've heard that Vista is memory hog, but no complaints about XP. Should I get Windows XP SP2?

Also, doesn't Newegg ship to France? Or Monaco?
 
They might ship there, but it will cost you.

And you're not going to find something spectacular in that price range you named. But check www.cyberpowerpc.com or www.ibuypower.com which are two websites that build custom PCs. They probably have the best prices out of any build-to-order PC website that I've seen, I got mine from cyberpower (I have pics in the photo gallery).
 
I think you'd better stick to XP for now, especially since DX10 and some of its games already work on XP very well. Get Vista later when the first proper service pack releases. As for shipping, you'll most likely have to pay for the shipping since they use FedEx and UPS to deliver items to customers. Doesn't say on the site anywhere that they don't ship to France, so I think that shouldn't be a problem.
Also, the PC you picked is an average performer at best, like raybay said, and is not going to be competitive in the long run. The parts I recommended will give you a spanking good PC that will also last quite long and be able to play Crysis and other games very well. You can leave out the audio card if you're okay with the onboard sound on the motherboard and you can probably also get a cheaper monitor as well, if you think that the rig I specified for you is a bit out of reach.
 
I already have a keyboard, mouse and a moniter.

But I also have the PC I'm using right now and I was wondering where I can see all my PC specs. If i could find them, I would post them here and you could decide whether or not I should change or keep some things or just get that barebones PC you mentioned.

By the way, Rage_3K_Moiz is there anything I might need to add to your list of parts you recommended me?
 
No, I don't think you'd need to add anything. As for your PC specs, use Everest Home Edition or SIW and tell me about your CPU, graphics card/GPU, RAM, motherboard and sound card i.e. their make and model numbers.
 
i would stick with Rage_3K_Moiz suggestion lists, those are killers find, not to mention taking so many effort finding it and putting it here. thumbs up:

my machine was recommend by rage and others loong ago, and i'm glad i asked before my purchase. $800 and up build.
 
Ok, here it is:

CPU: AMD athlon XP, 1800 MHz (13.5 * 133) 2200+
Graphics Card: NVIDIA GeForce 6200 (256 Mb)
RAM: 768 Mb (DDR SDRAM)
Motherboard: Asus A7V8X-MX SE (3 PCI, 1 AGP, 2 DDR DIMM, Audio, Video, LAN)
Sound Card: VIA AC'97 Enhanced Audio Controller
 
One more thing. The setup you recommended can be easily upgraded further, yes? If I ever have the need.

P.S. When I try to create an account on Newegg, they don't have any options for countries out of the U.S. And there is no option to leave a blank space for the State name.
 
you can just ship it to me. Ill test it out for a year or two. then ill send it to you when its old technology. hows that sound?
 
****e. Okay, looks like I'm gonna go over this again, this time using TigerDirect. Here are the parts again.

Barebones PC
Asus P5N-E SLI NVIDIA Socket 775 Barebone Kit / Intel Core 2 Duo E6300 OEM / 1GB DDR2 PC4200 / ATX Mid-Tower Case / 600 Watt Power Supply

RAM
Ultra 1024MB PC4200 DDR2 533MHz Memory

Graphics Card
EVGA GeForce 8800 GTS / 640MB GDDR3 / SLI Ready / PCI Express / Dual DVI / HDTV / HDCP Enabled / Video Card

Sound Card
Creative Labs Sound Blaster Audigy SE

DVD Burner
Pioneer DVR-111DBK / 16x DVD±R Burn & Read / 8x DVD+RW / 6x DVD-RW / 8x DVD+R DL / 40x32x CD-R/RW / Black / OEM DVD Burner with Software

Hard Disk Drive
Seagate / Barracuda / 500GB / 7200 / 8MB / SATA-300 / Hard Drive

Grand Total = $1081.94 w\o the rebates of course. That plus shipping should be roughly around $1050. I researched every item in the barebones PC and all the components seem to be of good quality. And this PC can be upgraded too, as can the Newegg one. Feel free to remove the sound card if it's affecting your budget. Otherwise, you'll have a superb PC of almost the same build quality as the Newegg one. Good luck and I hope you find what you're looking for! :)
 
This is a much better machine than in previous posts. I don't like Ultra memory, but I don't see a lot of complaints about it online.
First class hard drive with five year warranty
First class optical drive
Solid, and appropriate, power supply
Solid sound card if your speakers are decent
Don't know of any issues with the motherboard
Price is fair
The case will be a bit tinny, knowing Tiger Direct.
We have been buying from Tiger direct for about 15 years with nary a problem.
Watch out for rebate issues... if they offer a rebate, take care of that first thing... before it even ships, make sure you have the rebate forms and they are accurate.
 
wow that sounds like a great deal actually. i wish i had a g to blow on a new computer. being a college student is tough though.

I have seen on some sites (dell, alienware) there are other physics cards or other graphic enhancers. Would it be worth it to get any of those? If so can you recommend any?
 
Rage_3K_Moiz said:
Nah, my recommended build is way more faster than your current one. Definitely go for that one. Best of luck! :)
Click to expand...
dooh : P
it was like almost a year ago and i can play BF2142 till my heart content =]
got bored.. now playing other high end PC games like Lost Planet Extreme Condition on the PC. I'll be making a small movie soon.

PS. what upgrade would you recommend for me Rage, i'm thinking of upgrading soon (like 1 year from now ) I'm thinking about getting a cross fire for my x1900xt 512, a faster HD for installing games perferrably 1k rpm, already brought other 1 gigz of ram but didn't install it yet for Vista. I never try duo core, maybe i need a nice CPU and a motherboard thats compatible with my vc and memory =]

ps. u r da best Rage (crazy fan cheers*)

ps.2 oops! i realized that quote was toward the OP.. lol silly me ^_^
 
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