Dying Computer, Need New Computer

[Legend]

My "fun" x15 alienware laptop has finally decided to started dieing. after my internet connection had been failing also, i defraged, adawared, and cleaned up my disk and once i reset it didnt book back up but was stuck on a

black screen with the computer running, and no bios or start up screen.

I thought my videocard might be dieing so i waited and let it cool down and i was able to get it back up.

So instead of fixing, i am gonna try to get a new comp.

I believe is it Newegg.com ??

And anyone got some suggestion as to what i should be shooting for, for my next desktop?

Thank you : )

[Janke 1st MRB]

First off, don't get another Alienware, for what they cost you could build 2 equivalents.

Are you looking to buy a pre-built computer or do you feel you have the knowledge and skills required to build your own?

[Legend]

Lets go with build on website

[Berg 1st MRB]

Legend you can have my p4 that im using now. its a bit laggy when playing dod but when ur pro as you are you can handel it!

[Janke 1st MRB]

Alright, my recommendations are as follows:

Optical Drive:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16827135204

Case:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16811322006

Hard Drive:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16822136742

Graphics Card:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16814130660

Power Supply:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16817152036

RAM:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16820145222

Motherboard:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16813131665

CPU:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16819115211

And OS:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16832116992

Total Budget for this is around $1100. Fell free to scrutinize and suggest options if anyone has any in mind.

[Chen]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...9-197-_-Product

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...9-006-_-Product

[Legend]

Oh i will not be needing a new OS, so that money is saved and can be put towards other hardware if it makes much of a diff.

[Chen]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...8-014-_-Product

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...8-016-_-Product

[Yamagata 1st MRB]

Gaming Laptops are notorious for overheating. Gotta keep them dust-free and a cooling pad is a life-saver. Turning your machine off and on frequently also puts strain on your hardware, the constant heat-up and cool-down is bad for any computer. That's all I got's to say about that.

[Legend]

True that, if you guys have an suggestion for jankes list of hardware please feel free to add. n:)

[Dillon 1st MRB]

If you can let me know your budget, we can find the best setup for you. Secondly, give me a list of games that you play other than DODS. Finally, what else do you use your computer for?

Also, do you want the appearance of the case to matter? There are quite a few options out there for cases and it can be expensive or it can be cheap, with quality varying.

[Legend]

If you can let me know your budget, we can find the best setup for you. Secondly, give me a list of games that you play other than DODS. Finally, what else do you use your computer for?

Also, do you want the appearance of the case to matter? There are quite a few options out there for cases and it can be expensive or it can be cheap, with quality varying.

1000-1500 is my budget i believe. I play Shogun 2, Steam games, Eve, LOL. Other than games i use it for paper for school, internet, forums. torrenting

[Dillon 1st MRB]

1000-1500 is my budget i believe. I play Shogun 2, Steam games, Eve, LOL. Other than games i use it for paper for school, internet, forums. torrenting

Here is my biggest piece of advice:

Spend big on the monitor. It will last through several boxes. I'll put together a few suggestions. Right now, for the money, I'd be hard pressed to not recommend the Intel i5-2500k. Its a bang for the buck winner.

Here is a review on it:

http://techreport.com/articles.x/20188/1

Now, remember, these are the Sandy Bridge architecture. Think of it as second generation Core i(5 or 7). Very beastly chips. I'm a big fan of AMD and I like rooting for the little guy. But, this one is a winner.

Also..... I may be able to hook you up with a pretty sweet triple-head gaming setup. Does this interest you? It is mostly used for simulators, but its freaking awesome if you have the desk space for it. It is not without its issues, but it looks amazing and support is getting better for it. Here is a early preview of it with 6 monitors. I'd recommend 3 for costs sake:

http://techreport.com/articles.x/18756

[Legend]

very cool, 5 screens to many for me lol. Just looking for quality for a descent price, otherwise do i have the go ahead to purchase jankes parts? and this new CPU you found, will it be compatiable with the other parts the janke also found?

[Dillon 1st MRB]

No, you would need a different motherboard. Here is how it would be different:

CPU $225

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16819115072

Mobo $120 (has a $10 rebate if you are into waiting)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16813131604

RAM (8 gigs) $80 - its also a CAS latency of 7 vs the usual 9. It makes it a quicker part.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16820231308

Video card $275 (with a $30 rebate after this)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16814150530

What I did was take Janke's build, swap it around a bit. I made it stronger on the GPU. We cut $85 off of the CPU/mobo and increased the GPU's cost by $75. The reason I did this is because you really aren't restricted in games by modern cpu's (stuff from the last year or so). I went with a 6950 over the 460 because its a much faster/stronger video card. I run a highly overclocked 460 and I love it. The thing is, the 6950 is better. You'll also it has 2 gigs of RAM for the video. This drivers much higher resolutions better. It also has an added bonus - dual BIOS's. There is currently ~70% success rate for people taking their 6950 and flashing it to a 6970 (a $400 card). Also, the 6950 (1 gig mind you) is a bit faster than the 560 Ti, the card that replaces the 460. Here is a good review for you to check out the difference - http://techreport.com/articles.x/20777/1

I would then add the sweet spot. Check this out:

Dell U2410 - $499.99

http://www.amazon.com/Dell-UltraSharp-U241...t/dp/B00302DNZ4

Amazon is $70 cheaper than Newegg on this one. Now, why the Dell? They have the most gorgeous monitors ever. The U-series have the best color reproduction anywhere because they use an IPS-panel instead of TN or TFT. IPS is soooo much better than TN. This is a monitor that you could turn into a media center quite quickly. If you watch any streaming video or movies on your computer, this is the one for you.

The monitor is the best place ever to overspend.

[Dillon 1st MRB]

If you want to seriously consider the three-monitor gaming, I would recommend 3 of these monitors:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16824176140

These are good monitors at $170 each. So, you'd be looking at $510 for all 3.

[Janke 1st MRB]

Does ATI support tri-monitor enhancement now? Last I'd heard it was a NVidia thing. Also, won't he need 2 graphics cards to get the appropriate number of ports for monitors. I know that, even though I have 2 DVI and a mini HDMI port on my card, it only supports 2 displays.

As well, I'd be inclined to recommend http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16824236051 for the monitors. Yes, the deal ends today, but it's only $10 more than that HP without the savings and has more screen real estate and a higher resolution. As well, when you look at the reviews and feedback, as I often do when purchasing something I haven ever used, it has a very high number of reviews and lots of feedback, and almost all of it is positive feedback. Of the 815 pieces of feedback they received, 617 of those reviews rated it 5-egg. Yes, the HP has received all 5-stars, but I'm always a little wary myself of high ratings on products with less than 50 people providing feedback, and the HP has 3 ratings only. Yes, ratings aren't everything, but when something gets a large amount of positive feedback, it tends to be because it's a reliable, good product.

[Legend]

Mabey a noob question, do i need something special to connect to the internet wirelessly for my tower?

[Janke 1st MRB]

Yes, a wireless card, but I'd recommend using a wired connection, I actually ran a cable through my ducts to my basement to get wired internet down here.

[Dillon 1st MRB]

Does ATI support tri-monitor enhancement now? Last I'd heard it was a NVidia thing. Also, won't he need 2 graphics cards to get the appropriate number of ports for monitors. I know that, even though I have 2 DVI and a mini HDMI port on my card, it only supports 2 displays.

ATI pioneered the 1 card pushing 3 monitors on the 5xxx-series. Nvidia still needs two cards to do 3 monitors, which is expensive.

As for the monitors, that one won't work. They must have a Display Port. ATI will use HDMI, DVI, or a Display Port to push three monitors. But, to push 3 monitors, it must use the Display Port. The HP I listed has all three.

And the only time I would recommend a 19" monitor is if he's going with 3 screens. With 3 screens, the real estate really won't matter. That's an enormous desktop. Essentially, a 1440x2700 resolution.

[Dillon 1st MRB]

Mabey a noob question, do i need something special to connect to the internet wirelessly for my tower?

We might be able to find a mobo with built-in wifi for you. Let me do some searching.

[Janke 1st MRB]

It depends, I know HD may not be a big pull for some people, personally it's why I bought my monitor 3 years ago, but you can't really get True HD even with 3 monitors if they don't have the right resolution, at least 1080 pixels high and 1920 pixels wide. Those HPs are only 900 pixels high. Also, didn't know that ATI had that, pretty awesome. Also, wouldn't it be possible to get a display port converter, and don't some video cards come with them?

Also, the resolution of his desktop would be 4320x900 with the HPs, I'm pretty sure they do horizontal before vertical. With the Asus ones it would be 5760x1080.

Edited May 31, 2011 by Janke 1st MRB

[Dillon 1st MRB]

It depends, I know HD may not be a big pull for some people, personally it's why I bought my monitor 3 years ago, but you can't really get True HD even with 3 monitors if they don't have the right resolution, at least 1080 pixels high and 1920 pixels wide. Those HPs are only 900 pixels high. Also, didn't know that ATI had that, pretty awesome. Also, wouldn't it be possible to get a display port converter, and don't some video cards come with them?

Also, the resolution of his desktop would be 4320x900 with the HPs, I'm pretty sure they do horizontal before vertical. With the Asus ones it would be 5760x1080.

Well, if its for movies, he'll definately want the IPS panel I linked to.

There are adapters out ther, but the sucess on them is marginal.

As for the resolution, you would potrait the monitors, to maximize your verticle and your horizontal view. Check the link here, scroll down, and check out 3 24" IPS panels. COD looks amazing, even in landscape view. Personally, I'd go potrait on them.

http://techreport.com/articles.x/18756

[Janke 1st MRB]

Hadn't thought about portrait mode because it usually looks odd, but that does look pretty awesome.

[Chen]

Just wanted to point out on the U2410 theres a pretty big pink green tint issue and dell does NOT let you return or exchange the product because of the tint. They claim its suppose to be like that. Theres another great ips panel out there which is the HP ZR24w its not a wide gamut panel but its good enough. And plus i doubt legend is going to be doing professional photography so he doesnt need the wide gamut. He wont be seeing his real colors unless he calibrates the thing. the 2 monitors are both real good for what their suppose to do. I'm not familar with sandy bridge but from what i hear their pretty damn good. so you should stick with a sd mobo. please dont pick a mobo for the 6gb/s last i checked the true 6gb/s isnt even out yet. Im not a fan of ATI or should i call it AMD graphic cards, so i have my vote on evga nvidia cards. For a case i just suggest a great cooler, the HAF 932 has my vote but if it doesnt fit in budget the HAF 922 has my vote. Those 2 are awesome coolers that are pretty cheap, and boy do they look good. Oh if you plan on OCing please please PLEASE get him a aftermarket CPU cooler before he fries the damn thing.**suggestion to legend, get a solid state when you get the money to, just a tiny one, for your OS and apps and put the rest on the 1tb, youll see a big difference in speed when your using your computer**

[Dillon 1st MRB]

Just wanted to point out on the U2410 theres a pretty big pink green tint issue and dell does NOT let you return or exchange the product because of the tint. They claim its suppose to be like that. Theres another great ips panel out there which is the HP ZR24w its not a wide gamut panel but its good enough.

I haven't heard that anywhere but would love to learn more. Any idea where you heard it? It may influence some of the tech boards I'm on.

please dont pick a mobo for the 6gb/s last i checked the true 6gb/s isnt even out yet.

Umm... what? Its out. And SSD's (solid state drives) are taking advantage of it big time. They are also coming down in price so much, that it may very well be within the average gamer's price range.

Im not a fan of ATI or should i call it AMD graphic cards, so i have my vote on evga nvidia cards.

I don't understand this at all. Why wouldn't you look at at AMD? They had vastly superior products during many product cycles and have, until recently, better image quality. This cycle they have a slightly better product in terms of performance, heat, and power draw. People will marginalize the heat and power draw, but they really matter when you are upgrading. Its the difference between a new PSU and being fine with what you have. They just don't spend the money on advertising that nvidia does. Check them out. They are always worth considering. Definately compare the two brands at the price point you are at. Often, nvidia will have a great product.... at $300, $350, and $450; whereas AMD may have the better option at $150, $200, and $250.

And for what its worth, I'm not die hard for either of them. I buy the best card at my price point. When I bought my card, I was ready to pull the trigger on an AMD 6870. However, on the strength of reviews, I saw what a factory overclocked GTX 460 (clocked from 675mhz up to 850!) would yield in performance, and it was worth it.

Here is a brief history of my gpu buying:

3dfx, 3dfx, 3dfx, ati 8500pro, ati 9700pro, 9800 pro, nvidia 6800GT, 9800pro, nvidia 9600GT, ATI 4850, nvidia 285 GTX (won this), ATI 5770, nvidia 460 1GB.

Brand loyatly can be nice, but it will short-change you.