I'm thinking about building a new pc and need advice

[jobberone]

If you aren't doing anything serious like big time gaming, CAD or crunching numbers then either buy the last latest greatest from Best Buy or if you're real adventuresome then from a computer repair store or even Craigslist. You can get ex-gaming computers pretty cheap as those guys are always getting something new. Just be careful as some of those have been driven hard.

I actually haven't had a fast desktop for sometime as I quit gaming. I survive on laptops and iMacs, smartphones and tablets. You can get a nice laptop (generic) for less than $300-400 that will suffice you for a couple of years or more.

I would find a way to have an HDMI port and maybe a SATA port.

Obviously you can build a better desktop for less money than a laptop but you can't carry it around either.

 

[Dallas]

No one asked you to, Okie.

Its kind of an inside thing. Thanks for trying to include yourself, but there is no need for that.

 

[Joshmil53]

If you aren't doing anything serious like big time gaming, CAD or crunching numbers then either buy the last latest greatest from Best Buy or if you're real adventuresome then from a computer repair store or even Craigslist. You can get ex-gaming computers pretty cheap as those guys are always getting something new. Just be careful as some of those have been driven hard.

I actually haven't had a fast desktop for sometime as I quit gaming. I survive on laptops and iMacs, smartphones and tablets. You can get a nice laptop (generic) for less than $300-400 that will suffice you for a couple of years or more.

I would find a way to have an HDMI port and maybe a SATA port.

Obviously you can build a better desktop for less money than a laptop but you can't carry it around either.

Oh please stay away from Best buy. If you're buying premades Newegg or Microcenter

 

[Yeagermeister]

I will never buy a computer from Best Buy.

 

[YosemiteSam]

I will never buy a computer from Best Buy.

Shadup and buy your PC at Best Buy! :laugh2:

 

[Yeagermeister]

Shadup and buy your PC at Best Buy! :laugh2:

Ahhhh shadup you :chop:

 

[CowboyMcCoy]

Once you go mac, you never go back. No, yeags?

 

[theebs]

Just rebuilt my CPU last month.

Everything is so affordable and better than previous generations that no matter what u do u wont go wrong.

Fwiw I always buy gigabyte boards, never ad one fail yet. I would spend the extra money and get 16gb ram.

Windows 8 has been great I love it.

Nvidia 550 cards are right in the middle and will be all u need.

 

[poost]

www.logicalincrements.com/

That website breaks down parts based on your price range. I used it when I put together my first PC to get a baseline. Then I posted to Toms Hardware to get a review before purchasing. Finally I used PCpartpicker.com to piece it all together. Good luck! Don't forget to include OS, Monitor and peripherals in your range.

 

[arglebargle]

Sweet spot for power vs price seems to be an i5 CPU right now. Especially since you probably don't really need hyperthreading.

I have had good luck with both Asus and Gigabyte motherboards.

Nvida cards are overpriced right now. ATI video cards have much better price to performance ratios. Nvidia has somewhat faster driver updates, and due to their aid (bribery) to game companies, they sometimes have things tuned better their way. Certain video and rendering software packages can really make use of Nvidia's architecture better, but those are fairly specialized options.

Cases are really a personal decision, get what you like. Just check out reviews to make sure they don't have any hidden gotchas. I like big airy cases, as I replace parts with some frequency and like the working space.

On hard drives, if you can manage it, get an SSD for your OS drive, and a big mechanical WD drive for you main storage. Be sure and check on the hard drive warrenty: Usually the longer the warrenty, the higher the construction quality. A shocker! Probably a WD black HD. I generally prefer SSDs from Samsung or IBM, but others can be good. I would not get an OCZ one.

If you listen to a lot of music on your computer, you might consider getting a sound card, but you can otherwise really get by with motherboard sound now. I have an old Soundblaster still though.

Good luck with it!

 

[Yeagermeister]

Once you go mac, you never go back. No, yeags?

No where close to my price range

 

[jobberone]

I will never buy a computer from Best Buy.

Shadup and buy your PC at Best Buy! :laugh2:

Why not? I've never had a problem with their Toshiba laptops.

 

[burmafrd]

Every computer I have bought for the last 10 years came from Best Buy and I have not had a real problem at all with them or their service.

Really looking at sales just how much are you going to really save? You will be spending your own time building it and if something goes wrong where are you?

 

[Duane]

Sweet spot for power vs price seems to be an i5 CPU right now. Especially since you probably don't really need hyperthreading.

I have had good luck with both Asus and Gigabyte motherboards.

Nvida cards are overpriced right now. ATI video cards have much better price to performance ratios. Nvidia has somewhat faster driver updates, and due to their aid (bribery) to game companies, they sometimes have things tuned better their way. Certain video and rendering software packages can really make use of Nvidia's architecture better, but those are fairly specialized options.

Cases are really a personal decision, get what you like. Just check out reviews to make sure they don't have any hidden gotchas. I like big airy cases, as I replace parts with some frequency and like the working space.

On hard drives, if you can manage it, get an SSD for your OS drive, and a big mechanical WD drive for you main storage. Be sure and check on the hard drive warrenty: Usually the longer the warrenty, the higher the construction quality. A shocker! Probably a WD black HD. I generally prefer SSDs from Samsung or IBM, but others can be good. I would not get an OCZ one.

If you listen to a lot of music on your computer, you might consider getting a sound card, but you can otherwise really get by with motherboard sound now. I have an old Soundblaster still though.

Good luck with it!

Great advice. I've used Asus boards and ATI cards on my last few builds with a lot of success.

As far as cases go I'm a full tower guy now. There is just much more room to go in and add drives, large video cards, etc...

 

[Yeagermeister]

Every computer I have bought for the last 10 years came from Best Buy and I have not had a real problem at all with them or their service.

Really looking at sales just how much are you going to really save? You will be spending your own time building it and if something goes wrong where are you?

I fix computers for a living so I don't need the Geek Squad to fix my computer for me. Consumer pcs just come with too much extra junk loaded on them and very few options plus consumer lines are usually junk. They are cheap for a reason. If I'm going to buy a pc I buy a business line pc through my contacts at work. I can configure it the way I want it instead of just taking what they have in stock and get a MUCH better warranty.

 

[Yeagermeister]

Why not? I've never had a problem with their Toshiba laptops.

Laptops might be a different story. I'm referring to desktops. I'm not a big fan of laptops. They just don't have enough upgrade options.

 

[Joshmil53]

Why not? I've never had a problem with their Toshiba laptops.

They're overpriced on everything. Anything there you can find cheaper online. All their computers come with prebuilt-in software which you have to do a reset to get rid of.

I hate Best Buy.

 

[Chocolate Lab]

Every computer I have bought for the last 10 years came from Best Buy and I have not had a real problem at all with them or their service.

Really looking at sales just how much are you going to really save? You will be spending your own time building it and if something goes wrong where are you?

A lot. A heck of a lot. Or, for the same money, you get a much faster machine.

And it doesn't take much time to build. It's really easy.

 

[Dallas]

A lot. A heck of a lot. Or, for the same money, you get a much faster machine.

And it doesn't take much time to build. It's really easy.

I wouldn't waste my breath. Your typical consumer will never understand the difference w/ picking parts and building your own PC and the savings involved.

I don't do it anymore myself. I just build my Dell and roll w/ their warranty. I get a great gaming rig w/ 3 years of replacement and gold support.

And yes...it does cost more to do this.

 

[Joshmil53]

A lot. A heck of a lot. Or, for the same money, you get a much faster machine.

And it doesn't take much time to build. It's really easy.

Exactly. You spend $400 on a laptop with a dual core 1.3 ghz, etc when for $500 you can get 4x better if you build.