Planning on getting a new PC and not sure what to get

[chuckey]

The title pretty much says it all. Me and my brother are both into PC gaming. (more so him than me) We share one computer and it is getting pretty old so I told him I would get him a new one for his birthday.

I though about building him one but I wasn't really sure where to start, so I'm just planning on getting him a pre-built one and just getting new a graphics card (or anything else you guys might suggest).

I have been looking at the Alienware X51 AX51-9300BK Desktop but I'm not sure if there are other computers that can give me more band for my buck. I have a budget of 1,500 so money is not too big of an issue.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Brown Cap]

Both my father and best friend have purchased that same exact desktop.
It is incredibly efficient, fast, manageable, and near flawless.
The only downside is that the boot-up process is rather loud, what with the fans and whatnot.
That Alien Desktop would be highly recommended on my part.

 

[Luca72]

Give these sites a shot:
http://www.cyberpowerpc.com/
http://ww.ibuypower.com/

They both let you build a computer in the browser to your specifications, and give decent prices (+ a service fee of course), so you can compare it to what's on the market. That way you know if you're being overcharged.

Or you could just get them to build it for you! I've used ibuypower and didn't have a single problem (other than a piece of shit power supply I had to replace a year and a half later) but people have told me cyberpower is the better option.

That alienware sounds pretty good though. Make sure it doesn't come with liquid cooling - I'm not sure if that's still an Alienware thing. If it does, that's going to require some extra maintenance that your bro might not be into. I've got to say that's about the sexiest case I've ever seen too.

 

[SnowyGamester]

The thing is we don't know what you're paying or what you're getting from the information you provided (since the x51 can be ordered with customized parts and the price can fluctuate in turn) so it's hard to pass judgement over whether you're getting a good deal, though considering you're buying from Alienware I'm gonna go ahead and assume that it is a giant rip and you need a hardy slap in the chops for even considering buying that junk. Buy prebuilt, build it yourself, whatever, just don't buy anything from them - money may not be an issue but that doesn't mean you should just throw it away. Chances are you could build something as good and have enough cash left over to make another one knowing the markup on those things.

As far as an actual suggestion goes, I like your idea of buying prebuilt and adding a graphics card (though it's always cheaper to build yourself). The GTX 660s are at a bit of a sweet spot when it comes to a decent bit of power for a reasonable price (anything past that and the cost rises dramatically). As for other components, I'd look for something that comes with at least 8 gigs of RAM at this point, though buying something with a motherboard that has the possibility of upgrading to 16 or 32 gigs in the future should definitely be considered. Processor should probably be a high end i5 since i3 is crap and the benefits of an i7 aren't utilized for gaming. Also don't forget you'll need a decent power supply for a decent graphics card - prebuilts can sometimes cheap out in this area.

 

[AWAR]

though considering you're buying from Alienware I'm gonna go ahead and assume that it is a giant rip and you need a hardy slap in the chops for even considering buying that junk. Buy prebuilt, build it yourself, whatever, just don't buy anything from them - money may not be an issue but that doesn't mean you should just throw it away. Chances are you could build something as good and have enough cash left over to make another one knowing the markup on those things.
.

Actually, I've put together a similar system on pcpartpicker and the difference is around 100 dollars which isn't as bad as I thought it would be. The problem being that the Alienware has a smaller case and it doesn't seem very upgradeable to me.

The 3770 is a complete overkill though, the 3570k would just as fine for gaming. As for the VGA, the 660 is an ok card but a 660ti should be much better suited for a build like this.

 

[Sigmund Av Volsung]

though considering you're buying from Alienware I'm gonna go ahead and assume that it is a giant rip and you need a hardy slap in the chops for even considering buying that junk. Buy prebuilt, build it yourself, whatever, just don't buy anything from them - money may not be an issue but that doesn't mean you should just throw it away. Chances are you could build something as good and have enough cash left over to make another one knowing the markup on those things.
.

Actually, I've put together a similar system on pcpartpicker and the difference is around 100 dollars which isn't as bad as I thought it would be. The problem being that the Alienware has a smaller case and it doesn't seem very upgradeable to me.

The 3770 is a complete overkill though, the 3570k would just as fine for gaming. As for the VGA, the 660 is an ok card but a 660ti should be much better suited for a build like this.

The 660 series are overpriced; a 7950 costs just as much and is more powerful.

Especially the 660ti; it's essentially, it's an underclocked & underpowered 670 with some of its cores switched off.

 

[chuckey]

though considering you're buying from Alienware I'm gonna go ahead and assume that it is a giant rip and you need a hardy slap in the chops for even considering buying that junk. Buy prebuilt, build it yourself, whatever, just don't buy anything from them - money may not be an issue but that doesn't mean you should just throw it away. Chances are you could build something as good and have enough cash left over to make another one knowing the markup on those things.
.

Actually, I've put together a similar system on pcpartpicker and the difference is around 100 dollars which isn't as bad as I thought it would be. The problem being that the Alienware has a smaller case and it doesn't seem very upgradeable to me.

The 3770 is a complete overkill though, the 3570k would just as fine for gaming. As for the VGA, the 660 is an ok card but a 660ti should be much better suited for a build like this.

The 660 series are overpriced; a 7950 costs just as much and is more powerful.

Especially the 660ti; it's essentially, it's an underclocked & underpowered 670 with some of its cores switched off.

Hey guys thanks for some of the advise so far! What I want really is a computer that is very easy to upgrade. Like AWAR said, I am a bit worried about the size of the case. I want a heavy duty rig and I have some knowledge about PC parts. What would be some recommended specs you guys could suggest?

 

[SnowyGamester]

Hey guys thanks for some of the advise so far! What I want really is a computer that is very easy to upgrade. Like AWAR said, I am a bit worried about the size of the case. I want a heavy duty rig and I have some knowledge about PC parts. What would be some recommended specs you guys could suggest?

AWAR put up a pretty good selection in that link to pcpartpicker he posted...though I think the i7 is an unessessary expense - I'd go for an i5-3570 (and I did when I just bought one with my new mobo this week) or an i5-3570K as he suggested if you're interested in overclocking. Other than that it looks pretty powerful and has a substantial RAM limit of 32gb with that mobo. Something like that with periodical RAM and gpu upgrades will keep you at max graphics for years to come.

 

[chuckey]

Hey guys thanks for some of the advise so far! What I want really is a computer that is very easy to upgrade. Like AWAR said, I am a bit worried about the size of the case. I want a heavy duty rig and I have some knowledge about PC parts. What would be some recommended specs you guys could suggest?

AWAR put up a pretty good selection in that link to pcpartpicker he posted...though I think the i7 is an unessessary expense - I'd go for an i5-3570 (and I did when I just bought one with my new mobo this week) or an i5-3570K as he suggested if you're interested in overclocking. Other than that it looks pretty powerful and has a substantial RAM limit of 32gb with that mobo. Something like that with periodical RAM and gpu upgrades will keep you at max graphics for years to come.

Yea I did like his build pretty much exactly like the alienware.

I gave the site a shot and came up with this build. my build so far This might be a bit overkill I'm not sure, this may or may not be the final selection as I'm am still looking for any advise to cut some more money on this build.

And again thanks so far for the help.

 

[SnowyGamester]

I gave the site a shot and came up with this build. my build so far This might be a bit overkill I'm not sure, this may or may not be the final selection as I'm am still looking for any advise to cut some more money on this build.

I wouldn't worry about buying an alternate CPU cooler...the i5s come with one in the box and they more than suffice (they tend to run pretty cool). The RAM seems pretty good - I bought just that this week, and you can up to 32gb by buying another two in the future. You're spending quite a bit on the mobo which is fair enough since it's kind of an important component though I'm not entirely sure what you're getting for that extra cash other than something that looks a bit fancier (those plastic covers must be expensive to manufacture). I don't see why you didn't go for i5 3570k either since it's listed for the same price (on that site anyway) as the inferior one you picked.

 

[chuckey]

I gave the site a shot and came up with this build. my build so far This might be a bit overkill I'm not sure, this may or may not be the final selection as I'm am still looking for any advise to cut some more money on this build.

I wouldn't worry about buying an alternate CPU cooler...the i5s come with one in the box and they more than suffice (they tend to run pretty cool). The RAM seems pretty good - I bought just that this week, and you can up to 32gb by buying another two in the future. You're spending quite a bit on the mobo which is fair enough since it's kind of an important component though I'm not entirely sure what you're getting for that extra cash other than something that looks a bit fancier (those plastic covers must be expensive to manufacture). I don't see why you didn't go for i5 3570k either since it's listed for the same price (on that site anyway) as the inferior one you picked.

I didn't notice that CPU at first lol. I'll get the one you recommended. As for the mobo, I'm not too entirely sure what I am looking for in one. (it is my first build after all) I just went off the reviews which seemed fair enough. Anyway what mobo do you recommend, same one as AWAR did? As for the graphics card, how would you say it fairs? I thought it looked like the best bang for my buck.

 

[SnowyGamester]

I didn't notice that CPU at first lol. I'll get the one you recommended. As for the mobo, I'm not too entirely sure what I am looking for in one. (it is my first build after all) I just went off the reviews which seemed fair enough. Anyway what mobo do you recommend, same one as AWAR did? As for the graphics card, how would you say it fairs? I thought it looked like the best bang for my buck.

Yeah the one he said seems pretty capable and reasonably priced. I went for one with similar specs myself, only a bit cheaper and unable to overclock the RAM. As far as the GPU, the 660s and 660tis are probably the most reasonably priced at the moment before the price shoots up...if I had to upgrade right now it's what I'd go for, though my 560 does the job for now.

 

[AWAR]

That's a pretty good build, though I'd downgrade the mobo, use the stock CPU cooler and grab the 660ti.

Especially the 660ti; it's essentially, it's an underclocked & underpowered 670 with some of its cores switched off.

It also costs 100$ less than the 670 and that's exactly why we like it

 

[Sigmund Av Volsung]

That's a pretty good build, though I'd downgrade the mobo, use the stock CPU cooler and grab the 660ti.

Especially the 660ti; it's essentially, it's an underclocked & underpowered 670 with some of its cores switched off.

It also costs 100$ less than the 670 and that's exactly why we like it

*cough* 7950/7870 *cough*

I'm not saying it's a bad card, it's just that it lacks the same value for money that the 7950 has (it has more VRAM, and is in general, way more faster), which costs the same ammount.

The 660ti is not the new 560ti, I think ATI have cornered that range with the 7800 series.

 

[AWAR]

*cough* 7950/7870 *cough*

I'm not saying it's a bad card, it's just that it lacks the same value for money that the 7950 has (it has more VRAM, and is in general, way more faster), which costs the same ammount.

The 660ti is not the new 560ti, I think ATI have cornered that range with the 7800 series.

Vram is not important at all, unless you are running multiple monitors and the 7950 isn't "way more faster" it may be 1-5 frames per second faster in some games which doesn't really justify the bad driver support AMD is renown for. The 660ti is a much better card overall.

 

[chuckey]

Hey everyone! Thanks so far for all the help. This is pretty much my final build. I'll stick with the 660 I got, it comes overclocked from the manufacture since I don't over clock myself. With everyone's recommendations I go the build down to a very reasonable price.

Thank you all again!

 

[SnowyGamester]

That's pretty good what you've got there...with the superior graphics card it somewhat trumps my build, at least until I get to the point where my 560 is holding me back a bit too much. Don't forget to get a few case fans (unless some are included with the case, it doesn't seem to mention that though). An intake on the front and exhaust on the back is all you really need to keep heat from building up inside. You could also get some fancy ass ones with LEDs on them that make your rig glow...it's kinda cool if you're into that. Also Windows 8 is cheaper than Windows 7 - not because it's inferior, but because Microsoft is apparently release cheaper but more frequent upgrades from now on. As much as I loved 7 enough to break me away from XP, I'm never going back to it after 8.

 

[chuckey]

That's pretty good what you've got there...with the superior graphics card it somewhat trumps my build, at least until I get to the point where my 560 is holding me back a bit too much. Don't forget to get a few case fans (unless some are included with the case, it doesn't seem to mention that though). An intake on the front and exhaust on the back is all you really need to keep heat from building up inside. You could also get some fancy ass ones with LEDs on them that make your rig glow...it's kinda cool if you're into that. Also Windows 8 is cheaper than Windows 7 - not because it's inferior, but because Microsoft is apparently release cheaper but more frequent upgrades from now on. As much as I loved 7 enough to break me away from XP, I'm never going back to it after 8.

I'll just stick to win 7, me and my bro are just way to comfortable with it lol. It was the only thing that could pull me away from XP.

 

[SnowyGamester]

That's fair enough, but the thing about Windows 8 is other than a different start menu, better support for multiple displays, some under the hood enhancements and a few more features you may not even notice unless you already know about them it's identical to Windows 7. It takes very little getting used to...none really if you hate the new start menu enough install a replacement, though I honestly prefer it since it's multi-tiered in a sense and easier to organise. It'll also be longer before it has support dropped on it, though that's more an issue for in a few more years.

 

[chuckey]

That's fair enough, but the thing about Windows 8 is other than a different start menu, better support for multiple displays, some under the hood enhancements and a few more features you may not even notice unless you already know about them it's identical to Windows 7. It takes very little getting used to...none really if you hate the new start menu enough install a replacement, though I honestly prefer it since it's multi-tiered in a sense and easier to organise. It'll also be longer before it has support dropped on it, though that's more an issue for in a few more years.

Well I'm a little undecided here, then. How optimized for gaming is 8 compared to 7? I mean what's the real benifit I would get out of it?