New Computer

[roguethree]

Budget is $1,000 - $1,200, don't need a monitor, prefer i5 or i7.

Go!

[Cornuto]

Can you wait for Q2 2012?

I'm holding off til then for the new processors.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivy_Bri...uter_processor)

[roguethree]

I could . . . but I don't wanna.

[Snowmane]

I bought a CyberPower PC. They have some I7 stuff in your price range. Of course buying from a company costs more than building it yourself, but if anything goes wrong, I find it's nice to have the ability to get the manufacturer to replace parts instead of dealing with RMA's yourself. They also have a lot of coupon codes floating around online to get 10-20% off.

[ManUtd4Ever]

I bought a Dell XPS 8300 through USAA for right at $1,000.

i7 - 2600 @ 3.4Ghz
12 Gb RAM
64 Bit - Windows 7 Home Premium
AMD HD 6770 1 or 2 Gb

If you can suffer though Dell customer support...

[Redjack]

If you have the skills and want to go to the extra effort then definitely go to newegg.com and build your own.

[greendragon]

I customized one through iBuypower so I could play Skyrim with maximum graphics settings:

i7 quad-core 960
Gigabyte motherboard, USB 3.0
700w psu
12 GB ram
60 GB SSD (primary drive)
500 GB HD (data drive)
DVD burner
Radeon HD 6950, 2GB
Sound Blaster Audigy 2 (from my previous pc)
Multi-card reader
Windoze 7 Ultimate, 64-bit (which I already had)

$1400 (with shipping) for this beasty. I searched and compared prices for a month before deciding to go this route. This PC build ended up being cheaper having them do it by a couple hundred dollars. Price from other places was the same but without the SSD and Card Reader, so I basically got those for free.

It arrived in a huge box and was packed very well. Connected the machine to my HD monitor and she fired right up. Got a free download of DeusEx with it too!

Make a list of what you want in your next PC, and shop around for the best prices.

oh yeah, Skyrim, DeusEx as well as our beloved Neverwinter Nights are played with MAX graphics settings with no hiccups or stuttering. I didn't check FPS but only because I'm very satisfied with it.

[Thief Of Navarre]

Can you wait for Q2 2012?

I'm holding off til then for the new processors.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivy_Bridge_(computer_processor)

Or a drop in price of the older ones. ^^
I normally wait till the motherboard I want is using an obsolete slot and dimms then buy everything dirt cheap before they stop stocking it.
Never payed above £700 for a PC so far.

[Saulus]

Check our Cornuto's thread for the box I specc'ed for him. You'll never hear me recommend buying a rig from a vendor if you have two brain cells.

It isn't that complicated, essentially almost all the internal components only fit in one place. Sticking a disk in to install windows isn't very complex either these days.

Only reason to buy third party is if you don't have the spare time. There's no way these guys are going to get parts cheaper and build you a box for cheaper than it would take you to do it yourself. Also their customization options (no matter who they are) are going to be limited across brands, which just makes you lose out. (I buy RAM from vendor A, GPU from vendor B, ssd from vendor C).

[roguethree]

Yeah, I'm not buying from a vendor. Not paying for a brand name or "tech support" I won't need.

[Handsomeman]

I brought the parts saulus mentioned in cornutos thread, and i must say i am very satisfy with the performance. Though the total cost actually came out to about $2000 with a new monitor, windows 7, h80 cpu cooler, and a decent case. But the thing i watch out for is the ssd hard drive. My computer had trouble detecting it at first, and it would mess up when my computer when to sleep mode. But following saulus' advice by updating the firmware for the ssd seemed to have fixed the problem my computer had with detecting it, and i just turn off the sleep mode setting from window. My brother recently brought one of the newer ssd, and he contantly gets a blue error screen from it regardless of updating firmware or not. He had to return it. Theres also tons of similar errors from other ssd owners in various forums i read online. On the other hand My computer runs smoothly now with no error, and it is very fast with the ssd. So it is a gamble if you want to get one.

P.s. I wanted to say thanks to saulus for linking the parts, and the advice he gave me for building it. Thanks!

[Saulus]

^ Glad you like it, it's very similar to what I am running right now... I demand only the best performance and if you like to run your games without concerning yourself with FPS that's the way to do it.

I haven't had any problems with my ocz solid 3 so far, but I updated the firmware to the latest before ever using it. For your brother he may want to check if he has AHCI compatibility mode setup in his BIOS, and just in general keeping your motherboard bios up to date with the provided utilities, especially on a cutting edge, high-performance system like that can help.

[roguethree]

Someone link the thread re: Cornuto's computer, for I am lazy and detest the search button.

[Doubtful]

Seems to be the time of year for new computers! I need to get myself a new laptop. Probably something a little better than this machine, but without spending a a gazillion euros on it.

Just for you R3..

http://www.sundren.org/forum/showthread.php?t=17710

[roguethree]

Doubtful, you're the best.