Buying a mid-range gaming computer

[Tekhead]

A friend of mine is looking into finally upgrading his computer, and wants it to last him a fair bit, but he doesn't do heavy computer gaming, so something top-of-the-line isn't necessary, as he mostly plays WoW.

What I'm looking into is whether this computer
The Dell Online Store: Build Your System
is good for its price, or if there is a cheaper/better one for the same price I can find.

Price range is about 2k, and he doesn't really care about the monitor and accessories, those can come later.

 

[Puddle Jumper]

He should consider building the system himself. You can build s system faster than that dell for a fraction of the price.

 

[Tekhead]

Neither of us are very technologically ept, so buying a pre-made one would probably be easier, unless someone on these forums has a good build they can share with us in that price range.

 

[35g700]

It's not that hard to build a computer, just don't do anything stupid, force anything, or shock anything. You can save hundreds of dollars off watching a 20 min video and building one yourself.

 

[Hussein19891]

If the two of you really know nothing about building computers. Then I suggest this site instead.

CyberPower Inc. - building the best Gaming PC is not only our profession, it is our obsession.

They won't eat at your pockets like Dell might tend to do. While at the same time, any computer on that site will be able to handle WoW with little to no problems at all.

 

[FBR_BDavis]

While CyberPower Inc. does have decent systems, their prices are still a bit high, and the technology is a bit behind when you see the motherboards they are using.. Their "top-end" SLI boards are using the 560SLI chipset, which doesn't even run both cards at 16x when in SLI mode.. Ugh.. Their $2300+ computer is using 2 nice GTX280 cards in SLI, but it comes with only a 420w PSU?? WTH?? LOL!! Yowch..

If your friend REALLY wants a computer to last a while, don't buy a Dell or any other Wal-Mart type junk.. I would suggest finding someone local that will build a system for him.. Do some searching around and talk to people that do this as a HOBBY, not as a JOB.. If it's a JOB, they'll gut you for every penny they can.. It's the way of the world.. A person that does this as a hobby, like myself and MANY others here, have a BLAST trying to build the best computer possible for the lowest cost.. It's a challenge..

Come up with a total price that your friend can afford, and start pricing parts out.. If you need help figuring out what to buy, ask..

 

[wafflehammer]

OMG you don't want a top of the line computer but you're willing to spend $2000? dude........build it yourself. spend $800 on a great setup-up that could play crysis on at least medium. if you spend anything over $1500 on a computer you're wasting money because you're not getting a lot of bang for your buck after that.


https://secure.newegg.com/WishList/MySavedWishDetail.aspx?ID=7466745

^^^^^^^^^^^^^

$900 build. great cpu that you could overclock in the future for great results, board that can crossfire, AMAZING video card that can max just about anything out, and a power supply that will handle ANYTHING you throw at it (750 watt, i'm sure the build could get away with using a 500-550watt).

 

[saltynay]

To give you some perspective my computer cost £1600 ($3200 **** living on an island lol) and it took me 45 mins to plug together and screw in 20 screws that was it and it was as good as it got at the time. Same computer from dell I checked just after building came in at £3400 ($6800)with a 10% discount included. With that I got a 1 year warranty, free monitor (I had just bought a new one), keyboard/mouse (old one works fine so wasn't needed), limited bios (overclocking - making a pc faster through stressing the components further then factory settings allowing you to have a cpu that costs $100 but is the same as a $300 cpu), some software and peace of mind of course....

My computer doesn't have a full warranty for everything instead each part does so when I have a problem I just have to figure out whats gone wrong and send it off. My harddrives are safe for 5 years, motherboard for 3, RAM 3 years, Graphics is safe for 5 and my psu is for 10 (lifetime if living in the US again **** for living in the UK). So in essence I saved £1800 ($3600) and got a longer warranty bit of a no brainer....

 

[veg1992]

OMG you don't want a top of the line computer but you're willing to spend $2000? dude........build it yourself. spend $800 on a great setup-up that could play crysis on at least medium. if you spend anything over $1500 on a computer you're wasting money because you're not getting a lot of bang for your buck after that.


https://secure.newegg.com/WishList/MySavedWishDetail.aspx?ID=7466745

^^^^^^^^^^^^^

$900 build. great cpu that you could overclock in the future for great results, board that can crossfire, AMAZING video card that can max just about anything out, and a power supply that will handle ANYTHING you throw at it (750 watt, i'm sure the build could get away with using a 500-550watt).

Your Newegg is on secure, so I can't access taht

But if you are sure you want to stay away from building, buy the Cyberpower Barebone...

Put no for everything except: PSU, Mobo, CPU, Case... the rest you can buy of Newegg and throw in your rig....

However, building is still the number one idea though

 

[Luke]

^+1...