Buying first gaming computer need help

[newpcgamer]

Hey I recently just joined this forum because I need some insight on buying my first gaming computer since my older laptop can't handle the games I want to play which are mostly the RTS Total War games such as Napoleon and Empire. That being said if you guys could tell me what graphic card, ram, processor etc. to configure my purchase with to run it well or with no lag that would be great. Btw my price range is from 500-800 dollars though I could go up to 1000 but lower would be better.

Also a friend of mine told me about IBUYPOWER.com I checked it out and it seamed pretty good but if you have any other site that you can configure your own gaming pc setups thats better fireaway.

 

[aliasaid]

You could buy all the parts and put it together yourself. You'll get better parts that way.

Would you also need a monitor or OS?

 

[orihS ‪‪‪Shiro]

I'll throw on some suggestions for you.

Here's my first build suggestion.
It's fairly high end, somewhat cheap, and well worth the money. IMO

Newegg.com - APEX Vortex 3620 SGCC / ABS ATX Mid Tower Gaming Computer Case - Computer Cases
Newegg.com - Western Digital Caviar Black WD6401AALS 640GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
Newegg.com - Computer Parts, PC Components, Laptop Computers, Digital Cameras and more!
Newegg.com - Computer Parts, PC Components, Laptop Computers, Digital Cameras and more!
Newegg.com - Computer Parts, PC Components, Laptop Computers, Digital Cameras and more!

Total: $685 with shipping
No OS included



Build #2 not as good as the first build, but will have comparable performance to it.
(Just a few FPS less in games ((5-15FPS), will be about the only difference)
You just need to ask yourself if those few FPS are worth the price increase to a 5770(Graphics Card) or a Phenom II X4(CPU)

Newegg.com - APEX Vortex 3620 SGCC / ABS ATX Mid Tower Gaming Computer Case - Computer Cases
Newegg.com - Western Digital Caviar Blue WD5000AAKS 500GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
Newegg.com - POWERCOLOR AX5750 512MD5-H Radeon HD 5750 512MB 128-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card - Desktop Graphics / Video Cards
Newegg.com - OCZ 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) XMP-Ready Rev.2 Desktop Memory Model OCZ3X1600R2LV4GK - Desktop Memory
Newegg.com - Computer Parts, PC Components, Laptop Computers, Digital Cameras and more!
Newegg.com - Computer Parts, PC Components, Laptop Computers, Digital Cameras and more!

Total: $565 with shipping
No OS included



If you want a third party CPU cooler for overclocking, get this'n
Newegg.com - Sunbeam CR-CCTF 120 mm Core-Contact Freezer CPU Cooler W/TX-2 - CPU Fans & Heatsinks

If you want a wired mouse this one is awesome and not many people know about it ;] It's a little gem for it's price range.

Newegg.com - GIGABYTE GM-M6800 Noble Black 5+1 Buttons 1 x Wheel USB Wired Optical 1600 dpi Dual Lens Gaming Mouse - Mice

If you want a wireless mouse search around for one yourself, I'm no expert on wireless input devices.

Newegg.com - Logitech Classic Black 104 Normal Keys USB Standard Keyboard 200 - Keyboards

Is my suggestion if you need a keyboard.




Build #3
If you need to squeeze in a Monitor or Operating System into the cost, I CAN make that happen, but you gotta let us know, I just assumed you don't need a monitor? But that you probably need an OS so I put up some fairly cheaper builds.

 

[newpcgamer]

Hey Shiro sorry I took so long to reply. I definitely decided to take the building route for the sake of my budget and it seems pretty fun. To answer your question I will need a monitor and OS. Could I still keep the price at $800 or less?

 

[Muffin Man]

what about this? it is slightly over your budget @ $814 + shipping.

Newegg.com - Computer Parts, PC Components, Laptop Computers, Digital Cameras and more!
Newegg.com - Computer Parts, PC Components, Laptop Computers, Digital Cameras and more!
Newegg.com - Computer Parts, PC Components, Laptop Computers, Digital Cameras and more!
Newegg.com - XFX HD-577A-ZNFC Radeon HD 5770 (Juniper XT) 1GB 128-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card - Desktop Graphics / Video Cards
Newegg.com - SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD253GJ 250GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
Newegg.com - Hanns·G HW-191APB Black 19" 5ms Widescreen LCD Monitor 300 cd/m2 700:1 Built-in Speakers - LCD Monitors
Newegg.com - Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit 1-Pack for System Builders - Operating Systems

 

[newpcgamer]

Muffin man thanks for the setup. For anyone else who posts a setup I can go a little above 800 by 20 or 30 but no more than that.

 

[orihS ‪‪‪Shiro]

Here's the build I suggest.
Comes up to $850 shipping included.
~$830 without shipping...
So if you can manage to stretch your budget just a tiny bit further...

Newegg.com - APEX Vortex 3620 SGCC / ABS ATX Mid Tower Gaming Computer Case - Computer Cases
Newegg.com - Western Digital Caviar Blue WD5000AAKS 500GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
Newegg.com - AOC 2236vw Glossy Black 22" 5ms Widescreen LCD Monitor 60000:1 - LCD Monitors
Newegg.com - AMD Athlon II X3 425 Rana 2.7GHz 3 x 512KB L2 Cache Socket AM3 95W Triple-Core Processor - Processors - Desktops
(If you go with this build, you can try to unlock this triple core Athlon into a quad core Athlon, using the ACC in the BIOS of that MSI motherboard I selected.)
Newegg.com - Computer Parts, PC Components, Laptop Computers, Digital Cameras and more!
Newegg.com - Computer Parts, PC Components, Laptop Computers, Digital Cameras and more!
Newegg.com - Computer Parts, PC Components, Laptop Computers, Digital Cameras and more!

If you absolutely MUST squeeze the budget down, you can replace that final combo with this graphics card and this RAM instead.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814131331
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820211364

Taking the total cost down to ~$817 after shipping
$791.19 before shipping


One of the biggest reasons this build costs more than the setup Muffin Man suggested is that I included a very nice 22" 1920x1080 resolution monitor.

 

[aliasaid]

you can save money by reusing an old optical drive if you have one lying around. Also, there are mail in rebates involved so if you count those you're under budget.

 

[Muffin Man]

this also looks like a good monitor for the price. i didn't see it before.

Newegg.com - Hanns·G HH201HPB Black 20" 5ms HDMI Widescreen LCD Monitor 250 cd/m2 X-Contrast 15000:1(1000:1) Built-in Speakers - LCD Monitors
$120 w/ free shipping.

 

[newpcgamer]

Hey thanks Shiro and Muffin Man for the input I think I'm going to go with the 3rd build Shiro recommended and pay the extra $50. Hopefully this weekend I'll be ordering the parts. Thanks again