Hi-
My old laptop has finally quit on me, for the fourth time, and is covered under Best Buy's No-Lemon Policy. As far as the guy at Geek Squad told me, I will be issued a gift card in the amount of a computer with comparable specs. Since my computer was purchased in 2007, the bare minimum specs on even netbooks are more than what mine shipped with from the factory. I based my calculations off their cheapest laptop I saw in stores, which was $300.
I'd like to build a tower that has room for expansion in the future, but can still play forthcoming and current games such as BC2, WoW:LK (and Cataclysm as well, much increased comp. requirements), Crysis, Fallout, Bioshock, etc. Light film viewing and editing will happen as well (I have a 32" HD monitor and the HDMI cable to utilize it).
I can contribute up to $300-400 in cash in addition to the $300 Best Buy card, totaling a max price of $600-700 for the build.
My question is how best to utilize the gift card I am going to get from BB. Looking on their site, their barebones kits don't really compare to ones on Newegg or Tiger. Should I buy components like the GFX card/PSU/??? in store, then purchase the Mobo/Processor online? I'm really stumped as to how use the card without getting gouged on non-online prices.
My old laptop has finally quit on me, for the fourth time, and is covered under Best Buy's No-Lemon Policy. As far as the guy at Geek Squad told me, I will be issued a gift card in the amount of a computer with comparable specs. Since my computer was purchased in 2007, the bare minimum specs on even netbooks are more than what mine shipped with from the factory. I based my calculations off their cheapest laptop I saw in stores, which was $300.
I'd like to build a tower that has room for expansion in the future, but can still play forthcoming and current games such as BC2, WoW:LK (and Cataclysm as well, much increased comp. requirements), Crysis, Fallout, Bioshock, etc. Light film viewing and editing will happen as well (I have a 32" HD monitor and the HDMI cable to utilize it).
I can contribute up to $300-400 in cash in addition to the $300 Best Buy card, totaling a max price of $600-700 for the build.
My question is how best to utilize the gift card I am going to get from BB. Looking on their site, their barebones kits don't really compare to ones on Newegg or Tiger. Should I buy components like the GFX card/PSU/??? in store, then purchase the Mobo/Processor online? I'm really stumped as to how use the card without getting gouged on non-online prices.
