Bucky Posted February 9, 2011 Posted February 9, 2011 Thinking about getting a new computer....not a Dell now. My main area of concern is the processer and graphics card.I'm wondering if the benefits of spending more money to upgrade these would be worth it.In other words,where do I draw the line as far as overspending vs what I need for what I use my computer for.?Basically I use it for games,and surfing the web.No movies,video editing,etc. Another thing is I've decided to go for the eye candy for all my games with my new rig,whatever it is... EDIT... See "THE WISH LIST" further down this thread. Quote
Blairgowrie Posted February 9, 2011 Posted February 9, 2011 That link doesn't seem to be good Bucky but in any case, I would stay well away from Dell. You will run into problems when you try to upgrade any part of it. Better to have it custom built where you select the parts (with our help) and then get some local computer shop assemble it for you, if you don't want to build it yourself. Quote
Bucky Posted February 10, 2011 Author Posted February 10, 2011 Building it myself is not an option,due to lack of knowledge.I'd have to really think about a shop building it,due to previous negative experiences.My first computer purchase was a Dell back in '06...windows xp,single core,2.8mhz,1gb of ram etc, for about $1140.00cdn taxes included. Quote
Tribunus Posted February 10, 2011 Posted February 10, 2011 I've had very good luck with my Dell liquid cooled XPS. But BG is correct, the individual components are mostly proprietary and you will have difficulty upgrading it. That is not an issue with me, as I am computer illiterate. Dell also offers great customer service. Quote
Blairgowrie Posted February 10, 2011 Posted February 10, 2011 You will need Windows 64 bit to be able to take advantage of more than 3 gbs of ram. 5670 is not o the list of suggested video cards here http://forums.ubi.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/8071032709/m/6811032709 Quote
Cold_Gambler Posted February 10, 2011 Posted February 10, 2011 If you don't want/can't to build it yourself may I suggest NCIX. My current 3-yr-old rig was bought from them. They are a Canadian company and have competitive prices (they will price-match too, should you find a better price elsewhere). You can either pick up one of their selection of packages (and modify it whichever way you wish), or create your own rig with whatever components you like. For $50 they will put it together and install the operating system. I selected all the different components and had them put it together... they did a very nice job with careful cable routing. To me, it was totally worth $50 for them to put the build together rather than spend the time doing it myself. I was very happy with the build and highly recommend NCIX. I was also very happy with the customer service when I asked them, after the order had been put through, to change the vid card for a different one- they were very good at e-mailing back promptly. They also have locations throughout Canada (based in B.C.) and you might be able to save on shipping if you are willing to go pick it up yourself. Cheers, C_G Quote
1. DDz Quorum Pooka Posted February 10, 2011 1. DDz Quorum Posted February 10, 2011 What are you looking at spending this time Bucky? I looked on a site that rates GPUs and it wasn't shown, but I see them on NXIC and NewEgg for just under 100$ US. Throw out a price and let the Dogz put up some suggestions. Are you an Intel or AMD man. Some motherboards goes both ways you now. Good Luck...Pooka http://www.videocardbenchmark.net/ Quote
Blairgowrie Posted February 10, 2011 Posted February 10, 2011 If you don't want/can't to build it yourself may I suggest NCIX. My current 3-yr-old rig was bought from them. They are a Canadian company and have competitive prices (they will price-match too, should you find a better price elsewhere). You can either pick up one of their selection of packages (and modify it whichever way you wish), or create your own rig with whatever components you like. For $50 they will put it together and install the operating system. I selected all the different components and had them put it together... they did a very nice job with careful cable routing. To me, it was totally worth $50 for them to put the build together rather than spend the time doing it myself. I was very happy with the build and highly recommend NCIX. I was also very happy with the customer service when I asked them, after the order had been put through, to change the vid card for a different one- they were very good at e-mailing back promptly. They also have locations throughout Canada (based in B.C.) and you might be able to save on shipping if you are willing to go pick it up yourself. Cheers, C_G Very good advice CG. Quote
Mayhem Posted February 10, 2011 Posted February 10, 2011 You just need one of these, though I would maybe change the video card. http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/products/processors/productdetail.aspx?c=us&l=en&s=bsd&cs=04&sku=a3336421 Quote
Bucky Posted February 11, 2011 Author Posted February 11, 2011 Thx for all the input guys. @ BG-well now I know I'll need something better than the 5670 video card. As far as money goes,I could afford 3000.00 if I wanted t,but I'd like to stay around 2500.00.As far as Dell goes,to get into the higher end video cards I'd have to look at the XPS 91000 models.But they have pkgs that offer up to 12gb of ram.I'd be paying for excessive RAM just to get the higher video card.There's no way I need that much.I won't even mention the Alienware stuff.I also don't care if it's AMD or Intel. I'm wrestling with the question of "Do I spend the big bucks and go for a real high end card?"I guess I'm looking for some advise/info on what I need to run games on a near perfect level,and what would be considered overkill. @ CG I'll check them out,thx. B. Quote
Bucky Posted February 11, 2011 Author Posted February 11, 2011 Ok,I've been looking at NCIX and have been experimenting with some configurations.All of them so far are beating Dell's prices.Although I have no idea about compatibility between components,I'd like to run some ideas by you guys. "THE WISH LIST" Case http://www.ncix.com/products/?sku=53875&vpn=RC-932-KWN3&manufacture=COOLERMASTER Power supply 1. http://www.ncix.com/products/?sku=53719&vpn=CMPSU%2D850AX%20A&manufacture=Corsair Processor 1. http://www.ncix.com/products/?sku=55743&vpn=HDZ970FBGMBOX&manufacture=AMD Graphics 1. http://ncix.com/products/?sku=59247&vpn=EAH6970%2F2DI2S%2F2GD5&manufacture=ASUS 2. RAM 1. http://www.ncix.com/products/?sku=57078&vpn=CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9&manufacture=Corsair Hard Drive http://www.ncix.com/products/?sku=50895&vpn=WD1002FAEX&manufacture=Western%20Digital%20WD Motherboard 1. http://ncix.com/products/?sku=52675&vpn=CROSSHAIR%20IV%20FORMULA&manufacture=ASUS Cooling 1. http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/forum/hardware-canucks-reviews/34658-cooler-master-v6-gt-cpu-cooler-review-2.html Monitor http://www.ncix.com/products/?sku=56952&vpn=LS24X3HKFH%2FZA&manufacture=Samsung&promoid=1283 O.S. http://www.ncix.com/products/?sku=45271&vpn=GFC%2D00599&manufacture=Microsoft Quote
2. Administrators Jabo Posted February 11, 2011 2. Administrators Posted February 11, 2011 I think the key here is the gfx card. You really need 1.5gb of memory on the card, 2gb if possible. Top single gpu units at present are the nvidia gtx580 and the ati radeon 6970 (I think) although this market changes fast. Personally I'd go down the route of an intel sb chip and board (probably an ASUS p67 variant) for the backbone, but ask five people and you'll get five different answers. Dell in the uk have a reasonable reputation (for domestic customers anyway) but I much prefer to know beforehand what's going to be in the box. I'll struggle to get change out of £1k for the rig I want so you should be able to do better over there. Jabo Quote
1. DDz Quorum Pooka Posted February 11, 2011 1. DDz Quorum Posted February 11, 2011 Anther item, not that expensive but a very good idea, is a non-stock CPU Cooler/Fan. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103065&cm_re=Hyper_212-_-35-103-065-_-Product Something on this line, NXIC doesn't carry this, but others are just as good. Quote
Blairgowrie Posted February 11, 2011 Posted February 11, 2011 I really like the way this is heading Bucky. They are recommending some really good stuff that will last you a long time and provide a good upgrade path. That Corsair PSU is top of the line but worth it. I prefer the Intel mobo and CPU for bragging rights but the best bang for your money is AMD and will perform almost as well as Intel. I am also partial to ATI video cards and the one they have recommended will certainly run COD. What motherboard are they recommending? Quote
Bucky Posted February 11, 2011 Author Posted February 11, 2011 Jim, I haven't talked with anyone from NCIX.I've been doing my own research,learning as I go.I'm glad to hear I'm on the right path. I appreciate everyones input here. B. Quote
Blairgowrie Posted February 11, 2011 Posted February 11, 2011 If you are looking for a recommendation on a good AMD motherboard I would suggest http://www.ncix.com/products/?sku=51021&vpn=GA-890GPA-UD3H&manufacture=Gigabyte This is the one I am using with good result. Quote
Bucky Posted February 11, 2011 Author Posted February 11, 2011 I guess I could get that one Jim,if it's good enough for you it must be alright. I've added it to my list above. Quote
Snacko Posted February 11, 2011 Posted February 11, 2011 I have an old dell sitting around. But I agree with BG, it's hard to upgrade. The only memory that I could get for it was from Dell, and it was 3x more expensive than the standard memory on the market. Also, a friend of mine asked me to recommend a pc for her son. I recommended one of those prebuilt Kits so it had standard parts (not Dell propriatary stuff). Of course she ignored my advice, and got him a slim case Dell. The first thing he did was buy a better graphics card, which is too big for the case, so he can use it, but he cannot close his case now. Bucky, you could look at something like this: http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/category/category_tlc.asp?CatId=31&name=Barebones Quote
2. Administrators Jabo Posted February 11, 2011 2. Administrators Posted February 11, 2011 Further to my earlier post Bucky m8, my take on this is currently that while a high-end gfx card will cost you more now, consider your position two or three years down the line. Your card which is a monster today, will still be a polished performer then and so won't need changing for quite some time. Also, shop around for the best deals. I don't know the US/Canadian markets that well (at all really), so I can't suggest suppliers, but check for warranties on things you buy, most places only do 12 months, but with a bit of research you can find suppliers offering 24 or 36 months - peace of mind when you've pushed the boat out for an expensive bit of kit. You've got some nice items on your wish list m8 - keep refining it until you're happy with the performance/price. Jabo Quote
Mayhem Posted February 11, 2011 Posted February 11, 2011 Check this out, 3 way SLI, with the option to run RAID 0, threw in a case and monitor just for reference purposes https://secure.newegg.com/WishList/MySavedWishDetail.aspx?ID=19438007 Quote
Bucky Posted February 11, 2011 Author Posted February 11, 2011 I decided not to go with a Dell rig.It was fine for my very first purchase,but things have come a long way since then,and so have I (knowledge wise...sorta)..lol I think going for the high end grapics and processer is the way to go.I'm really liking the NCIX site,and your guys's advise really helps.I'll keep working on the wish list,and see where we end up. B. Quote
Blairgowrie Posted February 11, 2011 Posted February 11, 2011 Good news Bucky! Have you decided who will build it? If NCIX will do it and you can pick up the finished box from them, you will save a small fortune on postage for each item. Canada Post is getting out of hand. I may take it over if they are not careful. Quote
Bucky Posted February 11, 2011 Author Posted February 11, 2011 If I was to get them to build and ship it it would cost as follows... Build $50.00 Ship $65.00 Insurance $50.00 It's an 8hr drive to pick it up so that's out.I wouldn't use Canada Post,but Purolator Courier to my doorstep,hence the expensive shipping bill.Part of me would actually like to try and build it myself,but that won't probably happen.Although I have a friend or two who have done it before. I'm thinking I may have to go to a bigger case to have enough room for everything.....that video card is huge..... Quote
Blairgowrie Posted February 11, 2011 Posted February 11, 2011 You might consider a full size tower Bucky. This is what I have http://www.ncix.com/products/?sku=53875&vpn=RC-932-KWN3&manufacture=COOLERMASTER It has massive 230mm fans and is almost silent when it runs. Quote
Bucky Posted February 12, 2011 Author Posted February 12, 2011 At first I was thinking of this... http://www.ncix.com/products/?sku=37876&vpn=CSAZ%2D1000&manufacture=AZZA%20Technology but I like the look and description of yours too. Quote
.png.3326d5bbcb89fe2bcd3937259933ad13.png)
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.