Hey, its BurGroBro here friendly neighborhood hooligan. I was thinking of building a new PC because I am kinda tired of dealing with low frame rates for Skyrim and sluggish performance in Saints Row 3 on my laptop. Although I can just turn down the graphic settings, the main problem for me is heat. I fear it is going to degenerate the life of my laptop which I did pay a significant amount for in 2010. But that being said I am still not 100% sure if I want to build one just yet because my third year of University is around the corner and I am going to be somewhat overburdened with work, especially now that I am adding a Computer Science Major to my History Degree (odd I know but that is a discussion for an other time). That being said, I still have 2 months of summer left to enjoy my computer if I choose to make a purchace. Sorry for the long intro I just wanted to give you an idea of what my situation is right now. My brother might buy my laptop off of me for a couple hundred bucks and give me his non gaming laptop so I can have a computer at school so that may help as well. Anyways, now on to the meat. I am thinking based off of perliminary research that my budget for the desktop (not the overall package) should be around 700$. Its going to take a bit out of my pocket but I am working full time right now and if my Bro buys my computer then it should help quite a bit. Anyways, here is some of the hardware bundles that I was thinking of getting. http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1742213&Sku=B69-0500 I would need to purchase a video card and get that bundled with an OS as well plus I need a power supply. The only problem is that the CPU seems to be a bit dated but when I factor in OS, video card and everything else it comes to around 600$, well below my budget. That being said, will it just become outdated withing a mere 6 months from purchase. I want this thing to also last about 4 years which brings me to option 2. I was going to include an other bundle but I realized it came with a shit power supply which replacing it would bring me to a similar price to the next more powerful option so now to option three. http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1864495&Sku=B69-0518 When factoring in the GPU I want, the bundle will end up costing me around 700$ which is my budget so this is a very attractive option. The one problem I can think of is would I need a 6 core CPU? I hear that even Quad Core CPUs (which my laptop is running an i5 quad core BTW) is not utalized by windows nor its applications to maximum efficiency. So with that in mind would this be a good deal? Oh and here is the video card I was thinking of getting. http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=2042279&Sku=A271-7772 So yeah I do like these barebone kits but I can also buy parts individually, though there is a bit of a discount with these kits. So some lingering questions I have. It appears as though the AMD Processors are about half the price as intel, which is why I choose kits with AMD chips. What are your opinions on Intel vs AMD because I dont really know whats what right now. Same with ATI vs NVIDIA, though I hear with those cards its just fanboy vs fanboy in that debate. That being said I do have to favor ATI/AMD because my parents have stock invested in those companies (which means that is the tie breaker for me). So sorry that this post is a long read but I though it is better to give some detail as to what I am lost about when it comes to building a new system as opposed to just I WANT A NEW PC HELP!!!!!!!111!1!!!! Bottom line, I know how to build the fucker, just debating weather or not I should even get one right now, wait, and also what is the best value in hardware, so not necessarily the best hardware but best power/$.
Every day I Paruse the internet looking for good cheap Bundles for high end pc parts, because I am computerless right now. your best option is building on the barebones kit you linked $700 can build a beast PC if you manage it correctly.
newegg / amazon usually has the cheapest parts prices. Fry's electronics is also usually really good, and they will price match. However, I don't think they have those up in Canada, they should have them in Cali though Rom
I hate it when Americas complain about tax on your products. You have no idea how insignificant that little thing you call a sales tax is compared to the taxes we get on products over here.
I would ask around, see if people have old parts from there newly built pcs. Get a nice case for expansions and the bare minumum and when you're out of college buy new stuff and plug n play.
Like up the value added tax... In most European countries electronics are 10x more expensive then in the states.
I'm not complaining about the value added tax, California has great social programs because of the taxes.
With Taxes it will run me at around 800. I get paid that much tomorrow from my summer job but I still need to think about it. I think im down for it right now considering everything. Also I prefer to look and buy in store because they can help me. I think im 60% sure this is a good idea at this point. Oh and I'm waiting for a big fat check from the government amounting to about 1000$ which should come in at some point. May have to call about that one.
Would you like to buy a PC building kit for 2,500 usd? that's the cheapest i could find at the local electronics shops.
You live in Canada and it's a hell of allot cheaper over there. If i ordered parts online i would still be paying up towards 1,700 usd. Unless I order one part and get it shipped over here, ship it back and get the rest of the stuff put in the same box labeled Repaired. I could then cheat my way past customs evading tax and save the equivalent of a few hundred USD. Only problem is not allot of internet dealerships offer this service as it is illegal.
Ok so I ended up spending about 1200$ with taxes, OS, Monitor and everything. And this thing is nuclear powered let me tell you!
AMD FX 8150 Eight core, thats right 8 cores CPU EVGA G Force 560 2GB GPU 8 GB Ram 1TB HDD Thats all the specs people care about. Good for Rome Total War 2 which I and many of you are creaming yourself over right now!