Getting a new comp

[TheRedBaron 0]

Im going to be getting a new computer soon and was wondering what to get. I am considering getting a dell but was wondering if they are good gaming computers in general and what to look for in a computer that would be best for games.

[hellfish6 7]

I don't care for Dell, as they tend to force you to buy stuff you don't necessarily want (like a monitor). Check out Tigerdirect.com for systems or parts if you want to build your own. Also, if you plan on keeping this rig for a while, you may want to invest in an Athlon64 and at least a gig of RAM.

[Balschoiw 0]

Homebuilt comp´s with components from ebay and cheap i-net traders have proven to be cheaper and more reliable for me.

The complete systems you get offered at stores often have a good processor but outdated motherboards, slow ram, bad soundcards, bulk gfx and so on.

Dell is not especially my favour. In fact their computers are not really cheap and a friend of mine had some really bad Ram with it. The heatflow system failed after 2 months and so on. I don´t know but service and all that should only be necessary if comp is broken. If comp breaks down after 2months service is nice but I don´´t expect my comp to break down after that short time. They also have a hotline here in germany that you have to pay for.

No, I stick to handcrafted

[m21man 0]

I have a Dell 8300, and it's performed very nicely even in 8 hour long marathons .

Edit- Have you considered getting an Alienware computer?

[canukausiuka 1]

My family has experienced 2 Dell desktops and 2 Dell laptops. I've had very few qualms with the desktop (fan went out on one of them... replacement part w/in a week), but the laptops we got weren't as good. My whole screen got screwed up and the whole computer had to be sent in, and it always feels too damn hot. But I like them better than the Compaqs we had before.

One of these days I'll try my hand at making my own. Right now though I'm too lazy to bother.

[Cloney 0]

I have a Dell Dimension 8100, I've had it since July 2001. It's coming up on ancient but it does decently for OFP. I've had almost no problems with it, all of the problems with it were caused with me fucking with the BIOS, the Videocard, RAM, etc.

[blackdog~ 0]

If you are daring try looking for some nice Athlon 64 parts etc. All you need is an ATX case, motherboard, processor, ram, cd rom drivese, blah blah.

I've built 3 computers and they have all performed well.

[ag_smith 0]

I have a Dell 8300, and it's performed very nicely even in 8 hour long marathons .

(...)

8 hour long marathons? My homebuilt comp works 24/7 without any problems. If you know how to build a comp, you better do it yourself.

[Ironsight 1]

If you are daring try looking for some nice Athlon 64 parts etc. All you need is an ATX case, motherboard, processor, ram, cd rom drivese, blah blah.

I've built 3 computers and they have all performed well.

I agree with Blackdog built one yourself it's pretty easy, also done it myself

[MASTAKILLA 0]

get one of this www.alienware.com  or build your own.. everything else is  

[Placebo 28]

I get all my parts from Ebuyer.com and put them together myself

[Dauragon 0]

if you need a cheap good graphic card aim for the Ati Radeon 9600 XT 256 or the Geforce FX 5700

[Badgerboy 0]

I get all my parts from Ebuyer.com and put them together myself

Arghh eBuyer!

Only company I have ever encountered who replaced a duff CPU, motherboard, and RAM, with equally duff replacements.... TWICE!

Overclockers UK

Now these guys are class. Posties managed to snap my motherboard, a quick call, and I had another the next morning. Ebuyer took 3 FUCKING MONTHS! And the replacements were duff anyway!

[RED 0]

I get all my computer bits from either Overclockers UK or Dabs.co.uk, I haven't had any bad experiences with either of them - yet

RED

[Baron Hurlothrumbo IIX 0]

Yea build it yourself, don't buy dell or equivalent crap.

[Badgerboy 0]

Go here, and post that you would like a PC specced and priced for you. Give them a price limit, and specify if you want to go AMD or Intel. You will get a price list in a few hours.

(Only online shop I found with great forums! Shedloads of stuff on there! )

[OmniMax 0]

By the way, Dell doesn't have industry standard motherboard power connectors or power supplies. They're both a custom version of ATX, so if you use a ATX motherboard with a Dell power supply (or vice versa) expect to hear a loud pop (very much like a 5.56mm) and flames coming from both the motherboard and power supply.

There are ways to modifiy a non ATX to ATX, but it isn't worth the effort.

Also, 80% of Dell's and most other retailer's tech support (I called Alienware once, Indian dude) now resides in India, so if you ever have an issue you need to solve, you must learn to speak hindi.

On the otherhand, building a computer isn't all that expensive and is actually quite easy.

But who needs a better computer? My friend is playing OFP: GOTY 1.91 on his 1 ghz processor, TNT 2 32mb video card, 256mb SDRAM. Talk about crazy, that video card went obsolete when?

So hats off to BIS for making this game playable on my friend's really horrible setup.

So as Blackdog~, et cetra say, build it yourself, don't get lazy. It's worth the trouble.

   

edit: two late night typos, forum won't take special accent marks for maruk's name and ondrej's names, bah.

[Guest]

Occasionally I'm playing OFP w/ my laptop which is Dell Inspiron 8100 (P3 1GHz/Radeon 7500-m 64MB/512MB). OFP plays quite well with this setup, so you don't need hi-spec computer for OFP.

I'd say it's not a good time for buying Athlon64 since current socket-754 platform will be on the market only this year. You'd have to upgrade your mb too /w your next processor upgrade.

If I was going computer shopping now I'd go for:

- P4 2,8C

- 875P chipset mobo

- 1GB of PC3200 ddr memory

- 2xHitachi 7K250 160GB

- 8x dvd±rw

- Radeon 9600XT or GF5700 Ultra

- 2x Samsung 959NF if new monitor(s) needed.

[Ex-RoNiN 0]

Go here, and post that you would like a PC specced and priced for you. Give them a price limit, and specify if you want to go AMD or Intel. You will get a price list in a few hours.

(Only online shop I found with great forums! Shedloads of stuff on there! )

Those specs will be based on what is available in that shop though, not on what's available on the market!!

[Badgerboy 0]

Bah, if your not buying from Overclockers then your fooling yourself anyway!

[Ex-RoNiN 0]

Bah, if your not buying from Overclockers then your fooling yourself anyway!

Athlon FX-51: OcUK price: 560GBP

Amazon-Germany price: 669 Euro (460GBP?)

You were saying?

[Badgerboy 0]

I'll happily pay Å100 for good service!

Errr.... and a massage from the Don's.

[Ex-RoNiN 0]

Errr.... and a massage from the Don's.

I've heard that some of them bite

[Koolkid101 0]

Don't get a dell dimension 4300s cause you can't upgrade the video card.

[Supah 0]

If you have the skills necesary i would suggest building your own pc. Often times "factory machines" as i like to call them have crappy motherboards. I have seen recent ones which dont even have a AGP slot, just the integrated video chipset.

It may be fine now but in say 8 months when you want to upgrade you will be have to buy a new motherboard AND a new videocard. Getting a good motherboard is SO important, I would rather get a cheaper videocard then cut corners on motherboards.