Help Me! Getting a new computer

[CarebtheNarb]

2. Dell's desktops are a pretty good solution cause:

• Reliability

From what I've heard, Dell isn't very good. Everytime my family had gotten a Dell, there was something wrong with it, and had to return it.
So I don't know. The computer I'm using at the moment is an HP, and its pretty solid. So that's why I'm leaning towards an HP.

 

[Flurf]

From what I've heard, Dell isn't very good. Everytime my family had gotten a Dell, there was something wrong with it, and had to return it.

So I don't know. The computer I'm using at the moment is an HP, and its pretty solid. So that's why I'm leaning towards an HP.

You said newegg and stuff is out of the question? You could really get a strong desktop if you went that route.

 

[CarebtheNarb]

You said newegg and stuff is out of the question? You could really get a strong desktop if you went that route.

I suppose I could go that route, but what's newegg?

 

[Roman]

lol at poll results so far.

 

[Roman]

I suppose I could go that route, but what's newegg?

:p

http://www.newegg.com/

 

[[COD]MLGXx360NOSCOPERxX420WEED]

Currently, I'm using the family computer which I 'hacked(according to my brother)' in order to play TF2 and other stuff like *cough* pirated *cough* games.

Now that I have money and stuff, I can actually get a new computer for myself, so I won't have to fight to use the one I'm using at the moment. This will help me with my school work and projects and stuff.

First of all I have a budget. $700 is my max limit.

Secondly: Do I get a laptop or desktop?
Laptop: Portable(able to bring near piano to view difficult song), Cheaper

Desktop: Much more power, (I already have moniter, keyboard, and mouse at home, so no need to buy it), easier to repair

Because of my $700 limit, I can go for i5, or i7. No AMD junk. If I go for i5, its less power, and seeing as how fast technology is going at the moment, it will be obsolete in a few years. Surprisingly enough, I can now find i7s for $700, which is crazy, because I always thought that was a dream.

Ram: I like 6 gigs of RAM, but now I can't find anyone that doesn't have 8 gigs for an i7. Does it really matter?

I'm generally going to use this computer for things like schoolwork(projects) and TF2. And probably some games likes Skyrim(but not a lot).

Being Asian, my parent's don't trust shipping, and they love Costco. So shipping is out of the question.
Also they trust Costco with their life.

I'm just asking for general ideas and thoughts as to what I should get.

At the moment, I'm looking at something like this:


I like the 3rd gen i5 processor.

Any thoughts?

By the way, when I do get a computer, what should be the first things I should install(essential things, like antiviruses, don't say TF2 and Steam please).

Edit: No Dell. Seriously. Just no Dell.
Edit #2: I'm not going to build my own computer, sorry. No experience, and my parent's probably won't let it.

i5 2500k
8 gigs ram its cheap as fuck
buy an amd 6870, kinda cheap and very good, enough to max any game on the highest resolutions

 

[PsychoRealm]

From what I've heard, Dell isn't very good. Everytime my family had gotten a Dell, there was something wrong with it, and had to return it.

So I don't know. The computer I'm using at the moment is an HP, and its pretty solid. So that's why I'm leaning towards an HP.

I respect your opinion, but I've had nothing but trouble with HP laptops when my mother-in-law and my wife had them.

Why?

• No support whatsoever. First of all there is no CD coming with their laptops. If your OS crashes - you have to call them and it's almost impossible to get a hold off competent rep.
• They still put a single sink on GPU and CPU. My mother-in-law's GPU burnt down because of that and only option I had was to replace MB. For $400. Funny.

Now all my relatives own Dell. I haven't had an issue in the past 3 years.

 

[CarebtheNarb]

You said newegg and stuff is out of the question? You could really get a strong desktop if you went that route.

Ah OK, I miss understood.

I can't build a computer myself, sadly.

1. I don't want to screw things up, and get my $700 destroyed.
2. I'm lazy, and its summer. Don't really want to spend all that time shopping for parts and stuff.
3. I help out for Summer Camps at church, and I have one this coming week. After that, I'm going to Malaysia(a country in Asia) to visit family.
4. My parents would never allow me to build my own computer.
5. I'm not really looking for something extra powerful or anything. Just something to play TF2 and do homework.
6. If I get a pre-built computer now, when I'm in university or something I can build my own computer and reference with the one I'm going to get.

 

[Roman]

They still put a single sink on GPU and CPU. My mother-in-law's GPU burnt down because of that and only option I had was to replace MB. For $400. Funny.

I've gotten surprisingly good at repairing motherboards affected by this excellent design feature. That's another thread in itself.

 

[Flurf]

I've gotten surprisingly good at repairing motherboards affected by this excellent design feature. That's another thread in itself.

heat damage or adding more sink?

 

[Roman]

Adding more heat.

 

[PsychoRealm]

I've gotten surprisingly good at repairing motherboards affected by this excellent design feature. That's another thread in itself.

Where have you been 3 years ago, motherfucker?

 

[Roman]

I creep on Craigslist, buying broken HP dv2000/dv6000/dv9000 laptops and fixing them. I use a blowtorch.

 

[PsychoRealm]

I creep on Craigslist, buying broken HP dv2000/dv6000/dv9000 laptops and fixing them. I use a blowtorch.

So it was you who bought my dv9000?

 

[Roman]

Depends. Were you the asshole that thought it was worth $60 just for the motherboard?!?

 

[PsychoRealm]

Depends. Were you the asshole that thought it was worth $60 just for the motherboard?!?

I actually sold it for $100 :D

 

[ViperStriker]

If you're gonna start building anything, start with Newegg. What's your price range right now, Careb? We can go from there.

 

[CarebtheNarb]

If you're gonna start building anything, start with Newegg. What's your price range right now, Careb? We can go from there.

Like my original post, I have a budget of $700, and I'm not building or shipping.

Please enlighten me about Graphic Cards and stuff.

Personally, I don't play a lot of games that have crazy high graphics, the highest would probably be Skyrim(and even then I don't play on max settings for long periods of time).

Really, the only thing I don't really get is Graphics stuff. I understand fan, and the need to cool down the computer, but don't all computers have 1 fan built in?

 

[ViperStriker]

Like my original post, I have a budget of $700, and I'm not building or shipping.

Please enlighten me about Graphic Cards and stuff.

Personally, I don't play a lot of games that have crazy high graphics, the highest would probably be Skyrim(and even then I don't play on max settings for long periods of time).

Really, the only thing I don't really get is Graphics stuff. I understand fan, and the need to cool down the computer, but don't all computers have 1 fan built in?

Well $700 as a budget isn't going to get you much. I spent about $500-$600 on my ASUS AMD Athlon X2 220 with a GT 520 inside. The best you could possibly buy is an i3 or possibly an i5 core with and 6 GB of RAM. Yes, most computers come with a fan to cool the CPU and such, but investing in a GPU fan is a good idea. My stock CPU fan wasn't enough to keep my GT 520 cool during 8 or so hours on end of TF2, so I got a Antec GPU fan, and boom, problem solved. Graphics Cards are really necessary though. If you try to play TF2 with Intergrated Graphics, it's horrible. With a $700 budget, you could go for a $100-$150 GPU, so a EVGA GeForce product would be the best. A GT 520 would be a gret place to start, it can handle a lot IMO.

Here's my current build that as soon as I have the money for it (Been saving) I'm going to purchase and put together:

 

[butterfingersman]

Well, according to the specs:

• Graphics: Radeon HD 7450(I'm assuming this is the graphics card, right?)
• Graphics Specs: Dedicated Video Memory: Yes, Shared Video Memory: Up to 4855 MB

For reference, the computer I'm currently using is has a Radeon HD 5570.


Isn't having Dedicated Video Memory and Shared Video Memory(4855 MB worth) a good thing?

I simply looked at the reviews on the card on the computer listed and the reviews say that the card sucks. The memory isn't the only thing to look at. ;3

Like my original post, I have a budget of $700, and I'm not building or shipping.

Please enlighten me about Graphic Cards and stuff.

Personally, I don't play a lot of games that have crazy high graphics, the highest would probably be Skyrim(and even then I don't play on max settings for long periods of time).

Really, the only thing I don't really get is Graphics stuff. I understand fan, and the need to cool down the computer, but don't all computers have 1 fan built in?

Alright, I'll give you a few words on graphics cards.

• It's good if it has at least one fan mounted on it. The case's fans will not keep the GPU (Graphics Processing Unit / Graphics Card) cool enough. If a card runs hot, there's a good chance it will break or performance will suffer.
• A good card has 1 GB+ of dedicated memory. This is, however, not the only thing to look at. The amount of cores and whatnot are also important. Instead of reading the amount of cores and trying to find how good it is, I advise looking at the reviews. If they say that it runs cool and runs games fairly fast, it's a good card. You can find reviews on lots of cards on Newegg.com
• There is a difference between on-board GPUs and external GPUs. Some computers will advertise that their cards are great, but if it's an onboard card, it will be lackluster in quality.

Sorry, I don't know a whole lot about computers, but that's what I have to say on graphics cards. Again, the one I use is the MSI R6670 which is very cost effective if you're willing to invest a little bit of effort to add it to your computer. Otherwise, do as I said and research the card on whatever computer you will be getting. Your budget would get you far if you custom-build your computer, but with brand names, even a thousand bucks wont get you a great computer.