Computer?

[zandperl]

I need to buy a PC. I attempted this last summer w/ help from kelsin, but I never got off my @$$ to actually buy it. I thought Newegg.com sold whole computers, but apparently they don't. I do not need a monitor or other peripherials, just everything that goes in the case. So what do I need to get, and do you have recommendations for which one? I

Comments

[l0stmyrel1g10n]

DON'T DO VISTA!!! i've heard nothing but bad things about it. it was seriously broken from day one. i've never used it myself...i've used XP and that seems to work fine. why mess with success?

you know, if you have enough space you could just dual-boot Windows on your Mac.

[zandperl]

Last time I tried it, it kept crashing in the games I wanted to play anyway. Since one of the top reasons I want a PC is for games, this does not seem a good solution to me.

[parrot_lady]

Vista also reccomends a minimum of 4 gigs of ram

[sirroxton]

ConureCam! That's pretty great.

NewEgg does sell headless PCs:
http://www.newegg.com/Store/SubCategory.aspx?SubCategory=10&name=Desktop-PCs

If you want to go that route, let me know, and I can try to help you pick something StarCraft-worthy.

If you want to go the component route, this guide is your best friend -- SERIOUSLY. Check out the budget box. All these boxes are designed for gaming.
http://arstechnica.com/guides/buyer/guide-200805.ars

[zandperl]

Oh ho! It does do PCs! It got any w/o the mouse/keyboard? Yes, I do believe that's the route I'd like to go, just b/c it's so much simpler than mucking around with parts.

I'd like under $1k ideally, and I should be able to get all the software I need for free from my work or T$'s, so I don't need to buy them or have them preinstalled. If they come w/ the box though, I won't knock it.

[sirroxton]

If you're not going to build your own, it's hard not to recommend a headless Dell.
http://configure.us.dell.com/dellstore/config.aspx?c=us&cs=19&l=en&oc=DDCWFAX&s=dhs

Upgrade to the E8300. Get the 2GB of 667. Get the HD 2400 XT. Upgrade to XP Pro.

Now, the 2400XT is not a great card. We may want to remove the video card altogether and order the Radeon HD 3850 separately on NewEgg for roughly $30 more. The HD 3850 has pretty low power consumption, but let me dig a little more and make sure that wouldn't strain the power supply on the Dell.

[sirroxton]

Or you could get the Radeon HD 2600 XT from NewEgg and actually pay less.

[always_going]

Starcraft 2 is something my new CPU, whenever I get one, needs to be able to work with, too!

On an unrelated note, do you remember a long, long time ago you recommended a hairstylist to me on Grafton St and I went and she was wonderful? Well, I can't for the life of me remember her first or last name (all that comes to mind is Laura and Sarah, neither of which is probably correct) and I need a haircut, stat, before I leave for Maine.

Any idea who I'm talking about?? Yeesh, these paint fumes must be getting to me....

[zandperl]

Jen at the Hair Spa

[sirroxton]

Ah, beautiful

Caitlin's

[anonymous]

Just built Caitlin a new PC. Got Asus motherboard with an Asus graphics card and DVD r/w drive. All work great. Sound card came with motherboard. For ram we bought G.Skill ram from NewEgg and I was happy with it (This is after Corsair from newegg which came DOA and Corsair got back to us about replacing it AFTER I already got my refund from Newegg.... gogo corsair).

I would suggest not doing wireless and running a cable for the desktop. Esp if you want to game on it, dealing with random interference lag is annoying, just my opinion though.

USB Slots will be on your motherboard, nothing to worry about there. Fans will come with the case (and one will come on the chip, and on the graphics card). So unless you are planing some ridiculous system and then going to overclock it you should be fine. You can buy a motherboard with chip attached but normally you buy both separate.

Any questions just ask, or shoot me a budget via email and I can show you what I would buy from newegg via a saved cart.

Re: Caitlin's

[kelsin]

That was me :-(

Re: Caitlin's

[sirroxton]

I'll second avoiding wireless if you can.

If you get your own components, you'll pay a little more, get a little less, but it's reassuring to 1) know that you personally evaluated every component and 2) have the fix-it confidence that comes from building it yourself. I would pay (and have paid) $150 extra to hand-build my own system. I consider that a neurosis on my part. If you don't share my neurosis, then I really can't recommend DYI. :)

You might find your concerns better addressed via IM. If you'd like, e-mail me your IM info (or we can just discuss this over e-mail). roxton@gmail.com