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Computer death
14 years ago
General
3 years and 2 months after buying the computer that replaced my last computer due to it's bursting into flames, I've lost another computer a few days ago. This time to an apparent power supply failure, though it'll be a while before that's confirmed since this one is an HP computer and it has a propriatery <sp> HP power supply that I can't just replace with any ole ps bought from a store.
Borrowing my dad's laptop for the weekend so I'm not totally off the grid, but boy does it suck not to have internet and the abilities to hang out and game with all my online buds.
So since it HAS been 3 years, I'm looking into getting a whole new system, even if I do get that one repaired. I'm asking here for some recommendations from readers of this journal into a good, hardy system that's under $1,000. I don't need some amazing game machine that's over-clocked to the gills. Just something that I can run the various chatting apps like AIM, MSN, Steam, Skype, IRC, and Livestream while allowing me to play an old MMORPG like FFXI.
One of my local friends who's rather computer knowledgeable (He's all Microsoft certified and that stuff) tells me I shouldn't settle for less then a core i7 with 4 cores, 8 threads; 8+ gb ddr3 ram; 1+tb hd 7200+; and a graphics card that's 1gb nvidia 460gtx or better.
I have monitors and the rest, it's just the desktop tower I need. Though I saw some pretty sweet monitor/computer all-in-one systems when I looked at Best Buy and hhgregg. None were i7 though. :/
Borrowing my dad's laptop for the weekend so I'm not totally off the grid, but boy does it suck not to have internet and the abilities to hang out and game with all my online buds.
So since it HAS been 3 years, I'm looking into getting a whole new system, even if I do get that one repaired. I'm asking here for some recommendations from readers of this journal into a good, hardy system that's under $1,000. I don't need some amazing game machine that's over-clocked to the gills. Just something that I can run the various chatting apps like AIM, MSN, Steam, Skype, IRC, and Livestream while allowing me to play an old MMORPG like FFXI.
One of my local friends who's rather computer knowledgeable (He's all Microsoft certified and that stuff) tells me I shouldn't settle for less then a core i7 with 4 cores, 8 threads; 8+ gb ddr3 ram; 1+tb hd 7200+; and a graphics card that's 1gb nvidia 460gtx or better.
I have monitors and the rest, it's just the desktop tower I need. Though I saw some pretty sweet monitor/computer all-in-one systems when I looked at Best Buy and hhgregg. None were i7 though. :/
Also: Oh computer nerds... You dont do much beyond play games and chat with it. Is he aware of that? lol A dual core will do all you need it for too.
I've built two machines for myself and built my roommate's machine, you can do well if you shop around for parts. A friend of mine has a PC that outdoes mine (and mine is rather old, but was great a few years ago) and he bought the parts for a little over 700$.
Hope that helps some.
An i7 is a good idea, nice high end processor which will make things like FFOnline scream. That being said, you *might* be able to get by with an i5, and I would not settle for anything less than a high speed dual core. Quad cores are much faster, but they're also more expensive.
For all the things you're talking about, I would spec the machine to the games you want to play. That's going to be the most taxing part of the whole works. Running multiple programs just needs a dual or quad core processor and lots of RAM. The machine you were recommended would do everything you want very well, but might be expensive. Just some food for thought. :3
Also, HP sucks. Just my opinion. > .>
You get a new case that comes with a power supply for about $50. Then it's just a matter of transplanting the innards into the new case.
ArawnNox has the right idea.
Tom's Hardware regularly posts a series of articles, the "System Builder Marathon", which detail the best machine one can build for X dollars.
Follow the "$600 Gaming PC" build list. You can get everything from http://www.newegg.com
Have a computer knowledgeable friend help you put the parts together.
You'll save a couple hundred dollars over a retail computer, even if you have to purchase (or "purchase") a copy of Windows.
Overview: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/core-i5-fx-6100-overclock-benchmark,3099.html
The $600 Gaming PC: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/core-i5-overclock-performance-gaming,3097.html
I think they have some good pc deals. I'm a bit partial to PowerSpec. http://www.microcenter.com/search/search_results.phtml?N=4294967292+4294965234&Ns=P_RetailPrice&Nso=Ascending