Shopping for a PC

[Lees Warhorse]

Hey everyone,
Im actually computer shopping these next few weeks. Of course Im a pc gaming junky and am always playing SOW or TCM2... Ive noticed some threads on certain issues with new pc's and this game. Just wanted any recommendations on what to get or look for..Im not real pc savy so feel free to get as descriptive as possible. My price range is up to $1,500. Thanks look forward to hearing from everyone.

[BOSTON]

LW

First off;

Look at the forum's homepage, under FAQs, copy System specifications, that would help to have on hand while shopping.

BOSTON

[norb]

I used to always build from scratch. I still like to do that, but it takes a lot of time. So now I buy a barebones from HP or Dell. I make sure to get the motherboard and cpu that I want. Then I add to it from there. Putting in my own components. I also have a dell laptop that I really like, but it's not one of their wimpy ones, more like a portable desktop. I am very happy with my AMD quad phenom chip and it's much cheaper than the intel I chips.

[MadMan]

My current machine was built by iBUYPOWER.
Got a nice i7, nice vid card & lots of RAM for well under your budget.
Runs SOW with no slow downs at max. detail

[killroy]

I am very happy with my AMD quad phenom chip and it's much cheaper than the intel I chips.
Please note: although no board code and smiley buttons are shown, they are still usable.

And less powerful. ) You get what you pay for. Check out Tom's Hardware Processors page and you'll see the difference. )


Now down to a great machine that won't bust your piggy bank.

Core i7 920 quad core chipset

6gb OCZ 9 latency 1333mhz ram or 6gb OCZ 8 latency 1600mhz ram
(if you got the money to spare and burn get 7 latency instead of 9)

ATI Raedon 5770HD 1gb GDDR5 ram

Gygabyte X58 UDLR motherboard

500gb hitachi hard drive (upgrade this to 1TB as they are really cheap now)

Win7 64bit Professional or Ultimate as you'll get WinXp support in these OS models.

You can find this great gaming monster at Newegg or Ibuypower. Just look for the components when browsing. Since the i7 930 has taken the place of the i7 920 the 920 should be coming down in price although there's really nothing out there to challenge its power yet.

I got one of these puppies last summer for $999 from Newegg and it is an Ibuypower made system. Back then it was a 3gb 1333mhz system but with the $80 rebate they had I upgraded to 6gb instead. It will easily be under $1500. I also upgraded from an Nvidia 9800GT 500mb video card to the now very cheap ATI RAEDON 5770HD 1gb GDDR5 model. Mainly because Medieval Total War (old edition) and some Combat Mission games CMBB/CMAK won't run on NVIDIA cards over 7600GT.

If you want to burn the total $1500 then do it in the video card model. Check out Tom's Hardware graphics card sections and see which model you can afford at the higher level. I think the 4870 X2 would be the way to go if you can afford it. I personally think it is a waste to buy vid cards over $150 and max $200 as they come down so fast in price as the new ones come out. It's cheaper to buy a new vid card every couple of years instead of buying the top of the line ones for $500-$700 and they are the $150 cards in a couple of years.

[Lees Warhorse]

norb wrote:
I also have a dell laptop that I really like, but it's not one of their wimpy ones, more like a portable desktop.
Norb what model is this? thanks for the reply

Kilroy,Boston, Madman thanks for the info cant wait to start making moves

[norb]

It's the newer precision models, I have the M4400 that I bought from their outlet store. It's loaded. But they have even newer ones that I would look at today. You've got to go to their outlet store on line, just great deals.

[Kerflumoxed]

MadMan wrote:

My current machine was built by iBUYPOWER.
Got a nice i7, nice vid card & lots of RAM for well under your budget.
Runs SOW with no slow downs at max. detail

I can endorse IBUYPOWER! I am using one of their machines and have found it to be excellent. I called them and explained what I wanted.

I have a Quad Core AMD Phenom II X4, Liquid cooling, 8GB CCR3-1333 Memory, ATI Radeon HD 5850 1 GB, 1 TB Hard Drive and the game works just great!

Good luck in your hunt.

J

[Lees Warhorse]

Awesome thanks guys I wouldnt take advice from anyone unless they played this game :laugh:

[BOSTON]

LW

Are you looking into a bundle deal pc, monitor, printer? Went from a 17" to a Dell 24" flat, don't know the spec on it, it made one hell of a difference for just a few bucks more!

BOSTON