Great Computer Deal - So Far

[RebBugler]

I set this babe up this week running SOW and it kicks butt. I bought it for my wife, planning on building my own, but for now this one, besides being a great deal, is running SOW amazing well. So, I'm putting off my build for a while and am going to steal it away and enjoy it a while as I save up for a next generation build...already got Win 7 Pro to start with. Win 7 is selling out fast, better get your's if you're still with XP for Win 8 is moving away from PC gaming from everything I've read.
:unsure:
Anyway, this computer fits the bill for budget minded gamers...less than $600. Although it's labeled as refurbished, mine is brand spankin' new, just was warehoused for a couple of years due to over-stocking I'm guessing. For me it's perfect for SOW and a hugh upgrade from my XP system, only thing I had to add was a TV tuner card which I just gotta have as I switch back and forth from surfing and TV, or keep my TV displayed as I surf. This computer includes a decent graphics card, and especially needed it has an HDMI port, so dislplay on your big HDTV is, at least for me, A MUST. I'm getting a 47 incher for Christmas, upgrade from my present 42. SOW runs and looks great on these big screens as long as you keep the resolution at 1024x768...other resolutions are possible but reading text gets ugly then.
B)
Check out the specs of this recommendation, the only downside I see at present is 1st generation SATA capabilities, so adding a SATA II or III SSD drive is out, otherwise, this rig rocks.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6883256358

BTW, shipping is free and I got mine in 3 days.

[con20or]

Thats a nice spec for $600...

8 core processor (hadnt even heard of those!!), 10Gb RAM, 1GB GPU, the only bit I can compare is in the GPU, I had to replace mine two years back and got a 1GB!

[norb]

Just spent $900 myself today on parts to build myself a new box. Going with the Intel I7 3770K as the cpu.

[Davinci]

Reb, that is not a bad rig at all, I'm not sure why you think that the SATA is all that bad, I don't think that you will ever use that much HHD space.

You might lose a few nano-seconds but I doubt that you will even notice that. But, then again, I'm not sure what the advantages of a SATA II, or SATA III really has over the SATA.

But, HP Computers seem to hold up very well, I've had mine for four years now, and had another HP before this one that lasted for five years before upgrading.

davinci

[FLGibsonJr]

After reading these posts I was thinking that a lot of us build our own computers (which I do), or at least do a lot of upgrading. It would be nice to have a sub-category in the forums dedicated to building and optimizing PC's to play this game at its highest technical levels. I am sure there is a wealth of technical knowledge out there regarding PC's and this game and it would be great to tap into it or share it at central location forum wise.

Regards,

Gibson

[RebBugler]

Another nifty deal with this computer is that it includes an MS Office Lite version. This app includes Excel which works great for creating and editing .csv files used in SOW: scenarios, OOBs, etc. I've been working with it and don't even have to install my Office 97 version which I've used for forever. I really like how the 'undo' works as history, undoing and redoing back and forth numerous times...office 97 is limited to one 'undo' only. Still can't figure out how to split or arrange screens yet on the lite version though...anybody know?

And YEAH, what Gibson said!

[Col. Manning]

By the time I got my computer together a couple of years ago, I spent over $500 for a lot less than what RebBugler got. Goes to show how technology advances. Wish I was in the market now, but since my wife recently got a new laptop, our computer purchases are over for the moment.

I was thinking the same thing as Gibson. We need a sticky in a well traveled area of the forum where potential new players can check out the rigs of other players so they can see if their machines will handle the game. I've seen other forums where a post like that degenerates into a "mine is better than yours" thing, but I don't think that would happen around here.

Happy for ya, Reb. Developers need a good machine to develop on!