Scourge of War Boards

Now accepting all new computer recommendations. Looking for something already built (or customizable) as I don't have the time or patience to mess with acquiring and assembling it piece by piece. I'd like it to be a gaming rig, and total price around $1800 (including a new monitor probably, not sure mine from 2003 will hold up too well).

I was set on getting a latop (the Sager NP8130 on XoticPC) but it seems like I could do much better with a desktop for that same price. However, if my search continues to be as much of a pain as it has been thus far, I may just give up and go with that. I don't really need the portability of a laptop, but it is at least laid out to be easily customizable and fairly little hassle.

Much Obliged.

I built my own, however, I got my dad and wife Dells, they're priced right, dependable and quiet. If you get a Dell, forgo their VGA cards and find one you like. Get one with lots of umpht and I recommend an HDMI port. Hook up your big screen HDTV and run SOW...can't believe some people still use monitors. :whistle:

RebBugler wrote:

Hook up your big screen HDTV and run SOW...can't believe some people still use monitors.

Your better half must be very understanding. If I tried that, I'd get an ultimatum, move or buy me my own big screen.

SouthernSteel:
Newegg.com has some good deals on gaming rigs at very reasonable prices. I doubt they come with the OS pre-installed, but it might be worth the extra effort given the price.

Also check Amazon.. I found my gaming laptop on Amazon for $200 less then it was going for at Bestbuy.

ASUS makes great gaming machines, Alienware is overpriced... Make sure you look at the graphics card. Some machines claim to be "gaming machines" but then you find that they have crappy intel graphics cards.

RebBugler wrote:

Hook up your big screen HDTV and run SOW...can't believe some people still use monitors.

Your better half must be very understanding. If I tried that, I'd get an ultimatum, move or buy me my own big screen.

SouthernSteel:
Newegg.com has some good deals on gaming rigs at very reasonable prices. I doubt they come with the OS pre-installed, but it might be worth the extra effort given the price.

The better half has the same setup in her cave, the kitchen...my HDTV is bigger though, fitting for my ManCave.

Yeah, Newegg Rocks. B)

Are alienware desktops any different than their laptops? I was warned away from the latter.

Alienware desktops are suppose to be very reliable. However, IMHO, they are grossly overpriced. And since LittlePowell agees, this point is beyond dispute. The better Asus motherboards now allow you to automatically overclock the CPU. No more fiddling with individual voltages. You tell it the speed and the board tunes everything. I think that was the only niche Alienware filled.

I know you said you didn't want to build your own rig, but $1800 and a couple of hours of work would easily be the equivalent of a 6K Alienware machine. Your talking top of the line everything.

How only a couple of hours? I guess I will take suggestions for a parts list too if anyone is that bored. I've already done some looking there but hard to get a consensus (plus it would require ordering from more than one place likely).

I've replaced a few things in this old Dell and have been in the case tons of times, but I'm by no means well versed.

SouthernSteel wrote:

How only a couple of hours? I guess I will take suggestions for a parts list too if anyone is that bored.

How top of the line do you want to go? I just built a new one this week and can give you a parts list. It's a fairly top of the line, but doesn't use Intel's latest and greatest. That costs $999.99. Wait 6 months for one of those and they cost $299. The best prices I find for any part is at Newegg. You'd only have to place one order.

Ok, if you haven't built a computer from scratch before, it will take 6-8 hrs. Your 2nd one will take 2hr and after that 1hr max. Remember, only 9 parts go into the case. And 2 of those are the RAM sticks.

Newegg also sells a complete part set for gaming rigs. You have to assemble it, but everything is there. I don't pay a lot of attention to those. But when I do glance at the parts list, they seem to be quality components.

$1800 is the top of my line, so that (I'm thinking new speakers and monitor as well). I'm not sure I have the patience to spend 6-8 hours fiddling around in a case, especially sans instructions. My current parts list on newegg is around 14-1500, so I dunno if I'm on the right track or not (used a suggested list).

I'm bouncing back and forth between buying all the components and having to deal with that headache and customizing one to be built for me. I can get the Alienware to about the right price range but I'd just assume not overpay for what I'm getting.