Your help is appreciated. I am not into computers, but...

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mbg11

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May 9, 2013
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My cousin really is. Last night, he was the victim of a home invasion and the assholes stole everything, but not before beating the living crap out of him. Right now he's in the ICU with a punctured lung, and broken ribs. He also got a concussion when they hit him with a glass bottle. But, to add insult to literal injury, they took his first possession he bought with his own money 6 months ago. His first gaming computer, a laptop he bought for $800 bucks.

How many of you remember what your first major purchase was after you worked for weeks? For me, it was a 1992 Honda Civic with 180,000 miles on it for $2200. I got another 75,000 out of it before my transmission blew. still brings a smile to my face. Now imagine having just bought that something, just to have a complete stranger walk up to you, beat the shit out of you, and then rip it from your arms...

I can't erase that memory, and I'm sure he's gonna need a hall of a lot of counseling. But I can try to replace the computer that was stolen. What I am asking the community here for is nothing more than your personal opinion. I want to create the best gaming computer that is possible with $800 that is capable of running both League of Legends as well as Starcraft on the best graphics possible. I wish I could make it better, but, I am in college, and quite frankly, this was supposed to be for a gift for my girlfriend, but she'll understand.

The reason I am asking for your help is that, while i know a lot about corporate finance, I know next to nothing about computers. But I do know about business. Apparently, he bought it from a big box store, so I'm guessing, it was a stock computer that was priced up. Hopefully by building the computer myself, or having someone who knows what they are doing, do it for me, I can make a better one than he had.

Thank you for everyone who gives your assistance and/or appreciation. I really appreciate it, and my cousin will as well. Also, If this is in the wrong forum, I deeply apologize. I wish I could make it better, but I lack the financial support (I'm going to college and paying my way through). But if my entertainment has to suffer so my cousin can enjoy himself again, I can live with that.


Approximate Purchase Date: e.g.: this week

Budget Range: ($400-$800) After Rebates; After Shipping

System Usage from Most to Least Important: (gaming, surfing the internet)

Are you buying a monitor: No

Parts to Upgrade: everything, I'm asking for your opinion

Do you need to buy OS: No, i have a copy of windows 7 or 8 I can give him

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: the cheapest and most reliable

Location: City, State/Region, Country - Akron, Ohio.

Parts Preferences: I know Intel is good, But im looking for something with a budget, so again, the cheapest and most reliable

Overclocking: Maybe. Again, cost comes into play here.

SLI or Crossfire: either or, that can give me the best results.

Your Monitor Resolution: I can purchase one later

Additional Comments: Currently, he isn't into shooting games. He loves, LoL and has been trying to get into starcraft, but doesn't have the money to buy it. But it could be a birthday gift from me.

And Most Importantly, Why Are You Upgrading: Like I stated before, its a gift to my cousin. The idea is to either give it to him when he gets out of the hospital, or if he can't use it then, for his birthday party in a couple weeks.

Thank you again for your help,

Salutations,
Michael
 
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DaPotatoes

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May 7, 2013
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Cant help out with money but i can help out with ideas for getting the money and specs for a computer. http://pcpartpicker.com/p/WgaL this will do everything and its in budget. For the money part this is the wrong place to ask go start a kickstarter or a gofundme. These are fundraising sites that can get you this money easily. Go put up some pictures of your cousin in the hospital and give the story. Link your facebook and twitter and share to your friends asking them to share to there friends and so on.
Sites:
http://www.kickstarter.com/
http://www.gofundme.com/
 
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smorizio

smorizio

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Jan 22, 2010
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See if he has renters or home owner insurance policy it cover the cost of some of the items less his deductible. To me sounds like an inside job. One of his friends had to know he just got the machine. Do this contact your local computer stores and pawn shops. Most times if these guys needs money there going to drop the pc off there. Also have people look at crags list and eBay. If you have the laptop serial number call the vendor help line and report it stolen. The will flag it if someone sends it into for repair or uses the ser number for tech support.
 
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J

Jack Revenant

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Apr 16, 2013
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Let me just start by saying that I am deeply sorry that this happened to your cousin. I'm horrified that crimes like this still occur, and I hope that his attacker is caught and brought to justice.

Regarding the computer, we can definitely help you. If he was using a stock $800 laptop, he was probably getting roughly equal function to a $300 custom desktop. I'm not the best designer on this site by any measure, and hopefully someone more skilled than I will be here soon to offer their opinion, but here's what I would get at that price range:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-3350P 3.1GHz Quad-Core Processor ($173.99 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: ASRock H77 Pro4/MVP ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($82.55 @ Newegg)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($67.16 @ NCIX US)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($66.28 @ Amazon)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon HD 7950 3GB Video Card ($322.98 @ Newegg)
Case: NZXT Tempest 410 ATX Mid Tower Case ($39.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair Builder 500W 80 PLUS Certified ATX12V Power Supply ($52.99 @ Amazon)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer ($17.98 @ Outlet PC)
Total: $823.92
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-05-10 01:13 EDT-0400)

It should be able to max both SCII and LoL, easily.
 
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mbg11

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May 9, 2013
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Thank you for your help. I am not asking for your money or need help to get some. I have the $800 in a rainy day fund, so the money isn't a problem. As for the attack, I'm almost positive it had to do with his brother. The guy is a year younger than me (22) and owes money to the wrong type of people. The really scary thing is my cousin lives with my grandma and by complete chance, we were eating out with her (we asked him to come, but he said he had to do homework so we let him be). I can not imagine what would have happened if she was home when it happened.

The sad thing through all this is, he comes from a broken home. His mom is white trash and his dad is an alcoholic. He and his sister are the only one who have a chance now. We've tried helping his brother on many accounts, but instead of helping himself he went back to drugs. We just want to make sure my cousin doesn't follow suit.

In the end, while i will try to make it for him, I really don't know if I should, because sooner or later, if they don't move, it could happen again.
 
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Jack Revenant

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It's our pleasure, I assure you. This is the most noble cause I've ever designed a system for.

My cousins come from a similar place, right down to the drunken father (though their mother drinks quite a bit as well). I'm pleased to say that both of them have managed to find success and happiness, though it certainly wasn't easy. Never give up hope.
 
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DaPotatoes

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May 7, 2013
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That suck i feel for you same thing happened but instead of a break in it was my dads car's tires slashed. I went through and rebuilt a computer under your budget thats better http://pcpartpicker.com/p/WgJ9


PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/WgJ9
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/WgJ9/by_merchant/
Benchmarks: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/WgJ9/benchmarks/

CPU: AMD FX-6350 3.9GHz 6-Core Processor ($139.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Asus M5A97 LE R2.0 ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($73.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: Corsair XMS 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($49.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($59.99 @ NCIX US)
Video Card: XFX Radeon HD 7970 3GB Video Card ($359.99 @ NCIX US)
Case: Cooler Master HAF 912 ATX Mid Tower Case ($54.99 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: Corsair CX 600W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V Power Supply ($57.06 @ NCIX US)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer ($19.96 @ Outlet PC)
Total: $815.95
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-05-10 01:58 EDT-0400)
 
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Jack Revenant

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I must admit, I don't agree with this build. Pairing an apex-tier GPU with a lower-tier CPU seems a little unbalanced, particularly given that the differences between that 7970 and the Vapor-X 7950 I suggest aren't terribly large, performance-wise.
 
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D

DaPotatoes

Honorable
May 7, 2013
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PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/WgUm
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/WgUm/by_merchant/
Benchmarks: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/WgUm/benchmarks/

CPU: Intel Core i5-3470 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($149.99 @ Microcenter)
Motherboard: ECS H77H2-M3(1.0) Micro ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($58.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: Corsair XMS 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($49.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($59.99 @ NCIX US)
Video Card: XFX Radeon HD 7970 3GB Video Card ($359.99 @ NCIX US)
Case: Sentey GS-6070 Abadon ATX Mid Tower Case ($34.00 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair CX 600W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V Power Supply ($57.06 @ NCIX US)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer ($19.96 @ Outlet PC)
Total: $789.96
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-05-10 02:27 EDT-0400)



This i believe is best for him. I have used motherboard in build for a friend along with cpu this is best build the case is great as well..
 
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J

Jack Revenant

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Apr 16, 2013
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I have two problems with it: 1, that price assumes Microcenter access (which is the minor problem), and 2, it seems to me that you're scrimping on a lot for that GPU (which is the major problem). I tend to feel that you lose more than you gain when you have a $50 mobo, a $30 case, and $50 RAM with a $400 GPU, vs. $80 mobo, $60 case, and $60 RAM with a $320 GPU.

Edit: Also, if we're going to discuss this further, we should probably take it out of the thread. We're clogging it up a bit, at this point.
 
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