XFX radeon 4890 question.

[vexion201]

Hey this is kind of like 2 questions in one so this seemed to be the place to post it, sorry if it isnt!

So i have this card http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150438&cm_re=xfx_radeon_4890-_-14-150-438-_-Product

And im getting a new pc, which of these 3 pc's would be the best choice for gaming with that card? (mainly world of warcraft, as in playing usually 50+ fps on max settings)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883147087
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883147098
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=5395927&CatId=114

Once again, sorry if this is in the wrong section!

 

[masterasia]

If I had to choose between those 3, I would choose the iBuyPower one because I don't like proprietary stuff from HP. The only thing I don't like about it is that it has 4 PCI-E X1 slots. What the hell are you gonna do with all that? But you can always buy a new motherboard and swap it out if you ever plan on doing CFX. It also comes with a nVidia GT 220 which is decent for World Of Warcraft.

 

[capt_taco]

Well, the third one is the only one that will run that card.

The first HP machine only has a crappy 300W power supply, so you'll need to replace it with a bigger one (I'd say 500W just to be safe) if you want to power a 4890.

The second HP is a slimline -- don't ever get anything that's slimline. All that ends up happening is you go "Hmm, can I do this upgrade? ... NO, because it won't fit in the slimline case." There are like 2 or 3 threads a day on here from people with exactly that problem. I seriously doubt a 4890 will fit. I also suspect it's got a crappy power supply, because slimlines usually do.

The third one is OK, although for the price, you could probably save about $200-$300 if you built it yourself from the same parts.

 

[vexion201]

Hmm alright, im not very tech-savy but looking at them again the other 2 have double the stuff that the ibuypower comes with, aka more ram more hdd, etc. What exactly makes it better? The graphics card isnt a problem as im using the xfx radeon instead of whatever it comes with?

Edit: Just read above post, ty!

 

[masterasia]

Well if you choose the HPs, then you'll need a new power supply to run that card. The iBuyPower computer comes with a large enough power supply to probably do CFX, although the computer doesn't support it. It also comes with a better processor.

Yes, the HPs offer more hdd size and ram, but it's HP. Hard drives are cheap. You don't want a large hard drive for your boot drive, it will only slow it down once you start filling it up. No one really needs 8 gigs of ram unless they're doing some intensive 3D work and renderings.

The iBuyPower looks like it will fit a full size ATX board for when you do want to upgrade and do CFX or something crazy like that. The HPs look like they will only fit a microATX board.

But what ever you do, don't buy that second one. There's no room for upgrade on that one.

 

[capt_taco]

Hmm alright, im not very tech-savy but looking at them again the other 2 have double the stuff that the ibuypower comes with, aka more ram more hdd, etc. What exactly makes it better? The graphics card isnt a problem as im using the xfx radeon instead of whatever it comes with?

The first HP has twice as much RAM, which is an improvement. The hard drive ... well, 750MB to 1TB is really not a hell of a lot of difference. Hard drives are like $50 for a 500GB drive and $100 for a 1TB drive these days; they're cheap and either one is probably more space than you'll use unless you put a ton of movies on it.

The ibuypower one has a better CPU and power supply, plus it comes with a better onboard graphics chip if you were going to use that.

But seriously:

Same processor + motherboard -- $230
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.320338

750GB Hard drive - $80
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136283

500W Power Supply - $40-$60
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817153113
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341016

4GB DDR3 1333 RAM (latency 7) - $100
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148339

Total: $450

now all you need is a case, which is maybe $30-$50. I also wouldn't really worry about more than 4GB of RAM right now. Yeah, 8GB may be a little better, and that may be where you want to end up eventually, but 4GB is still plenty these days.

edit: I'm an idiot and I just gave you a DDR2 motherboard with DDR3 RAM, but you get the idea. Look for a good combo deal and you'll save a ton over pre-assembled. Don't have time to look for another one, but hope that helps illustrate.

 

[paperfox]

Ibuypower one by far the best of the three. The second slim one is disqualified as its a lowprofile case, and cannot fit your 4890 unless you upgrade.

It has the fastest cpu out of all 3.
750 gb harddrive ties it with the slim but is 250gb less than the elite, not that bad of a con, can allways add another.
The elite has 8gb ram over ibuys 4, thats also not going to kill you as 4gb is going to last you for many years. Plus you have extra slots to add more when prices go down.
Lastly the ibuy has a 650w psu. Very important, the others only have ~300w psus so you save in not having to upgrade.

Realistically the elite is not that far behind, you will need to upgrade the psu upfront, but the ibuy one is the best plug and play / upgrade as you go along, which you will have to do with the others sooner or later.

Edit +1 to do it yourself, if its within the OPs power. You will also need to buy an OEM copy of windows.