For 1,500 bucks how does this desktop look.

[wizard21]

Hey this would be for some decently challenging video gaming, Skyrim, Minecraft, WOW, as well as basic video streaming and some pinnacle editing.

I don't have the courage to build it myself so yes I know I may be over paying to have dell do it but lemme know what you think.

Processors:
Intel® Core™ i5-2400 (6MB Cache) Overclocked Turbo Boost to 3.6GHz

Memory:
16GB Dual Channel DDR3 at 1333MHz

Video Card:
1.25GB GDDR5 NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 560 Ti

Hard Drive:
1TB SATA 3Gb/s (7,200RPM) 32MB Cache

 

[Nigelfrost]

NOOOOOOOOO. NEVER get a system from Dell- low quality components at an unjustifyible price.

 

[wizard21]

where do you recommend I go? as I said I dont have the courage to build my own

 

[Nigelfrost]

You can pick your at Tiger Direct and have them build the rig for you at a small additional cost- that same pc from them would cost roughly $700- less than half the price. Sorry for my earlier post, it is just that Dell have very bad prices.

 

[Nigelfrost]

You can pick your parts, sorry.

 

[wizard21]

haha no worries I knew I was over paying, but dell just seems so easy. I will check out tiger. Is it favorable to Ibuypower? I was looking at that site too but got scared because there were soo many options.

 

[Hobo82]

Alternatively, ibuypower.com and cyperpowerpc.com are decent sites. Not as much "selectivity" as buying your own parts, but you can generally choose from name brands.

Also, don't need 16gb for gaming . . . drop down to 8. think about 2500k for overclocking instead of 2400 as well

 

[evgarunner]

NOOOOOOOOO. NEVER get a system from Dell- low quality components at an unjustifyible price.

+1 Dell is horrid, even Alienware now that Dell took over the contract. Lowest quality components for a price they make you think is good.

As for your questions...

Honestly, if your budget is $1500...

Processor: i5-2500K $179.99 ($30 difference from the i5-2400)
Spend a few more bucks and get a processor that is MUCH better for your gaming needs. Also, it's unlocked, so in case in the future you want to overclock it to i7 speeds, you can.

Memory: I suggest you find an 8GB DDR3-1600 kit. I always suggest the Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3-1600 as a personal preference, but there are other cheap 8GB kits on the market. $49.99

Video Cards: the 560 ti is fine, but honestly, I would go with 2-Way SLI if you were going to use them. If you are looking for single card use, look at the GTX 570/580 or the Radeon 6970-6990. They are going to run you a bit more for a single card, but you will get more power of out them to run the games you want.

Hard Drive: The hard drive is fine, but I would suggest looking into an SSD if you got some money left over. That way you can run your OS at much faster speeds and have a backup drive for whatever else you find the use for.

 

[Hobo82]

+1 to evgarunner's reply

 

[wizard21]

Looking into Ibuypower now and alot of what your saying is achievable with my budget. Ive got the i5-2500k, the DDR3-1600 8gb Corsair vengeance, and a 60gb solid state (500 mbs write speed) as well as a terabyte of normal hard drive space. My question at the moment is should I get dual SLI GTX 560 1 gb or a single GTX 580 1.5 gb?

 

[wizard21]

Sorry to keep bombarding you all with questions but this is why IBUYpower scared me, there are like 2 dozen different motherboard choices.

ASUS P8Z68-V LX -- Lucid Virtu Technology

Gigabyte GA-Z68A-D3-B3

[SLI] ASRock Z68 Extreme4 Gen3 -- 2x PCI-E 3.0 x16

[SLI] Gigabyte GA-Z68A-D3H-B3 -- 3x PCI-E 2.0 x16, Lucid Virtu Technology

The top two are cheaper, but the bottom two are still within my budget. Anyone know what all these fancy numbers mean?

 

[evgarunner]

Sorry to keep bombarding you all with questions but this is why IBUYpower scared me, there are like 2 dozen different motherboard choices.

ASUS P8Z68-V LX -- Lucid Virtu Technology

Gigabyte GA-Z68A-D3-B3

[SLI] ASRock Z68 Extreme4 Gen3 -- 2x PCI-E 3.0 x16

[SLI] Gigabyte GA-Z68A-D3H-B3 -- 3x PCI-E 2.0 x16, Lucid Virtu Technology

The top two are cheaper, but the bottom two are still within my budget. Anyone know what all these fancy numbers mean?

Go with the ASRock Z68 Extreme4 Gen3 if you are going to SLI, if not, I'd go with the ASUS P8Z68.

Those fancy numbers are the part numbers to identify the part you are looking for.

 

[raptorxrx]

Building your own computer seems scary. Until you do it. I realize you said you don't have the courage to, but if you read some you might be a little more confident. You should definitely consider it though!

Read these.
http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/274745-13-step-step-guide-building
http://arstechnica.com/ask-ars/2011/04/how-to-build-your-own-computer-ask-ars-diy-series-part-i.ars/1
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/261145-31-perform-steps-posting-boot-video-problems

And if you do build it yourself and have troubles, you can always ask for help!

Those are the model numbers. I have the second one down and it works, but I would say don't buy it. You won't be able to SLI, although it will crossfire. You would be best off with either of the bottom two, I would say go with the ASRock. That is a great board.

My question at the moment is should I get dual SLI GTX 560 1 gb or a single GTX 580 1.5 gb?

Go with the GTX 580. It's one beast of a card.

Definitely agree with everybody, get the i5-2500k.

On the SSD I recommend the Crucial M4. It is highly reliable, and at a good price.

With your RAM, make sure to get Low Profile RAM. That will keep it from interfering with any heatsink you get.

~Raptor

 

[rozz]

Hey wizard,

You shouldnt be scared building your own PC. Buy your parts from a reputable website (newegg is best) and they will take the scary out of building a PC. You wouldnt know the hundreds of times people on these forums has accidentally screwed up and newegg gladly replaced/refunded the parts for them. They excel in customer service when it comes to that.

With that said, building you PC can be as simple as changing oil in your car. The forums here can help with any questions you have, we can even tell you what parts (links and all) to get if you want us too. We can guaranty you everything will work together and help you build it. Most likely however, you wont even need our help because building a PC is pretty self explanatory.

GL

~Atkins

 

[cbrunnem]

get the asrock extreme4 gen 3 board. asrock makes a GREAT board and you have two pcie 3 slots for sli or crossfire.

in regards to the gpus is that if you get two 560ti's that leaves you no room for upgrading later for more gpu power but a 580 leaves you a slot to buy another 580 later.

i too recommend buying your own parts and assemblying its relatively easy and we are a great source. its pretty rewarding and oh you save money.