gamer795

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Oct 22, 2012
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Hey there,
to give you a little detail; I'm 15 and have been into PC gaming for awhile now. I play Counter Strike:Source(it's a valve engine so not demanding) and World of Warcraft. However; I would like to be able to play other games like BF3, GW2, Skyrim and the upcoming Assasins Creed.
As I'm 15 I have a limited amount of money with $700 on a total setup(monitor, PC, and OS). But I would like to spend as little as possible.

So, this limits my decision. Here are the computers I'm looking at:
CyberpowerPC Gamer Ultra 2121 at $559
A8-Series APU A8-3870K(3.0GHz)
8GB DDR3 1TB HDD Capacity
AMD Radeon HD 6450 1GB
Windows 7 Home Premium 64-Bit

Gateway DX4860-EF23P at $549
Intel Core i5 2320 ( 3.0 GHz)
8 GB RAM 1 TB Sata
ATI HD7350 graphics card
Windows 7 Home Premium 64-Bit

I could also build my own computer; I have absolutely no idea how to build one and have no knowledge on tech stuff(hence why I'm asking). Here are some of the options:
AMD A8-3870K 3.0GHz Quad-Core Processor or Intel Pentium G860 3.0GHz Dual-Core Processor
A-Data XPG Gaming Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory
Gigabyte Radeon HD 6670 1GB Video Card

but no OS for $400(I know about the motherboard, case and whats required ect. got the build from teksyndicate . com)


Help ? I have no idea what I'm doing haha. Thank you :)


I'm not biased towards any brands and building a PC would be a pain for me. Is the Cyberpower good? Thanks again
 

slicedtoad

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Mar 29, 2011
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I attempted to build an alternative to you jrgong but couldn't figure out how you got so much in there. The I released you forgot the monitor.

Here's a similar build but with the corners cut to provide the needed ~120 for the monitor.

Case:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811233072
HDD:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822236339
Monitor:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824254091
GPU:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814131482
PSU
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371033
RAM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231422
MOBO:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157335
CPU:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116397
Windows:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116986


$728 after shipping. I could reduce this the extra 28 if needed.

A few notes:
-windows 8 will be out in a few days, consider this.
-If the monitor goes off sale, buy another one prioced around $120 with 1920x1080 res.
-this build is considerably lower quality than jrgong's (case, mobo with less features, limited upgradeability, no ssd) but it will perform almost identically in most games.
 

excella1221

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Aug 23, 2012
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You're 15 and no knowledge at all on how to build a pc. You risk breaking some components and countless hours figuring out which one goes where, etc; and you might end up spending more money hiring a computer tech to do it for you.

If I were to pick, just get the Cyberpower. The 6450 is probably for hybrid-Crossfire with the A8.
 

slicedtoad

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Mar 29, 2011
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^I must thoroughly disagree with your opinion of 15 year olds. We have several key people on this forum under 15 that make make major contributions.
I've only been building since I was 17 but I was hacking xboxs for my friends since I was 12 and, were I interested, I would have been building computers.

Anyway, building computers is easy. Picking parts is a bit harder but that's what this forum is for. Provided the op doesn't mind a half hour of watching some youtube guides, he shouldn't have any problem.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_56kyib-Ls

The only disadvantage is that you have to provide your own tech support. It can be somewhat annoying to figure out which part is defective and then RMA it. But once again, internet forums (like this one) help with that. Also the chance of needing to RMA is fairly low.

Having to take a 6450 build instead of a 7850 build is like choosing a Honda civic to a mid level Audi. They both get you there, but you would never pay the same price for them.
 

excella1221

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Aug 23, 2012
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I did say "and no knowledge at all on how to build a pc"; he made that perfectly clear on his first post. What I said wasn't a general opinion. It was directed at the OP alone.

It was also part opinion and part suggestion, I'm giving my thoughts on how to make it easier for him and possible complications given his current situation.

Now if he doesn't mind the long hours of learning and other troubles he might get into, then all the better.

Also, the 6450 isn't a stand-alone card. It's there to be hybrid-crossfire'd with the APU. While that won't likely get him to the levels of a 7850, it should still serve decent fps in his games.
 

gamer795

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Oct 22, 2012
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10,510
wow thanks for all the support guys! I've opted to build my own now, I have a few friends who have built their own and a couple tech-savy uncles who have built computers.I've watched the newegg videos. A couple questions though; If I took $100 off the build(not OS or monitor) would it effect the performance significantly? What type of performance am I looking at now?

Also, anny tips on the actual build process? Jrong, thanks man, I think I may go with your build(if the $600 would be garbage, since I'm looking to spend as little as possible, maybe the $100 could go towars games ;) )
 

slicedtoad

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Mar 29, 2011
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You could still play all the games you want on the above build but it would be severely handicapped compared to the $700 one.
The first would yield high-ish graphics settings on most games and the above would be be low to medium.

Diminishing returns are not applicable until you go a few hundred higher so I would choose the more expensive build.

But either will play so if you don't care about graphics much...