AboutBobbert Expertise General purchasing questions, in areas regarding price to performance ratios and future expansion, drawing from roughly a decade of experience and numerous unique situations for customers and myself, I'm willing to help you get the best computer for your money.
Experience I have been an enthuiast of PC's for many years, and can answer most questions about purchase of a new computer from personal knowledge or experience through other online Q&A services in advising on the same topic.
Question Bob
I looked at the links you sent me, that is a great system. I also noticed the one on page 2 of that article: (http://www.techreport.com/articles.x/16438/2)
Do you think it would be acceptable for my needs? Does this come with the OS? It is closer to my budget. I also found these on newegg, what do you think:
$549.99 CyberpowerPC Gamer Infinity 3312 Core 2 Quad Q8200(2.33GHz) 4GB DDR2 500GB NVIDIA GeForce 9500 GT Windows Vista Home Premium 64-bit - Retail
* Recommended Usage: Gaming
* Processor: Intel Core 2 Quad Q8200(2.33GHz)
* Processor Main Features: 64 bit Quad-Core Processor
* Cache Per Processor: 4MB L2 Cache
* Memory: 4GB (2x2GB) DDR2 800
* Hard Drive: 500GB SATA-II 3.0Gb/s 7200RPM HDD
* Optical Drive 1: 22X DVD±R/±RW Dual Layer Drive
* Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce 9500GT 1GB PCI-Express Graphics
* Model #: Gamer Infinity 3312
* Item #: N82E16883229090
* Return Policy: Desktop PC, Notebook, and Tablet PC Return
$489.99 iBUYPOWER Gamer Power 903 Core 2 Quad Q8200(2.33GHz) 4GB DDR2 320GB NVIDIA GeForce 8400 GS Windows Vista Home Premium 64-bit - Retail
* Recommended Usage: Gaming
* Processor: Intel Core 2 Quad Q8200(2.33GHz)
* Processor Main Features: 64 bit Quad-Core Processor
* Cache Per Processor: 4MB L2 Cache
* Memory: 4GB DDR2 800
* Hard Drive: 320GB SATAII
* Optical Drive 1: 20X DL DVD+/-RW Drive
* Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce 8400GS 512MB
* Model #: Gamer Power 903
* Item #: N82E16883227131
* Return Policy: Desktop PC, Notebook, and Tablet PC Return
I am a little intimidated at the thought of building one myself. Do you think I could build a more capable PC or one of these for a better price? There are some others on newegg with similar GPUs that have AMD X2 processors for a little less.
By the way, both systems i was looking at come with P4 cases 450/500 watts respectively, but I am not-so-impressed with those since looking around a bit.
Roger
Answer I would suggest building the system yourself, as it will save you money on labor (meaning more performance/features for your dollar), and allow you to choose better quality components as desired. I would give this a quick read: http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/How_To_Assemble_A_Desktop_PC, to gain some more background and a better footing before purchasing components from Newegg or a similar vendor (such as TigerDirect).
