Upgrade, Buy or Build?

BarkingPup · 05-30-2008, 05:20 AM

So I've been seriously considering my options in the computer category. I have one laptop at the moment (I plan to to get a small, crappy one that won't burn a hole through my flesh for typing but that's another story). The specs are in my signature (I don't know which ones are relevant.. I pretty much just copied...) I DO know I have one Gig of RAM and 160 Gig's of Hardrive.

I've never been much of a computer person. I can follow instructions, fix some comp problems on the family computer and hardware has always facinated me. However I'm pretty much a brainless zombie when it comes to computer stuff.

Keeping that in mind; I'm hoping to upgrade my laptop. The graphics suck on The Sims 2 and I just bought BioShock so I'm worried about my laptop being able to run BioShock without lagging or... looking like shit. I don't know if I need to upgrade my RAM or video card....

One day I'm hoping to run games on my laptop because I'm really a PC gamer at heart and most of the new ones on the market require some really top-of-the-line parts. Money isn't an issue and I'm willing to buy a completely newand different desktop computer if I need to. I'm also willing to build a computer... but I'm leaning away from that as my skillz are severely lacking. If I do need to buy a new computer it would be handy to know what precisely I need to run games and what is recommended etc.

thankies for the replies

~Pup

b3rt_d4ni3l · 05-30-2008, 05:12 PM

If the graphics are really bad when playing The Sims 2, chances are it will be even worse when you try to play Bioshock.

So, are you looking to buy a new laptop? Or build a desktop?
Sorry, I'm kinda lost cos you were talking about laptop one time and suddenly became a desktop or what not.

A quick fix to improve graphics quality in The Sims 2 is probably add the RAM to 2GB but that won't solve your problem either in Bioshock. So... I guess you could either get a better laptop with the latest GPU or build a desktop with a better GPU... Wait, this is what you are asking isn't it??? @_@

BarkingPup · 05-30-2008, 06:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by b3rt_d4ni3l

If the graphics are really bad when playing The Sims 2, chances are it will be even worse when you try to play Bioshock.

So, are you looking to buy a new laptop? Or build a desktop?
Sorry, I'm kinda lost cos you were talking about laptop one time and suddenly became a desktop or what not.

A quick fix to improve graphics quality in The Sims 2 is probably add the RAM to 2GB but that won't solve your problem either in Bioshock. So... I guess you could either get a better laptop with the latest GPU or build a desktop with a better GPU... Wait, this is what you are asking isn't it??? @_@

I know I sound confusing. Er... let me explain I suppose. I know that a top-of-the-line laptop costs a crapload of money even if it's not meant for gaming (which would cost a lot more money). Since I would rather not spend more money than I need to AND since I can't game at school or work I figure why not get a desktop instead. That's only if my laptop upgrades are useless, however. I mean, desktop's are WAAAAAAY cheaper than laptop's and you can upgrade them sooo easily. (Which is another thing I'm considering. If that new video card comes out and I need it to play Sims 3 it's not very likely a laptop can work with it... a desktop however...)

I'm willing to consider building my own desktop (Never a laptop, too much money for something I mostly type stories on...) but my skillz lack and I'd prefer not to.... or at least get a proffessional to do it for me...

Steelshivan · 05-30-2008, 06:45 PM

If you give us a budget we could whip a build or two up for you. Just a FYI, for around $600-700, you can build a pretty decent gaming computer. (tower only...no monitor, OS)

BarkingPup · 05-30-2008, 07:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Steelshivan

If you give us a budget we could whip a build or two up for you. Just a FYI, for around $600-700, you can build a pretty decent gaming computer. (tower only...no monitor, OS)

Muahahahaha, my budget is endless! No, no I kid. I would have to say the ideal would be under a thousand. I can go over... but, like, three hundred at most.

Moniter I can get easily. I don't know about the OS... I could just go buy a Windows XP from someplace that sells them maybe...

Cleric7x9 · 05-30-2008, 08:00 PM

didnt read the theard, but based on the title, BUILD!

BarkingPup · 05-30-2008, 08:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cleric7x9

didnt read the theard, but based on the title, BUILD!

That seems to be the more popular one

Steelshivan · 05-31-2008, 09:30 AM

I suggest an Intel E8400 dual-core processor for your cpu. (~$190) For motherboard, the Gigabyte ga-p35-ds3l would work great. (~$110) Video card...I would go with a Geforce 8800GT (~$160), or Geforce 9800 if you're looking for even better. (~$320)

There are better processors out there now, but I would save your money since you would see no difference when gaming, and the E8400 is a beast as it is. If you want a quad-core, the Q6600 (~$210) is a great processor at a good price point. Kind of a tie between that and the E8400, many people have different opinions as to which would be the best buy at this time.

I would suggest a quality 600-700watt power supply and the case is basically up to you. Seagate and Western Digital make good hard drives, just make sure you get Sata, rather than IDE. DVD burners are cheap, around $30.

Go ahead and ask any opinions on components and if you have any other questions we can help you.

BarkingPup · 06-05-2008, 10:38 AM

Steelshivan- thank you! That's such great info ^^ I do have one question; are there any websites that ship to Canada with all of that stuff? I could order it through our computer store but it gets ridiculously expensive and more than half of the employees don't know what they're doing. Unfortunately, it's the only store we have *sigh*

Does it matter what moniter I get? I've only ever had big clunky ones and the sleek design of the new moniters are really appealing... yet do they sacrifice performance for space like laptps? Or does it not matter?

b3rt_d4ni3l · 06-05-2008, 05:08 PM

You can try www.directcanada.com for online store.
That is the only one I know from Canada. Others might be able to give you more sites.

As for the monitor, some people still prefer CRT over LCD but people who are building a new rig usually go for LCD. Also for normal user, the difference in display quality is not noticeable I suppose. So in the end, it comes down to preference and budget.

As for a build suggestion:
Motherboard
Graphic Card
CPU
RAM
Hard Drive
DVD Drive
PSU

I didn't put case or monitor suggestions because I feel that would be up to you.
And the link that I provided is from NewEgg. Now NewEgg does not ship to Canada so you might need to shop around for a bit. But at least, this is a good starting point

05-30-2008, 05:20 AM	#1 (permalink)
BarkingPup Bronze Member Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Canada Age: 19 Posts: 36	Upgrade, Buy or Build? So I've been seriously considering my options in the computer category. I have one laptop at the moment (I plan to to get a small, crappy one that won't burn a hole through my flesh for typing but that's another story). The specs are in my signature (I don't know which ones are relevant.. I pretty much just copied...) I DO know I have one Gig of RAM and 160 Gig's of Hardrive. I've never been much of a computer person. I can follow instructions, fix some comp problems on the family computer and hardware has always facinated me. However I'm pretty much a brainless zombie when it comes to computer stuff. Keeping that in mind; I'm hoping to upgrade my laptop. The graphics suck on The Sims 2 and I just bought BioShock so I'm worried about my laptop being able to run BioShock without lagging or... looking like shit. I don't know if I need to upgrade my RAM or video card.... One day I'm hoping to run games on my laptop because I'm really a PC gamer at heart and most of the new ones on the market require some really top-of-the-line parts. Money isn't an issue and I'm willing to buy a completely newand different desktop computer if I need to. I'm also willing to build a computer... but I'm leaning away from that as my skillz are severely lacking. If I do need to buy a new computer it would be handy to know what precisely I need to run games and what is recommended etc. thankies for the replies ~Pup __________________ Acer Aspire 5100 Windows Vista Home Premium AMD Turion 64x2 Mobile Technology TL-50 (1.6 GHz, 2 x 256KB L2 cache) 256MB ATI Radeon Xpress 1100 HyperMemory 160GB HDD 4GB DDR2 Aka WILBUR

05-30-2008, 05:12 PM	#2 (permalink)
b3rt_d4ni3l Platinum Member Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Milwaukee Posts: 946	If the graphics are really bad when playing The Sims 2, chances are it will be even worse when you try to play Bioshock. So, are you looking to buy a new laptop? Or build a desktop? Sorry, I'm kinda lost cos you were talking about laptop one time and suddenly became a desktop or what not. A quick fix to improve graphics quality in The Sims 2 is probably add the RAM to 2GB but that won't solve your problem either in Bioshock. So... I guess you could either get a better laptop with the latest GPU or build a desktop with a better GPU... Wait, this is what you are asking isn't it??? @_@ __________________ The Rig: Intel Q6600 G0 Stepping \|\| Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro MSI GeForce 8800GTX OC \|\| GIGABYTE GA-P35-DS3R Rev. 2.0 Corsair XMS2 2x1GB 4-4-4-12 \|\| 2 x Western Digital SataII 500GB Lite-On w/ LightScribe \|\| Creative X-Fi XtremeGamer ASUS PhysX Physics Card \|\| PC Power & Cooling Silencer Quad 750W Black XION Onyx XON-301 Black \|\| Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium 32-bit

05-30-2008, 08:00 PM	#6 (permalink)
Cleric7x9 Diamond Member Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Palm Beach, FL Age: 23 Posts: 1,886	didnt read the theard, but based on the title, BUILD! __________________ CPU \|\| e8400 RAM \|\| 4GB corsair xms2 pc6400 800mhz HDD \|\| 2x WD Raptor 150GB 2x WD 500GB MBO \|\| EVGA 680i SE GPU \|\| Evga 8800GT Superclocked w/ Accelero PSU \|\| Silverstone 750 watt Case\|\| Antec p182

06-05-2008, 10:38 AM	#9 (permalink)
BarkingPup Bronze Member Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Canada Age: 19 Posts: 36	Steelshivan- thank you! That's such great info ^^ I do have one question; are there any websites that ship to Canada with all of that stuff? I could order it through our computer store but it gets ridiculously expensive and more than half of the employees don't know what they're doing. Unfortunately, it's the only store we have sigh Does it matter what moniter I get? I've only ever had big clunky ones and the sleek design of the new moniters are really appealing... yet do they sacrifice performance for space like laptps? Or does it not matter? __________________ Acer Aspire 5100 Windows Vista Home Premium AMD Turion 64x2 Mobile Technology TL-50 (1.6 GHz, 2 x 256KB L2 cache) 256MB ATI Radeon Xpress 1100 HyperMemory 160GB HDD 4GB DDR2 Aka WILBUR

06-05-2008, 05:08 PM	#10 (permalink)
b3rt_d4ni3l Platinum Member Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Milwaukee Posts: 946	You can try www.directcanada.com for online store. That is the only one I know from Canada. Others might be able to give you more sites. As for the monitor, some people still prefer CRT over LCD but people who are building a new rig usually go for LCD. Also for normal user, the difference in display quality is not noticeable I suppose. So in the end, it comes down to preference and budget. As for a build suggestion: Motherboard Graphic Card CPU RAM Hard Drive DVD Drive PSU I didn't put case or monitor suggestions because I feel that would be up to you. And the link that I provided is from NewEgg. Now NewEgg does not ship to Canada so you might need to shop around for a bit. But at least, this is a good starting point __________________ The Rig: Intel Q6600 G0 Stepping \|\| Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro MSI GeForce 8800GTX OC \|\| GIGABYTE GA-P35-DS3R Rev. 2.0 Corsair XMS2 2x1GB 4-4-4-12 \|\| 2 x Western Digital SataII 500GB Lite-On w/ LightScribe \|\| Creative X-Fi XtremeGamer ASUS PhysX Physics Card \|\| PC Power & Cooling Silencer Quad 750W Black XION Onyx XON-301 Black \|\| Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium 32-bit Last edited by b3rt_d4ni3l; 06-05-2008 at 05:11 PM.

05-30-2008, 06:45 PM	#4 (permalink)
Steelshivan Gold Member Join Date: Apr 2008 Posts: 264	If you give us a budget we could whip a build or two up for you. Just a FYI, for around $600-700, you can build a pretty decent gaming computer. (tower only...no monitor, OS)

05-31-2008, 09:30 AM	#8 (permalink)
Steelshivan Gold Member Join Date: Apr 2008 Posts: 264	I suggest an Intel E8400 dual-core processor for your cpu. (~$190) For motherboard, the Gigabyte ga-p35-ds3l would work great. (~$110) Video card...I would go with a Geforce 8800GT (~$160), or Geforce 9800 if you're looking for even better. (~$320) There are better processors out there now, but I would save your money since you would see no difference when gaming, and the E8400 is a beast as it is. If you want a quad-core, the Q6600 (~$210) is a great processor at a good price point. Kind of a tie between that and the E8400, many people have different opinions as to which would be the best buy at this time. I would suggest a quality 600-700watt power supply and the case is basically up to you. Seagate and Western Digital make good hard drives, just make sure you get Sata, rather than IDE. DVD burners are cheap, around $30. Go ahead and ask any opinions on components and if you have any other questions we can help you.

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