ibuypowerpc--good???

priestmer · Jun 5, 2009

Hi! I was wondering if you wonderful computer gurus could help me out. I am a teacher and have three children so I am on a budget--I love gaming and I want to get a new computer. My old one is five years old and has a crappy graphics card. I did not know what I was doing ---I am thinking of buying the following computer for sims 3, fable, elder schrolls...
What do you think?

iBuypower Gamer 528GN Gaming PC
AMD Phenom x4 9550 Quad-Core processor
Asus M2A-VM Mainboard
4GB High-Speed DDR2-800 Memory
20x DL DVD+/-RW Drive
16x DVD-Rom Drive
500GB SATA Hard Drive
Onboard Audio, LAN
ATI Radeon HD4850 512MB
NZXT Guardian 921 with ATI graphic + Blue Color Lighting
580 Watt PSU
12-in-1 media card reader/writer
Keyboard/Mouse

speedysim313 · Jun 5, 2009

build ur own computer, especially if you want it for gaming more than likely u will be saving $150-250 by building ur self. Cyberpower and dell and those companys that will "custom" make a pc to ur specs over charge certain things and they get the cheaper brand lets say for a graphics card or power supply. If you need help picking out products for the build just let me kno i can put together a nice budget gaming pc.

barney.stinson · Jun 5, 2009

priestmer · Jun 6, 2009

To be completely honest I am scared to build my own--I do not know who to have help me and there are so many considerations...

Also what if it doesn't work---I tried to upgrade my last computer and it never worked right after that.

bomberboysk · Jun 6, 2009

Ok, do us a favor. Read through this guide here, looking at the pictures and reading, and tell us how capable you think you would be of doing it:
http://www.computerforum.com/104641-how-build-computer-step-step-photos.html

priestmer · Jun 6, 2009

I have 3 young children--I do not see how I can do it.

Do either of these seem ok--for a busy tech wimp--who loves computers???

Cyberpowerpc.com Mega Special II $784
*BASE_PRICE: [+619]
CAS: New!! NZXT Beta Gaming Mid-Tower Case w/ 420 Watts Power Supply
CPU: AMD Phenom™II X3 720 Black Edition Triple-Core CPU w/ HyperTransport Technology
CD: (Special Price) LG 22X DVD±R/±RW + CD-R/RW DRIVE DUAL LAYER (Black Color)
FLASHMEDIA: INTERNAL 12in1 Flash Media Reader/Writer (BLACK COLOR)
FAN: AMD ATHLON64 CERTIFIED CPU FAN & HEATSINK
HDD: Single Hard Drive (500GB SATA-II 3.0Gb/s 16MB Cache 7200RPM HDD)
KEYBOARD: PS2 MULTIMEDIA INTERNET CONTROL KEYBOARD (BLACK COLOR)
MOUSE: XtremeGear Optical USB 3 Buttons Gaming Mouse
MOTHERBOARD: GigaByte MA770T-UD3P AM3 DDR3 770 Chipset 1666+/1333/1066 with PCIe slot SATA RAID MB w/GbLAN,USB2.0,IEEE1394,&7.1Audio
MEMORY: 4GB (2GBx2) PC1333 DDR3 PC3 10666 Dual Channel Memory (Corsair or Major Brand)
VIDEO: ATI Radeon HD 4850 PCI-E 16X 512MB Video Card (Major Brand Powered by ATI)
OS: Microsoft® Windows Vista™ Home Premium w/ Service Pack 1 [+104] (64-bit Edition)
POWERSUPPLY: 650 Watts Power Supplies [+61] (Corsair CMPSU-650TX - Quad SLI Ready)
RUSH: NO; READY TO SHIP IN 5~10 BUSINESS DAYS
SERVICE: STANDARD WARRANTY: 3-YEAR LIMITED WARRANTY PLUS LIFE-TIME TECHNICAL SUPPORT
SOUND: HIGH DEFINITION ON-BOARD 7.1 AUDIO

iBuypower Gamer 528GN Gaming PC
• AMD Phenom x4 9550 Quad-Core processor
• Asus M2A-VM Mainboard
• 4GB High-Speed DDR2-800 Memory
• 20x DL DVD+/-RW Drive
• 16x DVD-Rom Drive
• 500GB SATA Hard Drive
• Onboard Audio, LAN
• ATI Radeon HD4850 512MB
• NZXT Guardian 921 with ATI graphic + Blue Color Lighting
• 580 Watt PSU
• 12-in-1 media card reader/writer
• Keyboard/Mouse

Trio · Jun 6, 2009

bomberboysk said:
Ok, do us a favor. Read through this guide here, looking at the pictures and reading, and tell us how capable you think you would be of doing it:
http://www.computerforum.com/104641-how-build-computer-step-step-photos.html

Yeah. It really isn't that difficult putting together your own. It's really just like plugging the tv into the wall socket. You just have to learn about the interfaces on ther motherboard, like SATA, PCI-e, 24-pin power connector, 4-pin molex connectors, etc. But you also have to learn about each individual part of the computer, and compare specs to other hardware and make your choice from there.

priestmer · Jun 6, 2009

Was that english? You guys are great and I wish I felt capable--Actually I think if I had the money and my kids were older (now 7, 4 and 1 1/2) I would probably love the challenge--I love research (I know I am weird). For the past week I have researched video cards memory, processors, etc.. I just dont feel like I have the tech knowledge or the money to spare if I screw up.. I appreciate the suggestions though.

bomberboysk · Jun 6, 2009

priestmer said:
Was that english? You guys are great and I wish I felt capable--Actually I think if I had the money and my kids were older (now 7, 4 and 1 1/2) I would probably love the challenge--I love research (I know I am weird). For the past week I have researched video cards memory, processors, etc.. I just dont feel like I have the tech knowledge or the money to spare if I screw up.. I appreciate the suggestions though.

Yeah, not a whole lot of tech knowledge needed. A standard rig would prolly take less than 2 hours for a complete build, with kids, have someone take them to the park for an hour, between the car ride and the hour should have time to build a computer

Essentially the work you do is buy the stuff and put it together, we can help you with a parts list and whatnot

MorningWood · Jun 6, 2009

ibuypower is better than Alienware...THATS for sure.

But really man...these days its best to just build your own computer. Computer companies are overpriced and a PITA

You dont need much knowledge to put the computer parts together. The only hard part is actually putting the computer together. I was new to the whole building your own computer thing, and I learned A LOT through doing so and this forum.

CardboardSword · Jun 6, 2009

priestmer said:
I have 3 young children--I do not see how I can do it.

Do either of these seem ok--for a busy tech wimp--who loves computers???

Cyberpowerpc.com Mega Special II $784
*BASE_PRICE: [+619]
CAS: New!! NZXT Beta Gaming Mid-Tower Case w/ 420 Watts Power Supply
CPU: AMD Phenom™II X3 720 Black Edition Triple-Core CPU w/ HyperTransport Technology
CD: (Special Price) LG 22X DVD±R/±RW + CD-R/RW DRIVE DUAL LAYER (Black Color)
FLASHMEDIA: INTERNAL 12in1 Flash Media Reader/Writer (BLACK COLOR)
FAN: AMD ATHLON64 CERTIFIED CPU FAN & HEATSINK
HDD: Single Hard Drive (500GB SATA-II 3.0Gb/s 16MB Cache 7200RPM HDD)
KEYBOARD: PS2 MULTIMEDIA INTERNET CONTROL KEYBOARD (BLACK COLOR)
MOUSE: XtremeGear Optical USB 3 Buttons Gaming Mouse
MOTHERBOARD: GigaByte MA770T-UD3P AM3 DDR3 770 Chipset 1666+/1333/1066 with PCIe slot SATA RAID MB w/GbLAN,USB2.0,IEEE1394,&7.1Audio
MEMORY: 4GB (2GBx2) PC1333 DDR3 PC3 10666 Dual Channel Memory (Corsair or Major Brand)
VIDEO: ATI Radeon HD 4850 PCI-E 16X 512MB Video Card (Major Brand Powered by ATI)
OS: Microsoft® Windows Vista™ Home Premium w/ Service Pack 1 [+104] (64-bit Edition)
POWERSUPPLY: 650 Watts Power Supplies [+61] (Corsair CMPSU-650TX - Quad SLI Ready)
RUSH: NO; READY TO SHIP IN 5~10 BUSINESS DAYS
SERVICE: STANDARD WARRANTY: 3-YEAR LIMITED WARRANTY PLUS LIFE-TIME TECHNICAL SUPPORT
SOUND: HIGH DEFINITION ON-BOARD 7.1 AUDIO

While I must admit I agree with the other forum members about the superiority of your own build, I'm not gonna try and force it on you. The machine I quoted is the one I would get from the ones you listed. The 4850 is a very solid mid-range card, and I'd sooner take a Phenom II Tri-core over a Phenom X4, not to mention they overclock really well.

priestmer · Jun 7, 2009

If I was to build my own what should I look for in a processor. I know the speed is important but what else--what do all those stats mean????

Trio · Jun 7, 2009

Well, cache is the amount of memory the processor can hold before processing it. The processor processes things in order, and holds the rest of the informatio nelse where. So the more cache you have, the more it can process. So that's what's ment by level 1 cache and level 2 cache and level 3 cache. Leve 1 cache is used most often by the CPU. The size of level 2 cache has the greatest impact on performance.

The wattage just tells you the amount of wats the CPU consumes, and how much heat it produceses. A 135w CPU consumes more electricity and produces more heat than a lower wattage CPU

Stuff like 45nm and 65nm just means the size of transistors (switches to relay electrical signals) on the CPU. The smaller the transistor, the better because it's more compact.

64-bit and 32-bit is the bandwidth of the CPU "Data Bus". It means that the CPU can transport 64-bits of information to the RAM. A 64-bit CPU is needed for a 64-bit OS, like Vista 64-bit version.

Things like LGA 775 and AM3 is the socket the CPU is compatible with. CPU's don't fit into all sockets; they only fit into the kind of socket they are made for. So an LGA 775 CPU fits a LGA 775 socket, but not an AM3 socket.

A duo core means two CPU cores in one, Tri core is three CPUs in one, and Quad core is four CPUs in one.

Jamin43 · Jun 7, 2009

priestmer said:
To be completely honest I am scared to build my own--I do not know who to have help me and there are so many considerations...

Also what if it doesn't work---I tried to upgrade my last computer and it never worked right after that.

I wouldn't worry too much about that. I just overcame your fears last weekend with my first PC build. I stretched my budget to get an i7 - which was probably a few hundred out of my forecasted Price range - but in the end I wanted what I ended up building.

I was big time stressed b/c I thought if I screwed something up - I would be putting off getting another MOBO or CPU for about 6 months to save up again. IN the end - it was really simple. The most stressful part to me was hooking up the power cables - but it was really about as simple as This plug fits - here - so it goes here. 2 MOBO cables from PSU - Case fan hooks directly into PSU via MOLEX cables - HDD and Optical drive - PCI-e cable hooked direct into PSU - hooked into MOLEX cables - and you're up and running.

If your library has this book - pick it up
"Building the perfect PC" by O'Reilly publishing.

It gives you a good view of what you're looking at. Building a PC is pretty much plug and play - and if you have any questions while building - post on this site and somebody will help you through the question.

IIRC - I posted about 4 or 5 times with questions that popped up during my build where fellow boardmembers helped me through it. Google had most of the answers too if you run into a specific question / problem. It stretched a 2 hour build into a day and a half - but I was being overly cautious with my first build. I anticipate my second build will go alot quicker

The best part of building your own PC - is you get to take the fear factor out of your PC in the future. I don't expect to ever buy another DELL - I'll probably build every PC from here on out - and learn a little more each time I upgrade - tweak - overclock - read - etc.

priestmer · Jun 7, 2009

OK, I think I understood most of that--except where you were talking about sockets--the socket connects where and how do I know what I want?

Also like I said before I do not have a lot of money to spend but I still enjoy gaming. How much processor do I need?

Thanks for all the help

Trio · Jun 7, 2009

priestmer said:
OK, I think I understood most of that--except where you were talking about sockets--the socket connects where and how do I know what I want?

Also like I said before I do not have a lot of money to spend but I still enjoy gaming. How much processor do I need?

Thanks for all the help

Here's an LGA 775 socket on the motherboard:

and this is an LGA 775 CPU:

Basically, it's like fitting a square through a square hole; you have to find the right size. Because of the different number of pins on the CPU, different locations of pins on the chips, and probably different sizes of the CPU socket and CPU, CPUs have different sockets.

The kind of processor you want really depends on your budget and what you'd be doing with the computer. Well obviously, you'd want a modern CPU since most applications run best on modern CPUs. A typical CPU today would be a duo-core, meaning two CPUs in one.

Also, you have to choose which brand of CPU you want when you're on a budget. There's only two brands of CPUs: AMD and Intel. Right now, Intel is producing the best CPUs, however Intel chips aren't cheap. You could get an AMD CPU that's almost as good and cheaper than an intel. So say you want a duo-core CPU, they are usually around $150 for an Intel brand, but an AMD duo core is around $90.

If you want to game, you should go with a duo core. You'll also want to buy a graphics card, since they run better than a graphics processor integrated onto the motherboard. If you're on a tight budget, get an AMD.

priestmer · Jun 7, 2009

Thanks. Come back later I am sure I will have more questions.

You all have been very helpful!!!

tlarkin · Jun 7, 2009

If you work for a school system you must have IT people. Ask them questions, see if they can give you pointers, and perhaps maybe offer the guy a 12 pack of beer to build one for you.

I'd do it for a 12pk of beer.

bcoffee20 · Jun 7, 2009

if you still dont want to build your own theres a really respectable member here selling his computer in the for sale section and it has better specs than the ibuypower. you could also check newegg since they usually have some good deals

priestmer · Jun 7, 2009

How do you know what kind of motherboard you need?

ibuypowerpc--good???

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