Almost Time For A New Computer, Sick of Home Builds

B

BinaryCleric

Limp Gawd
Joined
May 25, 2005
Messages
193
Hey everyone, glad to see an active OEM board. This summer will be in the market for a new computer and quite frankly I am sick of home builds just because I don't have the time to play around with things when they break, I would rather just be able to send it back and have the manufacturer worry about it.

My question is what is a good OEM system for a gamer/software developer/game developer. I play Battlefield 2 and Unreal Tournament 2004 every now and then but for the most part I code and do 3D modeling.

Here is what I want:
Upgradeability (I don't want to be locked in with propritary hardware)
Good Tech Support
Not out of my price range (lets say $2200, w/monitor)

I would like to have an AMD system but I can live with an Intel. Any suggestions?
 
You should check [H]ard's recent series of full-system reviews...

http://hardocp.com/reviews.html?cat=OQ==

VM sounds like a very good choice but they were equally pleased with Overdrive's overall service, hadn't heard of 'em before. With a budget of $2,000+ you'll have plenty of choice though, Voodoo might be worth a look as well... Possibly Falcon Northwest but the last few times I've taken a look at them they've usually carried the biggest premium out of any of the boutique or smaller OEM builders. Maingear seems to have scored nicely w/[H] as well.
 
I am going to buy a new PC within the next... few months as well.

I am seriously considering Velocity Micro because of their good price/quality ratio. This would probably be my first choice. Customer Service looks good, too (you can get 24/7 service... but ya gotta pay). Be sure to read BOTH reviews of the Velocity Micro Gamer's Edge 1500 at [H]ardOCP.

I would consider also Pollywell, but I can't find much out about them at all.
Puget Systems have a real nice deal going (15% off), but the downsides are limited options and their customer support is supposedly not stellar- nice builds though, from all I have read.

Look here for user opinions.

Happy shopping! ;)
 
Wow that about serious issues. Thanks for the review Chris, I'll be seriously taking that into consideration when I buy my next system.

Does Falcon Northwest (I have liked alot of their systems in the past) do any of that bloatware crap or do they just give you an XP CD and Driver CD?
 
BinaryCleric said:
Thanks for the input guys. Question, how are the Dell XPS systems?
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A serious downside to Dell IMHO is no AMD processors. This can hamper your bang for the buck although many swear by Intel (please don't flame me here...). If you are interested in gaming in particular, this should factor into your decision.
 
BinaryCleric said:
Wow that about serious issues. Thanks for the review Chris, I'll be seriously taking that into consideration when I buy my next system.

Does Falcon Northwest (I have liked alot of their systems in the past) do any of that bloatware crap or do they just give you an XP CD and Driver CD?
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Falcon's systems are absolutely sparkling clean. Plus you get an XP disc and restore disc.
 
I could swear that the 'rumor' mill was that Dell will start build AMD based systems very soon.
 
I have been using mostly AMD chips, my laptop has a Pentium M in it but that was because I wanted a laptop with good battery life.

Those Boxxtech systems are a little out of my price range, but I'll keep those in mind for the future.
 
Tried to configure camparative systems between boxx and FNW. FNW comes out 500.00 more than boxx. Of course they use differnet lines of graphics cards and such but still the boxx is aimed at pros like yourself and for 500 less your getting, from what I have read and people I talk to, an equally clean and powerful system with tenatious support.
 
If you don't like messing around with stuff just keep your current one. It''ll play both those games fine. BF2 will just require a slight reduction of eye candy, but nothing huge.
 
You should certainly consider Velocity Micro, too. They are well reviewed, competitive for high end systems, are known for both gaming and workstation systems, and are a bit bigger than FNW or Boxx and have longer support hours, too. Yes, I'm a happy customer.
 
Another vote for the Velocity Micro 1500 system.

With $2200 I would upgrade to a second 6800 GS for SLI (performance slightly above a single GTX) and spend the remaining $500 on a 2005FPW.

I would also opt for the black case instead of blue, but that's personal pref.
 
I've had very good luck with JNCS; they build to order, very good selection of motherboards, processors, etc. All good brands. They assemble, burn in and provide good tech support. (Based on one question in two years.) Prices very reasonable. If they don't list an item, they can usually get it. Bought three from them so far...
 
Stellar said:
Another vote for the Velocity Micro 1500 system.

With $2200 I would upgrade to a second 6800 GS for SLI (performance slightly above a single GTX) and spend the remaining $500 on a 2005FPW.

I would also opt for the black case instead of blue, but that's personal pref.
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I'ld shell out the coupla extra bucks for a 7800 GT (instead of the 6800 GS SLI) and get another later, when the get cheaper... just my two cents. Lookie.
 
dajet24 said:
Just buy this

http://emachines.com/products/products.html?prod=T6420

throw in a pci express videocard and your good to go. Nothing at dell can match the core performance of that machine for that price.


Assuming you already have a monitor only thing u may get outa dell is some little flat screen deal but the pc will be inferior at the core.
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I wanted atleast an Athlon 64 X2 processor, I know it's a bit overkill but I don't want to have to upgrade for atleast three years. Also I don't think I'd get anything lower than a 7800GT for the same reason I want an X2.

Does anyone know if SLI is really worth it, or should I get one top of the line card?

I also need to get a new monitor, my old Samsung LCD is starting to show it's age. The bad response times and stuck pixels are starting to get to me.
 
kilgore777 said:
I'ld shell out the coupla extra bucks for a 7800 GT (instead of the 6800 GS SLI) and get another later, when the get cheaper... just my two cents. Lookie.
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Well, that's a possibility.. but taking into consideration the monitor/resolution he'll be using, the 6800 GS SLI would offer exactly the performance he needs at his current budget.

Going with a 7800 GT now would give him less performance for the same price now, and cause him to spend more money for an overkill video subsystem in the near future.

Just my .02
 
kilgore777 said:
I'ld shell out the coupla extra bucks for a 7800 GT (instead of the 6800 GS SLI) and get another later, when the get cheaper... just my two cents. Lookie.
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I agree, although I need 2 7800GT's to enjoy some of my games @ the native resolution of my 2005FPW.
 
Chris_Morley said:
I agree, although I need 2 7800GT's to enjoy some of my games @ the native resolution of my 2005FPW.
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Well, the OP says he plays mainly BF2 and UT2k4. Personally my system with a single 7800 GT pushes BF2 at 4xTSSAA/8xAF on my 20" Apple Cinema at the same resolution plenty well, and we know that UT2k4 is not as graphically demanding as that.

But if scalability is going to be an issue, such as if he foresees himself buying a larger LCD before his next box or if he plans to get into newer, more demanding titles such as FEAR, CoD2, etc he may want to buy a single higher end card to leave himself an upgrade path, however he may sacrifice some performance now.
 
troisanh said:
I could swear that the 'rumor' mill was that Dell will start build AMD based systems very soon.
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It'll be a cold day in hell imo. :p The rumor's been going around forever, I believe they actually sell AMD processors on their online store right now (to what end I don't know since that's been going on for a while and they still have no AMD systems) but that's about it. Then again, who knows, if Apple managed to partner w/Intel I guess anything's possible. :D


Stellar said:
With $2200 I would upgrade to a second 6800 GS for SLI (performance slightly above a single GTX) and spend the remaining $500 on a 2005FPW.
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Two 6800 GS are not gonna outperform a single 7800 GTX... They might best a 7800 GT but then again they'll also cost about $50 more (from what I see on NewEgg) and limit your future options, that recommendation makes no sense imo. If you want more out of a new system, step up to a faster card, simple.

SLI barely makes sense as an upgrade option, I don't think it's worth the up-front cost in most cases (unless you're going all out).

http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=2593&p=8

Tried to dig up some [H]ard data to avoid the cross-linking but this is all I could find, it's not exactly apples to apples as the 7800 GT is on an FX-55 and the 6800 GS SLIs are on a 3500+ but you get the idea.

http://www.hardocp.com/image.html?image=MTEzMTI1ODQxOGVvb2dTWTRYNjZfNl8zX2wuZ2lm
http://www.hardocp.com/image.html?image=MTEyMzIxMTgyMzFET3dWTno4VmhfMTFfMl9sLmdpZg==
 
Stellar said:
Well, the OP says he plays mainly BF2 and UT2k4. Personally my system with a single 7800 GT pushes BF2 at 4xTSSAA/8xAF on my 20" Apple Cinema at the same resolution plenty well, and we know that UT2k4 is not as graphically demanding as that.

But if scalability is going to be an issue, such as if he foresees himself buying a larger LCD before his next box or if he plans to get into newer, more demanding titles such as FEAR, CoD2, etc he may want to buy a single higher end card to leave himself an upgrade path, however he may sacrifice some performance now.
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Interesting, my 3800+ and 7800GT can't manage to do that...how CPU bound is BF2? I have an FX-60 sitting on the desk I may need to throw in there.
 
The performance difference has been shown to be quite substantial - unfortunately, so has the price.
 
BinaryCleric said:
Wow, thanks for all the input guys. How is the 7800GT compaired to the 7800GTX?
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The difference is one quad (essentially) which translates to about one AA level difference @ 1600x1200 in BF2.
 
The price difference however... It's a lot more substantial for some of us without deep pockets. :p Is slightly better AA when you're already gaming at high res with some AA worth $150 more (give or take)? Your call.

I just realized that there's not only two 7800 GTs for $275 after rebates on NewEgg, but there's one going for $250 after a $15 rebate... :eek: That's pretty tempting, heh, wonder if they'll drop any more after the G71s are out.
 
alienware is great with constumers, and they offer excellent features on excellent machines, but may cost you

velocity micro is another great company, better prices

Impulse said:
The price difference however... It's a lot more substantial for some of us without deep pockets. :p Is slightly better AA when you're already gaming at high res with some AA worth $150 more (give or take)? Your call.

I just realized that there's not only two 7800 GTs for $275 after rebates on NewEgg, but there's one going for $250 after a $15 rebate... :eek: That's pretty tempting, heh, wonder if they'll drop any more after the G71s are out.
Click to expand...

let's just hope

and sometimes when prebuilt companies offer 2x7800gts at deals, you can usually get the gtx cheaper with the ability just for that extra quad and overclockability and it pretty much makes all wrongs right again :p
 
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