New PC?

[Johnsonator]

I am in the market for a new desktop pc. I want the PC to be for internet, some picture and video editing, and some moderate gaming. When I buy I am going to be getting the pc, monitor, and a printer. In the past I have built my own pc but am hoping I can find a prebuilt system that will do everything I am looking for. I have looked at some of the higher end dells and other name brands and nothing has really stood out to me as the right system. The problem I am finding is that either a pc is built for gaming or multimedia but not many are do-it-all machines. What ever I buy I want to make sure that it will handle any game I throw at it. Any suggestions, Thanks

[Dbl]

Take a look at Cyberpower PC. I'm on my fourth one and if you are familiar with building you will probably find these systems to your liking. You start with base system and add all components that you want. They are not for new or in-experienced owners. You won't get a 12 step quick set up sheet to get you up and running. You get the PC you built and usually the motherboard box with extra components. You will get much more for your money than any pre-built system. Take a look and see what you think. Good warranty as well.

[harvey lee]

Stay away from the E-machines brand.

[JollyT]

Gaming machines are special animals. The focus is really on the video card or GPU. The newest high end video cards can double the cost of the rest of the build. Also make sure the power supply is large enough and of good quality. Most gaming machines die due to a stressed PSU which causes a voltage drop killing other components. Most any medium to high end processor will do. Get lots of RAM and a huge hard drive for video editing. Buy the most expensive GPU you can afford if you want your machine to run newer games longer.

Look up general nanosystems on the web. they are located on University Ave by the U of M, and will build you a custom machine without all the bloatware that an HP or Dell would come with preinstalled.

[Johnsonator]

Thanks for the info. Dbl, do the CyberPower PC's come with the operating system installed so basically they just need to be fired up? What would all of you recommend for a good video card that won't break the bank?

[Dbl]

You can opt to have the OS installed with Cyberpower. I usually do. They also do a I believe 48 burn in time to make sure your system is up and running and you have no inital failures.

As far as graphics cards go...that is a whole another can of worms. You really need to determine which games you run, whether or not Direct X 11 support is important, etc. etc. I think you need to be in the $150 to $200 bracket to get a decent card that will last you at least a year to a year and a half. Keep in mind as well the motherboard and processor you choose will have an effect on your video card choice.

That being said I'm a big NiVidia fan but Radeon has some great cards out as well. The NiVidia 260 is a good value for the money as well as some of the 4000 series Radeon cards. I currently run a 9800 GTX with 1 gig ram, its less than a year old. It runs everything I can throw at it but I will be updating in the next six months. Some of the 4000 cards are disappearing in favor of the new 5000 cards, but the lower end 5000 cards are in some cases slower than the older 4000 series.

[CJH]

2nd on the nVidia card. I have the same video card mentioned above that I got about a year ago, and its been great!! Play COH and Oblivion on pretty high settings and its been solid. Gonna ride this one out until I am ready for a new PC myself.

[Nick Kuhn]

The Radeon 5850 is an absolute monster and comes in at the standard $300 price point.

There are some older cards that will work quite well that fall in the $150-$200 range. Make sure you buy something that was in the high performance series, as even a modern midrange card can't keep up with an older top-end card.

The good news is video cards are really easy to get a price/performance evaluation on.

The GTX 295 is really a pair of GTX 275's and a 4870x2 is a pair of 4870's. The 5850 is a 5870 with some of the shaders disabled.

[GatorBait]

Cyberpower PC has decent rigs, I put 2k into one this past year. Unfortunately, I ended up getting a bad mobo after 1 month and then had nothing but problems with the company trying to get it replaced. A family member then bought a brand new one from them too, bluescreened out of the box, took over a month to get it fixed. Not sure if we just had bad luck or what, I have no complaints with the machine once it was finally fixed as it plays the most demanding games on the market.

Next time though, I'll be going back to a Dell. The last rig I had I bought 9 years ago and still runs no different. Replaced 1 stick of ram, rest is still factory parts. That's quality imho.

[Nick Kuhn]

Cyberpower PC has decent rigs, I put 2k into one this past year. Unfortunately, I ended up getting a bad mobo after 1 month and then had nothing but problems with the company trying to get it replaced. A family member then bought a brand new one from them too, bluescreened out of the box, took over a month to get it fixed. Not sure if we just had bad luck or what, I have no complaints with the machine once it was finally fixed as it plays the most demanding games on the market.

Next time though, I'll be going back to a Dell. The last rig I had I bought 9 years ago and still runs no different. Replaced 1 stick of ram, rest is still factory parts. That's quality imho.

Dell and CyberpowerPC are technically both assemblers, not manufacturers. The reliability of their PC's is dependent on the reliability of the parts sent to them. Dell has the advantage of volume so they can detect bad batches of parts sooner. If you go for CyberpowerPC, be sure to spend a little more getting a quality power supply, quality RAM, and a quality motherboard. Certain brands have better reputations so spend a little more to get those brands. Video cards all tend to use the reference board design so brand really isn't as important with them.

[Dbl]

Dell and CyberpowerPC are technically both assemblers, not manufacturers. The reliability of their PC's is dependent on the reliability of the parts sent to them. Dell has the advantage of volume so they can detect bad batches of parts sooner. If you go for CyberpowerPC, be sure to spend a little more getting a quality power supply, quality RAM, and a quality motherboard. Certain brands have better reputations so spend a little more to get those brands. Video cards all tend to use the reference board design so brand really isn't as important with them.

Well said!

[Johnsonator]

All good info thanks. I am a little leary of going with Cyberpower after reading so many bad reviews on other sites. I am starting to lean towards another Dell or just building it myself. Heres another question for you. If I get a dell xps 9000(not considered a gaming pc)with the i7 cpu and good video card can I expect it to be as good with gaming as a similar custom system or a Cyberpower system? I have always assumed it wouldn't be as good/fast because I assume that dell doesn't use components that are performance based. Also does anybody know of any MN computer shops that do builds that are affordable? I know of a few but the prices always seem to be double what I can buy the parts for.

[Nick Kuhn]

Performance is almost always either CPU or GPU bottle-necked as long as you have enough RAM. Things like RAM speed, motherboard performance, and hard drive performance will total up to less than 5% of the systems total performance (when comparing the bargain components you'll get against higher end components). The bigger thing with a self-built or custom built systems is flexibility down the road.

[Johnsonator]

So if I got a Dell XPS 9000 with the i7 920 with 6gb DDR3 1066mhz, and a GeForce GT220 it would be pretty much the same as if I built one myself with the same specs but better components? How would you rate that GPU? Does Dell use sufficent PSU's? Thier prices are very good now and it is tempting.

[solbes]

We got a Dell last year after I found a good Black Friday deal they had. Maybe $400 off and free shipping? We ended up getting a nice computer with exactly the options I wanted and without any of the options I didn't. We already had a monitor from a Gateway that died exactly 2 years into it's life. The whole experience was positive, and I will probably buy my next one from them as well.

[CJH]

I have about a 6 year old Dell that's been great (hopefully for two more years, knock on wood). I did upgrade the power supply when I upgraded my video card, just because of the extra draw, not because the old one failed.

[upnorth]

Wow 6 years....in the computer world that is a long time.

[CJH]

I know!! Its been a trooper! (Can't wait for a new clean one in a year or two, though)

Upgraded the RAM, Video Card, and Power Supply and I can still play games pretty well, even at a decent graphics level.

[JollyT]

For a MN shop I suggest General Nanosystems. I've had my last couple machines built there. I've never had any issues either.

The biggest thing I like about going that route is no trial software or proprietary software installed on your machine. Of course that garbageware is paid for by the companies who want you to buy the full version. Sometimes to the point that Dell or HP make enough to cover the OS license fees to MS. One reason they give you such a good deal.

[Nick Kuhn]

So if I got a Dell XPS 9000 with the i7 920 with 6gb DDR3 1066mhz, and a GeForce GT220 it would be pretty much the same as if I built one myself with the same specs but better components? How would you rate that GPU? Does Dell use sufficent PSU's? Thier prices are very good now and it is tempting.

The GT220 is an entry level graphics card not built for gaming. If you are looking at the dell that comes with the 21.5" monitor you'll need to upgrade the video card to the GT260 to play any sort of modern game at full resolution. They don't have any other options for video cards. The GT260 is a GT275 with some of the shaders disabled.

[Johnsonator]

Thanks to all. Now I have to decide what i am going to go with. I am leaning towards building to get exactly what I want at the best price.