i will be purchasing a new pc soon.. i will be using it for watching movies, listening to music, and playing games like wow, counter strike and etc. its going to be basically a muiltimedia.. ive been shopping and the only thing that catches my eye is the dell xps 600.. with a pen d extreme edition with a 3.2 ghz processor, 1 gb of rams, 250gb hard drive, intergrated video card, and sound blaster x-fi sound car with the 20" wide screen flat monitor.. im looking at about 3200 for this system but i dont want to spend that much.. my budget is around 2500.. im not a comp wize but i would like some suggestions on computers... any computer recommendations.. or should i custom build one.. i was told its cheaper to custom build... so plz help me out

 

Go for an AMD processor for better performance and price.

 

open to new case ideas?



sorry I just had to post that...

 

do not buy a dell. go custom, building it yourself is best IMO. probably get it for the cheapest price and exactly what you want.

2500 can get A LOT better than that dell

 

I had a PC built by CyberPowerPC about 4 years ago. It is a loaded P4-2.26GHz w/ 512MB RAMBUS (whew remember them?? wtf), WDC 120MB 8MB, some 64MB video (which I later upgraded) - got it for $1k. The PC is still running like a champ and showing no signs of trouble - knock on wood. I did reformat it once because I think I installed too much damn software and hosed something. But that was a user issue, not the computer. That was a pretty good deal, imo. They have some pretty crazy cases now but I would recommend you check em out to at least see what they got.

Just checked out their configurator... they have tons of options - you can get the Raptor 10k rpm drives up to 150GB, for example - you can easily set em to RAID, etc. Crazy amount of video cards, memory, everything. Totally customizable.

 

ive heard about cyberpower from a friend and i looked at them and i kinda like the stuff they got... but im still shopping around... but i always had a pentium i dont think i want to go with amd...

 

Not sure about the newer dualcore processors, but for most of the processors released in the past few years AMD > Intel

 

With all that money I'll go custom. Head out to a Fry's (if you guys have one) and have a clerk help you out. With 2500 you can do a lot. Turns out you guys don't have a fry's. I get my stuff from newegg check out there website.

 

you can build one awesome system by just getting parts from newegg.

 

pentiums arent stressed as much. for the same transistor count, amd will be faster, but you can clock a pentium to match on your own. the factory clocking is just lower on pentiums

 

i just looked at cyberpowersystem.com and i like their computers anyone have any suggestions on which one will be a good deal..

 

$2500 will get you just about the sickest machine possible if you build it/ or customize it yourself

 

cyber power is pretty good. ive gotten a couple comps from there, including a laptop. my newest machine I built myself from parts I got from newegg. I would reccommend that if you feel up to the task. It isn't too hard if you take your time and follow the manuals and guides online

 

i think i might just buy from cyber power.. can someone build me an ideal computer.. i changed my mind my budget is around 1500 or maybe 2000.. but i feel i dont need to spend this much on a pc.. which is a waste of money...

 

I don't see a problem with Dell. Cyberpower I've never dealt with. It sounds like computing isn't a huge factor in your life, so spending around 1.5-2K is good, a custom build might be too extravagant for a moderate computer user. A custom build would be good if you know someone that'll throw it together for you for free and not having to pay a shop for labor.

Dell - Good option, really can't lose
Cyberpower - Good option according to previous posters
Custom Build - Best option if you have free/trustworthy guidance

 

I also forgot to say AMD>Intel. Dell for now is Intel only. Not a huge deal if your a moderate user.

 

i just custom build one on cyber power and it came out to about 1300 no monitor... a pent D 3.2 dual core 1 gig of rams 250gb hard drive on board sound card NVIDIA Geforce 6600 256MB graphic card and no speakers (dont need one) and windows media center 2005 as the os with water cooling dvd player and burner... it was a build from the Gamer Infinity XLC.. so if anyone can make a better one plz guild me through

 

Is there an option to remove the water cooling? If you don't plan on overclocking there is no need for it. No need for the extra cost and noise. The computer specs do look good for your use. What are your plans on the speakers and monitor?

 

My take on a rig from Cyberpower:

Bigger room-ier case (I chose the CM Wave Master)
Atlon 64 X2 (however much speed you want to throw $'s at)
AMD Certified Heatsink/Fan + 3 extra case fans
2x 512MB RAM (Corsair Value Select)
nVidia 7800 GT 256MB

Antec 550W power supply (debatable but I consider quality power a must-have)
250GB SATA drive

Creative SB Audigy SE (not a fan of MoBo sound)
Rounded ATA cable(s)

I did a fast-build of a system like this keeping everything else at deafault and came up a tick over $1,300.

 

I love newegg!

doopstr is right. Personally I wouldn't buy a Dell, Compaq or any brandname computer for that matter. For starters, they put a whole bunch of crap on your computer that you really don't want or need. My other computers that were store bought, I have formatted the hard drive and reinstalled a fresh copy of windows to get rid of that crap.

$2500 would get you a kick ass computer if you used that money and built it yourself.

I built one last year and plan to build another this year. I spent a little over $900 and got a PC that can run quake 4, doom 3 etc with no problem. I could have gotten it for even less but I bought some of my parts from Microcenter and paid too much. From now on all my parts will come from newegg.

Athlon64 3000+/Radeon X800XL 256MB/1 GB PC3200/200 GB HD/Sound blaster Audigy 2 ZS,/DVD burner/CD-RW.

going custom build is not much of a savings as it used to be, but if you buy at the right places you will still save. Plus you will be getting EXACTLY what you want.

 

you guys are right on.. i want a custom build pc but i dont trust myself and i dont have any guidance so i was going to just buy a pc built from cyberpower i was thinking pent d dual core but you guys all telling me to go amd... ive always had a pentium.. i also have 2 amd pc in my household and they run find.. but my preference is pentium.. i just might over clock it a bit

 

with your budget I would reccommend a 7800 GT and 2 gigs of ram. not sure about whats good intel wise, but if you go amd, an X2 3800+ would be good, or mb 4200.

here is what i built for like 1100, no monitor or OS:

antec sonata II with psu
epox 9npa+ultra
x2 3800+
2 gigs corsair value select
evga 7800 GT OC
250 gig SATA HD
NEC dvd burner

 

With a setup like that no doubt you're gonna be more than fine for a very long time

 

OMG I'm so gonna do something like that! I saw someone make one out of a garbage can on the cover of a PC magazine last summer. Gotta dig that up