Hey folks, My desktop took a dump on me last week, So I'm in the market for a new one.
My basic philosophy on computers is to by the best I can afford at the time in the hopes that it doesn't get too obsolete too fast. I useally end up with "gaming" type computers as speed and graphicsare what I like to have. I don't game a lot, but those computers seem to be decent.
I have $1500-$1700 to spend. Just need a CPU, all my oter stuff is still good.
Hard drive space is not a critical requirement, as I have a bunch of drives lying around.
I'm thinking at least 1Gb mem on the GPU, I don't have any brand pref. nVidea or ATi obviously, any suggestions on cards? Assuming the same total mem, is two cards tha mch beter then one? (SLI, Crossfire)
I'll max the RAM on whatever motherboard I get.
Is it worth the extra money to go for a Core i7 over a Quad Core Chipset? I'd like this computer to last at least 5 years before being real long in the tooth.
If I skip Intel all together, which AMD chips are good and fast these days? Should I skip Intel chips?
My lat computer's death was at least partially a heat issue. Do the liquid cooling set-ups work a lot better then the high end traditional heat-sinks?
Lastly, any computer/brand suggestions? I can't afford alienware, The Dell XPS's will give me part of what I need, but at a cost premium. I'm not quite ready to build my own tower yet.
I found iBuyPower (iBUYPOWER: High Performance Custom Gaming Computers and Notebooks) while searching CompUSA's website. Are they a good deal? They seem to be cost effective in terms of components, as long as they are put together properly.
Thanks in advance.
My basic philosophy on computers is to by the best I can afford at the time in the hopes that it doesn't get too obsolete too fast. I useally end up with "gaming" type computers as speed and graphicsare what I like to have. I don't game a lot, but those computers seem to be decent.
I have $1500-$1700 to spend. Just need a CPU, all my oter stuff is still good.
Hard drive space is not a critical requirement, as I have a bunch of drives lying around.
I'm thinking at least 1Gb mem on the GPU, I don't have any brand pref. nVidea or ATi obviously, any suggestions on cards? Assuming the same total mem, is two cards tha mch beter then one? (SLI, Crossfire)
I'll max the RAM on whatever motherboard I get.
Is it worth the extra money to go for a Core i7 over a Quad Core Chipset? I'd like this computer to last at least 5 years before being real long in the tooth.
If I skip Intel all together, which AMD chips are good and fast these days? Should I skip Intel chips?
My lat computer's death was at least partially a heat issue. Do the liquid cooling set-ups work a lot better then the high end traditional heat-sinks?
Lastly, any computer/brand suggestions? I can't afford alienware, The Dell XPS's will give me part of what I need, but at a cost premium. I'm not quite ready to build my own tower yet.
I found iBuyPower (iBUYPOWER: High Performance Custom Gaming Computers and Notebooks) while searching CompUSA's website. Are they a good deal? They seem to be cost effective in terms of components, as long as they are put together properly.
Thanks in advance.
