Where do you shop for PCs?

Garrdor · Post by **Garrdor** » Mon Oct 19, 2009 10:06 am

Over the years of posting on these boards I've probably posted at least 5-10 threads along the lines of "my PC went to shit, where do you guys shop?"

I went from having 2 machines that were running WoW (what me and my fiancee do) to both of them going kaput a month apart from one another (owning both of them for less than two years)- and having to borrow a friend's old PC. I'm not super tech-illiterate. I've tested the components for all of these machines that magically don't work all the sudden. Very rarely it's "Bad memory/video/powersupply/etc". It's my mobo every single time. I take more than enough precautions to keep my machine clean/static free/cool/etc. Maybe I just have bad luck?

Anyhow - I'm looking to get a PC that's not nessicarily a gaming box. I use my machine mainly for archiving movies/shows/music + running music-making/looping programs (fruityloops and stuff). I can afford $300-350 at the moment, and that's with me skimping out on the power bill here for a month - lol.

Any suggestions? I've been to Newegg. I've been to Pricewatch. All I can find are bullshit brand-prebuilts with 'integrated' everything. Maybe I'm not looking hard enough? I'm fine with using old technology. I don't need a quad-core proc or 8gb of memory. I just need something that runs, doesn't have the audio/video sautered into the mobo, and fits within the 300-350 price range (after shipping)

In the famous words of Leeloo from 5th Element:

Playyyssss Hallppppp. Plaaaaaaaaayyysee Hallppppp. *pouty-face*

Taxious · Post by **Taxious** » Mon Oct 19, 2009 10:17 am

I shop for computer shit online at newegg.com and locally at Microcenter. That sucks you are having so many motherboard issues, I'd say it's just bad luck though. I always have problems with printers and hard drives failing for whatever reason.

Garrdor wrote:I just need something that runs, doesn't have the audio/video sautered into the mobo, and fits within the 300-350 price range (after shipping)

Most motherboards I've seen have integrated audio/video but it's not like it's required that you use it. Hell - your standard case is fitted for a motherboard with on-board audio/video, why is it a big deal for you to get one without integrated stuff on it?

I'd say your best bet is to find a good deal on a computer locally (Microcenter, BestBuy, even WalMart!) as they sometimes have those "get you in the store" deals on decent pre-built computers there. Have you considered building your own computer? It's generally a much better value than buying one pre-built. It's also a great experience to find and buy all the parts you need then built up your machine from an empty case.

Harlowe · Post by **Harlowe** » Mon Oct 19, 2009 10:55 am

We always use Newegg and Microcenter.

Garrdor · Post by **Garrdor** » Mon Oct 19, 2009 11:06 am

No, I'm talking about those Emachines/Dellish machines with the graphics card sautered in.

Taxious · Post by **Taxious** » Mon Oct 19, 2009 11:16 am

Garrdor wrote:No, I'm talking about those Emachines/Dellish machines with the graphics card sautered in.

Integrated graphics = graphic card is sauntered onto the motherboard (pretty standard in most motherboards in my experience) but again, that doesn't stop you from just popping in another card into an empty slot on your moboard. Hrm... I'm probably just not understanding your question correctly or haven't seen what you are talking about I guess.

Embar Angylwrath · Post by **Embar Angylwrath** » Mon Oct 19, 2009 1:04 pm

Newegg.

Freecare Spiritwise · Post by **Freecare Spiritwise** » Mon Oct 19, 2009 1:22 pm

Newegg always.

And make sure with motherboards that you get the ones with the solid capacitors. The cheap kind leak after X amount of time, though it seems like you're either a) cursed or b) maybe it's not all bad motherboards like you think.

EDIT: And if one of us takes the time to make you a build, are you (or maybe a friend) proficient enough to build it? Getting the parts cheap doesn't do any good if you can't get it built, in which case I'd go to Costco and maybe buy a (shudder) pre-built HP or something.

Fallakin Kuvari · Post by **Fallakin Kuvari** » Mon Oct 19, 2009 3:39 pm

You can get just a Dell Inspiron 546 tower for ~$299 (with non-integrated video card) without shipping on Dell.com.

Select · Post by **Select** » Tue Oct 20, 2009 7:01 am

EDIT: And if one of us takes the time to make you a build, are you (or maybe a friend) proficient enough to build it? Getting the parts cheap doesn't do any good if you can't get it built, in which case I'd go to Costco and maybe buy a (shudder) pre-built HP or something.

^ Completely agree. You can find tons of older cheap parts on Newegg and build a cheap rig from there. I think that's the best bet, and likely the best quality since you'll have individual warranties on all the parts. Get a binder/folder/whatever and SAVE all that shit. Keep it organized!

Garr, if you're iffy about installing certain things, just google building a PC. It's so easy; I always compare it to Legos.

Select · Post by **Select** » Tue Oct 20, 2009 11:18 pm

I haven't PC shopped for forever and am a little behind on what's good hardware. There's this 200.00 dollar deal on Woot!, but I'm ignorant of the quality. It might be good for Garr, but he'd have to get it TODAY.

http://www.woot.com/Blog/ViewEntry.aspx?Id=9551

Taxious · Post by **Taxious** » Wed Oct 21, 2009 9:12 am

Woot has some REALLY good deals sometimes. Great suggestion Select - I forget about it sometimes.

Kulaf · Post by **Kulaf** » Wed Oct 21, 2009 1:03 pm

My current PC is a Dell XPS and it's really nice. The case is server quality with great cable management. It has bays and hookups for up to 4 SATA drives. The PS is SLI capeable. It's about everything you'd want for a gamer PC without having to go through the hassle of dealing with individual component companies if you have a failure.

*edit* Well I missed your price requirement of $300-$350. That is a might low end PC no matter what.

Fallakin Kuvari · Post by **Fallakin Kuvari** » Wed Oct 21, 2009 1:15 pm

You can also try outlet.dell.com

Kulaf · Post by **Kulaf** » Wed Oct 21, 2009 1:22 pm

I found ya an HP that came in at $349.99 + $29 for shipping:

http://www.shopping.hp.com/webapp/shopp ... mailconfig

Operating system Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
Processor AMD Sempron(TM) LE1300 [2.3GHz, 512MB L2, up to 1600MT/s bus]
Memory 2GB DDR2-800MHz SDRAM [1 DIMM]
Hard drive 320GB 7200 rpm SATA 3Gb/s hard drive
Graphics card 512MB NVIDIA GeForce G210 [DVI, HDMI, VGA]
Primary optical drive LightScribe 16X max. DVD+/-R/RW SuperMulti drive
Networking Integrated 10/100 Ethernet, No wireless LAN
Front Productivity Ports 2 USB, front audio ports
TV & entertainment experience No TV Tuner w/remote control
Sound Card Integrated 5.1 channel sound with front audio ports
Speakers No speakers
Keyboard and Mouse HP multimedia keyboard and HP optical mouse
Productivity software Microsoft(R) Works 9.0
Security software No additional security software

Embar Angylwrath · Post by **Embar Angylwrath** » Thu Oct 22, 2009 9:37 am

The RAM is kinda light, don't you think? Especially given the memory hogs that Microsofts OSs are?

Taxious · Post by **Taxious** » Thu Oct 22, 2009 9:49 am

Embar Angylwrath wrote:The RAM is kinda light, don't you think? Especially given the memory hogs that Microsofts OSs are?

Well, RAM is amazingly cheap and easy to pop in. I'm sure there are at least 2 slots on that motherboard and it only comes with 1 DIMM so that's a pretty easy upgrade.

Taxious · Post by **Taxious** » Thu Oct 22, 2009 10:11 am

Garr - Best Buy is doing a mega deal thing for the Windows 7 launch. You may find a good deal or two there:
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/offers/7-days/

*edit : lol@Japan!
http://www.engadget.com/2009/10/22/burg ... -in-japan/

Confirming our belief that Japan is at once among the coolest and craziest places on this planet we all call home is Burger King's exclusive Windows 7 Whopper. Seven stacked beef patties extend your usual Whopper to over five inches in height and the whole thing costs an appropriate ¥777 (or $8.55). It'll be available for one week only -- or seven days, get it?

Freecare Spiritwise · Thu Oct 22, 2009 10:16 am

Taxious wrote:
Embar Angylwrath wrote:The RAM is kinda light, don't you think? Especially given the memory hogs that Microsofts OSs are?
Well, RAM is amazingly cheap and easy to pop in. I'm sure there are at least 2 slots on that motherboard and it only comes with 1 DIMM so that's a pretty easy upgrade.

You don't want to just pop in another stick. There's probably timing differences. What you want is a matched pair, so in this case take the old stick out and put in two new sticks.

Hell, even matched sticks of the same make/model could have timing incompatibilities.

Also, remember that a 32 bit OS can only see a little over 3GB. For 4GB and up you need the 64 bit version of Windows.

Kulaf · Post by **Kulaf** » Thu Oct 22, 2009 1:37 pm

Umm....

Operating system Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit

It comes preinstalled with Windows 7 64bit.

Look, at the price he wants this to come in at you aren't going to get more than 3GB of RAM. Sorry but it's just not gonna happen. If he wanted to he could add another 2GB to that comp for $70 as an option.

Minute · Post by **Minute** » Thu Oct 22, 2009 6:28 pm

you need the 64 bit version of Windows

Correction, you need a 64 bit operating system, not windows specifically =P

Oh and if you want to watch for the best deals out there, just keep an eye on the front page of http://www.slickdeals.net I <3 it

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