Help me buy a new PC!

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Cincinnati, OH
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Hello everyone! As the title states, I am looking for a new desktop to do a few things. At the moment my MacBook Pro is just not cutting it for my gaming needs.

The things I need to do:
- Play iRacing on max everything
- Battlefield 3
- P. CARS and rFactor 2 when they release
- HD Video Editing
- Relatively small size

Currently I am looking at the $1249 version of the Alienware X51 because the specs look nice and the size of the casing is very very appealing for my small room in Tokyo. I had 1 question about it though, if I ever wanted to upgrade to a better graphics card, would I be able to?

For those of you that know a lot about computers, is there something out there at a similar size, power, and price range as the X51? If so, do let me know. Building my own computer is out of the question as well, I just would not be able to put one together.

Hopefully I get some good help on the topic. Thanks in advance to those that assist.

- Kamuifanboy

As most of you know, I have decided to take a leap of faith and build my own PC. The specs of what I have so far will be in a list below. As for what I need the computer to do, everything that is listed above, along with lasting me at least 1.5 years without needing any upgrades.

- Intel Core i7 3700K LGA 1155 Boxed Processor ($229.99)
- PCU Aftermarket Cooler
- ASrock Z77 Extreme4 LGA 1155 Z77 ATX Intel Motherboard ($134.99)
- Samsung 128 GB SSD
- Seagate Barracuda 2TB 7,200 RPM SATA 6.0GB/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive STBD2000101 ($109.99)
- Corsair Vengeance Series 8GB DDR3-1600 PC3-12800) CL9 Dual Channel Desktop Memory Kit Two 4GB Memory Modules) ($52.99)
- MSI GTX 660 Ti 2GB Graphics Card ($309.99)
- Antec 650 Watt Power Supply ($130.00)
- MSI Interceptor Series Stealth ATX Mid Tower Computer Case ($79.99)
- LG Super Multi DVD Re-Writer ($29.99)
- Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-bit OEM PC) ($109.99)
 
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What makes you think/say this?

Also stay well away from Alienware, they're the Macs of PCs.

I second this.

My mate has an Alienware gaming laptop and my little wee Compaq with an AMD APU keeps up with it on most games. :D
 
What makes you think/say this?

Also stay well away from Alienware, they're the Macs of PCs.

And a third. See if you can get something prebuilt or built at a local computer store. For those necesseties, you're defernatly going to have to see if you can stretch your budget some. Not asking for a billion bucks, just need a few hundred more to get something that will last longer than 30 seconds. Everyone else here is better at suggesting hardware, but what I said is more than likely plausible.

EDIT: In addition to that, the X51 simply wouldn't handle what you're asking anyway, so getting it prebuilt is just logical.
 
What makes you think/say this?

Because I have tried it in the past, and had to get my friend to help me. This time, I'm in a different country than that friend and, all of my friends in this new country know less than Computers about me. And I know next to nothing.


And a third. See if you can get something prebuilt or built at a local computer store. For those necesseties, you're defernatly going to have to see if you can stretch your budget some. Not asking for a billion bucks, just need a few hundred more to get something that will last longer than 30 seconds. Everyone else here is better at suggesting hardware, but what I said is more than likely plausible.

EDIT: In addition to that, the X51 simply wouldn't handle what you're asking anyway, so getting it prebuilt is just logical.

A bit complicated for me as I don't speak well enough Japanese to pull that sort of thing off. Are you so sure that the Specs on that X51 are not good enough to do what I am asking? I can run near max on iRacing with my MacBook Pro that only has a 2GHz i7, 4GB Ram, and AMD Radeon HD 6490M 256 MB Graphics card in it.

In the past, I know a lot of my friends have looked into Asus computers for gaming laptops but, how are their desktops?

*EDIT*
The top two in the link below look tasty.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&DEPA=0&Order=BESTMATCH&N=-1&isNodeId=1&Description=asus+cm6870
 
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Is this comparison to the X51 or the Asus that I suggested?

I compared to the Asus desktop you linked. I'm not sure if the X51 is a better system for the money, but personally I wouldn't buy Alienware, nearly everything on Newegg is refurbished.
 
I compared to the Asus desktop you linked. I'm not sure if the X51 is a better system for the money, but personally I wouldn't buy Alienware, nearly everything on Newegg is refurbished.

I wasn't planning on buying refurbished but, does Newegg tell you if they are refurbished? $999 seems too good of a price for those Asus CM6870's at a brand new price but, it doesn't say refurbished anywhere.
 
Nope. All of those Asus computers are new. Or else you would of seen "Refurbished" in the "Useful Links" of the "Narrow Results" tab
 
Are you in Japan at the moment? If so, and you can save up a little extra[400USD] one of these would probably be your best option. http://jp.gateway.com/gw/ja/JP/content/model/DT.GD5SJ.001

Can get it straight from Amazon.co.jp for ¥ 129,800 http://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/B008UKV0QA/

Comes with an i7 3770, 16GB RAM, GTX660, and a 1TB HDD. Pretty much all you'll ever need. Gateway is really good about their performance line of desktops and I have one from 08-ish that is still running like new.
 
I wasn't planning on buying refurbished but, does Newegg tell you if they are refurbished? $999 seems too good of a price for those Asus CM6870's at a brand new price but, it doesn't say refurbished anywhere.

I meant those Alienware computers in Newegg are mostly refurbished, not Asus computers.

You'll get a better graphics card and computer chassis with the CyberpowerPC I linked earlier. I'm very sure GTX560 easily runs past both GT620 and GT545 in gaming performance.

I'm a bit uncertain about your budjet though, is it greater than $1000? You mentioned $1249 in the first post, so you could get a bit more powerful setup than what you would get with $1000.

But yeah, go ahead and browse webstores, if you find something interesting, share it with us and we'll let you know if it is worth buying.
 
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Can get it straight from Amazon.co.jp for ¥ 129,800 http://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/B008UKV0QA/

Comes with an i7 3770, 16GB RAM, GTX660, and a 1TB HDD. Pretty much all you'll ever need. Gateway is really good about their performance line of desktops and I have one from 08-ish that is still running like new.

GTX660? That hasn't been released yet, the most we know is the speculation posts that Tweaktown like to release. Either it's a typo meaning it's a GTX560 or GTX660Ti, in which case if it's a 660Ti they might as well give away the systems for that...
 

GTX660? That hasn't been released yet, the most we know is the speculation posts that Tweaktown like to release. Either it's a typo meaning it's a GTX560 or GTX660Ti, in which case if it's a 660Ti they might as well give away the systems for that...

It is out, it's an OEM card, a 5 second Googling revealed it to be a 660 OEM. http://www.anandtech.com/show/6181/nvidia-quietly-releases-oem-geforce-gtx-660 It's slightly under the 660Ti, but all in all, it should perform fine. Read into things a little bit more, ok?
 
The only hard part about building a computer is installing the CPU & heatsink, but even then stock heatsinks come with the TIM pre-applied so the paste application is a non-event, everything else is "plug it into the only hole that fits" - but if you don't feel confident enough to do it all yourself then that's fair enough. Are there any PC stores in Tokyo that will build a system for you? Even paying to have a system custom built would still be much better value than anything prebuilt.
 
Sharky.
The only hard part about building a computer is installing the CPU & heatsink, but even then stock heatsinks come with the TIM pre-applied so the paste application is a non-event, everything else is "plug it into the only hole that fits" - but if you don't feel confident enough to do it all yourself then that's fair enough.

This. I like to think of PCs as expensive, electrostatic discharge-sensitive Lego except unlike Lego there's only one way to put it together and that way is usually made very clear. So really, it's nothing like Lego at all. As long as you read the manuals, ask for lots of advice and know how to ground yourself effectively you'll find it surprisingly simple. Oh and shut any cats you may have out of the room, one of mine kept trying to get IN my PC when I was building it, they're the electrostatic equivalent of a briefcase nuke or something.

The hard part is the software, though. That and routing the cables, which is something I really need to address, come to think of it.
 
I built both my systems while standing on the carpet with bare feet and didn't discharge myself through some metal beforehand, I guess I like to live dangerously :lol:
 
If you are worried about installing the CPU and heatsink you could buy a pre-assembled bundle such as this Amazon which you can just fit in the case and connect up the power supply, hard drives, case wires and slot the graphics card in(and also connect it to the power supply).

However if you still aren't confident I would also suggest that you should ask a local shop if they could assemble a pc with whichever parts you choose.
 
I built both my systems while standing on the carpet with bare feet and didn't discharge myself through some metal beforehand, I guess I like to live dangerously :lol:

My workplace was carpet floored, and when I asked the senior guy about anti-static straps, he laughed and said it wasn't worth the money. Make sure you're grounded and everything is fine. The thing you're more likely to do is have a bead of sweat drop onto the mobo while working over it.

Also @tuga703, they don't ship it like that.. It's still in boxes.
 
I'm just going by the product description as I haven't bought any bundles myself. "Overclocked Gaming Bundle Assembled and overclocked by our technical team"

I have built a couple of computers on carpet without a wrist strap but I haven't had any issues as I kept touching the metal case to ground myself whenever I touched any components.
 
At the moment, one of my good friends back in the United States has talked me into building my own computer. So, that may be what I am doing. I will post a link to all of the stuff that I am planning to get. Have to wait until I get home for the links though. Too much of a burden to do on my GS2.
 
Kamuifanboy
At the moment, one of my good friends back in the United States has talked me into building my own computer. So, that may be what I am doing. I will post a link to all of the stuff that I am planning to get. Have to wait until I get home for the links though. Too much of a burden to do on my GS2.

Good man! The guys on this forum are very pro-DIY and helped me almost every step of the way so if you need anything then just ask, I can only speak for myself but I'll do my best to help out any way I can (which may not be that helpful as I've only built one PC so far) and I'm sure others will too. It's really not as daunting as it's often made out to be, and it's a great learning experience too.

As the old saying goes: "Sell a man a PC and he'll get ripped off, teach a man to build his own and he'll save money for generations."
 
Someone please correct me if I am wrong but would a HD 6850 not be better performing and cheaper than a 550ti?
 
I would get at least a 560Ti honestly, price drop a lot for those now that the 660Ti is out. And if you plan on playing PCars you better get something that could play it decently.
So either a 560 Ti or a HD 7850.

Btw that site is quite pricy. Are you in japan ?
 
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