New computer for gaming.

[Biggles]

I'm a long-time Mac user. I'm ready to buy a new computer to use (partly) for gaming. I could get a new, top of the line iMac, which I would use for "everything", or keep my older iMac, which works fine for business/general use, & get a (much cheaper) PC which I could hook up to my TV screen (I think) for gaming.

I don't need state-of-the-art equipment - just something that does a good job with racing sims. How much would I have to spend to get a decent PC? Any advice?

 

[Gabkicks]

how much do you want to spend? Any preferences? AMD or intel? ATi or Nvidia?

The phenom 2 quadcores are looking good to me, but I already have an intel e8400. You can build a pretty solid system for about $700 nowadays. and a budget gaming system for like $360. i think newegg has a canada site now. there's also amazon.

 

[Biggles]

I have no "preferences", as I don't know enough about it! There aren't a lot of decisions to be made in Mac-world.

I was hoping around $600-800 - anything more & I might be better off getting the iMac. I'm assuming the PC could be connected to my 3 year old LCD HDTV, so I wouldn't need to buy a monitor.

 

[Gabkicks]

for dual, the intel e8400 is nice. for quads, there's the latest Phenom II's and Intel i7s.

I'm not sure about pricing canadian. I don't care about crossfire or SLI atm, and i prefer not to have onboard video since I buy videocards the ATi 4770 to 4850's are all around similar prices and good.. also, you'll want to look for a soundcard too maybe. X-Fi xtreme music/ gamer a the minimum or just use onboard audio. 4gigs ram at least. 500watt psu or more with good reputation . those are the more important parts.

I've got an e8400, 4gigs g.skill DDR2 1066, ATi HD4850, Biostar TP43D2A7 motherboard, and a 550watt psu with good ratings. the 4850 is enough for most games @ 1080P. the Nvidia 250 GTS and 9800GT are about on the same level. LG makes nice DVDR drives. a midtower should be sufficient. just research each part a bit.

Toms hardware has lots of charts
http://www.tomshardware.com/charts/gaming-graphics-charts-2009/benchmarks,54.html

you can search for benchmark comparisons/reviews for CPU and graphics cards too. even hard drive reviews all over. www.ocforums.com www.overclock.net

 

[Eric.]

I just tried to go in your budget, but I was at $800 before a video card or speakers. Seriously, an iMac is not going to be anywhere near as fast as an equally priced PC.

 

[nick09]

The deals are not as good as the US newegg site but this one is just a tad over your budget and would be about in the midrange of gaming computers. You can also order a adapter like this one to allow you to use the HDTV with sound without the fuss of more cables.

 

[ROAD_DOGG33J]

Do you want to build this computer yourself or do you want it ready-to-go? Also is the 600-800 figure, US or Canadian currency?

The deals are not as good as the US newegg site but this one is just a tad over your budget and would be about in the midrange of gaming computers.

I think this one would be a better option since the graphics card is way better.

 

[TB]

You can also order a adapter like this one to allow you to use the HDTV with sound without the fuss of more cables.

DVI doesn't carry the audio signal, so you would also need at least a S/PDIF cable.

 

[nick09]

Oh... I did not know that. Also the link that road_dog posted has been deactivated and since he does live in Canada it is in Canadian currency. He can't buy from the US newegg store so he is limited on what he can buy.

 

[Biggles]

Seriously, an iMac is not going to be anywhere near as fast as an equally priced PC.

I realize that, but you're misunderstanding: if I bought a new iMac it would be for general computer use as well as for gaming. My business data-base is OSX based. I would use the PC only for gaming & stick with my existing iMac for general use. I would never spend $2,000 + for a PC just for gaming, but I could justify around $800. The questions is, for that amount would the PC be worse, equal or better than an $2,200 iMac?

Do you want to build this computer yourself or do you want it ready-to-go? Also is the 600-800 figure, US or Canadian currency?

Don't have the knowledge or interest to figure out how to build the computer. As of last week, there's only about 7% difference between the U.S & CDN dollars - I'm afraid the US dollar is on the way down again...

 

[Gabkicks]

if you got a system similar to mine, but got a e7400 instead, the total should be about $800 shipped.

e7400 + TP43D2A7 (processor-mobo combo discount)
4gigs ddr2 1066 ram
ATi Radeon HD4850 or 9800GT
decent midtower case. Coolermaster 5 series or something.

All the parts on newegg cost more in canadian dollars than they do in US dollars. I can run most games maxed out @ 1680x1050.

 

[Biggles]

Well, thanks for the help Gabkicks.

I live just across the border from Buffalo, so no problem getting stuff from the US if it's much cheaper there - just had my GT3 RS wheel shipped there.

 

[Eric.]

I realize that, but you're misunderstanding: if I bought a new iMac it would be for general computer use as well as for gaming. My business data-base is OSX based. I would use the PC only for gaming & stick with my existing iMac for general use. I would never spend $2,000 + for a PC just for gaming, but I could justify around $800. The questions is, for that amount would the PC be worse, equal or better than an $2,200 iMac?




Don't have the knowledge or interest to figure out how to build the computer. As of last week, there's only about 7% difference between the U.S & CDN dollars - I'm afraid the US dollar is on the way down again...

So, you'd either spend $800 on a gaming rig that doesn't relate to your business, or spend ~$1100 on an iMac for your business that can't play games.

I call false dilemma.

 

[Biggles]

So, you'd either spend $800 on a gaming rig that doesn't relate to your business, or spend ~$1100 on an iMac for your business that can't play games.

The new iMac can be booted in PC OS so that it would play PC games. It comes with a NIVIDIA GeForce GT 130 with 512 MB. It also comes with 24" screen & would leave me with a second ( 3 year-old iMac), which my family could use (to replace my other 8 year-old Mac). On the other hand, the only pressing reason to update my computer would be to play racing sims, since otherwise, the 3 year-old iMac works fine.

Finally, if I could connect a new PC to my HDTV screen, it would actually be more convenient, as I could set up my racing cockpit permanently next to the TV. So, I'm really wanting to have an idea of how the new iMac would compare for gaming with a mid-range PC.

OR: I could just continue to stick with the PS3 for gaming & forget the whole thing...

 

[nick09]

The question is, do you really want to play PC sims? If you have a friend in the US then you can get much better deals on the US newegg store.