So I'm thinking of getting a new desktop. I could build one myself, but a) I'm too lazy and b) I'd like some sort of warranty.

I've heard of a few places: IBuyPower, Falcon-NW, and WidowPC. Has anyone bought from any of those or somewhere else? I'm not interested in Dell, HP, big company PCs for obvious and various reasons.


I never did keep up with the latest PC hardware. Anyone here have the latest stuff? How are those Core Duo thingies, and what video cards are there these days?


Apparently, Vista is out now. Has anyone upgraded and played games on it? Do pre-Vista games even run?


Thanks for the help guys.

You could ask this question in the tech forum.

That is, if you're not scared of several differing and quasi-passionate opinions (mine being that you're better off in the long run if you build your own)!

I'm always keen to suggest building your own and saving a bundle.

We have a tech forum?


Hmm... nifty.


P.S. No need for the "build your own suggestion." Suggest a brand or talk about the other questions in the first post.

I don't know about ibuypower, but I always see their ads in PC World or PC Gamer, so I am assuming they're pretty good.

Dual core is the way of the future. I don't know about gaming on Vista on more recent machines, but mine (AMD Athlon XP 2000+ [ancient ass processor], AGP 4x [f***ing compaq] 128mb GeForce 6600GT, and 768mb ram) didn't do too well.

For example, on the Counter Strike Source Video Stress test at the same settings, I got a 55 fps on XP, but only 34 on Vista.

Of the OEM manufacturers, I'd recommend Voodoo (http://www.voodoopc.com/omen.aspx) and Falcon Northwest (http://www.falcon-nw.com/). Dunno what you're looking to spend so I don't know what to recommend hardware-wise.

As for Vista, get it if you want all your **** to not work and get screwed by MS's Vista EULA.

Heck im BUILDING my own. I call it...*Drumroll* "Frankencomputer" ontopic: I recommend a dell computer with windows xp. Forget vista, lying scamming sons of...

I wouldn't touch a Dell PC with a stick.

I forgot about Voodoo, going to have to check them out.


As for price, not to worried about it. It costs what it costs.

my advise: wait a just a bit longer.

Vista is still quite new to the market, and driver problems abound (even on pre-built systems). although i do have to hand it to M$ for getting Vista out without it being really, really buggy like several other OS's that i can think of...

anyways, yet another reason is because there are several new hardware types that are about to hit the market. Quad-cores are finally starting to arrive courtesy of Intel, and AMD isn't likely to be far behind. DX10-compatible cards are already on the market, but there's only two of them: Nvidia's GeForce 8800 GTX & 8800 GTS. ATI/AMD has yet to release their DX-10 card, and when they do, you can believe that it will make your decision much easier from a performance-to-dollar ratio.

at any rate, my suggestion would be Falcon Northwest. i've had several friends order PC's from them, and those are some very nice and superbly designed computers. a bit expensive, but worth it if you're not going to build your own.

just my two pennies worth. ;)

I wouldn't touch a Dell PC with a stick.
Win.:)

Could you give us an idea what you're looking for in terms of performance? Gaming (I would assume)? Do you want SLI/XFire upgrade capability? Do you want to go ahead and get a DX10 video card now, or wait until DX10 games actually come out and settle for a DX9 card?

Right now, the Core 2 Duo is the way to go. You can get a cheap one and quite safely overclock it until it outperforms the expensive one. That is, as long as you buy from a company that doesn't make their own proprietary motherboards with locked BIOS'. I would suggest getting 2GB of RAM in 1GB sticks, so that you have the option to upgrade to 4GB later if you want to.

Until I hear that Vista is 100% compatible with older games and other software, I'd recommend sticking with XP for now. Otherwise, I guess you could always dual-boot.

I just got one from PCSpecialist.co.uk, I doubt they ship abroad though. What I did make sure of though is that it had upgradability. I picked the best motherboard on their list and skimped on most of the other components till it was in my budget (Ј750). That way if I want I can have 2 X Gforce 8 cards in SLI, 4 gig of ram and the best processor that fits in a AM2 slot, which all together right now would cost upwards of Ј2,000.

Dont touch MS with a stick either.

Now I may not know much, but I know Linux or Ubunto (Linux) are both better than Windows, way smaller, and once you get used to it, it's easier than Windows.

Dont touch MS with a stick either.

Now I may not know much, but I know Linux or Ubunto (Linux) are both better than Windows, way smaller, and once you get used to it, it's easier than Windows.

If you are buying a top spec PC it is gonna be because you want to play games, and Linux is far from hastle free if you want to get a windows game to run on it. Don't get me wrong, Linux is good, but it isn't for games (except UT2K4).

I just got one from PCSpecialist.co.uk, I doubt they ship abroad though. What I did make sure of though is that it had upgradability. I picked the best motherboard on their list and skimped on most of the other components till it was in my budget (Ј750). That way if I want I can have 2 X Gforce 8 cards in SLI, 4 gig of ram and the best processor that fits in a AM2 slot, which all together right now would cost upwards of Ј2,000.
Well hardware is usually cheaper in the US that in Europe. Also, buying in a different country, whether they ship abroad or not, is never a good idea: you have to pay a lot of $$$ to get custom clearance.

Those PCs from Falcon Northwest sure look interesting but they cost more than the double of what I paid for an equivalent custom made pc :eyeraise: Aren't there places where you can just buy the parts you want and get the pc assembled for a small x-tra fee? (that's what I did. For an x-tra fee of $50 CAD the PC was all assembled...it was worth it IMHO as if something doesn't work, they can't blame me and they did a very good job)

Well hardware is usually cheaper in the US that in Europe. Also, buying in a different country, whether they ship abroad or not, is never a good idea: you have to pay a lot of $$$ to get custom clearance.

Yeah, i wasn't really suggesting that company, just the idea of a custom built PC in general, and to make sure get a PC you can upgrade when you want to.

Try cyberpowerpc.com it allows you to custum build it online. This helps if your on a budget. I believe theres another website called tomshardwareguide.com it may help (if you can understand tech jargon) in understanding the latest stuff.

warranty?? when you build it yourself, each part you buy has a warranty phreak :) You literally can save $100s(if not $1000s) when self building, plus you get the exact components you want - not monkey a$$ generic crud.

Do it yourself!!

Vista? only if you need to. my guess is you wont be shelling out $500 for the DX10 card, wont be running a media center pc, you might as well wait as far as vista is concerned.

mtfbwya

^^^I was going to say the same thing, but SWP said that he'd already made up his mind to go OEM. And the warranties on certain very important components like power supply, video card and motherboard can be LIFETIME if you buy the right brand.

And the 8800GTS (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814143081) is now well below $400USD, and, given the fact that it performs just as well as or better than anything but the 8800GTX, would make buying a high-end DX9 card for the same price or more rather ludicrous.

yeah, theres no point buying a high end DX9 card, especially if finances are a concern.

some recommendations I can make:
*Asus boards are awesome. esecially the ones sporting heatpipes = less noise :)
*Conroe chips clock better numbers on higher end tasks, but AMD dual cores are now cheaper than ever and cooler(anyone have a higher end conroe that idles at 29C on a stock fan??)

AMD x2s will still cut the mustard on any killer app. If you want to reserve bragging rights and go quad, just wait for AMD, they'll blow Intels mickey mouse "dual core sandwich" quaddies out the water. Politically also, wouldnt you like to supporta grass roots company whose total number of employees = the number of people intel have laid off over the last 2 years ??

*an nvidia 6600 or ATI equivalent will keep you gaming at a very reasonable price for a good few months to come. Better to allow time for DX10 cards to proliferate and for DX10 authored titles to actually be released!!!

*Thermaltake PSUs. You want a higher end chip and gfx card, you're looking at at least 500w. I swear by my Thermaltake Toughpower SLI 750W PSU - what a piece of work!

*Case - I have a monstrous Asus vento - though if you are a 1337, LAN-active gamer, the only thing your heart will desire is a Thermaltake Lanbox !! There is a new shuttle small form factor uber gaming rig, but it has a gaudy 'flame' case paintjob :(

*I'll say it again - Build it yerself ! Its like lego. And when you buy parts separately, you can claim them back as upgrades for your work/study computer :D

mtfbwya

How about a monitor? Personally, I could live with just driving over to best buy and picking up something that's 200 bucks.

I'm a CRT purist (oh, how I HATE the words "native resolution"), so hopefully someone else will chime in soon.

Oh, and forget quad-core. Unless you're into video editing, 3D rendering or use some other software that is written specifically to take advantage of multiple cores (multithreaded), there is NO PRACTICAL REASON to spend ~$1000USD on one. Hell, there's hardly any software out yet that takes advantage of TWO cores, let alone four.

I'm an AMD fan, but from what I read about the Intel Core 2 Duo (Extreme?), they absolutely kick arse! Maximum PC was able to overclock it and disconnect the fan AND it still ran fine with the temp barely going up (I think b/t 1 and 3 deg C)

I have a HP Pavilion 734n, with AMD AthlonXP 2600+, 768MB RAM, and an upgraded 4X AGP ATi Radeon X1600Pro 512MB. This PC runs good for the games I play. The ATi card was a huge improvement on graphics. The HP PC is a good quality machine, but the OS is provided on "Recovery CD's" which are pure evil in the fact that they don't install Windows, they just copy a factory image on your HDD and don't let you dual-boot Windows and Linux. I've used Ubuntu and it is great, and using WINE (Wine Is Not an Emulator) I could play Jedi Academy great...actually better than Windows with my old nVidia GeForce4 card. However, Linux is different than Windows, so if you go the Ubuntu or any other Linux distro way, be prepared to learn.

Custom built:

Asus A8V Deluxe mobo
AMD Athlon FX-60 (dual core, socket 939) cpu
1.5 GB Corsair RAM (3x512 PC3200, ValuSelect (still comes with lifetime warranty))
Geforce 7800 GS vid card
Soundblaster Audigy 2 ZS soundcard
Plextor PX-716A dvd+/-rw (x2 :) )
Antec case
Antec power supply
NEC Multisync 90GX2 monitor

...I use to play a lot of shooters, but now it's just overkill for what games I play.

So I'm thinking of getting a new desktop. I could build one myself, but a) I'm too lazy and b) I'd like some sort of warranty.
Dude. Build your own PC=best warranty out there. And there's a warranty for the single parts, too, so what? (Except a))

I never did keep up with the latest PC hardware. Anyone here have the latest stuff? How are those Core Duo thingies, and what video cards are there these days?Intel's Core2Duo processors are pretty neat, my notebook has one and I like it. It's 64Bit technology, too. My desktop and notebook at work have both an AMD 64 bit processor, and these are not bad either. In the end, and especially for desktops, it's a price decision, AMD is cheaper (but consumes more energy and produces more heat).

The decision for a VGA is pretty easy: nVidia, hands down. They have better drivers, especially for Linux. ATI is poo.

Oh, make sure you decide for at least 2GB RAM with 4 you will be happy until this 'puter dies, and a VGA with at least 256MB, better 512MB memory, DON'T go for shared video memory (or TurboCache, or whatever it is called by the vendors, just say no), because it sucks badly, and is taken from your RAM.

lying scamming sons of...

Speaking of Dell... :p

Actually, my friends have had really good luck with some of Dell's high end PC's. They are, however, very expensive.

http://configure.us.dell.com/dellstore/config.aspx?c=us&cs=19&l=en&oc=DXCWSK1&s=dhs)

While that is a good computer, you may just want to buy a more conservative Dell and add a videocard or more memory yourself.

http://configure.us.dell.com/dellstore/config.aspx?c=us&cs=19&l=en&oc=DDCWBC3&s=dhs)

That comes in at just under 1000 USD and you could simply buy a new videocard from Newegg.com or the like and install it yourself.

I'm a CRT purist (oh, how I HATE the words "native resolution"), so hopefully someone else will chime in soon.
:clap2:
Down with inferior and unfinished, but flashy, technology.

Regarding the original poster's query - I'd say wait. Vista's just been released meaning it's still got issues, and a lack of game support (my friend can't get Football Manager running on his(he's now suicidal)).
Not to mention the lack of DX10 cards currently on the market...
Oh and the fact that Intel's core2duos (you should really get one of these) are going to drop in price come April.

As mentioned, there's no advantage warranty-wise over getting a package, as you can get pretty good warranties on the individual components as standard. In fact, if you're anything above an average PC user(ie. Word/some music/browsing) you'll probably only run into problems with the warranty, as most of them completely stifle you. You can't even upgrade without paying them to do it for you with a lot of them. :nut:
And be sure to avoid though 'recovery CDs' someone mentioned. They get on my tits too.

Unfortunately though, you seem set on buying a package. Ah well.
Have you considered asking a mate to just assemble the computer hardware for you for a small fee? It'll certainly be cheaper than buying a brand and you'll get to keep your laziness. :)

That's just my 2 pennies, good luck.