cheap gaming computer help!?
Question by nitronorberg: cheap gaming computer help!?
i’m looking to stay under 1000 dollars for the entire desktop, meaning monitor included so 800 at most for the tower. does anyone know the cheapest place or site to visit to get the best price?. . . so far the best option i saw was this one. http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=12347221 it’s got 2.7 processor speed with 6 gigs of ram and 750 gb hard drive. .. i could change out the video card but would have to buy a bigger than 300 watt power supply from what i heard. .. . and it’s only 400$ for the tower! this is all i have come up with so far.. if i get a tower somewhere else with those specs it will cost a couple hundred dollars more from what i’ve seen. any tips anyone? and the last question is if i get that coputer i showed you, where is the best site to get a bigger power supply? and how big of a power supply is neccessary? i have never ordered anything online. thanks for the help!
Best answer:
Answer by gwfb3
Custom-built computers are the best bang for your buck.
Know better? Leave your own answer in the comments!
What type of games are you looking to play?
While custom-built computers offer the biggest bang/buck, the savings are nowehere near as good as they were a couple of years ago. Nowadays, some of the systems at Walmart and Best Buy are just a graphics card away from being nice entry-level gaming systems. Here’s one similar to the one you linked, but with a better CPU:
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Asus+-+Essentio+Desktop+with+Intel%26%23174%3B+Pentium%26%23174%3B+Processor/9541766.p?id=1218121455435&skuId=9541766
With a factory 300W power supply, the best video card upgrade option is the Radeon 4670, which only costs $ 65-$ 70 online.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125244
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102820
The official manufacturer’s recommendation is a 400W power supply but it doesn’t need anywhere near that for most computers. Computers with multiple optical drives, RAID arrays, overclocked quad-core processors and extra case lights/fans, those would need it.
However most gamers would prefer a better graphics card anyway- and to use anything better you’ll need a bigger power supply… like this one:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139003
Now you can use better graphics cards like the Radeon 4850 and GTS 250:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127414
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121334
By the way, that’s a GREAT power supply, better than most 500W units. While you can easily find 500W psus for about $ 50, those are more likely to die after a couple of years. After rebate you’re paying the same price, so go with the Corsair!
So to really upgrade the system….
$ 65 – power supply
$ 130 – video card
$ 135 – 20″ monitor
That’s $ 330 additional, for a total of $ 730 before taxes/shipping.
You could save a few bucks if you’re happy with a 19″ monitor or slightly less powerful video card like a Radeon 4770 or GeForce 9800GT (about $ 100).
While buying your monitor and tower from Wal-Mart or Best Buy is fine, don’t even consider buying video cards there. Prices are 50-75% higher than purchasing online from Tiger Direct, Newegg or Amazon.
Newegg and Tiger Direct have the best online prices for computer components.
See links below for performance:
October 29th, 2012 at 7:38 pm