Gaming PC or Laptop

[Wiinter]

They buy there hardware in bulk, thus there hardware costs are infact less than what your paying for.

Then they add the cost of branding, marketing, corporate taxes, regulatory schemes, labor, new OS (if you're upgrading, you can keep your old one), and you alone pay the cost of wasting your old parts--if you can put some of them to good use, it's a penny earned. There's also the benefit of getting exactly what you want instead of getting someone else's idea of a good build.

You can't beat every build out there in price, but there are still good values to be had from building your own.

 

[Gaz]

You can't beat every build out there in price, but there are still good values to be had from building your own.

exactly, case closed.
no need to get an young person (going by target audience of the forum) into trouble by buying parts that won't go together and wasiting there money and time. it's pointless.

 

[Monsteroids]

I need a gaming laptop, despite what they say, Toshiba Satelite is utter ****.

 

[Gaz]

I need a gaming laptop, despite what they say, Toshiba Satelite is utter ****.

maybe because it's not a gaming laptop :wtf:
as a whole it is a good laptop.

 

[Celestial]

I need a gaming laptop, despite what they say, Toshiba Satelite is utter ****.

Lol thats what I have! I like it... But I wanna try PC gaming... Can someone show me a cheap gaming PC which some new games (Gears of War) will work on?

 

[Wiinter]

exactly, case closed.

Eh? Really? The exact same thing can be said the other way around. "You can't beat every custom build with a retail brand." Aha! Case closed! Custom it is.

?

no need to get an young person (going by target audience of the forum) into trouble by buying parts that won't go together and wasiting there money and time. it's pointless.

Also no need to tell them what their options should be based on what you extract from some imagined general data.

Persons without experience building should be extremely wary of attempting to build their own computer. It does require technical knowledge and skill, and you can get yourself into trouble dozens of ways. On the other hand, everyone had a first time. Some people have technically skilled friends/family who would be happy to help. Best not to assume too much.

 

[StevenNevets]

I built my computer 1 year ago. X2 3800+ , 2GB DDR2 667, X1900XT 512mb. Doesn't compete with the new typical high-end built (Conroe+8800), I'm actually very disapointed with how much better hardware came out and the low prices of it. Started to fall after I built mine:crazy:

Still, it's pretty good. Runs Bioshock max settings 30-60fps at 1680 x 1050.
Will upgrade the gpu/cpu when needed.
___


Anyway I would suggest building a computer too. It takes awhile to catch on to what hardware has what performence as well as find the best bang for your buck. But if you read up on forums like anandtech.com, look at other peoples builds, performence charts, and prices you'll get it down.
Takes more time then just buying a Dell (which I recommend if you really don't want to give building a chance) but it's worth it at the end.
You can also look around hotdeal forums, just get any parts high-end (assuming everything is compatible) while they are on sale, put it all together and you can save tons. Set it up for upgrading and a few years down you can just swap a few parts like im going to do and your back on top again.

 

[Wiinter]

Lol thats what I have! I like it... But I wanna try PC gaming... Can someone show me a cheap gaming PC which some new games (Gears of War) will work on?

I'm unable to find sys requirements for Gears of War, but I read it would require DX10, which means you have to have Vista.

This link will let you test your current laptop (or friend's computers) for games whose requirements are already known: Sys req labs

If gears of war is a big game for you, you might delay purchasing a machine until it's requirements have been published. No sense in getting something and then having it fall just short of smooth.

 

[Gaz]

Persons without experience building should be extremely wary of attempting to build their own computer. It does require technical knowledge and skill, and you can get yourself into trouble dozens of ways. On the other hand, everyone had a first time. Some people have technically skilled friends/family who would be happy to help. Best not to assume too much.

Theres nothing special over custom build and buying a computer from dell. you just choose exactly what you want, wait for it to deliever (your probs going to get most of it online) and then put it together. i admit it's great fun to build a computer from scratch but why custom build when you simply want a computer thats going to run a game such as GoW for a cheap price... £501.86 from dell would give you a computer which could run it, of course not high end, but does the job.

at the end of the day it depends on cash, time and needs.

 

[JT.]

^words of wisdom^

 

[Celestial]

I'm unable to find sys requirements for Gears of War, but I read it would require DX10, which means you have to have Vista.

This link will let you test your current laptop (or friend's computers) for games whose requirements are already known: Sys req labs

If gears of war is a big game for you, you might delay purchasing a machine until it's requirements have been published. No sense in getting something and then having it fall just short of smooth.

Ohh right thanks! I'll wait for it then

 

[StevenNevets]

Ohh right thanks! I'll wait for it then

Your not going to fall short of the requirements... Any new half-decent gaming computer should be fine to play. Any new high-end gaming will be able to run with some good-eye candy, max settings if you build/buy something good.

In regards to DX9/DX10 for GoW I found this.
"DirectX 10 Vista title -- whether there'll be an XP / DirectX 9 version is undetermined, but, not likely."

So shoot for Vista/DX10, at this point I would anyway, 1-2 years till DX10 titles will be much more common and DX10 cards still play DX9 games anyway.

 

[bmurray91]

Theres nothing special over custom build and buying a computer from dell. you just choose exactly what you want, wait for it to deliever (your probs going to get most of it online) and then put it together. i admit it's great fun to build a computer from scratch but why custom build when you simply want a computer thats going to run a game such as GoW for a cheap price... £501.86 from dell would give you a computer which could run it, of course not high end, but does the job.

at the end of the day it depends on cash, time and needs.

just because you get to customize it just like if you build your own doesnt mean it will be cheaper. you still have to pay the cost for them to put it together+marketing, taxes, etc. like wiinter said. if you want an inexpensive computer that will run GoW you CAN build it yourself cheaper for the the same parts and (assuming you have an one) you can use some parts from an older computer rather than having to buy everything from dell.

however if you arent comfortable building your own computer and dont know anyone that would do it for you, something like a dell would be the better answer.

 

[Gaz]

just because you get to customize it just like if you build your own doesnt mean it will be cheaper. you still have to pay the cost for them to put it together+marketing, taxes, etc. like wiinter said. if you want an inexpensive computer that will run GoW you CAN build it yourself cheaper for the the same parts and (assuming you have an one) you can use some parts from an older computer rather than having to buy everything from dell.

however if you arent comfortable building your own computer and dont know anyone that would do it for you, something like a dell would be the better answer.

marketing? haha don't be so silly.
yes you pay taxes, but you will pay taxes if you buy the parts and build it.
the cost for them to put it together isn't going to make a difference.

A dell computer:
Intel® Pentium® Dual-Core E2160 Processor - £55.31
Windows Vista® Home Premium - £169.57
19" Value Flat Panel - £150.31 (for a good one)
1024MB 667MHz Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM - £25.98
250GB (7200rpm) Serial ATA Hard Drive with 8MB DataBurst™ cache - £34.06
256MB nVidia™ GeForce 8600GT graphics card - £67.38
16x DVD +/- RW Drive - bout £20
Keybaord and mouse - £15
13-in-1 Media Card Reader - £20
Microsoft® Works 8.0 - £20

dell lists it as £478 not to mention the 7.1 sound card, and the case as well as all the wires and fitting. add the prices up above and you £577. thats nearly £100 more. Dell gets it's parts very cheap in bulk, and then sells it for a little more!

 

[bmurray91]

Dell gets it's parts very cheap in bulk, and then sells it for a little more!

if they did that they would be out of business