Segundus Posted February 7, 2012 Share Posted February 7, 2012 I need to build another PC because my current one is starting to kick the bucket. I want to keep my ATI Radeon HD5870 2GB Toxic Edition video card because it's the only thing still good in it. I haven't kept up with what new hardware is out since I built this computer in 2009. Where is the best place to buy barebones PC kits from? I know NewEgg is great for parts, but their barebones selection is minimal. And they only sell mini-towers. I would prefer a mid to large tower for future upgrades and proper airflow. It needs to have at least a 600-watt powersupply as well. Right now it looks like CompUSA's website has a good selection for the price. I can't spend more than $600 because it's coming out of my tax return money. And dare I ask, Intel or AMD for gaming? I've always run AMD since I use ATI video cards, but it seems like lately AMD has been trying to pull a fast one on consumers with their new 6-Core processors that really aren't 6-Core processors. Thanks in advance for your feedback, General Forum! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
koww Posted February 7, 2012 Share Posted February 7, 2012 Newegg.com an Tigerdirect also check local shops some get better deals for ording it themselfs then selling it to you (they can buy at factory price)or close to it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Segundus Posted February 7, 2012 Author Share Posted February 7, 2012 Look at NewEgg yourself. They don't have squat for barebones kits that aren't anything but mini-towers. I need a place that sells mid to high tower kits with hardware capable of high-end gaming. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
livnthedream Posted February 7, 2012 Share Posted February 7, 2012 bare bones or gaming pc, pick one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lrage Posted February 7, 2012 Share Posted February 7, 2012 I like mwave. Just pick a mobo-cpu-ram combo, order your own HD, and case and PS and find your own windows install and you're done. For $325 you can get a i5 2500k and a nice little mobo with 8 gigs of ram. Spend another $100 on the hd, case and ps for another $100 combined (you can go cheaper here by $50 if you want). So for $525 you have a very nice modern gaming system and you'll use your own video card, monitors and windows install and you're done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
koww Posted February 7, 2012 Share Posted February 7, 2012 lol other then ording from factorys/OCR teams you not going to find a high in gameing barebone.it would be less of a hassle just to buy everything youself in 2-3 package deals/sells. if you realy set on geting a barebone tho your probly have to spend a good week googling and looking thru reviews etc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Segundus Posted February 7, 2012 Author Share Posted February 7, 2012 bare bones or gaming pc, pick one. It's not one or the other. You can get a barebones kit for gaming PCs. I used to see them all the time in online advertisements. Gaming is mostly dependent on the video card, and the one I have works great with everything at max in SWTOR. The problem is the rest of my hardware is failing. Power supply, hard drives, etc, and I don't feel like replacing it piece by piece. Not to mention my case is just too small, I want a larger one. So I would prefer to just buy a barebones kit with the majority of what I need then fill in the rest. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Segundus Posted February 7, 2012 Author Share Posted February 7, 2012 lol other then ording from factorys/OCR teams you not going to find a high in gameing barebone.it would be less of a hassle just to buy everything youself in 2-3 package deals/sells. if you realy set on geting a barebone tho your probly have to spend a good week googling and looking thru reviews etc Well, its never going to be super high end when I have a budget of $600 dollars. So really what I am looking for is the most bang for the buck with that money. I've always bought the pieces myself and put them together but I just don't have the time and energy to go through all that research and building. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ActionPrinny Posted February 7, 2012 Share Posted February 7, 2012 As he said, Newegg or Tigerdirect provide pre-built systems for reasonable prices. CyberpowerPC brand available at Newegg for example gives good quality systems at very reasonable prices. I would look into them honestly. Either something like this AMD system: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883229306 Or if you can spend a little more, this Core i5 one: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883229284 Otherwise $600 can provide you with an excellent system upgrade if you don't mind buying your own parts and can possibly re-use your case and power supply. (And you said you want to keep the video card) In that case, you can build a really nice CPU+mobo+ram for that price. Atm I would recommend something like the Core i5 2500K processor. It's a great CPU for the price ($230). For motherboard, just go through Newegg and find one with good user reviews and maybe a Reader's Choice award. (Every board is different, so it's hard to recommend a brand every time. Although I prefer Giga-byte or Asus) That will run you another $90-120. Then G-Skill Ripjaws series RAM I've never gone wrong with. You can pick up an 8gb kit of that for like $60. So all that should only total out to $400. If you need another power supply (you should have one thats min. 550watts imho.) buy like an Antec or Corsair 650watt for about $75. Or a good case is the Antec900. Another good purchase would be an SSD hard drive. A 120gb one like Corsair Vertex3 for example is a really great performance boost. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Segundus Posted February 7, 2012 Author Share Posted February 7, 2012 I like mwave. Just pick a mobo-cpu-ram combo, order your own HD, and case and PS and find your own windows install and you're done. For $325 you can get a i5 2500k and a nice little mobo with 8 gigs of ram. Spend another $100 on the hd, case and ps for another $100 combined (you can go cheaper here by $50 if you want). So for $525 you have a very nice modern gaming system and you'll use your own video card, monitors and windows install and you're done. I am on their website now. So you would choose an Intel i5 2500k system over an AMD 6-Core processor? See thats the problem. I am not sure what is the current hardware out on the market, and normally I would research it all myself but I really just want to build this thing and get back into the game. I am almost level 50 so getting anxious. lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tiam Posted February 7, 2012 Share Posted February 7, 2012 (edited) Check out http://www.hardware-revolution.com/computer-systems/gaming-pc/ There are builds on this site for all price ranges, specifically for gaming rigs. You should be able to find all the hardware and they're compatible for whatever your pricerange. To answer your question above, Lord yes, the 2500k over the amd any day of the week, it outperforms the 6 core amd for gaming. Edited February 7, 2012 by Tiam Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
livnthedream Posted February 7, 2012 Share Posted February 7, 2012 It's not one or the other. You can get a barebones kit for gaming PCs. I used to see them all the time in online advertisements. Gaming is mostly dependent on the video card, and the one I have works great with everything at max in SWTOR. The problem is the rest of my hardware is failing. Power supply, hard drives, etc, and I don't feel like replacing it piece by piece. Not to mention my case is just too small, I want a larger one. So I would prefer to just buy a barebones kit with the majority of what I need then fill in the rest. thats actually a pretty fair misconception, especially when it comes to mmos. you are much more likely to get bottlenecked at processor than vid card. the best bang for your buck available, especially in terms of gaming, is an i5-2500. the proc alone is going to run you $200, nother $100 for decent mobo, $30 for ram, $50-100 for case (depends on if you want to mod fans later, overclocking, etc) $80 for power supply. a ton of those costs also depend entirely on how well you are planning on future proofing your system also. this is why there really arent a great deal of "barebones" kits. they are far too easy to do yourself, and there is a ton more margin in it for the company to sell semi complete systems. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mergon Posted February 7, 2012 Share Posted February 7, 2012 TigerDirect.com http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/category/category_tlc_ss.asp?CatId=31&name=Barebone-Kits&cm_sp=Masthead-_-Computer%20Parts-_-Spot%2002 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ozzone Posted February 7, 2012 Share Posted February 7, 2012 Honestly, if you are talking about replacing everything but the video card (also assume you mean mouse, keyboard and monitor), I suspect $600 is going to fall a little short unless you cut some corners on quality. Look to spend around $800 at least to get a good gaming machine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zelmac Posted February 7, 2012 Share Posted February 7, 2012 I don't understand your logic. You ask the community for feedback, then get said feedback, and then proceed to complain about the feedback you have been given. Very strange logic indeed... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Segundus Posted February 7, 2012 Author Share Posted February 7, 2012 (edited) I don't understand your logic. You ask the community for feedback, then get said feedback, and then proceed to complain about the feedback you have been given. Very strange logic indeed... I'm not complaining. I am discussing with the intention of understanding their logic. Please don't assume that everyone is here to troll or complain. I appreciate everyone's feedback, even the ones I didn't agree with. But after I stated my disagreement, that poster was kind enough to reply with his reasoning. His reasoning was bottlenecking at the processor level, which is why I am now trying to answer the question of which processor/mobo combo to look for in order to have a decent gaming machine. He says Intel i5 2500k so I'm looking into that right now. See, logical discussions. No name calling, no trolling, no raging. It's all for the means of understanding. Thanks again guys. I got some great information in this post. Edited February 7, 2012 by Segundus Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kdense Posted February 7, 2012 Share Posted February 7, 2012 I built my computer from Newegg.com for around 400 bucks not including my video card. I canobolized my HD from my old computer as well as a CD/DVD drive. So, for 300 bucks I was able to get a motherboard, enclosure, RAM, and processor. The motherboard cost me about 100 because I got it during Christmas time on discount and the processor was around 200. The enclosure came with fans and a PSU for around 30 bucks. I also had issues with some RAM that I got that was said to be compatible and ended up not being and I can tell you that Newegg's costumer service is the best I have ever seen. They immediately sent me a box to mail back my piece and sent a new one out immediately. The whole thing was rectified within 48 hours at no cost to me. I go here now for EVERYTHING! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lrage Posted February 7, 2012 Share Posted February 7, 2012 Honestly, if you are talking about replacing everything but the video card (also assume you mean mouse, keyboard and monitor), I suspect $600 is going to fall a little short unless you cut some corners on quality. Look to spend around $800 at least to get a good gaming machine. Look what I quoted above. a 2500k is pimp. Nothing wrong with it. And to the OP yes, I'd pick a 2500K. Make sure it's a K, the non-K has a locked multiplier. The K does not, and with a modern bios (like the Asus) if you don't want to mess around with OC the bios can do it for you with 1 button click. So for an extra $15 you can take that 3.3ghz 2500k and run it around 4.1ghz with almost no effort or additional parts but the case fans. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Segundus Posted February 7, 2012 Author Share Posted February 7, 2012 Look what I quoted above. a 2500k is pimp. Nothing wrong with it. And to the OP yes, I'd pick a 2500K. Make sure it's a K, the non-K has a locked multiplier. The K does not, and with a modern bios (like the Asus) if you don't want to mess around with OC the bios can do it for you with 1 button click. So for an extra $15 you can take that 3.3ghz 2500k and run it around 4.1ghz with almost no effort or additional parts but the case fans. Excellent info! Thank you! What is the next model up from an i5 2500k? Is there an i7 2500k too? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jarjarloves Posted February 7, 2012 Share Posted February 7, 2012 (edited) Excellent info! Thank you! What is the next model up from an i5 2500k? Is there an i7 2500k too? yeah I have an i7 2600k the sandy bridge 3.4 ghz processor. It is absolutely amazing. It's so amazing there is no need to overclock it as no game can cause it to even sweat right now. I play BF3 maxed out at 90fps and I play SWTOR maxed out (with v sync on) at a steady 60fps. That includes warzones as well. I havne't tried Ilum yet. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115070 Right now I have a 75 gig solid state drive which holds Windows 7 and SWTOR. I can go from the launcher to fully in game on any planet in about 20 secs. It's insane how fast it is. I then have a 7200 rpm drive for all my other games and even then it loads them insanely fast. Edited February 7, 2012 by jarjarloves Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Segundus Posted February 7, 2012 Author Share Posted February 7, 2012 Ok, I've been researching for a few hours now and it's given me a migraine. lol. This is what I currently have as my mobo/proc: - MSI 790FX-GD70 AM3 AMD 790FX ATX AMD Motherboard - AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition Deneb 3.4GHz Socket AM3 140W Quad-Core Processor HDZ965FBGIBOX - Patriot Gamer Series 8GB (4 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Desktop Memory Model PGS34G1333ELKA Purchased from NewEgg back in 2009. So my question is, what would be a decent upgrade will staying under $500 dollars? I'd prefer to get a new case since this one is a mini with no airflow, and I'd also like to get a new power supply. My current BFG 650-watt one is acting buggy and losing power then restarting my computer. Just a matter of time before it's completely dead. If I could reuse my RAM that would save me some money because it's 8GB and still good. Anyone have a link to something on NewEgg that could replace this while still allowing me to use my current RAM with it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lrage Posted February 7, 2012 Share Posted February 7, 2012 The i7 is great. But it's about $100 more. Best bang-for-the-buck in the "you really wanna play a new game and have it last a few years" is that i5 2500k. And yes, like the above says, if you want to throw another $150 at it, get a SSD. I have a 120 gig SSD for the OS, current games I play, photoshop, web browsers, office, etc. And it make a ton of difference. Also, a neat trick with Windows 7 if you don't have a SSD is to go buy a cheap thumb drive like 16 gigs and enable ready boost on it. It basically will use it as a swap file and it's a LOT faster then a traditional swap file. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zilrota Posted February 7, 2012 Share Posted February 7, 2012 Hi there! There are existing discussion threads regarding computer hardware which you may find very helpful: Desktop Hardware Q&ALooking to build a machine?*Ultimate* Desktop PC Performance GuideUltimate Guide to speeding up Win 7 on low/mid range systems You can also check out our General FAQs for information about minimum system specifications. In the interest of consolidating discussion, we have closed this thread. Please use one of the topics linked above for further questions and discussion of hardware specifications. Thank you! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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