NEW DELL for ACES Hi ?

[Brooke]

Like bodhi said, with dell, it walks in the door, you push a button and it works.  That has been my experience over more than 10 years and 3 dell desktops for me and 3 laptops for my kids.

Me, too, and I've been buying Dells for over 25 years (since the company was called "PC's Limited").

[titanic3]

What would you say about private PC builders not using spec'd equipment, setting improper memory or cpu speeds, failing to install the proper fan drivers, or burning out a Video card and still shipping the computer?  I have owned a few Dells and I have never known them to send out something that was broken.  Hell, I even dropped over $4K on an Alienware that still performed better out of the box then another system I bought from another person.

It's all subjective.  You get what you get, but at least with Dell you have the chance to send it back within a reasonable time if it is a POS and if they balk, you just call your CC company.  With a private builder, you try and work it out, act all nice through the entirety and then get bent over the table when you go to Paypal in the end and they tell you the seller is outside the time frame for refunds.

Lol, you hate the guy don't you? 

[Bodhi]

Not sure where you are going Titanic, but I have purchased a lot of computers in my days, and I was not referencing anyone specifically in that post you quoted.  I actually quoted several friends issues into one to highlight the benefits to purchasing store bought as opposed to private, especially when it comes to warranty.  You can try to make it about one guy if you want, but I am not going to.  I just like to see that people are informed of potential pitfalls.

[BuckShot]

Good info here. For me, info overload.

I'm also ready to upgrade, have never built a PC, and don't have the time and patience to build one.

Does anyone know of a PC builder that would know what to do when I ask for a PC that can run ah with all of the settings maxed out? Would they check out the game, or just build a "gaming PC."

~S~

[SIK1]

I'll never buy another Dell mainly because they treated me like dirt. I got a nasty call from a rep one day saying I didn't make a payment and they were going to turn me over to a collection agency. I told the rep that I did make the payment and that they were mistaken. Had to go to the bank get a copy of the cancelled check, (which cost me money and time) and send it to them. Then they had the cojones to tell me that my payment was late, which it wasn't. I had to point out that the posting date on the check was before the date my payment was due. I never got an apology, or even a recognition that they screwed up, so I never will get another Dell. I've built my own since then and have never looked back.

[MrRiplEy[H]]

What would you say about private PC builders not using spec'd equipment, setting improper memory or cpu speeds, failing to install the proper fan drivers, or burning out a Video card and still shipping the computer? 

I'd say it was an ex private pc builder.

[gyrene81]

Good info here. For me, info overload.

I'm also ready to upgrade, have never built a PC, and don't have the time and patience to build one.

Does anyone know of a PC builder that would know what to do when I ask for a PC that can run ah with all of the settings maxed out? Would they check out the game, or just build a "gaming PC."

~S~

it would take you less time to build a good gaming system than it would to try and buy one from a local shop...most don't have a clue what is needed to run anything more intense than wow or wot. i do know of a couple of "builders" that by all accounts, do build good gaming systems. though i don't agree with some of their hardware choices on their retail builds (they do custom builds too), every gamer that has bought a system from them raves about the customer service and the systems.

http://crimsonpc.com/  and  http://www.mainperformancepc.com/

if you have the money, give either a call...

[Bizman]

<snip>http://crimsonpc.com/  and  http://www.mainperformancepc.com/

if you have the money, give either a call...

Or, if you feel like you'd like to know what you pay for, customize your dream rig and see what the components would cost if you bought them from other vendors.

Building a PC is not a difficult thing to do, once you have found the right components. You shouldn't get anything plugged wrong without violence. Building will take about as long as unwrapping the packages. The slowest thing is to hide all cables neatly without them being twisted or strained too much. Installing Windows and all necessary drivers will take a couple of hours, the result being much better than with any brand computer. Optimizing the operating system is the most difficult and also most important part. With a diy installation you'd have the cleanest base to start with. With a brand computer you'd have a ton of crapware to sort out before you could even start any optimizing.

[Brooke]

Me, I'd go the $680 route with a Dell Inspiron 660 as listed above.

But if you want just to buy something and not have to install an upgraded power supply, I'd buy a Dell XPS 8500 for $700.

It has a 460W power supply.  It's got an NVidia GT 620 graphics card in it, which will run AH, but it isn't as fast as the NVidia GTX 650 Ti.  You can add that later if you want ($130 Nvidia GTX 650 Ti from newegg.com).

[BuckShot]

it would take you less time to build a good gaming system than it would to try and buy one from a local shop...most don't have a clue what is needed to run anything more intense than wow or wot. i do know of a couple of "builders" that by all accounts, do build good gaming systems. though i don't agree with some of their hardware choices on their retail builds (they do custom builds too), every gamer that has bought a system from them raves about the customer service and the systems.

http://crimsonpc.com/  and  http://www.mainperformancepc.com/

if you have the money, give either a call...


Thanks! ~S~

[lerxst]

Build your own,best way to do it alot cheaper,no filler,only what you need plus you can add onto it later as needed.im going through the same thing.im using a HP8200t CTO and am dying to get the money together to build a gaming rig.

[guncrasher]

main thing when building your own computer is think longterm.  if you can afford 700 bucks then that's a good start for a rig maybe 1 year from now.  when you buy "name" brand computers you are stuck with what they have.  you can change the video card and perhaps the ps but that's just about it.  in 2 years or even now your computer is already a pos.

if you buy you build your own and have a budget in the long term you will save money.  when i built my e8400 based computer i spent about 700 bucks.  about a year later I sold the mobo, ram and cpu for 200 then used it towards a 2500k cpu, mobo and ram.  total spent was about 300 bucks.  I overspend on my first video card (evga 465) got it for 300 bucks my second one cost me 120 shipped.

I can upgrade if I want to for about 300 bucks with my current cpu/ram/mobo selling.  but I see no point as I wont really get any higher frames than the steady 59 I get with everything on, except ev and shadows at 4096 (lowered to 2048 as I dont really see a difference).

I have 3 monitors all bought on sale at different times from different brands.  I used magazines to have them all at the same height.

If I could do it all over again I would have done the same thing except buy that 300 dollar card.

one thing I regret doing is not thinking that I could build my own computer 6 or 7 years ago when I bought the gateway.  then when i tried to upgrade, I realized i was stuck with what they would sell to me, which wasnt much of an upgrade.  I had gotten the top of the line 1,400 computer which was useless literally a few months later. I sold it for 300 bucks and I was lucky to get that.

recycle cans, bottles if you have to.  trust me, I refilled water bottles for me and my gf for 6 months using a cheap water filter to save enough money for my second monitor. since then I have yet to buy another overpriced water bottle at the store.




semp

[BuckShot]

Thanks again for the help fellas. Building sounds like a good way to go, but I don't even know where to begin, or where to put the flux capacititor. I'll probably end up waiting for a catastrophic failure and buy an off the shelf unit. To me  the inside of s PC is something you blow the dust out of a few times a year and try not to touch any of the wires or colorful boxes. Seems too complicated for me. Thanks again! ~S~

[guncrasher]

buckshot, when I started I thought a screwdriver was oj and vodka.  now I can take my puter apart with a 12 pack behind my hands.


semp

[Bizman]

Buckshot, it really isn't that hard. The only tool you'd need is a #2 Phillips screwdriver and maybe a flat one for the CPU cooler (I'm not going to confuse you by telling that HP likes Torx screws). Try to find a working throw-away computer for practicing. You might get one even for free! Tear it apart and build it back, try to boot. If everything has gone well, you should see windows in a couple of minutes. If not, check the wires and cards have been seated correctly. Rebuild.

Wikihow has a nice looking tutorial on How to build a computer. Basically the same information is given detailed according the model in the motherboard booklet, pictures and cautions included.