Trying to buy a new computer..

[thinkmad]

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to be honest, building a PC is color coded now a days. if you know how to build lego cars, you know how to build PCs. don't force any pieces together and you'll be fine.

if saving money is what you're after, definitely building your own rig is the best route to take. microcenter, visit their store, will help you buy the parts you need and they have discounts if you buy bundles/packages.


out of the two you posted, i would go for the 2nd one as it's 6core vs 8core. and the 2TB HDD. Memory is a bit lacking (1333 DDR3 vs 1600 DDR3, also 8gb vs 16gb), but for Final Fantasy the 8gb 1333 DDR3 is fine. My advice is to buy a higher wattage PSU when you buy that rig. Something along the 700+watts. It comes witha 350watt PSU, but I don't feel safe with that specially if you're running 8 cores. Also, the you'll need a stronger PSU when you start upgrading your GPU, might as well get a jump start on it now.


edit..
http://www.microcenter.com/product/4...sktop_Computer

A little out of your price range, but it's using Intel I5 new gen, and NVidia GTX 650, also 8g 1600 DDR3. It doesn't say what the PSU wattage is, but I don't imagine it to be less than 500. Better ask first tho, coz you might need to swap out the PSU again.

[Tokochan]

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There is microcenter fairly close to me.. I'll have to check that out before I make a decision I suppose :O
I'm not really sure about the watts and such..but I did see in the reviews for that computer that people had problems with it

Edit: Oh that one would probably be nice :O I heard that intel is better but amd is cheaper (something like that) and if thats true I wouldn't mind going over by a little for it

[thinkmad]

There is microcenter fairly close to me.. I'll have to check that out before I make a decision I suppose :O
I'm not really sure about the watts and such..but I did see in the reviews for that computer that people had problems with it

Edit: Oh that one would probably be nice :O I heard that intel is better but amd is cheaper (something like that) and if thats true I wouldn't mind going over by a little for it

are you in the NYC area? I'd be willing to help you pick out parts at microcenter and help you build your PC. lol. just an offer, no stalking intended.

[Tokochan]

are you in the NYC area? I'd be willing to help you pick out parts at microcenter and help you build your PC. lol. just an offer, no stalking intended.

haha no I live near Philly XD but thank you for the offer!



Bigred978 - Oh I didn't know some site would let me do that O_O. I'm gonna fiddle around with that right now, thank you :3

[Zheri]

There is microcenter fairly close to me.. I'll have to check that out before I make a decision I suppose :O
I'm not really sure about the watts and such..but I did see in the reviews for that computer that people had problems with it

Edit: Oh that one would probably be nice :O I heard that intel is better but amd is cheaper (something like that) and if thats true I wouldn't mind going over by a little for it

While Microcenter typically has excellent deals on CPU/Motherboard combos, their prices on everything else are the same as competitors or higher and you're going to be paying 6% in sales tax. Since you said you live in the Philly area, I'm assuming the Microcenter you're talking about is the one in St. Davids. That means the Tiger Direct store in Christiana, DE is also within driving distance if you have a free afternoon and there's no tax there. I'd definitely check them out too if you're adamant about going to a brick and mortar store. If you're OK with mail order, look at Newegg. They often have the best deals anywhere and are highly reputable. The downside is waiting for your parts to arrive.

Intel vs. AMD: In an general sense, yes, Intel is better while AMD is cheaper and there are some people who will never buy AMD. However, AMD does have its advantages in your price range. An FX-6300 is 6 cores and easily overclockable while a Core i3 is effectively 4 cores and does not support overclocking. (An Intel chip with a "K" after the number indicates an unlocked multiplier which makes overclocking easy; none of the i3's are "K" models.) That's not really a big deal right now as most games use only 2 cores, but looking to the future there are more and more programs that utilize multiple cores and overclocking can extend the usable life of an obsolete chip.

PSU Wattage: There's some significant disadvantages to skimping on your PSU, and for the little extra money 600W is worth it over 500W. Most of them operate at peak efficiency and idle fan speeds under about 50% load. Anything over that will dump more waste heat into your system and the fan will run faster and noisier. A typical budget gaming computer draws about 300-350W depending on what CPU you go with, so you're looking at a 600-700W PSU for cool and quiet operation. It'll also pay for itself in reduced energy costs, and PECO is expensive

[Tokochan]

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Oh I didn't even think about driving to DE! I've been looking at all the sites (newegg, amazon, etc.) trying to see which has the cheapest parts >_o but... not sure if some sites are more reliable or anything

[Will01]

My advice is to buy a higher wattage PSU when you buy that rig. Something along the 700+watts. It comes witha 350watt PSU, but I don't feel safe with that specially if you're running 8 cores. Also, the you'll need a stronger PSU when you start upgrading your GPU, might as well get a jump start on it now.


edit..
http://www.microcenter.com/product/4...sktop_Computer

A little out of your price range, but it's using Intel I5 new gen, and NVidia GTX 650, also 8g 1600 DDR3. It doesn't say what the PSU wattage is, but I don't imagine it to be less than 500. Better ask first tho, coz you might need to swap out the PSU again.

Is this day and age, we dont need as many watt's, modern PC's are a lot more energy efficient, but 350 is still a tad low. 500 would be better.

[thinkmad]

Is this day and age, we dont need as many watt's, modern PC's are a lot more energy efficient, but 350 is still a tad low. 500 would be better.

depends on what you have on your system really. I have 4 HDDs, 2 Optical Drives, 1 SSD, and a few USB ports.. all pull power (not including the mobo, and the cpu, and the gpu also pulling power). I'm at 700watts atm, I'm looking to upgrade to 1k for safety.

[Rukus]

Same Cyber PC here with a different CPU 6 core instead and a 7750 with 2gb GDDR3 instead of 7770 with 1 gb GDDR5, but 130 bucks cheaper. Not sure what would be better, I think I would go with the cheaper if it was just for FF14.

I'll let someone who knows a bit more about computers to say if the 130 bucks off is worth it.

519.99 on bestbuy
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/gamer-ultra-desktop-8gb-memory-1tb-hard-drive/9177174.p?id=1218994550644&skuId=9177174&st=pcmcat287600050002_categoryid$abcat0501000&cp=1&lp=7#tab=overview

out of stock link on Newegg for spec list
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16883229437

I did order this at best buy about 5 days ago as a gift for my little brother so have not been able to see how it performs yet, However I was told by one of the staff that did the order for me that since it was the Holiday season I could technically be able to Price match until January 15th or even return it by then if I decided to.

[Bandofhawk]

Frsit of all you about to spend 600-700 $ on a computer that is just soo bad bad old crap.would you spend that much money knowing you need to replace it the second you clicked buy. NOW!! i know you are just trying to keep the bill low and i understaind that very well but if your gona buy a pc make sure its gona last awile for the amount of money your about to spend! you dont need to go all out but you realy should buy better.

you should be buying something with an I5 or I7 quad core both are about = for gameing.

also at this point for a gpu i would get nothing less then a GTX 650.

as for ram 8 gig minimum.

So please for the love of your hard worked money.and your love of gameing and the future of have a computer that will last you more then 2 years save up just a little bit more and buy something nice. there are some things you can cheese, and others you cant your gameing comp isnt one of them things you want to cheese.