HL N00b in need of new computer

B

Biohazurd

Guest
This would be my first post on the HL2.net Forums and first of all i would like to say that this site and forum is awesome. Please excuse me if this is in the wrong forum. I also used the search feature and couldnt find anything relevent to my situation. Ok now on with my problem

I have been playing HL2 and GMod at my brothers house on his comp. He has some dell computer that works pretty good and is used strictly for PC gaming. But now i would like to play HL2 and Gmod at my own house so i dont have to drive over to his place waste gas and such. My current computer is some computer that my dad got from his work that they were throwing out. Trust me it is one of the slowest computers on the face of the universe. Now i dont have much money to spend 600-700 at the most. I dont need the super duper gaming god computer. I also want a complete system. I dont know the insides of computers well enough to build my own. I have looked around the internet and i have to say im confused as hell. Just incase you are wondering i will be using this computer for other Pc games and internet usage. So im not wasting 6-7 hundred dollors just for Half-life.

Any help would be great Thank you.
 
By complete do you mean monitor, keyboard, mouse, dvd/cd drives and other peripherals? What can you salvage from your current pc? That would help towards building a new one.
 
If you've never built a computer before, I'd recommend a Dell, especially if you need a complete computer. I'd start with a Dimension E520, and choose the video card upgrade to the X1300 Pro. Right now there's also a $40 upgrade to a samsung 19" widescreen monitor. That'll put you at ~$820 for a dual core box with 1 GB ram. Next, start checking the dell website Monday until there's a nice deal to make it REALLY worth it (free ram upgrade to 2gb, 10% off, etc) and you've got a computer that should last you a few years.
 
Or you can catch a sale at one of the local stores.

About $400-$600 will get you a quite fast computer with all of the bells and whistles.

Try to get one on sale. I check stores like Best Buy, Office Max, Staples, Circuit City, and Wal Mart.

For games, you will try to avoid Celeron and Semperon and Opt for Athalon, pentium, Core Duo, or something like that.

The only thing you will need to buy seperately will be a graphics card. You can get one that works well for pretty cheap. Make sure it says shader model 3 or 4. These are easy to install if you follow directions.

Alternatively, you can get a barebones system from www.newegg.com, but this will require some building and part buying.


Others may have better suggestions.
 
DreamThrall said:
If you've never built a computer before, I'd recommend a Dell, especially if you need a complete computer. I'd start with a Dimension E520, and choose the video card upgrade to the X1300 Pro. Right now there's also a $40 upgrade to a samsung 19" widescreen monitor. That'll put you at ~$820 for a dual core box with 1 GB ram. Next, start checking the dell website Monday until there's a nice deal to make it REALLY worth it (free ram upgrade to 2gb, 10% off, etc) and you've got a computer that should last you a few years.
Click to expand...

I have a dimension e520 as my work computer ...the free upgrade to a 19" monitor too ..the monitor isnt that great (light bleeding on all 4 sides) as it's their value line but the pc is pretty good (for a work pc ) ..just dont expect to ever upgrade ..the cpu has this weird shroud fan that sucks in air to cool the cpu, mobo and hd ..it does make it near silent ..I just cant see having high performance parts keeping cool with such a set up
 
When it comes to video cards im pretty confused on which ones to buy. I need one under a hundred bucks. I checked Newegg but couldnt find any under $100.

Back to the computer deal. Im still undecided on the brand and such. I need a computer that is upgradeable to a certain degree. I dont know im confused as hell. Im thinking of going to a local computer shop and asking some questions...
 
I remember when working at CompUSA that there were some HP models that had an extra spot for a hard drive in the PC Case compared to other HP models or other brands. 4 memory slots (2 empty) instead of only 2 total. PCI-Express 16x gfx slot instead of none etc. Just so you could do some basic upgrading down the line. I think there were a few Emachine models at the time like that as well. You'd have to have the sales guy slide off the side of the display unit to tell. They won't have that kind of stuff on the sticker. hehe

Make sure the PC has a slot for a graphics card (PCI-Express 16x is current, AGP is an older one) and the GFX card uses the same slot (marked on the box).

For a gfx card I would not buy one at a local store. With your budget you would not be able to get anything of value...or performance. I'd look online (newegg.com if you are in the USA).
You could pick up a X1650pro (example) for under $100 USD from an online store.
But walk into a retail store like Compusa you would have to pay $200 for that card.

Maybe a Nvidia 7600GS or ATI X1650Pro 256MB (don't pay extra for 512MB, it won't help these cards). You won't find a 'Nvidia' brand card since they just make the chip. XFX, BFG and EVGA are some good brands that make Nvidia cards. ATI, Sapphire, and Asus make good ATI cards (in the past I would have mentioned Connect3D but I have heard that you cannot get in touch with their tech support anymore and a lot of vendors are dropping them).

Actually another option would be Nvidia's new DX10 card, 8500GT. Will be close to $100.
 
In my first post I said to make sure your new graphics card supports SM (shader model) 3.0 or higher, but for half life2, you really only need 1.1, but 2.0 would improve the graphics. If I was buying a card I would probably get an SM 4 card, but definately at least 3.0.

Anyway, I forgot to mention, but ASUS said it right on. Many of the store bought pre-built PC's are lacking some things that are really important for gaming.

My first Emachines, and several HP computers that I have seen didn't have an AGP or PCIexpress (PCIe) slot. This is crucial. You're not going to want to get an AGP anymore, so make sure your new computer has a PCIexpress slot, or you won't be able to play games on it well at all.

You'd have to go with the ancient and dying PCI, and that is total shit. Like ASUS said, PCIe is not commonly listed on the side of the box, but sometimes it is.

Hopefully it will say, "PCIe expansion slot" or something. You may have to just do a google search on the specific model and brand of the computer you are thinking of purchasing, to BE CERTAIN it has a PCIe slot. Then, when buying your graphics card, it needs to be PCIe.

Buying a graphic card in a retail store is a good way to get ripped off, just like Asus said. You will pay more for less.
 
it doesn't have a price, and it doesn't come with a monitor or a video card... regardless you really can't beat that dell i linked to for a cheap preassembled computer... you'll be able to play HL2 out of the box, and it'll last you for a good while as long as you aren't expecting anything extraordinary.

EDIT: actually, you'll be better off not upgrading the video card on the dell site and getting the x1650 asus linked to.
 
Pentium 4's are a little out of date and run a bit on the hot side (some make joke references to an easy bake oven). Any of the machines you've looked at have Core2Duo or Athlon 64's?
 
Ive seen a few with athlon 64s and some with core2duos. Anyway i have upgrading my budget to 900-1000 range, Meaning i have alot more options. Any good comps in this range?
 
Biohazurd said:
Ive seen a few with athlon 64s and some with core2duos. Anyway i have upgrading my budget to 900-1000 range, Meaning i have alot more options. Any good comps in this range?
Click to expand...

If you built it yourself, you can build a bad mother****er with that money. I'm talking the very best mainstream stuff for everything.

Unless your going to get a Dell, you might have to put the graphics card in yourself. It's as complicated as a few screws and a slot. Like sex. It might not have gone perfect your first time.

OK, but once you put the video card in, putting memory, hard drives, and everything else is even easier. It's imperative that you have another computer with internet access nearby for support for your first time at least.

the only difficult part about anything is not knowing what you are doing. So you follow the graphics card instructions. install it, then boot the computer, cancel windows prompt to install a driver for "found new hardware", and run the install CD that came with the card. Simple. :D
 
Yeah i dont think i will have a problem with installing the graphics card. It doesnt seem to complicated. But i need to find a comp first. Ill keep looking for a while. What good brands of Computers are out there for 800-1000? And something either with out an operating system or with Windows Xp would be good. I really am not a big fan of Vista at this time so if i cant find a good pc with windows xp then ill get one with an OS so i can just buy it.
 
Biohazurd said:
Yeah i dont think i will have a problem with installing the graphics card. It doesnt seem to complicated. But i need to find a comp first. Ill keep looking for a while. What good brands of Computers are out there for 800-1000?
Click to expand...

Unless it's your first computer, I don't recommend a pre-built computer. You will find most of it useless for your new computer when you want to upgrade in a couple years.

The monitor, memory, cpu, mobo, sound, keyboard, mouse, case, power supply... some of the things like the keyboard and monitor will be useable, but you will want better. Almost nothing will be salvagable to use in your new computer, even the operating system in pre-built PC's is a bad idea in my experience.

I will never buy another pre-built PC. I don't want to scare you off, because I had a lot of great times on mine, but there were some headaches and nightmares, and nothing was up to par for gaming, though with a PCIe graphics card and a dual core CPU you will be much better off than I was.

You can take a look at the (search word) barebones systems at www.newegg.com These barebones systems are basically built, they probably need keyboard, monitor, and mouse, which you may have. You may need an Operating System, and that isn't cheap, but you save by going with one of these systems, and you get better equipment than a pre-built, so it works out I think.

That;s really all I know.
 
You can get a Dell XPS 410 or Dimension E520 for that much, and then buy a video card separately. The E520 is nice, it comes with a 20 inch widescreen monitor, E6420 Core Duo and 2 GB ram. You'll definitely need a video card though.
 
Ive been at the dell site a few times. Do i have to customize my system there? Or do they have some pcs that are just ready to go?

Also This is my first computer. Before ive been sharing with my parents. That sounds kinda sad but its the truth.
 
Well at the Dell site, you have to pick which model you want, and from then you can either buy the system as they've configured it, or customize it.
 
I customized a XPS 410 on dell.com with pretty much everything I think i need including:

Intel? Core? 2 Duo Processor E4300 (2MB L2 Cache,1.8GHz,800FSB)

2GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 667MHz - 2 DIMMs

250GB Serial ATA 3Gb/s Hard Drive (7200RPM) w/DataBurst Cache?

256MB nVidia Geforce 7300LE TurboCache

and a bunch of other stuff. It came out to a total of 1079.00. That sounds like a pretty good deal to me. I looked up the Geforce 7300LE card on newegg and i suppose that it is a pretty decent card? Anyway feel free to notify me if you dont agree on me on this one. I wont be making my computer buying decision for a week or so. Thank you.


Also HL2 and Gmod work ok on Vista right? I wish they could just put XP on it...
 
I've been running Vista for about a month on a new Dell and I love it. You might want a better video card than that though.
 
Well after many weeks of constant computer thinking i have decided to build my own Computer. My friend Eric will assist me in the work.

I have assembled a list of parts that i would like alot more experienced computer builders to look at. I will also put a link to the newegg.com product... Here we go


Computer Case

APEVIA X-Plorer ATXB8KLW-BK Black Steel ATX Mid Tower

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811144102

Hard Drive
Western Digital Caviar SE WD2500JS 250GB 7200 RPM 8MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822144417


CD-ROM
ASUS Black 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-ROM SATA DVD-ROM Drive Model DVD-E616A3T

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827135143


Processor
Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 Conroe 2.4GHz 4M shared L2 Cache LGA 775 Processor

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115003

CPU Fan
ZEROtherm BTF90 92mm Silent UFO CPU Cooler

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835887002

Motherboard
MSI P6N SLI Platinum LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 650i SLI ATX Intel Motherboard

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130081

Memory
G.SKILL 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231098
Power Supply
Antec earthwatts EA380 ATX12V v2.0 380W Power Supply 100


http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371005

Video Card

MSI NX8600GT-T2D256E OC GeForce 8600GT 256MB 128-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127286


Monitor
Acer AL1917WAbd Black 19" 5ms DVI Widescreen LCD Monitor 300 cd/m2 700:1 Built in Speakers

http://www.newegg.com/Store/SubCategory.aspx?SubCategory=20&name=LCD-Monitors

OS
Windows XP Home Edition

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16837116193


You will probably notice that I copied and pasted all the names of parts because i cant remember much.

Please tell what changes to make on my parts list. I dont know much about whats good and whats not. Any help would greatly help me, Also tell me if im missing anything vital like different fans or anything like that. Thank you.
 
I would pick a PSU model (power supply) that is known to be good. Rosewill does not make their own and who knows who they have make it or what the build quality is like. A poor PSU has a much greater chance of failing and PSUs can take a system down with it when they go since they are connected to everything.

Recommended Brand/model list of power supplies
Rosewill being in the NOT RECOMMENDED section.
The top models are a bit pricey. Maybe look under Tier 3 on their list.

With the components you list you don't need a 550watt PSU (unless you plan on upgrading to a high powered $300 graphics card). I'd settle for a bit lower rated power but a higher quality unit so it stays in your budget.
 
Asus said:
I would pick a PSU model (power supply) that is known to be good. Rosewill does not make their own and who knows who they have make it or what the build quality is like. A poor PSU has a much greater chance of failing and PSUs can take a system down with it when they go since they are connected to everything.

Recommended Brand/model list of power supplies
Rosewill being in the NOT RECOMMENDED section.
The top models are a bit pricey. Maybe look under Tier 3 on their list.

With the components you list you don't need a 550watt PSU (unless you plan on upgrading to a high powered $300 graphics card). I'd settle for a bit lower rated power but a higher quality unit so it stays in your budget.
Click to expand...

i bought a rosewill 450 watt one. it was great for a year then it died. the worst it did was somehow ruin my sound card drivers making me reinstall windows.
 
I think I have a spare 8600 graphics card around here somewhere..
 
Ok ive replaced the Power supply and the video card so how does the setup look now? What other parts would you suggest? By the way i estimated the total price after shipping to be around 1400. Thats actually pretty good. Thanks for the help by the way.
 
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