The PC Thread - Tips, Benchmarks, Specs, Laptops, Custom Desktops, Pre-Builds and more.

[Maxine Shaw]

gotta agree.
when i got my SSD i was shocked at how much faster everything was.

Maaaaaaan, first time I used my SSD, it was like a virgin touched for the very first time.

Whats the best pc I can purchase from bestbuy/walmart?

You can't. Understand that if you get a pre-built rig, you are getting fukked. You are not going to find a top-of-the-line PC at Target or Walmart or even Best Buy. Those are overpriced builds full of half-assed components to dump off on people like you. Please learn how to build your own PC. You're going to have to spend the money anyway, and you probably have 1/2 the stuff at your house already and just need to upgrade some of your components. Even if you have to start from scratch, you'll still get so much more for your money if you build it.

Here are my specs and what you would pay for them today off Amazon, brand new.

Processor: AMD FX 8320 Black Edition 3.5GHz (now OCed to 4.2) = $130
Motherboard: ASUS M5A99FX PRO R2.0 = $142
Memory: Corsair XMS3 8 GB = $75
Graphics card: EVGA GeForce GTX 960 = $200
Power supply: Raidmax Old As fukk 630W = $97
TV Tuner: WinTV-HVR-1250 = $70
Total cost: $714

I don't have a media drive, but that's because I took it out to make room for more hard drives (I have five 1 TB plus my main drive, which is an SSD). So throw in another...oh, $100 for a Blu-Ray drive. You're still under $850 and you have a far, far more powerful build that can be expanded on if need be.

What's the make and model of your current PC? It's very possible that all you might need to do is upgrade a component or two, like your video card or your processor, or maybe throw in a couple of extra sticks of RAM.

 

[Michael9100]

Maaaaaaan, first time I used my SSD, it was like a virgin touched for the very first time.

You can't. Understand that if you get a pre-built rig, you are getting fukked. You are not going to find a top-of-the-line PC at Target or Walmart or even Best Buy. Those are overpriced builds full of half-assed components to dump off on people like you. Please learn how to build your own PC. You're going to have to spend the money anyway, and you probably have 1/2 the stuff at your house already and just need to upgrade some of your components. Even if you have to start from scratch, you'll still get so much more for your money if you build it.

Here are my specs and what you would pay for them today off Amazon, brand new.

Processor: AMD FX 8320 Black Edition 3.5GHz (now OCed to 4.2) = $130
Motherboard: ASUS M5A99FX PRO R2.0 = $142
Memory: Corsair XMS3 8 GB = $75
Graphics card: EVGA GeForce GTX 960 = $200
Power supply: Raidmax Old As fukk 630W = $97
TV Tuner: WinTV-HVR-1250 = $70
Total cost: $714

I don't have a media drive, but that's because I took it out to make room for more hard drives (I have five 1 TB plus my main drive, which is an SSD). So throw in another...oh, $100 for a Blu-Ray drive. You're still under $850 and you have a far, far more powerful build that can be expanded on if need be.

What's the make and model of your current PC? It's very possible that all you might need to do is upgrade a component or two, like your video card or your processor, or maybe throw in a couple of extra sticks of RAM.

...... Building a pc just seems like to much of a hassle for someone like me........ heck what I like most about the hp was that it glows red ...............







I'm using the family pc:

Gateway ZX6980-UR308 All-in-One Touch Desktop PC

I have a vaio laptop but it's screen won't turn on........ I took the ram sticks out then tested 1 in both slots; Occasionally the screen would come on but since it won't work with both sticks in I gave up on trying to "fix" it.

 

[winb83]

Whats the best pc I can purchase from bestbuy/walmart?

Asus makes a pretty decent console sized PC

 

[Liquid]

...... Building a pc just seems like to much of a hassle for someone like me........ heck what I like most about the hp was that it glows red ...............







I'm using the family pc:

Gateway ZX6980-UR308 All-in-One Touch Desktop PC

I have a vaio laptop but it's screen won't turn on........ I took the ram sticks out then tested 1 in both slots; Occasionally the screen would come on but since it won't work with both sticks in I gave up on trying to "fix" it.

Breh stay away from prebuilds. Hell give me $1,000 and I'll build you a damn space rocket compared to that HP

 

[winb83]

Breh stay away from prebuilds. Hell give me $1,000 and I'll build you a damn space rocket compared to that HP

Prebuilds come with speakers, a monitor, an operating system, a warranty. Stuff the average PC builder doesn't factor into the final price. If you're into computers and know how to fix one yourself a self built PC is ideal but I've hardly even put a PC together and had it work the first time I assembled all the pieces. I've had defective parts, somehow the Mobo is touching the chassis and shorting out and all types of BS.

 

[Liquid]

Prebuilds come with speakers, a monitor, an operating system, a warranty. Stuff the average PC builder doesn't factor into the final price. If you're into computers and know how to fix one yourself a self built PC is ideal but I've hardly even put a PC together and had it work the first time I assembled all the pieces. I've had defective parts, somehow the Mobo is touching the chassis and shorting out and all types of BS.

I built a computer when I was 9 and that's before standards were placed.

I can squeeze in a 1080P monitor, speakers, and OS into a $1,000 budget as well. All parts come with warranty.

No excuses in 2015

 

[daze23]

thing is, dude says he doesn't even want to game, and he seems pretty set on buying it prebuilt from a physical store. that's why I was suggesting getting whatever cheap desktop, and putting a SSD in it

 

[winb83]

I built a computer when I was 9 and that's before standards were placed.

I can squeeze in a 1080P monitor, speakers, and OS into a $1,000 budget as well. All parts come with warranty.

No excuses in 2015

sure all the parts come with warranties but there's a huge difference between that and the computer itself as a whole having one. In one case you have to figure out which part is defective and in the other you don't.

 

[Liquid]

thing is, dude says he doesn't even want to game, and he seems pretty set on buying it prebuilt from a physical store. that's why I was suggesting getting whatever cheap desktop, and putting a SSD in it

Hell at this point why not just get a laptop and put an SSD in it?

A cheap laptop is more valuable than a cheap desktop IMO

edit: just read the previous pages...still would suggest a laptop though.

 

[daze23]

Hell at this point why not just get a laptop and put an SSD in it?

he supposedly wanted something that would be more upgradable. but yeah, then he doesn't want to build his own, and he didn't seem too keen on installing a SSD. then he came out of left field with that $1000 prebuilt

I agree that a laptop might be the best choice. the only thing he really wants is HDMI out. he needs to figure out what he wants, and his budget

 

[Maxine Shaw]

that's why I was suggesting getting whatever cheap desktop, and putting a SSD in it

And even that seems like too much hassle. This isn't a car we're talking about here. I'm out of it at this point. That saying about fools and money is soooooo true when it comes to PCs.

*edit* 960 is here...average FPS is 130.8 and max FPS/sec is 257.3. I'm all for OCing video cards and whatnot, but DAMN if that little chunk of change was worth spending hours in my BIOS choking out every little extra frame.So now I'm running an SSD hard drive w/a CPU OCed to 4.2 (on air, no less) and a beast of a budget card...spring break is about to be a blur of pixels and cheese dust.

 

[Mowgli]

Resident Evil 6 was meant to be played on PC

 

[Zebruh]

Maaaaaaan, first time I used my SSD, it was like a virgin touched for the very first time.

First time I booted up WIndows 7 after installing on my SSD

shyt was like opening a new tab on my browser. Sheesh. I just recently froze while playing CSGO and I was back in the game in like 2.5 minutes from the second I restarted.

he supposedly wanted something that would be more upgradable. but yeah, then he doesn't want to build his own, and he didn't seem too keen on installing a SSD. then he came out of left field with that $1000 prebuilt

I agree that a laptop might be the best choice. the only thing he really wants is HDMI out. he needs to figure out what he wants, and his budget

I mean, if dude drops a SSD in that $300 joint he was talkin about earlier I don't see what's terrible about it for general use. Much better than dropping a stack on a pre-built.

Edit: But I agree a laptop might be the best choice.

 

[Liquid]

Brehs, I think that Zotac SN970 is probably going to be the best steam machine and the modding community will probably go crazy with it.

http://store.steampowered.com/app/353530/

 

[Liquid]

I'm tempted

Must be able to install Windows though, Can't mess with that SteamOS life