Pre-built desktop advice

My wife and I both need to upgrade our desktops (mine's 8+ years old, hers a mere 7...) and while we were at Microcenter today she kinda fell in love with this system.

http://www.microcenter.com/single_pr...uct_id=0360005

I had a number of issues with it, not the least of which being that I can't find the GT420 on the list of graphics cards that will support Ultramode. If I'm going to shell out that kind of money - twice - I want to be dead-certain that the main game we play on the system is going to be as bright and shiny as it can be.

I know that the ideal for desktops is to build your own, and I'm willing to take my knocks for not immediately going that route, but I've done some research there are just a couple of steps in that process that cause me not to trust my (clumsy) self.

My questions, then:

1. Am I correct that this card will not do Ultramode justice?
2. Is this a reasonable price for the system as spec'd?
3. Anybody have recommendations for other good sources for pre-built or custom-built gaming desktops?

Thanks in advance!

according to this comparison with the entry level ultra mode nvidia... it isn't.

Okay, buying pre-built is going to make it hard to get the system balanced for maximum performance. Mostly because you're paying for a lot of flash you don't need.

Were I you (and not scared of building), I'd start with the $725 platform as a base.

Make two substitutions.

Power supply

Video Card (AMD Option)

OR

Video Card (nVidia Option, $20 more expensive)

The former (power supply) is necessary to support the latter (video card).

Some people will tell you your system shouldn't need that much. Keep in mind, both of the video cards quoted here are high-end (but not top-end) gaming cards. Their power draw can be absolutely phenomenal (more than the rest of the system combined).

This gives you a modestly powerful base system (with expandability), and a stupidly powerful video system for about $850 shipped ($870 for the nVidia option).

I used a Columbus address for shipping calculations. Cincinnati and Akron zips yield the same shipping cost ($14.09) for UPS 3-day. Basically 2 days to process, 3 to ship. Figure a week total since you're not going to get weekend delivery.

That slides you in under your $1900 budget (you could double the RAM if you wanted and still have wiggle room) for both machines.

Note: Why'd I go with a modular PSU? Because I hate (HATES IT FOREVER!) cable clutter. With a modular PSU, you can attach ONLY the cables you need and leave the rest in a box in case you need to swap out or expand.

Were you to buy a system and try to just retrofit it for performance, it'd probably cost you more.

Also, if you can get those copies of Win7 for cheaper than you can buy an OEM at Newegg, go for it. But make sure it's 64-bit.

Clicking on the linked image above will take you off the City of Heroes site. However, the guides will be linked back here.

The GT 420 in an OEM card, essentially it's half of a GT 430 in terms of hardware. It's designed for PC manufacturers who want to say they added a video card but don't want to pay for the standard low end card that MicroCenter sells for $70-80. Still, it's likely faster than the integrated one in the CPU but for gaming as Cyrano Jones once said, "Twice nothing is still nothing".

The two major problems with that and nearly every store bought/built PC is the graphics card and the power supply to support a better one. Yes, it has lots of memory, the top end Sandy Bridge i7 but on the down side it has a variable speed eco hard drive, not as fast as a fixed speed 7200RPM hard drive, and the before mentioned puny video card and anemic power supply.

I think you will be hard pressed to find a computer that meets your requirements in a store. My suggestion would be is to look at having one built at CyberPowerPC or iBUYPOWER or getting one of their pre-built systems from someplace like NewEgg. For instance this and this are better gaming systems for $900 and they should be able to do ultra mode with ease.

Thank you both for the great advice! I'm now in the process of trying to decide if I want to give it a whirl and try building the systems myself. I like the look of the 2 systems Father Xmas pointed to on Newegg, esp. the Cyberpower one, and probably wouldn't have looked at them without the recommendation because the vid cards aren't in je Saist's list.

It seems like there's just a lot more you can get for the money if you're willing to build. Maybe I'm saying something that's so logical that it doesn't need to be stated in this forum, but what I see starting from Father Xmas's list and using Hyper's recommendations, for the same amount of money and a couple (a few?) hours of my time seems like a pretty stark contrast.

I may have more questions as I go forward, so I'll pop back again. Thanks so much!

Building isn't very hard; with a modern machine almost literally a monkey could do it. Installing the mobo is dead easy, most cases now already have standoffs in the correct positions for your board so all you do is attach the back plate that comes with the mobo, slide the mobo into place and screw it down. The CPU will only fit one way, all you do is raise the little lever and flip up the cover on the mobo, drop the CPU into the socket (and it goes in with nothing more than gravity, you don't have to exert any force) and close the little cover and lever. Then attach the heat sink and you're all done. If you don't have the CPU right then it won't sit in it's socket and the cover and lever won't close. If at first it doesn't fit then rotate it and try again. Or, you can line up the little mark on the corner of the CPU with the mark on the corner of the socket.

*Tip - it's easier to attach CPU/Heat Sink and Ram before the mobo goes into the case. Also, the only real gotcha is watching out for static electricity... I generally take my shoes & socks off and rest my foot on the case to ground out any static while I'm handling the components. You can buy a wrist band that attaches to the ground on an electrical outlet to do the same thing if you prefer.

After you have the mobo, CPU, Heat Sink and Ram mounted in the case just plug in the power supply cables, mount and connect your hard drive/CDROM and put your video card into it's slot. All the little plugs from the case look confusing but just look at your mobo's manual and attach them to the correct pins. You'll likely have one or two extra plugs from the case, you can disregard the "chassis intrusion" connection. You've already replaced a PSU before so you shouldn't have any problems figuring this out.

This is the easy part, next you hook up monitor, KB, mouse and speakers and hit the power switch. If you've done everything correctly the little lights will come on, the thing will beep and you'll get the BIOS screen. After that you'll put the OS DVD in your drive and install Windows. After that the fun begins where you install all the programs you work with and configure them all

Well the GTS 450 is in je_saist's list but the GTX 550Ti just came out a week or two ago. The GTS 450 is about 15% slower than an HD 5770 and the GTX 550Ti is about 15% more.

If I was going to recommend either of those two, I agree the CyberPowerPC one with more memory, a faster video card and a pretty nice case but a slightly slower Sandy Bridge quad core without hyperthreading is the better choice.

So if I decided to build, how would this set-up (obviously with a good video card added in) work out? Any glaring problems?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboB...t=Combo.627552

The CPU is extremely good (SandyBridge is damn good), and you've got adequate RAM for CoH (I'd recommend against ever buying less than 4GB of RAM these days*). The HD is quite large, so you'll have more than enough disk space. Throw in a good video card, and that thing will just slaughter Ultra Mode no problem.


* except in special cases, which this isn't.

We've been saving Paragon City for eight and a half years. It's time to do it one more time.

The "guts" are great (motherboard, CPU, memory). The rest is acceptable, nothing that screams "It's a trap!", just off brand or not the usual suspects.

So besides the video card there's the Microsoft tax, AKA a copy of the OS. An OEM copy of Win 7 SP1 is available at NewEgg for $105.

I have not had a problem with Rosewill yet... if that's the off brand. GL EarthWyrm

You can read a review of the psu at hardware secrets.

http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/881

CPU is great.
Memory is same brand I'm using.
Some people don't like MSI. I built a system with an MSI motherboard and I liked the features and never had any problems.

My only issue would be the power supply. I feel that's the only component with the potential to fry everything else if it fails spectacularly. I stick with top name brands on that component. My favorite (3 builds so far) is Antec. Still, that's a really nice price overall. And the PSU is certainly powerful enough for a good video card. Having a higher wattage than you really need is a degree of insurance with a '2nd tier' manufacturer.

So . . . would I buy it? If my livelihood was going to depend on the up-time, no. If it wasn't going to be my only computer (I have 2 desktops right now), sure.

Speaking of the Microsoft tax, I checked at work and the university sells Windows XP and Windows Vista for cheap, but doesn't seem to have Win7. I have no interest in ever running Vista (right or wrong...) - would XP work with this set-up, or should I just go ahead and spend the extra to get 7?

XP 64bit version is basically Windows Server 2003 - currently at SP2

This is the last time I'll post in this thread, but I just wanted to thank everyone who offered advice. I ended up not going with the Sandy Bridge system because as I looked at the components, it just seemed like more machine than the wife and I needed. Instead I used Father Xmas's $725 build (which was closer to $650 per system after instant rebates, and will get another $35 back from mail-ins) for the two systems. The parts came on Weds. but I was out of town, and I spent yesterday putting the systems together and getting things up and running.

Tonight, the wife and I are going to be playing the game on our shiny new computers. Thanks again to everyone who offered advice and who encouraged me to consider building myself. It really was a lot of fun, and the feeling of accomplishment when the first machine powered on was a heck of a rush.

Build yourself the pc and use the guide father x-mas posted. I did 2 years ago and for my first time ever building a pc it was a piece of cake and the total cost was just under $850 due to me changing out a few parts. System runs ultramode just fine and I have not had one problem yet with parts. Follow Father X-mas advice and you wont be disappointed.