Time for a new computer

Hello computer experts!

Well, the Dell laptop I use for playing City of Heroes (now 3+ years old) is no longer cutting it. I've been putting off getting a new computer for awhile now, but I've put up with my last reboot due to the laptop overheating.

I'm not completely computer illiterate, but picking a gaming computer seems very, very intimidating. I've looked at CyberpowerPC and all of the options are overwhelming. I found the guide for this and have attached it below. I'm not sure if this is keeping with forum decorum, but if anyone out there put up a link to a system that would be good for my needs, I would be very appreciated.

1) What will you primarily be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc

Primarily City of Heroes gaming. I've never played in Ultra mode, and would love to do that regularly. As for my other computing, I'll store the lionshare of my itunes on my laptop. Probably a little web browsing and printing, but this will mostly be a game machine.

2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?

I'd like to keep it at 1500-ish. Maximum is 2000. I'm frugal, though, so 1000-1500 is best. That budget includes the computer only. I'll need other components as well, but I'll worry about those on a separate budget.

3) Where do you live? This is important as it affects what vendors you may buy from and how much shipping costs might be.

Central time zone, United States.

4) Are you planning to buy or build?

Buy.

5) What exact parts do you need for that budget? CPU, RAM, case, etc. The word "Everything" is not a valid answer. Please list out all the parts you'll need. If you're unsure what exactly you need, say so.

Not exactly sure. It needs to be a complete system. I only need help now for the computer system, so CPU, RAM, case, etc.

6) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.

I won't be reusing any parts.

7) Will you be overclocking?

Not exactly sure what this means. I'm open to the option.

8) What size monitor do you have and/or plan to have?

I have a 19 inch monitor right now. I'll probably use it for now until I can get another one, but it'll stay 19-21 inch or so.

9) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?

I'd like to purchase within the next month and a half.

10) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? USB 3.0? SATA 6Gb/s? etc.

I have no idea.

11) Any specific must-have features? Must be able to max out Ultra-Mode? Must have 6+GB of RAM? Must have an SSD? etc.

I'd like to play in Ultra mode. Max out would be nice, but is not absolutely necessary.

12) Are there any vendors/brands you'd specifically prefer to use?

Nope, although I've heard good things about CyberpowerPC.

13) Are there any vendors/brands you'd specifically prefer to avoid?

I'd like to stay away from Dell, Gateway, etc. Looking for something with a little higher gaming horsepower than those systems.

14) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If yes, what OS? Is it 32bit or 64bit? (Note: If your current OS came with your computer, odds are that it is NOT transferable.)

Nope, I'm using this opportunity to upgrade to Windows 7 too. I'll buy that separately, though, as I think I can get a good discount on it via work.

Father Xmas has some good guides on hardware that should prove informative. The main one is here. While the focus is on building your own, the information should still prove useful in picking components from CyberpowerPC, IBuyPower, or similar. I build my own so I can't say good or bad about those places. Anyways, you can always post up specs you're considering for comment here.

And to adress the question about overclocking. If you don't know what it is, you're better off staying away from it. Overclocking is running the system, mainly the CPU, at a faster speed than it is rated for. BUT you need a bit of know-how to do it correctly as there is some risk of frying your system if you do it badly.

Thanks for the info on overclocking, Back. Based on what you said, that doesn't sound like something I'd be interested in.

Any chance anyone could give me some thoughts on this machine? I'd think it'd be more than enough to run Ultra mode, but I haven't bought a computer in so long. That leaves me a bit unsure.

http://www.cyberpowerpc.com/system/Gamer_Xtreme_5200/

It's not bad. I probably pick a different motherboard, one that supports both SLi as well as CrossfireX (to cover all the bases) and includes Lucid Virtu support (for high speed video transcoding) but that's me.

If all you ever plan to do is to use one high end video card it's fine.

Crossfire and SLI are AMD and Nvidia's (respectively) tech for using multiple video cards to improve video performance, primarily in games. CoH, as yet, doesn't support either technology. They have done some work in that direction I believe but not much has come of it so far. So, for right now, they don't matter. But if you think you might upgrade to a multi-GPU setup somewhere down the road, then supporting both isn't a bad idea.

Whether the Lucid Virtu is of value to you will depend on whether you'll take advantage of it or not. And it's still probably more a 'nice to have' than a 'need' even then.

I will note you picked a water cooling system. Personally, I wouldn't. Unless you're massively concerned about noise from fans, it's totally unecessary. Water coolers are more for doing big overclocks or going for quiet/silent systems. The average user doesn't need one. You can do just fine on air cooling. Water systems take more maintenance since you're basically attaching a small radiator to your case. So there's the potential for leaks and the need to keep your coolant levels topped up periodically. Just food for thought.

In any case, I have no doubt the system you picked will run CoH in all it's UM glory without a hitch.

I'm not personally familiar with it but a little Google-fu suggests it is a pretty good one. I would expect it will work for you no problem.