I am torn between computer builds.. any computer nerds available for opinion-n-talk?

I have customized an Alienware Aurora and a Dell Studio XPS 9100... the first is 1,500 dollars and the second is 1,300 dollars. I am much MORE inclined to speand the lesser amount... but I am torn... here are the specs of both builds:

PROCESSOR Intel® Core™ i5 650 Dual Core 3.2GHz (4MB Cache)
OPERATING SYSTEM Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium, 64bit, English
MEMORY 12GB Dual Channel DDR3 at 1333MHz edit
VIDEO CARD ATI Radeon™ HD 5770, 1GB GDDR5 edit
KEYBOARD No Keyboard edit
MOUSE No Mouse edit
HARD DRIVE 1TB - SATA-II, 3Gb/s, 7,200RPM, 32MB Cache HDD edit
MEDIA READER 19-in-1 Media Card Reader edit
MONITOR No Monitor edit
ENTHUSIAST ESSENTIALS Killer Xeno™ Pro edit
SOUND CARD Integrated 7.1 Channel Audio edit
OPTICAL DRIVE 24X CD/DVD burner (DVD+/-RW) w/double layer write capability
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Studio XPS

PROCESSORS Intel® Core™i7-930 processor(8MB L2 Cache, 2.80GHz)
OPERATING SYSTEM Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium, 64bit, English
MEMORY 12GB Tri Channel DDR3 SDRAM at 1333MHz - 6 DIMMs
VIDEO CARD ATI Radeon HD 5770 1024MB GDDR5
HARD DRIVE 1TB - 7200RPM, SATA 3.0Gb/s, 16MB Cache
OPTICAL DRIVE Single Drive: 16X CD/DVD burner (DVD+/-RW) w/double layer write capability


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Now here is where I am torn... I can get an intel I7 processor on the XPS where as the alienware has i5... but it has a faster process speed... but I feel that a 2.9 ghz speed with an i7 is better than 3.2 with an i5... and on top of that... the xps has tri channel 12 gb of ddr3... while the alienware has dual channel... there is also a difference in cd drive speeds... and MB cache of the processors...
I only play world of warcraft... and other games that require no real epic graphics... but I feel that both of these machines would allow me to play WoW on epic settings... any opinions? Am I justified in getting the XPS for less money? Is it better or at least the same than the alienware? and if so... am I just paying so much more for the alienware for the name brand and fancy case?

Go with the i7 and overclock it to the 3.2 also the i5 may be faster GHZ wise but the i7 cache buffer is twice that of the i5. Plus the Tri-Channel memory depending on the brand can be out preformed buy two channel.. I just bought 8gb of OCZ two channel pc6400 800mhz that out preforms some tri-channel.. I think they are about even but I'd still go with the i7 processor..

I'd go with the i7..sometimes you are paying for the Alienware name more than you are the hardware they put in them..

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Originally Posted by Trey Yeoman

I have customized an Alienware Aurora and a Dell Studio XPS 9100... the first is 1,500 dollars and the second is 1,300 dollars. I am much MORE inclined to speand the lesser amount... but I am torn... here are the specs of both builds:

PROCESSOR Intel® Core™ i5 650 Dual Core 3.2GHz (4MB Cache)
OPERATING SYSTEM Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium, 64bit, English
MEMORY 12GB Dual Channel DDR3 at 1333MHz edit
VIDEO CARD ATI Radeon™ HD 5770, 1GB GDDR5 edit
KEYBOARD No Keyboard edit
MOUSE No Mouse edit
HARD DRIVE 1TB - SATA-II, 3Gb/s, 7,200RPM, 32MB Cache HDD edit
MEDIA READER 19-in-1 Media Card Reader edit
MONITOR No Monitor edit
ENTHUSIAST ESSENTIALS Killer Xeno™ Pro edit
SOUND CARD Integrated 7.1 Channel Audio edit
OPTICAL DRIVE 24X CD/DVD burner (DVD+/-RW) w/double layer write capability
------
Studio XPS

PROCESSORS Intel® Core™i7-930 processor(8MB L2 Cache, 2.80GHz)
OPERATING SYSTEM Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium, 64bit, English
MEMORY 12GB Tri Channel DDR3 SDRAM at 1333MHz - 6 DIMMs
VIDEO CARD ATI Radeon HD 5770 1024MB GDDR5
HARD DRIVE 1TB - 7200RPM, SATA 3.0Gb/s, 16MB Cache
OPTICAL DRIVE Single Drive: 16X CD/DVD burner (DVD+/-RW) w/double layer write capability


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Now here is where I am torn... I can get an intel I7 processor on the XPS where as the alienware has i5... but it has a faster process speed... but I feel that a 2.9 ghz speed with an i7 is better than 3.2 with an i5... and on top of that... the xps has tri channel 12 gb of ddr3... while the alienware has dual channel... there is also a difference in cd drive speeds... and MB cache of the processors...
I only play world of warcraft... and other games that require no real epic graphics... but I feel that both of these machines would allow me to play WoW on epic settings... any opinions? Am I justified in getting the XPS for less money? Is it better or at least the same than the alienware? and if so... am I just paying so much more for the alienware for the name brand and fancy case?

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I really hate to burst your bubble but both systems are overkill in the extreme. The only thing that really matters when it comes to playing most games is a good dual core processor 3 or more GB of ram and the best video card you can afford. If you want to play the crazy intensive games you want 3 or more cores with more ram and the best video card you can afford. At the end of the day its your money but if I were you I wouldn't spend anywhere near that amount of money. Get something with 6 to 8 GB of ram, a decent processor and a great video card.

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Originally Posted by Freakie_frog

Go with the i7 and overclock it to the 3.2 also the i5 may be faster GHZ wise but the i7 cache buffer is twice that of the i5. Plus the Tri-Channel memory depending on the brand can be out preformed buy two channel.. I just bought 8gb of OCZ two channel pc6400 800mhz that out preforms some tri-channel.. I think they are about even but I'd still go with the i7 processor..

I'd go with the i7..sometimes you are paying for the Alienware name more than you are the hardware they put in them..

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Good points but, what do you think about those systems for playing WOW with the settings maxed out. What's your advice for that?

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Originally Posted by Freakie_frog

Go with the i7 and overclock it to the 3.2 also the i5 may be faster GHZ wise but the i7 cache buffer is twice that of the i5. Plus the Tri-Channel memory depending on the brand can be out preformed buy two channel.. I just bought 8gb of OCZ two channel pc6400 800mhz that out preforms some tri-channel.. I think they are about even but I'd still go with the i7 processor..

I'd go with the i7..sometimes you are paying for the Alienware name more than you are the hardware they put in them..

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that is what I have gotten from most people... they say that the expensiveness of the alienware is the case and liquid cooling you are getting :) And I have read a few articles about tri channel being just a little better than dual channel.

My current rig... which decided to die on me... has quad core phenom (at like.. 2.4 ghz) with 8 gb of ddr2 and ati radeon hd 4650... so th i7 would be much of an upgrade :D

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Originally Posted by Egapal

Good points but, what do you think about those systems for playing WOW with the settings maxed out. What's your advice for that?

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Like you said I think they are overkill or WOW if that's all you're going to be playing, Now if you're going to be feathering some Crysis, COD: Black OP's or Battlefield 2 then yea you're right there where you need to be video card is lacking SLI or sorry Crossfire since they are ATI.

But yea for WOW and only WOW overkill.

Buy a good HP or Dell Desk top with 4 GB of ram an i7 or i5 processor and save about 700.00 if all you're going to be doing is playing WOW..

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Originally Posted by Freakie_frog

Like you said I think they are overkill or WOW if that's all you're going to be playing, Now if you're going to be feathering some Crysis, COD: Black OP's or Battlefield 2 then yea you're right there where you need to be video card is lacking SLI or sorry Crossfire since they are ATI.

But yea for WOW and only WOW overkill.

Buy a good HP or Dell Desk top with 4 GB of ram an i7 or i5 processor and save about 700.00 if all you're going to be doing is playing WOW..

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well I own Black ops and teamfortress 2 and crysis... I just never got into them because my old rig didnt do much justice... playing at low settings... I have all of those games on steam...

and is ATI Radeon HD 5770 1024MB a decent card? there was an option for 5870... but for studio xps.. there wasnt an option for crossfire

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Originally Posted by Trey Yeoman

well I own Black ops and teamfortress 2 and crysis... I just never got into them because my old rig didnt do much justice... playing at low settings... I have all of those games on steam...

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LOL then if you're wanting to do them justice then the i7 with a few on-board tweaks is the way to go no doubt. But like I said if you have no real interest in playing them you can save yourself alot of money and get you a nice 26-32" monitor or 2-3 22" monitors.. It's all going to come down to what you're want to spend your money on.

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Originally Posted by Trey Yeoman

and is ATI Radeon HD 5770 1024MB a decent card? there was an option for 5870... but for studio xps.. there wasnt an option for crossfire

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The 5870 HD made Videocardbenckmark.net's top ten..

the 5770 scored a G3D of 1640 and is ranked #39 out of thousands so yea its a descent card.

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Originally Posted by Freakie_frog

The 5870 HD made Videocardbenckmark.net's top ten..

the 5770 scored a G3D of 1640 and is ranked #39 out of thousands so yea its a descent card.

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and what was #1?

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Originally Posted by Trey Yeoman

and what was #1?

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#1 GeForce GTX 580
#2 GeForce GTX 480
#3 GeForce GTX 570
#4 Radeon HD 6970
#5 Quadro 6000
#6 Radeon HD 6950
#7 GeForce GTX 470
#8 Radeon HD 6870
#9 Radeon HD 5870
#10 WinFast GTX 460

why not save money by buying the hardware from newegg or other sites and build it yourself ... its a great feeling to look down at a tower and know you designed it... plus u can take the $ u save and put it towards a bp :) both of those pc's are over kill for wow .. so its a win win either way .. same video card .. so i say go with the i7 if your going to buy one of those

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Originally Posted by XIIIPythons

why not save money by buying the hardware from newegg or other sites and build it yourself ... its a great feeling to look down at a tower and know you designed it... plus u can take the $ u save and put it towards a bp :) both of those pc's are over kill for wow .. so its a win win either way .. same video card .. so i say go with the i7 if your going to buy one of those

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I have considered that actually... which leads me to look at things like...
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboB...t=Combo.563968

or

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboB...t=Combo.558462

or

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboB...t=Combo.573241

but the last doesnt come with a graphics card.. and I don't know if those DIY bundles come with everything that one would need to actually make a computer.. I am kind of leaning towards the second link I posted... thoughts?! It is better specs than what I am getting with my dell computers... and already 400 dollars cheaper lol..
and a ps: I have a 23inch hd monitor and a keyboard, mouse and sound system... so I only need a tower....

ya.. pc companies mark up the hardware then charge you to install it all... if you have no clue how to build 1 i would find someone local who can hook it all up once u get all the parts in.. it will save you a pretty penny going this route ..

between those 2, i7 is a no brainer, 2 cores vs 4 cores hm....

now with that said, all you want to do is play WoW, now i can't say for 100% sure hes playing on epic settings, but I build a exact replica of my computer for a friend ( i don't play WoW so i have no idea)

mines a i-3 3.2ghz, 4gb ddr3 ram, and Gforce 6500, spent less than 550 on everything in the tower. and it runs WoW just fine, Tho im not sure how extreme his graphics settings are.

I run deskspace 3d desktop 24/7 tho with no problem. only real thing I can think of that works out my graphics card. only games I play are diablo 2 and wc3, and I have 6x diablo 2 bots running right now and can play wc3 on full video settings, with the d2 bots running, but all that put together might not even equal WoW lol.

So i guess what im saying is you might be spending too much money for what you want. look into it

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Originally Posted by Trey Yeoman

My current rig... which decided to die on me... has quad core phenom (at like.. 2.4 ghz) with 8 gb of ddr2 and ati radeon hd 4650... so th i7 would be much of an upgrade :D

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It sounds like your old rig was just fine. Whats wrong with it. Did it explode? Sounds like its definitely worth fixing if all it needs is a new HD or a new powersuply. Take all the money you are saving and buy the best new video card that will fit your motherboard.

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Originally Posted by Egapal

It sounds like your old rig was just fine. Whats wrong with it. Did it explode? Sounds like its definitely worth fixing if all it needs is a new HD or a new powersuply. Take all the money you are saving and buy the best new video card that will fit your motherboard.

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it was fine enough but I kinda want ddr3... and a new processor... and to get a new graphics card with my old rig I would HAVE to get a new motherboard and power supply anyway... because the mobo is kinda old... >< So i figure I can fix my old rig and use it for my pictures and music or something and get a new rig for just gaming... Ive tried to upgrade my old rig before but the concept of getting a new powersupply is daunting to me >< I mean im almost just gonna buy dell because I dont feel like dealing with all this nonsense :(
and I dont NEED 12 gb of ram... it would be nice to have and brag about... lol and I dont need i7 3.4ghz but its nice to have...

i7 all the way.

ETA: Forget Newegg. They were good, but now they suck.

Go to www.acmemicro.com Get a Supermicro motherboard (or a Gigabyte if you're into overclocking,) the i7 CPU, and be happy.

I'm a VAR who builds video editing workstations. I've been using ACME for about 20 builds now, and they are GREAT. I've never had an issue with any of the systems they've built for me. Their pricing is excellent, and they are very customer oriented.

It's a great time to buy computers. You can get workstation performance for desktop prices. Set a budget, and max out your hard drive subsystem speed and your motherboard specs. Graphics cards are a dime a dozen, and RAM is cheap. Fill it up. Don't forget good clean power. Way too many people cheap out on power supplies, and they pay the price down the road.

If you can afford SAS drives, build yourself a little RAID-10 and be happy. Or, build a RAID-10 out of SATA drives, and be pretty darned happy.

What do you guys think about this combo deal:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboB...t=Combo.564129

with

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814133326

graphics card?

I added another set of 4gb (2 X 2gb) RAM chips (the same ones included with the combo deal to make 8gb of ram and the total is 900 bucks (with shipping)
and its better than the dell computer that I had made and it is 300 dollars less than what I had made at dell.

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Originally Posted by Trey Yeoman

What do you guys think about this combo deal:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboB...t=Combo.564129

with

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814133326

graphics card?

I added another set of 4gb (2 X 2gb) RAM chips (the same ones included with the combo deal to make 8gb of ram and the total is 900 bucks (with shipping)
and its better than the dell computer that I had made and it is 300 dollars less than what I had made at dell.

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the i5 dual core 4gb ram and pny 460 will play wow max settings ... everything else doesnt really matter .. get a 7200rpm hdd and then just add the stuff u like.... main cities like org,dal,stormwind for some reason load from the hdd so the faster the hdd the better you will be in big cities.. dont ask me why.. i just know b/c of reading on the wow forums from a gm ... but to sum it up .. that pc is perfect for what u want

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Originally Posted by Egapal

It sounds like your old rig was just fine. Whats wrong with it. Did it explode? Sounds like its definitely worth fixing if all it needs is a new HD or a new powersuply. Take all the money you are saving and buy the best new video card that will fit your motherboard.

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I agree it would definitely work for WOW. To the OP take it to a local computer shop and ask them about the upgrades. The money saved could be your next BP. :gj:

I just thought about this... for the custom computer from newegg... would I have to purchase windows 7 as a new operating system? ><

something liek this?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-754-_-Product

a 1 time use... OEM edition? ... I am a little lost about this thought ><

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Originally Posted by Trey Yeoman

I just thought about this... for the custom computer from newegg... would I have to purchase windows 7 as a new operating system? ><

something liek this?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-754-_-Product

a 1 time use... OEM edition? ... I am a little lost about this thought ><

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I did some research and basically OEM is a ONE time use... that is tied to the motherboard it is installed with... and that makes it not favorable because if you want to upgrade the motherboard you have to reinstall another OEM OS fr 99$... or I could just buy the box version that includes liscense for like... 3 computers for 199$ so basically its moveable if I get a new computer... I am leaning towards the OEM though because I do not plan on upgrading my motherboard anytime soon ><

in my opinion, nothing computer-wise is overkill :P

also, Dell has terrible, horrible, no good very bad customer service. yeah i know i'm not much help at all

[QUOTE=Trey Yeoman;1486085]I just thought about this... for the custom computer from newegg... would I have to purchase windows 7 as a new operating system? >

i haz. "The HP Pavilion (model: dv7-3186cl)" and it runs WOW fine...

I just started dont look at me like that.... :bolt:

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Originally Posted by I<3Dreamsicles

i haz. "The HP Pavilion (model: dv7-3186cl)" and it runs WOW fine...

I just started dont look at me like that.... :bolt:

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heheh :D im playing wow on my macbook right now.. 2.6ghz dual score intel pentirum processor on 2gb of ddr3 ram lol!!!! and it runs okay so im not worried about it at al... but i do miss my desktop... this macbook is small and is very over heated lol!

WoW ran fine on my HP Pavilion DV9530NR.

2.0GHz Intel Core2 Duo CPU
4GB RAM
NVIDIA GeForce9300M GS

obviously i didn't have the graphics maxed though...

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Originally Posted by katia

in my opinion, nothing computer-wise is overkill :P

also, Dell has terrible, horrible, no good very bad customer service. yeah i know i'm not much help at all

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You are terribly, horribly wrong on both counts. Unless you have money to basically throw away there is definitely such thing as overkill. Let say you go out and get that super new computer. You spend a bunch of time configuring everything and you are playing WOW and life is good. Now your friend comes over and says what did you spend on that rig. You say $1,500. Next day you head over to your friends and they are playing WOW on their $500 dollar computer. (remember the OP is talking about just the computer, not a monitor) You think well my WOW game is definitely crisper. Whats that next to your friends computer "Oh yeah I got a new ipad too. Oh and did you see my new Bumble Bee BP." I am not saying that the $1500 computer isn't going to be faster and totally awesome and all that. What I am saying is that at the end of the day its a lot of money to spend on technology that will be half that price next year. Unless you "need" it, its overkill. So decide how much you really want that screaming new machine.

Oh yeah and Dell customer support is no worse than any of the other big names in my experience. There business support is great.

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Originally Posted by Egapal

You are terribly, horribly wrong on both counts. Unless you have money to basically throw away there is definitely such thing as overkill. Let say you go out and get that super new computer. You spend a bunch of time configuring everything and you are playing WOW and life is good. Now your friend comes over and says what did you spend on that rig. You say $1,500. Next day you head over to your friends and they are playing WOW on their $500 dollar computer. (remember the OP is talking about just the computer, not a monitor) You think well my WOW game is definitely crisper. Whats that next to your friends computer "Oh yeah I got a new ipad too. Oh and did you see my new Bumble Bee BP." I am not saying that the $1500 computer isn't going to be faster and totally awesome and all that. What I am saying is that at the end of the day its a lot of money to spend on technology that will be half that price next year. Unless you "need" it, its overkill. So decide how much you really want that screaming new machine.

Oh yeah and Dell customer support is no worse than any of the other big names in my experience. There business support is great.

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Well it's also in reference to priorities... for die hard gamers, the statement about no computer buying and usage is overkill, is a valid statement... for someone that doesn't play video games as hardcore, and spend more time with the snakes and music (ipod/ipad etc) would probably completely disagree with that statement...

I have since this post decided on a build that costs like 800 dollars... which is good for me :D Intel I5 dual core 3.4 ghz, 4 gb of ddr3, 1/5tb hd, and a nvidea geforce gtx 460 (fermi) graphics card... basically much less than what I had planned before and not a SUPER COMPUTER, but it will run WoW better than my last computer :D and I will still have another 800 bucks for other things :D

(I don't know if I mentioned that I am shopping on a budget of 1,600 dollars... which is refund money from my college... so it's free money... that I get back... AFTER I pay for my classes, books, and special lab fees... )

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Originally Posted by Trey Yeoman

Well it's also in reference to priorities... for die hard gamers, the statement about no computer buying and usage is overkill, is a valid statement... for someone that doesn't play video games as hardcore, and spend more time with the snakes and music (ipod/ipad etc) would probably completely disagree with that statement...

I have since this post decided on a build that costs like 800 dollars... which is good for me :D Intel I5 dual core 3.4 ghz, 4 gb of ddr3, 1/5tb hd, and a nvidea geforce gtx 460 (fermi) graphics card... basically much less than what I had planned before and not a SUPER COMPUTER, but it will run WoW better than my last computer :D and I will still have another 800 bucks for other things :D

(I don't know if I mentioned that I am shopping on a budget of 1,600 dollars... which is refund money from my college... so it's free money... that I get back... AFTER I pay for my classes, books, and special lab fees... )

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So you have absolutely no loans for school and you have $1600 coming to you?
If any of that is loan money then you are proving my point. That money you spend today will end up costing you a lot more by the time you pay it off. I am the head of IT/IS for a small company so I know a thing or two about computers. The problem with getting the better system is diminishing returns. You will probably get a great system for 800 dollars. $1600 will not get you twice as fast a computer. The pricey super fast stuff is going to devalue quickly. It has nothing to do with priorities. You say no computer is overkill as if $1600 is the most you can spend. I know people who have spent over $3,000 on a gaming rig. Its overkill. You want solid state drives, I can get most of the benefit with non of the downside out of a striped raid for less than half the cost. You want to see real speed. Setup a ram drive. Not that you need to. Most modern games require a killer video card more than anything else. The original poster is making a big fuss out of a bunch of factors that don't matter half as much as the video card. I stand by my statements.

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Originally Posted by Egapal

So you have absolutely no loans for school and you have $1600 coming to you?
If any of that is loan money then you are proving my point. That money you spend today will end up costing you a lot more by the time you pay it off. I am the head of IT/IS for a small company so I know a thing or two about computers. The problem with getting the better system is diminishing returns. You will probably get a great system for 800 dollars. $1600 will not get you twice as fast a computer. The pricey super fast stuff is going to devalue quickly. It has nothing to do with priorities. You say no computer is overkill as if $1600 is the most you can spend. I know people who have spent over $3,000 on a gaming rig. Its overkill. You want solid state drives, I can get most of the benefit with non of the downside out of a striped raid for less than half the cost. You want to see real speed. Setup a ram drive. Not that you need to. Most modern games require a killer video card more than anything else. The original poster is making a big fuss out of a bunch of factors that don't matter half as much as the video card. I stand by my statements.

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Well I am the OP and I am making no fuss about anything... especially not a "big fuss". I am merely asking opinions on making a computer on my own, and what parts and programs I should use. I have no college loans, the budget I have is federally regulated money that is part of an academic program, like a scholarship, and after classes and books I get the left over money.
At this point, I am probably just going to go buy a computer from best buy, I don't feel like dealing with all this stress and what not. Maybe I will just pay someone to build it for me and order the parts for lol! 800 bucks with 100 labor and I don't gotta do anything and I know it will be done right. That sounds good to me.