Considering its a year old and is going to sell for just under what we paid new, I'm over the moon about it

mbn

where's the best place to shop/look for a new reasonably priced gaming PC for the mostly computer hardware illiterate?

http://www.tomsguide.com/us/best-gam...view-2219.html

Maybe check anandtech too

Really not too happy with that toms article, since it doesn't compare and contrast models, just gives one.

Ideally, look for reputable websites that give pros and cons of a number of computers in your price range.

And don't forget to include potential prices for non-computer hardware you might need to buy, like a new monitor. That can really add a hundred or two onto your price unexpectedly.

Or find a gaming friend that will build you one from parts which is still the best value for money.

A good friend will only charge you a six pack for doing it.

An acquaintance will ask for a twelve pack.

if you have a microcenter nearby i don't think anyone beats their processor\motherboard bundles...

in the two weeks since I discovered how awesome and convenient it is to have one of them nearby, I've already become extremely frustrated when traveling to other cities that don't have them

like, bordering on anxiety-ridden

Pretty much. I built mine and saved about a grand over what a place like Alienware would charge.

Cyber power will build one for you and not up charge a grand (at least that was true 5+ years ago, I built my last rig and haven't looked at their site in a while)

I built mine and spent way more than I would have if I bought a pre-fab one.

I kept buying stuff higher than what I had picked out.

1333 mhz ram? Naa let's get the higher one.
Geforce 5xx? Naa, let's get the new 690.
Etc etc


Built mine about 2 years ago, maybe more. It's pretty solid, shouldn't have to worry about needing new stuff for a while, but I just want new stuff now :P

Add a new part here or there. Won't cost a load and can be a fun project

Na, I don't need it though

shouldn't be a problem, just so long as you don't openly admit it somewhere public that your wife has searchable access to...

I'm not uh...spendy like that.

If I want something, I'll just get it. I just don't have a desire to upgrade

just get LED strips

are there any decent <$100 speakers?

or would I be better suited just getting a decent pair of headphones and going straight into my audio ports?

A good pair of headphones will probably pick up some white noise if your integrated sound card isn't set up perfectly. Just a word of warning.

havent really messed with it at all tbh

also.. dafuq alienware:



link

Go with headphones, IMO. Better experience.

I am somewhat surprised Alienware continues to exist. I don't understand who is buying their products. Everyone I know who does serious PC gaming builds their own system. I also thought this 10 years ago, so what do I know.

I sadly know a bunch of people with Alienware, they tend to be PC gamers but they don't keep up with hardware and they just wanna dump money on a nice pc, they don't care they're losing $200-500 worth or whatever.

( Not that it justifies it, but they don't know any other brand that'll sell them a gaming pc ).

Does Alienware have its own support staff or do they use Dells? I can't imagine they get much repeat business if the latter.

I type this from an Alienware laptop. I have no idea why people would buy Alienware desktops but have you ever tried to put a gaming laptop together. Alienware uses Dell support but you automatically qualify for same day service at home. And they even came to my place to replace my dusted up fans and heat sinks when my CPU started to run hot. They also replaced my AMD video card with a far better NVIDIA card when they failed to stop the AMD card from crashing when playing certain games.

This is my second Alienware laptop and I will definitely buy another one when this one becomes obsolete. So far I have not seen a laptop that can compete and the service you get is great.

I live in Australia so no idea if the same service exists in the US.

any thoughts on this for a first build?

http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/k3rVf7

any components you'd swap for something superior for a similar price?
probably going with this case assuming it'll fit? www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00BHARA64/

anything else i need?