Help with a new computer build

Hey guys so I am finally ready to get a new computer, and I am in need of one. I will give you my price range and tell you a little about what I need.

My price range is $500-750
I have a GTX 550ti Nvidia GFX card laying around i think I can use that without worrying about buying a GFX Card it is pretty powerful right?

I want the computer for everyday use, such as browsing,homework,light programming in c++, movies etc.

I also play video games on the rig, such as EVE online, and some other newer games that are bit more intensive.


I do not need to worry about a monitor atm. And I am not sure if I need a GFX card as I said I have a GTX 550ti Nvidia sitting around that I think is a great card? I could be wrong.


I am wondering whether I should pick out parts from newegg? Or if I should buy a complete rig from newegg? I just want it to be able to run games nicely and not be obselete and still buyign a NEW PC that cant run modern games.


The computers at best-buy etc, seem pretty decent can anyone comment on this? If I throw in my GTX 550ti are they fine for gaming with modern games or are they really just built terribly and waste of money?

I was looking at this rig maybe? THe only issue I have is I have a GTX 550ti so should I not buy a rig with a video card? Or is this card better than my GTX 550ti by nvidia?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883229361

Any and all help is apprecaited guys, I know major geeks is the best!:major

 

All these views and no response? Really need some help here guys.

 

I personally never buy an off the shelf computer. I'm still running a core 2 quad 9400 overclocked to 3.2Ghz, 6GB DDR2 RAM with a 1GB nVidia GTX 460 in there and I've no issues at all playing anything at a reasonable resolution. Funny enough I almost bought a 550ti then went for the 460 due to the 256bit RAM vs the 192bit.

Newegg does tend to have some good deals, it does pay to shop around a bit. I think from what your talking about your graphics card should be fine. Maybe look at a quad core or an 8 core AMD chip, 8GB - 16GB DDR3, 1RB or 2TB HDD or I highly recommend at least two physical drives or better yet.. Once nice and fast SSD for the OS and a large platter based drive for your programs and profile.

 

Thank you very much for the information, I however would like to ask if you or another person could help me out a little more.

I understand hardware, and I can say for instance, install a new power supply, or install ram or a new gfx card, but when it comes to building a computer I have no expierence.

Since I alread have the GFX Card to the rig, am I going to be better off just buying pieces from newegg and putting it together? Is this something I can do without having the expierence of doing so before hand? Also will i need supplies that I have to buy such as certain glues or tools?

And last but not least, if anyone is nice enough to actually do this, Is there anyway you could maybe throw together a nice gaming rig ( Cpu / ram / power supply ) Etc, everything but the GFX Card on newegg and maybe link me to it? I don't think I know enough to really piece together a good one. I only know the basics such as a 3.0 dual is better than a 2.67 dual , but im sure it goes much deeper than my knowledge.

I just want to be able to spend 400-699$ for a rig ( not including gFX card or monitor)
I think that should be able to buy me a really nice computer that I wont have to worry about when playing modern games on a decent setting with decent FPS ?

 

Hi, Lithic

That system you have linked to appears to be a nice rig, but the user reviews aren't so hot. Of 91 reviews so far, 32 are in the 3-star or lower (or 32% of all comments after 6mths of ownership). Also your 550ti looks to be a better card then the HD6670, based on what I am able to check with the info in your post and comparing both cards on review sites.

It depends on want you want to do . . . you say you have no experience building a computer, so one that is preassembled is a good choice. You fire it up and you are good to go.

On the other hand, you could maybe save some money by buying a DIY combo package more tailored to what you want to do and using your existing decent video card. Building a computer is not hard to do per se, and you need no special tools. In all honesty, when you factor in the cost of buying the operating system over and above the hardware cost, it's going to be difficult to come in much lower then the pre-built systems. Add in the time to assemble and set it up when you are not fully comfortable doing so and getting a pre-built seems like the best option for you.

Newegg is a good place for this - just be sure you do some research on any rig you consider; such as reading the user feedback there - but also research the individual components online (motherboard, power supply, CPU, hard-drive) and look for user input on each.

Not a lot of help, I know . . . but any system with at least a quad core CPU, 500GB or higher hard drive, and at least 8GB of ram is a good target to aim for. Like Aidan suggested two drives is a good idea. For power supplies I suggest OCZ and Thermaltake as I have the most experience with those brands and find them to be of uniform quality . . . but any power supply you consider should be in the 700W range.

I prefer Intel CPU's and Intel chipsets; not so much VIA or SiS . . . but that's just personal preference, as I've historically had less issue with Intel over the years.

Hope you found this of some help. Have fun with whatever you go with!

 

Thank you guys, appreciate all the help, ill be really looking at some rigs today.

 

I know I'm a little late to the discussion, but I'll add a few thoughts:

* Don't rely only on a product's overall star rating - read the reviews in depth. They will often give red flags on potential problems (example: memory "x" doesn't work well with motherboard "y").

* If you decide to build, don't skimp on either the power supply or the hard drive. For the power supply, stick with a quality name brand such as Corsair or Cooler Master. For the hard drive, the Western Digital Caviar Black series is worth the few extra bucks. Avoid Hitachi drives like the plague; my experience is their failure rate is dismal.

* I haven't purchased an "off the shelf" desktop PC in almost 15 years. By building one, you usually end up with better grade components and a PC that's easier to upgrade in the future.

Hope this helps.