I want to buy a new desktop. Can you guys help me?

[Triple A]

My laptop is fucking annoying and I hate its guts and I want to smash it.

So I want to buy a desktop, with a nice decent monitor.

Basically, I guess I wanna spend around $1,000. I've seen some decent deals at like Best Buy and crap for around that much with the monitor and all. My question is, should I just buy one from there or build my own with parts from Newegg or something? Like would I be able to get something pretty sweet for under $1k? And if so, what should I get? Will you please help me guys?

[Triple A]

Also if I built my own I would probably end up having to buy Vista, eh? That is an added expense there.

[G]

I'd build one myself. I know I'm gonna do that when this one gets old. Mostly because I'd get a better machine for the same price if not less than something like a Dell.

[Vietnamese Crippler]

What do you use your computer for? Depending on what you do, you should be able to build a damn good computer for $1000.

[G]

Yes, but buy OEM Vista instead of from a store. Much cheaper.

[Triple A]

I don't need a computer for gaming at all. But I would still like a decent video card with HD TV out because I will be doing video editing.

[Triple A]

So what exactly would I need to buy from Newegg?

Motherboard, processor, RAM, power supply, video card, sound card, hard drive, the PC casing, monitor... what else?

Can you guys gimme some suggestions on what to buy too? Like links to some things on newegg, what I should be looking for, etc.

If I can get a decent computer for under 1k, that would be pretty sweet.

[Vietnamese Crippler]

Just doing a quick search, not really price comparing or anything and using my personal preferences...

Mobo - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128084 - $80
Processor - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115017 - $240
RAM - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145590 - $100
Vid - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161203 - $115
HDD - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148136 - $100
Case+Power - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811145079 - $28
Monitor - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824254001 - $170
Vista - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116204 - $100

Of course, you can cut back on things like the HDD (e.g. 320 instead of 500) or the processor (Core 2 Duo instead of Core 2 Quad). A couple of the items also have rebates attached, so the final, final price may be a little lower.

[El Fangel]

Trips, Look into

Acer Aspire, one I have came to like $800

It has 3GB ram, 500GB HD, Athlon 2400 Pro Video Card (Good for gaming), Top mounted USB Ports, and Headphone/Mic Jacks.

[Triple A]

Sweet. Would I need to buy any other little things, like thermal paste or any crap like that to install the processor and whatnot?

Also, should I buy a sound card or just use the on board audio?

[Vietnamese Crippler]

I would buy Arctic Silver 5, the stuff that comes OEM usually sucks.

When I built my computer, I picked up new fans for the case and new fans/heatsinks for the processor and video card. Not sure if you need that or want, though.

As for the sound card, I believe on board sound has come a long way, but I would still buy a separate sound card.

[DS]

I would stick to stuff you see on this page for a general idea of what you want. http://www.newegg.com/Product/CustVoteProductWinner.aspx

Go at least dual core for your processor. AMD does true dual core but Intel has some nice quad cores that aren't that expensive. I would probably spend the most money on that.

Get the G.Skill 4 GB ram and make sure to get the right type of motherboard for whatever processor you go with. You might search other hard drives if you want more space, I think they have a Western Digital 500GB for around $90 or so.

The best videocard for your money right now is definitely those 8800GTs which are pretty cheap for videocards.

Here's what I would go with for the bigger parts, but it might reach your budget pretty quickly:
Processor: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115017
Motherboard: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813127030 Cheaper one: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128059
Memory: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231166
Hard Drive: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148262
Videocard: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127329

And then all you really need is a power supply, dvd drive (or blu-ray if you want), and a monitor if you're looking for one of those too.

Don't bother with a sound card or Vista. Microsoft has pretty much given up on Vista as of late with Gates saying that Windows 7 is coming out sometime next year and word of them completely dropping Vista, so stick with XP right now and don't worry about it.

[Triple A]

A lot of that stuff is way overpriced for what I want to pay and for what I need.

And no, I am going to get Vista.

[Requiem]

Why? Like DS said, it is going to be outdated next year when Windows 7 comes out. And if the rumors are true, it will be a polished and fine tuned version of Vista, which likely means MS will completely drop support for Vista (or make it very minimal). So there is no point in getting Vista at this time. It will save you money which could be used for your new hardware instead.

[Triple A]

Because

a) I like Vista

b) Windows 7 is coming out in 2010

c) I don't want to wait 2 years

d) it's only $100

[Triple A]

I am actually looking at Dell right now and it would be cheaper to just buy a computer from there than to build one. Think I'm gonna do that.

[Bad Company]

I'll suss you out a PC from the dell website in your budget if you want, just gimme some time.

[Triple A]

Yeah, def. I have done a few mock customizations and pretty much got what I am looking for but I would like to see what kinda stuff you think would be good.

[Vietnamese Crippler]

Post your mock build :y:

[Triple A]

<TABLE id=sc_review_selections_table><TBODY><TR class=odd><TD class=scrtd1>PROCESSOR</TD><TD class=scrtd2>Intel Core 2 Quad Processor Q6600 (8MB L2 cache,2.4GHz,1066FSB)</TD><TD class=scrtd3 style="WORD-BREAK: keep-all; LINE-BREAK: strict">edit (http://javascript<b></b>:to_page_mod(1, 1, _Action);)</TD></TR><TR class=even><TD class=scrtd1>OPERATING SYSTEM</TD><TD class=scrtd2>Genuine Windows Vista® Home Premium</TD><TD class=scrtd3 style="WORD-BREAK: keep-all; LINE-BREAK: strict">edit (http://javascript<b></b>:to_page_mod(1, 11, _Action);)</TD></TR><TR class=odd><TD class=scrtd1>MONITOR</TD><TD class=scrtd2>22 inch E228WFP Widescreen Digital Flat Panel</TD><TD class=scrtd3 style="WORD-BREAK: keep-all; LINE-BREAK: strict">edit (http://javascript<b></b>:to_page_mod(1, 5, _Action);)</TD></TR><TR class=even><TD class=scrtd1>MEMORY</TD><TD class=scrtd2>3GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 800MHz - 4 DIMMs</TD><TD class=scrtd3 style="WORD-BREAK: keep-all; LINE-BREAK: strict">edit (http://javascript<b></b>:to_page_mod(1, 3, _Action);)</TD></TR><TR class=odd><TD class=scrtd1>HARD DRIVE</TD><TD class=scrtd2>500GB Serial ATA Hard Drive (7200RPM) w/DataBurst Cache™</TD><TD class=scrtd3 style="WORD-BREAK: keep-all; LINE-BREAK: strict">edit (http://javascript<b></b>:to_page_mod(1, 8, _Action);)</TD></TR><TR class=even><TD class=scrtd1>OPTICAL DRIVE</TD><TD class=scrtd2>16X DVD+/-RW Drive</TD><TD class=scrtd3 style="WORD-BREAK: keep-all; LINE-BREAK: strict">edit (http://javascript<b></b>:to_page_mod(1, 16, _Action);)</TD></TR><TR class=odd><TD class=scrtd1>VIDEO CARD</TD><TD class=scrtd2>ATI Radeon HD 2400 PRO 128MB</TD><TD class=scrtd3 style="WORD-BREAK: keep-all; LINE-BREAK: strict">edit (http://javascript<b></b>:to_page_mod(1, 6, _Action);)</TD></TR><TR class=even><TD class=scrtd1>SOUND</TD><TD class=scrtd2>Integrated Sound Blaster®Audigy™ HD Software Edition</TD><TD class=scrtd3 style="WORD-BREAK: keep-all; LINE-BREAK: strict">edit (http://javascript<b></b>:to_page_mod(1, 17, _Action);)</TD></TR><TR class=odd><TD class=scrtd1>KEYBOARD & MOUSE</TD><TD class=scrtd2>Dell USB Multimedia Keyboard and Dell Optical USB Mouse</TD><TD class=scrtd3 style="WORD-BREAK: keep-all; LINE-BREAK: strict">edit (http://javascript<b></b>:to_page_mod(1, 4, _Action);)</TD></TR><TR class=even><TD class=scrtd1>FLOPPY & MEDIA READER</TD><TD class=scrtd2>Dell 19 in 1 Media Card Reader</TD><TD class=scrtd3 style="WORD-BREAK: keep-all; LINE-BREAK: strict">edit (http://javascript<b></b>:to_page_mod(1, 10, _Action);)</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

For $999

Added $90 upgrading from a 19 inch to a 22 inch monitor. I think it's worth it.

[DS]

If you have the option of an 8800GT instead of the Radeon HD I would change that. I am a fan of ATI but the 8800GT is the better option.

Other than that it's not a bad setup.

[Bad Company]

Yeah, what DS Said.

[Triple A]

They don't have the 8800GT on that model. They have the 8600 which is $90 more than the Radeon 2400, which is probably good enough for me so I don't think I need it.

[G]

as long as you dont play games, it's fine

[Triple A]

<TABLE id=sc_review_selections_table><TBODY><TR class=odd><TD class=scrtd1>OK I ended up just going and shopping around and bought an HP PC from Circuit City. Using it right now and it is very sexy. I love it. AMD processor and whatnot but it's cool.

Processor: AMD Phenom 9500 Quad Core 2.2 GHz
RAM: 3GB
HD: 750GB
Video card: GeForce 8500GT 256MB
DVD R/W DL

For $729

Plus I bought a fucking awesome 22 inch glossy sexy monitor for I think $329.

Might be a little too big even, giving me a headache right now. :mad:
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

[G]

THat sounds good. Way better then mine. Well, I have like 2 TB of space I don't even use. :(