# gaming desktop under 600$



## wilfredo (Dec 18, 2007)

i would like to buy a destop under 600$ that can handle a certain game medieval II total war i do not want to buy it online i will only buy it in a store. i prefer a dell.

what stores do you suggest
or what computer do you suggest


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## Fren Banklin (Nov 6, 2008)

Er, um. Well first this thread needs to be moved. This is a tech support forum, primarily. Meaning troubleshooting, how to fix, etc...

Advice on builds goes somewhere else. Where, I don't know, but not here.

But, since I'm here, my advice is:

DON'T buy a DELL.

Long list of reasons, not really willing to go into it at length, but keep that basic theme in mind, and just ask knowledgeable folks, "Why not Dell".

I advise buying the pieces and parts from NewEgg, and putting the thing together yourself. Custom parts are much-higher in quality, and are interchangeable and intercompatible. There's a long list of reasons for buying these too. Just ask around, people will tell you.


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## acraven151 (Sep 11, 2008)

I agree with Fren_Banklin! Very good points. Custom building a machine brings you such joy when you first boot up. When you hear it start POST, and you see your BIOS. It is truly a lovely thing. Sure, there are lots of headaches, but it is well worth the experience. And it makes upgrading at later times a breeze!


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## McNinja (Jun 22, 2008)

a few basic items.

Dells have motherboards that are hard to upgrade with poor support for anything else
Dell PSU's are meant only for the system its built for and the case its built with sometimes only accepts other Dell PSU's
Dell gives crappy components for lotsa $$$$
Their so called gaming cases and builds are poorly cooled.
just try dealing with Dell support I dare you!
etc etc etc 

A few things in this build will be expensive other not so much
A good quality PSU for later upgrades
a upgradable quality Motherboard
A nice average case with good cooling

everything else can be kind of lower end for later upgrades

Case
Antec 300 gamer case
$50
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129042

PSU
PC and Power Cooling 750w
$110
after rebate $90
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129042

Motherboard
ASUS P5QL PRO LGA 775 Intel P43 ATX Intel Motherboard
$90
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131329

CPU
Intel Pentium E5200 Wolfdale 2.5GHz 2MB L2 Cache LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor
$73
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116072

RAM
Patriot Viper 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail
$70
after rebate $45
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820220315

Video Card
XFX PVT96OSDFH GeForce 9600 GSO 768MB 192-bit GDDR2 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card
$78
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150320

HDD
Seagate 320gb
$50
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136098

DVD Burner
LG Black 22X 
$24
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827136153

OS
Vista 64 bit
$100
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116488

Total $645

after rebates $595


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## Fren Banklin (Nov 6, 2008)

The above is pure gold. Every piece is good quality or better. Please note the special emphasis on the high-quality PSU. It's the most-important part in the whole build.

I have a special thing about cases. I see them on the side of the road on trash-day all the time, when people upgrade. You don't need a "gaming case". You could put those parts in a card-board box. You NEED RAM, or a better video card, etc... Those fancy gaming cases aren't going to help increase your frame rate one bit. Put that extra money into something useful, like cheetos and mountain dew.

Another arguement in favor of a custom build is craigslist. You can buy what you can afford today, sell the parts off at 60 to 80 % of what you paid for them new on craigslist, take that money, add what you have to it, and upgrade. No one wants to buy a used Dell PSU.

Also, I wonder what overclocking options the Dell BIOS has ?

Lol...

Another bit of advice, when buying a PSU, think about FREE SHIPPING. PSU's are heavy, and the cost to ship them is significant. You can save a lot of money by just looking at the PSU's that have free shipping.

And it's my own personal bias, but I wouldn't have Vista if you gave it to me for free. I ran Vista for a year, until out of frustration I "downgraded" back to XP and re-discovered that my computer was actually kind of fast. You can buy legal copies of XP on craigslist for about $50, so there's another $50 you can invest into junk food, caffiene or more memory.

The build above is a good one for $600, but $600 is a bit low for a "Gaming Rig". For another $200, you can upgrade to a quad-core, or a dual-core and some better RAM.


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## tech-it-^ (Aug 18, 2006)

Ha, I would have to completley agree McNinjaGuy. TONS of issues with dell. Only one thing I can give dell is there warranties (with the right one), you can pretty much throw you computer down a flight of stairs (DONT!) and they'll replace the entire thing. BUT, just build your own. To many headaches with Dell.


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## grimx133 (Jan 15, 2008)

Where do you buy computers, wilfredo? And is there a store nearby with a website, 
so we can take a look at what they have to offer? It narrows your options when you 
don't get things online, and personally. I wouldn't buy an OEM machine, aside from 
a laptop. However, most people just don't want to build. unfortunate, but the way 
it is. 
If the one game is all you play, it doesn't have very stringent requirements, and I've pasted in the minimum requirements from steam.

Microsoft® Windows® 2000/XP 
Celeron 1.5GHz Pentium 4® (1500MHz) or equivalent AMD® processor 
512MB RAM 
11GB of uncompressed free hard disk space 
100% DirectX® 9.0c compatible 16-bit sound cardand latest drivers 
100% Windows® 2000/XP compatible mouse,keyboard and latest drivers 
DirectX® 9.0c 
128MB Hardware Accelerated video card with Shader 1 support and the latest drivers. Must be 100% DirectX® 9.0c compatible 
1024 x 768 minimum display resolution 
Internet (TCP / IP) play supported; Internet play requires broadband connection and latest drivers; LAN play requires Network card. 

Important Note: Some cards may not be compatible with the 3D acceleration features utilized by Medieval II: Total War. Please refer to your hardware manufacturer for 100% DirectX® 9.0c compatibility.
Title: Medieval II: Total War™
Genre: Strategy
Developer: The Creative Assembly 
Publisher: SEGA
Release Date: Nov 15, 2006
Languages: English


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## wilfredo (Dec 18, 2007)

i might buy my computer from target, walmart, la curacao, frys, office depot, or best buy.

all of these are pretty close to my home


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## McNinja (Jun 22, 2008)

look at the specs closely

if the PSU and graphics card isn't good then its not worth it at all
same with the case

Target, Walmart, office depot and bestbuy are crap
I don't know anbout Fry's or La Curacao but I'll assume they're probably not very good


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## ngrome (Feb 8, 2009)

Mcninjaguy said:


> a few basic items.
> 
> Dells have motherboards that are hard to upgrade with poor support for anything else
> Dell PSU's are meant only for the system its built for and the case its built with sometimes only accepts other Dell PSU's
> ...



Good stuff! I just finished my brother in law's build, here are his specs: http://www.techsupportforum.com/f15...rboard-and-sound-card-344014.html#post1959557 

Now I'm just starting mine since we had some leftover parts from his build since he upgraded some of his parts. He upgraded his PSU, video card, and cooling fan, and I got a cheap case at NewEgg, which arrived today and I'm pleasantly surprised that it was decent. Heck, like someone else said earlier, we can build this in a cardboard box and it would work! So this is all I ended up getting:

$55 Asus P5GC-MX/1333
$60 Intel E2200
$21 one PQI DDR2 2GB DIMM (will probably get another once I confirm this works)
$20 Sony DVD burner
$20 MicroATX case
Subtotal -- $176

Wipeout and re-use old hard drive in addition to the parts I inherited from his upgrades.

Still have to buy $89 Vista Home 32-bit OS (or bump up to 64-bit Home Premium)

As I mentioned, second build in as many weeks, when my first build was almost 10 years ago!

To the OP, I would just go buy your parts like some of these guys said, and build your own. It is more satisfying than just buying a pre-built and just plugging in the monitor, keyboard, mouse, and power. These guys will help you get it done!


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## McNinja (Jun 22, 2008)

I mean I'd use a kevlar reinforced cardboard box but yea it'd work


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## Net Jockey (Oct 18, 2008)

Mcninjaguy said:


> just try dealing with Dell support I dare you!


Ha,Ha,Ha. Dell support cost friends of mine nothing but money...A real nightmare. Not even worth explaining...because you would not believe it.


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## grimx133 (Jan 15, 2008)

Frys is actually a decent store for components. Like anywhere else, some prices are better than others, but they do compete with the neweggs and tigerdirects with no worries. Heck of a lot better than my alternatives, which is basically none.


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## McNinja (Jun 22, 2008)

no I would believe I read a bunch of horro stories on the net about Dell

Dell doesn't do any of the following properly

-keep records
-shipping
-customer service training
-hire competent people
-get products right (heard of them selling used products and refusing to acknowledge that fact since the person found old files on the HDD)
-care about people
-be friendly
-have any sort of proper management 
-sell market value parts (always overpriced)

ohh I've heard them horror stories that why feel like smashing dell laptops or desktops in retail stores.


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## Fren Banklin (Nov 6, 2008)

wilfredo said:


> i might buy my computer from target, walmart, la curacao, frys, office depot, or best buy.
> 
> all of these are pretty close to my home


Buy from NewEgg.

NewEgg...NewEgg...NewEgg...

:xolconfus

NewEgg is where you want to buy your parts...

Your eyes are getting heavy...
you are feeling sleepy...

:sleeping:

NewEgg is the only acceptable place to buy your parts. You've never heard the word "BestBuy". "Dell" is a word for something stinky in a foreign language.

Now, when I snap my fingers, you will wake-up, feeling refreshed and have the overwhelming urge to go browse newegg.com.


<snap!>


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## wilfredo (Dec 18, 2007)

sad to say, im the kind of people who dont want to go into the hassle of building. what are my options

what do you guys think about office max


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## ngrome (Feb 8, 2009)

wilfredo said:


> sad to say, im the kind of people who dont want to go into the hassle of building. what are my options
> 
> what do you guys think about office max


Then either buy a cheap eMachine from Best Buy, or buy one made at CompUSA/TigerDirect.

Some of the guys don't like Dell, but you can get into their Vostro line or Inspiron desktops for as low as $249.

If you don't want to get the parts yourself, get a barebones kit from CompUSA/TigerDirect, as low as $149, has memory, hard drive, motherboard and case, just need the operating system.


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## McNinja (Jun 22, 2008)

you could buy the parts then go down to your local PC shop and ask them to assemble it for you

it should cost around $50


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## Fren Banklin (Nov 6, 2008)

wilfredo said:


> sad to say, im the kind of people who dont want to go into the hassle of building. what are my options
> 
> what do you guys think about office max


Okay, then do it this way. Hire a builder to put one together for you for an extra $100. You can even tell him what you want. He'll get it, put it together, get it running and "Ta-DA !" you have all the benefit of a nice computer, without all of that useless education and pride of ownership cluttering up your lifestyle.

Office Max is where you buy ink for your printer. And envelopes.


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## wilfredo (Dec 18, 2007)

thank for your guys advice and i seriosly think about building one now

if it doesnt bother to answer where do you get a builder and this will be my last comment


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## Net Jockey (Oct 18, 2008)

Mcninjaguy said:


> you could buy the parts then go down to *your local PC shop* and ask them to assemble it for you
> 
> it should cost around $50


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## McNinja (Jun 22, 2008)

I love building and taking apart my computer I can rebuild it in from scratch in about an hour or so


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## ngrome (Feb 8, 2009)

wilfredo said:


> thank for your guys advice and i seriosly think about building one now
> 
> if it doesnt bother to answer where do you get a builder and this will be my last comment


Now that we've convinced you to either build one or get one built, let me tempt you with a couple of pre-built ones on sale at CompUSA right now:

http://www.compusa.com/applications...RL099&cm_mmc=Email-_-Main-_-WEBORL099-_-Deals 

http://www.compusa.com/applications...RL099&cm_mmc=Email-_-Main-_-WEBORL099-_-Deals 

I won't argue with the guys here that there's no better satisfaction than building your own, but if I were to buy one, that small Acer (the first link) looks like a real handsome unit.


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## grimx133 (Jan 15, 2008)

Integrated video can be a problem. If you do need to put in a 
video card in order to play a game you want to play, that and a 
new power supply can really jack up the cost. Most of the low 
priced machines with integrated are good for things like email and 
web surfing, but not a whole heck of a lot more. And small form 
factor is not upgrade friendly.


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## McNinja (Jun 22, 2008)

you can play solitaire with those machines


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