On a Subject unrelated to anything else...I need help.

[Rotten Luck]

Okay I want a new computer.  Thought I put a few together myself things have advanced so fast I'm now lost. So I want a System out of the box something with no assembly required.  But what should I aim for? 

I want to run the latest games for example X-Com.  I also want to make sure it's something that would last a good bit of time before needing upgrades.  Price range I accept 4000.00 or if it's REALLY top gun stuff I could lean in another 1000.00 (I don't need to eat right?). 

I done enough window shopping to know I now have no clue what I should go for.

I like AMD possessors but this isn't really a needed point.

Is Alienware still a good name brand?  Or is it faded and something else is out there I haven't heard of?

[Minotaur]

Where are you, and what is the currency ?

[Rotten Luck]

East Coast USA.  Sorry should have remembered to add the US dollars to that.

I'm tired I work night shift or I would have caught myself on that.

[Ampithere]

I can help you with this pretty well, I just finished building my new rig a few months ago. That means I can tell you what will work and what won't. Are you looking for a desktop or a laptop?

If you're after a desktop, it'll be much less expensive than 4,000-5,000. Though the price will ultimately depend on how high you want your settings to be. I usually don't find much difference between the highest settings and the recommended settings. Your opinion may differ.

If you're after a serious gaming laptop, you might be looking at something more in the 4,000-5,000 price range. Those things are really expensive. If, however, you want a laptop that simply can play games then you are looking more likely at 600-1200 dollars. I got my laptop for 800 at Best Buy. It runs Starcraft 2 on recommended, Guild Wars 2 somewhere between recommended and minimum (still looks great anyway), and all my other games at whatever setting I want.

Once you give me a bit better of an idea what you're looking for I can give you some suggestions.

[Rotten Luck]

I'm a Desktop PC man.  Thought I did go apple for my I-pod... but that's it everything else is Windows and Mac.

Basically I don't know the standards anymore.  I'm afraid I go buy something thinking it's good and it's not.  I'm willing do order online from someplace and have it shipped.  Hence the Alienware.  Like I said I don't want to put it together but I want good quality performance able to use the top games coming out.  (this system can play Batman Arkham city, but I get a message it's not to best performance.

I want to be able to have a game running on one monitor and have things going on the other. 

[Hyperstrike]

Okay, you have a $4-5000 budget?

Okay you're pretty much kicking "Sky's the limits" at that point.

Stay off of Alienware.  They're not "bad" machines.  But you're paying premium for a rebadged Dell machine.

Just...no.

Take a look at CyberPowerPC or IBuyPower.  You can afford to go hog-wild on a system.

And while AMD processors aren't crummy, Intel is simply the performance leader by a rather HUGE margin.

Here's an example of the kinds of stupid things you can do for $5K.

i7 3770K (overclocked 20%)
16GB RAM
Dual 240GB SSDs in RAID0 as a primary OS disk
3GB HD for storage
Dual nVidia GTX 680 (4GB models) in SLI
Dual 24" monitors
Win7 Ultimate


http://www.cyberpowerpc.com/saved/1EJPEP

$4800

This system'll pretty much EAT anything you throw at it, burp, then scream GIVE ME A CHALLENGE!

[Rotten Luck]

Yes I got a rare chance to get a Monster of a system.  I do want to keep below $4000.00 but yes I can go up to 5. 

I already have two nice monitors and a gaming Stealth Steel Series keyboard.  I have a Logic Tech MX518 mouse, thinking of upgrading to a new one there as well.

But the main thing is the beast of a system and like I said I'm out of touch with the modern standards.  (Figured Alienware went down when Dell took over just not sure how far.)

[Kheprera]

3GB HD for storage

Shouldn't that be TB?  3GB is... not useful 

[Sekoia]

I bought my last system from Puget Systems. They custom build systems for you. And if you contact them and give them your budget and what you're looking to do with the system, they'll work with you to determine a good custom system that fits within your budget.

They're professionals whose jobs it is to answer exactly the kinds of questions your asking in this thread.

[Aggelakis]

Puget Systems is 100% pure Grade A prime choice awesome. And I'm not just saying that because I live an hour north of them. lol

If you buy one of their ready-made systems it's a little more spendy than CyberPowerPC or IBuyPower for the same system, but they go above and beyond expectations especially if you work with them for custom stuff.

[Rotten Luck]

Okay, you have a $4-5000 budget?

Okay you're pretty much kicking "Sky's the limits" at that point.

Stay off of Alienware.  They're not "bad" machines.  But you're paying premium for a rebadged Dell machine.

Just...no.

Take a look at CyberPowerPC or IBuyPower.  You can afford to go hog-wild on a system.

And while AMD processors aren't crummy, Intel is simply the performance leader by a rather HUGE margin.

Here's an example of the kinds of stupid things you can do for $5K.

i7 3770K (overclocked 20%)
16GB RAM
Dual 240GB SSDs in RAID0 as a primary OS disk
3GB HD for storage
Dual nVidia GTX 680 (4GB models) in SLI
Dual 24" monitors
Win7 Ultimate


http://www.cyberpowerpc.com/saved/1EJPEP

$4800

This system'll pretty much EAT anything you throw at it, burp, then scream GIVE ME A CHALLENGE!

I think I will go with this option.  Looking over the Puget systems was nice and I was leaning that way but it came down to price.  Given I don't have a set idea of what I need or really want.  I just want a powerful system that can handle the newest games on the best quality settings.  So anything top of the line would do.  Thank you all for your input, more so now that I see how far I was out of the loop.  There been a few more advances then I knew about.

[Hyperstrike]

Okay, I saw the post where you said you already had a couple decent monitors, plus a keyboard and mouse combo you liked.

Okay, stripping those out brings such a system down to about $4150.

I'd recommend investing some of the spare cash in a decent UPS or at the very least, a beefy surge suppressor.

Unless you want to dump $1000 into a UPS, maybe look at something like this:

http://www.apc.com/resource/include/techspec_index.cfm?base_sku=SMC1500&fnl=4605,2&fnl_basket=4605,3c

[Rotten Luck]

Got one like that as well.  Thought I might buy a second convert the system I have into a server like setup store my Movies and Music and tie all my computers together via network.

[Ampithere]

I may be too late to stop you, but you don't need anywhere near that much RAM for any reason in a gaming PC. I have 8 GB of RAM and not one of my games uses even half of it at any given time.

[Rotten Luck]

Well I take that into account.

Seems I have to change payment method my Debit card won't go up that high it has a charge limit.  I take the Ram into account but like I said I like to have more then one thing running at a time.  Often I would watch (Stream) a video on one monitor and game on another.  Then add looking at tips or maps as I game.

[Sekoia]

Keep in mind that you can contact Puget and ask them for an estimate without committing to a purchase. Who knows, it might be more affordable than you expect. Their salesmen do not work on a commission basis, so they have no motivation to make you spend more than you want. Even if you don't end up buying it, it might help you decide what kind of specs to go with somewhere else.

I tried buying an iBuyPower PC through Amazon back in July and it was dead on arrival. So I hope if you go the cheaper route, you fare better than I did. Good luck!

[Rotten Luck]

I'm talking to Puget fellow right now.  I'm real glad I went with them very helpful.

[Rotten Luck]

It's now final... the system I be getting is this.

System Core
Motherboard    Asus P8Z77-V Pro   
CPU    Intel Core i7 3770K 3.5GHz Quad Core 8MB 77W   
Ram    Kingston Low Voltage 16GB DDR3-1600 (4x4GB)   
Video Card    NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680 2GB   
Sound Card    Onboard Sound   

Storage
Hard Drive    Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB SATA 6Gb/s

   Comments: Secondary drive.
 
 Intel 520 480GB SATA 6Gb/s 2.5inch SSD

   Comments: Primary drive.
 
CD / DVD    Asus 12x Blu-ray Burner SATA (black)    

Case / Cooling
Case    Antec P183 V3 (Gunmetal Finish)    
Power Supply    Seasonic X-1050 1050W Power Supply   
CPU Cooling    Puget Hydro CL3 Liquid Cooling System   
Additional Cooling    Arctic Cooling MX-2 Thermal Compound Upgrade   

Software
OS    Windows 7 Professional 64-bit OEM SP1   
Software: Multimedia    Cyberlink PowerDVD 10 OEM   

Peripherals
Monitor    Asus VE278Q 27 Inch LCD Monitor   

Accessories
Services    Warranty: Lifetime Labor and Tech Support, 1 Year Parts   

Software / Preferences
Software: Courtesy Install    Microsoft Security Essentials (Antivirus)   


Cost is 3619.55 (not including shipping and handling)