04-20-2009, 08:29 AM
You have two options really. The end result remains almost the same in terms of money spent, but I think the 2nd option will yield more overall satisfaction.
Option 1) buy bleeding edge and hope it lasts 5 years
Option 2) buy not-so-bleeding edge and then gut some components in 2.5 years.
For option 1 you're looking at a Core i7, 6 GB, GTX 285, something in that neighborhood. It'll run about 1k just for the core components (CPU - $300, MB - $200, RAM - $100, Video - $350, PSU - $80, total ~$1000-1050) Then you tack on a case, keyboard, mouse, monitor, hard drive, DVD drive, etc...
option 2 you go something more mild like a cheap quad or expensive dual plus a mid-line video card:
q8400 $185, P45 MB - $100, 4870 1GB -$200, PSU - $60 total ~$550.
Then you tack on the same other peripherals you otherwise would: keyboard, mouse, monitor, case, hard drive, etc... and make a similar upgrade again in 2-3 years (if you get a good power supply you shouldn't have to replace that.)
This also allows you to stagger the other upgrades. Like if you have a hard drive that's 2 years old, you can use it for 2-3 more (expected life is around 5 years, so you'd want to replace it by then) and replace it when you do your other upgrade. Maybe do monitor this time around and do your other peripherals later.
Then you can better expect to have decent performance. 2-3 years from now an i7 is probably going to be acceptable, but not bleeding edge, of course. But a GTX285 is likely to be quite slow. Video card evolution (for gaming performance) moves at a quicker pace than CPU. The $200 card in 2-3 years is going to kick the crap out of today's $350 card. So you'll end up 'resetting' your baseline halfway.
Now I'm always a proponent of DIY, just because you get what you want and don't have to make concessions just because Dell doesn't offer the video card you really want with the base system you'd like (or whatever components, all computer builders do something like that, where they limit the options). The cost benefit is just a bonus.
As far as what the rest costs, you're looking at:
case $40-100 (highly dependent on preference)
Keyboard $20-100 (again preference)
Mouse $20-100 (yet again)
HD $50-80
DVD $30ish
Monitor $100 up to $1k depending on desired res / screen size.
Option 1) buy bleeding edge and hope it lasts 5 years
Option 2) buy not-so-bleeding edge and then gut some components in 2.5 years.
For option 1 you're looking at a Core i7, 6 GB, GTX 285, something in that neighborhood. It'll run about 1k just for the core components (CPU - $300, MB - $200, RAM - $100, Video - $350, PSU - $80, total ~$1000-1050) Then you tack on a case, keyboard, mouse, monitor, hard drive, DVD drive, etc...
option 2 you go something more mild like a cheap quad or expensive dual plus a mid-line video card:
q8400 $185, P45 MB - $100, 4870 1GB -$200, PSU - $60 total ~$550.
Then you tack on the same other peripherals you otherwise would: keyboard, mouse, monitor, case, hard drive, etc... and make a similar upgrade again in 2-3 years (if you get a good power supply you shouldn't have to replace that.)
This also allows you to stagger the other upgrades. Like if you have a hard drive that's 2 years old, you can use it for 2-3 more (expected life is around 5 years, so you'd want to replace it by then) and replace it when you do your other upgrade. Maybe do monitor this time around and do your other peripherals later.
Then you can better expect to have decent performance. 2-3 years from now an i7 is probably going to be acceptable, but not bleeding edge, of course. But a GTX285 is likely to be quite slow. Video card evolution (for gaming performance) moves at a quicker pace than CPU. The $200 card in 2-3 years is going to kick the crap out of today's $350 card. So you'll end up 'resetting' your baseline halfway.
Now I'm always a proponent of DIY, just because you get what you want and don't have to make concessions just because Dell doesn't offer the video card you really want with the base system you'd like (or whatever components, all computer builders do something like that, where they limit the options). The cost benefit is just a bonus.
As far as what the rest costs, you're looking at:
case $40-100 (highly dependent on preference)
Keyboard $20-100 (again preference)
Mouse $20-100 (yet again)
HD $50-80
DVD $30ish
Monitor $100 up to $1k depending on desired res / screen size.
Conc / Concillian -- Vintage player of many games. Deadly leader of the All Pally Team (or was it Death leader?)
Terenas WoW player... while we waited for Diablo III.
And it came... and it went... and I played Hearthstone longer than Diablo III.
Terenas WoW player... while we waited for Diablo III.
And it came... and it went... and I played Hearthstone longer than Diablo III.