1st Gaming PC and need advice
 

http://www.dealstudio.com/searchdeal...d=99845&ru=290

I'm thinking of buying a new desktop that can comfortably run games like WoW, Oblivion, CS:S, and CoD4. Oh and Starcraft 2, of course. My friend recommend this deal for Gateway FX7026, how do you guys think? for that price, worth to buy? any other good suggestions?

I'm pretty nitpicky when spending money, so bear with me.

I'm picky on spending money on technology.

I'd not buy gateway for a gaming machine. you can build or have built a decent rig for that kind of money.

There's a site, I believe it's cyberpowerpc.com
they do some nice rigs, and they're pretty affordable. Take a look at the video card thread in this forum before you make any decisions.

I would go with what Cynthetiq said and make a custom computer. I have never heard of it ending positively when someone buys a pre-made computer

That Gateway isn't too bad of a deal. If you built it yourself it would cost approximately $800 before shipping. $250ish markup isn't bad for not having to build it yourself and go through the stress and hickups of building a custom PC. The Gateway would run all of the games you mentioned like a dream.

You can get the same PC on Dell for about the same price. I'd get a Dell over a Gateway.

Amen.

I'd agree on that. If you're not going to just build it, go with Dell or even HP.

I can't help with specs, it's been to long since I researched building a machine.

On the subject of brand name computers:

Dell > HP > Gateway when it comes to installing new drivers, finding drivers and basically getting your geek buddies to help you upgrade or reinstall without having to call "Tech Support". The Dell machines just seem to have easy to identify and research model numbers. The others, not so much.

disclosure: I'm biased, I'm a Linux user and Dell has been really Linux friendly for awhile now. I don't own one and the above advice is targeted at a Windows user who might need a friendly geek to help with the machine in the future.

I agree with the Dell option. I bought a computer from them in '02 and with a few memory upgrades I can still play alot of stuff out there.

I have had few problems with dell and when i did the great warranty service they have helped with NO problems.

I have a ATI Radeon 9800 card in my rig and the fan blew on it a few years ago they came out and replaced the card and in fact replaced the cpu fan also with no hassle at all.

I also had a problem with a memory module going bad and once again they came out a replaced it without a hassle.

They also have a great tech support staff for online help too, if you are not an expert with computers they can help alot.

I have been giving thought to building a new computer myself but I may just go with another dell.

Don

about the dell comments:
the only bad thing about dell is that they use proprietary parts.you wont be able to upgrade components easily (cpu coolers and whatnot)
also, some of the bigger video cards wont fit in some dells.
plus, the dell xps's are expensive.
i'm not sure if gateway is the same.


if you're going to spend over a grand, look into piecing out the system yourself. you can spend $1000 and have a pretty nice rig.

if you dont want to piece out a system, the processor and video card on the gateway is excellent. it wont max out something like crysis but it'll play it very well.
if you upgrade often (or think you'll want to start to) you might want to look into building your own rig. but if you wont touch the system after purchasing, then it looks like a pretty good deal.

Before this computer, the last pre-configured computer was a Sony back in like 1995. Since then I have built my own and enjoyed it. But my rig died and I was in a hurry. So I bought a Dell. I am extremely happy with it. XPS-410. Just do a LOT of research. Trust me.