My friend Chris just said he will buy me a Dell PC for no other reason other than that he can. I know he is telling the truth cause this will be the 3rd PC he purchased from Dell for someone. I just don't know what my spending limit it, but I want to make something FOR games, and no printers or scanners or any of that crap.

I won't tell my mom either. She sits there and tells me all the time I should just get my own PC and leave hers alone. So I am going to have it shipped to Chris' house, load it into my car, bring it home and hook it up when she isn't around. Let her walk into my room one day and let her discover a desk with a computer on it.

Awesome friend, man

watch out though, dell's are a piece when it comes to upgrades

me and my brother did that with a couch.... i mean purchous it and take it up to his room. my mom cam up to tell us it was dinner time and then saw the couch. then she had a cow, because not only was there a new* couch sitting there in my brothers room, we had brought it in while she was stitting in the kitchen.

The only thing that is wrong with a Dell it that you will wait a week longer than they say. My Dad discovered than when he ordered a PC from them.

I personally would not buy a PC from them as they ask 'would you like' and shove you a specification of the system and 'thats what you need if wanna play games'.

The best PCs are the ones you build and design yourself and having a massive budget is worth it.

Tell me how much money you're working with, and I'll show you the exact system (gotta customize some things)

Of course, but if his friend's going to buy him a free dell, how's he going to complain? I know I wouldn't. Can't look a gift horse in the mouth, man

So is your friend connected or did he just win the lottery?

Right now I think its going to be $1000. I might get more, I might not. I was looking over the Dell last night and they have an offer for a free flat screen display amongst other things. And as far as upgrades go, I don't upgrade. I throw the PC away and get new ones.

Spork, my friend's father died and he got around $100K in inheritance. To those who were his real friends and not dicks *cough*Patrick*cough*, he pretty much bought us stuff. I have never once asked anything from him, he offered to buy it. He already invested around $60,000 of it and has $35,000 left for himself.




But I do have a question, which of these 3 are best?

Integrated Intel® Extreme Graphics 2

128MB DDR NVIDIA GeForce FX 5200 Graphics Card with TV-Out and DVI

128MB DDR ATI RADEON 9800 PRO Graphics Card with TV-Out and DVI

The 9800 PRO by far.

Yes. The radeon by a long way.

you love your friends money.

Alright then, I'll get the Raideon then. Its like $179 more to add on. But yeah, I'll get that one.

Septic Yogurt, if you have nothing to contribute to this thread to help, go away.

Sounds like a sweet deal my friend. 9800 pro by an amazing margin.

Awesome friend, man

Well, I'm his friend too *****-eyes*. Tell him to get me a dell

Dude, you're getting a Dell!

I personally don't like pre-packaged PCs because they rig the PCs to prevent you from upgrading by using unconventional part types and sizes. I remember when I tried to upgrade a computer that my sister gave to me which was a HP Pavillion and discovered that the power supply had a ridiculously short cord. I had to buy a new ATX case because I couldn't get the power supply in the HP one to reach the new motherboard I bought. After so many upgrades, that HP PC doesn't exist anymore. The only part that remains is the CD ROM but that thing is in my mother's computer, another PC that use to be a HP before I upgraded it with my computer's older parts. Basically what I'm getting at is that it is much better to just build your own PC scratch or get one custom made by someone like Alien Hardware. Computer makers like Dell and HP are best for only those casually computer users that don't have a clue what a PCI slot is.

Of course, if you have any other option, get somethign aside from a Dell. While I've heard their customer support is unmatched, they come with the distinct disadvantage of using only Intel processors, which piles one too much extra cost (Athlon64s are cheaper, and more powerful, when using "comparable" versions, such as a 3000+ to a 3.0Ghz)

Anyway, For $1000, you can still get a nice machine for gaming. Here's some suggestions:

• Any of the Pentium 4 processors provide acceptable performance, but stay away from the Prescott ones. they may be more expensive, but they get less performance. Non-prescotts will never be availible above 3.4Ghz, but you're still going to need to buy a new motherboard if you plann on upgrading a Prescot Pentium above 3.4 Ghz.
• Integrated Intel Extreme 2 graphics = t3h suxors.
• GeForce FX 5200 128MB = Decent, but low-budget.
• Radeon 9800 Pro = pwns most cards, roughly equating to an FX 5950 Ultra. If you plan on serious gaming (from Morrowind to Doom3 to Unreal Tournament 2003/2004 to Half-Life 2, you'll find yourself lacking with the 5200. This should be well worth it.
• Memory: 512MB is the least I'd accept. See if it's in the budget to get 1024MB (1GB), that's much better.
• Sound: Modern integrated sound setups are actualyl rather good. You can probably do without upgrading it (I may be wrong), since it merely adds more features, and possibly enchances sound quality.
• Monitor:If you already have a PC, you may sinply want to keep your old monitor.
• Storage drives: unless you actualy still use floppie, I'd reccomend leaving it out; it's another $20 that can go elsewhere. Also, DO NOT BUY AN OEM "MEMORY KEY"OR ANY OTHER FLASH DRIVE FROM A PC MAKER! They WAY! overcharge, by about +150%! Try searching [url=froogle.google.com]Froogle[/url] for a better one.
• Optical Drives: get only what you will use. DVD drives are only necessary if you plan on watching DVDs on your computer, or getting the DVD version of a game. DVD burners are a needless expense, unless you're into making your own movies. (DVD+/-R is a poor choice for data transfer, as they're far from commonplace) However, I do think a CD-RW drive might be neccessary; they provide a cheap and convenient method of backup.

Hope anything here was helpful.

thanks yea know.

Not everyone can build there own computer.. nor should thay be expected to know how to. Becides that, most people do not up-grade their hardwhere, thay simply buy another computer in 2o3 years.

Actually, ther are virtues to purchasing a pre-built computer, even from some companies, including EMachines. OEM software is definitely one of the price-based pros, and today makes it only slightly more expensive to get an OEM machine than building your own. Then there's the problem of getting the machine working... It took me almost a week after getting the parts to my current rig to get it online. My favorite advantage of buildign my own is the perfect selection of what I get in it. Otherwise, I actually think getting an OEM product would be a better choice for those of us who actualyl enjoy seeing the light of day.

However, I do perhaps think that Dell is the worst of the OEMs. While they definitely offer a degree of customization, they only offer Intel proccesors. (the only time when Intel produced a more powerful processor since 1996 was the gap between the introduction of the Penitum 4 and the Athlon XP) Also, they seem to charge an outrageous price for any of the upgrades, particularly memory. I highly reccomend finding out what types/brands are compatable with a machine, and then install the memory yourself; it's an incredibly easy upgrade, presuming the case isn't @$^@^ welded shut like many seem to be... Anyway, I know that 512MB of DDR RAM should cost no more than about $100US for new, retail memory. Dell seems to charge about $150US for every extra 512MB they add to their machines.


Wasn't that guy arrested for possession of marajuana?