Looking to buy a Desktop

[Pleasehelpme]

I would like to buy a desktop soon and I'm looking for something top of the line that should have np running FFXIV when it comes out. (I realize the system requirements haven't been released.)

I've been shopping around Dell & Alienware and they seem to have what I'm looking for, I'm just curious if there are any other websites I should look at too before making a purchase.

Questions:

(1) I'm also curious, is there anything better right now than an I7 core?

(2) What are the perks of having a solid state drive opposed to a 10,000 rpm drive?

(3) Is 2.66 good for ghz or should I shoot higher?

(4) Dual nvidia or ATI cards?

(6) Liquid cooled really necessary?

(7) Any other websites I should hit aside from Dell and Alienware?

I'm kind of new to this, so be gentle. Money isn't a really big issue, I just want to shop around before I buy.

[Olo401]

(7) Any other websites I should hit aside from Dell and Alienware?

Dell & Alienware are the same company, and you should build your own instead of getting a POS Dell.

[Ratatapa]

1) I'm also curious, is there anything better right now than an I7 core? : intel wise I7 are the top one, AMD side it's phenom II iirc

(2) What are the perks of having a solid state drive opposed to a 10,000 rpm drive?

SSD are pricey (and less big in sizE) but they own speed wise

(3) Is 2.66 good for ghz or should I shoot higher?

Depends if you use Dual core or quad core

(4) Dual nvidia or ATI cards?

Unless FFXIV suck with Nvidia, then go with Nvidia

(6) Liquid cooled really necessary?

If you can make enough Air space for your PC then not really

(7) Any other websites I should hit aside from Dell and Alienware?

Newegg and build your own


this is my opinion

[Pleasehelpme]

Bless you Ratatapa for the warm response.

I would prefer quad core, what is your thoughts on ghz then?

I will also check out newegg, thank you.

Edit: I have been working with the "Customize your own PC" option on Dell and Alienware. I assume that's build your own?

[Ruiner]

Build your own, don't buy one.

Questions:

(1) I'm also curious, is there anything better right now than an I7 core?

Nope.

(2) What are the perks of having a solid state drive opposed to a 10,000 rpm drive?

It's faster, and more reliable (moving parts etc).

(3) Is 2.66 good for ghz or should I shoot higher?

Depends what you want to do with it.

(4) Dual nvidia or ATI cards?

Depends on your budget, which cards, etc.

(6) Liquid cooled really necessary?

Not unless you plan to overclock a shitload.

(7) Any other websites I should hit aside from Dell and Alienware?

Newegg.com - Computer Parts, PC Components, Laptop Computers, Digital Cameras and more!

[Pleasehelpme]

Ruiner, if money wasn't an issue would you buy ATI or nvidia?

[Tythera]

Right now Nvidia has the fastest single card (dual GPU) with the GTX295. I use a ATI 4870X2 because at the time it was about $110 cheaper, but it's definitely slower than that. People are talking about the new line of GTX300s coming out some time in the near future and blowing away everything that exists, but I'm not sure how far off into the future that is.

[Cephius]

You can save a boatload of money if you build your own PC. Many people who frequent this forum do it, and it isn't hard. But if you're uncomfortable with building your own or your just don't want to bother, deals can be had.

HP and Dell make solid budget computers. I'd steer clear of Alienware, it tends to be overpriced and should only be considered if money is no object.

ATI has the best video cards right now, IMHO. But this changes often, and it may be different in a month or two when the 300 line of Nvidia cards are launched.

And just a piece of advice, buying a PC now for a game that may or not even be released this year (FF14) is incredibly silly. Anything you buy now will be outdated and a quarter of the value by the time the game comes out.

[HoPo]

I am looking to replace my pc as well, with wanting to try out Aion next month my current system doesn't have a hope of running it and the fact is it's just time to retire the laggy beast.

Care to offer up any advice on diy equipment/specs? I'm not overly worried about the process (there are enough guides that it shouldn't be too difficult to get through it) but picking the right stuff is a challange for someone like me that doesn't know what to look for.

[Pleasehelpme]

I will buy one soon to play FFXI, and if I buy a good one I figure it will run FFXIV well when that comes out.

I went to newegg, that is over my head. I don't feel comfortable building my own computer. I wish I did, but for now I think I'll try Dell or Alienware.

[Ratatapa]

Well it's really hard to compare a PC that can run both FFXI and FFXIV, FFXI is so old that almost any PC can run it, but FFXIV will be a new story.

You need to make sure yo buy a card compatible direct X 10, and make sure that your PC is strong enough for Vista or windows 7, since FFXIV will not run on windowS XP

[HoPo]

Found a thread from a few days ago offering exact specs, I was a little too quick to post, got what I needed to start with from that.

[Mabubeezareel]

You need to make sure yo buy a card compatible direct X 10, and make sure that your PC is strong enough for Vista or windows 7, since FFXIV will not run on windowS XP

Is there any info out there with confirmation of this, or is it speculation?

[fattrav]

This is one of the best values I have found in a premade machine...i7, GTX285. I bought one yesterday for $960, it was open box.

I don't have the post count to post a hyperlink, so I hops this works. Just put an extra w at the start of the link.

ww.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883227146

[Ruiner]

Ruiner, if money wasn't an issue would you buy ATI or nvidia?

If money wasn't an issue, I would buy three GTX 285s and run them in tri-SLI. In my opinion, ATI has the best bang-for-your-buck out there right now, while Nvidia is king when it comes to flat out performance, ignoring price.

[Sonomaa]

if you ABSOLUTELY cannot build your own but you have the money to burn, maingear.com makes excellent PCs using off the shelf parts

[Amastacia]

(1) The Core i7 920 is hands-down the best bang-for-your-buck CPU on the market. It's even overclockable to the point where it doesn't make sense to spend more on its big brothers. Keep in mind that it can be a little pricey to build an i7-based PC (partially due to mainboard/RAM costs) but well worth it.

(2) SSDs offer extremely fast random read/write times, and high read throughput. They are, almost as a rule, slower than disk drives at sequential write operations. Given how expensive they are per gigabyte, and how good modern disk drives are, it will be a year or two yet, minimum, before they make a lot of sense to buy.

On a 10k RPM drive note, I wouldn't recommend them. And I say that as an owner and operator of a 150GB Raptor drive, which is admittedly a bit slower than the newer 2.5" VelociRaptor drives. Their only advantage at this point over high-capacity 7200 RPM drives (especially the Barracudas and Caviar Blacks) is their average latency, and thus random read/write performance. The price premium really doesn't reflect the performance gains.

I'm sure my Windows boot time is a little shorter, and my game loads are a little faster, but given that they are almost an order of more magnitude more expensive per gigabyte, I would never repeat my purchase.

(3) You should not spend money on any Core i7 processor except the 920, so yes, 2.66GHz is fine. With good air cooling ($50-60 investment for something good, double that for top of the range) it will overclock well past 3GHz.

(4) Huge waste of money, unless you want to run at native and all settings maxed on a 30" monitor. Single cards are more than up to handling 1920x1200 and even sometimes higher without trouble. Driver issues with SLI/CrossFire for some games can be a huge pain in the butt as well.

Edit: That said, ATI has the better price/performance ratio right now. And new cards coming out in a couple of months (in theory) if you can afford to wait. I've been using nVidia cards for a while now because they've been the better buy when I've had to upgrade, but if I were in the market now I'd only be looking at the 4800 series Radeon cards, most likely the 4890.

(6) Not at all. You have to spend $300-500 in water cooling to match the performance of a good air cooler. The list price of the best air cooler on the market, the Thermalright IFX-14, is $80 not including fans. So for ~$120-130 total (cooler + 2 fans) you can get approximately the same results as all but the best water cooling solutions, with no chance of fluid leaks.

(7) Newegg, and any other reputable sites (TigerDirect, ZipZoomFly, etc.) who have the parts you're looking for at the lowest prices, and build it yourself.


Building your own PC is not that hard, and buying an enthusiast PC basically guarantees that you're being ripped off. Extensive knowledge isn't necessary going in, so long as you can read directions well, are careful and methodical, and don't rush.

Edit: To add to this, I can understand how going to Newegg can be daunting, but if you break it down, it's not as bad.

A modern desktop has a number of components, but the list hardly needs to encompass everything that's available on NewEgg. At minimum, you need:
-A case
-A power supply (occasionally included with case, but such power supplies are generally not very good)
-A motherboard
-A CPU (retail box CPUs come with passable, if poor, coolers, so you don't strictly have to buy a separate one)
-RAM
-A video card
-A hard drive
-An optical drive

Generally, what kind of CPU you get, for example a Core i7 920, is going to impose limitations on what motherboards you can use, and that in turn will limit what RAM you can use, since they have to be compatible (a motherboard with an LGA 1366 CPU socket, and DDR3 RAM in the i7 example). The case is, strictly speaking, dependent on the motherboard, but they all use the same standard, so it's mostly a matter of finding one you like the look of, that is big enough to fit your components.

What kind and how many video cards is going to be the biggest deciding factor on power supply wattage (with a single card you should never need more than 500W, though you might go slightly larger for various reasons).

[Alishe]

If you live in Michigan, I'll assemble the computer together for you for 50$!

(South-East, Mi that is)

[Ratatapa]

Is there any info out there with confirmation of this, or is it speculation?

been confirmed for a while

[100percentile]

If you feel too uncomfortable with building the pc yourself, use avadirect.com. There you can pick all the parts yourself so you can make sure everything is quality. It'll be a bit more expensive than building it yourself but it's worth it. That's where I'm getting my new PC from. Was convinced after my friends ordered his from them.

edit-

if you ABSOLUTELY cannot build your own but you have the money to burn, maingear.com makes excellent PCs using off the shelf parts

Ah, ever heard of these guys. Gonna check em out.