[Mr. Vega]

I'm looking for a new PC good enough to handle the current generation of games. As cheap as possible preferably. I'm kind of fed up with some of the quirks of ATI's drivers, so an option for nVidia would be nice, but it's not that big a deal. Who should I buy this computer from?

[General Battuta]

NewEgg!

[Mr. Vega]

Really? Those guys? I mean, I bought a card from them once before, but I've been wary of whole computers. Not that I know anything. Haven't done pre-purchase research in a long time.

Also, a particular maker would also be good too.

[headdie]

personally if I was in your position and going desktop I would build myself that way you save labour costs and retail markup on the assembled item, downside is that the shops and major suppliers (eg dell, hp, etc) buy in bulk so get discounts making the saving marginal if you dont shop around and you don't get the benefit of a warranty on the assembled rig with the warranty on parts being invalidated if installed incorrectly. 

But then sofar I only have 1 fried memory stick, 2 mobos (though one was just minus a 168pin dim slot when I welded 2 of the memory stick's pins to the slot when i didn't push it down far enough, the rest of the board ran fine off the other 168 slot and later off the DDR slots also on the board, got to love hybrid boards) and 1 cpu (which took down the second mobo) to my name so building PCs dont phase me overly much

[BloodEagle]

If you're looking to have someone build it for you: http://avadirect.com looks good.  They have a decent selection, and every computer comes with a minimum 3-year warranty on parts.  It will cost you more than building it yourself, though.

If you're looking to build it yourself, good luck.  The market has seen a lot of random companies (subsidiaries, perhaps?) popping up, offering 'top-quality' parts.  And on top of that, a lot of the old-hands (GigaByte, etc.) are charging a Hell of a lot more (for a Hell of a lot less), than they used to.  Be sure to avoid their "military-grade" motherboards, in particular.

I'd avoid NewEgg, unless you're looking for reviews of specific components.  Their selection (and according to some, their quality also) has suffered tremendously after they sold out the company changed hands.

http://www.tigerdirect.com used to be a good place to get parts, though I'm not sure if they still are.  And they have a Canadian website as well, if you're in that area.

Oh, and if you buy from Dell/Alienware/WhoeverElseTheyAre, you will be punished.  And it will hurt.  And you will cry.

[General Battuta]

Yeah I was suggesting a self-build.

[Mr. Vega]

And if I don't wish/have no idea how to do that?

[General Battuta]

Neither did I the first time I did it, but if you have a buddy who can help you get started, it's by far the cheapest and most powerful way to get a new computer. The savings are immense and the labor isn't that bad assuming you have some pointers.

[Pred the Penguin]

It takes patience above all I think... and lots of free time.

[Bob-san]

If you're in New England, I'd advise & build for you. Either way, name a budget and hopeful games. You don't need a $1000 rig for Bejeweled 3.

[Klaustrophobia]

when did this change of newegg management take place?  i bought from there round about a year and a half ago and it was still stellar.  i've recently been poking around there preparing for my next upgrade/build.

[asyikarea51]

Be sure to avoid their "military-grade" motherboards, in particular.

Sorry to intrude on the thread, but what about this? Not being sarcastic or anything, I was sort-of considering one of these (a 5-minute moment of thinking admittedly) but if there's something about them, I'd be curious to know.

[BloodEagle]

Be sure to avoid their "military-grade" motherboards, in particular.

Sorry to intrude on the thread, but what about this? Not being sarcastic or anything, I was sort-of considering one of these (a 5-minute moment of thinking admittedly) but if there's something about them, I'd be curious to know.

I've read some disturbing reviews for one particular model (I forget which).  One of them mentioned a problem where the mainboard, upon boot, decided that it would enjoy existing in a state that was on fire.

[Klaustrophobia]

i'd be wary based on the name alone.  sounds like a money-trap to me.

[asyikarea51]

Ouch.

I had to deal with a fire like that once and it would suck to go through it again no matter who owns the board, since there exists something called "limited budget"...

Yeah money trap is another thing, not sure if my example is related but I look at the prices of a 1366 + i7 980x bundle...

[Stealth]

tigerdirect and newegg.  i've built several dozen computers, some of them extremely high end (8x 64GB SSDs, i7 980, 12GB RAM, etc.) and i almost ALWAYS buy from one of those.

OCCASIONALLY amazon too

[Zacam]

I suppose it depends on where you are at as to who you by from. I've bought from Newegg nearly exclusively (except for when I need something that is no longer current or that they no longer stock) for around 10 years now and while I have not been uber-OMG drooling at the mouth happy with them, I haven't wanted to set any of their corporate execs on fire either, so I guess I'd class them as "get's the job done when I need it to".

I can definitely recommend taking the self-build route. Funny thing is that while it MAY actually NOT save you any money over a pre-built cheap-o system, there are a number of factors to keep in mind:

• You bought it AND built it, so you KNOW what is going into it BEFORE you buy it. A preBuilt (while it might tell you the Processor and Video Card type) may well be remiss in telling you WHO made the component, and what class of component it is. (Big difference in video cards between Vendors and the last thing you want is to buy a pre-Built with a BFG graphics card in it as they are now closed for all business)
• You know exactly where your money is. You can piece-meal pick up what you can when you can rather than stressing out payments or credit checks or any other BS. This also means that you may find yourself more willing to maybe go a step up on a component or two for an over all better system that you might have initially planned, or allow you to save a bundle by scoring a really sweet sale deal

Some downsides:

• It can be a pain in the ass deciding on just what exactly is the right hardware/vendor/type/supplier for a particular component. And everybody is going to be more than happy to share with you their idea of what the "best" is.
• If you have never done it before, it can be a little over-whelming, especially the feeling of "oh gods, I hope I don't screw it up, what do I do if it doesn't work out?", especially if you don't have easy access to somebody that has done it before.

And also, don't forget local businesses. ESPECIALLY the smaller guys (I wouldn't by jack form Best Buy but that's just me). Some smaller local specialty shops may be a bit more pricey compared to buying it online and having it shipped, but you'll have an easier and direct local return place to get it taken care of AND you can help a local feed his/her family by staying in business.

As far as hardware review places go for figuring out what kind of hardware to get, AnandTech is a good start. For Power Supplies, I look at Johnny Guru. Many over-clocking sites will post generally decent reviews of the hardware, just ignore anything after the "and once we cool it with mega-sub-zero solution X and crank it up to past 9000...." bits.

[BrotherBryon]

personally if I was in your position and going desktop I would build myself that way you save labour costs and retail markup on the assembled item, downside is that the shops and major suppliers (eg dell, hp, etc) buy in bulk so get discounts making the saving marginal if you dont shop around and you don't get the benefit of a warranty on the assembled rig with the warranty on parts being invalidated if installed incorrectly. 

They also buy their parts from the cheapest bidder and are notorious for designing their cases to not be completely upgradeable (Especially with regards to motherboards and disk drives). At least research, shop around, and buy all your parts based on compatibility, scale, quality and budget. That way you know what you have (And their quality) versus buying a packaged deal of cheap knock offs. Key note this is coming from a guy who has worked with Dells all his professional career and has seen their customer support go down hill personally yet they are hands down still the best (God I weep for the industry). At least for businesses anyway. You can always find some enthusiast willing to put every thing together for you at reasonable cost. Hell if you lived near me and brought everything to me I would probably be willing to do it for free just to be able to play around with all the new hardware. Especially if I had a hand in deciding which parts you ordered.