| Squilliam said: The way I build computers is this I put the 'fixed costs' I.E. Motherboard, case, PSU, HDD, ODD, Windows etc into one tally. These don't change no matter what you choose. Then I put the performant items into another tally this is the CPU, Graphics card and quantity of memory as these can be varied as much as you want. Then I try to find the best balance between price / performance by chopping and changing the CPU, GPU, and memory to find an appropriate balance. However you also have an alternative: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883227291 Something like that would be excellent for media and games and that 5770 is all you need for Starcraft 2. It depends on how comfortable you are with building a system. |
So far the only computer I've ever taken apart and put back together is a Nintendo Entertainment System, but I'm ready to build a PC if it will save me a hundred bucks that could go towards a bigger screen. I'm more confused about what parts to pick than putting them together.
Do the DIY combos at Newegg make sense? They give pretty good discounts for buying the parts in these specific packs, but I can't really tell the difference between this $655 combo, this $623 combo, or this $480 combo. Those are cheaper than the iBUYPOWER one, but without Windows or the keyboard/mouse.
I guess my budget is about $1200, but that's including a screen big enough to play Wii on. Basically, the cheaper I can build a PC for, the more I'll dump into a screen for it. I'm currently TV-less.
If I wait two weeks, I can increase my budget if necessary, and possibly take advantage of any Black Friday deals, but I imagine those would help more with the screen than with the parts?
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