A new computer?

[manu-fan]

Hi,

If I were to get a new computer, I presume I could just download Civ V onto it from Steam again without paying, right? I paid on Steam and downloaded that my current (getting old iMac), and am thinking of getting a more modern iMac for Christmas.

Thanks.

 

[Senethro]

Yep. No problems there. Just remember your account details and be sure noone steals them.

 

[civ_king]

Hi,

If I were to get a new computer, I presume I could just download Civ V onto it from Steam again without paying, right? I paid on Steam and downloaded that my current (getting old iMac), and am thinking of getting a more modern iMac for Christmas.

Thanks.

Yes

Go for the iMac 27-inch, 2.8GHz QC+Radeon 5750 should play Civ V great. $1999 new or $1,699.00 refurbished (refurbished are same quality or better)

 

[dananski]

Yes

Go for the iMac 27-inch, 2.8GHz QC+Radeon 5750 should play Civ V great. $1999 new or $1,699.00 refurbished (refurbished are same quality or better)

Gah! That's insanely expensive when I consider it'll be worse than my old midrange PC for Civ 5. Don't get me wrong, I look forward to the day when I can afford to buy a lovely Apple, but I'll always keep an old PC around for games.

 

[civ_king]

Gah! That's insanely expensive when I consider it'll be worse than my old midrange PC for Civ 5. Don't get me wrong, I look forward to the day when I can afford to buy a lovely Apple, but I'll always keep an old PC around for games.

I just specced out a desktop from Dell of equivalent power costs ~$1,200 plus an equivalent monitor from Dell is $999.
iMac $1999 vs. Dell $2,199
yeah um...

considering the CPU is equivalent to a 3.5GHz C2Q Penryn forgive me if I am a little skeptical of your old midrange computer being more powerful

 

[Maniacal]

I just specced out a desktop from Dell of equivalent power costs ~$1,200 plus an equivalent monitor from Dell is $999.
iMac $1999 vs. Dell $2,199
yeah um...

considering the CPU is equivalent to a 3.5GHz C2Q Penryn forgive me if I am a little skeptical of your old midrange computer being more powerful

You're doing it wrong. I just threw this together and its less than $1200. Should be more or less similar if not better, either way you don't need to spend too much to get good parts.

Spoiler :

Most 24" monitors are about ~$200 CAD too, http://ncix.com/products/index.php?minorcatid=1003
I don't see any real advantage to a 27", yeah its bigger but that just means a larger resolution which takes more power to run. However the 27" monitors are mostly $300-400 if you really want that massive of a monitor.

EDIT: Also who the heck buys a Dell for gaming?

 

[dananski]

Well, you just need a different focus depending on your purpose. I built myself a cheap PC with a gaming focus and spent a very small amount on keeping the graphics up to date. But it certainly isn't as 'good' a computer overall. Just at games.

 

[Maniacal]

The only "new" part in my computer is my NVIDIA GTX 260, and I still run all of my games (including many new games) just fine (though I am actually using up 90% of my 2 gigs of RAM in a couple of strategy games and need to get more RAM when I upgrade to Windows 7 this break). You don't need to spend $2000 on a gaming rig every couple of years for good performance, that is a myth.

 

[civ_king]

You're doing it wrong. I just threw this together and its less than $1200. Should be more or less similar if not better, either way you don't need to spend too much to get good parts.

Spoiler :

Most 24" monitors are about ~$200 CAD too, http://ncix.com/products/index.php?minorcatid=1003
I don't see any real advantage to a 27", yeah its bigger but that just means a larger resolution which takes more power to run. However the 27" monitors are mostly $300-400 if you really want that massive of a monitor.

EDIT: Also who the heck buys a Dell for gaming?

Computers are pretty much always cheaper to build than buy regardless of the manufacturer therefore the only fair comparison is manufacturer to manufacturer. Plus OS X can be a pain to install/maintain on non-Macs. It's a professional grade monitor hence the price (color reproduction is impressive).

Finally my whole post was dedicated to disproving dananski

The only "new" part in my computer is my NVIDIA GTX 260, and I still run all of my games (including many new games) just fine (though I am actually using up 90% of my 2 gigs of RAM in a couple of strategy games and need to get more RAM when I upgrade to Windows 7 this break). You don't need to spend $2000 on a gaming rig every couple of years for good performance, that is a myth.

He'll be able to sell it for about 3/4 of the list price so $199 over three years isn't that bad

 

[Maniacal]

Computers are pretty much always cheaper to build than buy regardless of the manufacturer therefore the only fair comparison is manufacturer to manufacturer. Plus OS X can be a pain to install/maintain on non-Macs. It's a professional grade monitor hence the price (color reproduction is impressive).

Why the heck would you install OS X on a PC that you keep around for gaming? Also some websites, like NCIX, will put the computer together, install the OS and do some basic test for you (NCIX charges $50 iirc). Still makes it a lot cheaper. Even pre-builts however are now having fairly decent hardware (usually lacking in the graphics card department, but you can just buy a new one) and cost less than $1000.

He'll be able to sell it for about 3/4 of the list price so $199 over three years isn't that bad

Maybe, things could change in 3 years.

 

[Forsaken]

only an idiot would pay that much for used hardware + that stuff will devalue alot in 3 years. You would pay alot less for that safe hardware new in 3 years

 

[civ_king]

only an idiot would pay that much for used hardware + that stuff will devalue alot in 3 years. You would pay alot less for that safe hardware new in 3 years

Refurbished≠"Used"
Apple refurbished is as good as new hardware (except cheaper)