Getting a New Computer (What should I look For?)

[Book Budda]

Hi Im getting a new computer or laptop and I would like to be able to play Civ IV (all expansion packs), Civ IV Col., and Civ III, as well as a few more games. I have only had one computer (an E-machine) and have had bad experiences with it . I am not really good with computers and I was wondering what would you guys recomend I get in terms of Brand, Ram, memory, cost...

Thanks for any suggestions.

 

[Cutlass]

Are you buying prebuilt or going to take the plunge and build one? What are you willing to spend?

First, some basics. For modern software, and upcoming software, you are going to need at least a dual core processor, 2 gigs of RAM, probably 500 gigs of hard drive space, a DVD drive, 550 watts or better of a power supply, and a graphics card that probably has at least 500mb to 1 gig of on board memory and says it is compatible with gaming. That's your basic specs if you are buying a prebuilt PC. Don't settle for less. You can probably get that much for $800-1000. What you can get above and beyond that depends on what you are willing to spend.

Other people can do a better job than I can of recommend specific pieces of hardware if you are building. But if you can ballpark what you will spend, we can help you design something.

 

[Book Budda]

Thanks for the reply, I plan on buying a prebuilt one (I don't know enough about computers yet to make one). I have a rough estimate of what I am willing to pay, I have $800 dollars set aside in the bank and I can add a pay check or two in there.

I am willing to spend about $1000 dollars and add two or three hundred dollars if necessary but no more than that.

 

[Cutlass]

ok. do you need a monitor, keyboard, mouse, or can you reuse your peripherals? Do you need something with an OS installed?

Look here, http://www.pricewatch.com/computer_systems_with_os/ and browse through the units within your price range and try to match up something with the basic specs I mentioned above. If you are unclear what the parts are, try posting specific questions or just check more entries. That site has ads from multiple vendors, and there's a difference in the way the web sites are set up. Many will give you basic options, but then allow you to customize to some extent and recalculate the price.

For example, like this http://www.ascendtech.us/customkititems.asp?kc=DTWINC2EQX672GB

 

[Book Budda]

Thanks for the information I just don't know enough about computers and the information has been very helpful

 

[TheDS]

It's really hard to recommend something for a novice computer user like this. It SHOULD be as simple as "go to Best Buy/Circuit City/Dell/Walmart and get something cheap", but unfortunately, there are a lot of people out there looking to profit off your fear and lack of knowledge. There just isn't a safe, no-brain way to buy a computer, any more than there is to buying a car or house, except there are laws to protect house and car buyers, but not computer buyers.

A lot of these places are eager to sell you crap you don't need for obscene prices (1000% markup in some cases), AND charge you ridiculous rates to install stuff you could do yourself in 15 minutes if you had even the most basic mechanical skills. Installing a DVD drive is pretty trivial if you've ever put together an entertainment center and hooked up all the electronics to it.

The closest thing you can do to a no-brainer is find out the specs for whatever game you want to play, then look for a computer that has those specs and is cheap. You should be able to find a machine that can manhandle Civ4 for under $400.

I would also suggest avoiding Vista if at all possible. MS is pimping the crap out of it, and it's just not worth it in the opinions of anyone who has to service it or uses it in anything but the most superficial of capacities. The big gripe from me is its obscene requirements. You need a considerable amount of computer to run it, whereas if you used XP (or 2000) instead, your computer would operate the way you expect it to (as in, faster). But MS is trying hard not to give you that option, and some manufacturers are taking the bribes or whatever and not giving you the option either. Kinda like you can't get a proper-aspect ratio monitor any more, but I digress.

Let me try and summarize here.

Chances are, whatever the cheapest computer you can get new is going to be capable of running Civ4, as long as it doesn't have Vista on it. If you're stuck with Vista, make sure the machine comes with at least TWO (2) GB of RAM. Vista itself needs at least 1, and Civ4 needs 1. Also, try to avoid "upgrades", as they tend to want to charge you full price for the better hardware without discounting for what they have to remove to give that to you. Other than that, when you get your computer, try and learn a few things about it, so that next time, you'll feel better prepared.

What I essentailly did for my first "PC" was get something cheap, tear it apart and see how it worked, asked tons of questions, looked for ways to improve how it ran, and so on, ad nauseum.

 

[GoodGame]

If you can wait a while to replace your computer, I strongly recommend getting educated on them as the money you spend on education will about equal the inflated service costs you'll pay for a pre-built system, and will pay dividends as you upgrade your computer(s) later in time. Barring that, you might just want to go with a laptop, as there's very little DIY/service support needed with one, as they are essentially disposable.