I'm planning on buying a new computer. Everything new except speakers(maybe new subwoofer). Looking online using google hasn't been that helpful. Sites seem to be out of date by at least a year. I'm going to go with WidowPC, but as for deciding on a processor, mother board, graphics card, etc. i'm at a loss. Tom's hardware is some help, but its only one website.
Does anyone have suggestions on sites that offer up to date rankings of various hardware and any personal opinions?
I assume you are wanting to build?
Well i'm probably going to have widowpc build it and so forth, but they will build to your speccs if you want and they have a lot of options so I'm very overwhelmed.
Two choices really.
Intel Core i5/i7/i9 or a Quad/Six core AMD.
Best video card you can afford (assuming it's a gaming rig).
I assumed that WidowPC was a company so I found their web site. As I figured, waaaaay overpriced for what you get. Much cheaper to build yourself and get much better parts.
$1050 for an i3-540 with only a 320 GB hard drive? Please. I spent just over half that on an i3-540 system with a 1.5 TB drive and a Bluray player for crying out loud.
$1900 for an i5-750 system? Wow, what a rip off.
Well lack the knowledge to build my own computer and if you have any problems you can call and get tech support in the US from people who KNOW what they're talking about.
Then again, you can take a simple course to gain the knowledge to build the PC yourself.
Or, you can do it yourself, like I did.
The place at which I was working had a dead computer, and I took it home. I took it apart. I studied a bit to learn what I was looking at.
Then, I identified the problem and fixed it - and I had a working computer. (WOW, when I took the hard drive apart I noticed a big gouge in one of the platters, possibly because my boss got mad and threw the computer into a wall!)
But then I found that it would not run a program that I wanted to use. So guess what? I did a little more research and found the parts I wanted to upgrade the computer.
Yes, I made some mistakes. Like, I chose a certain type motherboard that used a certain type of memory module that became extinct too soon. Or, I changed a BIOS setting that hosed my hard drive in the effort to gain that last little bit of performance. And yet another reformat/reinstall. But that was way back in the old days of the 8088/8086, the 286 and 386 - and you are not likely to make those types of mistakes today unless you dig way WAY deep.
All it takes is a little desire to gain some knowledge, and then work with that knowledge.
You want to be told the answers, instead of finding your own through your own intelligence. That is the lazy way.
It is also the way that you never really KNOW what you are doing, and why.
Do your research and build the best system that you can. Learn from your mistakes. And in the end, you will feel more proud and confident of yourself than if you simply went with the best guess that someone else could offer.
And who knows... That experience might even pay off in the form of a job at a very unique company - with you at the center of things, because of your ability to learn what you need to know. (Heck, you might even start your own because of your own unique talents)
Actually it's very simple to build a computer. The amount of money you could save could easily pay for a book or two on how to do it if you want to learn.
Anyway, good luck. I just cringe anytime pays double for a computer then they really need to.
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