Need a new (less expensive) computer (and want BF3)

Ok, time to upgrade, it's been about 4-5 years. I don't want to spend a ton of money, around $1000 plus or minus. And I want to play Battlefield 3 at a respectable framerate (don't tell my wife about that part).

Any ideas? I'm not knowledgeable enough to build my own so was thinking Dell or someone else.

Help a fellow Tacoma owner out!

 

Desktop right? I'd look at something like this.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883229253

I'm a technician so I build my own but these specs are pretty much what I would recommend and it would last a while and play battlefield on ultra. note the GTX 560 is what is recommended(but not required obviously) to play battlefield 3. You've got a quad core high clock processor, 8gigs of memory and 1tb of hard drive space. depending on what type of monitor you have you may want to upgrade that to a nice ~23" lcd 1080p to really get the most out of your setup. that would put you right about 1k. you get a nice custom style pc without having to build yourself and you're really looking at about $1200 on a similar system from dell. The main thing is to make sure you get a mid-high range graphics card so it will play battlefield (and any other new games) well. you can spend $1000 easily on a pc that wont run hardly any game.

 

http://www.maximumpc.com/article/features/how_build_kick-ass_gaming_rig_under_700

 

F desktops, laptops now perform the same if not better. I'd get a used ASUS g73/g74 from craigslist, they go from 900-1200

 

Yeah they're nice laptops but if you dont need one why buy one? They are more expensive and you cant fix them or upgrade them like a desktop. For example. the asus g73 retails for $1200 and has a GTX460M graphics card. The $800 computer I linked has a GTX560. The GTX560 scores a 3D Mark of 2732 while the GTX460M only scores a 1208. The desktop version of the GTX460 scores a 2365. In a benchmark test of the g73 running Crysis(a 2007 game) at the computers native resolution (1920x1080) it gets 13fps.

So to compare, you would spend roughly $1200 or so on that laptop. For $1000 you could get that desktop or a similar one and a nice 22"-24" monitor that displays at 1920x1080. With the desktop you'd have a better processor, same amount of memory, twice the hard drive space, a way better graphics card and be able to play battlefield at 1080p.

 

Yea, but a laptop is portable. You can play BF3 anywhere!! haha

 

Well we aren't talking about crysis, we are talking bf3. And what if you go somewhere & you need a computer, you're screwed. Unless you buy another laptop on top of the desktop which would equal the same or even more. And idk why you think you can't upgrade a laptop, that's crazy. I've updated tons of laptops, I'm also assuming this desktop you are referring to is a home made one, don't get me wrong I've only owned 1 desktop I haven't built but when I switched to laptops I'll never go back. Which brings me to my next point, what if a part goes out after a year? Most manufacturers have only a 1 year warranty where as my ASUS has a 2 year warranty with a 1 year accidental damage warranty.

 

Um, no. Laptops may have the same specs on paper but as soon as you start gaming the performance dies. The cpu and vga heats up due to the limited cooling. To combat this it will actually lower the clock speed (make the cpu slower) until the application running no longer produces the strain (you turn off the game) or it reaches a certain temperature and crashes (overheats so much it turns is self off to prevent damage).

My friend has an alienware laptop with better specs than my pc. We have played games side-by-side and his always runs slower, has less fps, and more lag.

 

I agree..there's a reason desktop pcs are still the most popular route to go for gaming. OP, you may want to research buildling your own. It isn't as overwhelming as you'd think; I did some internet research and was able to build my own from scratch. You can call the guys at newegg or any other reputable company and they'll tell you if the system you pieced together will all work together well or not.

I'd also recommend that you overpower the pc so you have the room to upgrade if you want. Also, if you plan to SLI, get both cards NOW instead of buying one, then waiting to eventually buy another. I've done that twice now and both times the cards ended up being discontinued...

 

Fuck it, buy a consol and be done with it. Having to upgrade your computer just to play a damn video game is pretty lame. I mean, unless your life revovles around gaming, your a hardcore nerd and never get laid, a console works just fine.

 

or if you need to edit video or something

 

Were talking about a dude who wants to play BF3 not video editing...

 

dude, spend a week or so researching components and build your own. I was what I consider "computer retarded" when I started looking for a $1000 workstation. I spent a couple weeks researching in my spare time and ended up with a very nice system at $920 not including monitor, keyboard or mouse. And that includes a 64GB SSD for the OS (which is awesome BTW).

 

Ehh consoles can't touch PCs when it comes to gaming though...I have both a PS3 and my PC, and I've mostly gamed on consoles since all my friends use them, but for BF3 I'll be playing on the PC. Benefits to playing on PC for BF3 include: use of ventrilo for talking to your team mates, 64 player servers, and better graphics.

 

Not true in the least.

 

I don't know for sure but I imagine this guy didn't want his thread turned into a debate.

OP,

Does your $1,000 budget need to include your peripherals?

I manage IT for a living so I always build mine, and I will tell you, it is not difficult at all. The more time you spend researching compatibility the easier it will be for you, so much so that if you do it right, it's as simple as screwing in some screws and plugging in some connectors.

I finally hired a few people to help with the workload here lately and one of them had no experience on the hardware side (hardcore software guy, literally hadn't cracked open a computer in 7 years) and he can now crank out three machines per day if I need him to.

Fink

 

setting up the software/drivers is the hardest part, and a trained monkey on meth can do it.

 

building your own is the way to go..cheapest and usually better than anything you can get for the same price

 

Exactly.

Fink

 

and fink is right, it isn't that hard. Its all plug and play (and install drivers). The only "hard" thing would be plugging in all the little wires from the case to the mother board. That part isnt even that hard, it just takes time to look up the wiring diagram in the mother board manual