Mos Eisley Cantina

[stellarmagic]

Ral Roke

stellarmagic

Motherboards haven't changed much since I got mine, but Boyle's law is still at work in processors. Though I've found its most economical to simply buy the 6 month old processors since their price has fallen since release by 60-80%. But for really increasing performance, upping RAM is just as effective and a lot cheaper.

Aside from the processors, the most expensive part of a computer is the Video Card, occasionally they cost more then any other part. My DX10 compliant card was more expensive then the processor when I bought it, but its already having trouble with some of the newest games.

I'm also getting a new quad core processor with the motherboard, and I need one more compatible with my vid cards. Because I screwed on when I got my current motherboard.

Have you maxed out your ram yet? I'd suggest doing that first before replacing a processor. RAM slows people down a lot more then the cpu does on most modern computers.  

[Ral Roke]

Yes I have, I have 4 gigs, one in each slot  

[stellarmagic]

Uh, you know they make sticks that are more then 1 Gig. Unless you're using some motherboard that's really, really old.

Windows Vista basic can support up to 8 gigs of ram, and the Professional and Ultimate versions can support even more. I think Vista Ultimate can support over 100 gigs of ram in fact.  

[Valkore Fraust]

stellarmagic

Mandalore Warrior

stellarmagic

Mandalore Warrior

It's definitely worth it. And that's called value. The only way you'd have an extra 3 grand is if you customize it with NY Yankee steroids. You can buy a really good one with good gaming capabilities for 1 grand. The extra "3k" is most likely your optional things. I looked into one before, customized a laptop and it came out to 5. But I got the best components, plus a whole deal of customization.

Or take that 3k, buy the parts and assemble it yourself. If you gave me the amount of money it takes to buy an alienware, I'd show up with a machine that could blow it out of the water. I bet my 1k machine could beat that alienware senseless...

Plus all Dell, Alienware, HP, and Gateway do is assemble the parts, if you know what to buy... go to Newegg and cut out the middle man.

I'm sure you could.

But I don't think anyone will buy all the parts and put their own computer together. The reason they add price, over what THEY pay for a single computer is called value. All together, those things in raw material isn't as much as it would cost if you bought it off the shelf. Make a toy car with 2 dollars worth of wood, sell it for 5.

Ahem... Every dedicated PC gamer I know worth his shirt has either...

A. Bought, built, and assembled a PC on his own.
B. Payed another gamer to do A.

For example, the computer I'm currently using I assembled a year ago, total cost $ 1,049 Dollars. 400 of which was the Windows Vista Ultimate 64 bit operating system. I don't know what alienware was charging for a system with the same specs as mine, but dell was charging 2k.

The only gamer I know personally who hasn't done either of these things is Cale, and thats mostly because he's not a dedicated PC gamer. He has computer games, console games, and paper and pen RPGs. Plenty of other stuff to keep him busy.

Every dedicated gamer you know? That's not the whole country, I bet. Every dedicated gamer I know bought theirs. All (seriously except 3) of my friends on SWG had customized alienware PC's and are damn happy with it. Half of them bought the Area-51 PC (1grand one) and say they don't lag, picture is great and performance is the best they've seen.

"B" isn't exactly "A," now is it? That's pretty much buying one, just not factory assembled.

Alienware PC's can cost $1,049 exactly, and it's a pretty good PC. The ALX X-5 costs 3 grand, but but its overall performance in gaming, multitasking, digital production and audio creation are at max. Not only are its stats good, but Alienware has some sleek designs.

What I'm saying; if you don't want to put one together, if you want one with great performance and some pretty decent financing, hit up alienware.com. Customize your own, put your own stuff in. I got past 600 gbs of memory. Know how it works? They go by primary, secondary, resort, last resort and portable. I think a few more too. But, hey Stellar, whatever floats your gamer boat.  

[Ral Roke]

Listen, that was about eight months ago when I filled up the RAM. Also I don't run Vista and I doubt I ever will. It's horrible. I use XP 64bit. It works. Sure I don't have DirectX 10 but I'll get that when windows get's it's next operating system. Don't talk down to me about computers. I worked for a couple of months at a computer repair shop in town and I loved it.  

[Ral Roke]

Plus you really can't tell me that you need more than 4 GBs of RAM on a computer to run about anything. Not to mention the onboard RAM that Video Cards have.  

[stellarmagic]

Ral if you only knew... Windows Vista utilizes nearly 2 gigs of RAM by itself. Vista 32-bit is awful, but Vista 64-bit is just as good as XP 64-bit if not better.

The thing is I just bumped up my RAM from 4 gigs to 6, and I in games I had a dramatic improvement in performance. Frame rates on some games like Supcom and STALKER more then doubled and most load times were halved. Its shocking how big an improvement getting more RAM is.  

[Sayla-girl]

I aught to lock you computer nerds in a room with a typewriter so you can shut up about who's system's better and thank your lucky stars you're not stuck with one of those wretched contraptions.
That aught to silence the whole debate.  

[Darth Fury]

Sayla-girl

I aught to lock you computer nerds in a room with a typewriter so you can shut up about who's system's better and thank your lucky stars you're not stuck with one of those wretched contraptions.
That aught to silence the whole debate.

I second THAT motion.



Teehee...  

[Sayla-girl]

More proof that Mando women are the most sensible beings in the Galaxy.
We'd be Jedi Masters if the robes didnt itch.  

[Missing00]

beep  

[PaulTheWolf5575]

Alright, let me add my two bits to this Nerdwar.

Vista is a POS. I refuse to use it. While it has been significantly improved from its abysmal initial iteration, it is still terrible.

Every gamer with a Desktop I know has not paid for it. They bought the parts and assembled it themselves. Myself included. Laptops is another story. All of my friends with gaming laptops spent considerably more money for a comparable or worse machine then a desktop. I spent 1300 on a machine superior to most Alienwares (Or it was in January. Techboom ftl/w).

The only reason people buy gaming laptops is because unlike a desktop, the art of assembling them is relatively unknown (and at least as far as I can tell) fairly difficult.

Direct X 10 is a boon, but with Microsoft Hemorrhaging cash over Vista and Microsoft 7 already announced, I feel it shouldn't be too much longer.

Tl;dr Vista sucks. Gamers build desktops, buy laptops because they can't build them, DX10 will be universal soon.  

[Valkore Fraust]

Gamers don't build their desktops. Unless there was a poll as to how many people spend time into building their desktops, I'll believe it. But, two people telling me, isn't enough. If you buy parts, it's no different from exchanging the parts in your computer. I've seen in done before. My HP is liable for an upgrade, it'll probably cost me some, but there's no way I'll open up my sweethearts inners to make it better.

My HP is an office and personal computer. It's not for games. My other computer, which is a Vista, is my Game PC. It runs perfectly. I have a few lag problems here and there, but, that's only because of all the movies and crap I download. If everything was gone but a few MMO's, it would be perfect.

And playing games on a laptop isn't exactly a lot of peoples cup of tea. Maybe for a single game, sometimes two. If it was used for four to five cutting edge games, it'd be a pretty beasty laptop lol.

Sayla Girl

I aught to lock you computer nerds in a room with a typewriter so you can shut up about who's system's better and thank your lucky stars you're not stuck with one of those wretched contraptions.
That aught to silence the whole debate.

I'm pretty sure we're all debating on game performance. Right, guys? We're all capable of having a debate without any burning. And I doubt you'd lock me inside with just a typewriter. Maybe a freakin angry pitbul, too.  

[Missing00]

I personaly dont use a PC for gaming. I leave that to the consoles. Much easier.  

[Valkore Fraust]

I agree 100%. I'm not huge on games, but when cool games come out, they're usually on consoles. But, games like MMORPG's, I'll definitely play on my PC. I like MMO's way better than console games.