cheap gaming computer?

[kalmn]

i bought a laptop earlier this year because a) my desktop let the magic smoke out, and b) i knew i needed something higher powered to play starcraft 2 on when it came out.

in what we call a learning experience (will i ever trust bestbuy employees again on the subject of hardware? no, no i will not) my new laptop will not even play ddo, much less starcraft 2. (i haven't tried s2 yet, but my video card is not even in the same timezone as what it needs.)

so. if you wanted to buy a relatively cheap gaming computer but didn't want to build one yourself because you hate skinning your knuckles on the motherboard, what would you do?

Comments

[bifemmefatale]

Hire one of my geek friends to build it.

[guppiecat]

Can you wait a week or so? (Maybe longer, dunno)

A friend of mine here in Des Moines is (was) an avid gamer and has recently suffered a car related mishap. Once he is out of the medically-induced coma, he will very likely have a financial need to part with some of his systems. If your needs and his line up, it could be a good way to help him with his bills in a very low stress way.

At this time, I do not know if this would be an acceptable solution on his side (and he's clearly not in a position to really discuss the situation), but communications between his friends lean towards this being a very strong possibility.

Failing that, I'd pick a set of minimum specs and check the Dell Outlet every four hours until I found one that met what I needed.

[kalmn]

oh, that seems no good at all for your friend.

if it does turn out that he ends up selling any of his systems, i would be interested to hear about it. i will likely be looking for longer than a week. (pesky trying to be responsible about the budget)

[aedifica]

I would go to the Dell Outlet, which I see guppiecat also mentioned. My laptop and netbook both came from there.

[hellsop]

If you want no-knucles options entirely, watching slickdeals.net will bring worthwhile chioces to your attention. The comments on the deals tend to be fairly good *in aggregate* about the suitability for purpose.

The maximal game-rig-for-dollar curve intersecting with a minimum of knuckle-skinning will come with buying pretty much any cheap computer these days and putting real graphics card in it. Almost any machine you can buy new or refurb will have enough CPU and enough RAM for any reasonable game, but they won't have the graphics horsepower. This you supplement by putting the rest of the budget into the graphics card. These days, a GTS 450 (nVidia) card is a very affordable choice. They're respectable cards, well-specced for moderate gaming and tend to be available for about $100-0$120 after rebates. (Expect to lay out about $140 before any available rebate. Don't pay more than that, though.)

[heyfoureyes]

The maximal game-rig-for-dollar curve intersecting with a minimum of knuckle-skinning will come with buying pretty much any cheap computer these days and putting real graphics card in it. Almost any machine you can buy new or refurb will have enough CPU and enough RAM for any reasonable game, but they won't have the graphics horsepower.

Second. Maybe a friend can do it for you? I would if I were up there, but I have been known to fearlessly and perhaps foolishly take laptops apart.

[matthewdaly]

I am in that boat with you, except it was a CompUSA jerkface who lied to my face about how powerful the video card on my current computer would turn out to be.

I'll tell you what has worked out really well for me. If you want a machine that gives superlative graphics and sounds and is meant to play games, then buy a game console. I bought a Playstation 2 four or five years ago, and I adore it. I never have to worry about updating my video drivers, I don't have to wonder if the game that came out last week works on my hardware, and (best of all) if a two year-old game is successful it isn't out of print, it's reprinted at a lower price. In fact, when that poor console died a few months ago, I replaced it with another Playstation 2. That's me -- you might be happier with an XBox or a Wii which all tend towards different genres of games, but any of them win big with inexpensive and reliable in a way that no Intel-based solution can AFAIK.

[daedala]

I would second this suggestion.

ETA: I meant to also say, it's probably safer to buy such a system off of craigslist than it would be to get a used computer, also.

[geeksdoitbetter]

i hear you on the console vs PC pros

here's the one con that's kept me coming back to my PC: the genre of games i enjoy aren't (as far as i can fing) made for anything but PC

genre = daisy chain economy and city managment with a side of turn based or real time strategy

[matthewdaly]

Yeah, that is a really valid reason to stick with PCs. But at least for myself, it's not a good enough reason to pay the $100 nVidia tax every two years for a modern graphics card. That means that I can't play Civ 5, but Alpha Centauri still works and is as beautiful as I need it to be. (And if the more cynical of the reviewers are to be believed, I don't have to feel down replaying StarCraft because the sequel doesn't work on my box.)

You'll have to ask me in a year about how I feel about not being able to play Portal 2, though.

[sraun]

I'll third the Dell Outlet. Or go talk to General Nanosystems - they'll build to order for you, and give you your choice of them or you installing the OS.

[caffeine]

What is your definition of cheap? My current gaming rig was around $1000. But, I built it myself. Microcenter also has their own branded machines that may be cheaper than other options.

Yeah, that

[spiderplanet]

I was also going to suggest MicroCenter. I am under the impression that their workers have to deal with too many people who build their own systems, and consequently, they are less likely to bullshit.