Learn More about cheap computers and computer parts
First of all, you probably wont be able to find a more useful cheap computer building site than mine. Why? Because my website saves you time, and in the same time tells you everything you need to know in order to build you cheap computer. You won't need more than an hour to read through the entire website, yet, you will be ready to build a cheap computer yourself, even if you are a complete novice.
Why build a computer your self? First of all, you will save a lot of money. You don't have to pay for an expensive technician to do something every novice can do, by simply following instructions. You can customize your computer to the smallest detail. This is usually almost impossible when buying a whole configuration. So basically you will pay only for parts that you really need.
My advice to everyone buying the new computer with gaming in mind would be cash out thousands of $$$ and get top of the line configuration. Well, it is true, with that configuration you will also get top of the line performance, but at the cost of wasting too much money. Trust me, even if you have a lot of money to spend, get at least parts that are 2-3 steps bellow the top of the line product, or as a reference opt for the last year's top models.
example:
| $295 |
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athlon 64 x2 3800 dual core |
| $355 |
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athlon 64 x2 4200 dual core |
| $455 |
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athlon 64 x2 4400 dual core |
| $547 |
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athlon 64 x2 4600 dual core |
| $627 |
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athlon 64 x2 4800 dual core |
You see, to get around 12-14 percent gain in performance you have to pay almost 100% more money. And this is also the same for Graphic Cards, etc.
This is why you should never buy the latest model, but a few steps bellow.
Put it this way: I have AMD processor 3400 64bit, ATI Radeon PRO 128MB and 1GB of RAM. 99% of the games I can play with all details set on max, with a very good frame rate.
Right now ATI 9800 pro is in $130 range and is still doing a great job (was around $250 when I bought it), and my CPU is in $150 range. See what I am talking about. Right now you can spend $300 on both CPU and Graphic card and get almost the same performance as if you have spent $1000 on those two parts, because 99% of today's games do not need that much power, and they will run just fine. Of course, if you want to play in resolutions above 1280x1024, then you will have to cash out some extra money for better parts, but I see no reason for anyone to play games above this resolution. However, I would not recommend you to buy an ATI Radeon 9800 pro right now, as today you will definitely need a somewhat better graphic card (with 256 meg of memory) and PCI express slot for the upcoming games. Yes, do not forget to get a motherboard with PCI Express slot.
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Laptops