Best computer for new gamer?

an e6300-e6600 based system with an 8800gtx 320 can be had in that price range.

as far as mobo p5n-e sli systems are inexpensive with extreme performance

dvd burner, 2 gb of ddr2, vista

if u can not find one - email me i can set you up with one!

Just to clarify: you wanna purchase a pre-built system right? Not interested in building it yourself?

Looks like you do want to buy pre-built based on the link you pasted, and if you aren't a hardware geek I don't blame you (even though this is a site for hardware geeks ).

Some of my family members were in a very similar position and I no longer build systems for family members (because I end up supporting their SW/HW myself which SUCKS). My solution was to check in at dell.com regularly and find a sweet deal on a desktop with integrated graphics, then buy a nice video card to add in afterwards. Make sure you get the regular tower size (not the small form factor, video cards don't fit and the PSUs are lower wattage). Their deals on AMD systems were usually better than Core 2 Duo ones.

As for a video card, I can tell you a 7600GT will work in a Dell Dimension and this should play the games you mention fantastically. Should be able to get one of those for ~$100 nowadays.

Some here will want to crucify me for suggesting a Dell Dimension, but the configuration I outlined above I have used twice with excellent results. Dell's phone support is better lately, and better my uncle calls someone in India for a spyware problem than me. If you build it yourself you don't have anyone to call, which you may not be comfortable with.

agree with NUFC987, Solid systems, solid performance at good prices. The support has been good as well.

Yup, totally agreed.

The games she listed there are not that demanding, they should work OK on a computer like that.

Exception Flight Simulator, which works badly even on a $4000 computer with two 8800 GTX cards.

GR3N4D3G1RL - fancy spelling for Grenade Girl, isn't it? OK, I'm just guessing

Whats Green for diggerel? Do you mind explaining it? My slang language skills are below average.

I was also planning on getting all of the WoW and Elder Scrolls games. I watch many of my friends play these games and I'm interested in buy them.

After you buy a prebuilt system, add 2more GB of crucial bullistix ram from new egg. CL4, 800mhz, for only 70$ plus tax. The system will perform a little better than having 2GB. If you're using windows vista, upgrading from 2Gb to 4GB will give you boost in speed in programs you use often because of superfetch.

Going pre-built is very safe, along these lines the best advice I would offer is not to be fooled by thinking that buying locally is the best option. Don't get me wrong, BBs and Circuit City do well on PCs, but some of the nightmares I have heard about the service from BBs is scary. Best bet is to shop around, find a good price, and then compare customer service, this is one area, when you buy pre-built, you want to focus on almost as much as the parts that are in the system. In the end, junk in is junk out so make sure they use quality parts, but even the best parts fail and if they have idiots working on computers you will spend more time in the store than you will at home!

Also, watch how they define in home service and repair, especially after the first year, it isn’t always what it seems….

I'd say splurge on your Graphic Card a little more go for ATI HD 2400 or 2600 should be out soon enough (By the time you build it). The 7100 will be about as useful as Intel Integrated Graphics(Barely Playable with most games), and some of the games you've listed that your thinking of playing won't even run at decent Frame Rates without at least Something comparable to Nvidia 7800 or ATI X1650 O/B

Where in Canada? I'm in North Etobicoke, Toronto near the Tiger Direct Outlet near Kipling Station

If I may, the hard-drive looks very small, and I agree that you may want to put a few more dollars at the graphics card. I guess a few more questions may be in order here to dial in on what you need.

First, how long would you expect the computer to last? This may dictate the actual processor. For example, if you figured on using the system for more than 2 years I would highly recommend looking for something in the quad core arena, and I would certainly go with a D10 video card. Also, while your hard-drive demand may not be overwhelming today I would say over the next two+ years it should increase drastically and the 160gig drive would be a bit small.

Another question, assuming you are going to use the computer for more than a year or two, are you up for performing some upgrades? If that is the case, try to plan future proof on hard to change out items, like the MoBo perhaps, and the case (I say the case because of the size of some of these graphics cards and the size of the newer (High end) PSUs)

Hope this helps,

I would be more then happy to try and put together some recommendations for you but I am not familiar with some of the pre-built sites out there, other than Dell. Paste a few links to some of the places you were looking and I will see what I can do. I know there are a few other folks up here that are more familiar with the pre-built sites so perhaps they can assist as well.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6883102026
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6883102027

These would be perfect, they are from a reputable comapany, they are under your budget and should be powerful enough to play pretty much any game right now at decent settings. The only thing I would do is add another gig of ram for a total of two, you should be able to do this and still stay on budget.

My only other idea would be to buy something like this:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6883107394

and then buy a nice video card for it like this one
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814131055
or
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814130074


Well good luck, there should be some nice sales for the 4th of July so shop around and do some research , dont rush into buying somethingt hat wont fit your needs.

Thanks for all the help, I'll keep my eye on this PC I'm looking at. I will also keep my eye out for the sales which may be coming up. I already get a discount since I already own two person Dell computers...

Ok, ok. If I were to build a system myself, where would I start? What type of case would I need? What if the parts I want aren't compatable with each other?

here is a very good place to start.

because you want to save money, I'd recommend buying a case that already has a PSU in it, because that generally saves money. that being said, such psu's arent good for high end gaming, but then again that isnt what you want anyway.

dont worry about hardware compatibility, that doesnt occur much anymore. I mean, obvious things like Intel motherboards only support Intel CPU's, but you already knew that.

The only compatibility issues you might face is that if you buy an old motherboard, it might not support some of the newer cpus. you can get around this by simply buying newer motherboards (newer doesnt mean expensive). also check the manufacturers website beforehand for cpu and ram compatibility.

with building a pc, the hardest part is always the research and deciding what to get. once you know what you want, building it is easier.

for about $600, if I were you, I would look at 1 GB ram, low spec dual core cpu, either an athlon x2 or core 2 duo, and an 8500 GT. maybe a 160 GB or 250 GB hard drive.

speak to your uncle then. not only could he build it for you, but people who sell hardware can generally get better prices.

damn I need an uncle in the pc business.

yeah, you need to buy a case, and then all the parts you need, and the operating system.

okay here is a little list I compiled. I live in the UK, so this list is from a local retailer. the price was about £406, so it should come to about $650 over there (US and canada seem to be cheaper for computers).

as for a case with a PSU, every single site will have some cheapo case. maybe go for an antec though - as far as I remember, they make decent cases and psus, so that solves the problem of bad quality psus.

Yes windows is kinda expensive. but dont buy the retail version, buy the oem version, its 1/3 of the price, and its the same thing.

256MB Asus 8500GT, Silent, PCI-E (x16), Mem 800 MHz, GPU 459 MHz, 16 Pipes, D-Sub/DVI-I/HDTV

Gigabyte GA M57SLI-S4 NF570 SLI, S AM2, PCI-E (x16), DDR2 400/533/667/800, SATA II, SATA RAID, ATX

AMD AM2 Athlon 64 3800+ Windsor Core, Dual Core 2GHz, 2x 512KB Cache, Energy Efficient Retail

2GB (2x1GB) CorsairTwinX XMS2, DDR2 PC2-6400 (800), 240 Pins, Non-ECC Unbuffered, CAS 5-5-5-12

160GB Samsung HD160HJ SpinPoint T166, SATA300, 7200 rpm, 8MB Cache, 8.9 ms, NCQ

Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium 32Bit 1Pk OEM (DVD)

Antec NSK6500 uATX/ATX Super Mid Tower, has Hi-Efficiency 430W ATX12v v2.0 PSU

Optiarc (Sony/NEC) AD-7170S-0B 18x DVD±R, 8x DVD±DL, DVD+RW x8/-RW x6, DVD-RAM x12, SATA, Black, OEM

its an ATX case, so yes it will support any motherboard you need.

a case cant support or not support dual core cpus, in this case they refer to the psu, but even that is a bit of a misleading statement.

still, for $60 its not bad (although personally I cant stand the design!)

If you currently have a rig would you please provide us with the cpu type, motherboard name and model number, amount of memory, type of video card and size/types of hard drives.

if you want a prebuilt pc dell offers inspiron 530 with selected specs
below ( you will select them ) for 899$
this will give excellent performance with games having a very good dx10 card and 2 gigs of ram ( an advice when you buy a pc go for one with max price you can afford it will save you more and will make you more happy with the performance)
Intel® Core™2 Duo Processor E6320 (4MB L2 Cache,1.86GHz,1066 FSB)
Genuine Windows Vista™ Home Premium
No Monitor
2GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 667MHz- 2DIMMs
320GB Serial ATA Hard Drive (7200RPM) w/DataBurst Cache™
Dual Drives: 48X CDRW/DVD COMBO Drive + 16X DVD+/-RW Drive
256MB NVIDIA GeForce 8600GT-DDR3

any company that charges +270 just to upgrade from 512MB to 2gig is a damn ripoff and I would never buy anything from them. Every compenent is highly overpriced, you may as well buy a dell.

i was gonna help you until you said you were gonna play wow, seriously if that isnt the biggest triangle scheme since becoming a Crack addict i dont know what is,

however with a quick change of heart here what i recommend, C2D, 2Gb DDR2, 8800 (or 8600 on budget), Gigabyte DS3 and vista HP x64 (for more RAM)

anywho i really recommend building it your self its so damn easy, the instruction you need come with your motherboard. nevermind -what ever you dod dont go dell no gamer will respect you