I need a good PC in the near future - help!

Ok, I'm a senior in college so at the moment I have NO money. However, after graduation when I get a job and actually have some disposible income, I hope to get back into PC gaming. The main games I'm gonna wanna play is Diablo 3 and Ground Branch - both of which aren't coming out anytime real soon - but that's fine in my current situation.So, I've heard over the years that you won't get your money's worth going to Dell or HP and buying a computer right from them - it's best to build your own. Now, I'm fairly well-educated on how to use a computer but I have absolute no clue on how to build a computer.My first question: is there actually a good company that you can buy a good gaming computer from without paying an arm and a leg?My second question: If there isn't a good company (or building a computer is just that much better) - I obviously have a couple of years before I'll be purchasing/building this computer - where it the best place to start? Is this something you can self-teach yourself with the internet or do I need to probe around campus seeing if I can find someone who knows firsthand how to build a computer.Thanks! :DI need a good PC in the near future - help!
[QUOTE=''Cwagmire21'']Ok, I'm a senior in college so at the moment I have NO money. However, after graduation when I get a job and actually have some disposible income, I hope to get back into PC gaming. The main games I'm gonna wanna play is Diablo 3 and Ground Branch - both of which aren't coming out anytime real soon - but that's fine in my current situation.So, I've heard over the years that you won't get your money's worth going to Dell or HP and buying a computer right from them - it's best to build your own. Now, I'm fairly well-educated on how to use a computer but I have absolute no clue on how to build a computer.My first question: is there actually a good company that you can buy a good gaming computer from without paying an arm and a leg?My second question: If there isn't a good company (or building a computer is just that much better) - I obviously have a couple of years before I'll be purchasing/building this computer - where it the best place to start? Is this something you can self-teach yourself with the internet or do I need to probe around campus seeing if I can find someone who knows firsthand how to build a computer.Thanks! :D[/QUOTE] I can build your computer for you if you'd be interested. :)I need a good PC in the near future - help!
I'm sure your not trying to scam me but it's hard to tell. :(
How much do you wanna spend on it?
In terms of picking the actual parts, the best place to start is what processor you want. That will provide the basis to which motherboard you are going to get, which in turn provides the basis for the RAM and possible add on cards. Picking parts depends on your budget, so until you set a budget, I can't really give you any suggestions. You can post build ideas here and we can give you possible suggestions (I have done that, and I have gotten some really awesome suggestions that I would have never seen). While maybe a hair dated, this site can give you a decent place to start. Just so you know, your first part selection will be far from perfect. It took me a month or so to figure out which parts will be awesome, but not too expensive either.
Here's what you do:Get your parts online and go to your local PC shop and either get them to teach you to build, or just have them do it.
Well, I have a LCD tv that I can use as my monitor for now.It's probably harder to estimate how much I'm willing to pay since the games I will be making this computer for won't be out for a year or two.I was thinking around $600 US - but I'd be willing to increase that some if it'll make it last longer.
[QUOTE=''Cwagmire21'']Well, I have a LCD tv that I can use as my monitor for now.It's probably harder to estimate how much I'm willing to pay since the games I will be making this computer for won't be out for a year or two.I was thinking around $600 US - but I'd be willing to increase that some if it'll make it last longer.[/QUOTE] To give you a suggestion, I decided my rig to be under $1000. $600 is a little skimpy for a long lasting rig, that's what I decided before and it only lasted me 2 years.
[This message was deleted at the request of the original poster]
[QUOTE=''Luminouslight''][QUOTE=''Cwagmire21'']Well, I have a LCD tv that I can use as my monitor for now.It's probably harder to estimate how much I'm willing to pay since the games I will be making this computer for won't be out for a year or two.I was thinking around $600 US - but I'd be willing to increase that some if it'll make it last longer.[/QUOTE] To give you a suggestion, I decided my rig to be under $1000. $600 is a little skimpy for a long lasting rig, that's what I decided before and it only lasted me 2 years.[/QUOTE]I see - makes sense.I'm probably just in the wrong scenario right now to give myself an accurate esitmation of how much I'd be willing to spend. Right now, I'm trying to finish up my degree and have an annual salary of not-working for $0 a year :P Hopefully after graduation and when I'll be making money, I can actually put money towards a good computer. I'm just trying to plan ahead. :)
AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition Deneb 3.2GHz Socket AM3 125W Quad-Core Processor Model HDZ955FBGIBOX - RetailBIOSTAR TA790GXE 128M AM2+/AM3 AMD 790GX HDMI ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail Patriot Extreme Performance Gaming Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Desktop Memory Model PGS24G6400ELK - Retail Sunbeam PSU-COM680-BK-US 680W ATX12V Modular Active PFC Power Supply - OEM Antec Three Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail Here's a quick rig I found. It will perform about the same if you include a video card at around $200 or so, maybe even better. I would wait on the video card because ont he 22nd, the 5850 will be released and you could get that one possibly. It'd be around $600 total.EDIT: forgot the HDD SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD502HJ 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5'' Internal Hard Drive - OEM I guess you could spend $150 on a video card then..
$600 can get you started; how's this?:

Proccessor - AMD Athlon II X2 250 - $76
Motherboard - MSI NF750-G55 AM3 SLI - $100
RAM memory - mushkin HP 4GB DDR3 1600 Dual Channel - $122
Video Card - EVGA 01G-P3-N964-LR GeForce 9600 GSO - $70
Hard Drive - Seagate 1TB 7200.12 - $85
Optical Drive - Sony Optiarc DVD Burner with LightScribe - $34
Power Supply - OCZ Fatal1ty OCZ700FTY 700W - $95
Case - COOLER MASTER Elite RC-310-BWN1-GP - $40
Operating System - Windows 7 Release Candidate 1 x64 64-Bit - OEM - $10
Subtotal - $632


The GPU is EVGA, so when you upgrade you only pay the difference 'cause of the step-up program. However you need to act fast 'cause you only get 90 days; so start saving your nickels.
Maximum PC ran an article recently about how to build your own PC that'll play Crysis at a pretty high framerate for only $500.They even show you how to build it.
[QUOTE=''Luminouslight'']Here's a quick rig I found. It will perform about the same if you include a video card at around $200 or so, maybe even better. I would wait on the video card because ont he 22nd, the 5850 will be released and you could get that one possibly. It'd be around $600 total.EDIT: forgot the HDD I guess you could spend $150 on a video card then..[/QUOTE]Wow, you got cheap on the mobo, not good for future proofing. 8)
[QUOTE=''Slig0''][QUOTE=''Luminouslight'']Here's a quick rig I found. It will perform about the same if you include a video card at around $200 or so, maybe even better. I would wait on the video card because ont he 22nd, the 5850 will be released and you could get that one possibly. It'd be around $600 total.EDIT: forgot the HDD I guess you could spend $150 on a video card then..[/QUOTE]Wow, you got cheap on the mobo, not good for future proofing. 8)[/QUOTE] While it's not the greatest Mobo on the market, it is far from the worst. I personally don't see anything wrong with the motherboard. It's a little small, and doesn't have as many ports, but it certainly has more than enough for a gaming rig. You don't have to spend a lot of money to get a good motherboard. I pretty much got the cheapest motherboard for the i7, and it's an absolutely great motherboard.It would be more important to get a higher performing CPU and Video card, than get an expensive motherboard.
Got all the parts - now I just have to figure out how to put it all together without frying it all! :lol:
[QUOTE=''Cwagmire21'']Got all the parts - now I just have to figure out how to put it all together without frying it all! :lol:[/QUOTE]What'd you end up goin' with?
Gamespot actually has a decent guide on hardware installation.
[QUOTE=''Cwagmire21'']Got all the parts - now I just have to figure out how to put it all together without frying it all! :lol:[/QUOTE]



don't worry I'm not trying to scam you. I'm just trying to build computers for people so I can make a little money on the side. Just ask smc here he'll tell you all about what I'm talking about.
[QUOTE=''UltimateGamer95''][QUOTE=''Cwagmire21'']Got all the parts - now I just have to figure out how to put it all together without frying it all! :lol:[/QUOTE] don't worry I'm not trying to scam you. I'm just trying to build computers for people so I can make a little money on the side. Just ask smc here he'll tell you all about what I'm talking about.[/QUOTE]Yup, she'll build it with good cable management, a guarantee %26 everything. I think she was charging (how much was it?) 15%? Though, in example: Here in California, tax is 9.25, plus a .5% for LA; and she pays no tax 'cause she has no state/city tax; So for someone like me that 15% (I think) translates in to only 5.25% more.