New computer - suggestions?

So basically my mom wants a new computer and will buy whatever I tell her is best as long as it's a decent price. I wish I could just buy some ridiculous Alienware or something but we're talking more like Fry's or Best Buy type material. Any suggestions? As long as it plays CS:S smoothly I'm good. Gracias for your help.

EDIT: I'm looking to spend around $1,000 (less is better, a bit more is fine).

Yoda, out.

Lol use that money for something else, unless you're going to be a hardcore gamer like Hot Pocket. That's what I'd do.

No well my mom is getting a new one. The PC that she (and my family) uses is fried. I was just asking about what you guys think on some new machines. It's not my money, I was just sort of saying that as a boundary. Trust me, I wouldn't spend that much on a computer right now.

Man just buy the parts separate and build it yourself. Trust me, it's cheaper and you will have better performance. All you need is someone to build it for you if you don't know how to. You can customize a whole new computer for $800 at the most.

Well I settled on a nice new Dell. It was about 880 bucks and came with a nice new 20" HD monitor so I can't really complain about that. My old machine was an absolute clunker with a shitty monitor. It's pretty cool compared to my old one, although pretty much anything is. I'll re-install CS:S tomorrow and get everything all set up. I also got a nice new headset, so I can actually chat it up on the server. And now I won't crash every 10 minutes after I join and lag for 8 of those 10 minutes. Woot! Cya on the server kids.

-- Yoda

Oh no not Dell. The monitor comes with it just to make the buyer actually buy it. If you want to play source on max settings then the monitor will have too high of a resolution to be supported by such a weak stock graphics card. Probably won't even be a card pretty sure it will be an integrated chip. You overpaid also. Good luck though.

integrated chips blow my fat asshole. They overheat the motherboard and are generally a piece of shit. You could overclock your ram and processor and make it work decent. but that could burn your house down.

NEVER EVER BUY A DELL.

Cloud wrote:

Lol use that money for something else, unless you're going to be a hardcore gamer like Hot Pocket. That's what I'd do.

First Hot Pocket is not that hardcore of a gamer, more like a hardcore NS gamer.

Second, If you want a good computer building something custom is way better then buying an already built one, especially the company ones as they only have parts that they are supports of or by, and they only include their own parts.

If your mother is willing to spend somewhere over 1,000 $ then you can get some really nice parts. Most of that would just be your Graphics card as it is the most important part. Also, a pre-built computer costs WAY more than a custom build one.
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This is what Irishness is getting:

EVGA Classified Intel X58/1366 (3x 16x PCI-E, true triple SLi!)
Swiftech H2O-220 Apex Ultima Watercooling Kit - (Socket 1366) (Unsure whether this'll adapt to triple SLi, should think so though, can always buy more piping otherwise)
Zalman ZM-WB5 Plus CPU block
3x EVGA GeForce GTX 285 "Watercooled 55nm" 1024MB
Either:
2x Corsair Dominator GT 6GB (3x2GB) DDR3 PC3-16000 (2000MHz)
Or
2x OCZ Blade Series 6GB (3x2GB) DDR3 PC3-16000 (2000MHz)

Total component cost:
With Blade RAM: £4404
With GT RAM: £4196
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However, if you don't wish to spend about $6,000USD.
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Then I would suggest something simple like this (This is my own list, you can change things out as you wish):
Processor:
Either - Intel i7 Core Processor or at least a AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core Processor, or you may get a Quad Core processor from AMD Athlon.
Graphics Card:
Either - GeForce 295GTX (Dual GPU, http://www.nvidia.com/object/product_geforce_gtx_295_us.html) or at least a GeForce 260GTX (http://www.nvidia.com/object/product_geforce_gtx_260_us.html)
RAM -
Some simple Kingston 2GB ram sticks should do you, I have 4 so a total of 8GB of ram, unless you're on Windows Vista x64bit DO NOT BUY MORE THAN 4GB OF RAM ( http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820144204 )
HeadPhones -
This is really your own personal preferrence, but I will recommend a set of Plantonics headphones. Most will say that SteelSeries are the better ones, I will warn you, the mics on SteelSeries suck ASS.
Everything Else -
Is your own opinion. All of the first choices or the Better ones; this is what I would put into my current computer. Also if needed, get a 7.1 Stereo sound card.
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Most of this is up to you, it is what will be in your computer, but these are just what I recommend. What Irishness is getting is what we call a Leet Machine, it's basically all the best equipment possible for a computer to current day, thus the reason it costs £4404 max.

Oh, also if you can talk to AlienWare and get their Monster Wraparound Gaming Monitor, then you will be GOD. Although it is yet to be for sale, and you would probably have to pay around $60,000 to get one. ( http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2008/01/ces-2008-alienw/ )

Hot damn people you guys got some crazy ass machines. Honestly, I don't play that much and when I do it's just to have some fun. I don't need max settings, or ridiculous monitors. And I don't have the time or patience to buy a bunch of parts and put my computer together. The Dell isn't my dream machine, but it gets the job done. It's really more for my family's use than my own, and it's a definite upgrade - so that's pretty much ok with me. But thanks a lot for the suggestions, I'll keep them in mind for when I buy my own. I'm gonna get to work on setting everything up - see some of ya on the server later.

-- Yoda

`StealthyOwned.GoG wrote:

First Hot Pocket is not that hardcore of a gamer, more like a hardcore NS gamer.

WRONG.
He's a hardcore WAR gamer.

No NAtural Selection is his baby, he is hardcorez about it, I almost got him to buy it for me, simply becaus ehe wants everyone to play lol.

it was like 90 cents. He bought me, Valiom and Jolie a copy of hl lol. We barely ever play NS anymore tbh. once every 2 months if that.

Build your own

or else you'll regret it

Pfft, go find that HP Intel Quad-core for $999, that's what I have.

E N V Y wrote:

Pfft, go find that HP Intel Quad-core for $999, that's what I have.

Seriously? $1,000? You got ripped.

`StealthyOwned.GoG wrote:

E N V Y wrote:

Pfft, go find that HP Intel Quad-core for $999, that's what I have.

Seriously? $1,000? You got ripped.

Hell yeah you got ripped BIG time. Go fuck yourself with a remote.

xps 410 wouldnt be a bad buy for that price