Well..it's time to upgrade

[Spottswoode]

Okey dokey...the time has come for me to purchase a newer computer. I'm looking into putting about $400 USD to get a new cpu and a motherboard with ddr3. Thankfully, there are a number of systems available for right around that online.
I would appreciate input or insight on the following:

1. My primary concern is looking for a system with a fairly broad potential to upgrade, as I intend to use it for a few years. For that reason, I'm primarily looking at getting a system with an i3 (lower end I know, but I'm still using a Pentium D so it's a massive upgrade to me) so that I could put an i7 in it before the next line of processors comes out. I'm not extremely concerned about high end performance of the bat but I would like to get some mid level performance out of the system.

2. I'm alternately considering getting an AMD system to upgrade to the Phenom II cpu, as it is considerably cheaper. I'm aware of it's inferior performance, but I'm primarily getting this new pc for mid to high level gaming.

3. I'm also interested in getting a decent surround sound headset, but I'm unwilling to shell out $100 for one unless the quality is significantly superior. I'm looking for recommendations on this.

4. And finally, is windows 8 a travesty that must be avoided? In other words, would it be worth buying a copy of windows 7 to replace it?

[Lollipop]

I dunno about the components and stuff, but avoid win 8 at all costs, even if you have to pay doubble price for a copy of win 7.
Win 8 is 100% pure bullshit with no bright side at all, it is a moneygrabber with no other side of the coin.

[Impact]

I dunno about the components and stuff, but avoid win 8 at all costs, even if you have to pay doubble price for a copy of win 7.
Win 8 is 100% pure bullshit with no bright side at all, it is a moneygrabber with no other side of the coin.

tbf windows 8 works well on phones, i've had no problem with my nokia windows phone. But a friend of mine built a computer with windows 8 and stresses that it's cancerous, so +1 on the "Avoid windows 8" point

[ibm5155]

Blame users that can´t use windows 8, I´m with 3 systems with windows 8 and it works fine (HTPC, notebook and a desktop) there´s no difference about 8 and 7, the only thing is the start menu that´s now the metro...

What I would sugest:
-i3 + offboard for games or i5 or i7 with intel hd 4600 or 5000 (if exist for desktops)
-4GB ram (minimun for today´s use)
-500GB hd or more
-OS: windows 8.1 for games (since the new directx will only come to 8)

EDIT:you can go to an amd too but, I´m not an amd expert, even intel, but I know more about intel...

[Jigsaw]

I dunno about the components and stuff, but avoid win 8 at all costs, even if you have to pay doubble price for a copy of win 7.
Win 8 is 100% pure bullshit with no bright side at all, it is a moneygrabber with no other side of the coin.

tbf windows 8 works well on phones, i've had no problem with my nokia windows phone. But a friend of mine built a computer with windows 8 and stresses that it's cancerous, so +1 on the "Avoid windows 8" point

+1. When I thought Windows isn't going to go any lower than Vista, they released 8. I don't know about phones and tablets, but if you want a proper computer, always opt for 7. Or even XP. Really, anything other than 8.

[ibm5155]

but does xp even suport directx 10 or 11?

EDIT:8 or 7. you decide...

[-Jes-]

but does xp even suport directx 10 or 11?

If you put your trust in obscure russian codemonkeys, it (kinda) does. If you want to play it safe and go with strictly official tech, not a chance.

EDIT:8 or 7. you decide...

7.

[XCOPY]

The real question is: will you ever need the newest directx at all?

Answer that and then choose your OS. I for one, avoid directx higher than 9 whenever possible.

[mr fiat]

tbh $400 wont you get you far , also avoid prebuilt pc's like the plague. they are shoddy build and cost more then they are worth.

considering the extremely strained budget i would highly suggest using the "AMD athlon II X4 760k" its dirt cheap and outperforms the i3 by a landslide. as for power suply you could go for the corsair CX430 or CX500 they are wel build PSU's that actualy perform better then their rated power and wil last very long. graphics is a bit tricky as you have limited options because you want to be able to game and still stick under that tight budget, id say the radeon HD7770 might fit the bill if you can find a good card for a good price.

also regarding the immature hate on windows 8, ignore them they dont know what they are talking about. i have used windows 8 for a quite long time and i can say without sarcasm that its better then 7 (aside from the fact that it requires some time getting used to) i see so many people whinning about the missing start button, i dont even miss it AT ALL.

The real question is: will you ever need the newest directx at all?

Answer that and then choose your OS. I for one, avoid directx higher than 9 whenever possible.

sticking to directx 9 wil make your games look like they are 8 years old AKA ancient.

also that DELL combinebobnt linked has no proper graphics card you cant even play older games smoothly with that (even on low settings)

[-Jes-]

sticking to directx 9 wil make your games look like they are 8 years old AKA ancient.

Don't be ridiculous. Unreal Tournament 3, C&C3, World in Conflict, Skyrim and Company of Heroes all look fine to this day despite generally being DX9 games.

[Oddbrother]

Windows 8 is obviously new. I recommend holding off on it until their service pack is released.

I'm using Windows 8.1 preview right now, and it's actually not that bad.

It does kinda suck, though, now that newer games won't be run on Windows XP.

All in all, your safe bet is 7.

[ibm5155]

sticking to directx 9 wil make your games look like they are 8 years old AKA ancient.

Don't be ridiculous. Unreal Tournament 3, C&C3, World in Conflict, Skyrim and Company of Heroes all look fine to this day despite generally being DX9 games.

-Windows vista to up has directx 10 or higher.
-All new cards has directx10 to higher (even intel gpus)

The only why you would use Dx9 is your gpu is too old for not handle dx10, or you´re stucked on xp (that may not even have drivers for newer gpus)...

Directx9 is a nice quality graphic comapared to the old ones, I think that´s why there´re still games who suport it (or because they still are xp compatible)

EDIT: the best thing you really should test for a week some windows 8, if you like stay with it, if not stay with 7 (Today, there´re so many opinions about everything, and sometimes we need to make our opinions testing it, and not based on others...)

[Balrog]

Another reason to use DX9: I'm pretty sure that some cards made during the transition period (and probably some current cards) have crap DX10 performace compared to their DX9 performance. You should probably read up on that on places like Guru3D before buying any cards you're interested in. (I use DX8.1 whenever possible, just for performance reasons.)

[Spottswoode]

tbh $400 wont you get you far , also avoid prebuilt pc's like the plague. they are shoddy build and cost more then they are worth.

considering the extremely strained budget i would highly suggest using the "AMD athlon II X4 760k" its dirt cheap and outperforms the i3 by a landslide. as for power suply you could go for the corsair CX430 or CX500 they are wel build PSU's that actualy perform better then their rated power and wil last very long. graphics is a bit tricky as you have limited options because you want to be able to game and still stick under that tight budget, id say the radeon HD7770 might fit the bill if you can find a good card for a good price.

The prebuilt systems aren't all that bad if you don't mind upgrading all of the components a bit. Upgrade is the keyword there. I'm well aware of their general lack of substance on the gaming scene, but I'll reiterate I've been using a Pentium D chipset, so even a 2.4ghz i3 is a very substantial upgrade to me. My plan is to buy a basic computer, or basic components, to build a base for future upgrades. I'm not looking to acquire excellent hardware off the bat, as I stated in another thread I'm saving up to buy a computer made of the next generation hardware. In summary, I'm not looking to spend $400 for a badass system I'm looking to spend $400 to buy something that has the potential to be a decent system with upgrades. In the end, this is just a significant step up from what I currently have.
All of that being said, I'm not entirely opposed to building my own computer, but my technical knowledge on the assembly of computers is somewhat limited. (Specifically on the installation of motherboards, I know it's not that hard but it's the basis of the entire system and I'd rather not screw it up until I have the money to replace it.) I have friends that can help in that department, but buying the OS is the killer on my budget. I can get some basic hardware and the OS with my money, for sure, but I'd rather get some slightly more sophisticated hardware with a preinstalled OS.
I'm also not currently looking to acquire a new graphics card. That will be an item I begin to look for at the beginning of next year, but now is not part of the search.


Is there anything specifically gaming related Windows 8 detracts from? Or is the general bias against it related just to the interface?

[BloodyAcid]

I'd say upgrade your HDD to at LEAST 1 TB, 5400RPM (fast enough for me), as 500 GB won't get you anywhere if you're bulky on media and games.

[Ænima]

I'd say upgrade your HDD to at LEAST 1 TB, 5400RPM (fast enough for me), as 500 GB won't get you anywhere if you're bulky on media and games.

Unless you supplement it with an external HDD like me.

[mr fiat]

tbh $400 wont you get you far , also avoid prebuilt pc's like the plague. they are shoddy build and cost more then they are worth.

considering the extremely strained budget i would highly suggest using the "AMD athlon II X4 760k" its dirt cheap and outperforms the i3 by a landslide. as for power suply you could go for the corsair CX430 or CX500 they are wel build PSU's that actualy perform better then their rated power and wil last very long. graphics is a bit tricky as you have limited options because you want to be able to game and still stick under that tight budget, id say the radeon HD7770 might fit the bill if you can find a good card for a good price.

The prebuilt systems aren't all that bad if you don't mind upgrading all of the components a bit. Upgrade is the keyword there. I'm well aware of their general lack of substance on the gaming scene, but I'll reiterate I've been using a Pentium D chipset, so even a 2.4ghz i3 is a very substantial upgrade to me. My plan is to buy a basic computer, or basic components, to build a base for future upgrades. I'm not looking to acquire excellent hardware off the bat, as I stated in another thread I'm saving up to buy a computer made of the next generation hardware. In summary, I'm not looking to spend $400 for a badass system I'm looking to spend $400 to buy something that has the potential to be a decent system with upgrades. In the end, this is just a significant step up from what I currently have.
All of that being said, I'm not entirely opposed to building my own computer, but my technical knowledge on the assembly of computers is somewhat limited. (Specifically on the installation of motherboards, I know it's not that hard but it's the basis of the entire system and I'd rather not screw it up until I have the money to replace it.) I have friends that can help in that department, but buying the OS is the killer on my budget. I can get some basic hardware and the OS with my money, for sure, but I'd rather get some slightly more sophisticated hardware with a preinstalled OS.
I'm also not currently looking to acquire a new graphics card. That will be an item I begin to look for at the beginning of next year, but now is not part of the search.


Is there anything specifically gaming related Windows 8 detracts from? Or is the general bias against it related just to the interface?

if anything performance wil improve on windows 8, it has been proven many times that windows 8 runs much faster on old hardware then windows XP/7.

that aside id still discourage the use of prebuild pc's, for a few reasons:

1. power suply, they are poorly made and are barely strong enough to power the existing hardware. which basicly means upgrading is a nono, sure you could replace the PSU but thats a very messy job in a already existing pc and....

2. the case's tend to be very small and/or cramped and especially DELL loves to use propietary stuff to make upgrading difficult. even worse if it uses a odd sized PSU in combination like a SFX size (like my old packard bell)

[ibm5155]

dx8.1 o man, get out of the cave and by something new rofl (even a ati hd4670 would rock on it)
about w7 and 8, 7 started on 30 seconds, and 8 start in 10 seconds (from loading to the user acount)...

Since you´ll buy new stuff, buy a good directx11 card (or 10 is the money isn´t good)

[mr fiat]

dx8.1 o man, get out of the cave and by something new rofl (even a ati hd4670 would rock on it)
about w7 and 8, 7 started on 30 seconds, and 8 start in 10 seconds (from loading to the user acount)...

Since you´ll buy new stuff, buy a good directx11 card (or 10 is the money isn´t good)

lol practicly every gpu you can buy new today are DX11 or DX11.1 compliant.

[porcelain echo]

I have a Toshiba Satellite with 8 gb ram 500 gb hard drive space.It has a Windows 8,and yes,I know how to use it.I also had sense enough to participate in the the testing phase.That's how I learned to use it.Like anyone here,I also have a brain.That is the most important part of using Windows 8.I happen to like it just fine,and have had no trouble whatsoever with it.If you don't like it,that's fine.But don't tell me it's a piece of crap.Learn to use it.Go to your local computer store and ask a person who knows computers for a test run.If you still think it's a piece of crap,that's only your opinion,not mine.Have a nice day!
P.S.My Toshiba is also all paid for.I also just gave away 2 Vistas and a Windows 7 that were given to me.I offered to return them,but was refused.These people seem to like their Windows 8.The ones I gave away were to people who needed them.My only requirement was a small donation of food to our local food bank.That was very satisfying.