It can be a bit mind boggling at first , Draclvr ! I was in that mind set before I built my first custom computer . However , after that first build , it all became very interesting , almost like I was a 7 year old child that had been locked in a toy store overnight !

Since you have covered some Intel based solutions , I will throw my hat in this ring , so to speak , and offer up a couple of AMD based solutions :

From eCollege :

CPU : AMD FX 4100 Zambezi quad core (3.6ghz)
CPU Fan : Arctic Cooling ACALP64 Pro 92mm CPU Cooler
Ram : 8GB ddr3 1333 (2 4GB ram sticks)
Motherboard : Asus M5A88-V EVO
HDD : 1TB SATA-III 7200 RPM 32MB cache
Video : Geforce GTX 550ti 1GB
Case : Antec 600 (4 fans)
PSU : Corsair CMPSU 650TX-V2 (650 watt)
DVD : 24x LG Sata with Nero
Onboard LAN
Onboard sound
OS : Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit
Wires tied up for maximum air flow
3 year parts and labor warranty

Cost $ 976



From Cyberpower :

CPU : AMD FX 4170 quad core 4.2 ghz
CPU FAN : EVGA Superclock
PSU : Thermaltake TR2 RX 750 watt Modular
HDD : 1TB Sata III 7200 RPM 32MB cache
Motherboard : Gigabyte GA-990FXA-UD3
Case : Azza Toledo (3 fans : 2x 120 mm fans 1x 250 mm fan)
Case Fans : 2x 120 mm fans for top of case
Video : Geforce GTX 550 TI
Ram : 8GB Kingtston HyperX ddr3 1333
OS : Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit
DVD Drive : Dual Layer 24x
Professional wiring for maximum air flow
Onboard LAN
Onboard sound


Cost : $ 974


I never was a fan (no pun intended) of using stock cpu fans, so that is why I recommended aftermarket cpu fans . I have found that an aftermarket cpu cooler provides better cooling . I also realize that the cost of what I have recommended pushes the limits of the stated budget .

Good - I was hoping for an AMD option from someone. I can relate to the kid in a toy store reference too!

I've only built one computer where I used an after-market cooler and that was one that was going to be used for some serious gaming and was potentially going to be overclocked. I've just never found that casual gaming and uses push the temperatures up very much and the stock coolers are more than adequate for the job.

And that $75 shipping will definitely put lexxie over budget at Cyberpower.

Hi Drac and all,

I got my new system from eCollege and am very satisfied with it. I'm quite pleased with my purchase and the only thing I would like to adjust is the period of time the system is set to to go to sleep after a time of idleness. It's too short for me and I'm constantly having to wake it up again and again.
Any suggestions?
Thanks for all the help with the choices of parts and such. I had no clue.
Andrea

As you have Windows 7, just go in to your power settings and make the changes you want. Start/Control Panel/System and Security/Power Options. Change it to something that works better for you.

Hi Luv2travel

To set a different timer for when the system goes to sleep after a period of idleness please do this:

Rightclick on your desktop - then select properties (the the option all the way down).
You will now see some different tabs. Please click on the third option from left - at the next screen you'll see a two way split screen. Click at the bottom of this where it says something like power maintenance or something like that.
Now you can decide when the system needs to go sleep etc. Btw, this is for Windows XP. As you might have windows 7, it could be a bit different.

As for the PC, I agree that eCollege seems the way to go.

Thanks so much! It worked!
Sorry to have sidetracked the thread.
I do want to give a solid recommendation to eCollegePC. It was an easy process and also fast and they are so helpful.
Andrea

Whoa ! A $75 shipping fee ? Yikes !! Do they give fries with that shake ? As to the setup I listed from Cyberpower , the initial configuration came with a water cooler for the cpu . The aftermarket cooler I recommended was , unless I'm in error , a $20 price difference between a stock cooler . A small amount . For casual and adventure gaming , maybe a stock cooler would perform well enough . Then again , I would not take the time to find out . It has been my experience , when I've built an AMD based computer (20 if I remember correctly) , the stock cpu fans have been woefully inadequate , largely due to the size of the cpu fan (often , the cpu fan is just a 60 mm solution . Not nearly enough . Some fans were 80 mm . Fair enough size , mostly) . On the Intel side of the computers I have built (about the same amount as AMD computers I've built) , a stock cpu cooler performed well enough (I believe the fan size was 80 or 92 mm . I may be incorrect on that though) . I only recommended an aftermarket cpu cooler , based on my experiences .

That's what I thought when I checked into the shipping charges! A friend who builds AMD computers agrees with your assessment of their stock cooling solutions. My experience with the new 2nd Generation Intel CPUs is that for web surfing, email and casual gaming, the stock coolers perform more than adequately. But then, adding an after-market CPU cooler is sort of like doing overkill on a power supply - can't hurt!

Hi All,

I feel so much better now than I did a couple of days ago. I will compare Intel and AMD and make a decision and start saving my pennies. I've got a room full of unplayed games waiting on me with newer ones being released soon so I had better get busy and make a choice...I will keep you posted.

Have fun, lexxy - half the fun is the shopping!

Phenom II Quad Core Gaming PC Computer Win 7 HDMI 8GB RAM DVDRW WIFI 1TB HDD
I found this at Ebay, what do you think. I have not decided to buy from Ebay as it is risky and the return policy is not what it should be. I am checking both of the sites you gave me but a friend bought one at Ebay at a decent price so I decided to stroll over and see what they had to offer.

Great Looking Gaming Computer complete with:


CPU: AMD Phenom II X4 850 3.3GHz 4x512KB Socket AM3 Quad-Core CPU



Graphics Card:



GeForce GT 430 2GB DDR3 PCI Express (PCIe) DVI/VGA Video Card w/HDMI & HDCP Support

8gb DDR 3 1600 MHZ Memory

1tb SATA Hard Drive 7200 RPM
6 USB Ports
DVD RW Drive

WIFI Card

550 Watt PSU

Please allow 4 Business days for Assembly and testing prior to shipping. Thank you Riodeels.


Raid Max XB Case with 10 inch monster system fan with blue LED lights!



Includes:

Motherboard:



Foxconn A74GA AMD 740G Socket AM3 ATX Motherboard



General Features:

ATX form factor

AMD 740G + SB710 chipset

Socket AM3 architecture

Dual-channel DDR3 memory architecture

Supports up to 16 GB DDR3 1333/1066 MHz memory

Integrated ATI Radeon 2100 graphics

Integrated Realtek ALC662 5.1-channel HD audio

Integrated Realtek RTL8111D Gigabit Ethernet LAN

Six (6) Serial ATA 3.0 Gb/s ports (support RAID 0, 1, 10)

One (1) IDE port

24-pin ATX power connector

4-pin ATX12V power connector

Lead-free components (RoHS compliant)



Expansion Slots:
One (1) PCI Express x16 slot
One (1) PCI Express x1 slot
Three (3) PCI slots
Four (4) 240-pin DDR3 DIMM slots


Rear I/O Ports:
Two (2) PS/2 ports
One (1) 9-pin Serial/COM port
One (1) 15-pin VGA port
Six (6) USB 2.0 ports
One (1) RJ-45 jack
Line in, line out, microphone 3.5 mm audio jacks


Internal Headers:
One (1) front panel header
One (1) front panel audio header
One (1) 9-pin Serial/COM header
One (1) 25-pin Parallel/LPT header
One (1) 4-pin CD-in
Three (3) USB 2.0 headers (six ports total)
Two (2) 4-pin chassis fan headers
One (1) 4-pin CPU fan header





*Please allow up to 4 Business days to assemble and test prior to shipping. Thank you, Riodeels

**

What's Covered


Riodeels Ebay Store Warranty Coverage


-There are no hidden fees, co-pays or deductibles. Buyer does pay shipping to seller. Seller pays shipping to buyer through Ground shipping service.

-All existing hardware is covered. This includes, Hard drive, Case, RAM, Motherboard, Any cables, Power Supply, Video cards, PCI cards, and any other hardware add-ons purchased from Riodeels Ebay Store.

-Repair or Replace Guarantee
If your product cannot be repaired, it will be replaced with a product of equivalent or greater value.

-Cosmetic Damage caused by shipping is covered.

-Power Surge
This feature protects your covered product against damage or defects caused by a power surge up to a maximum of the replacement cost of the product over the life of the contract while your covered product is properly connected to a UL approved surge protector.

-Duration
3 years warranty from shipping date.

-Exclusions

1. The Warranty coverage does not include unauthorized repairs or modifications, theft, abuse, misuse, neglect, vandalism; any 3rd party repair

2. Any existing or added software is not covered.

3. Viruses are not covered.

　

For Any additional questions you can send messages to my riodeels ebay store.


Thank You Riodeels






--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Every buyer gets a MyStoreRewards invitation for cash back



Here are the specs on this system, I forgot to add it to the above post, please feel free to combine it if necessaart.

Buying electronics from ebay is dangerous , largely due to return options or warranty shortfalls . Based on the information you provided for the computer case , I was able to find the ebay seller for what you have listed . Has the auction for this particular computer expired , or is this computer you listed available as a custom option ? I did not see it listed anywhere in this seller's store . Perhaps I overlooked .

In any event , The video card listed would be ok as an htpc option , but low end as a gaming card . With no concrete information for the power supply , one can only presume it is also low end , and in need of an upgrade in the near future .

I was able to locate the case for the listing you provided : Here

One fan , no matter how large , is inadequate for cooling , especially in a gaming computer . I do not mean to sound negative in any way , and realize that you are likely trying to get some "bang for your bucks" . However , I would strenuously recommend to spend some extra money , and invest in a quality setup from a reputable company with reliable warranty and service terms .

That three-year warranty is kind of iffy. I might have missed it, but I don't see any mention of an Operating System.

Actually, I find a different case than Creeping Doom did and it's even lower end than the one he found. It mentions coming with a 380 watt power supply, so that makes me wonder about the power supply.

Raidmax XB Case

All-in-all, not a good buy in my opinion for several reasons.

I saw that case myself , Draclvr . Low end , all the way around !

Don't most cases have places where you can add fans?
The cases I've used have a place in the lower front near the bottom where you can add a couple of fans.

More often than not Jenny100 , yes they do . At the same time , however , by the time extra fans are purchased , the final cost could be more than purchasing a case with adequate fans already installed . By adequate , I mean enough fans , more than one , and fans that move enough air , measured in cfm (Cubic Feet per Minute). Fans with led lighting , depending on size , can cost up to $10 or more each .

Some definitely do come with options to add more fans. This particular one does not. It comes with two tiny little 80 mm fans - one on the side and one on the back, which is actually one more than many OEM computers. I'm fine with using low end cases and have used several for builds meant for web surfing and a little email. They used integrated graphics and a low-end CPU. A couple of 80 mm fans is fine for that kind of use.

EDIT: Just to add now that I have a bit more time to look... that motherboard only has SATA 3.0. SATA 3.0 is fine (that's what mine has), but it is older technology. SATA 6.0 is the current standard. If I were buying a new computer I would want it to be as close to new technology as I could get it since I use my computers for a very long time.

Thanks all for your input. I just wantd opinions from those in the know. I will more than likely have one of the two sites you supplied build one for me but before I spend my money I will return here with the specs and see if I've made an educated purchase...thanks again for taking the time to help me.

Not a problem at all lexxy !

Anyway, back to the K series.

2nd Generation Intel® Core™ i5-2320 3.0GHz Processor; performs fast computing
operations
8GB 1333MHz DDR3 Memory; efficiently delivers data within the PC system
1.5TB 7200RPM Hard drive; provides a very large storage capacity for handling
high-performance applications
Intel® HD Graphics 2000 GPU; generates seamless, high-quality images, videos,
and graphic effects
Wi-Fi capability; grants convenient mobile access to the Internet
16-in-1 Media reader; reads information from various external media cards
DVD±RW; allows writing and rewriting of digital data on DVDs
Windows 7 Home Premium 64-Bit OS; runs programs and applications smoothly

I would recommend that you try the onboard graphics, as it's actually well
thought out in this machine. If you got it home, and were not pleased, we could
always add a 1 GB card for like $120. I "think" you would be pleased with this.

The cost on just the tower is $779.99
BTW this is the email I got from my computer guy when I told him I would be looking else where to have a system made for me and check the price he quoted and the fact that he is stll pushing for the onboad video card. I don't understand his last statement" The cost of just the tower is $779". Doesn't almost $800.00 for those specs seem excessive?

Considering you can get a computer with a decent video card and a power supply that will support it for less than that, yes that's too much. Note that he only talks about putting in a video card and doesn't mention upgrading the power supply. Nor does he talk about adding fans to the case. He doesn't even mention which video card he'd add. A low end card could have one GB of VRAM and still be slow as molasses.

It's very excessive for that price ! There is no way earth that onboard graphics are equal to a dedicated graphics card . I may be wrong in saying this , but I think it rather obvious that this "tech guy" is plain lazy , and has no real interest in helping anyone but himself to your money . You would be much better off going with eCollege or cyberpower (as an example) .

lexxy,

Here's what I got from eCollegePC, prices and all. Draclvr (I think it was) said I might have gone overboard on the power supply and the 8 gigabytes of RAM, but I thought, what the heck, this is the last computer I'll be able to buy for a long time. <g>

I definitely wanted and got the best video card I could afford. You'll see at the bottom that I got two extra case fans. It all came out to just a little over the most you want to pay.
========================================================

PU: 2.8Ghz Intel Core i5-760 8MB Cache Quad-Core -- add: $99

Heatsink/Fan: Stock Intel LGA1156 Heatsink and Fan -- add: $0

Motherboards: GIGABYTE GA-P55-USB3 (Intel P55, 2xPCI-E, 8xSATA2, 4xDDR3, 1394): add $48

Memory: 8GB (4GBx2) PC3 10666 DDR3 1333Mhz Memory Lifetime Warranty --add $96

Hard Drive: 1TB 7200RPM 32MB Cache Serial ATA300 (Major Brand) -- add: $59

CD/DVD/CDRW1: 22x LG SATA Dual Layer DVD+/-RW/CDRW w/Nero -- add: $23

Video Card: 1GB GeForce GTX 460 GDDR5 PCI-E Dual DVI (Major Brand) -- add: $209

Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit -- add: $109

Case: CoolerMaster Black Elite 430 (3 5.25, 6 3.5) Fan, Audio/USB --add: $29

Power Supply: Antec EarthWatts EA-650 GREEN 650W -- add: $79

Networking: Onboard LAN included -- add: $0

Sound Card: Onboard Sound included --add: $0

Case Fans: 2x 120mm Case Fan --add: $15

Total: $1028

Hope that helps you figure this out.

I should add this was last year so the prices might be a little different now.

Gil.

Everyone should keep in mind that the Intel HD 2000 graphics is not "on board" as we are used to thinking about it being integrated into the motherboard. The Intel HD 2000 is the graphics that is integrated into the 2nd Generation CPUs (or Sandy Bridge processors). Although it's supposed to be far superior than motherboard graphics, I am not convinced of its usefulness in gaming. Look at what it touts in the specs... seamless images, videos, and graphic effects. Not exactly what we want to see in gaming.

Here is what I do not see in the specs this guy is giving you. What is this motherboard? Is it SATA 2 or SATA 3? Where is the wattage of the power supply? Does it support USB 3.0? What is the integrated sound? As I said before, more information is good.

Look at the two builds using the 2nd Generation Intel Core i5 on the previous pages. If you check the motherboard and component specs, what you know about them is the wattage of the power supply, the support for USB 3.0, a great video card, they are SATA 3 etc., etc.

So, he's going to pop in a $120 video card, eh? Like Jenny said, where is the power supply upgrade if needed? For $120 I wouldn't be expecting much of a video card except something very low end. Maybe ask him exactly what video card he would put in for you for $120... I'd be curious to know what it would be.

And like traveler says, you get as much as you can up front. If you need to save a few bucks, you can start with 4 GB of RAM and then always upgrade to 8 GB later. If I said anything about going overboard on a power supply, it would have been to say it was overkill, but when it comes to overkill on a power supply, I'm all in favor of it. I put an 800 watt power supply in the build we did for my grandson last month - definitely overkill, but if he needs it, it's there. And, yes she got in before the prices of hard drives went nuts after the flooding in Thailand!

My opinion of this so-called tech guy hasn't changed.