Need suggestions on an upgrade

[eska]

Indeed. But telling him to buy a Mac mini is not answering his question 

[aeria.]

Macs are NOT designed for gaming unless you plan to get a Mac Pro/MacBook Pro. MP and MBP isn't even designed for Link's budget in mind. Macs aren't designed for a budget in the first place.

/end of mac discussion on this topic

[Soap Mactavish]

Macs are NOT designed for gaming unless you plan to get a Mac Pro/MacBook Pro. MP and MBP isn't even designed for Link's budget in mind. Macs aren't designed for a budget in the first place.

/end of mac discussion on this topic

ok fine ill stop with the mac ideas. but you will most likely need a new computer, and since ag has BANNED me from saying to word mac, you will need to get a windows-based pc. I suggest a dell (alienware).

[eska]

Hold your horses there my son. I would only recommend an Alienware if you've got the money. Which he obviously doesn't, and neither did I. Custom builds are easy to acquire from a variety of independant companies these days, and if you go with the right ones you get very good quality and service. Being UK I used one recommended, Arbico. But they don't do Stateside deliveries. Have a look around, and definitely compare prices, if you get confused come back and we can decipher the specs for you. After all, you want to get as much bang for your buck as the cliche goes.

[Xfire Keenmike aka cull]

link, what do you think?

[Soap Mactavish]

invertus is right. Alienware are the best WINDOWS BASED computers for gaming , but only if you have the money. I still recommend a Dell. Maybe a Studio or a XPS computer. (XPS are the more expensive one) Also, you may have stated this before but are you looking for a desktop or a laptop? Both of the ones i suggested are laptops.

[Jedikiller]

The problem with Alienwares is that they are horribly expensive for what they give you, unless you go for one of the laptops, I suppose.

The best thing to do for the lowest price possible is build the system yourself from the bare components. Techreport has a great system guide written out that details the optimum builds and prices for components, giving you a pretty good estimate of the total cost of the PC and a brief description of why they chose the parts they did.

http://techreport.com/articles.x/17787

[Xfire Keenmike aka cull]

i will wait for link.

[Link]

And here I be.  Ive pretty much given up on an upgrade. Im now looking for a whole new pc all together.  I am NOT going to get a mac and install windows. I hate macs and will never get one. Im also planning on just buying one, not building one. Im looking for something under $1k. I already have things like speakers, a monitor (1600 x 900 resolution ), keyboard, etc. I only need the cpu. As for specs, for now ill just say is that I would like it to be able to run cod 5.  Ill get specifics later if anyone wants them.

[Voldelf]

Well if you really don't want to build one, thats your perogative, but it would be the best buy for ur buck.  Second best in my book, would be to get a powerspec from www.microcenter.com .  They generally are very respectable computers, at a much better price.  Sure they seem pretty tacky chinese, but everything these days comes from the same places.  And in this case, cheaper http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0317393.  you may want to upgrade the graphics card, that is your perogative.  Again- i would like to vouch for the Buildyourown. But hey, you are you.

[Jedikiller]

I have heard mixed things about places that build them for you, like Cyberpower and the like. You may want to try there, as they seem to be pretty cheap for what you get.

[Xfire Keenmike aka cull]

it takes a while, just search for pcs with specifications you want to play the games you like.

[Link]

Well if you really don't want to build one, thats your perogative, but it would be the best buy for ur buck.  Second best in my book, would be to get a powerspec from www.microcenter.com .  They generally are very respectable computers, at a much better price.  Sure they seem pretty tacky chinese, but everything these days comes from the same places.  And in this case, cheaper http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0317393.  you may want to upgrade the graphics card, that is your perogative.  Again- i would like to vouch for the Buildyourown. But hey, you are you.

Site looks good. I looked at the one model you recommended.  Looks good but I think I would be better off buying something cheaper and getting a vid card to upgrade it.  (who needs 1TB of memory?)

[Xfire Keenmike aka cull]

very possible after christmas desktops are second to laptops. so i think it wont be hard to find one at a good price.

[Voldelf]

Yeah Keenmike's got it right, but there's always the possibility of gettin a shell-esque comp for christmas (not knowing ur life, i suppose that could not be an option) then upgrade some parts, depends on the shell comp.

Site looks good. I looked at the one model you recommended.  Looks good but I think I would be better off buying something cheaper and getting a vid card to upgrade it.  (who needs 1TB of memory?)

@ Link: small office servers need 1 TB of memory- hence this computer.