Best Computer for $1500

I have decided to upgrade from my crappy old laptop to something a bit...better. I currently have a total of $1,500 to spend (including monitor). What I am looking for is a desktop computer that is be able to play games for the next year or so without the need of upgrading. However, I am horrible at researching due to my lack of knowledge of what does what, what will help me the most, what company is the best/most trustworthy, etc.

I would use the parts guide, except it is a few months outdated and does not include monitors.

Any help would be appreciated, thanks.

EDIT: a comparison of gaming power to http://www.costco.com/Images/Content...gateway_01.pdf would be helpful, as I currently have access to one and would like to know how much better I could get for the same money.

The parts guide is not outdated, it's just written with the day first and then month second. Also, I heard LG monitors are good.

i skipped the price guide update this week because i'm settling into a new semester of university. i was hoping someone else would give me a hand with it, but that didn't happen. the next update will be next monday.

anyways, you can use the current guide as a guideline and purchase the parts for the $1000 pc, and then slapping on a nice monitor and call it a day.

I would just go to Fry's and get what you need my former alliance leader goes there all the time in Seattle.

Fry's has excellent prices on TVs and audio equipment. However, Newegg.com generally slaughters all competitors, and if there is ANY issue with shipping or parts etc, their customer service is like Jesus Christ incarnate. Seriously, they can do NO wrong.

EXAMPLE: I bought 6 Blu Ray movies a while back. Shipping was 4 bucks total, but Newegg arbitrarily split the order, and as a result, charged me double shipping. I called, and the customer service rep waived both shipping charges, gave me an upgrade to next day (still free obviously), and gave me a 10 dollar gift certificate code.

EXAMPLE 2: I ordered a headset. They sent me a replacement part for said headset, but no actual part. I called them. Rep had UPS come to my house and pickup the part (I didn't have to leave the house, pay for return shipping, nothing) He then gave me a $25.00 credit, refunded all my money including shipping, so I got an even better headset, and he gave me free shipping on that headset.

Basically, Newegg is Deus ex Machina.


As for the price guides. They are very up to date. If you are still unsatisfied, please post here again, and I can give you a custom part list. However, the parts in the guide are handpicked by my tech team, and are 100% compatible and excellent performers. Again though, if you want a different list, post here.

Thanks for the info guys. But, could I get a rough estimate on how much better the $1000 and $1300 computers are compared to http://www.costco.com/Images/Content...gateway_01.pdf (not including screen)? It would really help me decide what I want to do.

Btw, any recommendations on the monitors?
For the $1300 computer I could go up to $1600 including screen, I would just be broke a while so I'd only do it if the higher price was justified by better performance.

Lol, this made me feel pretty dumb.

my $1000 pc will outperform that by a pretty large margin.

Probably my fault. I try to write in American but sometimes forget and write in English. Thread changed to September 2008 which can be understood both sides of the pond.

Ok, I think I've decided to go with the $1000 pc with either http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16824112011 or http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16824009154 for a monitor (recommendations?).

But, I just learned that I need to buy an OS too. I'd like whatever works best for gaming, but I am unsure what that would be. Any help?

The Acer is amazing. Stick with Acer or Samsung, period.

Now that one is slightly more tricky. Basically, you have three options: Windows XP 32, Vista 32 and Vista 64. For a guarantee that the majority of your old games work, go with XP. For compatibility with all the latest software, longer-term support from Microsoft and all-round general prettiness, go with Vista 32. If using 4GB memory or more, go with Vista 64.

Try not to listen to the nay-sayers and stories of Vista bugs and incompatibilities - it's a rock-solid OS that should give you no problems at all.

Oh, and don't listen to the numpties who pop up and recommend MacOS or Linux - you want to play games, right?

Indeed, Vista is fine on high end machines with the power to run it. While it may not be the best OS in the world, it isn't horrible either. It is extremely stable and far less prone to corruption like XP.