Originally Posted by guerilla

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product... E16883227410 this caught me eye when I took a quick look at newegg, exactly what you need and within your budget (assuming you meant $500-$800 pre taxes)

That build has a CPU that's worth about $225 and a GPU that's worth around $100. You'd benefit more from a cheaper cpu and a much better GPU, CPUs are so far from being bottle necks in modern desktops that you could toss in an Sandy bridge/Ivy Bridge i3 processor (~$100) and not have any problems. On a gaming desktop you should be focussing on getting the best GPU you can and in your price range the absolute worst GPU you should be settling for is a AMD 7770 or a GTX 460 and you should be aiming for a AMD 6870/6950 or a GTX 560/560 Ti (Which are ~$150-$250 GPUs).

Originally Posted by guerilla

going to be near impossible to find a built rig with 6850/70 or 560 with a sub $800 budget

https://dl.dropbox.com/u/65467463/1.png pre-return

Returned gpu,mb and psu and got 560ssc cheaper psu and mb

Thats why build on your own or ask your eng friends

Originally Posted by Differential

https://dl.dropbox.com/u/65467463/1.png pre-return

Returned gpu,mb and psu and got 560ssc cheaper psu and mb

Thats why build on your own or ask your eng friends

If he/she doesn't know what they're doing, having a prebuilt computer that they can just send in to get serviced if something goes wrong is easier than having a dozen different parts each with different RMA procedures and having to diagnose what part of the computer is malfunctioning when trying to get it fixed.

Originally Posted by Tailsnake

If he/she doesn't know what they're doing, having a prebuilt computer that they can just send in to get serviced if something goes wrong is easier than having a dozen different parts each with different RMA procedures and having to diagnose what part of the computer is malfunctioning when trying to get it fixed.

Well yeah but it comes at much higher price. I found good deal on other gpu and sent back "unnecessary" expensive stuff and got cheaper ones so I could stay on budget. Usually if you having issues with parts, RMA proceeded directly to manufacturer not to retailer so if you order prebuilt comp it gets back to you waay longer than it would in your own built comp.

http://www.logicalincrements .com/guide/

If you're considering building one yourself, the folks over at overclock.net forums are very helpful with inputting ideas and also finding cheap parts.

Macbook is bulky? hmm..

Also, get your techie friends to help you build a pc. That's what Tailsnake did. Oh did I just say that? XD

I would suggest going to the Computer Department of the Bookstore and asking a few questions. The Bookstore sells desktops and can have a system configured for you to suit your needs.

Even if you decide that you want to purchase the machine somewhere they can at least help you figure out what you should be looking for. Advice is free so doesn't hurt to ask.

http://www.bookstore.mcmaste r.ca/c...-desktops.html

I think you should be able to get something in your budget pre-assembled. For a budget PC I would go for like an a8 quad-core, GTX 460, 8gb ram, 1tb hard-drive and it will probably only turn out to be $600 (I always build my PCS so I would need to search more about pre-built computer prices).

Will try to update you if I find a great price, also Titles usually rips you off for desktop prices (in my experience). Just a general specs of what to look for, will update you later.

I recently just built mine. It has:
- i5 3670 (I think)
- Asus Motherboard (I don't feel like looking up which one)
- Radeon 6850
- Corsair Obsidian Desktop Case
- 650 W Antec Power Supply
- Windows 7 Home Premium
- D-Link Wireless Card
- 16 gigs of Corsair RAM

This cost around 1000. This has yet to go above 40 deg while playing any game (I play Shogun 2 on high graphics).

If you want to stick in your price range, go with an i3, but if you go for a Radeon graphics card in the $100-$150 range from a place like Canada computers you should be good

On the other hand, the Tiger Direct store Assembles computers from parts around the store. It will cost a tiny but more than making it yourself, but they do use high quality parts and it all works. This may be your best bet, as most of the stock ones from Future Shop and stuff aren't great