Computer Deals

"texanphinatic wrote:

Anyone buy whole computers/laptops online and know some really good deals? My PC just got the clicks of death (side note: any way to recover files/photos?) and need a new one. I've done it before and got some nice machines, but price is a factor due to home buying atm. I know building can sometimes be cheaper, but I don't want the hassle and parts market is out of whack anyway due to crypto miners.

Not looking for anything specific in terms of specs, just something that will run current gen games at a good rate (something like LoL or HotS) and let me have lots of tabs run on the internet at the same time and will hold up graphically with few/no upgrades for a good 6-7 years.

thats a tough one..Ive had luck in the past with sites like this https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/search?ci=9594&fct=fct_a_desktop-type_4554%7cgaming-desktop&N=4110474293 and waiting for a slightly older model to go on clearance and saved decent money.

"texanphinatic wrote:

and will hold up graphically with few/no upgrades for a good 6-7 years.

This is an extremely unreasonable time frame. Even buying the top tier high end PC now won't hold up for nearly a decade.

We need to know what you define as "a good rate", what you define as "current", and your budget.

"Desides wrote:

This is an extremely unreasonable time frame. Even buying the top tier high end PC now won't hold up for nearly a decade.

We need to know what you define as "a good rate", what you define as "current", and your budget.

Sorry for being unclear, but I don't have a lot of specifics! Yes, I am difficult haha. To be fair, I wasn't necessarily looking for a specific machine but rather the best sites for good deals if anyone had personal or insider experience. That said, I'll see if I can clarify a bit.

To be clear, I am not expecting to pay $500 for a machine that will play a monster of a game a decade out. That is absolutely unrealistic. Rather, something that would let me play today's titles at a high setting, but would hopefully stay serviceable for 5-7 years (which seems about my average machine life) even if at medium to low game settings for games that might release during it's lifetime. I tend not to play shooters - more RPGs, strategy and the like, so I don't need a beast of a unit.

My best benchmark game is probably World of Warcraft which I've played off/on since like 2006. Each expansion is incrementally a bit more demanding than the last. In the past, when I get a new PC, I can play with all settings mostly maxed. Over time and with graphical progression each expansion, I generally need to tamp down settings a bit, but it still runs smoothly and without problems. I don't know all the specs anymore, but my now dead PC, for instance, was about 7 years old, but I could play decent recent games like Civ6, Anno 2205, Rome Total War 2, WoW's Legion expansion and such without problem - usually on mostly medium to lower settings - while still being able to tab and use Chrome/Firefox without a hitch.

Budget unspecified, but as low as possible due to house hunting. Desktops and laptops both in play, laptops actually seemed a bit cheaper from what I could see after some googling.

I used to build my own, but my latest computer I purchased through Xidax. Their prices are decent, but their customer service, warranty, and trade in allowances are what drew me to them. And you can chat live with a rep, tell them what you're looking for, and he/she will put together a few examples and prices for you on the spot. Like I said, their prices are only decent, but they deserve at least a look, IMO.

https://www.xidax.com/

Problem is prices are inflated these days due to limited supply of GPUs on the market because they all get bought up by the crypto currency miners out there. That being said you can probably find an i7 with a GTX1060, IDE slave and SSD master, and a liquid cooled processor (radiator fan, not full liquid cooled tubing setup) for about $900-$1000. I just helped my dad get the exact system mentioned for $1250 Canadian. That should be more than enough for your initial needs and upgradable in the future via a new GPU if/when needed.

Go to slickdeals.net and set up a deal alert. They have whole setups pop up there sometimes.

The genres you like aren't very demanding, so you could get away with a mid-range PC. Question is, are you willing to build it yourself?

"Desides wrote:

The genres you like aren't very demanding, so you could get away with a mid-range PC. Question is, are you willing to build it yourself?

Meh not especially. I've done it once before and it was annoyingly painful. I'm just not a techie I guess. And the individual parts pricing market is out of whack due to this silly bit mining. Seemed prebuilt might be about the same/cheaper.

"texanphinatic wrote:

Meh not especially. I've done it once before and it was annoyingly painful. I'm just not a techie I guess. And the individual parts pricing market is out of whack due to this silly bit mining. Seemed prebuilt might be about the same/cheaper.

Take danmarino's suggestion, or check out others like iBuyPower.

Monitor this subreddit as well. All the latest PC deals posted. Parts and prebuilt systems.

https://www.reddit.com/r/buildapcsales/

Did you buy anything yet? If not, check out Walmart.com. They are trying hard to topple Amazon and Best Buy online so they're selling computers/laptops ridiculously cheap. I have always built my own systems but it got to the point where I can buy a complete system from them a few hundred dollars cheaper than I could buy the components.....they are losing a boatload of cash trying to compete.

For instance, my current PC was $990 on clearance- the parts alone on NewEgg would have been $1300+. The same cpu is on Amazon for $1300 and $1400 in Best Buy (still dirt cheap for what it is), so I tell everyone to hit WalMart online. Not in store....online is where the steals are!

Oh, and my system is a top end iBuyPower; here's a link. I play all games at max settings and still get almost 200 fps, so I should be set for awhile- https://www.walmart.com/ip/iBUYPOWER-Phantom-Gamer-WA502i-Desktop-PC-Intel-Kaby-Lake-Core-i7-7700-Processor-16GB-Memory-1TB-Hard-Drive-Windows-10-Home-Monitor-Included/52130983

My review there is one of the top ones (Keith K).

Not yet, kinda hoping to wait until we buy a house to avoid any potential loan complications. Sadly, the Michigan market right now is fucking terrible. Thanks though Key, I'll keep my eye on it!

That's a pretty solid PC that Keyfin linked. The caveat of course is it's missing a monitor, but the parts in the build are good for the price.

"Deerless Dice wrote:

That's a pretty solid PC that Keyfin linked. The caveat of course is it's missing a monitor, but the parts in the build are good for the price.

I literally spent three weeks playing with components on NewEgg to build my perfect system...and then I saw that beast of a PC right out of the box on Walmart online. I'm guessing my building days are over since we can't even buy parts for what retailers sell complete systems for.

Newegg isn't what it used it to be. My last build i picked up most of my parts off Amazon. I like to use www.pcpartpicker.com whenever I need to quote parts.

"Deerless Dice wrote:

Newegg isn't what it used it to be. My last build i picked up most of my parts off Amazon. I like to use www.pcpartpicker.com whenever I need to quote parts.

I'm really not a fan of NewEgg anymore either. They had one of those hoverboards two winters back on a Black Friday sale- but didn't disclose that it was coming from Hong Kong from a shady seller. The product arrived in February and Newegg refused to do anything to help me, even though they banned the seller the day after I made the purchase. I spent three months fighting for a refund and never saw it.

I'll probably use Amazon the next time a friend/family member needs a system as well...I've avoided NewEgg as much as possible these past two years.

I believe NewEgg was sold a while back and the new owners are Chinese.

"Deerless Dice wrote:

I believe NewEgg was sold a while back and the new owners are Chinese.

Ahh, that makes complete sense! They used to be awesome with customer service....now they're pretty lousy.