hoofhearted4

if you dont already know what to look for, then you probably dont need to spend that much money on a headset. and by that i mean, if you were going to drop that much on a headset, youd probably already be an audiophile and be able to tell the minute difference of headsets, know what to look for, and care, etc. since you dont, then you probably wont notice much of a difference between an expensive headset and a cheaper one. i say this from experience. in my case it was TVs. i was looking them up, learning all this stuff, and reading posts from visual and audiophiles, i realized the minute differences they were bickering about over one TV or another were things i probably would never even have noticed or cared to look for. ill tell you I have a Corsair Vengence 1500. and its good enough for me. it did break once after like a year or so, but got a free replacement from Corsair quite fast. it has a mic, its comfy, i can hear things just fine. are there better headsets? im quite sure. would i notice? probably not. is it worth doubling the price? not to me. that said, if you think you could be an audiophile or want to become one or what have you, check out the AVS forums. its where i learned about my TVs. the guys over there are the ones whod know the minute differences. im sure theres threads for headsets in there somewhere, though i think they are more on home theatre. but audio is audio, anyone who is picky about all the AV stuff is probably a gamer haha.

i use the logitech G600 specifically and i love it. the mouse is comfy in my hand. ive never accidentally pressed a button. ill be honest in that i really only use the first 6, even in Guild Wars 2 i never needed more, between that and my keyboard, but all in all i find it easy to find the right buttons. i would definitely recommend it.

The game I was first addicted to was StarCraft Brood War. however my gaming addiction didnt come until several years later, when I was able to actually buy my own games. Dynasty Warriors 4 on the PS2 was definitely a game I was addicted to, and one of the first games I bought that I was addicted to and from there it sort of branched off when, as i said, I was able to buy my own games. Even With DW4, which i bought, i only bought it after saving up money. When my PS3 came into play, I had a job with regular income, and could buy games at a regular pace. it is here that I would say my gaming addiction flourished. First Game I'd say i was addicted to on PS3 (and hence the first game I became addicted to when i started this era of self fueled gaming addiction) was Resistance 2. so SC:BW first game I was ever addicted to DW4 first game i purchased I was addicted to Resistance 2 first game I purchased when I was finally able to fuel my gaming addiction at will (and where i would consider my gaming addiction started)

yea. I wont be looking to upgrade until either the next cycle of cards, if not the one after. (or after if the next two suck lol) basically another couple of years when my current card finally starts to show its age.

youre switching card again? i remember when you had a 7970, which was shortly before i got my 7950, which i still have. and which can still play any game just fine, and most of them on ultra. i dont understand why youd go from a card that can play any game on ultra at 60fps, to a card that can play it at 80fps, when there is no difference whatsoever. I too was once of the mind set that i wanted to switch cards. I do want nVidia next time for Physx and their new thing they got coming out that can generate real lighting in real time or whatever. but to spend $300-$400 when my card is still good for a couple more years, when there will be new and better cards then too, i just figure ill wait until my card finally stops playing new games on Ultra. but anyways, congrats on the new cards. SLI with those things will in fact be beast for sure!

i have the game from a preorder for PS4, but due to certain circumstances, i mot likely wont be getting a PS4 until Black friday or Christmas, so I wont be able to play- the game for awhile....only managed like two hours during the Beta due to time constraints. IVe been hearing some good and bad things, but mostly overwhelmingly good things. I love MMOs/RPGs, so this is my type of game. i dont like FPSs except (mostly) of the Fallout or Borderlands type, so im set there too. looking forward to eventually playing this game....however if this game ever gets announced on PC, i will be jumping ship immediately. This type of game will feel right at home on a PC.

as i said, i would prefer a Router because of the build in Switch. besides that wifi extender is more expensive than a router.

itd be useful to have a second router in my room. i could then use the incorporated switch and connect my PS3 directly to Ethernet, which ive been wanting to do. plus, i find it useful to have an extra ethernet port available in case i need to troubleshoot another computer's wifi or something.

I want to set up two WiFi networks in my house. I already have a WiFi router upstairs, I however live in the basement (nerd cliche right?) and while i get signal, its not very strong. what I want to do is put another router downstairs, using the Ethernet that runs down here already to my PC. Im just curious how I do this? is it as simple as setting up two routers and giving them the same SSID? do they need to be the same router? is it ok if one is b/g/n and the other is simply n? This is the router i already have. any recommendations on a second router? thanks all for your help.

i doubt anyone will respond to this, since no one did before, and if not, ill end this here, but I just wanted to make some closing remarks on my laptop escapade. first off, i am no longer in the market for a laptop. currently anyways. That specific laptop I linked to must have been on sale, because when i was looking at it, it was $499. then i saw it at $599, which i believe was also the price in store. now the link says $649. i realized that I would be doing myself a disservice in looking for a laptop so cheap. Yes it would mean I could get one right away, Yes it might hold over for school, at least at first, but If im going to buy a laptop, I want to buy a good laptop. one thatll hold up for awhile. As i said in the OP, one i could potentially use to code (as thats what Im hoping to get into), and itd be nice to be able to do some light gaming as well. as such, To get the laptop I really want Id have to spend more. Ive decided that I'm going to wait until Black Friday/Christmas to maybe get one. that would allow me to save up, potentially find some good deals and give me time to see if i still need/want one. its possible I might not have the funds by then still so who knows, this whole venture might have to wait till next summer, when my funds open back up (glory of school is i get less hours. plus i currently work in a resteraunt (hope that changes any day now lol) and hours get cut during the winter anyways). the real reason i post here though is to hopefully (unlike my previous attempt) get some input. I visited a couple of custom PC websites to see what I could build myself for a laptop. the Sager NP7338 is the best/cheapest laptop i could build (customize) on any of those websites, that also best fits my needs. Quad Core Hyperthreading CPU for coding. 16gb RAM for VMs and a dedicated GPU for light gaming. SSD, backlit, and I can opt to not put an OS on there saving me some money since I have disks here. Plus its a 13" screen (which is 1080, I see many sub14" screens that are only like 1366 or whatever), small and lightweight which makes it perfect for school as well. the only thing is its not touchscreen, which i dont care, but i thought that would be a nice little feature for a laptop. however that was more of a thing I wanted If i had to have Win8 on there. so what I want to know is, can anyone find/build/customize a laptop thats as good/better for a similar/cheaper price? otherwise, this is what ill be aiming for If i decide to go ahead with it. Its no where near as cheap as I originally intended, nor as cheap as i would want. and that may be what prevents me from buying it. im not sure ill be entirely for spending $1200 on a laptop I could argue i dont entirely need. but enough of me rambling. thanks for listening all, responses or not! have a great night (day, evening, dusk, whenever you are reading this)!!

yea PC doesnt get many AAA exclusives anymore, if any? its just the preferred system for many (including myself) to play those titles on. i have a PS3, ill be getting a PS4 (was going to get it next week with Destiny, but will probably be waiting until Christmas now because my gf wants to buy it for me haha), but id almost always choose a game now on PC over PS4. exceptions include any coop game my GF wants to play with me. maybe if a previous game was on PS3 and they used saved game data for the new release, but even thats slowly getting to the point where idrc. if anything ill just replay it on PC.

Didn't get to go look in person, but saw this on the website. Seems to fit what im looking for. I slightly over estimated what if get for $500 or less though. Haha http://m.bestbuy.com/m/e/product/detail.jsp?skuId=2990013&pid=1219085427753&pcatId=abcat0502000 small screen which is nice, light as well. CPU doesnt seem like the greatest, its only dual core, and doesnt give me a specific model number either. it has integrated graphics, looked at a couple of sites and it says it could handle games like StarCraft, Diablo 3, WoW and GW2, on med/low with like 20-30fps. which is all i ask for (wouldnt be a deal breaker even if it couldnt)...its got 6GB RAM which is nice as almost everything seems to be 4GB, even better is its upgradeable to 8GB!...also its a touch screen laptop, which with Win8, i can see being useful. all in all it looks like a decent enough laptop for the price.

So i just started school again and I think it'd be nice to get a laptop. I don't need one but it'd be nice. Here's what I'm looking for. Any tips on what I should consider would be greatly appreciated. I'll be using this mostly for coding (Computer Science), so a decent processor to help with the compiling would be nice. We won't be doing thousands of lines or anything so it won't really matter too much, but after school who knows, so a good processor is going to be a key point. I wouldn't argue with graphics capability either. I won't be using this for gaming, however I'd like to be able to play Guild Wars 2 on it. I have a gaming desktop and that's where I'll get my gaming done, so this laptop doesn't need anything special. Low medium with 30fps give or take is all I'd need. This however is the least of my worries so yea. I'd take Windows 7 over Windows 8 but any new laptop is going to have windows 8 so I guess it's time I learn. Though my desktop has win7. Does anyone know if this could cause issues transferring files and such between the two with USB? On that note, USB ports are a must. I'll be using a flash drive often as well as hooking up an Arduino board to it for one of my classes. I wouldn't mind one of those tablet laptops. However as I said a USB is a must and im not sure how my luck would be being able to try and find one capable of light gaming. Otherwise a small laptop is preferred. No bigger then 13". I'll be carrying this a lot so it needs to be portable. Lastly price. I need cheap. I'm looking for under $500, cheaper is better. I'll be heading out after work to Best Buy just to see what my options and price range is. If I can't get one cheaper then that then I won't be getting one. As i said it's not a necessity but a luxury. Thanks all for any input you can give!

lol i have no comment on a controller for a computer, as i use a keyboard and mouse for everything. if a game needs a controller to be playable on a PC, ill just get it for my console. for reference though, i have a Corsair K90 keyboard and a Logitech G600 mouse. love them both.

that list is a very good start. some things i would consider first peripherals. do you need a monitor, keyboard, mouse, headset, etc? those can add another $400+ easy to your build. and are nothing something you should skimp on either! as far as the parts list goes, its good so far. i would bump up to 16gb RAM. no reason to not build new systems with 16GB, consoles are jumping up so future games may start using more RAM. I would also personally recommend sticking with Windows 7 x64. Unless you are already used to Windows 8. its a matter of preference, some disagree, but i just dont like Windows 8 lol. lastly, with that sort of budget, you might want to consider a 248GB SSD or even a 500GB. plenty of room for games and OS and other things. I dont have Skyrim or FO on my SSD, as i have them on Steam and my Steam folder is much to large for my 240GB SSD, so its on its own 1TB HDD, but ive had games like StarCraft and Dragon Age on my SSD, and i can attest to shorter load times....being on an SSD doesnt affect FPS or anything though. but knowing how often FO3 and Skyrim has load times, it might benefit to have them on an SSD, if you can manage it.

first, this forum would be the more appropriate place for this thread im sure a mod will move it over, but for future reference i figured id mention it. now as far as the computer goes, i dont have enough time to get into a full discussion, but in short, with that sort of budget, you can get a very good computer. As almost anyone on this site will tell you, you should build it. you will get the best computer for your money, then any pre built system on any website. with that we can all help you, and building a PC is actually very easy....as far as websites go however, if you are against building one, check out ibuypower.com and cyberpowerpc.com, two sites that let you, sort of, build your own computer.

im sorry to say buddy, but thats just too cheap for anything worth your time. I just build my mom a PC, i really went as cheap as i could, and it ran me just over $600 (though i splurged on an SSD, which i personally think everyone should do)...hers was not a gaming PC, so no Graphics Card, though her CPU has an iGPU. at that price, thats all you can hope for, but even then, youre gunna go passed your $600 limit....for any decent gaming PC, if you cant get up to $1000, then you should just wait until you can. $1000 wont buy you the best, but it wont be the worst. I wont say its bare minimum, but it should be your goal in price. if youre looking for prebuilt systems, youre doing yourself and even greater disservice, as any PC labeled "gaming" in that price range is lying and its just marketing. this probably isnt what you wanted to hear, but it really is the best help i can give.

no, it really was a laughing stock. read reviews. read comments from those who didnt like it. it was slammed, and slammed hard. people either loved it or hated it.

so everything is put together. the only thing is, i didnt notice, but the model of the PSU that i got isnt modular. all the other Wattage models are so i didnt notice that this one wasnt. kind of lame when you think about it, as a small wattage PSU is usually going to go into a small case, which is arguably just as in need of modularity as any other wattage. its not the end of the world, its a little crowded in there, but no biggie. wouldnt be worth the shipping to send it back, then the extra money on top of that to get the next model up. also 2 of the 4 screw holes in my case down line up with my PSU. luckily the two that do are diagonal, so is even, but yea, $40 not the end of the world either. just gotta clone her OS on to it, then upgrade it from x32 to x64. anyways yea, just wanted to post about those couple of road bumps, but everything else went fine.

didnt even know they were coming out with DLC. still havent beaten the game, dunno if i will at this point. sucked back into GW2, and the Destiny Beta is taking up any free time i have. which i dont have much of

hmm, unfortunately, no one posted on this over the weekend. i am gunna go ahead and buy the parts. thanks everyone for your comments and opinions!

my moms not that computer illiterate. she can make her way around Windows quite well actually. so she would, in an instant, know the difference. and then not like it. i promised her i would not change anything, and that she would not notice a difference in anything except the speed of the computer lol. im actually going to be busy earlier than i thought tomorrow morning, so i wont be purchasing the parts till sunday afternoon sometime. so thatll give me a few extra days to hear some thoughts about the parts. thanks all for the input so far!!

actually, the one thing Pro has over Home is the ability to back up to a network, vs just an external hard drive. right now, thats all she does, but if i wanted to connect her to a NAS, which is something id love to implement, then she wouldnt be able to do that with Home Premium. also, i like the XP mode feature for Pro as well. ive only had to use it a few times, but you never know when itll come in handy. also, its nice to be able to Remote Host into my computer downstairs. something i dont do now, because he PC struggles as it is, but something i would probably take advantage of with her new computer. lastly, my mom HATES change with a passion. she still refuses to get a smart phone or laptop because she doesnt like the keyboards on laptops. hence why i want the case as simple as possible. even changing from Vista to Windows 7 was a big change for her. Ill have her wait as long as humanly possible before taking her off of Windows 7 and on to Windows 8 or anything else. also, i should mention ill be ready to buy these parts Friday morning. so any more comments or suggestions before then would be ideal!

no need for 8 core. i dont see 8 cores being used for anything any time for a long time. further in the future then im looking. as far as the case goes, its a no. that case wont fit where i need it to go, i need a tower design. plus its ugly, well to my mom it would be (its not too bad for me). shed want simple and ordinary. if i was going to get a case like that, id get the Fractal Node anyways. i dont need space as no GPU will ever be going in it, and there will be minimal cables. dont need ATX case, because it wont fit, and again i dont need the space. this is a simple build for simple use. this is not a dream build, this is not a gaming build. this isnt for me. i just want to make sure that the parts ive listed are worth getting. if theres something better for the money, or something. i do want the best, but i want the best for as cheap as possible. the computer wont be used for much beyond internet and Excel, but i want it to still be a strong computer in 5-10 years. ive updated the OP, with the parts im currently considering, ive been able to drop the price by about $100, down to just $620 after everything. (with a $5 MIR i just noticed, woooo), that would be the Case, CPU and the PSU updated, if anyone would care to comment on those changes? and in reference to Kalikka's comment to the Gigabyte board with the lastest wifi, this computer will be connected directly. wifi is a non issue here.

Thor, its nice to hear about your builds and all, but this thread isnt about you haha. id appreciate if youd keep your comments in reference to the build and topic. also, Mobo has been updated quick question. doesn anyone know what the difference between Bolton D# and Hudson D# and whatnot? what should i be looking at? also, looked at some other CPUs. would something like this work? still quad core. same L2 cache. still a good clock. just no iGPU, which doesnt matter. anything shed want to do could be handled no problem with just on board mobo video. so would i be ok going with that CPU instead? save myself $60? was trying to see if i could save anything on the PSU because i know i dont need 500W, i found was This. still Seasonic. and id save $20. still 80 Plus Gold which is nice, and modular, which is a must as well. 360W should be plenty for this build ya? i did a quick check in a calc and it only came up to 220W. i guess ill look as cases, see if i can save anything there. alright. found 4 that im chosing between, SilverStone and Fractal both at $40 and Cooler Master and NZXT both at $50. id be saving money in any choice. i like the SilverStone cause its got the noise reduction which is nice. i personally have a Fractal, so id recommend them always. which is why im looking at that case. the later two, nothing special about either of them, but they look to be solid cases none the less, and still cheap. so in the pool they go. any opinions or anything other suggestions anyways has? upon further looking, the Fractal is out, because of the position of the USB ports. the Tower will be sitting in a cubby sort of, and things on the side will no be able to be accessed. the SilverStone power button is on the side, however that should be find (plus she never turns her computer off lol)...Reading reviews and the SilverStone seems to be in the lead. no real reason. the CM and NZXT, people complain about the 2.5" mounting. which considering thats what ill be using, sort of matters. yes i could spend the few dollars on a mounting bracket, and arguably, an SSD doesnt even have to be mounted, but no one sais anything about it in the SS's few reviews, plus even if i had to buy a bracket, itd still be cheaper. so for now, unless im swayed, the SS is the winner. the only other place i could see saving money would be the OS. i used to get it for free from school, but thats no longer the case. i cant find it any cheaper then newegg, and she needs it to upgrade from x32 to x64 to utilize the RAM, at the very least. wish it didnt cost so much just to upgrade the bit.