AWKWARD ZOMBIE

yea i was kinda iffy about alienware too. they do seem to be kinda COLORED CASES LOL ITS ALIEN WARE GET IT

but yea, I'll check that out Ycobb. thanks =)

its kinda confusing me though. could you just give me some recommended stats? maybe even "an ideal" stat?

sorry guys I'm really new to all this gigabytes processor stuff

Other benefit of building a computer: learning what numbers and models are about, i.e. making smart choices and avoiding scams.

How long do you want your computer to be able to run the latest and greatest games? If you looking for 3 or more years it would be different then 2 years. I went with the best I could find for $1000(was on sale so I got lucky) because I want it to be good doing everything I need it to till I'm done with College. Desktops are cheaper normally, at least that's what it seemed like to me, and they can have better specs normally. If you want something to run current games and games for 2 years, I would think that an i3, or whatever the equivalent is in the other processors, with 4g of memory, you wouldn't need to fast of a clock speed, something like 2.5GHz would be above what you need. Hard drive would be up to you, depends on how much you plan to put on it, mine is a 750GB, 688GB usable, and because of what I plan on doing I'm worried about going over, but I plan on going into college for computer science, focusing on programming for games and any other computer things. If your just going to just have some games on It 750 would be plenty if not overkill.

Other benefit of building your own computer: upgrading parts is easy, saves you cheddar, lets you keep up to date with all the new pretty games!

Also, my 1TB drive is almost filled with the applications I need, my Steam games, and some torrents, it's probably better to have some free space in case you need it. And 2.5GHz i3 is ridiculous. The PC I built one year and a half ago has a better processor than that and the i3 is aimed to be low-end. You're not going to play games with that. Please don't listen to him. Except for the 4GB of memory, that will probably be enough for a while. You can go with 6 if you have the cheddar for it, anything more is probably overkill.

Alright, here's the 4gig ram, for just below $40: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148262&cm_sp=Cat_Memory-_-Featured_Brand-_-20-148-262

And here's a 6gig on for $65: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820161451

Both of these are good and should run anything, but the 6gig is clocked higher (and, naturally, is more) so it would ensure your computer stays current for a bit longer, perhaps even a year or two of hitting max settings on everything.
Shop around a bit, though, clock setting won't make too much difference so in general any DDR3 you find cheaper and/or higher capacity should be good. Check reviews to make sure it isn't dying on people, though (it usually doesn't)

I can't find the specific CPU I recommended on the site that I use, so you should look around for it a bit (AMD Athlon II X4 920), but here's a similarly priced one that's still faster than mine: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103885
I don't know much about intel processors, but the top-model ones go much higher than AMDs (although you don't really need that sort of speed for gaming, it's generally for video editing). I also hear AMD works better with Windows (and that Intel is built for macs) but that's just hearsay.
You should get other people to weigh in on the merits of Intel vs AMD.

Any of these cards should do whatever you want them to:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130572 1gig DDR5 (vidya cards go higher than RAM in terms of RAM clock, RAM tops out at DDR3 while vRAM goes to DDR5)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127521 1gig DDR5, seems identical to previous.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127573 This is a GTX, while the others were in the GTS series, so this will yield better performance. Enough to warrant the $30 extra, I'd say.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814133386 Here's a much cheaper one, with 1gig DDR3. This should be fine, but don't count on it running things at max for very long, maybe a year or two.


EDIT: Huh, I suppose I was just terrible at shopping when I went after a motherboard last time.
Here's one that looks good, and has everything you need to use the parts I recommend above: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157195
If you decide to go with this one, check for some specifics when you shop for other components:
RAM should be DDR3, 1600 or 1333 (lower won't save you much so you may as well spring for these).
Check the CPU to make sure it takes the AM3 slot.
And check that any graphics card you're after will take PCIe 2.0 x16. (really, just check for the 2.0, you won't find a good card that doesn't take some sort of PCIe x16)

This board will take all the RAM you'll ever want to throw at it.

finally, you'll want a PSU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371031
620 watts should be enough, and its power pin matches the one for the motherboard I linked.



You should probably print out this list and have the computer shop check it out, though, because I'm admittedly fairly new at this. However, if they tell you that this system is way underpowered and that you need some fancy $1000 rig, keep in mind that they're probably just trying to sell you the most expensive thing they have for commission.


Pricing:
Cheapest of the items in this post:
4 gig DDR3 RAM
3.1 ghz quad core
1 gig DDR5 vRAM GTS 450
Motherboard
620 watt PSU
$413 (I'd go with this just for the totes rad pricing)

Most expensive:
6 gig DDR3 RAM
3.1 ghz quad core
1 gig DDR5 vRAM GTX 550 (yes this is actually faster)
Motherboard
620 watt PSU
$467 (Not too much more, but would the performance boost be worth the extra 50~ dollars?)

lol ycobb, it's nice of you but you shouldn't bother picking out parts for him, he doesn't even want to accept the fact that building a pc is easy as hell.

You sure the i3 won't be able to run game, I could have been wrong on that, might be thinking more of it than it is. That would be my bad.
If he doesn't want to build a PC, don't force him to, though I would even say building is far better. If you care to learn, and have a chunk of time to spend on it, learn how to make a computer, otherwise don't. I know for sure an i5 will run games, I was being told at a tech store that the i5 is good enough to run anything right now, and should be for the future.
The whole intel vs. AMD thing i don't know to much about, always used intel on windows, has done well, might wanna look that up. AMD processors are good also, just never used them.

Telling someone to buy an i5 is like telling someone to buy an AMD Phenom.
I don't really know how good i5 processors can be but there's certainly a difference between different models.
I also wouldn't rely on someone in a tech store to give good advice on what to buy, there are clueless people everywhere, look it up but don't follow it blindly.
AMD is generally cheaper than Intel for the same performance, so I go with them. I've never had a problem with the brand so I don't see the appeal in paying extra for a fancy brand name.

To be honest, I had a lot of trouble with it when I first tried. It can be hard to do the first time, so it helps to be told what things mean and what is and isn't worth getting.
(Actually my first attempt (that wasn't just a shitty placeholder) didn't even work! (motherboard was DOA, though, so not really my fault))

I planned for months before building my first PC to make sure I had exactly what I wanted at a good price, got frustrated when it wouldn't boot up at the end but it turned out to be a fan plugged into the wrong slot on the motherboard. That was the only issue I had with it and it was my first time working inside a computer or assembling anything.
Honestly the hard part is finding what to get.

i5 processors are really not to much different from each other, looking at prices of the i5 and deciding what your willing to pay, it won't really matter to much which i5 you get. If the AMD processors are cheaper, go with them, I doubt there is much of a difference between them.

Mine was like the shittiest Intel motherboard ever, also my grandmother unplugged it during a(n attempted) BIOS update (we suspect it wasn't doing anything anyway), it needed crazy shit to run XP, and basically everything about it was horrible.
Then my uncle offered my a $400 computer for $200, so I never looked at the board again.
To be honest, I'm sort of really terrible at this :V

I'm pretty sure he's talking about buying the parts FOR the computer, not building one from scratch. besides, I think building computers is a lot more complicated then you are making it sound :U

you're seriously starting to sound like an asshat about all this "build your own or ur dum lol" stuff

No, I am saying to build your own. It really is pretty easy, once you have pieces picked out.
Give it a shot!

..but check with your computer store first, to make sure I haven't made some horribleterrible mistake.

oh. well I dunno, I'd rather spend the cheddar on something that is guaranteed to be top of the end stuff than take a gamble and build my own

looking at this at the moment. If I were to get a job at 6.90 an hour, work 20 hours a week 4 weeks a month I could save up for this within three months. that's before skyrim comes out from here.

still reading the stats though.